Finally, Xia Ao dug out the heating wires Shi Zuo An needed from the shattered remains of the speaker.
“Here, I got it for you,” he said casually, handing over the wires.
“Put it aside,” Shi Zuo An didn’t even lift his head, continuing his work.
Xia Ao had no choice but to place it among the pile of wires he had organized nearby.
“How’s it coming along?” he asked, pulling over a chair and sitting next to Shi Zuo An, leaning in curiously.
The tiny electronic components were sometimes smaller than his pinky finger, yet in Shi Zuo An’s hands, they were being assembled skillfully and swiftly, almost without hesitation.
“Not bad, your handiwork is pretty good.”
Shi Zuo An paused, looked up, and stared in shock at the speaker.
Xia Ao: …
Shi Zuo An: …
Apparently, poor language skills might belong to someone else entirely.
By the end of the afternoon, Shi Zuo An had assembled six electronic trigger modules and five incendiary bottles from the pile of materials, while Xia Ao even dug out another backpack to help him.
When Song Zi Qiao came over, hugging a bag of chips, the backpack zipper was already closed.
From the outside, it looked like a completely normal, full backpack, giving no clue to what was inside.
“What did you two pack?” he asked muffled through a mouthful of chips.
Shi Zuo An was about to answer, but Xia Ao beat him to it.
“Some daily supplies. You carry that bag, I’ll carry this one. This one’s heavier.”
Song Zi Qiao’s eyes lit up. “Wow! Xia Ge, you’re so nice, letting me carry the lighter one!”
Shi Zuo An: …
Seems like the materials he used for the trigger modules aren’t exactly lightweight steel and concrete.
Isn’t this heavier than food, clothes, or miscellaneous stuff?
Seeing Song Zi Qiao’s starry-eyed excitement, he ultimately couldn’t bring himself to tell the cruel truth.
Silly kid, he’s just being treated as free labor.
Song Zi Qiao ran off happily, and Shi Zuo An immediately shot Xia Ao a look of disdain.
“Tsk tsk tsk… some people act all noble and righteous, but in reality, they’re just lazy tricksters trying to carry less stuff!”
Xia Ao shrugged, not caring what Shi Zuo An thought of him.
Right now, he only wanted to figure out how to use the stuff in the backpack.
No one in the apocalypse could resist the chance to blow up zombies with bombs.
As for the plan involving Chen Jian Hua, it was progressing smoothly as well.
He had no doubts and accepted the night watch schedule without question.
That night, everyone except Chen Jian Hua covered themselves with “blankets” and pretended to sleep.
For this mission, Shi Zuo An and Xia Ao didn’t sneak out quietly, they told the others in advance.
Unsurprisingly, both wanted to follow along.
But Song Zi Qiao insisted, saying it was unfair to leave him out again after several missions, and this time, no matter what, he had to come.
After some discussion, everyone agreed that at least one person should stay behind in the waiting hall.
Since everyone wanted to go, they decided with rock-paper-scissors.
In the end, Jiang Si was unfortunately out and had to stay behind pretending to sleep.
The rest kept their eyes closed, but their ears were alert.
Sure enough, when Song Zi Qiao feigned “snoring,” Chen Jian Hua couldn’t stay still.
From the faint rustling of plastic bags and the clinking of bottles, it was clear he was rummaging through their food.
Was he just hungry from not eating enough that afternoon?
No!
In the quiet waiting hall, they could clearly hear footsteps approaching their sleeping spot, near Jiang Si’s backpack. He took the U-shaped lock key from the side of her bag.
Then, the footsteps gradually faded away.
Where was he taking the food?
Everyone felt a sinking heaviness in their chests at his actions. Shi Zuo An boldly rolled over to face the glass wall.
He carefully lifted his eyelids just a little, letting his long eyelashes obscure his view.
Under the cover of night, a “white mushroom” stood motionless in their direction.
He was staring straight at the waiting hall!
Shi Zuo An didn’t dare move, not even an extra millimeter of his eyelids.
The two of them stood there facing each other. He didn’t know if Chen Jian Hua had noticed the slightest movement in his eyes.
From this far away…
Time seemed to stretch on. Shi Zuo An’s waist was stiffening from tension when finally, the all-white-dressed Chen Jian Hua left and entered the dining car.
Shi Zuo An exhaled in relief.
Next, they would wait to see what exactly he was planning when he returned!
About an hour and a half passed, and everyone was starting to get tired.
Song Zi Qiao’s snoring was thunderous, making it impossible to tell whether he was still pretending to sleep or had accidentally dozed off.
For the twelfth time, Shi Zuo An pinched his palm with his thumbnail. Finally, footsteps sounded again.
When Chen Jian Hua returned, he didn’t immediately wake the next person on duty. He waited another ten minutes, reorganized the backpack from which he had taken food, put the keys back in place, and only then approached Xia Ao.
“Hey, little Xia Ge, wake up!”
Xia Ao had practiced his acting in advance.
When Chen Jian Hua called him, he didn’t immediately open his eyes. Instead, he mumbled groggily and furrowed his brow, convincingly pretending to be abruptly awakened from sleep.
“Huh?”
Shi Zuo An quietly gave him a mental score of 99 out of 100 for that performance.
Because double sixes came up.
“Little brother, it’s your turn on duty.”
“Ah? Oh, okay.” He slowly sat up, grabbed a bottle of water, and took two big gulps before finally seeming fully awake. “Alright, Chen Da-ge, you can rest now.”
After the shift handover, Chen Jian Hua returned to his spot to sleep.
Fortunately, this nearly sixty-year-old man was also an experienced snorer. Less than ten minutes later, his snoring began, giving everyone a chance to stand up and stretch.
Turns out, Song Zi Qiao really hadn’t fallen asleep, he had been wrongly accused.
The group exchanged glances and silently agreed not to say a word.
Jiang Si stayed behind in the waiting hall, while the others quietly tiptoed out.
Stepping through the glass door, they finally breathed in fresh air again. Song Zi Qiao, who had been holding it in the whole way, could finally speak.
“Oh man! My throat is killing me from all that snoring!”
Listening carefully, his voice did sound a bit hoarse.
Xia Ao feigned extreme surprise: “What? Too bad this is the first time snoring has caused you physical discomfort. Will this… activity happen again in the future?”
He couldn’t resist teasing, which made Song Zi Qiao start yelling loudly again, “Roll, roll, roll!”
Finally, Shi Zuo An slapped him once on the butt, and only then did they reach a temporary truce.
The platform, like last night, was covered in frost, sparkling like a clear pool.
Xia Ao pushed open the door they had previously pried open, now barely ajar.
Inside was silent, so quiet that not even breathing could be heard.
The three moved cautiously, stepping slowly into the carriage, with Shi Zuo An closing the door behind them.
Darkness enveloped them.
Xia Ao felt his way roughly toward the interior, when a soft female voice echoed from the darkness.
“Dad? Why are you back again?”
?
The voice seemed to go unanswered. Light footsteps approached them slowly.
Soon, under a faint glow filtering through the curtain slit, a young woman with braided hair appeared in front of them.
She looked very young, probably no older than twenty-five.
What surprised them most was her slightly rounded belly, and one hand protectively resting over it.
She was pregnant!
The group was momentarily speechless.
Until the woman’s startled exclamation snapped them back.
“Who are you?”
She stepped back nervously.
“Don’t worry, we’re friends of your dad. We won’t hurt you!” Xia Ao said quickly, concerned she might trip or bump her belly.
But the sudden appearance of three unknown men seemed to trigger a stress-like reaction in her. She quickly retreated, as if something behind her could protect her.
Until she reached the end of the carriage, the place where she had been hiding before.
But on the high-speed train, she had nothing to defend herself with, just a bottle of mineral water clutched tightly in her hands.
At that moment, the first thought that crossed Shi Zuo An’s mind was: Chen Jian Hua didn’t even think to bring something for his daughter’s self-protection!
“Don’t be nervous, miss. We really aren’t here to hurt you. Your dad has been with us these past couple of days, hasn’t he told you about us?”
“No!” she exclaimed, extremely agitated. “My dad has never even been to this city. He doesn’t know anyone here!”
Her emotions were so tense that nothing anyone said could get through to her.
Shi Zuo An thought that maybe it would be easier if a different girl came instead.
So he quietly nudged Song Zi Qiao’s waist, signaling him to go fetch Jiang Si.
It would be best if she brought some food and drinks.
Song Zi Qiao ran off. Xia Ao tried to calm the girl twice more, but her guard remained up. With no other options, the two had to step out of the carriage, letting her calm down on her own.
Five minutes later, Jiang Si arrived carrying a bag of supplies.
As she approached, she saw the two standing by the door like guardians.
“How is she?” Song Zi Qiao had apparently explained a few details about the situation to her.
Effectively, their positions had been swapped: Jiang Si went in to talk to the pregnant girl, while Song Zi Qiao returned to keep an eye on Chen Jian Hua.
This time, to avoid making the girl overly wary, Shi Zuo An and Xia Ao stayed at the junction of the carriages, leaving Jiang Si alone to enter.
“Hello, miss. May I come in?” Jiang Si stood at the carriage entrance, greeting the girl hiding at the back with a bright smile, gently shaking the bag in her hand. “I brought you some food.”
The girl hesitated, remaining silent.
Jiang Si tentatively took two steps forward, and when she didn’t hear any frightened protests, she felt a little relieved and stepped more confidently.
About halfway through the carriage, the girl spoke up to stop her from going further.
“Alright, I won’t come closer,” Jiang Si said, pausing. She then took out the hollowed-out blanket from the bag, the same one she had been using to sleep the past two nights. “Here, take this. It gets really cold at night. You’re pregnant, so you need to take extra care.”
Mentioning the child made her voice involuntarily softer, and the girl’s resistance eased somewhat.
“I never imagined… I never imagined something like this would happen.” The girl’s hands trembled as she held the blanket, but she didn’t cover herself with it, gripping the soft fleece tightly. “The baby is already five months old.”
“I can’t abort it. I have to at least carry her for four more months. I’m pregnant, how could I possibly survive four months with such a big belly?”
Her words grew increasingly emotional, until she finally hugged the fleece and sobbed quietly.
Taking this opportunity, Jiang Si was finally able to sit beside her, gently patting her back with her palm, one tap after another, like a mother soothing a child in kindergarten.
“You’ve made it this far, and that’s really impressive. And you have a strong and loving father, you’ll definitely get to see your child born.”
“My dad… he just left? He’s with you now?” The girl clutched Jiang Si’s sleeve, tears glinting in her eyes.
“Didn’t he tell you? My companion noticed someone using a flashlight here last night. When we came over, we found your father and invited him to stay with us first.”
“It’s safer inside, and there’s more food and water.”
“Flashlight?” The girl’s eyes flickered as she caught the keyword, seemingly recalling something. “…I remember now!”
“Last night my medicine fell on the floor. He shone the flashlight to help me find it.”