The moment Qian Chuanchuan’s soft, warm palm supported his arm, the muscles all over Ling Zhanlou’s body suddenly tensed. Before he had time to adjust his rigid body, the young girl had already nimbly lifted his arm and draped it over her shoulder, while her other hand unceremoniously wrapped around his lower back.
At this, Ling Zhanlou instantly stiffened into a wooden board.
The faint, lingering fragrance from the girl’s hair hovered at the tip of his nose, causing him to unconsciously turn his head away, attempting to widen this overly intimate distance.
Worse still, through the thin fabric of his clothing, he could clearly feel the temperature radiating from her palm—the distance was so close they could almost hear each other’s heartbeats.
“You…” Ling Zhanlou’s Adam’s apple bobbed, his voice slightly hoarse.
“Hmm?” Completely oblivious, Qian Chuanchuan turned her head. In an instant, the distance between them became so close they could count each other’s eyelashes. She could even feel the man’s warm breath brushing against her cheek, carrying a faint, cool, mint-like scent.
Qian Chuanchuan tilted her head back, but solely because she felt the distance was a bit too close. Her eyes were clear, holding pure confusion: “What’s wrong? Did I pull your wound?”
Ling Zhanlou closed his eyes, his long eyelashes casting a shadow under his eyes: “…It’s nothing.”
In his heart, however, he felt a bit annoyed.
Since when did he have so little self-control?
Subsequently, he suppressed all of these unfamiliar emotions, restoring his composure once again.
Qian Chuanchuan was completely unaware of the man’s complex emotional shifts.
Although one of Ling Zhanlou’s legs was immobilized, fortunately, he still had the other one. Qian Chuanchuan didn’t find it very strenuous to help him up.
Soon, she helped him sit down on the folding chair, with the thin blanket draped over the backrest.
After getting him seated properly on the chair, she noticed a lot of cold sweat had broken out on the man’s forehead.
It must be that when he got up just now, it had ultimately aggravated the injuries on his left shoulder and left leg.
“Are you okay?”
Qian Chuanchuan asked subconsciously.
Even though she wouldn’t have any solutions even if he said he wasn’t.
“I’m fine.” Ling Zhanlou shook his head to indicate he was alright.
“Then you clean your wounds. I’ll head back inside first.”
“Alright.”
After all this bustling about, she was also a bit tired.
Seeing the man nod and say “alright,” she turned around, went back into the shop, and closed the door.
However, she opened the small window. It wasn’t for any other reason than she felt it would be stuffy if the window was closed.
It was currently early summer. Although the temperature wasn’t at its highest yet, it wasn’t low either.
Especially at this hour, which was the hottest time of the day.
Upon returning to the shop, Qian Chuanchuan collapsed onto the folding bed and couldn’t wait to pick up her phone to scroll through short videos. She favored comedic content, and soon the shop echoed with the girl’s low laughter and the exaggerated sound effects from her phone.
Outside the window, Ling Zhanlou was wiping his wounds with clean water when he was suddenly startled by the laughter coming from inside, causing his fingers to pause. He looked toward the small window in disbelief—in this apocalypse, not only did this small shop have complete access to water and electricity, but it actually had internet?
One must know that even large-scale bases hadn’t been able to restore network communications, yet this tiny bun shop…
Ling Zhanlou thoughtfully rubbed the wet towel in his hand.
The mysteries surrounding this enigmatic girl seemed to be multiplying.
So much so that he couldn’t help but harbor a bit of curiosity.
As Qian Chuanchuan scrolled through her phone, she unknowingly drifted back to sleep.
By the time she opened her drowsy eyes again, the setting sun outside the window had already dyed half the sky red, and the cool evening breeze gently brushed into the room through the small window.
She stretched and was just about to get up to close the window when her gaze inadvertently swept over the figure still sitting upright on the folding chair outside. Ling Zhanlou seemed to be resting with his eyes closed, but the moment she shifted her feet, those deep eyes immediately opened, meeting her gaze through the window.
Qian Chuanchuan was taken aback, only then remembering that there was still a “God of Wealth” outside, and instantly froze in place.
Would going over to close the window now seem too unkind? But the evening chill was indeed getting heavier…
However, closing the window right in front of someone’s face always gave the feeling of shutting the God of Wealth out the door.
Even though that was the literal truth.
Just as Qian Chuanchuan was racking her brains trying to figure out how to close the small window naturally without offending the God of Wealth, Ling Zhanlou spoke up first.
“The sun is about to set and it’s getting a bit chilly. The boss should close the window.” His voice was much clearer and mellower than in the afternoon. “My injuries are no longer a serious issue; I will be leaving shortly.”
Hearing this, Qian Chuanchuan immediately leaned close to the window and was surprised to discover that the man’s left shoulder, which had originally been wrapped in blood-stained bandages, was now completely healed. Only the torn military-green jacket remained as proof that he had ever been injured there.
What surprised her even more was that his left leg, which had been completely immobile before, was now casually bent, looking as though it could move without any hindrance.
“Are you a healing-type ability user?” Qian Chuanchuan asked in astonishment.
This ability is quite useful!
“Yes.” Ling Zhanlou nodded slightly, confirming Qian Chuanchuan’s guess.
Qian Chuanchuan never expected that this man would actually be a healer!
Of course, healing types are very important in the apocalypse! Extremely important! But they are squishy! They are existences that need protection.
She just felt it didn’t match the man in front of her.
She felt that the man before her should belong to the type who was very good at fighting.
But she didn’t say much more.
She just asked, “Can you walk now?”
After saying that, she felt something was wrong, as if she was driving him away.
“Um… I’m not chasing you away. I mean, are you able to walk away now?”
After saying that, she still felt it was wrong. It sounded even more like chasing him away, now with a hint of impatience.
But she really didn’t mean to!
“That’s not what I mean either…”
Before Qian Chuanchuan could reorganize her words, the man stood up from the chair and took a couple of steps.
He had clearly understood her meaning.
A smart person! She liked that!
Qian Chuanchuan found it amazing.
She had only seen this in novels before; she never expected to see it with her own eyes one day.
Ling Zhanlou folded the chair. His movements were so agile that one completely couldn’t tell he had been a wounded patient just moments ago.
He hadn’t used the thin blanket; it was still neatly arranged.
The water in the basin was gone, leaving only the basin and the towel that had changed color from being stained with blood.
“This towel…”
“I don’t need the towel anymore. Just give me the basin,” Qian Chuanchuan immediately chimed in.
She reached out and took the folding chair, thin blanket, and water basin from the man’s hands.
Then she waved goodbye to the man.
At this moment, however, the man paused his departing steps, turned his head, and asked, “Boss, will you be selling buns tomorrow?”
“Yes!” Qian Chuanchuan’s eyes lit up, and she immediately nodded.
She then asked enthusiastically, “What kind of filling do you like for your buns?”
The man was taken aback, completely not expecting Qian Chuanchuan to ask this.
Did she have whatever filling he liked?
Weren’t there only those four types listed on the price board?
Thinking of this, the man said tentatively, “I like shrimp-and-three-delicacies buns and preserved-vegetable-and-pork buns. Do you have those?”
Qian Chuanchuan recalled the fillings in the freezer, then cheerfully nodded: “Yes!”
She actually had them…
He then concealed the look in his eyes and nodded. “Alright, then I will come buy them tomorrow.”
“What time does it open here?”
“Seven o’clock,” Qian Chuanchuan replied.
“Alright.” After agreeing, Ling Zhanlou turned and left.
He quickly disappeared from sight.
Seeing that the person was completely out of sight, Qian Chuanchuan closed the window and started pouring flour into the dough mixer.
She even hummed an out-of-tune song.
[Host, why are you so happy?]
“The buns haven’t even been made yet, and there’s already a customer wanting to buy them. Of course I’m happy!”