RIACMET chapter 43

 

Jiang Nian had long since discovered that when a serious man falls in love, it’s honestly a little scary.

Cheng Jing stared at him quietly for a while, then leaned down and hugged him tightly.

“In the past, just being with you made me feel worried and restless. Now that the world has ended, be good and give me a sense of security.”

He buried his head in Jiang Nian’s shoulder, looking somewhat lost.

“Uh… I didn’t even do anything. It was the pretty girl who came on to you first…”

Jiang Nian felt helpless. He reflected on himself and found nothing wrong.

In all fairness, he had strictly followed the unspoken guy code.

But Cheng Jing kept pressing him.

“Still, I feel like you’ve been colder to me lately…”

“No, no, stop saying nonsense!”

Jiang Nian denied it three times in a row. Then, he entered emo panic mode and gently tried to comfort Cheng Jing:

“Brother Jing, if I’ve done something wrong, just tell me. I’ll change.”

He simply couldn’t handle his boyfriend being both clingy and coquetish. Naturally, he had to coax him. Ugh, good-looking men can really do anything!

“…”

Cheng Jing said nothing, just quietly hugging him tighter.

The mood seemed serious, and Jiang Nian started to panic. He continued to coax him softly.

“Really, I’ll definitely change!”

Meanwhile, he racked his brain.

What exactly did I do wrong lately?

“Really?”

Cheng Jing finally spoke up, still looking upset.

Jiang Nian nodded solemnly and placed a hand over his chest as if taking a vow.

“Really! I promise!”

Cheng Jing straightened up and stared at him.

“Then let me do it two more times tonight. You’ve been busy lately, and we’ve grown distant. First, you limited how many times a week, and now you’re trying to control how long? That’s emotional abuse! You have to change!”

Ever since Jiang Nian joined them, he has been under Cheng Jing’s “sanctions.”

“…”

A crack appeared in Jiang Nian’s serious expression. His previous panic and worry vanished instantly. His previous panic and worry disappeared in an instant.

So all that emotional turmoil was just about this?

Talk about making a mountain out of a molehill—he seriously wanted to strangle this guy!

Fuming, he raised his hand to choke the man on top of him. However, Cheng Jing caught his wrist and pinned it to the back of the sofa above his head. He continued his “grievance filing”:

“You said before that you couldn’t get enough of me—now you’re already bored?”

“I…”

Jiang Nian was half mad and half amused. In the end, he turned his face away and muttered,

“Fine, fine, I’ll change. Happy now?”

But someone still wasn’t satisfied.

“What’s with that tone? You sound so reluctant.”

“I…it’s not reluctant!”

Jiang Nian finally lost his patience.

All right, you want to play dirty? Let’s play dirty!”

He used the grip on his wrist to push himself up, leaned forward, and kissed him.

“Brother Jing, I was wrong. I’ll change, okay? You can do whatever you want with me in the future.”

Flirting? Who can’t flirt?

As expected, Cheng Jing immediately let him go. His gloomy face brightened like sunshine after rain, and he bent down to kiss him back.

“Okay.”

“… ”

In the end, Jiang Nian was pinned down completely, and the two of them rolled around in a blissful little “release” before finally getting up to eat dinner.

While eating, Jiang Nian earnestly looked at his man and gently reminded him,

“Brother Jing, if something’s bothering you, just say it straight. Don’t beat around the bush. I might not understand your cryptic riddles.”

Why are good-looking, serious men so dumb in love?

He tries to play tricks on others, acting like a child. Unbelievable.

“Okay.”

Cheng Jing nodded, picked out a braised chicken drumstick, and placed it in his bowl.

“Eat more.”

After that, he put down his chopsticks and started peeling shrimp for Brother Jing, too.

“Thanks, Brother Jing.”

Jiang Nian calmly accepted the food. After all, this man would certainly expect payment for his loving service tonight.

Tomorrow, he would stay home and look after Xiaoya while letting Sister Qian go out for the day.

It was early February now—more than five months since the apocalypse began.

Since the extreme cold started, the central satellite broadcasts had reported on zombie waves and cold weather disasters, reminding people across the country to take safety precautions.

Today, they finally broadcasted something new: updates from the apocalypse bases.

Apparently, apocalypse bases had been established across the country. Although they were led by official military forces and many superpowers were involved, the rules and leadership structures varied from base to base.

Some were under local government jurisdiction, some were under military control, and some were run primarily by those with powers.

Regardless of who was in charge, all bases were actively rescuing and welcoming survivors nationwide.

If a distress signal was confirmed as viable, rescue teams were dispatched from the bases to find survivors.

Otherwise, survivors capable of traveling on their own could navigate to the bases using the provided satellite coordinates.

Several days of nonstop satellite broadcasts reignited hope in many despairing hearts. After all, hope gives people the will to survive.

Jiang Nian told Cheng Jing that the weather would gradually warm up by early March.

The base rescue teams were expected to depart around mid-March, using distress signals from different cities to guide their missions.

In that case, they only had to endure one more month to make it through the extreme winter.

Everyone was thrilled by the news. After dinner, Jiang Nian pulled out a map.

Using the coordinates of the apocalypse bases announced by the satellite broadcasts, they marked the locations on a map. Then, they began discussing which base to head toward.

They had two modified vehicles with enough fuel for ten people and all their supplies.

Once the weather began to thaw, they would set out right away. Otherwise, once the snow melted completely and the zombies emerged, traveling would become much more difficult.

The sooner they arrived at a base, the better. Resources dwindled quickly, and even a superpower would be treated differently if they arrived late.

With a strong team like theirs, arriving early would help them quickly gain a foothold.

In any case, the local Qingyun officials and Zhou Li wouldn’t stop them.

Due to different personal circumstances, not everyone was heading to the same base. The authorities had already started asking the resettled survivors in the Western District to start planning and preparing.

No one voiced a strong opinion about which base to choose. Everyone was simply waiting for Cheng Jing and Jiang Nian to decide, as if they were the two father figures of the group.

Currently, excluding those still under construction, there were only about 300 bases of various sizes nationwide. The three closest to Qingyun City were:

L Base, K Base, and Nancheng Base.

L Base is government-run. Under current conditions, it would take about a week to reach it from Qingyun City if everything went smoothly.

Base K was jointly managed by officials and ability users. It usually took between 10 days and half a month to reach.

Only four bases in the entire country were fully military-run. Nancheng Base was one of them, along with the North, West, and East City Bases.

Of the three nearby bases, Nancheng was the farthest; it would take about 20 days to reach it.

Bases farther away weren’t even up for consideration.

Of course, these time estimates were based on everything going smoothly. If not, who knew what might happen? They might never arrive.