Chen Youyu ran upstairs, panting slightly. Wearing glasses, he looked gentle and scholarly. “Team Leader, what’s wrong?”
Zhao Yan stepped aside, revealing Le Huan. “She’s injured. She’s been saying it hurts.”
When Chen Youyu had heard the Team Leader’s stern voice over the intercom earlier, he had thought something serious had happened. “If she’s injured, can’t you bandage her yourself?”
At that moment, Le Huan spoke weakly, “…My heart has a bit of a problem. I’ve had it since I was little. It’s an old issue—there’s no need to worry about me…” As she spoke, she covered her chest and coughed twice.
66 【……】
With the kindness points she had now, there was no way her heart would actually hurt. She had started pretending again. 66 watched as Chen Youyu immediately became serious and took out his stethoscope to examine Le Huan.
Beside them, Zhao Yan frowned, looking at Le Huan as if she were nothing but a huge trouble.
“The heartbeat is very weak. She can’t be frightened, and she should avoid cold or raw food. The details will need instruments at the base to check more accurately…” Chen Youyu reported the situation to Zhao Yan. It was quite something for Chen Youyu—a researcher—to end up acting as half a doctor in this team that was constantly getting injured.
Zhao Yan looked at her.
A girl who would probably die if no one took care of her.
He didn’t even know whether her body could survive the journey to the base. The base was over three hundred kilometers away in a straight line. Transportation had completely collapsed in the apocalypse, and with all the detours, it would take three days to reach it.
How had she even survived until now?
The more he thought about it, the more impossible it seemed. In any case, if they ignored her, she might not even live to see tomorrow’s sunrise. Zhao Yan prided himself on being cold-blooded and hard-hearted, but he still couldn’t watch her die.
Besides, she was obedient and cute, like the pretty little kitten he used to see in the orphanage when he was a child.
Le Huan watched him fall silent and ponder for a moment. Then she walked over, picked up the bowl of chicken soup, and turned as if she were about to go downstairs.
“Wait. Where are you going?”
Le Huan thought that he must have realized she wouldn’t live long and didn’t want to give her the chicken soup anymore. What nonsense kindness points—there wasn’t anything kind about them at all. Thinking this, she pouted and began maliciously guessing Zhao Yan’s intentions.
Zhao Yan paused when he heard her. “The soup’s cold. I’m going to heat it up.”
Le Huan’s mood immediately improved when she heard that. “Okay! Then go quickly. I’m so hungry I don’t even have the strength.”
As Zhao Yan went downstairs, he heard Wu You shouting in surprise.
“What?! A heart problem? That’s so pitiful. Then… can she still live?”
“She probably won’t live long. The ones who’ve survived all these years are strong and healthy. People with serious illnesses can’t last even a month—let alone a major issue like the heart,” Wang Ni analyzed. The words sounded cruel, but they were the truth.
When they saw Zhao Yan coming downstairs, the atmosphere grew slightly tense.
None of them wanted such a beautiful young girl to disappear from the world.
“Bring me my portion of the chicken soup.”
The soup had been simmering on low heat in the pot. Zhao Yan hadn’t eaten yet either. He raised his wrist and glanced at his watch—it was almost eight o’clock.
Xiong Gang stood up, ladled out a bowl of chicken soup, and handed it to Zhao Yan. The others had already finished eating.
Zhao Yan saw two steaming chicken legs in the bowl. They had left the best meat for him.
He didn’t say anything and simply turned to go upstairs.
Le Huan was leaning against the bed, boredly playing with a candle. The candle didn’t smell very nice when it burned. Pinching her nose, she dripped wax onto the bedside table. She found it very novel. Her home had never lost electricity before, so she had never seen a burning candle.
After playing with it for a while, she got bored. When she turned her head, she saw the man standing there holding a bowl and watching her.
The man had taken off his protective mask, revealing a wheat-colored face. His hair was short, stiff black stubble. His sharp phoenix eyes looked fierce, and there was a scar running from his brow bone to his left ear, making him appear even more intimidating. With his face always cold and expressionless, he looked even more frightening.
“Why aren’t you saying anything? You scared me!” Le Huan glared at him in mock annoyance.
Zhao Yan pressed his lips together, walked over, moved the candle farther away, and handed her the bowl.
“It’s hot.”
“My hand hurts a lot. Could you feed me?” Le Huan leaned back on the bed and stretched her hand toward him. The tips of her fingers were red, looking as if they had been burned by the candle.
66 was utterly shocked by Le Huan’s shamelessness. Ordering it around was one thing, but this man looked like he could punch Le Huan and send her flying. Yet she was acting like a disabled person and asking him to feed her.
Surely he would refuse…
“Eat it yourself.”
Sure enough, he refused.
“But my heart hurts, and my hand hurts too. I haven’t eaten for a long time, so I have no strength.” Le Huan frowned and looked at Zhao Yan pitifully. “Someone used to feed me before…”
Her eyes grew watery as if tears were about to fall.
A vein twitched on Zhao Yan’s temple. He didn’t understand why she cried so easily. The way she spoke made it sound as if he were abusing her.
He could ignore her, but when he looked into her eyes, the words of refusal simply wouldn’t come out.
“If you want to eat, sit properly,” Zhao Yan said in a low voice.
Le Huan knew when to stop pushing. She scooted her butt and sat up straight, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Zhao Yan.
Zhao Yan paused for a moment but didn’t say anything. He picked up the spoon and began feeding her.
66 stared at the scene with dull eyes and its mouth hanging open.
So there was someone even more suited to serving others than it was.
Le Huan took a sip of the chicken soup and smacked her lips. The taste wasn’t as good as what her family’s chef used to make, but in a place like this, even eating chicken was difficult. Since she was hungry, she didn’t bother being picky.
“Thank you. You’re so nice. What’s your name?”
“Zhao Yan.”
“Oh, Zhao Yan, you’re so nice.”
When Le Huan was in a good mood, sweet words poured out endlessly. Zhao Yan watched her cheerful expression without saying anything.
“Zhao Yan, I want to eat that chicken leg. I don’t want to pick it up myself—it’s too greasy.” Le Huan pointed at the chicken leg in the bowl.
Zhao Yan then picked up the chicken leg and held it to her mouth.
“…Did you wash your hands?”
The small building had no water or electricity. The water they used all came from barrels in the car, so naturally they conserved it and didn’t waste it washing hands, afraid there wouldn’t be enough left to drink.
Zhao Yan slammed the bowl down with a bang. “Eat it yourself.”
Suppressing his anger, he turned and went straight downstairs.
Although Zhao Yan had suffered many humiliations in his life, never once had he felt this embarrassed and angry. He had fed someone with his own hands, only to be indirectly accused of being dirty.