Chapter 68

This time, the mission was on Jiading Island, a remote sea island.

Xue Ling’s clarity came at the perfect moment—after the mission had been successfully completed. Everyone was in a relaxed mood.

With nothing urgent to do, a group of people wandered the rocky shore and beach, carrying buckets and makeshift fishing nets to forage for food.

Having experienced the resource scarcity of the apocalypse, people had a renewed enthusiasm for edible finds.

When Wen Jiuze brought Xue Ling along, no one paid much attention.

They were long accustomed to the pair’s inseparability and knew there was no real danger. Still, they kept their distance to avoid unnecessary trouble and to ensure Xue Ling wouldn’t be triggered.

Xue Ling, led by Wen Jiuze, observed the faces of the people around her, hoping to recognize someone.

Unfortunately, while they knew her, she found all of them unfamiliar.

Wen Jiuze took Xue Ling to a secluded beach with clearer waters, away from the crowd.

“Awooo!” Xue Ling howled toward the sunset over the ocean, releasing a pent-up frustration.

The lapping waves stirred an impulse to “go with the flow.” Xue Ling ran toward the water, her steps uneven and eager.

Then a wave crashed over her, knocking her into the sea.

Wen Jiuze, trailing behind, hadn’t expected her sudden dash and couldn’t pull her back in time: “…”

Wen Jiuze quickly rushed over and pulled the dazed Xue Ling out of the seawater.

He held an empty handcuff in his hand and promptly locked the other end onto Xue Ling’s wrist.

Xue Ling: “…”

Wen Jiuze pulled out his tablet. “To prevent you from being swept away. If you drift out to sea, I’d have to get a salvage boat…”

Xue Ling chose not to argue with him. Ignoring the handcuff on her wrist, she simply grabbed his hand to stop him from continuing to write.

Then, she eagerly dashed back toward the small waves.

Wen Jiuze stood firmly like a pillar rooted to the ground. Despite Xue Ling dragging him along and being swayed by the knee-high seawater, he remained upright.

Whenever Xue Ling felt unsteady and about to fall, Wen Jiuze would lift her up.

On the beach, a group of soldiers was lighting a fire to grill seafood. Eventually, Xue Ling was willing to leave the water. She walked to the sand, picked up a small twig, and started doodling on the ground.

“It feels like a dream… in the blink of an eye, a whole year has passed.”

Wen Jiuze, tapping away on his tablet, soon had it read aloud in a flat tone. “Get up. Don’t sit on the beach. You look like a breaded fried chicken leg.”

Xue Ling: “…”

I’m trying to have an emotional conversation with you, and this is what you come up with?

She stood up, angrily brushing off the sand on her body.

Restarting the conversation, she asked, “How has your year been?”

Wen Jiuze replied, “Very fulfilling. Three hundred and sixty-five days of full-time work, twenty-four hours a day, not a single day off.”

Xue Ling: “…” Even for a corpse, that workload is a bit hellish.

Wen Jiuze continued, “You were easy to manage. If I didn’t take you out for a day, you’d smash things. More irritable than other zombies. If I did take you out, you’d attack people, and I couldn’t hold you back.”

Xue Ling: “…” That description feels strangely familiar.

Wen Jiuze added, “Living in the small, poorly soundproofed base, I often received complaints from neighbors about your midnight howling. But when they saw you, they never dared to confront us in person.”

Xue Ling: “…” That’s so pitiful. I mean the neighbors.

Wen Jiuze went on, “During missions, if you weren’t handcuffed, you’d wander off and blend in with a group of zombies. I circled the entire street and searched for a long time before I found you.”

“Enough! Stop talking.”

Xue Ling snatched his tablet, amazed at his incredible typing speed.

His face had grown thinner, but his actions had become faster.

“Alright, I was wrong. I apologize, okay?”

“Sorry for causing you trouble.”

Wen Jiuze picked up the discarded twig and began doodling on the ground. “It’s not trouble. It’s just that without anyone to argue with, every day felt boring.”

Because of the boredom, he threw himself into tasks relentlessly.

“…You really don’t think I’m a burden?” Xue Ling couldn’t believe his lighthearted descriptions, knowing the reality must have been much worse.

Over a year had passed like a dream for her. Everything still felt surreal. But for Wen Jiuze, he had lived through it day by day, dealing with countless challenges while looking after her.

Just thinking about it left Xue Ling feeling suffocated.

“I must have caused you so much trouble…” She lowered her head.

Wen Jiuze used his thumb and forefinger to lift her chin and pointed at his tablet. “You call the daily events that happen during meals trouble?”

Xue Ling: “…”

Classic Wen Jiuze-style comfort.

Come to think of it, with how often things happened, it really was hard to feel guilty anymore.

“So, how’s Wen Yi? How’s Lab 8027? And the research on the zombie virus vaccine?” Xue Ling asked.

Wen Jiuze replied, “Let’s continue discussing all the trouble you’ve caused me.”

Xue Ling protested, “Didn’t you just say it’s not trouble?”

Wen Jiuze smirked. “I was being polite. Now, listen carefully and properly thank me.”

Xue Ling snapped, “Thank you my foot! If you’re so capable, why don’t you toss me in the trash?”

Wen Jiuze fell silent. Xue Ling began to reflect, wondering if she had gone too far. Maybe saying thank you wasn’t that difficult.

“This feeling of arguing is great,” Wen Jiuze finally said, giving her a thumbs-up. “Keep it up.”

Xue Ling: “…” He’s seriously crazy!

Night fell.

Xue Ling’s initial intention to have a heart-to-heart with Wen Jiuze and catch up on current events was completely derailed. Instead, they ended up exchanging nonsense by writing in the sand.

“Stop distracting me!” Xue Ling scolded. The beach was already covered with their chaotic scribbles.

“It’s dark now. What’s the point of writing? You can’t see,” Wen Jiuze wrote.

You can clearly see! You’re just being difficult! Xue Ling decided to drop the conversation and go take a shower.

After soaking in seawater and being covered in sand, her skin felt uncomfortable.

The small temporary room they were staying in had running water and even a small bathtub.

Locking the door, Xue Ling sat in the tub, scrubbing herself while discreetly measuring her body’s dimensions.

She still didn’t understand how she had regained her senses after a year in that state. Wen Jiuze hadn’t explained it either.

Suddenly, the locked bathroom door clicked open. Wen Jiuze walked in casually and placed a few items next to the tub.

“Use this body wash and shampoo. The ones here are expired. Your pajamas and slippers are here too. Do you need a scrubbing towel?”

Still holding the measuring tape around her neck, Xue Ling froze mid-action. Wen Jiuze glanced at the soft tape and, with his usual serious tone, tapped his tablet to say, “Don’t hang yourself in the bathroom.”

Who’s hanging themselves? Are your eyes broken?!

Xue Ling splashed water at him.

Wen Jiuze left after placing the items. Standing at the door, he paused and added via his tablet, “No need to measure secretly. Your data is recorded every week. You can use the tablet to check it if you want.”

After that, he closed the door.

Xue Ling: “…” She sank into the tub in frustration, rolling around like a shark.

After venting, she climbed back up, leaned on the tub’s edge, and picked up the body wash Wen Jiuze had brought over.

Wow, it turned out that this was produced by the Beizheng Base this year. It seems that the production of daily chemical products has been restored, and the world outside is getting better.

The recovery wasn’t just about small daily items. The next day, when they were about to leave, Xue Ling realized they were taking a train back to the Beizheng Base.

“Don’t be so surprised. Only a small portion of high-speed trains and regular trains have been reopened, mainly connecting a few important large bases and some special cities. Ordinary people can’t ride them yet, but specific groups with tasks can use them,” Wen Jiuze explained as he pushed her toward the platform.

To her surprise, there was still manual ticket checking. A smiling lady in gloves took two cards from Wen Jiuze’s hand, scanned them at a machine, and then handed them back.

“Thank you. If you have any issues on the train, feel free to ask the crew in the first carriage. Wishing you both a pleasant journey and a safe trip.”

The train only had a few carriages. The one Xue Ling boarded had most of the seats removed, with only two seats in the front. The rest of the space was used for cargo.

In fact, the limited reopening of these trains was not primarily for passenger transport but for freight transport.

Other soldiers boarded gradually, but they were assigned to a different carriage.

Wen Jiuze and Xue Ling were in a separate carriage. This had always been his habit. Their carriage was a cargo compartment, with two seats specially arranged for them.

Xue Ling sat down in her seat and reached for the card Wen Jiuze had just shown her.

“What’s this card?”

“It’s a new ID card.”

“A new ID card? Let me see. I have an ID too.”

Xue Ling saw her name, birthdate, and the base where she was registered on the card. There was a special note that indicated she was a member of the special operations team at the Beizheng Base, with the code S0.

Next to the text was her photo—not a face from when she was a zombie, but her human photo, taken from a Polaroid.

She recognized the picture—it was from one of her old Polaroid photos.

Wen Jiuze’s ID card was the same as hers, only the number was different. His code was S9, and the photo was also taken from the same Polaroid as hers.

She stared at the two ID cards for a while before handing them back to Wen Jiuze.

“Keep yours,” Wen Jiuze said.

Xue Ling shook her head and folded the two cards together. “You keep them for me.”

The train ride lasted a day and a night. Although it was much slower than before the apocalypse, it was still faster than driving herself.

The train didn’t stop much during the journey, and it didn’t pass through major stations either.

Wen Jiuze explained that there were too many zombies at the large stations, and many had piled up on the tracks, blocking them. There weren’t enough people to clear them one by one, so they had to bypass these areas.

Xue Ling recalled that when she got lost once, she had gone to a high-speed rail station. She had climbed up to the platform and used the map at the station to figure out where she was.

“The recovery has been quick. Maybe in a few years, everything will be fully restored,” Xue Ling said optimistically.

Wen Jiuze didn’t react to her statement, as if he hadn’t heard it.

After getting off the train, they still had to drive for half a day to reach the Beizheng Base.

Returning to that secret research base felt like a replay of their first visit. Xue Ling was sitting in the passenger seat of Wen Jiuze’s car, seeing the row of serious soldiers standing guard at the entrance.

But this time, she recognized several of the soldiers inside.

She rolled down the window and waved at them.

The soldiers, seeing her, widened their eyes, unable to maintain their serious expressions.

Ha ha!

As the car moved forward and they couldn’t see them anymore, Xue Ling pulled her head back inside.

She saw Wen Yi, who looked almost unchanged from over a year ago, talking to her junior, Xu Zhihua, under the building.

Turning around, Wen Yi saw Xue Ling holding Wen Jiuze and waving vigorously. She stopped talking and stood there waiting for them to come over.

Then, she took two steps forward and gave Xue Ling a brief hug.

Afterward, she coldly said, “Perfect timing. You need to keep an eye on Wen Jiuze. He kicked out seven tables in the conference room and broke several instruments in my lab.”

Xue Ling: “…”

No greetings, just a complaint about Wen Jiuze.