Chapter 21

Xue Ling didn’t actually want to see the Terracotta Warriors. She only said that to provoke him.

Wen Jiuze had kept the destination of their trip a secret, refusing to tell her where they were going. Whenever she asked, he would change the subject.

Fine, if he didn’t want to say, they’d just wander around the country for now.

In any case, Xue Ling was sure the Terracotta Warriors weren’t their real destination.

Wen Jiuze wasn’t in a hurry to drive. He turned to look at Xue Ling, “Are you…”

Xue Ling perked up, hoping he’d confess.

“…trying to steal the Terracotta Warriors?”

Xue Ling: “…”

You’re the one stealing the Terracotta Warriors!

“Or maybe you want to buy jade?” Wen Jiuze asked with a straight face, looking serious.

Xue Ling didn’t bother writing out a retort. She never won against his quick tongue anyway, and now with her handwriting slowed, she felt her arguments were even weaker.

Suddenly, an idea struck her. She grabbed a book from the pile under her seat, flipped through it, and circled a sentence.

When Wen Jiuze looked over, she showed him her chosen line:

“Men are the best at playing dumb. Even if you guess the secret he’s hiding, he’ll look all innocent, pretending he has no idea what you’re talking about. It’s infuriating!”

Wen Jiuze: “…”

What kind of book is this? It’s so accurate.

“Alright then, do we really have to go see the Terracotta Warriors right now? Can we wait a bit?” he asked, his tone soft and the smile on his face lazy, softened by the green light outside the window.

Zombie Xue Ling rejected the temptation of humans (ex-boyfriend included).

She buried her head in her books, picked up a novel, and circled another sentence.

“Look at that guilty expression—Grandma knows you’re hiding something from me!”

Wen Jiuze read half of the sentence, slapped his palm to his face, and sighed.

It was clear she had found a new way to communicate.

“It’s not like I’m hiding anything from you… I just wanted to take you back to Yu City,” he said, his tone sincere. “I don’t know if it holds any bad memories for you, and I’m not sure if you even want to go back.”

Xue Ling lowered her head, flipping through books, one after the other.

Wen Jiuze watched her for a while, finally laughing, “Can’t find the right words? Then should we just let it go?”

Finally, Xue Ling circled a sentence she found fitting.

“I’m a strange person. I can talk endlessly about trivial things, but when it comes to what really matters to me—love, sadness—I’m at a loss.”

She circled the line and added a single word on her writing board: “Frustrated!!!”

Wen Jiuze was speechless.

He glanced out the window at the greenery passing by, then turned back with a smile, a glint in his eye. “So, will you come back to Yu City with me first?”

“Once this trip is over, you can go wherever you want.”

Taking advantage of Xue Ling’s slow writing speed, Wen Jiuze asked again, “Tell me honestly, do you really not want to go back?”

This guy knows how to push my buttons! Xue Ling had left Yu City with a broken heart, trying to escape the sadness, but after so long, she couldn’t deny she wanted to return.

“Let me guess, are you afraid to go back?” Wen Jiuze observed her closely. “Afraid of someone you know seeing you like this?”

His tone held a smugness that showed he thought he’d guessed her feelings right.

“What’s there to be afraid of? I’ve seen it all. It wouldn’t be any worse if someone else saw.”

Yes, that initial wave of complicated emotions and embarrassment had already subsided when she unexpectedly ran into Wen Jiuze. If she met others again, it probably wouldn’t feel so bad, right?

But Xue Ling couldn’t stand his self-satisfied expression, so she quickly wrote three words on her board: “Ex-boyfriend.”

The smugness drained from Wen Jiuze’s face.

He pursed his lips and turned to look out the window again.

Xue Ling hadn’t expected those three words to have such an effect. Wen Jiuze, strangely enough, didn’t say another word for the rest of the drive.

For once, Xue Ling sat quietly, undisturbed, which surprised her.

She glanced at him, his brow furrowed as he stared ahead.

What’s wrong, Brother Wen? Not tired of driving today? Something on your mind?

After a long silence, Wen Jiuze finally seemed to talk himself into speaking again.

“Are you… still upset about the breakup?”

Nothing decent ever comes out of his mouth.

If you don’t care, why keep quiet for so long?

Realizing his question was off, he fell silent again, his brow furrowing in frustration.

Xue Ling had been upset, but his reaction suddenly made her feel better. She waited to see what he’d say next.

Then Wen Jiuze looked at her, “I want to marry you… would that be alright?”

Xue Ling: “?”

You really skipped a few steps there.

“No!” She quickly wrote two large characters to make her point.

Wen Jiuze chuckled, leaned back, and said, “Alright, now you’ve rejected me once, so we’re even.”

He announced it to himself.

Xue Ling: “…”

Ahhh, damn it, why can’t I speak? I really want to yell at him! I want to shout at him so badly!

Xue Ling raised the writing board and whacked Wen Jiuze on the head with it.

“There’s only one writing board. If it breaks, there’s no replacement,” Wen Jiuze reminded her. “Why not use a book to hit me instead? That one won’t break easily, and it’ll hurt more than this light writing board.”

He sure seems experienced in getting hit.

The car zigzagged down the road for a while before stopping. The passenger door opened, and Xue Ling jumped out. She spun around in frustration, stormed over to the side of the road, and began pounding on a tree.

Luckily, I’m dead already, or I’d be fuming enough for him to kill me again.

Is it so hard to just talk things over, explain what happened, and tell me what’s on his mind?!

After hammering the tree trunk twice, Wen Jiuze came over and pulled her back. Before she could glare at him, Wen Jiuze grabbed her clenched blue fist and guided it to his head. “Go ahead and hit me. I promise I won’t dodge.”

Xue Ling stared at him as he squatted down with his head bowed, yet she couldn’t bring herself to hit him.

In the past, she had never spoken harshly to anyone, let alone hit them. She’d never been angry at anyone.

But somehow, yelling at Wen Jiuze and lashing out at him when he annoyed her had become a regular thing without her even realizing it.

The first time he made her lose her temper, she kicked him hard. Once she regained her senses, she felt terrified—afraid he’d get angry. After all, he was tall and looked fierce. If he got angry…

But he hadn’t gotten angry at all, nor had he reacted. Even with a bruise from her kick, he simply smiled and spoke to her like it hadn’t bothered him in the least.

Xue Ling felt he was like one of those large dogs that look intimidating but are actually very gentle. Even if his owner kicked him, he wouldn’t growl but would instead trot over, circling around his feet, and keep coming back for more.

No matter how many times he was kicked, he was still like that.

Afterward, Xue Ling thought about it for a long time. Is there a bit of violence in everyone?

No matter what, hitting someone is always wrong.

So, she apologized to him, ashamed, saying she shouldn’t have hit him and promised she wouldn’t do it again.

After hearing her apology, Wen Jiuze wrapped his arm around her neck, pulled her down onto the sofa, and chuckled, “I’m telling you, don’t hold yourself to such high moral standards all the time.”

“If you’re upset, you can hit me a few more times. You know I’ve got thick skin,” he shrugged, looking nonchalant.

At the time, Xue Ling was wracked with guilt. She looked at him, still feeling remorseful, and argued, “If I hit you just because I’m angry, then how am I any different from Wen Xuan?”

Wen Jiuze’s expression darkened a little at the mention of Wen Xuan’s name. “That’s different. I don’t like being hit by Wen Xuan, but I don’t mind being hit by you.”

Xue Ling held her breath and asked, “Why can I? What’s the difference between me and him?”

Wen Jiuze laughed. “Because you’re much gentler than he is. Being hit by you feels more like you’re just being playful.”

Xue Ling, who had sworn never to strike Wen Jiuze again, felt her resolve crumble.

In short, despite her aspiration to be a person of high moral standards, Wen Jiuze’s shamelessness seemed to activate her inner “violent gene.” Anytime he started to act annoying, she instinctively felt like punching him.

His indulgence was leading her down a bad path.

At her angriest moments, she’d bite his neck, shoulders, arms, palms… and even his chest.

Once, after inspecting the tooth marks, he asked with genuine concern, “Are your teeth alright? They won’t get loose, will they?”

Another time, after she bit his arm hard enough to draw blood, he examined it and asked, “Do you think I should get a rabies shot?”

Of course, he didn’t get the shot, nor did he even put on a Band-Aid. Instead, he just wandered around with her teeth marks imprinted on his skin.

During her time with Wen Jiuze, Xue Ling’s biggest worry wasn’t that he’d hurt her. Instead, she feared she might form a habit of taking out her anger on him and eventually hurt him without a second thought.

Xue Ling shook off Wen Jiuze’s hand, not hitting him, and walked ahead along the road before lying down on the ground.

She sprawled her limbs out, lying on the green roadside that had been cleaned by the rain and dried by the sun as if she intended to lie on the train tracks and end it all.

Wen Jiuze came over, sat beside her, and looked at her blankly. “Don’t hold it in. It’s not good for your health.”

Xue Ling: How could it affect my health? How would I even get cancer now?

Seeing she had no intention of getting up anytime soon, Wen Jiuze lay down beside her. He looked up at the light filtering through the trees above, then slowly shifted his head onto Xue Ling’s chest. Pressing his face against her thin chest, he murmured:

“I regret it.”

“If I’d known…”

If he’d known the apocalypse was coming, he wouldn’t have broken up with Xue Ling. If he’d known she would become a zombie, he wouldn’t have left her in Yu City.

Wen Jiuze hated the words “if I’d known.” There was no going back in time, and regret was useless. Yet he was drowning in it.

I don’t want to think about it or even mention it. I’d rather just let her hit me.

Unfortunately, Xue Ling couldn’t, and that only made her angrier.

What he actually said was, “I’m sorry for what happened back then. It was my fault.”

Though there was still no explanation, at least this time, he managed to apologize without a smirk.

Eventually, he coaxed Xue Ling off the ground. Mainly, she got up because the sky was overcast, and it looked like it might rain again. Xue Ling didn’t want to stay there and get soaked.

No need to turn a little quarrel into something dramatic, like getting drenched in the rain.

The weather changed suddenly, and this time, Wen Jiuze didn’t pull over to avoid the rain. He drove straight into it.

“Then, should we head towards Yu City?” he asked Xue Ling for her opinion.

Xue Ling sat in the passenger seat with her arms crossed, looking as stubborn as ever, and let out a discontented grumble.

For the next two days, her displeasure was evident. Although her zombie-like face didn’t give it away, her once-enthusiastic communication had dwindled.

If she refused to write, Wen Jiuze wouldn’t be able to communicate normally with her, even if he held her hand to guide her writing.

The mute zombies seemed to have a natural advantage in this race during the Cold War era.

That day, while they stopped the car on the roadside and made a fire to cook, Wen Jiuze was still pondering ways to make Xue Ling happy. Suddenly, Xue Ling’s eyes widened as she rushed over, grabbed his neck excitedly, and pointed behind him with urgency.

Confused, Wen Jiuze turned in the direction she was pointing and saw a large, menacing beast lurking in the woods along the road.

“A tiger?”

Xue Ling nodded repeatedly, tugging at his clothes in excitement and panic.

She had been so frustrated just sitting there, but suddenly, a tiger appeared out of nowhere. Where did this tiger come from?

Silly fool, why are you still sitting here? There’s a tiger coming! Hurry up and get out of here!

Wen Jiuze’s T-shirt became stretched and deformed from her tugging, leaving his collar pulled wide. After a moment’s thought, he said, “I think there’s a zoo nearby… How about I take you to the zoo?”

This might help calm you down.

Xue Ling: “…”

Are you out of your mind?

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Ayalee: Hey guys, do check out Ayalee’s other translation projects here  ʚ(*´꒳`*)ɞ