Chapter 58 Mr. Zheng Is 7 Years Older Than Me

Apart from the room fee, she still had to buy food every day at the hotel restaurant.

Since there wasn’t much money left in her balance, she had basically been living off corn buns and steamed bread during this period.

But after so much time had passed, that little bit of money in her account had long since run out.

She hadn’t awakened any ability, so she didn’t dare to leave the hotel. If she didn’t leave the hotel, she had no income, and with no income, she could only sit and watch her savings disappear.

The only person she could rely on now was Zheng Wen’an.

“Yiyi, I really want to give you money, but I have to live too.

I can’t keep supporting you with money all the time—people will misunderstand.”

As he spoke, Zheng Wen’an cast a subtle glance at Chu Jiangyue.

Besides Chu Jiangyue, another face flashed through his mind—Jin Chuyu’s. For some reason, he felt there was some destined connection between them.

“Wow! What kind of look is that? Host, don’t tell me he has thoughts about you!”

The little fox had been perched on Chu Jiangyue’s shoulder the whole time, seeing everything clearly. Zheng Wen’an’s eyes made it impossible not to think otherwise.

“Congratulations, you’ve finally seen this man’s true nature.”

Chu Jiangyue wasn’t really an innocent eighteen-year-old girl.

Even though she hadn’t done well in her previous life, she had still seen plenty of all kinds of trickery and hypocrisy. Zheng Wen’an’s little schemes were far too shallow to fool her.

“And just now he was giving the heroine such sticky, lingering looks… ugh, he’s filthy!”

The little fox’s disdain for Zheng Wen’an was completely undisguised.

Chu Jiangyue’s lips curved slightly, but she neither agreed nor denied the little fox’s words.

“Misunderstand? Wen’an-ge, we’re childhood sweethearts. We’re destined to marry and spend our lives together!”

From the moment she first understood love, Liu Yiyi always believed she and Zheng Wen’an would marry with both families’ blessings and live happily ever after.

But now things weren’t unfolding as she had imagined.

Her Wen’an-ge’s eyes had started straying to other women.

This gave Liu Yiyi a strong sense of crisis, making her cling even tighter to Zheng Wen’an.

“I don’t care! Before Mom, Dad, Uncle, and Aunt left on their trip, they said you had to take care of me. Wen’an-ge, you can’t just abandon me!”

She clutched his arm so hard that her nails broke his skin.

“Hiss—let go!”

Zheng Wen’an pried her hand off his arm. Looking at the red marks on his skin, his expression darkened.

“Yiyi, this is the last time. You need to learn to kill zombies and collect crystal cores yourself. Otherwise… I won’t care about you anymore.”

After awakening his ability, Zheng Wen’an’s mindset had completely changed.

Before, he stayed with Liu Yiyi because he had no other advantage—two people together were safer than one.

But now he had awakened powers, while Liu Yiyi was still just an ordinary person. He had to think about his own future.

He was an ability-user—how could he stay with an ordinary person? He deserved better.

After pushing Liu Yiyi aside, Zheng Wen’an turned his attention to Chu Jiangyue. And now that he had met Jin Chuyu today, more ideas were forming in his head.

“I understand, Wen’an-ge. I’ll work hard to earn money on my own.”

Liu Yiyi lowered her head to hide her expression.

Though her voice was soft and buzzing, if anyone had looked up from below, they would have seen a contorted, twisted face.

Some people were just stubborn by nature—if they couldn’t have something themselves, they would rather destroy it than let someone else have it.

Both harboring their own thoughts, Zheng Wen’an transferred 20 silver coins to Liu Yiyi. If she was frugal, it would last her quite a while.

With that money, as long as she diligently went out to hunt zombies and gather resources, she could live comfortably enough at the hotel.

But clearly, that wasn’t how Liu Yiyi saw it. To her, 20 silver coins was nothing more than being tossed scraps like a beggar.

Still, she didn’t show her dissatisfaction. Instead, she put on a sweet smile, thanked him warmly, renewed her room for another five days, and left the lobby.

Seeing she wasn’t making a fuss anymore, Zheng Wen’an thought she had finally come around, and so he paid her no more attention.

Once she was out of sight, his gaze drifted back toward Chu Jiangyue.

“Classmate Jiangyue, may I call you that?”

Zheng Wen’an used what he thought was his most charming tone.

Chu Jiangyue had already eaten her melon and didn’t intend to stay in the lobby. Just as she was about to leave, Zheng Wen’an stopped her.

But hearing him say “Classmate Jiangyue” made her feel physically uncomfortable.

“Mr. Zheng, you’re seven years older than me. Calling me ‘classmate’ doesn’t really fit, does it?”

Chu Jiangyue directly pointed out the age gap between them.

When you like someone, ten years older is “mature.”
When you don’t, seven years older is “too old.”

Her words stabbed straight into Zheng Wen’an’s heart.

At that moment, Shen Zhigui’s group—the ones leading people to search for B City’s safe base—happened to step into the lobby.

Hearing Chu Jiangyue’s remark, Lin Xuyuan couldn’t help but laugh.

“Sorry, I couldn’t hold it in.”

Jiang He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses with a push of his finger, giving Lin Xuyuan a sympathetic look.

Zheng Wen’an wasn’t young anymore, but truthfully, they themselves weren’t much better.

With others present, Zheng Wen’an didn’t dare say more. He gave Chu Jiangyue a gentle smile and said goodbye, then left the hall.

“Boss Chu, we’re here to exchange coins.”

Shen Zhigui’s group came every few days to recharge. Even Chu Jiangyue herself no longer knew how much money they had in their balance.

“Of course. Feel free to exchange as you like.”

She was naturally delighted. After all, all this money would eventually end up in her pocket.

“Boss Chu, is this Housekeeper Chu a new employee of yours? I don’t think I’ve seen him around the hotel before.”

Xie Silin was still young, and his words slipped out too quickly. After asking, he immediately realized it was improper—this was Chu Boss’s private business.

“He is indeed a new hire, but he isn’t a guest of Jianglin Hotel.”

Chu Jiangyue didn’t deliberately hide that Chu Jiangyang was a robot, but she wasn’t about to explain it either.

Hearing he wasn’t a guest, Shen Zhigui and the others were surprised.

But since Chu Jiangyue didn’t explain, they didn’t pry further.

Everyone had their own secrets. One needed to know boundaries.

“I see. Well, if Boss Chu were ever hiring staff, I’d be the first to apply!”

In the apocalypse, if one could get a job that didn’t require exposure to the elements and offered stable income, countless people would envy it.

Shen Zhigui gave Chu Jiangyang a glance before signaling Jiang He to place their items on the exchanger’s tray.

Everyone in their team had abilities—even Jiang He, who had space-based powers, had gained a greatly enhanced physique thanks to his awakening. Compared to ordinary people, there was still a clear difference.

With skill came courage, so they ventured further out and gathered more jewels and valuables than anyone near Jianglin Hotel could.

Just Shen Zhigui’s pile alone amounted to 3 gold coins, 60 silver coins, and 50 copper coins.

As expected—the wealthy remained wealthy.

Shen Zhigui’s group was practically dripping in wealth, and Chu Jiangyue was already pondering how to earn even more from them.