WS - Chapter 141

Chapter 141

Over the seven years of the apocalypse, Song Shiyue had faced many life-threatening choices. Fortunately, her choices were never bad, and by luck, she now lay here safely, rather than having her soul scattered during those seven years.

But now the question was, would the goddess of luck continue to favor her this time?

Should she speak up in time to stop it, or pretend she hadn't woken up...

Back when her consciousness couldn't control her body and she could only feel, the sensations were already very clear and intense.

But now, at a time like this, when her consciousness connected to her body, the feeling seemed to be even more...

Although from the previous two times, each period of wakefulness had been very brief, and she shouldn't waste time pretending to sleep.

But... if she opened her eyes now, it would be way too awkward...

The director team's temporary bathroom had no roof, and was just surrounded by a shed made of tent fabric.

Perhaps it was just her imagination, but Song Shiyue felt that the places on her body that had been wiped with warm water just now were a little chilly.

Especially...

What was that saying again... "wind makes something cool"...

Anyway, things had already come to this point. Might as well... mmm... wait until this part was over before waking up, to reduce the awkwardness.

But Song Shiyue's thinking was still too simple.

At the start, when Yu Nianbing had just reached that spot, Song Shiyue happened to wake up. After a moment's reaction, it was already a little too late.

The towel was already pressed against her, and she could even feel the strength of the other's fingers. Song Shiyue really couldn't open her eyes at a moment that felt practically like being...

As a result, she hesitated, waited, and that whole session passed.

But before Song Shiyue could calm her racing heart, Yu Nianbing, who had wrung out the towel in the basin, actually pressed it against her again.

Song Shiyue: "!!!"

What was going on? Once a day had become twice a day, and one pass had become two passes!

She probably hadn't been this clean since she stopped wearing diapers!

Yu Nianbing was hardly some sort of female thug; doing this kind of thing, her embarrassment was no less than Song Shiyue's.

But after that wipe just now, she felt the water temperature seemed to be cooling down.

Things were already like this—it would be more troublesome if she caught a chill. Yu Nianbing endured her embarrassment and resumed work.

Song Shiyue really couldn't take it anymore.

Yu Nianbing was extremely meticulous in everything she did, so meticulous that Song Shiyue was finding it hard to handle.

This over and over...

Song Shiyue felt she was about to reach her limit.

Thinking this, Song Shiyue even felt a little sorry for Yu Nianbing. Here she was, working so hard to care for a vegetable, and she herself was having an inappropriate reaction...

The towel was once again pressed against her and began to move around, but Song Shiyue could no longer keep up the pretense.

"Cough..." Song Shiyue opened her eyes and gave a light cough, but subconsciously wanted to raise her hand to grab the clothes beside her.

This small sound was the noise Yu Nianbing had been waiting for all day. She was jolted by the sound, immediately looked at Song Shiyue's face, and for a moment even forgot to withdraw the hand holding the towel from that area.

What a fatal choice—only when Song Shiyue opened her eyes did she realize, from her vantage point, what an imaginatively suggestive, decadent scene it was.

As their eyes met and both simultaneously realized the current situation, it was as if a thunderbolt struck them both, leaving their minds blank for an instant.

Song Shiyue did react a bit faster, quickly trying to close her legs.

But what use was a quick reaction in consciousness?

Her legs simply wouldn't move.

It was those hands that had moved early but then stiffened halfway through, barely managing to get a slight grip on the edge of her clothes.

But... she didn't even have the strength to properly pick up the clothes and cover herself.

Logically speaking, on the first day she could only move her mouth, on the second day she could turn her head, and on the third day her hands could barely move clumsily—she was getting better day by day, the improvement visible to the naked eye. Song Shiyue, who had thought she was done for, should be at least grateful for this speed of recovery, if not satisfied.

But, faced with this awkward in-between situation, Song Shiyue really... couldn't care less about the degree of recovery.

On the other hand, Yu Nianbing, whose reaction was half a beat slower, quickly threw the towel back into the water with her head down, then swiftly dressed Song Shiyue more or less properly, turned around, and ran out of the shed.

Yeah, running away was good too.

This time was so awkward—Song Shiyue actually wanted to run as well, but her weak, chicken-like body just couldn't.

Clearly there had been so many things Song Shiyue wanted to say during the day, but now...

All that remained in Song Shiyue's mind was the splash of water that had splattered onto Yu Nianbing's face when she hurriedly threw the towel into the basin, and which hadn't been wiped off...

Really...

The person had been embarrassed into running off, and Song Shiyue began to hope that this period of wakefulness would start its countdown soon.

But Yu Nianbing's running seemed different from what Song Shiyue had imagined.

Soon, hurried footsteps approached from outside the shed.

"You still had one mouthful of this porridge left from yesterday. I added a bit of hot water," Yu Nianbing said as she ran into the shed with a gust of night wind. Without waiting to catch her breath, she put down several boxes and began opening the spoon.

The familiar supporting posture, the familiar feeding speed—Song Shiyue tried her best to start drinking.

Song Shiyue had heard everything during the morning—when Feng Qianqian had repeatedly refused Ning Chuyang's offers.

Just like the injured Feng Qianqian couldn't stand up to Ning Chuyang, Song Shiyue, whose body still couldn't move for the most part, definitely couldn't resist Yu Nianbing's persistence.

Since Yu Nianbing and the others had already decided to stay and advance or retreat together, Song Shiyue wouldn't be fussy and go on a hunger strike now.

Moreover, during the previous two times she was awake—the first time she only drank some water, and Song Shiyue didn't feel it much; the second time she drank almost an entire bowl of dried scallop and spare rib congee. Although there was neither the normal metabolic waste after eating, nor did it turn into strength like before, Song Shiyue clearly felt that the hole in that proverbial balloon seemed to have gotten smaller.

Song Shiyue had never understood why her strength was leaking away, but the most likely cause was the Yaoxing Storm at that time on that day. Now the Yaoxing Storm had ended, and although it was said the aftereffects were still present, the food she ate no longer seemed to just leak away without replenishing, as it had when she ate while saving people in the cave.

The tear through which strength leaked was only so big; after that bowl of congee went down, it patched up a bit.

Then could Song Shiyue allow herself to hope a little that if she ate enough, that leak in her strength might be patched up?

And after that, would the food she ate be able to turn into her strength again, just like during the previous seven years?

Of course... it would also be fine not to aspire to recover her strength-type ability. As long as she could stand up like a normal person and move around, if they could carry one, the team could keep moving forward.

So, even though her body still remembered the lingering sensations from before, and the image of that splashed drop still lingered in her mind, Song Shiyue cooperatively swallowed mouthful after mouthful of the slightly thinned congee.

The two mouthfuls of dried scallop and spare rib congee left at the bottom of the bowl from the previous day were soon finished, even with the added water.

Yu Nianbing switched porridge bowls more deftly than a restaurant worker. Before the savory flavor in Song Shiyue's mouth had even faded, a sweet bite of eight-treasure porridge was soon stuffed in.

From how Yu Nianbing almost always timed the spoonfuls perfectly, one could see she was racing against time.

And in fact, Yu Nianbing was indeed trying to make up for the time she had lost by spacing out and running back and forth.

The wristband was broken, so they could only estimate time by the sky. At night without light, it was even harder to estimate.

But Yu Nianbing had a feeling that the length of time Song Shiyue was awake these three times was probably about the same.

Yu Nianbing deeply regretted that, even though she knew Song Shiyue had woken up in the middle of the night both times, she hadn't brought the porridge bowls inside.

Especially since, after the delay, she had still managed to feed her the last two mouthfuls of dried scallop and spare rib congee, and almost half a bowl of eight-treasure porridge, and Song Shiyue was actually still awake—it really made Yu Nianbing have to consider that Song Shiyue's extended wakefulness was due to the bowl of congee from last night.

"Let me ask you... mmm. If I'm right, say 'mmm.' If wrong, don't say anything. Don't waste time eating. Is it that the more you eat now, the longer you can stay awake?" Yu Nianbing thought for a moment, then asked in a low voice, but the spoon in her hand didn't stop at all.

Song Shiyue hadn't thought she could keep it from Yu Nianbing. After all, Yu Nianbing was with her almost all day; she ate and drank, and though there was no elimination, this abnormality couldn't be hidden.

"Mmm." Song Shiyue made a sound between swallowing congee and accepting the next spoonful.

"Anything to eat is fine, as long as it's edible?" Yu Nianbing asked again.

"Mmm." Song Shiyue made another sound.

"Do you know how long this kind of situation..." Just as Yu Nianbing was about to ask if she knew how long this situation would last, she heard footsteps outside the shed.

"Teacher Yu, is it convenient for me, Teacher Zhuang, and Feng Qianqian to come in?" Ning Chuyang called out from outside.

"..." Yu Nianbing stuffed a big spoonful of eight-treasure porridge into Song Shiyue's mouth, glanced at her clothes which were now properly arranged, and raised her voice a little: "Come in."

All three were coming in, and Yu Nianbing didn't know what for, but right now nothing was more important than continuing to let Song Shiyue eat. Still, there were only so many people in camp; unless necessary, Yu Nianbing didn't want to refuse them on the first day.

Soon Ning Chuyang came in holding a bedsheet and spread it on the ground. Behind her, Zhuang Jiachuan, carrying Feng Qianqian, also entered. Unlike Ning Chuyang, Zhuang Jiachuan almost looked straight ahead, placed Feng Qianqian on the bedsheet, then turned and left without even glancing at Yu Nianbing and Song Shiyue.

"I didn't expect Teacher Zhuang to be so old-fashioned. Since we were allowed in, it must be fine," Ning Chuyang said with a laugh, then looked at the force-feeding duo. "You two keep eating, don't mind us. I just brought Feng Qianqian here to have a look, so she doesn't still have any expectations of Teacher Yu's gentle feeding."

"..." Yu Nianbing glanced at Ning Chuyang in her spare moment, having absolutely no idea what she was talking about.

Song Shiyue, however, roughly guessed what Ning Chuyang meant, but precisely because of that, she really didn't want to give them a single glance. Seriously, describing it in words was already bad enough—did they really need to bring her over to watch it in person? How infuriating...

Indeed, neither Yu Nianbing nor Song Shiyue paid any attention to the other two.

Ning Chuyang, however, squatted down beside Feng Qianqian, adjusted her position slightly so Feng Qianqian, who was leaning against a pillar, could directly face the force-feeding duo, and said in a low voice: "This evening, when you called for Teacher Yu, were you planning to repeat what you said to me this morning? It seems you didn't believe me. Well, see for yourself—the person you're seeking help from force-feeds even faster than me, and is even more cold and ruthless. Are you sure you want to switch to Teacher Yu to feed you?"

The law of the jungle was just this cold.

Feng Qianqian, with a broken leg and absolutely no strength support, had no rights at all like this; when Ning Chuyang said she'd bring her over to watch, the next moment she was here.

After Ning Chuyang had fed her a combined breakfast and lunch, Feng Qianqian had dozed off a bit at noon and helped out in the afternoon. By evening, the fence was almost done, but when Ning Chuyang brought over the small boxed meal, Feng Qianqian again refused to eat.

The morning's meal could be considered repaid by offering ideas and stripping bark for work.

How could she keep eating more after that...

Besides... those three people had done such heavy labor all day, only eating a few sticks of soaked jerky. How could Feng Qianqian sit there with a clear conscience, eating soft congee and a well-balanced meal with meat and vegetables?

Ning Chuyang was so stubborn that there was no reasoning with her, so Feng Qianqian thought she'd talk to Yu Nianbing. Who knew that the moment she called out, Ning Chuyang stuffed her mouth with the boxed meal... Having eaten the meal, she was now brought over to watch a live force-feeding... really...

Fine...

It seemed Yu Nianbing's movements were indeed more practiced, ruthless, and aggressive.

Feng Qianqian watched as one fed rapidly, and the other chewed casually before desperately straining her neck to swallow... unconsciously her own mouth made empty chewing motions, and she calculated Song Shiyue's frequency.

Very soon, only admiration remained.

Feng Qianqian, still not understanding that these two needed to race against time, was thus smoothly fooled by Ning Chuyang and never again brought up wanting to speak with Yu Nianbing alone.

However, fooling people was a matter of fate.

Some people could be fooled easily and it passed; others were like dried-up chewing gum—no matter how you tried to fool them, it wouldn't work, and it took great effort to scrape it off.

On Beichen Planet, from what looked like a dead-end alley, a somewhat withered man in his fifties or sixties staggered out.

The man walked on the late-night street, his wrist empty, an imprint remaining where his StarNet port should have been. His steps were unsteady, his eyes rimmed with dark circles, his nose sniffing from time to time, and upon closer inspection, one could see a faint trace of blue in his pupils...

If someone in the know saw him, they'd recognize at a glance that he had been kicked out of some Blue House because he couldn't afford his next fix and was about to go into withdrawal. Looking at his wrist, he might have already given away his StarNet port for someone to use in the black-market trade.

In the StarNet era, a StarNet port was roughly equivalent, in Song Shiyue's time, to an ID card, plus bank cards, plus Alipay, plus computers and phones... basically combining everything that could be combined.

If he had reached the point of pawning even that, this person was probably at the end of his rope, with only a few days left.

But this man didn't think so.

What he needed to do now was find somewhere with people, borrow a StarNet port, and find his good daughter again.

That good daughter who always responded to his requests.

On the darkened long street, a glimmer of light in the distance seemed to be an open-air barbecue joint; a large projection screen outside appeared to be playing some video or movie.

The man wiped his nose and quickened his pace.

But what the man didn't notice was that even though he wanted to walk faster, his gait remained slow and unsteady, sway, sway...

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