Ye Yunyi was just getting ready to stew some meat and cook a proper meal.
The next moment!
A knock sounded at the door.
Ye Yunyi opened the door.
And there, standing at the door, was Zhou Huaiwei!
She was leaning on a crutch.
She bit her lip, looking too shy to speak.
She looked heartbreakingly vulnerable.
Ye Yunyi stared at Zhou Huaiwei, stunned for a moment.
’So beautiful!’
’And that body!’
She was the very picture of a slender branch laden with ripe fruit.
Before the apocalypse, she would have absolutely been the campus belle!
But now, in a world where strength was everything, a title like "campus belle" was more like being called a decorative vase—pretty, but useless.
However, Ye Yunyi still didn’t know what she wanted.
He spoke.
"What is it?"
His icy tone made Zhou Huaiwei shudder.
She then looked up at Ye Yunyi.
Hope flickered in her eyes.
"Hello, could I... could I borrow some money from you? To pay the rent for the barrier?"
Zhou Huaiwei’s voice trembled as she spoke; she was at the end of her rope.
After all, no one around had any spare resources.
If Ye Yunyi didn’t help her,
death was likely her only way out!
And she wouldn’t even have to wait to be driven out.
After all, rather than struggling to survive outside the barrier, suffering endless humiliation before a miserable death, it was better to just end her own life inside!
At least that way, she could die with some dignity.
Ye Yunyi understood.
He looked at her. "I can give it to you. You don’t have to borrow it; I’ll give it to you outright."
"Really?" Zhou Huaiwei was thrilled for a moment, but then she looked at Ye Yunyi as if she had realized something.
Five years into the apocalypse, she was no longer that naive girl she once was!
"What... what are your conditions?"
"Be my wife and have my children."
"You!" Zhou Huaiwei bit her lip, frozen in place. Although she had suspected this would be the case, hearing Ye Yunyi say it out loud...
...she still found it hard to accept.
She stood there for a while.
She clenched her fists and looked at Ye Yunyi.
"I... agree."
The next moment,
a screen of light popped up in front of Ye Yunyi.
[Congratulations, Host, on successfully taking a wife! You have acquired the Skill: Rapid Absorption!]
’This!’
’The ability to rapidly absorb Crystal Cores?!’
’Isn’t this exactly what I wanted?’
After all, he had just tried absorbing a Crystal Core, and while he could do it, the process was incredibly slow!
Right then, he took out a Late-Bronze Stage Crystal Core!
In an instant!
’Absorb!’
[Name: Ye Yunyi]
[Height: 185cm]
[Tier: Mid-Bronze Stage]
[Skill: Rapid Absorption]
[Weapon: Upgradeable Battle Axe (Storable in System)]
’What!’
’For real?!’
Right then,
Ye Yunyi immediately absorbed all the other Crystal Cores!
[Name: Ye Yunyi]
[Height: 185cm]
[Tier: Early-Silver Stage]
[Skill: Rapid Absorption]
[Weapon: Upgradeable Battle Axe]
As an even more ferocious and powerful energy surged through him,
Ye Yunyi stared at his attribute panel. ’I... I actually jumped straight to the Silver Tier!’
To put it in perspective,
in a small barrier like the Nebula Barrier, a Silver Tier expert was already considered to be near the very top.
Ye Yunyi turned to Zhou Huaiwei, his gaze softening slightly.
But in the next moment,
Zhou Huaiwei’s face went deathly pale, and her body went limp as she started to fall backward.
Ye Yunyi took a step forward.
He caught her and swept her up into his arms in a princess carry.
The soft feeling in his arms made Ye Yunyi’s heart stir.
Zhou Huaiwei felt a moment of weightlessness before landing in a firm embrace.
She looked up to find herself in Ye Yunyi’s arms.
This embrace...
It was firm, and strong!
’So reassuring!’
Ye Yunyi kicked the door shut behind him and gently placed her on the small bed.
Then, he ripped open her burlap trousers.
Watching him, Zhou Huaiwei let out a soft cry, a blush spreading across her face.
She tried to shrink back.
But then she looked into Ye Yunyi’s eyes, bit her lip, and asked tentatively, "Can... can we wait until tonight?"
Ye Yunyi: "..." ’Silly girl, what are you thinking? I’m just applying medicine!’
He didn’t say a word, simply grabbing her slender ankle and pulling her closer.
Seeing that her attempt was useless,
Zhou Huaiwei closed her eyes and lay still, resigning herself to her fate.
However, what followed was a sharp, sudden pain!
It came from her leg!
"Ah!" Zhou Huaiwei cried out softly. She pushed herself up and saw Ye Yunyi applying ointment to her wound.
After the sharp sting, a soothing sensation followed.
In just a short time,
under the medicine’s effects, her wound was visibly healing and closing before her very eyes.
Ye Yunyi watched, thinking, ’This medicine works that well? As expected, system products are always top-notch!’
Zhou Huaiwei now looked at Ye Yunyi in a completely new light.
In an apocalypse like this, medicine was already scarce, and remedies for physical injuries were even rarer.
Medicine like this was far beyond the reach of people of her social standing.
’He just used something so precious on me, just like that?’
In that moment, she felt a warmth she hadn’t experienced since the apocalypse began.
Ye Yunyi looked at her, then shouldered a wild boar leg and some other food. "You rest there for a bit. I’m going to cook. We’ll eat soon."
"Oh." Hearing the command in his voice, Zhou Huaiwei gave up the idea of helping and sat obediently on the small bed, hugging her knees.
「Half an hour later」
The aroma of roasting meat filled the small hut and even began to drift outside.
As Zhou Huaiwei took in the fragrance, her stomach began to rumble.
She couldn’t even remember the last time she had smelled roasting meat.
Ye Yunyi dished out the meat and set it on the table.
He then set out bowls and chopsticks.
"Come and eat."
"Oh, okay." Zhou Huaiwei got off the bed. Ye Yunyi went to get the other dishes.
A moment later, Ye Yunyi sat down at the table.
He saw that his bowl was already piled high with meat, like a small tower.
In Zhou Huaiwei’s bowl, however, there was only broth, without a single scrap of meat.
And even then, there was only a little bit of broth.
Zhou Huaiwei was just about to take a sip.
"Wait!" Ye Yunyi said.
Zhou Huaiwei looked at him, obediently put down her bowl, and placed her hands on her lap, staring at the broth.
’It looks like even this broth is going to be taken from me,’ she thought.
But in the next moment,
a large piece of meat landed in her bowl.
Zhou Huaiwei: "..."!!!
Instantly, her eyes went wide.
She couldn’t believe her eyes!
’Such a huge piece of meat!’
’This is for me?!’
’I’m allowed to eat this?!’
’Really?!’
Seeing her frozen in place, Ye Yunyi said, "Go on, eat. When you’re done, you can get more yourself."
’What?!’
’When I’m done? I can have more?!’
’This!!!’
Zhou Huaiwei was on the verge of tears!
She immediately picked up her bowl and began to devour the food ravenously.
With such a large wild boar leg, plus the other food, the two of them obviously couldn’t finish everything. Even eating with all their might, they barely managed to get through half of it.
After dinner, Ye Yunyi went outside.
He looked up at the blood moon in the sky, which was as eerie as ever.
This time, however, his state of mind was different.
Then, he turned and went back inside.
Inside, Zhou Huaiwei had already hidden herself under the covers.
Seeing Ye Yunyi enter, her pretty face flushed. "H-Husband... it’s time to rest."