Chapter 27

Wen Jiuze’s part-time job at the children’s martial arts training class happened purely by chance.

After changing his school and major choices, he was forced to attend school in Yu City. When he first arrived, he was full of hostility. His smile was scarier than his neutral expression, making people steer clear of him on the streets.

Lin Guosheng, the man with the crew cut, was a rather clueless person who couldn’t read social cues. Holding a stack of flyers, he approached the irritable Wen Jiuze on the street.

Wen Jiuze was lost in thought when Lin Guosheng began speaking in the local Yu City dialect. Hearing the words “martial arts,” Wen Jiuze interrupted to ask, “Do you know martial arts? Is there a martial arts gym here?”

Lin Guosheng thought for a moment and grinned. “Yes!”

Feeling frustrated and wanting to find someone to spar with to relieve his anger, Wen Jiuze decided to follow him. They crossed a street and reached the third floor.

As he looked through the glass door at a group of children happily playing inside, Wen Jiuze noticed the sign: Colorful Sunshine Children’s Martial Arts Training Center.

What?

Lin Guosheng had already walked in, shouting, “Brother Chai, we have guests interested in learning about the course!”

Wen Jiuze turned around to leave, but Lin Guosheng stopped him. “Don’t go!”

Wen Jiuze twisted his arm to break free.

When Brother Chai, who had come to greet the guests, saw this, he rushed to rescue the crew-cut man, and they began fighting right at the door.

Wen Jiuze was puzzled by the growing crowd around him. Children were watching while several men cheered from the sidelines.

After the fight, a middle-aged man wearing a watch and exuding a gentle demeanor stepped forward, shook Wen Jiuze’s hand enthusiastically, and said:

“I’m the boss here. My last name is Huang. You’re really good at martial arts. Are you interested in working here?”

“Come on, let’s go inside and talk!”

Boss Huang had a talent for persuasion. After talking with him, Wen Jiuze became a part-time teacher at the children’s martial arts training class.

Wen Jiuze wasn’t motivated by the salary. He was drawn to the skilled teachers at the martial arts school, and Boss Huang offered him the chance to train with them for free.

This place used to be a thriving martial arts school, but it had long since fallen into decline in the current era.

After the death of the old director, Huang Sheng, who lacked his father’s skills and was more of a gentle businessman, recognized the trend of training children. He transformed the martial arts hall into a children’s training center, which became very popular among the many classes emerging everywhere.

As a result, the teachers in this training class are all former disciples from martial arts schools, each possessing exceptional skills.

Wen Jiuze sought a place to fight and release his pent-up energy and emotions. After being persuaded by Huang Sheng, he agreed to join without hesitation.

Including Boss Huang, there are seven teachers in the training class, and Wen Jiuze is considered a non-staff member.

He is only a year older than the youngest, Lin Guosheng, and younger than the others. Over time, everyone began to call him Brother Jiu, following Lin Guosheng.

Though the older members initially called him Brother Jiu in jest, as he fought his way through the martial arts gym and defeated everyone, the title gradually grew to reflect genuine admiration and closeness.

Getting along with this group was simple and easy. Wen Jiuze had a solid rapport with them, which was better than his relationships with classmates and distant relatives.

Sometimes when he came home with bruises on his face and nose, it wasn’t entirely due to Wen Xuan. He simply spent a lot of time in the martial arts gym practicing with others, and his sparring rarely resulted in serious injuries.

However, Xue Ling attributed all of this to Wen Xuan, and he was pleased to let her believe that without offering any explanations.

When he hurriedly left Yu City, Wen Jiuze called Boss Huang to resign and didn’t get the chance to say goodbye to his friends.

When they saw him again, several older men with weathered faces grabbed his shoulders, playfully complaining that he was disloyal for leaving without a proper farewell.

Brother Chai even joked, “You little brat, you disappeared without a trace, and we were so worried about you!”

His grip was strong, and if Wen Jiuze hadn’t steadied himself, he would have been pushed two meters back.

Wen Jiuze shook off their hands, feeling overwhelmed by the enthusiasm of these rough characters. Even when he reunited with his girlfriend, she didn’t express as much excitement as they did.

“Let’s go! We finally found you here. Come with us. Let’s have a good time together!” they urged.

“How about we tie our cars together? Brother Jiu, you can ride with me, and we can chat on the way!” suggested a guy with a crew cut.

Wen Jiuze was nearly swept away by them but flatly refused, saying, “No, my girlfriend is in the car, so it’s not convenient.”

The group suddenly fell silent for some unknown reason. The short-haired man glanced at the tinted window and asked quietly, “Is your girlfriend still the same one as before?”

Wen Jiuze replied, “Who else could it be?”

The others, relieved they hadn’t accidentally touched a sore spot, relaxed and smiled again.

Brother Chai made the decision: “It’s getting dark. You must want to go to the camp ahead to rest. Let’s head there first!”

Wen Jiuze returned to the car, wanting to ask Xue Ling for her opinion. As soon as he entered, he saw her holding a writing board filled with “HAHAHAHAHA” written all over it.

People outside couldn’t see inside the car, but Xue Ling had a clear view.

It was genuinely amusing to see this arrogant guy surrounded by big men, being pushed around. He appeared somewhat impatient and speechless while dealing with them.

Earlier, someone had excitedly grabbed his arm, but he pulled it back as if they were engaged in a tug-of-war. She noticed he was secretly applying force.

Xue Ling watched, worried that he might be overpowered by several of them.

These big brothers looked adept at fighting, and it seemed that Wen Jiuze couldn’t defeat them alone.

Wen Jiuze started the car and smiled at her, asking, “Are you making fun of me?”

Xue Ling nodded, letting out two quiet “ah” before quickly covering her mouth, fearing someone would notice.

Wen Jiuze reached out to gently grasp the back of her head. “I’ll talk to them later, and we’ll part ways tomorrow.”

As they spoke, their car slowly caught up with the convoy in front.

Xue Ling was taken aback by his words.

She noticed that Wen Jiuze seemed genuinely happy to meet these people and thought he might want to spend more time with them or even go with them.

Humans are social creatures. If they can connect well with others, why would they prefer to be alone?

About an hour later, the convoy arrived at a camp illuminated by lights.

There was a high railing topped with iron spikes outside, and several cars were parked inside. Someone was cooking over a fire.

As the large convoy entered, it took up most of the available space. Wen Jiuze parked his car closest to the entrance, a bit away from the convoy.

Xue Ling observed the camp, noticing various large and small caravans resting overnight. The atmosphere was peaceful, with everyone keeping to themselves.

It turned out that this type of camp was open for anyone to come in and rest.

However, throughout their journey, Wen Jiuze had never taken her to such a camp. He always preferred wild places to rest.

The wilderness, where zombies might appear at any moment, was definitely not as safe as this camp.

So, why hadn’t he ever brought her here?

The answer was clear: it was because of her.

As soon as the crew-cut guy’s car in the convoy stopped, he came over to call for help. Wen Jiuze unbuckled his seatbelt and said, “I’ll go talk to them. You stay in the car…”

Xue Ling had already grabbed her tablet, opened it, and started watching a TV series she hadn’t finished, waving casually at him.

Wen Jiuze stepped out of the car. The man with the crew cut glanced into the car, but Wen Jiuze shut the door too quickly for him to see clearly.

“Why isn’t she coming down? Let’s eat together. Brother Rong said we should have a hotpot! He’s in charge of the food and is usually frugal, but he agreed to let us have hotpot today because of you!”

Wen Jiu locked the car door and replied, “She’s sick and can’t be exposed to the wind. She should rest in the car.”

At night, the hotpot bubbled with steam. In the boiling red broth, there were many dry noodles, slices of bread, and a small amount of vegetables and meat.

There aren’t as many varieties of food as there used to be, but the portions are large and satisfying. When several people gather to eat together, it really whets their appetites.

Others from the convoy who didn’t know Wen Jiuze caught a whiff of the delicious food and came over with their bowls to grab some. However, they were quickly driven away by Brother Rong.

Only a few familiar faces from his previous training class were seated there.

Brother Rong took out his prized Coke and poured some for everyone. Coke is quite expensive nowadays, and getting a drink isn’t easy. The guy with the crew cut quickly downed two cups, which earned him a scolding from Brother Rong.

Wen Jiuze sat there, watching the bubbles rise in his Coke cup and listening to their playful quarrels. The corners of his mouth curled up as he subconsciously glanced back at his car.

Noticing this, Brother Rong asked, “Are you bringing a Coke to your girlfriend as well?”

“No, she can’t drink now,” Wen Jiuze replied, keeping his answer brief.

After eating and drinking, they began sharing their experiences from the past two years.

These individuals had no connections to begin with. They remained together because they had nowhere to go after the martial arts school closed down. Initially, they treated the martial arts school as their home, and later, they considered the training class as their new home. After the apocalypse began, they followed Boss Huang.

Boss Huang proved to be a resourceful leader. He relocated them to a reliable base early on and established a transportation company.

“It’s at the Anhua base. Boss Huang is in charge there now. We have a building, and we all live together. Brother Jiu, you should come with us!”

“I still have to go to Yu City for something,” Wen Jiuze declined.

As their conversation continued, they turned their attention to Wen Jiuze.

The short-haired guy sighed, “I can’t believe it’s been over three years, and you’re still with your girlfriend. That’s impressive. Didn’t you leave at first? Your girlfriend even came looking for you.”

Wen Jiuze looked at him, puzzled. “She came looking for me? When?”

“It was three years ago when the chaos first started. There were reports of zombies, and many people were fleeing while others stayed home, too scared to come out. She came to us and asked if she could contact you. I told her I couldn’t, and she seemed really disappointed.”

“It was absolute chaos back then. We were about to leave and thought we’d check her place to see if you had returned. But we found your neighborhood partially burned down, and we couldn’t locate you.”

The short-haired guy smiled. “Fortunately, she was okay. She eventually found you.”

Wen Jiuze remained silent, suddenly feeling the urge to smoke.

Although he wasn’t addicted, he sometimes smoked a cigarette to clear his head and relieve a headache when he was tired.

After finding Xue Ling, he mostly stopped smoking. He had most of a pack left in the car, but he couldn’t even recall where he had placed it.

Rubbing his fingers, Wen Jiuze pressed down on his temples, which were throbbing slightly.

“I’m going to get in the car.”

As he opened the car door, he noticed that Xue Ling was not watching the scene as she had before. Instead, she leaned against the car window, gazing at the small convoy.

The small convoy was lively, with a few people sitting under the lights playing cards.

Wen Jiuze paused for a moment, wondering if she envied their liveliness and wanted to sit among the crowd again.

He reached out and pulled Xue Ling into his embrace. Unexpectedly, she struggled, pushed his head away without looking back, and rushed to the window to look outside.

Wen Jiuze asked, “What are you looking at?”

Xue Ling, missing the point, pounded on the car window in frustration. She turned her attention to the writing board, doodling and explaining what she had just seen.

In that small convoy, the woman in red and the man in blue were a couple, sharing food and affection.

Another woman in dark green and a man in black were also a couple.

However, the man in blue had claimed he was going to the bathroom, yet behind the car next to him, he was hugging and kissing the woman in dark green.

The woman in red and the man in black were still playing cards with others, completely unaware!

Wen Jiuze’s car was parked in an ideal spot, allowing Xue Ling to see everything happening over there.

Wen Jiuze: “…”

Xue Ling’s eyes sparkled as she wrote, “They started taking off their clothes in the back of the car, and they sneaked into the empty room over there!”

It was all because Wen Jiuze had suddenly come over to interrupt her. She hadn’t even seen which room they went to.

After sharing the gossip, Xue Ling noticed that Wen Jiuze looked upset. She finally remembered to ask about him and wrote, “Are you done chatting?”

Wen Jiuze replied, “No, I need to get something from the car.”

He had initially wanted to find a cigarette, but now he didn’t feel like smoking.

“Can I give that ham to them to try?” Wen Jiuze remembered the ham he hadn’t had time to eat.

Xue Ling generously suggested sharing it with their friends.

She leaned against the window again, eager to see if anything else would unfold.

Wen Jiuze stepped out of the car with the white-haired ham.

Not sure if it was edible, let the brothers help him taste it first.