“What do you mean by ‘hard to say’?” Jiang Xinghuai smiled, squinting his eyes as the light flashed in. “I don’t think that at all.”
Fu Yan was stunned for a moment and looked down at him. At that moment, Jiang Xinghuai lowered his head, leaving Fu Yan only the top of his head to see.
“I’m not likable. I’m not unaware of that myself.” Jiang Xinghuai’s voice was very low. His fingers rubbed at the hem of his clothes. “I’m not stupid, but I just don’t want to change… It’s just… if I change, then there’s nothing left of me. No one will see me, no one will hear me. Jiang Xinghuai will disappear.”
Fu Yan was genuinely taken aback.
Jiang Xinghuai was easy to read at a glance. You didn’t need a second look. Petulant and overbearing, loud, self-centered. That was the outside. Fragile, sensitive, insecure. That was the inside.
Just a kid.
What Fu Yan didn’t know was that this seventeen-year-old seemed to understand everything. In the next instant, he no longer quite looked like a child.
“Am I talking a bit mystically…” Jiang Xinghuai rubbed his nose, embarrassed. “But I just… ah, I don’t know—”
“Then don’t change.” Fu Yan cut him off and withdrew the hand that was holding him. “It’s not your fault, and there’s nothing about you that needs changing. You’re fine as you are.”
Jiang Xinghuai froze.
This was the first person who had told him, “You’re fine as you are.”
His father only ever told him not to be like that, not to do this or that. His mother made him change this and change that every day.
No one had ever asked him why he was like this. They just shook their heads, sighed, and then sentenced him to death.
Fu Yan was the first one to tell him, It’s not your fault.
Fu Yan would definitely be a good father in the future.
Jiang Xinghuai suddenly threw himself forward, pressing his forehead hard against Fu Yan’s chest.
“Hey…” Fu Yan reached out, but just before touching him, he helplessly lowered his hand instead and patted his back. “Your whole head is sweaty.”
“Your clothes were already dirty,” Jiang Xinghuai said with a sniffle.
“Why are you sniffling?” Fu Yan tilted his head up. “When did it start—”
“Why are those cars still following us?” the blond boy in the driver’s seat suddenly spoke.
“What cars?” Jiang Xinghuai pried Fu Yan’s hand off and changed the subject, carefully touching his own nose.
No snot.
“The black Jeep we ran into when leaving the city?” Fu Yan asked, frowning.
“Yeah, from the moment we took the road out of the city, it’s been tailing us all the way until now.” The blond boy slowed down, craning his neck forward. “Something’s off. How could it be such a coincidence, always on the same road? They’re not planning to rob us, are they?”
No sooner had the words fallen than the car in his peripheral vision suddenly accelerated. He hurriedly shouted: “—Hey! They’re coming up!”
“At the gas station up ahead, stop directly,” Fu Yan ordered with a frown.
“Stop?” The blond boy wasn’t sure.
“Stop. We’re out of gas anyway. We can’t keep going,” Fu Yan said.
Several empty cars were parked at the gas station. The glass of the service area had all been smashed, the shelves knocked over, and everything inside looted clean.
The blond boy pulled over close to the gas station wall and glanced at the rearview mirror. “They really are coming for us. They turned in, too.”
“Everyone else, stay in the car,” Fu Yan said, then pushed the door open and jumped out.
The blond boy let out a sigh and quickly followed, getting out as well. With a car full of old folks, weak ones, sick, disabled, women, and children, only Fu Yan could hold the line.
From the black Jeep, besides the driver, three or four men quickly got out.
At first glance, Fu Yan immediately spotted the heaviest of them—a fat middle-aged man in the center. The man wore sunglasses, a full black tactical jacket, heavy hiking boots, and arms folded across his chest. His presence alone was unusual.
Jiang Xinghuai thought for a moment and prepared to get out too, but Teacher Geng beside him yanked him back. “Oh my ancestor, doesn’t your leg hurt? Let the adults talk, don’t butt in.”
Jiang Xinghuai frowned. “I—”
“Where are you fellas headed?” a man’s voice sounded from outside the car.
Jiang Xinghuai shut his mouth and perked his ears.
“Out of the city, heading further out,” Fu Yan’s voice came. “And you?”
“We’ve got a warehouse up ahead. We just went into the city to get some things and are heading back now.” The man laughed heartily, sounding very warm. “How many people you got in your car? Want to come with us?”
Sitting inside, Jiang Xinghuai’s ears twitched slightly. For some reason, that voice sounded familiar.
“No need,” Fu Yan said. “We’ve arranged to meet some friends.”
“Alright, but don’t get the wrong idea, brother. We weren’t tailing you. We really just happened to be on the same road. You—”
“Fei Ge?!” Jiang Xinghuai suddenly shouted.
“Son!” The fat man froze, then suddenly rushed to the back of the car.
“Who the hell are you calling son, you fatso?!” Jiang Xinghuai crawled up and stuck his head out, meeting the man’s flushed-red face head-on.
It really was Zhu Gaofei!
“Ahhh!” Zhu Gaofei howled, lunged forward, and hugged him tightly, bursting into tears. “Huai’er! My Huai’er!”
“Cry your ass! Quit crying! You’re squeezing me so hard I can’t breathe!” Jiang Xinghuai struggled desperately, but still managed to quickly ask, “Where’s Chen Zhou? Is Chen Zhou with you? My phone’s broken. I don’t even remember your numbers. I couldn’t contact you.”
“Huai’er! My Huai’er!” Zhu Gaofei just wailed on, paying no attention.
“Get lost!” Jiang Xinghuai cursed while hugging him back.
Zhu Gaofei cried for a full five minutes, then clutched his hand and kept repeating:
“Your dad called me. I was the first one to bring people to pick you up.”
“But no one was at your house!”
“What happened to your leg? Does it hurt?”
“It’s all my fault!”
Jiang Xinghuai patted his head, sighing again and again. “Alright, goddad, stop crying. If you keep it up, zombies will come, and then it won’t be fun anymore.”
“Yes, yes.” Zhu Gaofei wiped his tears, then turned to look at the group of people in the car. A friendly smile returned to his face. “I haven’t asked yet. Are these friends you met along the way?”
“That’s my homeroom teacher, next to him is his ex-wife and son. The one driving in front is someone we met on the road. His name’s Lu Ying.”
“This is…” When Jiang Xinghuai got to Fu Yan, he paused, tilted his head to glance at him, then smiled. “This is… this is my neighbor. He’s the one who brought me out.”
Hearing himself introduced as “neighbor”, Fu Yan’s brow twitched, but he only smiled lightly and reached out his hand. “Hello.”
“Hello, hello, thank you so much for looking after our Huai Huai all along the way.” Zhu Gaofei grasped his hand, eyes brimming with gratitude. “This isn’t the place to talk. Let me take you all back to my place first. You’re out of gas, right? There’s none left in this station. Come with me. I’ve stockpiled plenty. Just follow my car.”
The van door closed, the engine started, and it followed behind the black Jeep.
Inside the car, the quiet atmosphere shifted.
“What’s your relationship with that man?” Yu Xue leaned forward and asked.
“That’s my goddad,” Jiang Xinghuai said.
Zhu Gaofei and his father had been best friends since childhood. On the day he was born, the first person to hold him wasn’t his dad, but Zhu Gaofei—
Because his dad was on a plane that day, rushing to make a meeting.
“What does your goddad do?” the blond boy asked from the driver’s seat.
“He runs a bar,” Jiang Xinghuai replied.
Yu Xue leaned over again. “I think—”
Jiang Xinghuai was annoyed by her and didn’t want to talk. He turned his head away. “Uncle, my leg hurts.”
“What’s wrong? Did you bump it just now?” Fu Yan leaned over to check his leg.
“It’s fine,” Jiang Xinghuai lowered his voice. “I just don’t want to talk to her.”
Fu Yan smiled and flicked the tip of his nose, then turned his head to look out the small window. His eyes fixed on the black Jeep in front, his brows faintly knitting together.
After driving forward for only about ten minutes, they could vaguely make out the warehouse Zhu Gaofei had mentioned.
The area was huge, encircled by an entire ring of wire fencing strung around the trees.
Someone was patrolling on a tall watchtower. When he saw Zhu Gaofei’s car, he even waved.
The blond boy slowly pressed down on the brakes, guiding the van along the cement road inside. He lowered his voice and remarked, “Your goddad is definitely not an ordinary person.”
Inside the wire fence stood four rows of concrete buildings. The ground floors were all large warehouses fitted with iron doors. Piles of potatoes and sacks of rice could be faintly seen inside.
As soon as the car stopped and they got out, a number of people gathered around.
Zhu Gaofei ran over from the front, shouting as he came, “Quick, Xiao Gao, call Doctor Zhao over!”
“I’m fine, really, it’s already taken care of.” Leaning against Fu Yan, Jiang Xinghuai waved his hands repeatedly.
“Then let’s head inside first.” Zhu Gaofei supported his other arm. “Hungry? What do you want to eat?”
“Not hungry, just sleepy, and thirsty.” With the two of them supporting him like that, Jiang Xinghuai couldn’t even walk properly anymore.
But he couldn’t bring himself to shake them off either, so he could only grit his teeth and shuffle forward.
Before going through the iron gate, Fu Yan suddenly narrowed his eyes and looked back, staring at the man on the watchtower. He clearly saw the black object slung over the man’s shoulder.
It was a submachine gun.
“I’ll take you in first. These warehouses were ones I used before to stockpile potatoes and rice. The buildings are solid and durable.” Zhu Gaofei led them into one of the buildings. “I just brought people over yesterday, so it’s not cleaned up yet.”
Jiang Xinghuai turned his head, scanning around. He spotted several familiar faces, but not the one he most wanted to see. He quickly asked, “Where’s Chen Zhou? He’s not here?”
“That day, after he dropped you off, he went straight back. He hasn’t returned here since,” Zhu Gaofei said, frowning.
Jiang Xinghuai’s face darkened, and he stopped in his tracks. “I shouldn’t have dragged him out to play that day.”
“He’ll be fine. That kid runs fast. Don’t worry, I’ll take people to his house tomorrow to check. Hungry? Let’s get you all to your rooms first, then we’ll eat something later. We’ve got plenty of food here.” Zhu Gaofei rubbed his arm hard, then slung his arm around him and led him upstairs. “By the way, where were you headed when you were driving?”
“We were going to Fu Yan’s house in the suburbs,” Jiang Xinghuai said.
“Good thing you ran into me, then.” Zhu Gaofei sighed. “Don’t bother with that suburb place, it’s too far, not convenient for getting food. Just stay here. You can lie around every day, and I’ll feed you myself.”
“Then I want steak every day.” Jiang Xinghuai smiled.
“No problem. We’ve got lots of people here. The past few days, we’ve taken in quite a few fellow survivors who made it out. Safer to stick together.” Zhu Gaofei suddenly lowered his voice. “And we’ve got guns.”
Though Zhu Gaofei’s voice was hushed, it was just enough for everyone on the staircase to hear.
Jiang Xinghuai clearly wasn’t surprised that Zhu Gaofei had gotten his hands on guns.
But behind them, Geng Manhong, holding Geng Bei, was visibly startled, then immediately let out a breath of relief. Yu Xue’s perpetually tense expression also softened at once.
Only Fu Yan remained expressionless. He said nothing, showed no reaction.
Zhu Gaofei led them up to the second floor, assigned them rooms, and then went back down to arrange food for them.
Once everyone else had gone into their rooms.
“Fu Yan.” Jiang Xinghuai tilted his head toward him and asked softly, “What’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you saying anything?”
“Nothing.” Fu Yan glanced around the surroundings.
“What do you think of this place?” Jiang Xinghuai asked tentatively.
“It’s good.” Fu Yan nodded. “Go inside first. Your leg shouldn’t stay standing too long.”
After saying that, Fu Yan walked forward a few steps and called out to a girl carrying bottles.
Watching his back, Jiang Xinghuai suddenly felt wronged.
He didn’t know why, but he had the feeling Fu Yan wouldn’t stay here.
Even though this place was safe, even though he himself would be staying, Fu Yan would leave.
Jiang Xinghuai pouted, turned, and went into the room.
When Fu Yan pushed the door open and came in, he saw Jiang Xinghuai sitting on the edge of the bed, lost in thought.
Without a word, he squatted down and cut open the bandage on Jiang Xinghuai’s knee.
“Ah—what are you doing?!” Jiang Xinghuai jolted from the pain, suddenly snapping back to himself.
“Disinfecting.” Fu Yan said.
“You did that on purpose!” Jiang Xinghuai glared at him.
“I didn’t.”
“You did!”
“…I’m not that childish,” Fu Yan said.
“You mean I’m childish?” Jiang Xinghuai shot back.
“…” Fu Yan drew in a deep breath.
“So old already, and still so petty.” Jiang Xinghuai rolled his eyes in anger.
Fu Yan: “……”
He stood up in silence, turned, and started walking away.
“Hey!” Jiang Xinghuai panicked and quickly grabbed his arm.
Fu Yan turned back to look at him.
“Where are you going… I didn’t mean it just now, you know I didn’t…” Jiang Xinghuai was flustered, at a loss for what to do, not even daring to meet Fu Yan’s eyes.
“No, are you mad?” he stammered as he tried to explain the nervous mess in his heart. “I just… I just… earlier I—”
“I didn’t say anything to that girl,” Fu Yan explained with a cold face. “I only asked if she had hot water.”
“???” Jiang Xinghuai blinked in confusion.
“I won’t talk to her again.” Fu Yan looked straight at him without saying anything else, then gave a low, solemn assurance: “Really.”
“Sir, the hot water you asked for.” The girl appeared at the doorway with a kettle in her hand.
“Thank you.” Fu Yan turned and took it from her.
When he turned back again: “…………”
