In the middle of the night, Yuqi was woken up by the urge to go to the restroom.
After Yuqi finished using the restroom, she walked over to Xiaoyun to check.
To Yuqi's surprise, Xiaoyun didn't turn into a zombie, and his face was no longer pale like earlier.
But he was sitting still, motionless like a corpse, and when Yuqi touched Xiaoyun's neck, his heartbeat had disappeared.
A defeated Yuqi covered Xiaoyun back up with the curtains and walked back to the sofa.
---
When Xiaoyun woke up, he thought he was dead at first as he couldn't move, see or smell anything at all.
But then he felt the fabric texture covering his eyes, and his hands and legs were tied to a piece of fabric as well.
"Did she really need to tie me that hard? Is she still in the hotel?"
Xiaoyun tried to yell for help, but his mouth was stuffed with a piece of cloth that he couldn't get out.
After struggling for a bit, Xiaoyun realized he was tied to a chair.
Fortunately, he was able to tiptoe around as the fabric tying his legs was a little loose. But with a blindfold covering his eyes, he could only move in a random direction in the dark.
As Xiaoyun kept moving forward, he suddenly felt something soft in his hand.
"Ah! What the hell was that?"
Hearing Yuqi's voice, Xiaoyun let out a sigh of relief in his head.
---
Meanwhile, as Yuqi woke up from the sofa, she noticed a giant curtain figure standing right before her.
"A-Are y-you a z-zombie?" Yuqi asked nervously.
Xiaoyun shook his head rapidly and tried to talk, but there were only a bunch of muffled sounds.
Realizing it was actually Xiaoyun and not a zombie, Yuqi was overjoyed with happiness.
"Wait, stop moving. I'll untie it for you."
Xiaoyun stopped moving completely as Yuqi took the scissors she found in the kitchen and started cutting the zip ties one by one.
After Xiaoyun was finally untied from the zip ties and the curtain, Yuqi happily jumped into his arms.
"I miss you so much! I thought I'd never see you again."
"Me too. I thought I was dead——"
Before Xiaoyun could finish talking, Yuqi kissed him right on the lips. After what feels like forever to Xiaoyun, she finally lets him go.
"Don't jinx it, okay?"
As Yuqi looked towards Xiaoyun with a warm face, his eyes couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"Um, are you really Yuqi?" Xiaoyun accidentally asked the question in his mind.
"What do you mean by that? Of course, I'm Yuqi. Who else can I be?" Yuqi looked a little confused by Xiaoyun's question.
"Never mind."
As the two sat back down on the sofa, Yuqi suddenly asked something that had been on her mind ever since Xiaoyun woke up.
"Xiaoyun... Can you promise me you will never leave me again?"
"Sure, I won't leave you," Xiaoyun replied, not thinking much of it and assuming that Yuqi felt a little too alone while he was gone.
As the two hugged each other again, Xiaoyun's stomach suddenly started growling.
"Ah, you must be hungry. I'll go make breakfast."
As Yuqi got up from the sofa and walked over to the kitchen, Xiaoyun took off his pants and removed the bloody bandages.
The bite mark was completely gone, and if it weren't for the blood stain, no one would even suspect he was bitten.
"Why did I not turn into a zombie? Why did the bite mark just disappear?"
Xiaoyun thought more and more, but he couldn't come up with any answer to his question.
After giving up trying to think of an explanation, Xiaoyun went to the mountaineering bag, removed his blood-stained clothes, and put on new clothes.
With nothing else to do, Xiaoyun walked to the window and took a look.
The zombie horde had completely disappeared, but there were still more than enough zombies for him to handle.
"Breakfast is ready!" Yuqi yelled out from the kitchen.
As Xiaoyun entered the kitchen, he saw two bowls of noodles on the table.
Xiaoyun took a seat across from Yuqi and started eating the noodles.
"Mmm, it's delicious."
"Really? I didn't add any besides salt."
Yuqi tasted the noodles herself, but they were just bland noodles.
---
After the two finished eating, Xiaoyun brought Yuqi to the window so she could see the zombies with her own eyes.
As the two walked toward the window, Yuqi suddenly grabbed Xiaoyun's hand.
Xiaoyun was surprised by Yuqi's action, but he didn't say anything about it. After looking out the window for a while, he suddenly had an idea.
"Let's go to the roof and have a better look."
Three minutes later...
After walking up five flights of stairs, they finally reached the roof.
As they looked down, they could see the zombies in front of the hotel.
Meanwhile, to the left and right of the hotels were two apartment buildings, and to the back was a park.
The two hotel buildings were too far to get to, so Xiaoyun turned his attention to the back, which was a park that appeared to be empty, with no zombies in sight and no howling sound.
"It would be real handy if there was a rope to climb down."
Just as Xiaoyun was thinking about a rope, it suddenly appeared in his hand.
"Huh, where did this rope come from?"
Hearing Xiaoyun's comment, Yuqi looks over to Xiaoyun's hand and sees the rope as well.
"Wait, I remember your hand was empty earlier," Yuqi pointed out.
Xiaoyun handed the rope to Yuqi and thought about having a rope in his hand again.
And to their surprise, a new rope suddenly appeared in Xiaoyun's hand.
"What? This doesn't seem right?" Xiaoyun murmured as he handed the rope to Yuqi again.
This time, Xiaoyun thought about him holding a 30-meter rope, and sure enough, a 30-meter rope appeared in his hand.
"This makes absolutely no sense," Yuqi murmured as she couldn't believe what she had just witnessed.
"I don't know what's happening... But we got a rope now."
Xiaoyun tied the rope to the pillars as hard as he could, then pulled it a little to make sure it was firm.
Afterward, Xiaoyun threw the rest of the rope down the back of the apartment.
"Yuqi, I'll go down first, and you'll follow me when I go down... Also, you should remove your high heels."
Yuqi took off her high heels and handed them over to Xiaoyun, who put them in his hiking bag.
"Don't be afraid. It's only six stories high. Just watch how I get down. "
Xiaoyun took a deep breath, tied the bat behind him, and slowly climbed along the rope.
After several minutes of nonstop climbing, Xiaoyun finally reached the ground. Then he waved his hand to signal Yuqi's turn to go down.
"It's too high..."
Yuqi's legs started shaking as she looked down at the building, but she could also see Xiaoyun waiting for her below.
"No, I can't just be a burden to him anymore. This is lower than the company's building... Yeah, I'm not afraid. I can do this!"
After cheering herself up, she began copying Xiaoyun's action and climbed down the rope.
But just as Yuqi made it to the halfway mark, the rope suddenly snapped, and Yuqi started falling down the building.
Xiaoyun, with only a split second left, immediately imagined three beds in front of him.
The bed appeared in front of Xiaoyun just in the nick of time as Yuqi landed right on top of it.
"Are you okay, Yuqi?" Xiaoyun asked as he climbed on top of the three stacked beds.
"I'm fine, but my legs are a little weak..." Yuqi replied as she tried to stand up on her own but failed.
"Let me help you."
Xiaoy supported Yuqi down the bed and helped her wear her high heels back on.
"Where did this bed come from?" Yuqi asked as she looked toward the bed in front of her.
"I don't know, to be honest... I just saw you falling from the building, so I thought about beds to soften your landing.
Then boom, they just appeared out of thin air."Xiaoyun explained as they began walking inside the park.
"Well, I am happy you are my boyfriend! I can't thank you enough for what you have done for me."
Yuqi kisses Xiaoyun again as a reward, then shyly looks toward the ground. But Xiaoyun's brain was all over the place.
"Wait, she took my wish seriously?"
Xiaoyun finally realized why Yuqi was acting so differently and why she had been so close to him.
"Fuck... why did I just dig myself a bigger hole..." Xiaoyun facepalmed himself in his mind.
---
After walking for almost thirty minutes, they finally left the silent park and returned to the road.
Then, after another hour and a half of walking, they finally arrived back home.
Xiaoyun knocked on the door as the two stood in front of the house.
"It's me, Xiaoyun."
After waiting for a bit, the door finally opened.
"Welcome home! You guys?"
Nami looked in shock as the two were still holding hands, almost looking like a couple standing next to each other.
"Um, Yuqi fell down the stairs, so I was just... just supported her," Xiaoyun replied as they quickly let go of each other's hands simultaneously.
"Really? My dear 'brother' ?" Nami heavily emphasized 'brother' and looked at Xiaoyun suspiciously.
"Ahem, where is Yueyue?" Xiaoyun changed the topic as he could feel the atmosphere was getting a little awkward.
Before Nami could answer, Yuqi pushed Nami aside before walking into the living room.
"Move out of the way. I haven't showered for two days already."
As Yuqi went upstairs, she completely reverted to her cold face and cold attitude, as if it were her natural protective barrier.
"Where are Yueyue and Mom?" Xiaoyun asked as he closed the door.
"Mom is gardening in the backyard, and I think Yueyue is at the gym."
"Huh? Do you have a backyard? And a gym?" Xiaoyun's face looked a little shocked by Nami's reply.
"Do you think I'm joking?" Nami looked back at Xiaoyun seriously.
"Okay. Take me to the backyard then."
---
As Nami guided Xiaoyun past the kitchen, he saw a giant backyard in front of him. It was surrounded by a two-meter-high fence, with a giant garden in the middle.
To the left is a small pavilion with a hot tub, and on the right is a swimming pool.
"Why does the house look so small compared to the backyard?" Xiaoyun asked curiously as he began to realize how naive thinking this was, just a normal single-family house.
"I don't know. You'll need to ask Dad about that." Nami replied.
As the two walked toward the garden, they could see Leyan was in the middle of the field, tending to her garden.
Leyan also noticed the two walking toward her as she looked up at the two.
"Ah, Xiaoyun, you are finally back. Yuqi came back too, right?"
Leyan asked as Xiaoyun and Nami stood outside the small garden fence
"Yeah, Yuqi is back... Miss Leyan, what are you planting?" Xiaoyun asked curiously.
"This one has lettuce, and there grows peas. Here, it grows cabbage and potatoes. It looks like there's nothing there, but the seeds are underneath the dirt..."
Just as Leyan was about to continue rambling on about her love for gardening, Nami interrupted her.
"Okay, okay, Mom. We know you love gardening... Ahem, Mom, you might want to change."
After Nami finished speaking, Leyan looked down and realized her shirt was soaked with sweat and became transparent.
In addition, she noticed Xiaoyun was staring at her chest, and Nami's eyes looked a little jealous.
"Oh, we'll talk later." Leyan rushed out of the garden as she covered her chest with her hands.
"Let's go back inside," Nami suggested as she was beginning to sweat a little.
Xiaoyun nodded in agreement, and they both went back inside. The two sat on the sofa in silence until Nami got a little bored and started gossiping.
"Brother, do you know that elder sister likes to read novels very much? Once, I just passed by her room and saw her novel collection.
Most of them are the kind of domineering CEOs with newcomers working for the first time." Nami said in a low voice.
"Huh? Really? That seems like the opposite of her. I am surprised she likes reading that kind of stuff."
Xiaoyun's face looked a little shocked by Nami's revelation on Yuqi.
"I have seen it with my own eyes. Here's the twist, though. It is not the domineering male you might think of, but it's those domineering females and a fresh graduate boy."
Xiaoyun noted it down in his head as Nami continued.
"There is even more explosive gossip. Do you want to hear it?"
Xiaoyun nodded.
"Here goes. Did you know Yueyue wasn't always shy in front of strangers? She used to be much more open... But then she was bullied by several girls in high school."
"Why?" Xiaoyun asked curiously.
"Because some of the girls were jealous of the attention she got from the boys in school. It got even worse when somebody got the news that our dad left us.
It's got, like, really, really bad. Like at one point, she was beaten to the ground and had her clothes torn apart, leading to her almost dropping out of school."
"What? How is that tolerated in school? Where are the teachers? Where mom? Did nobody care about it?" Xiaoyun asked as he raised his voice in anger.
"Nobody in school dared to speak out because the bully was a relative of the school board of directors. And Mom was still depressed from Dad leaving without saying a word.
And on top of that, Yuqi was rarely home at that time since she lived in college dorms. I couldn't do anything either since I was just in middle school."
Nami paused for a second to take a sip of water, then continued.
"Fortunately, sister Ningjing saw Yueyue getting bullied one day and decided to stop the harassment. If sister Ningjing hadn't stopped it, Yueyue would have dropped out."
Nami paused for a second again, then continued.
"I heard sister Ningjing beat all of them up, and since her parents have an even bigger background, the bully left and went to a different school."
"Then I need to thank Sister Ningjing in person."
Xiaoyun thought back to the first time he saw her at the BBQ restaurant.
"No need. Mom already went to sister Ningjing's house to thank them after she got over Dad's disappearance..."
"Speaking of mom, do you want to know how Mom and Dad meet then?"
Xiaoyun nodded.
"I'm not exactly sure if this was one hundred percent true, but I heard from Mom's friend that Dad met Mom when he was in college."
"But then they had to break up after Dad had to inherit Grandpa's business...
Then, after a year, Dad formed the Songming Group... He was a successful entrepreneur in everyone's eyes at that time while mom was just a nurse in a small hospital——"
"How did they marry then?" Xiaoyun interrupted Nami to ask his question.
"I heard that Dad fell down the stairs while drinking. It was so severe that he needed to go to the hospital.
Then, it just so happened that Mom was on duty as a nurse that night, and the two talked all night. A few days later, the two were married."
"Huh, Flash marriage? That sound too exaggerated, almost like those love at first sight in TV dramas." Xiaoyun commented.
"Yeah, and the most important thing is that when Mom's friends Miss Wuli and Shuli were visiting here, I heard them say that Mom and Dad——"
Nami moved a little closer to Xiaoyun as she prepared to mention the next part.
"——they already liked each other in college, but neither of them was willing to make the final step until they met up again in the——"
Just as Nami was about to finish gossiping, someone suddenly tapped her on the back.
Nami turned around, only to see Leyan standing right behind her with an angry face.
"Are you gossip again, Mimi?" Leyan asked as she held Nami in a chokehold and knocked on her head.
"I-I didn't say anything! Okay okay! I'm sorry! I swear I'll never gossip again." Nami apologized.
As Leyan let go of Nami, she immediately ran upstairs before Leyan could say anything else.
"I'm sorry if she bothered you." Leyan bowed down apologetically.
"No, no, I should be sorry. I shouldn't be listening to her gossiping." Xiaoyun apologized back.
As the two sat on the sofa in silence, Leyan decided to speak up.
"How's the situation outside?"
"It's very dangerous outside. There were a lot of zombies in the city when I left... But since we are on the city's outskirts, we should be safe for now." Xiaoyun replied.
"That's good to hear... How about Yuqi? Was she okay when you found her?"
"Yeah, Yuqi is okay. I think she's taking a bath now."
After speaking, Leyan wanted to say something but stopped. Her face got redder and redder until Xiaoyun suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, I forgot to find, uh, those pills. I was too busy bringing Yuqi back——"
"Forget it, you two getting home safely is all I care about..."
As the two continued to sit next to each other, Leyan couldn't help but notice the smell.
"Um, there is a lot of bloodstain smell coming from your body." Leyan softly whispered.
"I know... But Yuqi is already taking a shower."
"You can just go to my room and take a shower. I'll go cook lunch first."
---
After going inside Leyan's room, he walked over to the other door in her room.
As he opened the door, he saw a bathroom inside, just like Leyan mentioned earlier.
"Am I going crazy, or is my body getting strong?" Xiaoyun thought to himself as he touched his biceps and then looked down.
"Even down there?!" Xiaoyun murmured as he looked down at his crotch area.
"Wait, is it because I am thinking of getting stronger?"
Xiaoyun suddenly realized what was going on and decided to test something.
"My hair will grow."
Xiaoyun touched his hair, and just as he had expected, it had grown a little longer.
"I become the most handsome man in the world! And I'll be irresistible!" Xiaoyun thought to himself.
But unfortunately, not a single thing has changed.
"Okay, that may be too broad... My hair will change back to normal——"
Before Xiaoyun could finish thinking about it, a sudden headache stopped him from thinking any further.
"Shit, why did that hurt? Did I use it too much? Or is it due to me trying to reverse something?"
After finishing the showering, Xiaoyun exited the bathtub.
"Shit... I forgot to bring clothes. I already think too much today."
Xiaoyun reached for his phone and tried to call Yuqi's phone number, but the call wasn't picked up.
With no other option left, Xiaoyun peeked out of the restroom, only to find no one was in Leyan's room.
After that, Xiaoyun peeked out the door to the hallway and saw nobody was outside, so Xiaoyun bolted to the office.
As Xiaoyun entered the office, Nami was sitting in her office chair with her legs crossed on the desk.
"hey Xiaoyun, how are you doing? Ah! Why are you not wearing clothes?"
Nami immediately covered her eyes with her hands as Xiaoyun was naked right in front of her.
"I forgot to get my clothes and take a shower. Can you get out——" Before Xiaoyun finished talking, Nami rushed out of the room.
After putting on fresh clothes, Xiaoyun went back to the hallway.
But as he stepped out, he noticed Nami talking to herself with one hand on her stomach and the other on her thigh.
"It's too long, too big if that goes in...impossible... impossible."
"What are you doing?" Xiaoyun asked curiously.
"N-Nothing," Nami replied as she snapped back to reality.
"Didn't you say you have a gym at home? Come on, lead the way."
"Okay, okay."
---
After going downstairs, Xiaoyun followed Nami past the living room and the kitchen.
Just before reaching the backyard door, Nami turned right and opened a door that almost blended into the wall.
As they walked in, he noticed Yueyue was already running on the treadmill.
Yueyue also noticed the two walking in, so she stopped the treadmill and walked down.
"How's outside? Where's Yuqi?" Yueyue asked curiously.
"There are zombies everywhere now... Yuqi is taking a bath right now." Xiaoyun answered.
"Oh, so it's dangerous out there."
"Yeah..."
The two looked at each other in silence, standing there until they were interrupted by Leyan yelling out loud that lunch was ready.
As the three walked into the kitchen, Yuqi was already there. She was wearing a one-piece dress, and her hair was still wet from the shower.
As everyone took a seat, Leyan carried the plate full of food onto the table.
"Well, there's no more rice, so we can only eat side dishes," Leyan mentioned as she sat down next to Xiaoyun.
"Miss Leyan, how much food did you get to buy yesterday?" Xiaoyun asked curiously.
"You can just call me Leyan... I brought a few dozen eggs, ten potatoes, five tomatoes, two fish, three pork packs, and one chicken pack...
There are also several cabbages and lettuces at home and one pack of beef and mutton. I think it's enough for a month if we start rationing."
Everyone on the table immediately raised the alarm in their head as they all realized it was nowhere near enough food.
"This too little. We don't know how long it will take for the government to rescue." Yueyue spoke up first.
"Rescue might never come... If the police are infected, why wouldn't the army get infected? It's probably over for all of humanity." Yuqi chimed in with her pessimistic outlook after experiencing it firsthand.
"Let's not make any rushed conclusion." Leyan pushed back against Yuqi's idea.
"Oh, I almost forgot. I just got the video showing the disease is airborne, so if we haven't been infected, that means we are at least resistant to the airborne part of the virus."
Nami added a piece of good news to the conversation.
Everybody looked down and sat in silence until Yuqi spoke up again.
"To be honest, I think we are okay... As long we have Xiaoyun here, everything should be fine."
Yuqi looked at Xiaoyun with high hopes, while the other three girls looked a little confused by what she meant.