âYou two carry on, carry on.â
Liu Manman awkwardly smiled at Jiang Mubai and Ren Nanying as she pulled Liu Yingtong back into the kitchen and closed the door on her way in. Though, the door didnât close fully, and a tiny gap remained for Liu Manman to peek through.
Liu Yingtong couldnât move with her hand being held, so she simply stood there with an idle expression. As for Jun Zishu, she remained standing in place, an inexplicably profound expression on her face.
Meanwhile, Xu Qiu and Lin Su also quietly joined the three girls by the door, eager to listen in on the potentially interesting conversation.
When Chen Beimo saw the group of girls standing by the door, he pondered for a moment before walking over as well. After all, since everyone was doing it,
âWhat exactly do you want to say to me?â Ren Nanying asked in annoyance while massaging the bridge of her nose.
All of the doors in the corridor were closed, so ventilation here was terrible. The smell that the row of zombie corpses emanated was originally plenty terrible already. Now that there was a dissected zombie corpse here as well, the smell grew even more terrible.
âYou know I like you, right?â
âI know.â
âYouâve never liked me, have you?â
âYeah.â
âI havenât done anything to hurt you, have I?â
âNo,â Ren Nanying answered curtly.
In fact, not only did Jiang Mubai not hurt her, but he even treated her very well.
However, feelings couldnât be forced. Ren Nanying didnât have an ounce of romantic feelings for Jiang Mubai, so she would never accept his advances.
âMy main goal is to survive right now. My answer will not change.â
âDo you really not like me even at the slightest?â
âOnly to the point of being friends,â Ren Nanying stated. Then, she looked Jiang Mubai in the eye and asked, âWhat do you think of Jun Zishu? Do you think she is excellent?â
Immediately, everyone behind the kitchen door turned to look at Jun Zishu. Jun Zishu was also a little dazed, not expecting her name to come up in this situation.
âI think so,â Jiang Mubai answered as objectively as possible. Not only did Jun Zishu have a beautiful appearance and an excellent figure, but she was also exceptionally talented at dancing. She even had a relatively good character on top of that. Overall, she was an outstanding girl.
âWhy donât you like her, then?â
âBecause I⦠Because I like you.â
âIf I wasnât in the picture, would you have liked her?â
âI donât know.â
âBut you do know that things such as feelings cannot be forced, right? If I donât like someone, then I donât like someone. Iâm not rejecting you because of someone else. Iâm rejecting you because it is you,â Ren Nanying bluntly stated.
The air suddenly went silent for a moment. Then, Jiang Mubaiâs clenched fists loosened.
âCan we be friends, then?â
âOf course.â
Honestly, Ren Nanying couldnât understand how anyone could possibly bear to reject a person as excellent as Jun Zishu. Moreover, it was under a situation where Jun Zishu was the one making the advances. How could Jiang Mubai not like her? How could he bear to reject her?
âIs there anything else?â Ren Nanying asked.
âI want to know how exactly did you two meet and how did your relationship suddenly get better?â Jiang Mubai asked. He had honestly been shocked down to his core when he saw Jun Zishu and Ren Nanying getting along with each other.
To be honest, Jiang Mubai disliked seeing the two of them together. He kept getting a strange feeling whenever he saw the two of them together. However, he also understood that what they did was none of his business, and he had no qualifications to question their actions.
âWeâve known each other for over a decade, and we got to test our relationship during this adversity,â Ren Nanying answered, sighing as a regretful feeling appeared in her heart. She truly regretted that she didnât try to improve her relationship with Jun Zishu sooner. She couldnât believe she had pretended to be strangers with such a cute and wonderful girl in the past. âThatâs all you want to ask, right? Letâs go back inside, then.â
When Ren Nanying walked back to the kitchen door and opened it, she heard a bunch of exclamations coming from behind the door.
âAhahaha⦠You two are done already?â
Liu Manman scratched her forehead and let out an embarrassed laugh.
âWere all of you eavesdropping just now?â Jiang Mubai asked as he scanned the crowd gathered behind the kitchen door.
In response, Jiang Mubai rubbed his nose awkwardly while everyone else revealed strange smiles.
âCome here. Letâs go to bed; Iâm feeling a little sleepy,â Jun Zishu said as she beckoned at Ren Nanying, to which Ren Nanying responded by walking over to her immediately.
âWhy are there quilts in the kitchen?â Liu Yingtong asked. Although she had already noticed these quilts since the beginning, she never found the right time to ask.
âYou wonât believe how we got these. Zishu and Nanying risked their lives just to get these two quilts for us,â Liu Manman proudly stated.
Subsequently, Liu Manman began narrating Jun Zishu and Ren Nanyingâs glorious deeds since the apocalypse began to Liu Yingtong, making sure to put extra care in boasting about Jun Zishuâs actions. Lin Su and Xu Qiu also chimed in from time to time.
âYou have no idea how calm our goddess is. When we first learned about the apocalypse, she slept on her bed as if it had nothing to do with her. Afterward, she had us take inventory of our supplies, went out to fight zombies and fetch water for us, and told us what we should do to survive. When we were fleeing to the food court, she also protected us the entire way, downing zombies with precision one after another.â
âThings werenât as exaggerated as they make it sound. Also, they were very brave as well,â Jun Zishu said to Liu Yingtong while massaging her forehead. Even she couldnât help but feel a little embarrassed after being talked about in such a way. Not to mention, part of why she could perform so well was because of the cheat abilities she had.
Meanwhile, Little Fairy couldnât help but puff up her little chest after getting praised.
âSo, all of you were just hiding in your room doing nothing the first few days?â Chen Beimo asked, a hint of envy in his voice. He had been in class when the apocalypse started, so his experience had been terrible since the beginning.
âWho said so? All of us have been doing a very important thing!â Liu Manman stated.
âWhat were you doing?â Chen Beimo asked, hoping to get an answer that could soothe his envious heart.
âStudying!â
Xu Qiu: Studying makes us happy!
Liu Manman: Studying makes us calm!
Lin Su: Studying lifts our spirits!
Chen Beimo: Ha?
Jiang Mubai: Ha?
At this moment, even Liu Yingtong couldnât help but be a little stunned. Wasnât this group of people a little too amazing?
Chen Beimo: You guys actually had the mood to study under those circumstances?
Lin Su: The problem is that we didnât have anything else to do but to study. Itâs a pity I didnât bring my Band 8 books with me.
Chen Beimo: Are you an English major, Miss Warrior?
Lin Su: Thatâs right. Iâm still preparing for my listening test.
Liu Manman: Speaking of which, I havenât finished memorizing my test highlights yet.
Xu Qiu: Iâm already sick of studying all the test highlights.
Ren Nanying: You three should just get used to it. These people are all sick in the head.
Jiang Mubai: Understood, understood.
After letting go of his feelings from the bottom of his heart, Jiang Mubai started viewing the things around him differently, and he couldnât help but smile as he listened in on the girlsâ merry conversation.
âDid you guys take the risk to come to the food court because you ran out of food?â
âThatâs right. Our food ran out sooner than expected since we saved a girl. She didnât come with us, though, since she felt that we were committing suicide by trying to come here. But we didnât have any better choice since our dorm was already out of food. We wouldâve just starved to death if we stayed,â Liu Manman said, shrugging. Had Wu Zi been willing to come to the food court with them, she wouldâve had food to eat for many more days.
âEveryone has their own lives to live,â Xu Qiu said.
âThatâs true.â
âWe only have two quilts here. What should we do?â Lin Su asked as she looked at Jun Zishu. There were now eight of them here, so these two quilts definitely werenât enough for everyone to sleep on.
âWeâll forgo the blankets and use them to cover the floor, then. Weâll just hug each other for warmth.â
âOkay.â
After using the blankets to cover the floor, they finally had enough space for all eight of them to sleep on. The two boys were assigned to sleep on the far side, and the two slept while hugging to keep each other warm.
Jun Zishu and Ren Nanying slept on the other end of their makeshift bed. Jun Zishu slept on the outermost side, and she slept sideways as she embedded her body into Ren Nanyingâs embrace.
As for the remaining four, Xu Qiu got together with Lin Su, while Liu Manman pulled her new friend into an embrace.
âActually, Iâm not too comfortable with other people holding meâ¦â Liu Yingtong said, her body stiffening slightly at the close physical contact.
âNo problem. If you donât like others hugging you, you can hug me instead. Itâs the same thing, anyway,â Liu Manman said as she pulled Liu Yingtongâs hands and placed them on her waist.
The light could give people a sense of safety. Everyone hoped that the lights would remain on all the time, so nobody went to turn off the lights. The electricity here did not cut off at night, so they could keep the lights on throughout the night.
âWill it be uncomfortable for you if I sleep like this?â Jun Zishu asked in a whisper as she leaned into Ren Nanyingâs chest.
âIt wonât,â Ren Nanying answered as she embraced Jun Zishuâs waist and closed her eyes.
âGood, then.â
Initially, even though everyone was sleeping while embracing each other, they had consciously put some distance between each other. However, after they fell asleep, the cold temperature at night caused their bodies to subconsciously seek out the heat source closest to them.
For example, Jun Zishu had, at some point, turned around and curled up in Ren Nanyingâs embrace. Meanwhile, Ren Nanying felt an inexplicable sense of fullness when she embraced Jun Zishu, feeling as if she was hugging the entire world in her arms.
â¦
The next morning, Jun Zishu was the first person to wake up. When she woke up, her movements woke up Ren Nanying as well, the latter sitting up and rubbing her drowsy eyes while inspecting her surroundings.
Xu Qiu and Lin Su had relatively good sleeping postures, and the two remained cuddled together like last night.
Liu Manmanâs sleeping posture was a little wilder, and she had practically wrapped her body around Liu Yingtong like an octopus. In response, Liu Yingtong had hugged Liu Manmanâs arm like a bolster. Overall, though, the two of them looked like they had a good sleep.
Chen Beimoâs sleeping posture rivaled Liu Manmanâs, and he wrapped himself around Jiang Mubai, treating the latter like a large bolster.
Seeing as everyone else was still asleep, Jun Zishu and Ren Nanying quietly walked into the corridor, crossed the row of zombies, and freshened up in the toilet.
âWhat are we going to do next?â Ren Nanying asked, worrying about the future.
âWeâll deal with things one step at a time. We donât have any other options than to wait,â Jun Zishu said. She might be immune to the zombie virus thanks to one of her cheat abilities, but she wasnât immune to death. If she had to face a large group of zombies, she would still be put in a bind.
Not to mention, there were zombies both inside and outside of campus. Even if they managed to flee from the university, where could they possibly go outside?
Hence, other than waiting to be rescued and struggling to survive, there was nothing else they could do.
âWill help really come?â
âIt will. It definitely will. The country will not abandon its citizens. Not to mention, this disaster isnât limited to just us, but the entire human race. We must believe that humans will prevail against these monsters.â
Afterward, Jun Zishu and Ren Nanying walked out of the toilet and returned to the corridor.
âLook,â Jun Zishu said as she pointed at the row of zombies. âIf even we can deal with these monsters, thereâs no reason why other people canât. Moreover, we were only using a bunch of fruit knives and kitchen knives, whereas the country has significantly stronger weapons. There is no way we will lose to these monsters.â
âMhm.â
When the two returned to the kitchen, everyone else had already woken up, their bodies brimming with vitality.
Sunlight was also seeping in through the window, warming and brightening up the kitchen.