The zombie was still wandering in the yard, but the cat had vanished without a trace. Yun Huacen was considering whether to check the surveillance footage when a dark shadow suddenly lunged toward him. He stumbled backward in panic, knocking over the chair behind him.
When Yun Huacen looked up, he saw it was the very cat he had been searching for. It had just pounced, its front paws touching the glass before pushing off with its hind legs and landing gracefully on the ground. It sat there, watching him through the glass. Yun Huacen nervously swallowed, growing even more curious about the creature. The villa’s glass was specially designed, people outside couldn’t see inside, yet he couldn’t shake the feeling that the cat could.
“Could it be that the mutation has enhanced its vision?” Yun Huacen couldn’t help but wonder.
To test his theory, Yun Huacen walked over to the floor-to-ceiling window and waved at the cat. The cat showed no reaction, still sitting there motionless.
“Can’t it see?” Yun Huacen frowned. “Then what was that about earlier?”
Suddenly, the cat moved. It walked up to the window, raised a paw, and began scratching the glass. Its sharp claws scraped across the surface, leaving faint scratches. Though they posed no real threat, the screeching sound was piercing. The noise caught the attention of the zombie wandering in the yard, making it agitated. Low growls rumbled from its throat.
Yun Huacen observed the cat’s actions closely, unsure of what it was trying to do. Almost as if guided by some inexplicable impulse, he pressed the button to retract the glass wall of the courtyard. The glass slowly receded, and the cat nimbly leaped off the balcony, climbed onto the courtyard wall, and then jumped out of the villa.
“Was it just asking me to let it go?”
Yun Huacen was wary of the cat. Opening the glass had been his way of letting it leave, but he hadn’t expected it to actually go. He breathed a sigh of relief, his finger hovering over the button to close the glass before moving away. While keeping the glass open could prevent mutated zombies like the cat from entering the yard, it would also make it easier for humans to spy on him. Mutated zombies were rare, but humans were plentiful. Comparing the two, Yun Huacen still felt humans posed a greater threat.
Yun Huacen turned on his computer and searched for news about zombies. Although the original owner had stockpiled a considerable amount of supplies, they weren’t inexhaustible. Sooner or later, they would run out. Besides, there were now seven more mouths to feed, so he had to find a way to replenish their food.
The zombie virus spread at an alarming rate. In just three days, tens of thousands of people in the small city of Haining had been infected. The new urban area was still under government control, but the old district had already fallen into chaos, the outbreak had originated there. Logically, the villa was located in a remote area, and the small town at the foot of the mountain was considered a backwater in Haining. Even if the zombie virus had broken out, it shouldn’t have spread here so quickly. Yet, the town had fallen almost simultaneously with the old district, likely because some townspeople had come into contact with infected individuals from the old district.
The town was now overrun with zombies, and even if there were survivors, they were few and far between. Moreover, since most households in the town farmed their own land, they likely had stored food at home. For the time being, they probably wouldn’t risk venturing out to stockpile supplies. This made it the perfect opportunity to go out and gather food.
At this thought, Yun Huacen lowered his head to examine himself. With this body of the original owner, doing scientific research was fine, but fighting zombies? Better forget about it. He needed to come up with a foolproof plan. Yun Huacen’s gaze fell on the table, and a plan slowly took shape in his mind. However… Yun Huacen walked to the floor-to-ceiling window and looked down at the zombie in the yard. To go out, he had to deal with it first.
Yun Huacen went downstairs and entered the kitchen. As the saying goes, health is the foundation of revolution. Having learned his lesson yesterday, he couldn’t take it lightly today. To avoid repeating the mistakes of his past life, he had to take good care of his body. Since he wasn’t in a hurry, he decided to start learning how to cook, beginning with the simplest dish: scrambled eggs with tomatoes.
After watching the tutorial video three times, Yun Huacen felt confident. But when it came to actual practice, things weren’t so simple. The first time, the fire was too high, and the eggs burned. Learning from the first attempt, he added water the second time, only to end up with a mushy mess. After an hour of effort, the kitchen was as chaotic as if a thief had ransacked it. Two tomatoes and four eggs were wasted. Adhering to the principle of not wasting food, Yun Huacen still made instant noodles and poured the mushy scrambled eggs with tomatoes into the pot. Then, carrying it, he headed down to the laboratory.
Looking at the instant noodles, which weren’t much better than yesterday’s, Yun Huacen couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty, though his expression remained aloof.
Shao Lan glanced at the bowl of noodles and reached out with her small hands to take it. She said cautiously, “Uncle, could you give Lanlan some water to drink?”
Yun Huacen looked at her chapped lips and realized he had only given them noodles yesterday, not water. His guilt deepened. Fortunately, there was a water dispenser in the laboratory. Yun Huacen took a few disposable paper cups and filled them with water for each of them.
“Thank you, Uncle.” Shao Lan seemed much more relaxed than yesterday, as if she was no longer afraid of him.
The children gulped down the water, their thirst somewhat relieved.
Another girl tentatively spoke up, “Uncle, could I have another cup of water?”
Yun Huacen poured water for each of them again and reminded them, “This is the last cup of water for today. Use it sparingly.”
The boy who had cursed at Yun Huacen earlier muttered quietly, “Water isn’t even worth much. Why be so stingy?”
Yun Huacen ignored him, but when serving the noodles, he only gave the boy half a bowl, not even a speck of egg.
The boy protested, “Why are you giving me so little?”
Yun Huacen turned to look at him and said, “Giving you food and water is out of kindness, not because I owe you anything. Good thing I never planned to keep you around, or I’d just be raising a bunch of ungrateful brats.”
“Who wants your lousy stuff? Even pigs wouldn’t eat it!” The boy threw the bowl on the ground, stiffening his neck as he confronted Yun Huacen.
“Give me the water.” Yun Huacen said coldly, glaring at him.
The boy clearly looked afraid, but he still stiffened his neck and threw the cup at Yun Huacen’s feet, splashing water all over his pants. “It’s just a cup of water! Who cares?”
Yun Huacen turned to the others, took back all the food and water, and then left the laboratory.
“Brother Xiao Lei, you went too far!” Shao Lan frowned deeply.
A flicker of guilt flashed in Yu Lei’s eyes, but he stubbornly raised his voice and shouted, “How was I being excessive? I’ve never eaten such disgusting instant noodles before! They were unbearably salty, and he didn’t even give us water to drink. I think he just had bad intentions!”
“Didn’t you see Uncle’s hand was scalded?”
Outside the door, Yun Huacen, who was watching the surveillance feed, was taken aback. He then lifted his hand to check and indeed found a burn on the back of it. He had been so busy earlier that he hadn’t even noticed the injury.
“What does his scalded hand have to do with me?”
“I saw it too. It must have happened while he was cooking. Uncle didn’t make the food taste bad on purpose, he just doesn’t know how to cook.” The girl who had earlier asked Yun Huacen for water couldn’t help but speak up.
Girls really were more thoughtful. The resentment in Yun Huacen’s heart slowly dissipated.
“Don’t defend him. If he were a good person, why would he lock us in cages? Right, Brother Rui?” Yu Lei turned to Yue Zirui, seeking an ally.
Yue Zirui glanced at the surveillance camera and said, “Qiqi is right. He didn’t make the food taste bad on purpose, he just doesn’t know how to cook.”
Yun Huacen noticed his subtle gesture, unsure whether he was speaking his mind or deliberately saying it for him to hear.
“Brother Rui, why are you saying that too?” Yu Lei’s expression clearly showed panic.
“There were boiled eggs in yesterday’s instant noodles, and they were even peeled. If he wanted to just go through the motions, would he have gone to such trouble? Also, today’s noodles were clearly much better than yesterday’s. He even added tomatoes and eggs. Plus, with the burn on his hand, it shows he’s trying hard to learn how to cook. It’s just…” At this point, confusion flashed in Yue Zirui’s eyes.
Hearing this, Yun Huacen was somewhat surprised. He hadn’t expected this young man to have such keen insight.
“Brother Rui is right. Brother Xiao Lei went too far just now!”
“Isn’t it just scrambled eggs with tomatoes? It’s so simple, even I can make it. How could someone his age not know? I think he’s just pretending.” Yu Lei didn’t want to admit he was wrong because that would mean it was his fault that his companions had no food to eat.
Yun Huacen couldn’t help but roll his eyes and said irritably, “What a brat! He needs to be taught a lesson!”
Yue Zirui lowered his head, his body shrinking into the shadows, making his expression hard to see. “He’s a rich person. It’s normal for rich people not to know how to cook.”
“Even if he doesn’t know how to cook, what about the water? Controlling how much water we can drink, isn’t that just stingy?”
Hearing Yu Lei’s words, Yun Huacen was both angry and amused. Anyone with half a brain wouldn’t say something like that.
“Do you still think it’s like before? Where you could buy a bottle of water for one yuan on the street?” Yue Zirui frowned deeply. “Now, zombies are everywhere. Who dares to go outside? If no one goes out, where will food and water come from?”
Yu Lei opened his mouth but couldn’t find words to refute. They had escaped from a horde of zombies and knew all too well how terrifying zombies and the zombie virus were.
“The zombie virus outbreak happened so suddenly that no one had time to stockpile food and water. We ran for two days in the mountains and went hungry for two days. If he hadn’t given us food, even if we had escaped the zombies, we would have starved to death. The food and water you just threw away were what he saved from his own share. What right do you have to complain?”
Yu Lei was clearly in a state of denial. For the sake of the future, Yue Zirui had to make him face reality. Otherwise, it would cause trouble.
Yun Huacen always felt that Yue Zirui’s words weren’t sincere, they were specifically meant for his ears.
Yu Lei looked helplessly at the instant noodles on the floor, shamefully lowering his head and whispering, “I’m sorry, I was wrong.”
“Brother Xiao Lei, you should apologize to Uncle.”
Yu Lei hesitated for a moment before saying, “A real man takes responsibility for his actions. When he comes next time, I’ll definitely apologize.”
Yun Huacen turned off the monitor, picked up the pot, and walked out. Staring at the noodles inside, he felt troubled, with so many instant noodles, it would take him ages to finish them all by himself.