Chapter 52

Xue Ling sat across from Wen Yi, placing the tablet between them.

This tablet had been provided by Wen Yi. The screen was durable and clear, though it lacked fancy features. It allowed only text input with a read-aloud option.

It had several shortcuts for conjunctions and common phrases, making it easier to type sentences than her previous device.

It felt like it was designed specifically for someone in her situation.

Under Wen Yi’s watchful eyes, Xue Ling felt slightly nervous and restrained as she picked up the tablet’s pen to type.

Other than Wen Jiuze, it had been a long time since she communicated with any regular human who knew her as a zombie.

When she was worried about Wen Jiuze, she hadn’t felt any discomfort, but now that things were temporarily fine, she felt a bit uneasy.

Wen Yi observed her closely, genuinely curious about what she wanted to say.

She hoped Xue Ling wouldn’t doubt or threaten her, or volunteer as a research subject for someone else’s sake. That would be disappointing, and if she did, Wen Yi would have no hesitation in asking her to leave.

“Can you tell me about Wen Jiuze’s past?” A female voice came from the tablet.

This was an unexpected question.

Wen Yi was a little surprised. “I’m not very familiar with him, and we rarely interacted before. What do you want to know?”

She appeared a bit aloof, but her tone was friendly. So, Xue Ling asked directly, “I want to know what he did in the Wen family a few years ago, before the zombie outbreak?”

Wen Yi responded, “He didn’t tell you?”

“He did, but not the whole story.” Xue Ling got angry thinking about Wen Jiuze’s previous evasive explanation.

She had guessed for a while that he wasn’t being truthful.

“I’m not really sure. Maybe Grandpa asked him to return and do some shady things. He also planned to set up a blind date for him, but Wen Jiuze wasn’t happy about it. Shortly after he returned, Grandpa died at his hands.” Wen Yi said this with a terrifying calmness.

Xue Ling froze, her pen halting on the tablet, shocked by this explosive revelation.

Wait… Wen Jiuze and Wen Yi have the same grandfather, right?

Wen Yi noticed the shock in Xue Ling’s eyes and immediately regretted her words.

“Don’t worry about it. I never liked my grandfather much. I won’t seek revenge on Wen Jiuze for this. I’m not even ready to settle scores with him for harming my sister Wen Xiang, let alone for my grandfather.”

Wen Yi’s words were icy, like a killer’s.

She was the first child of the Wen family’s generation. Before her birth, her grandfather had hoped for a grandson, but when he found out she was a girl, he was extremely disappointed.

From childhood to adulthood, no matter what achievements she made, her grandfather felt only regret: “It would have been better if it were a grandson.”

Her father had affairs outside, and her mother couldn’t control her philandering husband. She was made to feel guilty for not being a son, as if that was the reason her father didn’t pay more attention to the family.

Wen Yi had been taken care of by various nannies growing up. Her mother was obsessed with having a son, desperately hoping that would change her husband’s attitude and satisfy her powerful father-in-law.

To have Wen Xiang, her mother nearly lost her life and her ability to bear children. From then on, her mother focused on raising Wen Xiang to please her cousin Wen Xuan, making sure she followed him around as a child.

Wen Xuan was a fool, but he was a grandson, so her grandfather thought he was perfect, and everything in the house was left to him.

Wen Yi didn’t care. It didn’t matter that her father couldn’t even remember her name, her mother blamed her for not being a son, her sister wasn’t close to her, or her grandfather was extremely partial.

But what she truly despised was how her grandfather, who claimed to be the head of the family, took charge of her life.

They crushed her pride and love, belittled her accomplishments, and believed her only value was to marry. They wanted her to marry the child of some influential leader and help the Wen family’s business.

Though these demands disappeared temporarily when she found a boyfriend from a prominent family, she was still fed up with her grandfather’s constant control.

So, when she discovered that Wen Jiuze was planning to act against the Wen family, she was the only one to notice the clues and even helped him.

“There are some things I don’t want to tell Wen Jiuze. Please tell him.” Wen Yi’s tone was cold.

“As long as he’s willing to cooperate and show his worth, there won’t be any conflict between us. He can manage his paranoia. I don’t have the time to scheme against him.”

Xue Ling responded flatly, “OK,” and then typed, “Seems like you must have had a hard time in the Wen family.”

Wen Yi picked up the thermos beside her and took a sip of water. “Only fools and idiots can survive in a place like that.”

Xue Ling: Even though she appears calm, she has a strong sense of attack.

She held the tablet, feeling like the pen might be leaking electricity. She became a bit confused, not knowing what to say next.

After a brief silence, seeing the pity in Xue Ling’s eyes, Wen Yi finally spoke up. “You want to know about Wen Jiuze’s past, but you’re asking the wrong person. I’m not familiar with him. I’ve only met him a few times in the past year.”

“Oh, OK. I was just asking casually.” Xue Ling replied.

Before she came, she had only wanted to learn a bit about Wen Jiuze’s past and understand his relationship with Wen Yi.

After all, she and Wen Yi weren’t familiar with each other yet. This was their first real interaction. Even if Xue Ling wanted to ask something from her, she had to build a good relationship first or at least wait until they were more familiar.

But! She wasn’t prepared to hear about family tragedies or criminal records!

“Actually, you can talk about anything. Just a casual chat,” Xue Ling continued typing to ease the tension. “I’ll be following your team from now on, so I came to say hello.”

Wen Yi understood why Wen Jiuze treated his girlfriend like the apple of his eye and protected her fiercely.

People with that kind of personality were easy to get hurt. When they felt embarrassed, they tended to explain everything for fear of making others angry.

Wen Yi didn’t like chatting or wasting time on pointless things, but seeing how eager Xue Ling was to ease the awkwardness, she relented and started talking about something she remembered.

“Wen Jiuze… Every time I went home, I noticed he didn’t eat at the table. He always ate alone in the kitchen with a big bowl.”

Xue Ling was surprised. “Is your family really like what we see on TV, with the rule that illegitimate children can’t eat at the table?”

Wen Yi replied, “Grandpa asked him to sit at the table with us, but he refused, saying he wanted to vomit when he saw the Wen family.”

“…” Xue Ling. “Did he just say that… directly?”

Wen Yi: “Yes, he said it directly.”

Grandpa got so angry that he broke two of his crutches. Wen Jiuze refused to sit with them and pretend to be a family, so Grandpa kept scolding him for not following the rules.

“Wen Xuan once told me that your family also practices the Six Arts of a Gentleman?” Xue Ling had been curious about this for a long time.

Wen Yi looked at her knowingly. “Wen Xuan likes you too?”

Xue Ling: “…”

Wen Yi: “What truth can a man say when he’s chasing someone?”

Xue Ling nodded in agreement.

Wen Yi: “But indeed, if you want to learn calligraphy, you also need to know about antiques. There are family lessons on this.”

“Wen Jiuze also studied it once. He broke a Ming Dynasty vase and was beaten half to death.”

Xue Ling was a little angry: “No matter how valuable something is, if it’s accidentally broken, it doesn’t mean you should beat him to death!”

Wen Yi: “He broke it in front of Grandpa, and after doing it, he sneered and said he did it on purpose, daring anyone to kill him.”

Xue Ling: “…”

Wen Yi remembered that it was one of Grandpa’s favorite collections. At the time, Grandpa was so angry he nearly had a stroke. After that, Wen Jiuze no longer had to continue learning about antiques.

Wen Yi suddenly realized that she actually remembered quite a lot about this “unfamiliar” younger brother of hers.

Although they rarely met, whenever she returned, there would always be news about him.

Most of the time, it was about him breaking the rules set by Grandpa and getting scolded or being bullied by Wen Xuan and Wen Xiang.

Occasionally, she would run into him in some corners of the large mansion.

In the kitchen, when it wasn’t mealtime, she would find him cooking by himself. He would stand there, wolfing down simple food, blood still dripping from his fingers.

Wen Xuan and Wen Xiang were furious and searched everywhere for Wen Jiuze. She was annoyed by the noise and was trying to find a quiet spot to read when she accidentally discovered him leaning against the back wall of the mansion, looking at the sky with fresh wounds on his face.

Every time they encountered each other, she would glance at him coldly, while Wen Jiuze’s wary gaze would meet hers. Then, they would quickly avert their eyes, both ignoring the other.

Since he first entered the Wen family at eleven or twelve, Wen Jiuze had always stubbornly resisted everyone in the family, growing into a tall, strong teenager.

It was just like what he said to Grandpa on his first day in the Wen family: “Even if you take away my mom’s job and force her to bring me to the Wen family, it won’t matter. I will never consider this place my home.”

Wen Yi was the unanticipated eldest young lady. Whenever people in the Wen family spoke of her, they expressed regret: “What’s the use of being so good at studying, she’s not a man.”

When talking about Wen Jiuze, they would speak with contempt and caution: “No matter how capable he is, he’s just an illegitimate child, born in disgrace and not favored by Grandpa. He will never be better than Wen Xuan.”

In some ways, they may have shared a bit of mutual sympathy, but their relationship was even more distant than that of strangers.

Xue Ling took some time to organize her thoughts before expressing her opinion: “He, he might have really broken it by accident, he’s just too stubborn to admit it.”

Wen Yi: “You sure protect him a lot.”

Xue Ling: “Although he sometimes does make people angry, he’s actually very well-behaved, considerate, and has a great temper. It’s just that his way of expressing things isn’t ideal.”

Wen Yi was speechless. She couldn’t help but show confusion and a little shock.

She looked at Xue Ling’s deep red eyes, which were different from other zombies’ murky ones. Hers were very clear, making her expression seem sincere, as if she truly believed it.

Wen Yi glanced at her own arm, where goosebumps had risen.

She felt a little uneasy and didn’t want to talk about Wen Jiuze anymore.

“Now that your questions are done, it’s my turn,” Wen Yi decisively changed the topic.

“I remember that Wen Jiuze took away a quarter of the Tai Sui. You must have consumed it all, right? Did you eat Tai Sui before or after the infection?”

“Before the infection,” Xue Ling answered honestly.

“How were you infected? Would you mind sharing?” Wen Yi casually grabbed a notebook to take notes.

“I don’t know. I wasn’t bitten by a zombie. I just suddenly changed. At first, I thought I was just sick.”

“Oh? So you’re one of the first zombies to change naturally.” Wen Yi seemed interested, giving Xue Ling another careful look.

She thought for a moment before suddenly saying: “Wen Xuan ate half of Tai Sui. His transformation was very different from regular zombies. He looks more like a normal person.”

“The medicine extracted from his body made Wen Jiuze also differ from other zombies. He can still speak a few simple words.”

Xue Ling was shocked: “What? Wen Jiuze can speak?!”

Then why did he act mute just now, only making a few growling sounds while using the tablet to communicate? He didn’t say a word!

Wen Yi had no guilt about revealing Wen Jiuze’s secret. 

“I can see you’re not in a good condition. Maybe the medicine extracted from Tai Sui could help you too.”

“I have another subject here who has consumed a quarter of Tai Sui. I can extract the medicine again and give it to you to improve your condition. In exchange, you cooperate with me on some research. What do you think?”

Xue Ling: “…”

“Didn’t you just promise that you wouldn’t trick me into entering the lab to do research?” Xue Ling asked.

Wen Yi: “This is not a lie.”

Xue Ling realized that Wen Yi and Wen Jiuze were quite similar. Whenever they said something like that, they both sounded so righteous!

“Don’t you want to end up like Wen Jiuze? Your condition doesn’t look great,” Wen Yi asked again.

Xue Ling shook her head.

She had promised Wen Jiuze not to let Wen Yi do any research, at least not until their first cooperation was over.

The future was too far away. She would handle what was in front of her first and then look at the bigger picture.

The car door slammed open, and Wen Jiuze stood at the entrance, exuding a murderous aura. When he saw Xue Ling sitting across from Wen Yi, his grim expression softened.

He placed one hand on the side of Xue Ling’s body, nearly enveloping her, and took the pen from her hand, inputting on the tablet.

“Why are you here? I couldn’t find you for a long time.”

Wen Yi swiveled her chair back and showed them out. “If you have nothing else, you can leave now.”