As the cold weather peeled back the fog, the number 388 was visible on the doorplate. The metal gleamed with a dull light, mirroring the cloud-shrouded city and stirring up a sense of oppression and unease.

The boy glanced around, but couldn’t spot any sign for Fat Uncle’s BBQ.

Weeds were growing like crazy at his feet, and the half-man-high grass in front of the building was coated in a layer of grayish grime. It didn’t look like anyone had set foot here in ages.

“Hello?” The boy’s indifferent tone echoed in the air. Even though only one building was in sight, his voice seemed to bounce back.

It was empty, almost desolate.

Sui Han felt a little ridiculous. He frowned and pondered. On the way here, almost every building had looked just as bleak.

Could this be a ghost town?

Sui Han returned empty-handed. When the little zombie saw his master return, he ran up happily, grabbing his pant leg and huffing and puffing as he climbed.

He finally reached Sui Han’s shoulder and sighed in relief, squatting down and wrapping his thin arms around him.

The little red face had two big, bright eyes that blinked constantly. The kid was staring intently at Sui Han, a sweet smile on his face, like he’d really missed him.

Sui Han flopped back onto his bedroom bed, accidentally wrinkling the clean white sheets when he turned over.

Underneath the sheet, in one corner of the thick mattress, the words “Four Million” were printed in silver-gray letters.

Sui Han raised an eyebrow. What was that supposed to mean? Did the mattress cost four million, or was “Four Million” the brand name?

He suddenly felt that everything around him was simply absurd.

---

Sui Han woke up to find it pitch black outside. His phone showed 9:30 PM. The boy had just yawned when he heard a “guruguru” sound.

He turned his head and saw the little zombie sitting on his corn husk cushion, looking miserable. The cushion was right next to his pillow.

It was obvious: the kid was hungry. He’d heard the sound of the little guy’s stomach rumbling.

The little thing might be small, but he had a big appetite. Sui Han rubbed his eyes and sat up, meeting the little zombie’s watery eyes. The kid followed his movement, then raised his hands and bowed to him.

His tiny fists were clasped together, looking pitiful, like a puppy begging its owner for food.

“I’ll order takeout then,” Sui Han said after a moment’s thought.

Little zombie: o(*￣3￣)o

Sui Han suddenly had a flash of inspiration. He’d just thought of a way to test things out. If the original owner could get takeout, Fat Uncle’s BBQ did exist.

He didn’t want to live in this godforsaken place, so he desperately needed to ask a real person what was happening.

The boy opened the app on his phone and saw that the map was pinpointing his location as 666 Wanhua Road, and all around him—

Sui Han sat up straight, his eyes widening in surprise.

The surrounding map area was visible: Little You Milk Tea, Fat Uncle’s BBQ, New Era Plaza, and Soul Unlock Holographic Internet Cafe. Everything was right there, all around him: food, shopping, sports facilities. It had it all.

He wasn’t in the boonies if you just went by the map. He was in the city center, the CBD (Central Business District.

“?”

Sui Han couldn’t figure it out, so he reordered the last takeout meal.

Then he sat down with the little zombie and waited.

The restaurant accepted the order in a second, and then the tracking started—

        The restaurant is preparing your order.

　    The driver is on the way to the restaurant.

　　The driver is delivering your order!

Sui Han tossed the little zombie back on his shoulder and went straight to the door, opening it as he watched the tracking status on his phone.

Right after he successfully placed the order, his phone received a bank notification, but Sui Han had been too focused on the delivery status to pay attention.

Now that he had a free moment, he swiped to open the message and stared at the screen.

[Di Xing Shanhai City, Shanhai Branch: Your savings card ending in 8888 successfully paid 127.96 yuan on June 8, 3099 at 9:45 PM. Current balance: 404040404.44 yuan.]

“…”

He was so rich.

No, the original owner was so wealthy.

Sui Han switched out of the text message, went back to the takeout app, and saw that the status had already changed to “Order delivered! We await your five-star review!”

“???”

Sui Han glanced at the little zombie and flung the door wide open.

Then, miraculously, he saw a food bag hanging on the doorknob. He didn’t even need to look at the packaging. He could smell the BBQ.

Sui Han burst out of the door, standing in the silent hallway and breathing heavily. The elevator status hadn’t changed. It was still showing as being on this floor.

His conclusion: no one had come up.

Because he’d used the elevator when he returned, the display still showed it was on this floor.

And just now, while he was looking at the text message on his phone, he’d been listening for any noises outside the door. Even if someone had flown up here, he would have noticed.

Sui Han grabbed the BBQ and returned to his room, closing the door behind him.

When the little zombie saw the takeout bag, it seemed to remember something. He stood up and jumped off Sui Han’s shoulder, his little hands outstretched, looking like a clueless goofball.

But if you look closely, you can see that he is using his hands to keep his balance, and then he slides down Sui Han’s body like he is on a slide.

“Plop—”

The little guy landed on his butt, but he didn’t seem to feel any pain. He even carefully patted away the dust with his little hands.

Their place was spotless. The floor seemed to repel any dust naturally. Patting away the dust was just a habit of the little zombie.

Once steadied himself, he reached out and tugged on Sui Han’s pant leg.

Sui Han followed him, the little guy huffing and puffing as he led him to the computer.

Sui Han understood what he wanted. The little zombie wanted him to start a livestream. Maybe that’s what the original owner had done: start a livestream whenever he ate.

The boy sat down and logged into the livestream.

[I knew it! I knew I’d find Sui Sui at this time [/I’ve seen it all!]]

[Smart, smart! Glad I decided to wait with you [/doge]]

[Sui Sui always likes to have a late-night snack at this time. Don’t think you’re the only one who knows, hiahiahia~]

The number of viewers shot up.

It went from ‘6’ to ‘231000’ in a little while.

The livestream got lively, and gift effects filled the screen, but Sui Han ignored them. He just said hello to everyone and started opening the takeout bag.

“Pick what you want to eat.”

Sui Han removed the little zombie’s hat and grabbed a lamb skewer to taste it. The oily skewer was grilled to perfection. The meat wasn’t dry at all. It was tender—thumbs up.

The little zombie moved his corn husk cushion and sat down facing Sui Han, holding a big meat skewer in both hands, but he didn’t know where to start.

The food was just too big for him.

Sui Han ate one skewer, looked at the little zombie, and took a pair of chopsticks to help him slide the meat off the skewer.

The little zombie “hehe” twice, the childish tone soft and cute, as if he was thanking his master for his love.

Sui Han had already changed the camera angle to focus on the little zombie, and the comments section immediately filled with “Smells so good! Slurp slurp!”, filling the entire area.

[Weren’t we talking about giving the kid a name? How about we eat and chat?]

[I’ll never forget the way Erguotou looked at his old man. I almost died laughing [/rolling on the floor]]

[Fat Uncle is a nice guy, I’ve realized.]

[Huh?]

[Didn’t you see an extra grilled banana in the takeout bag? I remember the last time Sui ordered from him, Fat Uncle gave a grilled banana.]

[Uncle gets it! He knows the kid loves it!]

The regulars who ordered from him knew that grilled bananas weren’t on Fat Uncle’s menu, so it had to be a freebie.

Sui Han glanced at the comments section and then at the little zombie.

Sure enough, he was squatting next to the grilled banana, digging out the banana meat with a big spoon, stuffing it into his mouth one bite at a time.

His little cheeks were bulging, and he even had a cumin seed stuck to the corner of his mouth. The little guy looked content, his little butt wiggling back and forth.

It seemed like the commenters were correct. This kid loved bananas.

The commenters loved the drama, egging him on and wanting to hear Sui Sui give the kid a nickname.

Sui Han touched his nose, seeming to consider it seriously.

“Since he loves bananas so much, why don’t we call him Big Banana?”

[Hahahahaha, I knew it!]

[Died laughing, please send paper money]

[Gasping for air, someone give me oxygen, I can still laugh!]

The screen was filled with “hahaha,” as festive as Chinese New Year. But when the little zombie, who was busy eating his banana, heard the name, his body stiffened, his butt stopped wiggling, and even the banana didn’t taste as good anymore.

Sui Han patted his butt, nodding in satisfaction. “Looks like you like the name.”

Little zombie: QAQ

In the lively livestream, the commenters were chatting and joking around when a suspicious character suddenly appeared, posting provocative comments.

[Oh, high tech, huh? It’s just AI, what’s with the whole little zombie act? Lol [/eye roll]]

[We have AI too, it’s nothing special]

[If you have it, then don’t watch! Why are you here, looking for attention? So lame [/table slam]]

[What? I just wanted to see what was so different about the streamer you guys are mindlessly hyping up!]

[Hehe, haha, can your little zombie do the splits? Lol (ˉ▽￣～) ]

Sui Han didn’t react to the hater’s comments. He looked down at the little zombie and said, “Splits?”

The little zombie poked his chin with his little chubby hand, and then did a perfect split.

He could do it? Sui Han couldn’t help but want to applaud.

[C-can your little zombie somersault? Pfft (ˉ▽￣～) ]

Sui Han: “A somersault?”

The little zombie obediently somersaulted.

[! Can your little zombie do a Thomas Flare^[1]an acrobatic move in gymnastics? [/I don’t believe it]]

The little zombie immediately put on his hat. Sui Han pushed the takeout aside when he saw that he would do it. The little zombie then proceeded to do a Thomas Flare right before everyone.

[Hahahahaha, kid, go to the Olympics! The Di Xing medals depend on you!]

[Hater, come out and get your ass beat!]

The little zombie’s series of stunts was so funny that even Sui Han was cracking up. But the boy’s smile was faint. His pale face still looked aloof.

“Thomas is done performing. The kid and I are going to shower and go to bed. See you tomorrow.”

Sui Han said this and then ended the livestream.

The boy exited the bathroom, followed by the little zombie wearing a small bathrobe. Sui Han dried his hair, yawned, and felt tired.

He lazily lay down on the bed and pulled up the covers. When the little zombie saw this, he quickly crawled into the covers, his red face facing him, wriggling and settling in for the night.

After an unknown amount of time, Sui Han seemed to hear a faint noise.

He instinctively sat up and pushed open the bedroom door. The living room, which was pure white during the day, was now filled with fragrance. Strange flowers were blooming everywhere.

Sui Han’s eyebrows twitched. No wonder he always smelled flowers in the house but couldn’t see any.

It seemed that these flowers only appeared at night.

“God, noble God, I sincerely pray to you, begging for your help, begging you to lend a hand…”

Sui Han was startled by the prayer, thinking it was a hallucination. But when he turned around, he saw someone amid all the flowers, their hands outstretched, kneeling and worshiping him…