Old Zhang opened the door and came face‑to‑face with Jiang Si’s emotionless stare.
He froze for a moment, then bared his yellowed teeth in a grin. “I wasn’t even going to look for you, yet you delivered yourself right to my door.”
Having prepared thoroughly, Jiang Si didn’t flinch at all when facing him. “Zhang, I advise you not to entertain thoughts you shouldn’t have.”
When they came downstairs earlier, the group had checked the lock on her door, its keyhole was covered in tiny scratch marks.
Obviously, Old Zhang had spent quite some time working on her lock.
Hearing her threat, he scoffed, utterly disdainful. “Girl, who do you think you are? In times like these, you really expect your little boyfriends to risk their lives protecting you?”
He stepped forward.
“I’m giving you a chance. As long as you follow me and hand over all the food in your house, your Zhang Ge, strong and sturdy as I am, can protect you in this crisis.”
As he spoke, the fat on his body trembled.
Hidden around the corner, Song Zi Qiao clenched his teeth so hard they hurt, itching to rush out and throw a left‑right combo at Old Zhang’s pockmarked face.
But Jiang Si knew him too well. One look from her, and the eager head poking out of the corner shrank back in.
Before all this, she rarely stayed home due to work. Even when they crossed paths, she chose to avoid trouble rather than engage.
But now he dared to cross the line in such dangerous times, she could no longer brush it off as nothing.
She pulled a remote control from her hoodie pocket and shook it lightly in front of him.
“Do you know what this is?”
Old Zhang still looked unfazed. “What, a remote? Don’t tell me you’re claiming it detonates a bomb. Girl, you’ve watched way too many dramas.”
“One glance and you think it’s a bomb remote? You’re the one who watches too much TV.” Jiang Si grinned, but the moment her words fell, her expression flattened. “But still, congratulations, you guessed right.”
“How about guessing what the prize is?”
The morning sun had just risen, its light pouring through the window at the end of the hall, illuminating half of Jiang Si’s face.
Maybe it was the sunlight making her seem bright and harmless, because Old Zhang still wasn’t threatened. He hesitated for a moment, then quickly put on a mocking sneer.
“Did I spoil you too much? Open your door right now, or don’t blame me for getting rough!”
He switched to a hard stance.
If he refused to appreciate kindness, Jiang Si had no reason to play nice. “Not guessing? If you won’t guess, you still have to accept the punishment.”
“Three… two… one!”
“BOOM—”
A blast erupted from the trash pile. Garbage exploded outward, scattering everywhere.
A takeout container lid shot into the air and smacked Old Zhang right in the face.
In an instant, carbon dioxide smoke filled the entire hallway.
Unfortunately, Old Zhang had never used a fire extinguisher and didn’t know this wasn’t a real bomb.
The sudden blast scared him so badly that his legs went weak, his belly relaxed instinctively, and a sour, foul stench wafted out.
“Shit…”
“I don’t want to see you again,” Jiang Si said, sticking to her “go big or go home” attitude, staring at the remote in her hand. “If you still refuse to leave, we can start the third round, guess where the second bomb is.”
!
Old Zhang didn’t dare say another word. He clutched his thighs and slunk back inside.
Through the door, they could hear him bump into the shoe cabinet and then fall heavily to the ground, all his strength drained.
Yes!
The plan had succeeded perfectly!
Jiang Si high‑fived Song Zi Qiao, who had perfectly coordinated from the corner.
“Jiang Si, you were amazing just now!” Song Zi Qiao turned into a praise machine.
Having just pulled off a flawless victory, Jiang Si was in a great mood and stopped teasing Song Zi Qiao. “It’s rare to get to act this cool.”
“Thanks a lot this time, Shi Ge!”
The two of them went into the stairwell to meet up with Shi Zuo An and Xia Ao.
Although they couldn’t see the hallway from the stairwell, just listening to the sounds, it was clear everything had gone very smoothly.
“Congrats! You can go home now! After that little warning, he definitely won’t bother you again!”
Shi Zuo An patted his chest, giving his guarantee.
Xia Ao, much calmer, added, “Don’t let your guard down. If he comes back to harass you, make sure to tell us… or have Song Zi Qiao act as your doorman.”
“Hey hey hey!” Song Zi Qiao protested, but no one paid him any attention.
“Thank you,” Jiang Si smiled.
She brushed the hair that had fallen across her eyes behind her ear, revealing her two small dimples.
With everything perfectly resolved, it was time for them to retreat.
Shi Zuo An pulled the fire extinguisher hose from the plastic bottle, all they needed to do was take the extinguisher back.
Half the plastic bottle blended perfectly with Old Zhang’s trash pile, so they didn’t even have to deal with the garbage themselves.
Song Zi Qiao lingered at the door, saying a reluctant goodbye to Jiang Si.
“Let’s go!”
Only after being urged did Song Zi Qiao finally withdraw his hand from tugging at her sleeve.
“Make sure to stay safe at home too,” he said, staring into Jiang Si’s eyes with intensity. “Now go on, open the door and get inside.”
After saying that, Jiang Si habitually patted her pockets, but then froze.
?
“What’s wrong?”
Shi Zuo An had packed up his things and was ready to leave, only to notice that Song Zi Qiao was still blocking Jiang Si from leaving.
“Song Zi Qiao, can you just let the girl go?” he snapped, unable to tolerate it any longer. He shoved the fire extinguisher into Xia Ao’s arms and came over to pull Song Zi Qiao aside.
“…I think I can’t get into the house,” Jiang Si said softly, almost a whisper.
“Huh?”
“Last night, to prevent Old Zhang from picking my lock, I stuck the key inside from the inside,” she suddenly remembered.
She had clearly remembered it yesterday, but after waking up early this morning and being completely pumped by Shi Zuo An’s brilliant revenge plan, she had totally forgotten about it.
…
None of the four of them had thought of it.
The atmosphere was unbearably awkward.
In the end, as the current sole homeowner, Xia Ao rubbed his aching temples and invited Jiang Si to join their little apocalypse cohabitation squad.
“Jiang Si, this is fate! Even the end of the world can’t keep us apart!”
Back at home, Song Zi Qiao flopped down beside Jiang Si again, babbling away.
After the morning’s brainstorming session, Shi Zuo An’s stomach was empty, and he rubbed it as he went to the kitchen looking for something to eat.
He ran into Xia Ao there.
“Sorry, I got a little carried away after coming up with that plan, and I feel like I wasted everyone’s time,” Shi Zuo An said, scratching his forehead.
“Why would you think that?” Xia Ao frowned, not understanding why he would suddenly say that. “Your plan taught Old Zhang a lesson, he probably won’t dare to bother any of the girls in the building for a while.”
“Jiang Si got to act all impressive and is still basking in it, as for Song Zi Qiao, you basically helped him make a connection, he should be bowing to thank you,” Xia Ao added with a teasing grin.
He casually listed all the benefits of the situation, and Shi Zuo An couldn’t believe that one simple idea of his could have led to so many advantages.
“Really?” Shi Zuo An, having lived long in the south, let his tone rise slightly at the end of the sentence and lowered his voice intentionally. “Are you just trying to comfort me?”
Suddenly, Xia Ao leaned closer, his face in front of Shi Zuo An’s.
Strangely enough, this was the first time he really examined Shi Zuo An’s face.
The contours of his face were clear and gentle, his skin was clean and smooth, not the pale, blood‑sugar‑low look of someone who hadn’t eaten in days.
The space between his brows was smooth, and looking across his face, not a single fine line could be found. If they had simply passed each other on the street, he would never have guessed this man was almost thirty.
Adding to that were his beautiful almond‑shaped eyes, with the lower eyelid curving in a soft round arc. The smooth surface reflected Shi Zuo An’s face.
He instinctively looked away and explained, “Of course I’m comforting you. A whole grown man barges into my kitchen asking to be comforted and even blocks me from getting food, what else can I do but say a few sweet lines to coax him?”
Only then did Shi Zuo An realize he’d been leaning against the refrigerator door the whole time.
Ever since the power went out, the fridge had basically become their storage cabinet. Instant noodles, vegetables, soda water, even the half plastic bottle leftover from his last DIY project had been tossed inside.
No wonder the moment he came in, Xia Ao stopped everything he was doing.
He quickly moved his back away from the fridge.
“Thank you, Mr. Shi, for lifting your noble rear.”
…His mouth was really something else.
Shi Zuo An watched Xia Ao reach inside for celery and asked curiously, “You can eat that without cooking it?”
“Of course. Celery doesn’t contain alkaloids harmful to humans, unlike potatoes which must be cooked. And eating celery raw preserves its nutrients the best.” Xia Ao’s tone shifted. “But the calories you get from a stalk are less than what you burn chewing it, and it’s not very filling.”
“Haha, you’re surprisingly good at humorous science talk. You seem really knowledgeable, mosquitoes the other day, celery today. What’s your PhD in?”
“I studied virology.”
“Then do you feel an irresistible urge now to run to the front lines and research the zombie virus?” Shi Zuo An joked. “Everyone says getting a PhD in Country D is brutal. Advisors keep you stuck forever. I read about someone who took almost ten years before finally graduating and coming home. Did you finish yours yet?”
The moment he asked, he realized that maybe being this straightforward was a bit awkward.
Fortunately, Xia Ao didn’t avoid the question or slap him out the door. “No. Getting delayed is probably the fate of all foreign students from Country D.”
“Can you help me open this instant noodle pack?”
He didn’t embarrass him, but it was obvious Xia Ao did not want to continue the topic. Shi Zuo An wisely shut up.
“Food isn’t much, and now that we’re four people, this won’t last past this afternoon,” Xia Ao said as he checked the hot water in the thermos and delivered the bad news. “Hot water’s also low. As for household water, we stocked quite a bit, but honestly, I’m not confident about the water quality around here.”
True, who cares whether someone graduates or not? It’s the end of the world. The real priority is not getting ‘biologically’ graduated.
“Then let’s go out and look for food!” Shi Zuo An was always decisive to a fault, reckless, really. “Remember you said zombies are divided into lower‑level and higher‑level? Since higher‑level ones retain some human bodily awareness, maybe we can use their remaining human reflexes to our advantage!”
He had stared at zombies downstairs the night before when he couldn’t sleep, now it was finally useful!
Shi Zuo An recalled his observations. “I borrowed your binoculars and watched the whole night! Zombies don’t move as fast at night. If someone walks past them from the side, it takes about three seconds before they react.”
“As for pursuit speed: the other night, someone went out from the building across from yours. It took the zombies twenty seconds to run from the entrance to the far-left flower bed. But during the day, they only need sixteen seconds.”
“In other words, at night, in an extreme situation, we can gain a seven‑second lead.”
A very bold conclusion. Xia Ao froze.
Never mind that all of Shi Zuo An’s data came from eyeballing, just the conclusion itself…
“Seven seconds can buy at least fifty meters of distance.”
“Seven seconds is enough for us to get out of the car, rush into the supermarket, and lock the door!” Shi Zuo An said excitedly. “So, what do you think, want to try it tonight?”
…
Xia Ao didn’t immediately respond. He turned his back, feeling his heart beating unnaturally on the left side of his chest.
After thinking for a while, he came to a conclusion: it must be that Shi Zuo An’s plan was so thrilling that it made his own heart race with excitement.
Exactly!
“I have no objections. Tonight, I’ll go with Song Zi Qiao.”
?
“What? You’re not bringing me?!” Shi Zuo An’s pupils practically shook.
Xia Ao nearly lost his hearing from the shock. “Are you done with your cold? Stop screaming. Besides, my little mini car only has space for two people to sit. You want to ride in the trunk or what?”
How does that even make sense, but…
“What do you mean, not bringing me?” Song Zi Qiao suddenly popped his head out from the kitchen doorway. “You two are so noisy! You’re ruining my private time with Ah Si!”
…Idiots.
“Tonight, you’re going out with me.”
“Where to?” Song Zi Qiao looked around, realizing Xia Ao was talking to him. “Ah? Me?”