Chen Xu saw Luo Xiyun appearing somewhat frightened. His hand froze, and after a second of hesitation, he casually placed the jacket he'd just removed on the table, pulled out the chair in front of the table, and sat down, saying, "Sit down, I have something to tell you."
Luo Xiyun found his attitude somewhat puzzling. She touched the edge of the bed and, after sitting down, softly asked, "What is it?"
Chen Xu's gaze scanned around the room. Since moving into the villa, this was the first time he had entered this room. It was tidy, with a faint, elusive fragrance lingering in the air.
Seeing him silent and looking around suspiciously, Luo Xiyun felt uneasy, almost as if awaiting judgment. This sensation made her uncomfortable, and just as she couldn't help but speak up, Chen Xu finally spoke, "The heater in my room broke."
The heater broke?
Her mouth half-open, she dumbfoundedly looked at him.
Chen Xu spread his hands and said, "The temperature outside is already minus several tens of degrees; without heating, there's simply no way to sleep, so..."
So?
Luo Xiyun still looked at him blankly, suddenly having an extremely ill premonition.
"I've decided to move over."
Upon hearing this, she felt a tingling sensation on her scalp, stunned for a few seconds before she realized what those words meant, stammering, "But..."
Chen Xu was already standing up, saying, "I'll go get the bedding."
As he walked out of Luo Xiyun's room, a slight cold smile appeared on his face.
He indeed wanted to lose his temper earlier, but seeing her guilty look, if he really did, she might cry on the spot. By then, it would seem like he was bullying her.
But if he let it go just like that, swallowing his pride, he had a hard time accepting it. Hence, he thought of this method of revenge.
Someone like her, with a compulsive cleanliness disorder, would probably be driven mad by living in the same room with him.
If you won't make it easy for me, I won't let you off lightly, either.
Thinking this, he returned to his room, disconnected the heater, rolled up his pillow and blanket, and went to Luo Xiyun's room. She was still sitting by the bed, seemingly in a daze.
He closed the door with a backward motion, spread a layer of blankets on the floor, arranged his pillow, then lay on it, covered himself with the blanket, and was about to turn off the lamp when suddenly he remembered Luo Xiyun, still sitting by the bed, and asked, "Aren't you sleeping? I'm going to turn off the light."
"Uh, oh..." Luo Xiyun replied and moved.
With a click, the light went out, plunging the room into darkness.
It was a pitch-blackness where one couldn't see their hand in front of them. Chen Xu had been somewhat afraid of the dark since childhood, not accustomed to such environments. After entering this dream world, he always slept at night with a small night light on.
Tonight was an exception. Maybe because he couldn't see, his other senses became more sensitive; he could even hear the slightly uneasy sound of Luo Xiyun's breathing.
He lay there, thinking of her conflicted demeanor, joyfully closed his eyes, and, as usual, quickly drifted into slumber.
...
The next day, Chen Xu naturally woke up. When he opened his eyes, the room was still pitch-black. He fished out his phone from under the pillow and checked the time: 5:09 in the morning.
At this point, he was completely awake and didn't want to leave the warm covers immediately.
Luo Xiyun should still be asleep; he could hear her long, even breaths.
"What is the state of this dream world when I'm asleep?" he suddenly wondered. In this place, he had never dreamed. It seemed that closing his eyes and opening them again made the night pass, with no sense of time transpiring.
Lingering in bed for a while, he finally got up, tidied the bedding, and left the room.
Maintaining a life with water and electricity in this empty world wasn't easy; there were many tasks to do.
First, he went to the basement and filled both generators with fuel, then filled the nearby water tank. Now, in this freezing weather, preventing barrel water from freezing was quite troublesome.
He spent two hours finishing these chores, working up quite a sweat.
By then, it was broad daylight. It was a rare good day, and he carried a rectangular box to a clearing a few hundred meters away from the villa.
At one end of the clearing lay piles of shattered glass bottles. He took ten intact bottles and arranged them on the ground. Retreating a dozen meters, he opened the box, revealing two guns inside.
He took out a handgun, loaded it, stood firm, aimed slightly, and fired.
Bang, bang, bang...
He emptied the rounds in the handgun in one go, shaking his hand, which was slightly numb from the recoil. Looking at the six intact bottles remaining, he shook his head gently, clearly dissatisfied with his performance.
Continuous shooting made the recoil significantly affect his aim, and by the last few shots, he didn't know where the muzzle was pointing.
Over the past few months, he had been shooting nearly every morning, firing hundreds of rounds each day. His aim had improved significantly; from such a distance, hitting glass bottles almost nine times out of ten if not every time.
Luckily, he had found an armory back then to have so much ammo to spare, allowing him to indulge.
Of course, no matter how well he practiced, there would be no use for it in reality. Since he wasn't military or police, he'd probably have no chance to touch a gun in the rest of his life.
He played with guns purely out of interest. In this entertainment-lacking post-apocalyptic world, it was almost his only source of amusement.
An hour later, having used up all the ammunition he brought, he reluctantly put the gun back into the box and walked back toward the villa.
Returning to the villa, this time, Luo Xiyun didn't come out to greet him but stayed in the kitchen. He chuckled inwardly and didn't mind it. After changing clothes, he went to the table.
Just as he sat down, Luo Xiyun came out carrying breakfast.
Chen Xu noticed her bloodshot eyes and slightly swollen eyelids, deliberately asking, "How did you sleep last night? I might snore when I sleep; did it disturb you?"
Then he noticed her hand pause noticeably while holding a spoon.
After a few seconds, she asked, "Can your room's heater be repaired today?"
Chen Xu shook his head, saying, "Probably won't be fixed."
She paused for another two seconds, finished ladling a bowl of porridge, and then said, "Then, let's tidy up the room in the corner."
There were three rooms on this floor in total, aside from the two they occupied, one used as a storage room.
Chen Xu looked at her, nodded, and said, "Sure. But I'm a bit tired, and I'd like to rest for a couple of days. Let's do it in a few days."
Luo Xiyun, expressionless, said, "No matter, I'll clean it myself."