Chapter 21

Guan Yuanfeng had no legs and had to keep his back straight, which was very tiring, especially with the lingering pain from before.

However, he never allowed himself to show weakness in front of others. He always stood tall and straight, with a posture as steady as a mountain. But at this moment, he seemed a bit burdened, slightly hunched over.

Zhou Yun looked at his back for a while, then gently knocked on the door.

“Brother Guan? Are you feeling better? I didn’t see you at dinner time. If you’re still not feeling well, should I give you an acupuncture treatment? The weather is too hot, and it’s easy to get heatstroke.”

Guan Yuanfeng turned around to look at Zhou Yun, caught off guard. His deep eyes were a little red, and his gaze was distant, but his voice was calm. “I just received a call and didn’t notice the time. I’m feeling much better, thank you.”

Zhou Yun was surprised. “Is there a signal now?” He took out his phone to check.

Guan Yuanfeng replied, “Military signal, but it’s not great. It’s already cut off.” He slowly leaned on the armrest to get out of bed and sat in the wheelchair.

Zhou Yun nodded. “The signal tower probably needs maintenance. Hopefully, we can push back the zombies and restore normal life soon.”

He walked over and began pushing Guan Yuanfeng’s wheelchair towards the rooftop.

But humanity’s elite were about to evacuate from Blue Star, and they were the ones left behind.

Guan Yuanfeng fell silent for a moment. Not wanting to shatter Zhou Yun’s hope, he simply said, “It should be, yes.”

He wasn’t going to mention the Mars spaceship.

He had originally thought he could transfer the spot and give it to Zhou Yun, but since that wasn’t possible, it felt like asking for a favor, which seemed pointless.

If he were still in his position, healthy with all his limbs, with his past achievements and influence, he could have fought for a position as a military doctor for Zhou Yun.

But if that were the case, he wouldn’t have retired to his hometown, let alone known Zhou Yun.

All the accomplishments were in the past, and humanity’s future was uncertain.

Now he was disabled and wouldn’t be contributing to the development of humanity on the Mars base.

This precious opportunity was likely something the team leader had fought for him, bearing considerable responsibility. It didn’t feel right for him to ask for anything else.

Lost in his thoughts, suddenly a water-like, purple-red flower appeared in front of his eyes. Its petals were thin and translucent, blooming in layers atop an ice cream cup.

Zhou Yun placed it in his hand. “For you, try it.”

Guan Yuanfeng took the ice cream cup and, upon closer inspection, noticed that the ice cream had a radish flower sculpted on top.

He plucked a petal and put it in his mouth—it was crisp, sweet, and fresh.

He asked, “Where did this radish come from?”

Zhou Yun explained, “I found this ‘Xinli Mei’ radish in the restaurant. It seems to be used for garnishing dishes. I was curious and tried carving it with a knife. The ice cream is from their freezer. It looks pretty expensive.”

Guan Yuanfeng complimented him, “Not bad, you’re quite the chef.”

The sorrow and melancholy of the apocalypse faded slightly in his heart, and he asked Zhou Yun, “Looks like you had a good harvest at the restaurant?”

At this, Zhou Yun became energized. “Lots of high-end food. Besides the ice cream you just ate, there are many fruits like durian, strawberries, mangoes, apples. Two full freezers of seafood, and the fridge still has a lot of fresh vegetables. Unfortunately, we can’t eat them all at once, and they’ll spoil. I’ll see if I can grow some, maybe try pickling or drying some to preserve them.”

He opened his phone and showed Guan Yuanfeng some pictures, his face glowing with joy from the harvest. “Look, here are some common dried goods, oil, rice, flour, salt, and various seasonings in the warehouse. The inventory is well-kept.”

“As for the equipment, there are oxygenators for the fish, seawater additives for the tanks, an ozone machine, and a backup generator. The kitchen has natural gas, but surprisingly, there’s also an energy-efficient wood stove! They even have honeycomb coal stored.”

This took Guan Yuanfeng by surprise. “An energy-efficient wood stove?”

The restaurant certainly had plenty of food, but with all these discoveries, it seemed that their battle today had been well worth it.

Zhou Yun replied, “Yes, I think it’s for simmering broth or something that needs to be cooked over a long time. It’s energy-efficient.”

He hadn’t expected the restaurant to have so many good things; he had truly missed out in his previous life.

Now, there was another advantage—whenever he found something useful, he could say it came from the restaurant.

They reached the rooftop, and the sky had darkened considerably. The sun was halfway down the horizon, but the rooftop was still hot.

Guan Yuanfeng still felt a bit discomfort in his chest, lacking appetite, but he didn’t want to dampen Zhou Yun’s spirits, especially after Zhou Yun had worked so hard and carefully made the dish.

They crossed the rooftop to the kitchen in Zhou Yun’s room. Zhou Yun took out a steamer of crabs and placed it on the table. “Crabs are cooling and diuretic. Since you suffered from heatstroke today, you can have some.”

Guo Yuanfeng saw Zhou Yun take out two oranges from inside, remove the lids, and reveal the crab meat and crab roe inside, a bit surprised: “Making such elaborate dishes?”

Zhou Yun said, “Stuffed crab with orange, it’s something the restaurant had prepared. I guess they were prepping in advance, and if not eaten, it would spoil. There are also stuffed eggplant and stuffed bell peppers, but we haven’t been using them much for cooking these days. I just need to finish organizing the nursery.”

Guo Yuanfeng then understood and felt he was getting quite the bargain.

The ice cream in his hand was melting fast. Though he usually didn’t like sweets, he still scooped a few bites, and the sweet and cold ice cream seemed to melt the stuffy, tired feeling in his chest.

Thinking about Zhou Yun’s plans, Guo Yuanfeng asked, “The soil might not be enough, and if you need long-term power supply, gasoline is a big problem. We should find a way to collect gasoline from the abandoned cars downstairs as soon as possible. We also need to figure out a way to get some soil. There are lots of zombies in the neighborhood, but this side of the mountain should have fewer.”

Zhou Yun replied, “No worries. With wind and solar generators, I’ll use the ones from the restaurant as backup for now.”

“We’ll plant some drought-resistant sweet potatoes and cacti. Plus, I have some nutrient soil stored, and I’ll ferment some organic fertilizer. For now, there’s no need to worry too much.”

Guo Yuanfeng could see from how confidently Zhou Yun spoke that he was a person with a plan, so he didn’t push further.

Zhou Yun continued, “Thankfully, you lent me 200,000 back then for that greenhouse. It’s really come in handy. I had saved a lot of medicinal herb seeds, and now I can try cultivating them.”

Guo Yuanfeng thought about his impulse at the time and felt it was a kind of coincidence.

He looked at Zhou Yun, who said, “I have an idea for the chicken blood trap. I have a beast trap. If I modify it, it should be able to catch some zombies.”

Guo Yuanfeng thought for a moment, “Catching them one by one wouldn’t get much, though.”

Besides, what would they do with them? The stench of the rotting corpses was unbearable.

He took a spoonful of the stuffed orange crab and tried a bite. It was fresh with a hint of sourness, and the taste was really good.

Zhou Yun was excited, “Let’s see if my bait works.”

One zombie equals one crystal core, no matter what the attribute. Since most of the abilities are low-level now, any improvement will be very noticeable.

He just needed to set up the beast traps by the front door and by the restaurant, place the bait, and capture three zombies a day. That would mean three crystal cores.

Zhou Yun quickly finished his stuffed orange crab, got up, added noodles to the radish soup, and served it to Guo Yuanfeng.

Guo Yuanfeng wasn’t very fond of delicate dishes and preferred something more filling, but since he was feeling unwell, the soft, flavorful noodles were easier to eat.

He finished the noodles in a few bites. Seeing Zhou Yun still busy with the crab legs, it was clear that he really liked crab, so Guo Yuanfeng took the knife on the table and started picking the crab meat for him.

He was efficient with the knife, and in no time, had a bowl of crab meat ready for Zhou Yun, “Your knife skills are really good.”

Zhou Yun handed him a custard apple, “Have some fruit. It’s ripe. If I leave it, it will spoil. Give me the seeds; I’ll try to sprout them and see if I can grow them.”

Guo Yuanfeng took the knife and cut the custard apple, setting the seeds aside. Zhou Yun then got up and went to pour some chicken bones into the bowl for the nearby Comet.

This was the chicken used for the bait. Comet ate happily, wagging its tail.

Zhou Yun had already taken a bath and changed into a loose white cotton T-shirt and shorts. His arms were strong, and it was clear that even in the apocalypse, he was living well and taking care of those around him. He was lucky to have him.

Guo Yuanfeng stared at him blankly. Zhou Yun turned around and caught his gaze, surprised, “What’s wrong? Do you want some chicken soup?”

The chicken soup was too greasy, and since Guo Yuanfeng wasn’t feeling well, it wasn’t suitable for him.

But the chicken had already been killed, so Zhou Yun had used the chicken carcass, head, and feet to cook for the dog, but it was a free-range chicken that he’d raised for a long time and hadn’t discarded the fat, so the soup smelled quite good.

Guo Yuanfeng shook his head, “It’s nothing.”

He was just lost in thought about the future after the apocalypse.

After the elite humans evacuated, would the remaining ones still be able to organize and fight against the zombies? What caused the zombies?

—–

In just one night, zombies appeared everywhere. If the people around you could turn into zombies at any moment, would it still be possible to organize a successful resistance?

After the meal, Guo Yuanfeng washed the dishes, and saw Zhou Yun carefully wash the custard apple seeds, wrap them in a napkin, and place them in a disposable box with some water, carefully setting them aside.

His fingers were long, and the way he handled the seeds showed his meticulous care. Guo Yuanfeng laughed, “You’re going to sprout them? Do you think they’ll grow?”

Zhou Yun nodded, “Yeah, they’ll grow. Just look at the strawberries on the balcony. Those are from seeds I sprouted from store-bought strawberries.”

Once he had abilities, it would be even easier. A little wood-type ability would make them thrive.

Guo Yuanfeng was in awe. Those little black dots on the strawberries were the seeds, and Zhou Yun had been able to grow them successfully and get so many fruits. Clearly, he was quite skilled at growing things.

After washing the dishes, they went up to the rooftop as usual. The days had been so hot, with temperatures reaching over 40 degrees Celsius, so they only went up at night to feed the poultry, water the plants, and feed the fish.

But today, there was something more important. Zhou Yun needed to get new planting trays for the nursery at the newly occupied dome restaurant.

In the distance, the lake and mountains were picturesque. The breeze was blowing through the sky, and the chickens, ducks, fish, sheep, and dogs were all in their shelters, with air conditioning keeping them alive in the heat.

Guo Yuanfeng voluntarily took the food bowls inside to feed the sheep. When he came out, he saw Zhou Yun carrying several stacked long planting trays from the attic. Guo Yuanfeng was once again surprised, “Why are you preparing so many?”

Zhou Yun explained, “When we ordered the glass nursery last time, I ordered extra from the manufacturer. It was cheaper.”

Guo Yuanfeng didn’t know what to say.

He took the fish food and sprinkled it into the fish tank, watching as the fish scrambled to the surface to eat.

Zhou Yun then picked up a wooden-handled sickle and cut down the sweet potato vines and pumpkin vines in the vegetable patch. Since the last rainfall, these vines had grown wildly, filling every nook and cranny. After Zhou Yun had given them some energy, they grew even more exaggerated. If not cleared away, they would invade the territory of other plants.

Fortunately, there were pigs, sheep, and rabbits, so there was no fear of them growing too much.

Zhou Yun cut the vines and leaves, chopped them into pieces with a scythe, and placed them at the bottom layer of the planting pot. He then added a layer of ordinary soil, sprinkled some sheep manure, and added a layer of compressed coconut coir brick. After watering the planting pot, he watched as it expanded, magically filling the pot.

Guan Yuanfeng finally couldn’t help but ask Zhou Yun again, “You only have one balcony, why did you buy so many planting pots and compressed soil?”

Zhou Yun smiled faintly, “I’ve had my eye on your balcony for a long time. I’ve always wanted to set up a hydroponic frame.”

Guan Yuanfeng: “…”

Zhou Yun’s voice was full of amusement, and his words were double entendre: “I’ve been waiting for you for a long, long time.”

As the sunset faded on the horizon, Guan Yuanfeng finished scattering the fish food in his hand. He looked up and saw Zhou Yun standing by the railing, holding a sweet potato vine in his hand, wearing coarse cloth gloves. Backlit by the afterglow, his expression was unclear, but it seemed that his gaze carried some tenderness and care.