PSW - Chapter 60
Chapter 60
The Pujie border.
"Let's go to Chuanyang." Before the apocalypse, Chuanyang was a famous coastal tourist city. Although she didn't know what it had become… surely some of its pre-apocalyptic beauty remained?
Zheng Yi took the map and glanced at the cities between Pujie and Chuanyang before replying, "Okay. We'll go through Hangnu, then Huikong and Zhongshan."
Looking at the map, the journey from Pujie to Chuanyang wasn't actually that far. Before the apocalypse, if you drove through three stretches of highway without stopping or hitting traffic, you could get there in about sixteen hours.
But Zheng Yi was in no hurry. She cared more about the journey than the destination. That was why she'd pointed out the cities they would pass through and had no intention of taking the highways. A detour was just a detour; they didn't even need to take turns driving day and night. They would check gas stations for supplies as they passed, but it didn't matter if they came up empty.
These cities… perhaps shelters had been established in them. They might be small organizations of people banding together for survival, or survivor camps like the one Li Yunhan had been in. They could also be "concentration camps" like the one run by that scumbag Yang Zhengming. In any case, where there were cities, there were survivors. And where there were survivors…
…she was bound to run into a few believers.
"Okay." Yu Yinan clearly understood Zheng Yi's intentions and agreed.
The weather was clear and sunny. With the windows down and the car picking up speed, a pleasant breeze poured in, blowing away the subtle stuffiness.
An occasional glance out the window revealed a lush, verdant landscape. As long as one ignored the overturned trash cans, the bodies on the ground, and the wrecked cars in the middle of the road, the apocalypse was actually quite beautiful.
As Yu Yinan drove past the cars scattered haphazardly along the roadside, she couldn't help but glance at them. These cars… maybe they still have some gas in their tanks? She didn't know if they'd been there since the beginning of the apocalypse, but what if?
But she didn't say anything or ask Zheng Yi; she just kept the thought to herself. Zheng Yi clearly didn't care about such things. More importantly… Yu Yinan stole a glance at Zheng Yi in the rearview mirror. Though she couldn't see her completely, she could tell that Zheng Yi was in a good mood—or at least very relaxed.
She didn't want to break the pleasant atmosphere.
After driving for two hours and passing through various intersections, Yu Yinan had only seen two zombies and hadn't noticed any signs of them being cleared out by ability users.
Zheng Yi casually shot an ice shard out the window, piercing the head of a wandering zombie. She leaned back in the passenger seat and mentally asked Zero One, "In the original novel, after the second great rain, did the intelligence of zombies, mutated beasts, and mutated plants increase, causing them to gather in groups?"
[Huh?] Zero One was stunned for a moment before realizing Zheng Yi wasn't just reciting the plot but asking a question. It suppressed its discomfort and quickly scanned the original novel, then suddenly fell silent.
[…After the second great rain, the male and female leads… uh, met the supporting male and female characters… and, um, formed an apocalypse survival squad. Yes, with added elements of mutual jealousy… It focused heavily on their feelings and entanglements, and, ahem, some rather old-fashioned romantic drama and… forced scenarios that would definitely get censored…] Zero One stammered as it flipped through descriptions in the original novel that would be blocked if spoken aloud. It couldn't help but marvel at how risqué the poorly-ended novel was.
Ah, it was probably related to the more open creative environment when the author was writing back then.
'?'
[…The original novel didn't specify the changes,] Zero One stated helplessly. [But the first great rain brought enhancements, and the second one greatly helped ability users. If the other mutated creatures could also endure the intense pain, it's not impossible that their intelligence would awaken.]
[The original novel described the male and female leads encountering high-level zombies that could command ordinary ones in the later stages… well, before it went off the rails. That high-level zombie could even launch a zombie horde. I imagine it's the same for mutated beasts and plants.]
Domination, mobilization, command?
The apocalypse really had given all living beings a chance.
"Let's rest here." Yu Yinan had been driving for a long time, and they'd found nothing after winding through several streets in Hangnu. There was no need to force the issue; Zheng Yi hadn't left Pujie with any particular goal in mind anyway.
What kind of goal could she have? She was just looking for some fun.
"You must be tired. Let's rest and get something to eat," Zheng Yi said in a gentle, soothing tone. As expected, Yu Yinan obediently slowed down and stopped in front of a closed dumpling restaurant. Zheng Yi pushed open her door and got out, then suddenly turned back to look at Yu Yinan. "Jiejie?"
Yu Yinan's hand trembled as she pulled out the key. She looked up in a fluster to see Zheng Yi giving her a sweet smile, her dark eyes full of life and curving like crescent moons. Zheng Yi then turned, closed the car door, and walked toward the dumpling restaurant. The slight sway of her long ponytail as she turned swung right into Yu Yinan's heart.
"…" Yu Yinan slapped a hand to her face. She buried her face in her palms and sighed deeply, trying to suppress the fluttering in her heart. After composing herself slightly, she finally pulled out the key, got out, and locked the car.
It's an act. It's an act. It's fake.
But, but…
After Zheng Yi had confessed and dropped her disguise, even if she was deliberately teasing her just to see her get flustered… she was still willing to put on the act sometimes.
No, calm down, deep breaths… Yu Yinan tried to stop herself from overthinking things, but a pink blush still crept up the tips of her ears, spread across her cheeks, and even tinged her neck.
She was a fire ability user; in the winter, she could raise her body temperature to warm others. So why couldn't she make it drop quickly now?
A fire ability user shouldn't only be able to start fires but not put them out. It made no sense.
While Yu Yinan was still struggling to calm down and cool off, Zheng Yi, having had her fun, quickly broke the lock on the dumpling restaurant with her bare hands and pushed open the dusty glass door.
The inside of the restaurant was filthy, but that was no problem for a water ability user. Zheng Yi used her power, controlling streams of water to scrub every corner. Finally, she gathered all the dust and grime into a single ball and tossed it outside.
[Why must you tease her again?] Zero One sounded conflicted. Didn't Zheng Yi say she wouldn't treat Yu Yinan like a dog anymore? Yu Yinan had finally come to her senses a bit and wasn't so unhinged… well, maybe she was still a little unhinged, but compared to Zheng Yi, she was practically normal now!
'Isn't her reaction amusing?'
[…] Of course it was amusing. It was even… cute. Zero One never imagined that after knowing Zheng Yi's true nature for so long, after seeing how she "delivered" people and made them offer up their faith, Yu Yinan would still fall for her act.
You can't step in the same river twice, but Yu Yinan could fall into Zheng Yi's trap again and again.
Zero One was speechless. But, but… [Playing with someone's feelings isn't very nice… It's not about being a Saint or not, it's just that… Yu Yinan is a little too gullible, don't you think?]
How to put it… after watching for so long, Zero One had started to feel a sort of pitying affection for Yu Yinan.
While Zero One was still carefully choosing its words, Zheng Yi paid its rambling no mind. She finished cleaning the restaurant until it was spotless, then went to the trunk of the car to get pots, bowls, and pans. When Yu Yinan saw her come out, she forgot all about composing herself and rushed over to help.
"Should we steam some rice or have noodles?"
"This is a dumpling restaurant, so let's have dumplings." Zheng Yi hadn't purchased any frozen dumplings, but the system store sold them. They came in bags of thirty for one Saint Point each, with a choice of flavors.
"Dumplings?" Yu Yinan paused for a moment, then realized it must be something from Zheng Yi's ability. She didn't press further. "Okay. Are they freshly made or frozen?"
"Frozen." Zheng Yi couldn't be bothered to waste time making them from scratch. She glanced at the system store and, remembering that Yu Yinan had contributed thirty Saint Points this month, she asked, "What flavor do you like? Anything you can't eat?"
"No, I'll have whatever you're having. I'm not a picky eater."
'Zero One?'
Although Zheng Yi had only said its name, Zero One somehow knew what she was asking. It thought for a moment before making a careful suggestion: [I recommend the pork with pickled cabbage and the beef with green onion. The dumplings in our store are completely different from the frozen ones sold by humans. The texture is first-rate, and even the meat fillings have no strange aftertaste.]
[Of course, if you don't care for meat, the chive and egg is a classic choice, and the shepherd's purse flavor is also quite good. The assorted mushroom filling is all about that savory umami flavor—it's made with dozens of carefully selected mushrooms. One bite and the juices burst out; it's so delicious you could die.]
'Oh?' Zheng Yi's thoughts took a dark turn. 'So if I give them to someone and their tongue doesn't fall off, does that mean I have to go collect it myself?'
Zero One was speechless and didn't know how to respond. It could only say helplessly, […If you're in a good mood, go tease Yu Yinan. Please don't tease me.]
Zheng Yi bought the pork with pickled cabbage, beef with green onion, and assorted mushroom dumplings—ninety in total. They were much larger than ordinary frozen dumplings, with thin skins and generous fillings that gave each one a plump, round belly. When Zheng Yi took out the three bags, Yu Yinan worried they might burst when boiled.
Zheng Yi put a pot of water on to boil and quickly mixed up a dipping sauce, giving a portion to Yu Yinan.
"How many can you eat in one sitting?"
Yu Yinan could normally eat about twenty ordinary frozen dumplings in one sitting. But since these were almost twice the size, she thought for a moment before answering, "Twelve?"
"Then you'll have fifteen." Zheng Yi dropped ten of each flavor into the pot, then put the rest back in their bags and sealed them with her ice ability.
But what if she couldn't finish them? Wouldn't that be a waste? She had no idea what it cost Zheng Yi to get them. Yu Yinan bit her lip, troubled. Staring at the boiling pot, she had another thought: if she couldn't finish them now, she could always save them for later. With her ability, heating up a few dumplings would be a piece of cake.
This was the apocalypse, after all. Ordinary people didn't even have the chance to eat cold dumplings.
The plump dumplings bobbed in the boiling water. After just a moment with the lid on, they floated to the surface, looking even rounder and whiter.
The dumpling skins were so thin that once cooked, the different colors of the fillings were visible, making it easy to tell them apart. Zheng Yi scooped them into a bowl, giving Yu Yinan five of each kind, and handed it to her along with a pair of chopsticks. "Go on, eat."
Yu Yinan took the bowl with both hands but didn't start eating right away. She just held the bowl, her eyes fixed on Zheng Yi. She didn't watch her scoop out the rest of the dumplings; she simply gazed at Zheng Yi's profile.
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