Chapter 47

Gong Yuanhang had taken the army to search the northern suburbs. Although he hadn't found Gong Lixin, he still managed to rescue forty or fifty survivors. The boot camp, which could accommodate 20,000 people, now had 1,500 people living in it. Before, it was relatively empty but now, it has become quite a bit populated.

On the following day, Gong Yuanhang came to the logistics department and watched the survivors come and go as they received a package of daily necessities. Everyone's faces were full of joy and gratitude to the army. His sense of responsibility as a soldier became firmer. He had to hurry as there must still be a lot of survivors waiting to be rescued in the city. [1]

"Old Lin, you've worked hard." Sending away the last batch of survivors, Gong Yuanghang said so to Lin Mao who was in charge of logistics.

"It's nothing. As long as it can help everyone, it's worth it. During the apocalypse, we should unite, watch each other's back, and help each other. Just like during the ancient ice age, humans would cuddle together to keep each other warm. Like this, our bloodline will continue." Lin Mao exclaimed.

"That's true!" Gong Yuanhang strongly felt the same way and nodded, adding: "So for the next two months, we should hurry and conduct thorough search and rescue missions in the city and bring back all survivors. Once the zombies evolve, it will be too late to go out and rescue them."

"Dad, if we save so many people, where will we come up with spare supplies?" Gong Xiangyi was also responsible for logistics. When she heard Father Gong's words, she immediately opposed it. "With the help of the army, instead of rushing in to save people, it's better to collect more materials before zombies evolve. There are two medium-sized grain processing factories in the Eastern District. We could send people out to retrieve them."

Father Gong and Old Lin frowned. When Gong Xiangyi spoke, she would always pick materials over anything else. Father Gong really didn't understand why she was so obsessed with materials, just like Ou Nini? Greed, except for money, one of the seven sins taking human form?

After a moment of silence, Lin Mao had a sudden flash of thought and he spoke openly. "Speaking of materials, I thought of something. Xiangyi, I will take back the materials Wenbo left in your space. The base has just been established so we will use our own strength. In addition, the base will continue to increase in population. In the future, people will not always take things out of thin air, and other space abilities will appear as well. Sooner or later, outsiders will no doubt find out your ability, making it extremely unfavorable."

Father Gong agreed and nodded. Gong Xiangyi frowned, somewhat unwilling, but she was shocked in hearing Lin Mao's last sentence.

People still didn't know that space ability users were the most special kind of ability users. They had a black nucleus in their head, just like a zombie. This was because space ability users needed to have a carrier to support the additional mental energy. If a space ability user was killed and the nucleus taken out of their head, another space ability user could import their space and materials and make it their own. But if it fell into other ability user's hands, the crystal nucleus just becomes inert like a dead object.

After this secret was discovered, the space ability users were hunting not only space zombies, but also their same kind. The reason why Gong Xiangyi's space was so huge was that she had acquired several similar crystal nuclei. If her ability was exposed, it would definitely put her in danger's way in the future.

With this in mind, Gong Xiangyi no longer hesitated and immediately agreed.

"I deliberately left a lot of empty boxes in the Kyushu warehouse. You'll take a trip with me tomorrow and fill them up. I'll send them back two days later." Lin Mao smiled openly. He knew that as long as this matter included her own interest, Gong Xiangyi would have no reason to disagree. This woman had 'cold' and 'selfish' engraved into her bones.

Reaching a consensus, Lin Mao's heart felt a lot easier. There was a bit of gratitude in Gong Xiangyi's expression, thinking that in the future, she must cover up her own space ability.

Father Gong didn't notice the different thoughts of the two people. [2] Seeing that it was getting late, he got up and smiled while he said: "Let's go. I'll invite Xiaoxin's friends to lunch at noon today. We'll go together to meet his friends.

Two smiled sincerely, and one smiled reluctantly, but all promised to come down.

***

Opening his eyes in the morning, Song Haoran suddenly saw Gong Lixin's pure and gentle sleeping face up close. He actually took such a long time to wake up. He tightened his arms around the child's waist and fixed his gaze on the boy's soft outline. He didn't dare move away for even a moment, afraid of never seeing this again.

Gong Lixin felt his burning gaze and woke up from his sleep, and Song Haoran retreated his unnatural gaze. If Gong Lixin wakes up every morning, it was better if it's beside him. The thought crossed Song Haoran's mind, and his handsome face showed a pleasant smile.

When the two men washed up, they went to the military after eating a simple breakfast and checked the situation of the army. Gong Lixin knew nothing about military affairs. He didn't understand anything and, even after Song Haoran and Lin Wenbo explained, question marks continued to float in his head.

Lin Wenbo saw this and found it quite funny. He ignored Song Haoran's unwillingness and made a remark to let him go free. Seeing the child's smile before he ran to Chao He, the building they lived in, Song Haoran's expression became dark, making a group of people tremble in sorrow. Lin Wenbo's character was more restrained, and thus he was able to cover up his unpleasant emotions with a gentle smile.

With a good rescue plan, Song Haoran and Lin Wenbo looked at each other and found that it was lunch time. They immediately dismissed the officers and went to find the child to dine with.

The two hadn't reached He Jin's room yet when they heard what Lu Yun was saying from the hallway. When they were close enough to the source of the sound, they could only hear the end of a sentence: "–don't think I can't recognize you just because you've curled your hair."

After another two steps, there was a sudden sound of 'giggles' in the room from an unspeakable crisp and pleasant voice which was enough to make their ears melt.

Song Haoran and Lin Wenbo stopped in their tracks, both of them holding a strange look in their eyes before their cores trembled. This was Xiao Lixin's laughter! Although they had not heard it, they would never mistake it for someone else's. Right then, they realized that even though they had seen Lixin smile, they've never seen or heard Xiao Lixin laugh and laughing out loud at that!

It seems that having several playmates of his age was a necessity and made him more cheerful. At the same time, their impression of Lu Yun became better. If he could make the child of their family laugh, then Lu Yun was good for something.

The two walked a few more steps before they stood in the doorway and looked inside.

Lu Yun had just finished telling his old-fashioned joke. When he saw Brother He give him an approving look, he felt a surge of motivation and told another joke of the same genre. He wanted to introduce Young Master Gong to some modern jokes, but the young master didn't understand any of it…Rather than that, he preferred hearing jokes about emotional turmoil between Baozi (meat/beg buns), Mantou (buns with no fillings), Youtiao (fried breadsticks, Jiaozi (dumplings), and Huajing (flower well?). He only understood these types of jokes. Upon hearing other jokes, he'd give Lu Yun a blank stare which made Lu Yun feel as if he was speaking some alien language.

Lu Yun fluttered and dance while secretly lamenting over Young Master Gong's innocence.

He Jin smiled as he placed a hand on Gong Lixin's shoulder, the latter leaning forward and back. He Jin's expression was especially gentle that even the knife scar on his forehead seemed less evident. He had been very dissatisfied with Lu Yun's recent behavior. He had planned to find time to correct him, but he could make the child happy and had a very compassionate heart.

Staring at the hand He Jin had placed on the child's shoulder, Song Haoran's expression darkened. He didn't care anymore if he interrupted the child's happy laughter. He knocked on the door and walked into the room without waiting for the owner of the room to speak.

"It's almost twelve o'clock. It's time for lunch. Uncle Gong is holding a banquet in the reception room on the first floor. Please come down to eat." Song Haoran politely recited as he pulled Gong Lixin up, intimately wrapping his arms around the boy. He didn't realize at all how strange his movement seemed due to his strong desire.

In the next second, He Jin's gentle face turned cold and hard. His pupils dilated, lips thinned into a tight line, and his strong body tightened up.

"Lixin should be hungry, let's go down." Lin Wenbo leaned on the door and smiled as he spoke to Gong Lixin, ignoring the hostility that was gathering in Song Haoran's and He Jin's eyes.

"Let's go." He Jin didn't want the child to go hungry. Moreover, he didn't have the chance to take back the child into his arms. He dispersed the wind around his body before walking towards the door. Lu Yun and Wu Ming quickly followed and dared not speak. They could feel how extremely gloomy He Jin was after returning last night. It was hard to recover his mood, so the two men weren't happy.

"What about Wang Tao and the others?" After walking two steps, Gong Lixin tugged Song Haoran's sleeves and asked.

"I've already sent people to inform them. They're probably waiting in the reception room," Song Haoran, who didn't care about these trivial things, opened his mouth but couldn't answer. Thus, Lin Wenbo took two steps to join them and answered Gong Lixin while patting his head.

Gong Lixin smiled at Lin Wenbo and stared into the other man's eyes. Song Haoran felt a little uncomfortable in his heart. He made up his mind to keep track of all things involving the child in the future and even make sure that arrangements were properly done.

Seeing Gong Lixin, who was guarded by Lin Wenbo and Song Haoran in the middle, He Jin squinted his eyes and stepped up right next to them. The scene stabbed his eyes, making it somewhat difficult to breathe. The feeling was too inexplicable, but he didn't want anyone to find out about his strange behavior.

On the first floor reception room, when Gong Xiangyi, Lin Mao, and Gong Yuanhang arrived, Wang Tao, Gu Nan, Ma Jun, Da Liu, the Ling sisters, and Sun Tiantian had also arrived and were sitting in their respective positions.

Gong Yuanhang and Lin Mao greeted them kindly and asked about their situation at the same time. Although the two old people had held high positions for a long time, their personalities remained extremely approachable. This allowed Wang Tao and the others, who were still nervous and restrained, to quickly relax, making the atmosphere around the table very harmonious.

Gong Xiangyi sat with an expressionless face as she swept across the so-called "Friends of Gong Lixin" with judging eyes, secretly sneering. There were no familiar faces, no familiar names, which meant that these people were merely insignificant people with insignificant power. In the future, one didn't know whether they would die without putting up much of a fight. There was no need to make trouble now.

With such a thought, the expression on her face became more twisted, her attitude becoming extremely cold. The Ling sister who sat beside her felt very uncomfortable.

At this time, the door of the reception room was pushed open and Lin Wenbo led inside a group of people. As he walked in, Song Haoran and Gong Lixin followed.

Seeing Gong Yuanhang in the main seat, He Jin's cool and handsome face slightly softened and he respectfully stepped forwards to say hello. When they came back with the child last night, he didn't want to disturb the family reunion, so he hadn't had the time to meet Gong Yuanhang.

Gong Yuanhang and Lin Mao got up and shook hands with him before they signaled him to sit down and dine. Many people were talking to one another so nobody noticed the sudden change of Gong Xiangyi's face.

When He Jin showed up, Gong Xiangyi's pupils dilated sharply. She quickly lowered her head and concealed her shocked expression. He Jin? How was He Jin here?! She balled her hand into a fist as an incredible tremor overtook her.

[1] CrazedCookies: TT_TT Papa Gong, so generous! How did you bear such a daughter!

[2] CrazedCookies: Papa Gong, the true white lotus!