Chapter 100: Apocalypse 15

Chapter 3

For the sake of food, Li Ziqing believed she could afford to lose face.

She pulled out a pair of chopsticks straight from her pocket and reached directly for the cured meat in the pot.

Ke Yuandao’s eyes were sharp and his hands quicker; he intercepted her.

Li Ziqing: “...”

“Is it necessary to be so stingy? It’s just a piece of meat. And to think I just went through the trouble of chasing down a weirdo for it.”

“Weirdo?”

Li Ziqing nodded, then slyly reached out her chopsticks again but was stopped once more. She immediately snapped, “Give me the meat, then I’ll tell you.”

Ke Yuandao: “...”

After a moment’s thought, he picked out the smallest piece of cured meat from the pot and handed it to her.

Li Ziqing was speechless again, muttering, “Such a miser.”

“What kind of weirdo?” Ke Yuandao asked, unfazed.

Li Ziqing explained, “I saw him emerge from behind that building, heading out of the base. I chased after him and got caught. He seems to be a very strong man, but he’s not interested in joining my team.”

Ke Yuandao glanced toward the building she pointed to—it was the same one from which Le Yixian had just come out.

Suddenly realizing something, he turned his gaze toward Le Yixian, who was happily eating across from him. Noticing his look, Le Yixian raised her head with a puzzled expression.

Ke Yuandao lowered his eyes slightly, clenching his fists.

He had already sensed something was off when helping Xia Meimei bandage her wound.

The injury was on the outside of the hand, with large bite marks—not something Le Yixian could have caused herself.

Her earlier excuse that she was afraid to scream and attract zombies was a lie.

Li Ziqing noticed Ke Yuandao lost in thought and quietly reached for another piece of meat.

Suddenly, lightning flashed, and Li Ziqing felt her entire hand go numb. The meat on her chopsticks slipped back into the pot as she shivered.

At that moment, the atmosphere around Ke Yuandao turned ominously tense.

Seeing this, she wisely decided to slip away before he was struck by lightning.

Ke Yuandao fixed his gaze steadily on Le Yixian’s face, lips pressed tight. Anyone could tell he was displeased.

Le Yixian remained unfazed, continuing to eat heartily.

Ke Yuandao then glared at Li Ziqing, who showed no reaction and kept eating.

Ke Yuandao grit his teeth in frustration, “Why aren’t you eating the meat?”

Le Yixian blinked, “I am eating.”

“No, eat more—make up for the meat you lost from your hand wound.” Ke Yuandao said as he fervently piled meat into her bowl until it formed a small mountain.

Le Yixian glanced at the pot, now mostly noodles, and asked, “What are you eating then?”

“I don’t like meat.” Ke Yuandao twisted his mouth. “I found this cured meat in the base’s kitchen but who knows how long it’s been there. I’m not eating it.”

Le Yixian smiled and transferred some meat from her bowl to his. “I can’t finish it all. Help me out, won’t you~”

The trailing tone of “won’t you” made Ke Yuandao’s heart flutter slightly, easing his earlier tension.

He replied with a troubled expression, “Alright, I’ll help you eat a little.”

Nearby, Li Ziqing quietly turned her face away to avoid the dazzling scene.

After Ke Yuandao and Le Yixian finished all the noodles in the pot, Le Yixian recalled Ke Yuandao’s earlier mood and asked, “What was wrong with you just now?”

“What was wrong?” Ke Yuandao immediately remembered Li Ziqing’s words and fixed his gaze on Le Yixian’s wound, asking softly, “When did this injury get better?”

Le Yixian: “Huh???”

“It’s nothing.” Ke Yuandao glared at her and then stood to arrange personnel for the night patrol.

Night had already fallen. Fortunately, the base had dormitories with iron-frame beds. Although the bedding was covered in dust, the people, accustomed to the hardships of the apocalypse, didn’t fuss over such things. They simply took the blankets and sheets to the corridor, gave them a good shake, and put them back.

It was a rare luxury to sleep on a bed, and the psychics gradually drifted into sleep.

Le Yixian, reluctant to lie on the musty blanket, moved it aside and slept directly on the bed frame, soon falling into a deep sleep.

Because she had been treating the overuse of psychic abilities in those bitten by zombies, everyone arranged for her to share a room with Li Ziqing to allow better rest and continued treatment the next day.

Li Ziqing, who had been lying in bed, suddenly opened her eyes wide, tiptoed to the door, and whispered, “Who’s there?”

“It’s me.” A low voice came from outside—Ke Yuandao.

Li Ziqing opened the door and saw Ke Yuandao holding a blanket.

She: ...

Alright, she understood.

She stepped back a few steps to let him in.

Ke Yuandao nodded slightly to her, softened his footsteps, and entered.

He saw Le Yixian sleeping soundly on the bed frame and then glanced at the blanket moved aside. He muttered softly, “So delicate.”

Then he bent down and covered Le Yixian with the blanket he was holding.

Li Ziqing remained expressionless, her heart numb, silently thinking as she watched his retreating figure: If she’s so delicate, it’s because you spoiled her.

After covering her with the blanket, Ke Yuandao turned and left; he had to patrol the early night shift.

Passing by the base’s kitchen, he heard noises inside.

“What do you mean by this?? Betraying me after all I’ve done?” a woman’s angry voice rang out.

“What betrayal? Isn’t it you who’s been using your sister to deceive me?” a man’s cold voice responded.

Xia Linlin felt guilty, biting her lip with a wavering gaze. “I didn’t.”

“Didn’t?” Lin Jingyu didn’t want to waste more words on her. “Who didn’t see those pink bubbles around Meimei and Ke Yuandao this evening?”

At this, Xia Linlin’s eyes flashed with anger, her nails digging into her skin. “Well, once you return to the base and propose to marry Meimei to your father, he won’t refuse.”

The Lin family held great influence in the base. Surely, the father wouldn’t reject such an alliance.

“You don’t need to say that.” Lin Jingyu sneered.

At first, he had just found it novel that someone like Xia Meimei could remain so beautiful in the apocalypse and had entertained himself with her out of boredom.

But unexpectedly, Xia Meimei awakened a healing psychic power, able to treat those bitten by zombies—a miraculous ability.

If such power were controlled, the entire base would be under the Lin family’s absolute command.

Xia Linlin, however, failed to grasp the importance of Meimei’s power. Such a simple-minded woman was better off uncooperative.

As their conversation neared its end, Ke Yuandao’s expression outside remained inscrutable.

The next morning.

Le Yixian noticed the clean blanket covering her and learned from Li Ziqing it was Ke Yuandao who had brought it. She smiled internally, thinking her little darling was truly soft-hearted.

Just as she stepped outside, someone stopped her.

Lin Jingyu greeted her with a smile, “Meimei, good morning.”

Le Yixian nodded, “Morning.”

“Want to have breakfast together?”

“No thanks.” Le Yixian declined directly, “My darling gets jealous easily.”