In the end, Lu Yingzhu still didn’t admit it. He had indeed changed his name from “Ruan Zhu” to “Ying Zhu” just to make himself seem tougher in the District.
Such a thing was unbearably embarrassing, like a teenage crush exposed, or the pangs of adolescent foolishness laid bare.
Besides… Ruan Tao was still just a little girl. He, a man who had lived for centuries, discussing toughness or softness with her here—what kind of nonsense was that?
Watching Ruan Tao bouncing along behind him, Lu Yingzhu didn’t show anything on the surface, but privately he had already summoned the manager of A3, asking her to instruct the Life Assistant to prepare extra ingredients and clear out the kitchen.
Hearing this, the Life Assistant was instantly alarmed.
On the surface, she covered it well and lowered her head to follow orders.
At times like this, the District rule forbidding the Life Assistant from leaving the Administrative District revealed its usefulness.
The Life Assistant handled everything related to daily life. If the Regional Chief had any matter at home, news would immediately travel through the Life Assistant.
Work-related matters weren’t so bad—most Life Assistants were uneducated young girls, and whether they could understand documents or not was another matter.
But the Regional Chief personally cooking for a little girl… naturally, news spread rapidly throughout the Residential Area.
The last time Ruan Tao had eaten proper human food was something she had cooked herself. That level might have been impressive in the post-apocalypse, but compared to Lu Yingzhu, it was completely insignificant.
In the past, when they cooked together at home, she only ever helped a little.
Lu Yingzhu cooked quickly; every movement was decisive and smooth, unlike Ruan Tao, who would slow down to think about the shape of vegetables before cutting.
Now, with his powerful supernatural ability, the cooking scene was even more visually pleasing.
In A3, the kitchen for cooking for Lu Yingzhu, Ling Xing, Gao Yang, and the other senior members was a separate semi-open kitchen.
Ruan Tao, with nothing else to do and unwilling to waste time, brought over a chair and sat opposite the countertop.
She planned to watch how Lu Yingzhu used post-apocalypse ingredients to cook and learn a thing or two, while also chatting with him about future arrangements.
Lu Yingzhu’s cooking involved a lot of flashy techniques. Under the control of his supernatural ability, two or three knives worked simultaneously on a single cutting board, slicing mushrooms.
Mushrooms of identical size would autonomously move into Lu Yingzhu’s hands, and he would personally carve tiny flowers on each piece.
Ruan Tao watched, astonished, thinking that her Big Brother’s skills were indeed impressive—he could definitely captivate any little girl.
She leaned against the back of the chair and casually chatted with Lu Yingzhu:
“Brother, what’s going on with you and Li Yudong?”
Lu Yingzhu paused for a moment, narrowing his eyes:
“If you hadn’t said anything, I would’ve forgotten to ask. You still know Li Yudong?”
“I know a hamster,” Ruan Tao replied offhandedly, fabricating, “the one you caught before to threaten Bo Yutong.”
Lu Yingzhu: “……”
Ruan Tao: “Li Yudong knows that cute hamster too, so…”
“Cute?” Lu Yingzhu, who disliked furry creatures, raised a skeptical voice.
Ruan Tao: “……” Was this heavy District sarcasm?
Lu Yingzhu: “She stole something from me. You left a note before saying I shouldn’t pursue it—fine. But you have to make her return it.”
Ruan Tao: “…What thing?”
“Small things, mostly our dad’s pocket watch and our mom’s necklace,” Lu Yingzhu sneered. “You better pray she didn’t sell them.”
Ruan Tao let out an “ah” and quietly asked, “And Dad and Mom…”
“Passed away naturally,” Lu Yingzhu replied, lowering his eyes while washing vegetables. “They both lived comfortably into their one-twenties, never suffered much.”
Ruan Tao finally breathed a sigh of relief and laughed: “Wow, looks like the son turned out really well.”
Lu Yingzhu raised an eyebrow proudly but didn’t reply.
“Then you…”
Ruan Tao wanted to ask if her Big Brother had left a grandchild for their parents to hold, but she stopped mid-question.
After hundreds of years, even if Lu Yingzhu had married and had children back then, they wouldn’t have lived until now. And seeing the people around him leave one by one while he lived on… it was not a happy thing, better left unspoken.
Nowadays, in the post-apocalypse, those with strong supernatural abilities could generally live two to three hundred years, and a Regional Chief could reach four hundred.
Ruan Tao counted on her fingers. At Li Yudong’s age, if she were really with her Big Brother, even after a hundred years, the age gap wouldn’t be too noticeable.
“What did you say?” Lu Yingzhu looked up at Ruan Tao while holding a knife. “So hungry you’re eating the last half-sentence?”
“Not bad, not bad,” Ruan Tao said. “Do you like Li Yudong?”
The knife in Lu Yingzhu’s hand tilted slightly and chopped toward his own finger.
Luckily, his body-strengthening supernatural ability protected him, so the ordinary knife didn’t harm him—it felt like chopping a metal plate.
He glared at Ruan Tao: “What nonsense are you talking about?”
Ruan Tao: “…I thought you liked her? Then why did you bother Bo Yutong for her…”
Lu Yingzhu tossed a vegetable that looked like a tomato:
“It was interesting that she could steal something from me. Bo Yutong? That person is troublesome, also quite interesting.”
Ruan Tao: “……?”
“Honestly, I was far too bored. These things had a bit of a challenge to them,” Lu Yingzhu sighed, carving a cross on the top of the washed tomatoes with his knife. “But now, there’s no need for that anymore.”
Ruan Tao, curious, asked: “Why?”
Lu Yingzhu glanced at her. “Because raising a little sister is the most challenging thing.”
Ruan Tao: “……”
“Have you thought it through?” Lu Yingzhu put the cross-marked tomatoes into the pot. “When are you going to give me a straight answer?”
Ruan Tao, a little embarrassed, touched her nose.
It seemed as if Lu Yingzhu had told her everything. In front of her, he appeared to have nothing to hide.
And he had admitted that he was very bored, enjoying things that were challenging.
It was almost like he was hinting to her—if there was trouble, just tell him directly.
He had plenty of time and didn’t mind trouble.
Ruan Tao sniffled, touched, and confessed: “I want to pursue Bo Yutong.”
Lu Yingzhu slammed the pot lid down with a loud clang.
Ruan Tao: “……”
He took a deep breath, eyes glinting with anger, and looked at Ruan Tao. “Say that again?”
Ruan Tao, in a small voice: “Bo Yutong isn’t good?”
Lu Yingzhu: “……”
This wasn’t a matter of good or bad—
Alright, he admitted it.
He couldn’t say Bo Yutong wasn’t good.
The world map had changed drastically now. The continental plates were completely different from the Earth before the first cataclysm.
With mutated creatures, technological regression, and continents separated by vast distances, crossing the sea had become extremely difficult.
Lu Yingzhu only went to another continent after staying in one place for a long time and preparing thoroughly.
He hadn’t been to most other places in a very long time.
Now, on this continent, only Bo Yutong slightly caught his eye.
Fang Shan Huai was from the same era, but his immortality came at a cost. The exact rules were unclear to Lu Yingzhu, but the price certainly limited his abilities.
And Fang Shan Huai was insane.
…It seemed that only Bo Yutong was suitable for his little sister.
It seemed… indeed.
Only one candidate remained.
Lu Yingzhu’s temples throbbed with anger as he reluctantly spoke: “This isn’t a question of whether he’s good or bad. Why must you get married?”
Ruan Tao: “……?”
Lu Yingzhu: “Listen carefully—no man is a good thing.”
Ruan Tao: “……”
Lu Yingzhu: “Eating and sleeping are the top priorities. And someone like Bo Yutong… if he bullies you, I’ll go get revenge for you. We could practically cause another apocalypse together.”
He turned to the stove to turn off the heat. Cold energy gathered in his palms as he carried the pot over to her.
A heat-resistant mat floated obediently behind him.
It landed neatly on the table behind Ruan Tao. Lu Yingzhu set the pot down, then turned and used his still-warm hand to rub Ruan Tao’s head, soothing her in a gentle voice: “Be good. For the sake of world peace, give up Bo Yutong.”
Ruan Tao: “……”
She felt as if she had a passive skill—whenever someone said something bad, that person immediately appeared behind her.
Even if they weren’t there now, they would show up eventually.
Speak of the devil, and there he is.
The whole world was her “speak-of-the-devil.”
Just then, two guards rushed in through the door, shouting in a panic: “Lu—Mr. Lu, District Chief Bo—”
Before they could finish, a man in a black Regional Chief uniform stepped in behind them.
Ruan Tao nearly jumped out of her chair in fright.
She instinctively wanted to hide, but half a second later realized she wasn’t Hamster Tao, and a second later, that she wasn’t Xia Xiaoxi either.
She was simply Lu Yingzhu’s little sister, Ruan Tao herself.
Bo Yutong had only met her once in that identity.
…It felt like dealing with an agent, with multiple identities to boot.
Ruan Tao stopped sprawling across the chair and stood up, carefully moving the chair back to the table and sitting properly like a well-mannered young lady.
Bo Yutong glanced at her, his expression noticeably colder.
Ruan Tao lowered her eyes to the table, not noticing any further change in Bo Yutong’s expression.
“It’s nothing,” Lu Yingzhu said, back still to the door as he lifted the pot lid, addressing the rushing guards. “District Chief Bo is just here for a meal. No need to panic.”
Bo Yutong stared at Ruan Tao for several seconds.
At the table, one person was admiring his freshly cooked dishes, while the other kept her eyes down, acting obedient. No one noticed.
The guards didn’t dare linger, and when Lu Yingzhu said, “You may leave,” they hurried out.
These two wouldn’t truly fight each other.
To be precise, they had almost never fought seriously.
Their destructive power was comparable to a nuclear explosion—and they had more than one.
One after another, with enough rest, they could go again.
Even casual fighting looked like a disaster movie playing live.
Ruan Tao didn’t yet understand the severity. She blinked and looked at her Big Brother.
“Why did District Chief Bo come personally?”
Lu Yingzhu glanced at him while walking to the kitchen without stopping. “Did your little mouse get lost again?”
Bo Yutong: “Someone got lost.”
Lu Yingzhu: “?”
Ruan Tao: “…?”
Bo Yutong lifted his chin toward Ruan Tao: “Life Assistant.”
Ruan Tao: “……”
Wait, she wasn’t wearing the leaf disguise—this was Ruan Tao’s face, not Xia Xiaoxi’s.
How did he recognize her!?
Lu Yingzhu’s face darkened immediately: “My little girl… why does she need to be a Life Assistant over there?”
Bo Yutong tugged his glove, expression calm and cold: “Yours? She’s still wearing the A9 uniform.”
Ruan Tao: “………………”
Oh no, she had forgotten.
The black sailor outfit she wore was indeed the A9 uniform.