Chapter 42.2

There happened to be a seed station next to the hardware store that Xue Ling found. She immediately remembered those vegetable-growing videos and happily took the seeds home.

“Can’t we plant anything?” she asked, lying on the edge of the bed in disappointment.

Wen Jiuze picked out a packet of cabbage seeds. “It says winter cabbage here. This should be okay to plant.”

“Okay, we’ll plant this one, and the others will be for later.”

Wen Jiuze felt that she was planning to stay here not just for one winter, but for ten or twenty years. She had already planned what to plant next year.

The two of them, who had no idea about farming, simply dug a non-standard plot of land behind the house and planted cabbage seeds as though they were playing house.

Xue Ling was satisfied after satisfying her farming urge, while Wen Jiuze thought of it more as an exercise and didn’t expect the vegetables to actually grow.

Compared to the uncertain time it would take for the vegetables to grow, the bigger problem they faced was the earthen stove.

One issue was that he couldn’t control the heat well, and the second was that the pot was too big. When Wen Jiuze poured one person’s portion of food into the pot, it quickly stuck to the bottom, and he couldn’t scoop it up with a spatula.

Xue Ling peeked her head out from the stove, where a fire was burning brightly. Wen Jiuze stood by the pot, shoveling away the rice crusts and chewing them without changing his expression.

It would have been better to use a smaller stove to cook it slowly like before.

The base located a half-day’s drive away from them was the New Fourth Base, and Wen Jiuze drove there for a visit.

He brought back a cartload of honeycomb briquettes.

Now, all the bases had electricity restrictions. Electricity bills were high, and it wasn’t cost-effective to use electricity for everything, so many people used other methods to keep warm and cook.

There happened to be a coal mine nearby, so some clever people made honeycomb coal to sell, and it was flying off the shelves at the base.

Xue Ling walked around the pile of black honeycomb coal. She remembered that when she was very young, some families would burn honeycomb coal, but she had hardly seen it when she grew up.

“So, we’ll use coal stoves to cook in the future instead of earthen stoves?” Xue Ling asked, a little disappointed. “Then we won’t have to chop wood.”

She had also wanted to go to the mountains to chop wood, but she had never experienced that before.

Wen Jiuze asked, “Do you still want to go to the mountains to pick mushrooms?”

She used to often watch videos of people picking mushrooms with a longing look in her eyes. Wen Jiuze had seen this many times. She wanted to do whatever she saw others doing.

Xue Ling’s thoughts were exposed, so she stopped pretending. “When are we leaving? But there don’t seem to be any mushrooms here, and we don’t know which ones are edible.”

Wen Jiuze replied, “What’s there to be afraid of? Just pick up whatever you find. Even if I die from eating it, I’ll be fine.”

Xue Ling: “…”

Can’t we just not go?

Over the past few months, they had been traveling, following the same routine each day: driving, finding the way, and stopping to sleep and eat.

Now that they had settled in one place, there wasn’t much to do every day.

Wen Jiuze was sitting idly in a chair in the main room when Xue Ling came over with a basketball and hit him on the back.

Come play ball!

Xue Ling had picked up the basketball at the supermarket without even removing the price tag.

Wen Jiuze grabbed the ball and walked outside with her to find a place to play.

There was an open-air activity center in a nearby village, with a few fitness machines for the elderly, and a basketball hoop that was in tatters with a crooked frame.

“Want to play here? Can you even shoot a basketball?” Wen Jiuze asked.

Who said you have to shoot to play basketball? Xue Ling grabbed the ball and threw it far away.

Wen Jiuze strode over, hooked his foot under the ball, and gently kicked it up, catching it in his hand.

As he walked back, Xue Ling snatched the ball from his arms and threw it again.

Wen Jiuze smiled slightly. “Are you playing fetch with me like a dog?”

Xue Ling: He saw through me so quickly, he’s not easy to deceive.

After picking up the ball again, Wen Jiuze didn’t give it to her and played the ball himself. Xue Ling went to grab it, but Wen Jiuze turned around and the ball was in his other hand and he continued to play the ball.

It turned into a game of trying to grab the ball.

Then, it became a game of tossing the ball.

Eventually, it turned into a game of kickball.

The ball fell into a mud ditch in the distance. Wen Jiuze jumped down to get it, and the ball got dirty.

Xue Ling stopped playing and sat on a piece of elderly fitness equipment, shaking it.

“What’s so fun about that slow pace? Do you dare to hang on the parallel bars?” Wen Jiuze teased.

Don’t underestimate the zombies’ arm strength and grip. Xue Ling could easily hang on the parallel bars, but she couldn’t jump up.

Wen Jiuze lifted her onto the bars. “Reach out and grab them.”

As soon as Xue Ling grabbed the bars, he let go and sat on the equipment she had just been using, smiling at her.

Xue Ling, hanging from the parallel bars and unable to get down: “…”

If I let go, I’ll fall. The bars are too high.

“Ah!” Xue Ling yelled. 

Are you sick? Come and put me down!

In the end, Xue Ling chased after Wen Jiuze, pushing him back. The scene was eerily similar to the chase between humans and zombies in movies.

However, in this case, the humans were not bitten but just beaten.

In the afternoon, they went fishing in the river.

First, she went to dig for earthworms, and saw Wen Jiuze pulling out a bunch of tangled earthworms from the muddy fertilizer. Xue Ling stepped back a little, fearing he would shamelessly try to scare her with them again.

Wen Jiuze carried the bucket and fishing rod, and Xue Ling took a folding stool. They found a spot by the river and sat down to fish.

Wen Jiuze helped by putting the bait on. When he was done, Xue Ling stayed away and only came closer after he finished.

Xue Ling stiffly held the fishing rod, swung it hard, and hooked it onto a dead branch on the shore.

She untangled it and tried casting again, nearly hooking Wen Jiuze’s head.

Wen Jiu applauded and said, “What a great shot.”

Xue Ling: It’s not my fault! I can’t cast properly because zombies have stiff movements!

After a few attempts, she finally managed to cast the hook into the river. Wen Jiuze did the same easily, and the two sat down and waited.

After a long time without catching any fish, Wen Jiuze set his rod aside, stood up, and walked behind some nearby bushes.

Xue Ling thought he was going to the bathroom and continued to focus on her fishing rod’s float.

A while later, Wen Jiuze came back holding a long object.

“Look, what’s this?”

Xue Ling turned around and saw something long and thin. She thought it was a snake at first glance and was so startled that she dropped her fishing rod and sat down on the ground.

“It’s snake skin! Look, this is such a big snakeskin. The snake must have been huge, as thick as an arm,” Wen Jiuze said, shaking the skin.

Xue Ling angrily stood up, and Wen Jiuze dodged her attack by leaning back and ran away quickly along the riverbank. “I didn’t mean to scare you! I didn’t mean to scare you. If you got scared, how is that my fault?”

Xue Ling only chased after him for a bit, but the path along the river was difficult to walk, so she didn’t bother to run. She turned around to look at her fishing rod and let out a loud shout.

My rod! The fish is about to take it away!

The rod was dragged into the river. Xue Ling was about to chase after it, but Wen Jiuze took two steps ahead, stepped into the river, grabbed the rod that the fish had pulled away, and walked back to the shore.

Xue Ling stretched her hand out impatiently: Give it to me, give it to me! Let me do it!

After getting the rod back, Xue Ling stood on the shore, pulled the line for a while, and finally caught the fish.

An ordinary-looking fish, but a stubborn one, splashed water all over the bucket as it struggled.

Xue Ling happily watched it for a while, then sat down on her stool to fish.

Wen Jiuze rolled up his wet pants. He hadn’t caught any fish for a long time, but Xue Ling quickly caught a second one.

She proudly showed him the bucket: Two fish, one big, one small—all caught by me.

Wen Jiuze: “Whatever you catch, I’ll eat.”

The wind was strong by the river, and Wen Jiuze’s hair was blown into a mess, while Xue Ling’s hair was also messy.

The cold wind stung their faces, but Wen Jiuze was thick-skinned and insisted on staying there with Xue Ling the whole afternoon.

In the end, Xue Ling caught four fish, while Wen Jiuze caught none.

“This is a benefit for newbies, you know? Tomorrow, you won’t catch anything,” Wen Jiuze said while holding the bucket.

Yes, yes, I’m a newbie, just lucky. Xue Ling generously tolerated her jealous companion.

That day, Xue Ling caught a fish and Wen Jiuze ate one, and both of them had their share of gains.

Before going to bed, Xue Ling dragged out a bucket and asked Wen Jiuze to soak his feet for ten minutes.

Xue Ling casually wiped her face and snuggled comfortably into bed, pulling out an elegant piece of literature to begin “marinating” her soul.

There was one benefit to the zombies now: no matter how hypnotic something was, it couldn’t lull her to sleep. She could force knowledge into her mind.

Whether she could retain it was another story, but at least she wouldn’t feel sleepy and would push through reading it.

After Wen Jiuze finished soaking his feet, he asked, “Aren’t you soaking your feet?”

“Why would a zombie soak their feet? I’m not soaking them,” Xue Ling thought, as she turned the page of her book. She felt some of the words she’d just read squeeze into her brain before flowing out through her ears.

Wen Jiuze reached over and pinched her arm. “You’ve been out in the cold all day. You’re probably stiff. Want me to knead it for you?”

Xue Ling thought for a moment, and then nodded. She put the book down and lay down.

Wen Jiuze’s hands were warm. He grabbed her arm, first kneading the joints and moving them, then massaging the arm muscles.

Xue Ling couldn’t help but think of the process of tenderizing beef and chicken when she used to cook, loosening the tough muscles so they would be chewier when eaten.

When Wen Jiuze pinched her leg, Xue Ling was reminded of another time.

Wen Jiuze had given her a massage before.

At that time, they were still in the ambiguous phase. She had decided to go for a night run to exercise, but as a result, her legs were sore.

People who don’t exercise much and suddenly start will find their legs so weak the next day that even lifting them feels uncomfortable.

Seeing that she was limping, Wen Jiuze happily offered to give her a massage.

They were in the rented house, in Xue Ling’s bedroom. The curtains were drawn but not fully closed, and they could still hear the sound of basketball players at the nearby Normal University Stadium below.

Wen Jiuze massaged her sore legs with experience, but he was too rough. Xue Ling felt sore and numb and ended up stepping on his stomach because she couldn’t bear it.

She accidentally stepped on the wrong spot several times, feeling something soft and bouncy under her foot.

Wen Jiuze was sitting cross-legged on the bed. He suddenly stopped and looked at her. Xue Ling realized what she had touched. She awkwardly raised her feet, but he took them back in his hands.

At that moment, looking into each other’s eyes felt sticky.

Xue Ling’s gaze met his like a magnet. His warm gaze moved from her eyes to her lips. She also looked at his lips, slightly parted from the smile that lingered.

Her mind went blank. She felt hot and swollen, and her breathing became more pronounced. After subconsciously looking away, she noticed his arm pressed against the quilt, with visible veins bulging.

Without thinking, she reached out to touch the veins, and as soon as her fingers brushed them, Wen Jiuze leaned closer.

The kiss came naturally.

Wen Jiuze grabbed her calf and pulled her closer. After that, neither of them could stop. They paused to rest, mainly because of Xue Ling, but they continued until late at night. The next day, Xue Ling was forced to take a leave of absence and skip class. She also missed the student union’s activities. Of course, Wen Jiuze didn’t go to class either…

…

Okay, let’s stop reminiscing and focus back on the time spent in the kitchen tenderizing chicken.

Chicken, chicken… muscles. The shape of the muscles was really quite nice.

Feeling guilty over some adult memories, Xue Ling glanced at Wen Jiuze, who was still focused on massaging her muscles, and quickly pulled the blanket over her head to hide her flushed face.

The next moment, the blanket was suddenly yanked off by Wen Jiuze, and the memories that were turning color were swept away with it.

“I finished massaging you, now it’s your turn to massage me,” he said, “Don’t try to slack off, get up.”

Xue Ling: “…”

She sat up and threw a series of random punches at his back.

It really ruined the atmosphere 🙂