CH 19

Under Lu Qiming's coercion, Jiang Miaomiao had a short meeting with him to figure out what to look for next.

The former made a list according to their lives' needs.

"The above four items must be completed this month, to ensure the quality and safety of life in the future. Of course, if you think of other things, you can also look for them together. In short, the more the better."

Lu Qiming handed her the notebook, raising his eyebrows.

"Is there anything else you want to add?"

Jiang Miaomiao looked at the book and sighed, the corners of her mouth were almost drooping to her chin.

As if it wasn't a list written on it, but her terminal illness diagnosis.

Lu Qiming asked, "What's wrong? It's good to have air conditioning and vegetables to eat."

"Of course it's a good thing, but..."

She didn't say anything further, she knew she was too morose.

It was just that she’s so tired.

So many things to do. It's exhausting just to think about it. When she looked for something near the zombies, she was also very uncomfortable, and every time she passed by, she was afraid.

She finally took a good shower today, and her body was fragrant. But tomorrow she will have to smear blood on her body again when she goes out to work, and then her clean clothes will be scrapped again.

God, can't you let me live comfortably for two more days?

"Nothing, go to sleep. I will work with you tomorrow."

Jiang Miaomiao especially moved the phone computer and other things to another room away from herself, so as not to sleep at night with an itchy heart.*

T/N: 心痒痒 (idiom): an urge to do something

After she finished that, she went back to the small room and got ready to sleep.

Lu Qiming saw her in a daze, remembered something, and went to the living room.

When he came back, he had two cups in his hand, and she could smell the sweet aroma from a long distance.

"Drink it, warm up your body."

He handed her one of the cups, with three words printed on the cup - Xiang Piao Piao.*

T/N: 香飘飘: a brand specializing in milk tea products

Jiang Miaomiao held the cup, the hot milk tea warmed her hands. She took a sip, the sweet taste penetrated her heart.

"Ah… "

She let out a comfortable sigh. "Milk tea saves my dog's life."*

T/N: 狗命 (metaphor): meaning fate or pathetic life

Lu Qiming rolled his eyes, took a pillow, and walked to the corner. After he sat down, he stretched his long arms, his fingers pressed the switch, and asked.

"Sleep? I turned off the lights."

Jiang Miaomiao looked confused. "You’ll sleep there?"

"Hmm."

"There's obviously room here."

She patted the fancy double mattress under her butt.

"It feels so good, it must be very comfortable to sleep on. You carried it back with your own hands."

Lu Qiming directly turned off the light and said in the darkness. "I have a bad backbone, not suitable for sleeping on a mattress."

"Really? Are you faking?"

"Sleep."

He finished talking and drank the milk tea without making a sound.

So hot, how can he drink… Jiang Miaomiao held the cup in surprise, opened the lid, and blew into it, and it took her nearly half an hour to drink the hot cup of milk tea.

For some reason, she was wide awake and had no desire to sleep at all.

She thought of his hard work moving the mattress today and hurting his wrists, but now he is lying and sleeping on the ground, she felt very sorry.

By the way, did he apply medicine to his hand?

Jiang Miaomiao didn't want to wake him up, so she crawled over gently, holding up his left hand and smelling it.

A strong smell of Yunnan Baiyao.*

T/N: 云南白药: Chinese medicine that specializes in the treatment of traumatic injuries and traumatic bleeding

Fortunately… she relaxed and silently returned to the mattress, tucking in all for sides of the quilt.

The quilt was silk, light, thin and warm.

The mattress was comfortable, the air was fresh, and the silk pajamas were so soft that you couldn’t feel them.

My hair was clean, my breath was fresh, and my stomach was full.

Everything was so beautiful.

Jiang Miaomiao closed her eyes happily, intending to sink into dreamland. It would be better to nibble on a big watermelon in her dreams. That would be satisfying.

It was just that the sleeping bug seemed to have abandoned her. A few minutes later, she opened her eyes, looked at the darkness, and said:

"Lu Qiming."

The response to her was a regular snoring sound.

She touched the empty seat beside her, thinking that no one should sleep wastefully. She sneaked to turn on the light and tried to carry him to the mattress.

The other side was nearly 1.9 meters and heavy like a small mountain. She exerted all her strength and couldn’t move a leg.

The man's low voice came from overhead.

"What do you want?"

She stopped awkwardly. "You didn't sleep."

"I'm not a pig. Even if I am a pig, I will wake up when I'm moved."

Lu Qiming's gaze was like a torch. "What on earth are you going to do?"

She scratched her ears in anxiety.

"I… I think it's a little cold sleeping alone, why don't you go up and sleep too."

He raised the corners of his mouth. "Are you afraid?"

Jiang Miaomiao claimed the good reason.

"Yes."

"Okay."

Lu Qiming took the pillow towards the mattress, laid down on the other half, covered his chest with the quilt, glanced at her, and said:

"Let's say up front, if you get horny in the middle of the night and put your hands on me, I won't be polite."

Jiang Miaomiao was so angry that he laughed.

"Do something to you? What do you think you are, bleh."

"I'm going to sleep next door."

He made a move to leave, she hurriedly turned off the light and called out in the darkness.

"No, no, no, no, lie down for me."

She said as she walked towards the mattress. She stumbled on something and fell straight to his chest.

"Ahem!" Lu Qiming was smashed so hard he saw stars, covering his chest and coughing, "So you are trying to murder me."

Jiang Miaomiao's cheeks were red and she crawled under the covers to lie down.

A bed quilt covered two people, they were so close that they felt each other’s body heat.

She closed her eyes and counted sheep, thinking she would have to toss and turn for a long time before she could sleep. Unexpectedly, the presence of Lu Qiming was like a topical sleeping pill, causing her to drift to sleep in no time.

In her dream, she did not eat watermelon but nibbled on a lot of chicken wings, but it was her favorite honey flavor.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Jiang Miaomiao woke up reluctantly. Her mouth seemed to have a lingering aroma, and she couldn't help but smack her lips.

Light bored in from under the doorway, she saw the figure lying beside her and pushed.

"Hey, wake up, get up and go to work."

Lu Qiming gave a muffled sound and did not move.

"Yesterday, you said I was salted fish, but today you are lazy, get up get up ah."

Jiang Miaomiao knelt on the mattress and shook him, vowing to shake him up, and was startled by inadvertently running her finger across his forehead.

"Why is your head so hot?"

Lu Qiming opened his eyes, his voice weak.

"I feel a little uncomfortable..."

His complexion was as if soaked in water, and his paleness was abnormal. Jiang Miaomiao put her palm on his forehead and felt it for a few seconds, panicking in her heart.

"You seem to be running a fever, ah, a cold?"

He shook his head, obviously not sure himself.

"I'll go see if there's any fever-reducing medicine. Wait for me."

Jiang Miaomiao flew downstairs, passing by the room of the small zombie, the other side heard her footsteps, desperately hitting the door with his head.

She kept walking and ran to the bag where the medicine was placed, lost in thought as she searched for it.

Lu Qiming was sick, what can be done?

If the medicine was not good, where can she find a doctor?

Besides, how could he be sick? He is obviously as strong as a cow.

Could it be that there was not enough water in the bath yesterday? Or… 

She thought of the zombie blood he applied to his body every day, and her heart thudded.

He couldn't have really been infected, right? It's over.

Jiang Miaomiao searched around, did not see the fever-reducing medicine, and had to take the anti-inflammatory medicine back, thinking to give medicine to a dead horse.*

T/N: 心想死马当活马医 (idiom): to keep trying everything in a desperate situation

When she walked into the room, she found that Lu Qiming's condition was even worse.

Lying softly under the covers, he looked like he was dying.

She panicked her nose sore, holding back her sobs as she poured him water and held up his head.

"Come on, take your medicine."

Lu Qiming obediently ate it, not three seconds later, and immediately he spits it out.

"I'm so uncomfortable… "

He opened his eyes, which were full of red blood.

Jiang Miaomiao was really close to tears.

"You wait, I'll go out and find you other medicine, you wait."

She wiped her tears and ran downstairs, took a knife from the side of the induction cooker, opened the door without saying a word, slashed several times on the legs of the small zombie, grabbed a handful of blood, and wiped it on her body.

The blood still smelt bad, and the howling of the little zombie made her ears go numb.

She couldn't care less, wiped from head to toe, and immediately got up and ran to the house across the street.

After searching for a long time, she found a white plastic medicine box with the Red Cross logo on it and opened it to look at it twice.

Not only was there a full range of common medicines, but there was even a thermometer.

Jiang Miaomiao hurriedly ran home, knelt down beside Lu Qiming, and took his temperature.

Didi - the beep sounded. The electronic thermometer showed a temperature: 41.5 ℃.

She bit her lower lip hard, gave him the medicine again, then hugged his hot head and cooled him with her cold hands.

Lu Qiming was dying, his breath was hot.

"What do you think will happen if I get infected?"

"If you are infected, you won't have any thoughts, and you still have to worry about what to do."

"I know, I'm asking you."

He smiled miserably. "Would you kill me? Or throw me out?"

The killing was impossible, she knew she didn't have the skills.

It was also difficult to drive out, could not fight, could not run, how could she drive him out?

Jiang Miaomiao touched his head, he probably cut his hair last night in the shower too, short and very solid.

"I'm not doing anything, raising you."

"Raise me? Not afraid of being bitten by me?"

"I will apply your blood every day, you can't recognize me." Jiang Miaomiao said, "When the time comes, I will release the small zombie. Let it go, just for you. You're so big, you can definitely provide blood for a long time."

He laughed bitterly. "It seems I have to ask you to act lightly in advance, at least leave me a whole body."

She grunted twice. "So ah, don't become a zombie, ok?"

Lu Qiming nodded his head. She didn’t know whether he fainted or fell asleep as he closed his eyes, and stopped talking.

Jiang Miaomiao followed what she’d seen on TV, wringing a cold towel for him, and covering his forehead. She wiped off the moisture from the corner of his eyes and went downstairs to turn on the induction cooker.

She wanted to cook some congee, people with a high fever needed to replenish their nutrition.

The nutrition of the congee was too simple, and something needed to be added.

Jiang Miaomiao went through every bag, selected bacon, sliced it, and threw it into the pot to cook.

Bacon could replenish salt and protein, but they have been eating it for more than a month. What was most lacking was not this, but vitamins.

She thought of the small medicine box, took it down, there were no vitamin C tablets, but she found a small bottle of oral cod liver oil.

She remembered the taste of cod liver oil, fishy and greasy, very difficult to drink. Even in an age when you could even gnaw your fingers, you had to pinch your nose to pour it down.

But now was a special time, she could only use it.

Jiang Miaomiao poured a whole bottle into the pot, and squatted next to it, anxiously waiting for the water to boil.

Half an hour later, the hot congee came out of the pot. She served a bowl and brought it upstairs, sitting next to the mattress and calling out to Lu Qiming.

"Wake up… dinner… wake up."

Lu Qiming's body burned, and his lips were dry and peeling. His original pale complexion was now flushed with an abnormal redness.

The cold towel was baked hot by his body heat, Jiang Miaomiao took it and drenched it with cold water, and came back to wipe his face.

The soft fabric slid over his skin, leaving a trail of water.

He sighed comfortably and grabbed her hand, refusing to let the coolness go.

She called softly again, "Wake up. Eat before you sleep."

Lu Qiming's dark eyelashes fluttered twice and he finally opened his eyes.

Jiang Miaomiao's heart was slightly happy and she brought the bowl over.

"Open your mouth."

He looked at her with unblinking eyes, as if he was very confused.

She was saddened to death inside, but forced a smile and scolded him as usual.

"What are you looking at? Burned into a fool, don't you recognize me?"

Lu Qiming laughed lightly. "Are you preparing to kick me out, so you cooked a special meal for me?"

"Yes, you have to eat enough, you won't be able to eat later."

He was still smiling, his eyes were more gentle than usual.

The spoon was passed to his lips, and he opened his mouth obediently. Only less than three seconds after the congee was poured, his face changed.

"...Did you poison it? So hard to drink..."

"Is it?"

She tasted it. The fishy smell of cod liver oil was most volatilized due to the high temperature, mixed with the salty smell of bacon, sweet or not. Not salty.

To sum it up in one sentence - way too hard to drink.

Jiang Miaomiao worked hard for a long time to swallow, and smiled reluctantly."The more bitter the medicine, the better it is. Good boy, drink it all."

Lu Qiming's fever was not so painful, looking at her pitifully.

"Can you change the bowl of white congee?"

"No, you have to replenish your nutrition."

"Can I just have a sip?"

"No, you'll die if you don't have enough strength."

… If he were not too weak to get up now, he would definitely prefer to rush out and be with the zombies, rather than stay here and suffer her destruction.

Under the coercion and lure of Jiang Miaomiao, he drank the whole bowl of porridge one mouthful after another, feeling relieved when he heard her say "It’s finished."

She went downstairs to wash the dishes and came back with a cup of warm water in her hand.

After feeding him two more pills, she retreated to the corner and sat down, holding the game. Afraid of fighting him, she specifically turned on mute.

Lu Qiming was still feverish, his head was dizzy, his nose was stuffy, his ears were ringing, and every joint in his body was incomparably sore.

He wanted to sleep, after all, in his sleep, he would not feel the pain, but his eyes could not help but glance at her, and he finally said.

"Why don't you sit over here?"

Jiang Miaomiao shook her head. "No, I'm dirty."

She did not wash off the blood, thinking that later if he needs something, she can immediately go out to find it.

Lu Qiming thought about it and grabbed the quilt and gasped in pain.

She hurriedly put down her phone and walked over.

"What's wrong with you? Is it hard again?"

"I'm cold ......"

Lu Qiming spoke with his upper teeth knocking against his lower teeth, seemingly too cold.

"I'll get the quilt for you."

Jiang Miaomiao brought all the quilts in the house, covered him, and was pulled by her wrist when she was ready to leave.

"Will you lay down  too?"

She hesitated.

Lu Qiming said, "You are warm. It doesn't matter if the quilt gets dirty, we can change it later."

Jiang Miaomiao put aside her worries and went under the covers, hugging his head like a hot ball.

The first twenty years of their lives they had not seen each other, and after they met, they ate, drank, and pooped together, so they were not embarrassed to hug like this.

What kind of relationship is this? Comrades in arms?

She was lazy, too lazy to move, and too lazy to think, stroking his hair and whispering.

"Go to sleep, wake up and it will be fine."

Lu Qiming rubbed her pointed chin and drifted off to sleep in her arms.

The next day, Lu Qiming was back to life.

Jiang Miaomiao saw him walking around the house in high spirits and couldn't help but say, "You're really strong like a cow."

Yesterday, he was so sick that she thought he was going to die.

Lu Qiming deliberately sighed, "I can't get better quickly, I'm not sick to death, but also sick from your porridge poisoning."

She was speechless. "White-eyed wolf, maybe it was my porridge that saved your life."

Lu Qiming smiled, "Stop it, eat breakfast quickly and go out to work after eating."

Given that the taste of the porridge was too disgusting, the two of them didn't even want to remember, so breakfast was noodles.

After eating noodles, and each making a cup of milk tea, they beautifully drank and went to the little zombie to replenish some blood to go out together.

The two people had their own division of labor. Lu Qiming dismantles the security window, and Jiang Miaomiao looks for food and daily necessities.

However, the security of this community was done too well. The people who lived here did not install anti-theft windows at all. He carried a wrench and a hammer for several laps without finding the target.

Jiang Miaomiao was lucky to walk into the first one and find a big bag of green beans in his cupboard.

Green bean soup was very good, sweet, and it's good to put a little in the porridge.

The most crucial thing was that she had bean sprouts to eat again.

Mung bean sprouts were more tender than yellow bean sprouts, and they tasted even better!

Jiang Miaomiao searched for containers in that house, moved the washbasins, buckets, and bathtubs back home, found a separate room, and arranged the containers side by side.

The bean sprouts needed water, and she couldn't lift them.

Lu Qiming came back to help and went to the lake to bring a few buckets of water.

According to the previous method, Jiang Miaomiao soaked the beans in warm water overnight, put two layers of paper towels in the container, put the beans, and covered them with two layers of paper towels, and then wetted them with water.

The green beans sprouted faster, and after two days of continuous watering, the white bean sprouts sprouted up and soon shot up longer than a finger.

Jiang Miaomiao picked off a handful and made a bean sprout and purple cabbage soup. The two of them drank a big bowl each at dinner and sat on the floor comfortably rubbing their bellies.

"Is there a lot of bean sprouts left? I have to pick some and keep them in the refrigerator. I'll get a refrigerator back tomorrow."

Lu Qiming said, "Let the rest grow, the soil in the yard is quite good, plant it in the yard. We will be able to eat our own green beans in the fall."

Jiang Miaomiao froze for a moment, not expecting him to think that far ahead.

Autumn ...... it was only late spring now, it was at least a few months away.

Can they really survive until then?

In the past, she had always eaten the last meal and didn't care about the next meal, but she was a little unaccustomed to planning such a long-term plan suddenly.

Lu Qiming asked, "Is there any problem?"

Jiang Miaomiao shook her head, "You clean up, I'll go play games."

Since he recovered, she played games every night, sometimes going to bed at one or two in the middle of the night.

Lu Qiming couldn't help but be curious about what game was so fun, so he threw the bowl into the trash and followed her over.

Jiang Miaomiao lay on the mattress, holding the phone in both hands, and quickly tapped his fingers.

She finished playing a game, stretched her back, turned around, saw Lu Qiming behind her, and was startled.

"How come you came in without a sound?"

"I even changed the quilt, and you say I have no sound?"

His eyes were sultry, and she smiled embarrassedly.

"It's so busy during the day, so I have to hurry up and play games at night. You are busy with your business and leave me

Lu Qiming stretched out his hand, "Show me."

The best way not to be criticized by others is to pull. They fell together.

Jiang Miaomiao diligently handed him the phone and took the initiative to ask, "Do you want to play too? I'll lend you a night of fun."

Lu Qiming looked at the unfamiliar interface and didn't know where to start.

"How can I play this?"

"No way ......" she acted like she was hearing a piece of strange news, "You haven't even played Honor of Kingston? You don't look like a good student either."

He gave her a blank look, "You think everyone is just like you? Can live silly and happy every day?"

"Okay, give me back my phone, I'll continue being silly, you be an outstanding young man."

Jiang Miaomiao said to give the phone back. Lu Qiming did not let go of his hand, looked at her, and said, "Teach me."

She paused, smiled wryly, holding her arms, and said, "Beg me."

"...... you teach or not?"

"If you beg me I will teach."

Lu Qiming was full of black lines, "I found this new house. I saved your life in the supermarket. The water you use for bathing is all I brought from the lake."

She let out a cry, "Want to turn over old scores, right? You can take your time, I'll play my games, I have many single-player games and thousands of movies on my computer."

Jiang Miaomiao lifted her chin and proudly took her phone back, ready to continue playing.

The next second, the man pressed against her back, his weight making it impossible for her to breathe, and his long fingers cupping her face.

Her body stiffened and her heartbeat wildly.

"You, what are you doing? Kill someone to cross the border?"

T/N: 杀人越货吗 (idiom) referring to the behavior of bandits that kill people to take their belongings 

Lu Qiming slowly moved closer to her, his warm breath blowing against her sensitive earlobe.

His mature male voice rang in her ear.

"I beg you, teach me."

Jiang Miaomiao: "......"

A few minutes later, Lu Qiming, who had learned to play,  dominated the phone and played without lifting his head.

The owner of the phone sat next to him and tried to grab it back several times, all ending in failure.

"Hmph, I'll play on the computer! Computer games are more fun!"

She cursed and went away, holding the computer and playing for more than two hours, then came back to bed. Lu Qiming was still playing.

"I'm going to bed oh, you turn off the light later."

"Hmm."

He couldn't stop staring at the screen, his fingers were so fast that there were only after images.

Jiang Miaomiao rolled her eyes, covered herself with the quilt, and went to sleep.

When she woke up the next day, the light was still on, but the person beside her was gone.

She walked downstairs with a foggy head and saw Lu Qiming sitting against the wall, next to the outlet, the charging cable was connected to the phone he was holding, still playing.

Jiang Miaomiao: "...... Brother, you wouldn't have stayed up all night, would you?"

He looked up at her,  not bothering to speak, and immediately lowered his head to look at the screen.

The dark circles under his eyes were deep, like a  kidney deficiency.

Jiang Miaomiao patted his shoulder.

"Stop playing, we're going to look for the refrigerator today, otherwise the bean sprouts picked will be bad,  and the security window will not be found."

He hmmed two times, his fingers did not stop, obviously taking her words to a deaf ear.

She was so angry that she directly raised her hand to unplug the charger.

Lu Qiming finally looked up, glaring, "You ......"

"Do you want to fight alone?"

He hooked her neck, gave her a kiss on her forehead, and rubbed her hair.

"Good girl,  stop making trouble, go play on the side."

Jiang Miaomiao was dumbfounded. He smoothly took back the charger, went back upstairs, and closed the door to continue playing.