It was thoroughly ridiculous; Liang Ye couldn’t believe that the man she had loved for three years could become so completely unrecognizable.
After being abandoned, she watched the nearby zombies pouncing toward her and scrambled to hide. She eventually fled into a flower shop, but she was still scratched. Liang Ye didn’t want to die; she was unwilling to give up, desperate to know why Wen Nian had turned out like this. Fortuitously, she awakened a Water-type superpower and was brought back by a scavenging party from a nearby base. Liang Ye cut her long hair short and began training her physical fitness. Water-type superpowers were in high demand during the apocalypse, so she worked hard to level up using the crystals she earned. She never thought about looking for Wen Nian again; although a voice in her heart kept telling her that things shouldn’t have turned out this way, she ultimately gave up, choosing to pretend that the gentle, poplar-like youth had died.
Having leveled up her superpower and accumulated some savings, Liang Ye set off to wander, drifting aimlessly. She didn’t know where she was headed or how to get along with others, until she finally ended up here.
She wanted to enjoy a peaceful time here first; as for whether she would leave in the future, she would cross that bridge when she came to it…
Shen Yu ambled into the elevator holding his items and pressed the button for the 5th floor. As the elevator doors opened, he saw Room 5000 directly opposite. Shen Yu swiped his key card and stepped inside.
Hearing the commotion, Xi Yue slurped her canned fruit and opened her door. “Your room is right over there! Our doors look identical.” Her eyes darted over, catching sight of the cake Shen Yu was carrying.
“Whoa! How many pulls did it take you to get that!” Xi Yue’s eyes widened.
“I felt a bit hungry before coming upstairs, so I pressed it once and out it came. Care to share this late-night snack with me?” Shen Yu said with a smile.
“Of course! I’ve been dying to eat that! Shen Yu, you’re the best—you really are an angel descended to earth!” Xi Yue was deeply moved. What kind of luckball employee was this, to actually get her the dream cake she had been craving?
Wearing her plush pajamas and dragging her slippers, Xi Yue ambled over to the living room sofa and sat down obediently. Shen Yu looked at her sitting straight up with her hands placed on her knees, staring at him expectantly, her eyes astonishingly bright.
Shen Yu sat down, unboxed the cake, sliced a piece, and handed it to Xi Yue. Xi Yue couldn’t wait to start eating the cherries on top; the cherries were dark, plump, and large. Xi Yue stuffed a whole one into her mouth, squinted her eyes, and stomped her feet. “Mmm… This is way too delicious! It’s so good I could cry…”
Seeing her exaggerated expression with her cheeks puffed out like a little hamster sneaking food, Shen Yu said, “Then eat more. Whatever you can’t finish, put it in the fridge so you can eat it when you wake up.”
Shen Yu’s pupils were a lovely shade of amber, shining as bright as clear crystal under the light, framed by thick, dense eyelashes.
Noticing that Shen Yu was watching her eat with a subtle smile, Xi Yue’s ears flushed bright red in an instant. She turned her head away unnaturally. “You eat some too… Don’t just watch me, it’s really delicious.”
Xi Yue thought to herself that Shen Yu was far too handsome. Thankfully, she had good self-control; looking at this face every day would probably let her eat a few extra bites of food. Thinking this, she took a big bite of the cake.
Eating his cake, Shen Yu watched the shifting expressions on Xi Yue’s face, the coldness in his gaze softening considerably.
Xi Yue tried her absolute best to eat the cake, but a good portion still remained. After Shen Yu put it away in the fridge, he saw the girl in front of the sofa dash into her bedroom like a gust of wind. A moment later, she sprinted back out.
“Since I ate your cake, here’s a gift for you. It’s super comfortable to sleep in!” Xi Yue handed over a matching set of plush pajamas—the very set she had spotted earlier while browsing the system mall. As a system-issued item, it was said to be extraordinarily comfortable for sleeping.
Xi Yue figured that since Shen Yu hadn’t brought anything with him, he definitely wouldn’t sleep comfortably, so she bought this set for him.
Shen Yu accepted the cream-white plush pajamas. This was a piece of clothing he had never worn in either of his two lives. The set looked very cute on the girl in front of him, making her look like a soft, fluffy little hamster. He lowered his head and stared blankly at the pajamas, his thick eyelashes veiling his eyes so no one could read his expression.
“I like it very much. Thank you, Boss Xi.”
Xi Yue was thrilled. “I knew you’d like it! It’s super cozy when you wear it! Hurry back to take a shower and get some sleep. See you tomorrow!”
After ushering Shen Yu into his room, Xi Yue happily went back to her own room to sleep. Before drifting off, she couldn’t help but think: *I really am such a great boss, totally different from a black-hearted boss like the system!*
Steam billowed out as the bathroom door opened.
Shen Yu stepped out of the bathroom wrapped in a bath towel. Looking at the plush pajamas on the bed, he thought about it for a moment before putting them on. Lying in bed, he closed his eyes, thinking that at long last, there were no disgusting creatures to disturb him.
Over at the City C Base, Zhou Sheng and his cousin Su Chengkang split up to take action the moment they returned from City B. Su Chengkang got someone to unload all the goods in their hands at the trading market, while Zhou Sheng went back to discuss moving away with his family.
Their large family lived quite well in the apocalypse, with twelve members renting a small villa inside the base.
“Xiao Sheng, why are you back so early? Didn’t you say you’d be back tonight? Where’s your cousin?” Grandpa Zhou sat at the entrance reading a book. Aside from the high-level base leaders’ meetings where electricity was available, none of the residential houses had power.
“Grandpa, where are Dad, Mom, and my oldest aunt? I have something to tell everyone. Cousin will be back in a bit.” Zhou Sheng helped his grandfather up.
After Su Chengkang sold off everything at a low price of ten crystals per item, he rushed home. By the time he arrived, Zhou Sheng had long finished recounting everything that had happened that day.
“Chengkang, what do you think?” Grandpa Zhou looked at the watch Zhou Sheng had unbuckled, turning to ask Su Chengkang, who had just stepped through the door.
“On our way in and out, we noticed that the zombies in City B were all low level; the highest we saw was only Level 2. Given the situation in City B, something major must have happened there. The most likely reason is this hotel. I think we should head over as soon as possible,” Su Chengkang adjusted his glasses and voiced his thoughts.
“Then let’s pack up our things and head out tomorrow.” Grandpa Zhou trusted his grandson deeply, and besides, he also felt that such a miraculous place would surely become somewhere everyone would yearn for in the future.
A little sprout-like plant kept pitter-pattering down the road for a long time. When it got tired, it dug its roots into the soil to rest. Its two leaves tightly clutched the black card, snuffling at it as if trying hard to inhale a scent from it.
Suddenly, a dark silhouette flashed past, snapping its jaws shut right over it. Under the moonlight, sharp teeth could be seen gleaming with silver light, saliva dripping down continuously.