Jiang Ran still couldn’t move, so he could only let Lin Buyu rub against him.
His dark eyes watched her. Her eyes were bright as she looked at him with obvious anticipation.
Jiang Ran didn’t believe that she genuinely liked him.
Because the look in someone’s eyes and their attitude when they truly liked another person were completely different.
“You’re certain you won’t get hurt because of what you are.”
Tsk. That took all the fun out of it.
Lin Buyu pouted. “Team Leader, you’re really cold-hearted. Why do you have to be so rational? Can’t you at least consider that maybe I really am willing to die for you?”
Jiang Ran refused to be led around by her. “What’s your purpose?”
“What purpose?” Lin Buyu played dumb.
For once, Jiang Ran was unusually patient.
“You didn’t enter Yulan Base because you wanted to join Yulan Base. And you certainly weren’t after the life of Yulan Base’s leader. You came for me. I want to know why you went to such lengths to get close to me. What’s your purpose?”
If he still couldn’t tell that she was targeting him after everything that had happened, then all these years of experience would have been wasted.
Lin Buyu hadn’t expected Jiang Ran to be so perceptive.
He had actually figured out so quickly that she was after him.
But as for her true purpose… he could rack his brains forever and still never figure it out.
So she gave Jiang Ran a flirtatious wink and, in a sweet, coquettish voice, recited one of those cheesy pickup lines popular online:
“Do you know how simple love is? So simple that the moment I saw you, I became hopelessly obsessed with you. You guessed right. My target is you. The first time I met you, God whispered four words into my ear—You. Are. My. Fate.”
She drew out each of those four words dramatically, giving him a flirtatious wink with every one.
Wasn’t the whole point of a great villain to be redeemed?
She had already made him sound so important. Surely that would soften his heart at least a little?
After all, people who needed saving were usually the ones who had been deprived of love!
She swore she was doing her absolute best to express just how important he was to her.
She spoke with such deep emotion that she looked like an enchanting temptress capable of luring anyone into her spell.
But Jiang Ran remained perfectly rational.
He could clearly see how deliberate everything she did was. Her target was him.
But she didn’t love him. Not in the way she claimed—certainly not love at first sight.
He wouldn’t fall into such an obvious trap.
Jiang Ran pressed his lips together. When he finally realized that he could move again, he reached out and pulled her into his arms. Leaning close to her ear, he whispered, “You love me that much? Then I want you to sleep with me. Are you willing?”
The smile on Lin Buyu’s face nearly froze.
Sleep, sleep, sleep. All he knew was how to threaten her with that.
He knew perfectly well that she was vulnerable to threats like that.
Hmph!
“Why? You love me enough to die for me, yet you’re unwilling to do something that naturally follows?”
What the hell does he mean, naturally follows? Who said anything about us naturally getting to that point?
She cursed him furiously in her heart while keeping a honey-sweet smile on her face.
She pushed against Jiang Ran’s chest and gave him a coy look.
“Mmm~ Team Leader, this is the middle of nowhere. It’s not exactly appropriate. Besides, Nie Fei and the others are still here. Once we get back, I’ll keep you company…”
Lin Buyu mentally rubbed her chin, wondering how things had somehow gone in the wrong direction.
She was trying to redeem Jiang Ran. She never said she wanted to use romance to do it.
Where exactly had things gone wrong?
Oh.
It started when she said she had fallen in love with him at first sight.
Tsk. This stupid mouth of mine. Cheesy pickup lines just roll right off my tongue. I guess I wrote too many love letters for my younger brother back in the day.
“Fine. Then we’ll talk about it after we get back.”
Jiang Ran released her and opened the car door.
He got out.
Nie Fei and the others, who had been watching the situation from a distance, immediately hurried over.
“Done?”
The smile that had just been in Jiang Ran’s eyes instantly disappeared, replaced by a cold glint.
Nie Fei immediately corrected himself.
“Hehe, my bad, Brother Ran. You’re done talking with Lin Buyu?”
They had seen Lin Buyu and Jiang Ran getting all lovey-dovey in the car, so the group had deliberately walked farther away.
No one was curious about why Jiang Ran hadn’t attacked while they were being pursued by zombies.
He had always been lazy. Most of the time, whether he fought or not depended entirely on his mood.
Perhaps he simply hadn’t considered the situation dangerous enough at the time.
So aside from Lin Buyu, no one knew that Jiang Ran had genuinely been unable to move then.
And only Jiang Ran understood that the sweet-talking woman, Lin Buyu, truly hadn’t been after his life.
If she had wanted him dead, she could have killed him when he revealed his secret to her.
But she hadn’t.
Not only had she refrained from attacking, she had even staged an act of sacrificing herself to lure the zombies away from him.
Jiang Ran had to admit that even though he knew her actions might have been deliberately staged, his emotions had still been affected.
“Tsk.”
He didn’t like having his emotions manipulated by others.
Because that meant things were slipping out of his control.
Su Ya had gone over to find Lin Buyu. The two of them were talking beside the car about something.
Jiang Ran turned his head and glanced over.
By coincidence, he caught sight of Lin Buyu’s lively, charming smile.
It was exactly like the way she had leaned against him in the car earlier, clearly harboring all sorts of little schemes while still batting her eyelashes at him and sweet-talking him.
She had Su Ya laughing so hard that she was practically giggling nonstop.
Xiao Jingcheng noticed Jiang Ran staring at Lin Buyu. Standing beside him, he pushed up his glasses and said seriously, “Brother Ran, just give in to Lin Buyu. That way, perhaps you’ll finally have someone to keep you company on all those lonely nights.”
Jiang Ran opened his right hand.
Lightning exploded beside Xiao Jingcheng’s feet, nearly roasting him on the spot.
Xiao Jingcheng immediately shut his mouth.
“How far are we from the base?” Jiang Ran asked.
Back to business, Xiao Jingcheng immediately became serious.
“I went up to a high point to check earlier. It’s about ten-odd kilometers away, maybe even farther. The car is out of fuel, and zombies are more active at night. We should probably wait until tomorrow before heading back.”
Jiang Ran had no patience to wait until tomorrow.
“No need. Ten-odd kilometers is nothing. I can drive the car with my ability.”
He said it and did it.
The group quickly got into a car.
This time, Jiang Ran was driving.
Except he wasn’t pressing the accelerator. He simply held the steering wheel and controlled the direction.
The force propelling the car forward came from the lightning ability in his hands.
Driving with his ability was even faster than using fuel.
Lin Buyu sat in the passenger seat, leaning against the window and staring outside.
She thought his ability was incredibly amazing.
It can even drive a car!
After hurrying along, the group finally arrived back at the base at around two in the morning.
As soon as they returned, Lin Buyu collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.
Obviously, zombies didn’t need to rest, but perhaps she had simply experienced too much that day, leaving her unusually exhausted.
She couldn’t actually fall asleep, but her body desperately needed to lie down and relax.
Jiang Ran didn’t return to his room.
As for where he went, Lin Buyu couldn’t be bothered to care.
The next day, news began circulating around the base.
People said that Jiang Ran had led his entire group out to search for medical supplies, only to return empty-handed.
This was the first time Group A had ever suffered a setback.
No one believed that they could come back empty-handed with Jiang Ran leading them.
So another rumor began spreading throughout the base.
People said Jiang Ran had secretly kept the supplies for himself and intended to establish his own faction and betray the base.
Early that morning, Jiang Ran was summoned by the base leader for questioning.
When he arrived at the leader’s office, he was even more arrogant than the leader himself.
The leader sat in his chair.
Jiang Ran lounged on the sofa opposite him.
“You want to ask whether I secretly kept the supplies?”
He toyed with a small, exquisitely crafted handgun in his hand.
He had found it in the warehouse. It was part of the supplies he had once recovered.
He thought the gun would suit Lin Buyu.
She looked especially good holding a gun.
Jiang Congwen stared grimly at Jiang Ran.
But the moment Jiang Ran looked over, a smile suddenly spread across his face.
“Hey, we’re father and son. There’s no need to talk like this between us. The base’s supplies are your supplies. You’re your father’s most precious son. How could we even talk about whether you kept anything for yourself? I just wanted to ask whether someone at the base has upset you recently. If anyone has, just tell your father. I absolutely won’t let you suffer any grievances.”
Jiang Ran found it laughable.
Jiang Congwen was clearly worried that Jiang Ran might actually leave the base, taking away its strongest shield of protection with him.
If he hadn’t promised his grandfather that he wouldn’t kill Jiang Congwen, the man would have died more than a hundred times already.
“Keep your fake affection for your precious illegitimate son. He’ll be coming back in a few days. Perhaps he’ll even bring you a surprise.”
“Jiang Tao is coming back?”
Jiang Congwen became visibly excited.
Jiang Ran glanced at him and sneered.
“I’ll give you some advice. After he comes back, warn him not to go anywhere near where I live. Otherwise, I might accidentally slip up and take his worthless life.”
The smile on Jiang Congwen’s face nearly collapsed, but he still forced himself to keep smiling.
“Jiang Tao has always been well-behaved. He won’t provoke you.”
“Let’s hope so.”
Jiang Ran nodded and casually tossed the small handgun in his hand as he leisurely walked away.
After he left, the smile disappeared from Jiang Congwen’s face immediately.
If the base didn’t still need Jiang Ran, he really wanted to throw that unfilial son into a horde of zombies again and let them eat him.
Meanwhile, Lin Buyu was wandering around the base when she unexpectedly ran into the registration clerk who had registered her when she first arrived.
The clerk was a middle-aged woman who looked fairly kind and was very good at reading the situation.
The moment she saw Lin Buyu, she immediately smiled and hurried over to chat with her.
Lin Buyu still hadn’t been driven away by Jiang Ran even now.
The registration clerk figured Jiang Ran must have been completely captivated by her and couldn’t bear to let her go.
She had even heard that he had taken Lin Buyu along on yesterday’s mission.
Who in their right mind would take someone who can’t lift a finger or carry anything along on a mission?
Clearly, this woman was Jiang Ran’s bedmate.
The clerk wanted to build a good relationship with her, so she chatted with Lin Buyu the entire way.
At first, they talked about ordinary everyday matters.
But gradually, the conversation took a rather unexpected turn.
The clerk asked Lin Buyu, “Miss Lin, how is Team Leader Jiang in bed? Is he… strong?”
After all, there had always been rumors that Jiang Ran never took a bedmate because he was impotent.
Now that he finally had a bedmate, naturally everyone was curious.
Lin Buyu had no idea whether he was any good in bed.
After all, they hadn’t actually done anything.
So she casually replied, “He’s… okay, I guess.”
Just okay?
The clerk’s expression immediately became complicated.
Apparently, the rumors were true.
When they passed by the clerk’s dormitory, the woman told Lin Buyu to wait and hurried inside.
A moment later, she came back carrying a white bottle.
“What’s this?” Lin Buyu asked, holding the bottle, which looked rather like a bottle of body wash.
The clerk smiled knowingly.
“It’s something good for bathing. My husband scavenged it during one of his missions. Things like this don’t need to be turned in, so take it and use it. I have plenty more.”
Something for bathing?
It really was body wash!
Lin Buyu unscrewed the cap and took a sniff.
It actually smelled pretty good.
The water contamination in this apocalypse novel wasn’t as severe as in some other apocalyptic stories.
Most of the water in this world could still be used.
And Jiang Ran didn’t have any body wash.
“Sure. I won’t be polite, then. Thank you.”
Lin Buyu hummed a little tune as she made her way back to their residence.
Jiang Ran was in the room, lying on the bed with both hands folded behind his head.
When he saw her walk into the bathroom, Jiang Ran reminded her,
“I went to the warehouse earlier and got you a wooden tub.”