Chapter 27

Warning: Running food commentary by AutumnBreeze

Just as He Jin and Gong Lixin were finished eating their slice of cake, Wu Ming and the others burst into the restaurant with a few bags of food. They exclaimed in surprise when they saw the bodies which were scattered carelessly on the ground, their anxiousness immediately disappearing.

"Such a good smell!" When he was hungry, Lu Yun's nose was more sensitive than a dog's. He immediately smelled the sweet scent of cake amidst the smell of blood.

"Wow! There's cake, egg tart, milk, coffee, chicken wings, and hamburgers here! So much delicious food!" Lu Yun's eyes brightened and his mouth flooded with drool upon seeing all the food stashed in the fresh-keeping cabinets and the warming cabinet,. He usually didn't look at such cheap fast food items but they were extremely attractive at this moment.

"Stop gawking, hurry up and pack!" He Jin yelled as he took out a tray meant to hold cakes from the counter and placed all the cakes Gong Lixin had his eyes on onto the tray.

Wu Ming, Lu Yun, and Wang Tao didn't need to be told twice. They pulled out all the to-go bags from behind the counter and swept away all the food in the store into the bags. Wu Ming took away the good-looking knives from the kitchen. [1]

When the five people returned outside with fragrant cakes in their hands, Gu Nan and Ma Jun had already returned to the unfinished building. They had opened a few bags of biscuits to eat. They were not appetizing but they didn't dare take the risk of searching for something better. They had taken some light food and a few bottles of mineral water before they hurried back. [2]

When they saw the other five returning with bags filled to the brim, their envy could not be hidden.

Gong Lixin and his group sat in their own corner, their entire group barely able to restrain themselves from tearing open the paper bags that held the food. The rich smell of roast chicken wings and sweet cakes filled the main hall of the first floor. The homeless man, Gu Nan, and Ma Jun all gulped. [3]

"Here, you wanted to eat spicy chicken wings!" He Jin handed over the bag of tightly wrapped chicken wings to Gong Lixin.

"Thank you, Big Brother!" Gong Lixin's round cat eyes curved into crescents as he smiled. He immediately took the paper bag, opened it, and took out a chicken wing to eat. Gong Lixin couldn't care less about manners right now. He was too hungry. As he ate, he caught up with Lu Yun and Wang Tao.

"Eat slowly! Here, have some milk. You are still growing and need your calcium." [4] He Jin thought that even though the child was young, he would still have to go through all kinds of hardships in the near future. He put the straw into the milk carton and didn't say anything since he was still exhausted.

"Hn, you eat too, Big Brother He." Gong Lixin took the carton of milk and slurped loudly, showing a happy expression as he glanced at He Jin with gratefulness.

Seeing the child eating with such joy and happiness, He Jin also smiled slightly. The soreness around his heart eased. He picked up a hamburger and began eating as well. [5]

Surprised, Wu Ming stared at the two with wide eyes. He had never seen He Jin take such care of a person. However, with all the food in front of him, he quickly forgot the abnormalities in He Jin's behaviour.

The homeless man who'd long been hungry in his own corner salivated as he watched the others eat delicious food. He hesitated for a while before he slowly leaned towards the five people.

He Jin gave him a cold glare and said, "It's now the apocalypse so everyone has to take care of themselves. Who gave you food before this? Even if we gave you food once or twice, when we leave, won't you just starve to death while waiting here?"

The homeless man hesitated as he stood in the same place but did not dare approach again. In the end, he was afraid of how strong these people were.

"You can go out to find food yourself. Those zombies look terrible but in fact, their reaction time is slow. After you kill one or two, you will get used to it." Lu Yun shared his experience with a calm voice. [6]

Gong Lixin ate the chicken wings and didn't pay any attention to the homeless man's approaching them. Whenever Gong Lixin wanted something, he could only fight for it or trade for it since Xiao Lin would only give it to him in exchange for his hard work. Thus the concept of equivalent exchange was deeply ingrained in his mind. What others did to or for him, he will return in kind. He would return kindness with kindness but the homeless man had yet to show him such kindness.

In short, he mostly depended on his intuition but still had his own set of unique principles. It was this contradictory temperament of his that gave him a unique charm. According to him, the homeless man didn't pay so naturally, he wouldn't share his food with him. There was nothing wrong with He Jin's rejection.

Wang Tao, on the other hand, was more soft-hearted [7] and wanted to share his food with the homeless. However, when he saw everyone's indifferent attitude towards, he didn’t share his food with the homeless man.

The homeless man stepped back and turned to Gu Nan and Ma Jun, his eyes begging the pair after seeing that there was no hope for food from the large group.

"Scram!" Ma Jun yelled, picking up his Tang blade and drawing two strikes in front of the other man. They had been afraid of being attacked so they were only able to take a few things with them. Going out was risky and they could have been killed at any time. Because of that, they had to conserve what they had for two or three days. Naturally, they wouldn't give any to the homeless man.

The hope in the beggar's eyes died. He squatted down in his corner, wrapping his arms around his waist and squeezing tightly in an attempt to suppress his hunger. In the apocalypse, people like him who had no strength or courage could only do one thing: wait for death. It was very sad but it was the harsh reality that one had to face in this cruel world.

Gu Nan and Ma Jun quickly finished eating two boxes of biscuits. They were reluctant but they put the rest away and carefully moved it to a corner. They stayed near the wall as they stared blankly around the room, not knowing what tomorrow will bring. Perhaps this was the perfect embodiment of the expression "the dawn knows not what the dusk brings".

In the other corner, Wu Ming saw that the food from the big bag was close to being finished. He took another unopened big bag and smiled as he said: "We passed by a military costume store and thought that with everyone running about all day and getting all dirty, we could all use a change of clothes. Thus I took a few sets."

As he said this, he untied the bag and distributed the clothes. "These three sets are for me, He Jin, and Wang Tao. The two black T-shirts are for Young Master Lu and Young Master Gong. I didn't get the military uniforms for Young Master Lu and Young Master Gong since all the uniforms were too big. If you had put them on, it would affect your movements. Wear these for the time being and you can replace them with better ones later on."

The three teenagers' eyes brightened as they took the clothes handed to them, looking at the clothes as if they were valuable gifts.

"The water pipes aren't laid out in the building so you can't take a bath. There are some clean towels though, one for each person. Wipe your sweat and change your clothes so it will be more comfortable for you when resting at night." Wu Ming instantly turned into a babysitter as he eagerly took care of them. In the seven or eight years he'd served in the military, he trained daily, even after entering starting to serve Young Master Lu. Due to this, he always considered everything happening around him and adjusted accordingly.

Everyone agreed and took a towel to wipe their sweat. When they were put away, the white towels had turned gray. Of course, this happened to everyone's except Young Master Gong's.

"Change your clothes and take a break. The zombies are still evolving. They are more flexible than they were in the morning so we can't be careless at night. We have to take turns keeping watch during that time. Does anybody object?" asked He Jin after he and the others had wiped their sweat.

"No objections." Everyone shook their heads.

"That’s good. Wu Ming, Lu Yun, and Wang Tao will take the first half of the night. I will take the second half of the night with Lixin. Any objections?" He Jin looked at everyone.

"Brother He, I'll stay up with you for the second half of the night. Let Young Master Gong take the first half." Wu Ming said. "It's a little uncomfortable to wake up in the middle of the night. I used to have the midnight shift so I can still sleep well but Young Master Gong is still a child and needs more rest."

"No, it doesn't matter to me if I stay up alone all night." Gong Lixin shook his head and refused. His internal force didn't stop running through his Dantian so his energy was endless. He would be well-rested after only meditating an hour or two.

"If you're alone at night, then what will the rest of us do?" He Jin saw Gong Lixin frown and a smile spread across his face. This child was really too sincere, he was quite easy to like. After Lu Yun and Wang Tao heard those words, the pair was deeply touched!

"Yeah, yeah, Young Master Gong. Keeping guard by yourself, do you think that this Lu Yun is useless?" Lu Yun said with dissatisfaction. [8]

"Boss, I can also stay up alone all night. You just sleep." Wang Tao scratched his head and stupidly smiled but the sincerity in his words could not be faked.

"Enough, stop with the nonsense. You keep watch for the first half of the night and Lixin and I will take the second shift," He Jin said with impatience. He arranged Gong Lixin to stand guard with him but did not really intend for the boy to keep watch during the second half of the night. He Jin was enough for that and the child could sleep peacefully.

No one had any objections this time and picked up their new clothes and put them on. He Jin and Wu Ming got changed the fastest. It only took them ten seconds to change into the military uniform costume, making it also seem like they were used to it. [9]

The clothes were all the same. The left side of the pure black short-sleeved T-shirt had "Flying Tigers" printed on it in small letters, while the bottom were gray-green camouflage pants.

Wu Ming used himself as a standard so the clothes fit him well. Not only was he strong but he was also very tall. His early career as a mercenary made it so that he had to train his muscles, making them sturdy and consequently making the black T-shirt stretch. The muscles in his arms, chest, and abdomen were clearly defined through the black fabric, revealing an amazingly explosive body. [10]

Wang Tao and Lu Yun took a look at the inverted triangle body before quickly changing clothes so that the others in front wouldn't see their bodies. Although Wang Tao was in the school's basketball team, he was still a high school student so he didn't train that much. There was still some fat in his arms and abdomen. Not to mention, there was also Lu Yun who looked like a pale fat chicken. [11]

As for Gong Lixin, there was no such thoughts. He took off his clothes to reveal his pale white upper body [12] and picked up the black T-shirt. Over the past year, these solid-colored T-shirts with a round neck had gotten both positive and negative remarks. He had often gotten teased by his father for them.

The child's skin was white and radiant, almost like the highest quality jade. He was thin but not lanky. There was some fat but he was not obese. It was perfectly balanced. The light blue jeans hadn't been tightened with a belt and the loose waistline revealed the border of his underwear. The temptation the sight brought could not be put into words.

With the teenager's delicate appearance and his current state of dress, the boy attracted everyone's attention. He Jin, who had always been calm and self-controlled, stared at the teenager. He Jin felt a dryness in his mouth as his throat tightened uncontrollably. An uncomfortable feeling surged within him.

"Young Master Gong, your face and skin is more delicate than the girls I've dated! And you're not even a woman!" Lu Yun teasingly said over Gong Lixin's shoulder, smiling as he moved his hands up the front of Gong Lixin's chest. [13]

Seeing his wretched move, He Jin instantly snapped out of his strange daze. He licked his lip and quickly pulled the two apart with a cold expression on his face.

"Taking so long to wear clothes, give it here, I'll help." His voice was slightly hoarse and he didn't dare look at the young pink and white tender body. [14] He just took the clothes from the boy's hand and quickly pulled it over the other's head.

"It's big." Seeing the teenager's skin covered with cloth, He Jin subconsciously felt relieved. He then commented on the T-shirt reaching the teenager's knees and creating a funny image.

"It's okay, it's very comfortable to wear." [15] Gong Lixin swayed his arms up and down and smiled. He looked at the other in front of him, feeling nostalgic at the situation [16] and praised the other, "These clothes make Big Brother He look very handsome! As handsome as Big Brother Song!" He Jin subconsciously felt somewhat happy at the child's words of praise but then he wrinkled his brows at the mention of this 'Big Brother Song'. The child wasn't seeing in him this so-called 'Big Brother Song', right? He felt doubt in his heart and his mood sank.

However, He Jin's expression had always been cold so no one noticed this abnormality. Now, with their bodies feeling refreshed, everyone put the dirty clothes on the floor to serve as a mattress and lay down to rest. Wu Ming, Wang Tao, and Lu Yun took turns to look outside to see if any zombies were climbing over the wall.

As Gu Nan and Ma Jun saw that someone was already keeping watch at night, they did not take the initiative to offer their help and fell asleep instead.

[1] AutumnBreeze: Whutchu gonna do with those knives? S&M ? :DDDDDD

[2] AutumnBreeze: Please eat all your perishables as quickly as possible. Don’t want that food to go to waste drools

[3] AutumnBreeze: gulps I want some too. I don’t get fat from eating a lot of food anyway.

[4] AutumnBreeze: Oh Look! My hubbie is becoming smothering Gong Lixin like a mother hen!

[5] AutumnBreeze: You would think that they would know better than to eat so unhealthily… but hey…. they exercise more than this potato… and they won’t get such tasty food in the future! ;-; How will they live? (I certainly can’t because this potato needs flavour in me life)

[6] CrazedCookies: Awws, Young Master Lu is growing up~

Autumn Breeze: Autumn nods. Gong Lixin will have one more reliable person in his cult in the future.

[7] Wuxian: Awws, Young Master Lu is growing up~

[8] AutumnBreeze: Yes, yes I do… I find you very useless… for now. Unless you show me even more improvement, then you’ll forever be useless in ma heart.

[9] AutumnBreeze: nosebleeds. damn #no care for modesty at all.

[10] Wuxian: does anybody have a visual on how amazingly explosive said body is because we all need one for science.

[11] Editor’s note: (An image for readers) A person that doesn’t exercise at all, is pretty fat, and stays indoor everyday.

[12] AutumnBreeze: What hacks did you use to prevent yourself from being tanned, Gong Lixin-sama? After training with Lin Wenbo and the others, you are still as pale as an uncooked chicken. ;-; How…?

[13] Wuxian: Hello? Police? Anyone? I’m reporting a harassment case.

[14] Wuxian: why is this description reminiscent of young piglets….

[15] AutumnBreeze: BIG SHIRTS ARE THE BEST.

[16] Translator's Note: Song Haoran also dressed him up at the beginning (Chapter 3)