Chapter 20 – Your Home is My Home, My Home is Still My Home
When they reached the first floor of the duplex, the taller officer spotted the little pup locked in a cage. He quickly bent down for a closer look. “A German Shepherd? Looks good. Nothing unusual with it, right?”
“No, it’s been perfectly normal these past few days, same as before,” Luo Xun hurried to explain.
The tall officer nodded. “You’d better be careful—don’t let it out if you can help it. There are quite a few mutated dogs outside. If it got bitten by one of them and turned into that kind of thing, it would be a real waste.”
“Mhm, I know. Luckily, when I bought it, it was still little, so it never developed the habit of being walked outside.” Luo Xun nodded quickly. He understood clearly: only after the second mutation, if a mutated animal was bitten by a zombie, would it not turn into a zombie animal. Before that, and for ordinary animals even after the second mutation, if they were bitten by zombies, the result was still death.
The two officers gave the room a quick check—mainly to see if there were any zombies. Luo Xun had already prepared in advance; anything eye-catching had been packed away in boxes. As for the racks on the balcony with plants growing in them, even if they were noticed, it didn’t matter—what, people weren’t allowed to grow a few flowers at home? They were all seedlings anyway. Who could tell at a glance what they were?
Fortunately, the two officers didn’t look too closely. After a general inspection, they prepared to leave.
Just before they stepped out, Luo Xun suddenly remembered something and reminded them, “By the way, the power’s out so we can’t use electricity. But what about water? Is it still safe to drink?”
“Water?” The two looked confused.
“That stuff—you know, when it bites people, they turn into zombies. But if it got into the water, wouldn’t it contaminate the supply?”
The two froze for a moment, then their expressions darkened. They nodded. “We’ll report that to our superiors. In the meantime, be cautious with your water—boil it longer. If there’s any announcement, someone will come door-to-door to inform you. And keep an ear out for the broadcasts.”
Only then did Luo Xun see them off, close the door, and let out a long breath. He hurried onto the balcony and rooftop terrace, uncovering the crops hidden under opaque plastic so they could see daylight again.
“They’ve gone?” Yan Fei turned his head when he heard the door.
“Yeah.” Luo Xun exhaled in relief and, feeling a little smug, boasted to Yan Fei, “I registered the apartment next door under your name. If this really becomes a safe zone, and you don’t want to live there yourself, you can rent it out—might make quite a bit of money too!”
He wasn’t just making it up. The two-bedroom next door was a good eighty to ninety square meters. And with the floor-to-ceiling windows facing the balcony side, how many solar panels could be mounted on that wall alone? Even if Yan Fei didn’t rent it out and didn’t want to do missions, just the sunlight collection area outside could let him make a living selling electricity!
If not for being reborn, how could Yan Fei have ended up in such a prime apartment? Many people, when they first arrived in the safe zone, chose lower floors to save the time and effort of climbing stairs. Who knew the top floors would turn out to be far more valuable than the bottom ones!
Yan Fei’s brow twitched. He wasn’t Luo Xun, so of course he didn’t realize just how valuable that place would be in the apocalypse. But seeing Luo Xun’s smug “snagged a bargain” look, he couldn’t help pouring cold water on him, “…What if the original owner comes back?”
Luo Xun shot him a disdainful glance, “Didn’t I tell you the first day? Aside from my unit, no one on this floor has moved in yet. The place next door doesn’t even have a peephole installed—what owner could there be?”
But as for his own unit… what if that family showed up alive this time?
The thought made his heart stir with regret. If only he had claimed another empty apartment as his own. But now that the military had come by and registered everything, there was no way to fudge it anymore.
As he mulled this over, his eyes lit up again when he looked at Yan Fei, “Uh… maybe don’t rent out your place just yet. Let me tidy things up first. Who knows, maybe I’ll rent it later…”
Yan Fei frowned in brief puzzlement, then instantly understood. His eyes narrowed slightly, “This apartment—you’re renting it, aren’t you?” His tone was flat, more a statement than a question. The moment the words left his mouth and Luo Xun’s face flushed red, he knew he’d hit the mark.
Luo Xun stiffened his neck and put on a righteous front. “I signed a one-year lease. And I plan to rent it long-term.”
A trace of amusement flickered in Yan Fei’s eyes. He couldn’t hold back a quiet laugh—only to trigger the wound in his chest, making him cough twice. “Alright. Once I’ve healed, you can help me get the place next door cleaned up.”
Only then did Luo Xun relax. If the real owner of this apartment did come back, worst case, he could just squeeze in with Yan Fei. The place next door might be smaller than this one, but it was still pretty good. Fortunately, when he stocked up on supplies, he had bought plenty of materials—enough to use later! And if anything was missing, once the base was properly established, he could go out scavenging again. Early-stage zombies didn’t even have crystal cores yet—they were easy enough to deal with.
At this point, classmate Luo Xun had completely forgotten how he’d been dead set on driving Yan Fei out before. Instead, he was already planning how to freeload in Yan Fei’s “next-door house” and even squeeze in to live with him—though the place wasn’t really Yan Fei’s, at least on paper it counted as his…
If he could avoid it, Luo Xun still didn’t want to move out of his current place. After all, in ten years of the apocalypse, he’d never heard of the original owner coming back to claim it. But treating the apartment next door as a backup retreat was no problem. That meant he had to figure out how to stay on good terms with Yan Fei. Fortunately, since their very first meeting, they hadn’t had any serious conflicts. The only difference was that Luo Xun had now given up the idea of kicking him out—instead, he was even planning to help Yan Fei set up the next-door apartment, ideally while claiming one of the bedrooms for himself… In that case, giving up half a bed for now didn’t seem all that important.
Anyway, he had plenty of supplies at home. Feeding one more person didn’t make much difference, and if Yan Fei was willing to supply him with ammunition of his own accord, then that was basically like having a living, inexhaustible ammo depot! A win–win situation where he could also snag a little advantage? Luo Xun welcomed it wholeheartedly.
Having only ever received a single crossbow bolt as a “deposit,” Luo Xun still hadn’t realized that he was the one constantly paying deposits while never actually getting any real benefits. Dutifully, he propped up the handsome man—who finally needed to use the bathroom—and slowly helped him toward the restroom.
*
The soldiers’ arrival brought a breath of vitality to the Hongjing Community.
Since the zombies had basically been cleared out, many people plucked up the courage to leave their homes. Some wondered if they should try to take advantage of the soldiers’ presence to raid the nearby supermarkets for supplies.
Those with cars drove to the closest large supermarket, only to find it had already been taken over by the military. Naturally, everything inside was confiscated, leaving no room for private scavenging. But as for going farther away… they were afraid there might still be zombies there. Most people, still terrified, simply didn’t have the courage to venture that far on their own.
Some gathered around military vehicles, explaining their households were already running out of food. The troops had no choice but to send out a soldier with a good tongue to announce that starting tomorrow morning, food and water would be distributed at several designated spots. Everyone could claim supplies with the personal information they had registered today. After that, there would be construction work to do, and anyone who participated would receive food rations. Specific details would be announced later.
With something to look forward to, there was hope. Even those who hadn’t gotten anything today went home happy, eagerly awaiting tomorrow.
Luo Xun, in high spirits from the thought of “next door becoming his backup base too~,” spent the whole day busily tidying up—organizing the house, swapping in a newly charged battery, trimming the plants on the terrace, harvesting ripe vegetables, and starting a new round of seedlings.
Finally, after some small protests from a certain someone who was sick of bland food, he cooked up a pot of vegetable and pork congee.
The bright-green tender bok choy had just been harvested that day. The minced meat in the porridge was from the stash Luo Xun had bought before the apocalypse, portioned out and frozen. Alongside it were salted duck eggs, garlicky stir-fried water spinach, wedges of flatbread, and bright red cubes of fermented bean curd. The sight left Yan Fei astonished.
“You… this is way too much trouble.” Staring at the perfectly presented vegetable-and-meat porridge, Yan Fei felt a swirl of indescribable emotions. Heaven knew, he’d only asked if Luo Xun could add a little salt to the porridge because he was sick of plain rice gruel. He hadn’t meant anything else! Having survived hardship after the apocalypse, he knew exactly what the outside world was like. Being able to drink hot congee was already a luxury—he hadn’t wanted Luo Xun risking his life to fetch vegetables and meat just for him!
Picking up a corner of flatbread, Luo Xun calmly scooped some bean curd with his chopsticks.
“It’s no trouble. I have to eat anyway.”
Yan Fei was past the most dangerous stage now, and didn’t need to stick to plain porridge anymore. Vegetables were no problem—Luo Xun could grow them himself. Outside was still unstable, so taking vegetables out to trade wouldn’t fetch much. As for the frozen meat? Even stored in the freezer, it would eventually spoil—just slower. If he didn’t eat it, it would go bad in a year or so. The same went for other things.
Silently, Yan Fei drank down the porridge Luo Xun fed him. The rich flavor of the meat, the refreshing crunch of the vegetables, and the just-right saltiness—his tongue finally felt alive again. He looked at Luo Xun with a complicated expression. He wanted to ask where the food had come from, but wisely kept his mouth shut. Less than a week had passed since doomsday began. It was perfectly normal for some households to still have fresh supplies stocked. Luo Xun hadn’t gone out the past two days; as long as he hadn’t risked his neck scavenging, that was enough.
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