"I felt like it was useless at the time, so I didn't bring it," Jing Mo said, his eyes fixed straight ahead, not daring to meet Su Nian's gaze.
He couldn't possibly say that he wasn't from this world at all and didn't even have a phone from this world!
Su Nian didn't pay much attention to Jing Mo's response. People like Jing Mo, who felt that phones were useless and didn't bring them, weren't uncommon. There were quite a few of them. After all, when there was internet and electricity, a phone was indispensable. But when there was no internet or electricity, having a phone was no better than having a brick in hand.
In any case, there were unused brand-new phones in her space, so giving one to Jing Mo wasn't a big deal. "I'll give it to you when we get back to the base."
"Well, thank you in advance," they both said, smiling at each other.
The convoy wasn't moving fast. While driving, as long as they paid attention to avoid sudden stops by the vehicle in front, there wasn't much else to worry about. After all, there were no overtaking lanes now, no traffic lights, and no need to worry about cars suddenly rushing out from either side.
As Jing Mo drove, he had to be vigilant, but Su Nian found it a bit boring. Idle hands are the devil's workshop, so Su Nian took out a pack of chocolate from her backpack, opened one, popped it into her mouth, and then opened another, handing it to Jing Mo.
Jing Mo took it and stuffed it into his mouth directly. Su Nian preferred high-purity chocolate; most of what she bought was dark chocolate. Dark chocolate tasted a bit bitter going in, but if you savored it carefully, you could taste its rich flavor, even better than sweet chocolate. Feeling the slight bitterness on her tongue, Su Nian felt particularly satisfied.
The morning passed quietly. Due to the slow speed, they had only covered half the distance by now. The walkie-talkie, which had been silent all morning, finally crackled to life.
"The convoy will rest for twenty minutes. We will continue our journey in twenty minutes."
After this announcement repeated three times, the vehicles ahead began to stop.
Upon hearing this, Jing Mo prepared to stop the car. As soon as the vehicle in front stopped, Jing Mo followed suit. Spending the morning in the car, anyone would need to address their physiological needs. Luckily, there were houses and trees by the roadside where they parked, providing privacy for such matters.
For Su Nian, who had lived in the apocalypse for ten years, this was already routine. She went first and then signaled for Jing Mo to go. Su Nian wiped her hands with wet wipes and then took out self-heating rice.
Knowing they both liked meat, Su Nian had brought braised pork over rice. Of course, the taste of this braised pork wasn't as good as what she made, but it was still satisfying at this moment. Just as the self-heating rice was about done, Jing Mo returned.
As soon as he opened the car door, Jing Mo caught a whiff of the aroma and hurriedly got in, forcefully shutting the door. However, even with the door closed, the scent lingered in the air.
Su Nian and Jing Mo didn't pay much attention. They ate their meal; they couldn't starve themselves just to accommodate others.
Halfway through their meal, Su Nian noticed someone lingering near their car. Since the car windows were tinted, the person deliberately circled around to the front of the car.
Though Su Nian wasn't afraid of being stared at through the window, she still felt uncomfortable. Just as she was about to speak up, the two people in front of the car left on their own.
Feeling relieved, Su Nian resumed eating. The temperature inside the car wasn't high, and if they didn't eat quickly, the food would freeze and become difficult to chew.
However, before they could finish eating, someone knocked on the car window. Su Nian turned to see it was Guan Hui.
Guan Hui kept knocking, appearing quite anxious. Su Nian remained unmoved, continuing to eat her meal seriously. Only after finishing her food and taking a few sips of hot water did Su Nian roll down the window.
Outside, the air was cold, with snowflakes carried by the biting wind. The snowfall wasn't heavy, but the flakes were hard, making a cracking sound when they hit clothes. On exposed skin, it felt like needles.
Guan Hui was bundled up tightly, but her eyes were red from the cold. She looked somewhat pitiful, but Su Nian wasn't one to pity others.
Ignoring Guan Hui's expression, Su Nian coldly asked, "What do you want?"
Guan Hui didn't immediately answer. Instead, she glanced at Jing Mo, who was sipping hot water with his eyes downcast, and then turned back to Su Nian.
"Hi, I'm Guan Hui. I live downstairs from you, and we met this morning."
"I know," Su Nian interrupted Guan Hui, "What do you want, just say it."
"I smelled the aroma in your car just now. Do you have self-heating meals? Could you give me one?" Guan Hui asked eagerly.
Su Nian was a bit puzzled by Guan Hui's thought process, but the wind and snow outside were growing stronger, hitting her face.
Su Nian wiped her mouth with a tissue, put on her mask again, and then replied to Guan Hui with a single word, "No."
Being outright refused, Guan Hui became anxious, her eyes redder than before. "Why not? I'm on my period these days and can't eat anything cold. It's inconvenient to be out, and since you have it, why can't you give me one? I'll give it back to you when we return to the base, alright?"
"So, you want to give it back to me when we return to the base? That means you actually have it, but you didn't bring it, is that right?"
"No, I don't have it."
"If you don't have it, how will you give it back to me?"
"I can exchange it with something else. I have compressed biscuits!" Guan Hui said, pulling out two bags of compressed biscuits from her pocket. "I'll trade you these two bags, so you won't lose out. I really can't eat cold food; otherwise, my stomach will hurt even more. We're both girls, so we should understand each other, right? Can you please help me out?"
Hearing this, Su Nian couldn't help but laugh coldly. "Since you know we're both girls, then don't try to play the innocent victim with me. I'm not falling for it. You're on your period and can't eat cold food because it'll make your stomach ache. Then why didn't you stay at the base? If you wanted to go out on a mission, why didn't you go to the supermarket at the base and spend some contribution points to buy a few boxes of self-heating meals? You didn't prepare anything, and now you want to come to me afterward and play the pity card, saying how pitiful you are. Did I cause your misery? Just because you're not prepared doesn't mean I should feel sorry for you and take care of you. What do you think this is? This is the apocalypse, not your home, and I'm not your mom."
With that last sentence, Su Nian closed the window. With the window shut, the cold wind and snow were kept outside, and Guan Hui's expression didn't seem as genuine anymore.
Su Nian couldn't be bothered to see how Guan Hui reacted and turned her head away. As soon as she did, she saw Jing Mo staring at her in astonishment.
"What's wrong with you?" Su Nian asked.
Jing Mo snapped out of his daze and shook his head. "Nothing! I just thought you were... incredibly impressive just now! You completely crushed that delicate flower. I think your words just now hurt her more than the wind and snow outside."
"What did I do just now?"
"You were just too cool just now! You completely dismantled her with your words. I felt like your words hurt her more than the wind and snow outside did."