Chapter 43: She Did Her Best to Play Along
It was only when Ye Duo realized that there were still zombies and bees outside that she covered her mouth and began to cry silently.
She cried for quite a while before finally stopping, her emotions vented and settling down.
Mibao instantly let out a sigh of relief.
Then she thought of herself, so she also covered her mouth with both hands and asked in a small voice, “Brother, when I cry… am I like that too?”
Would Big Brother think she was too noisy?
[Of course not, Mibao—you’re way cuter.]
Mibao: “……”
That wasn’t what she was asking.
But she knew her brother was angry at Ye Duo because of her, so she didn’t press the matter.
She felt that Big Brother needed to be angry for a while, and right now it was better not to speak up for Sister Ye Duo.
Hmm…
To use the idiom Brother Chaoyang had taught her, this would be—adding oil to the tiger!
That was how it went, right?
The sky was growing darker, the clouds in the west already stained red.
Now calm, Ye Duo finally noticed the classroom was filled with zombie… corpses.
She stared blankly at the bodies of the zombies, utterly dumbfounded.
“Mibao, these are…”
Mibao’s face tightened nervously.
“Th-this, this was… they were already here when I came!”
Brother Chaoyang had told her she couldn’t let anyone know about Brother, and Brother himself said he didn’t want Sister Ye Duo to know of his existence.
So Mibao could only lie.
But her lying skills were obviously terrible—stammering so badly it was completely transparent.
Ye Duo knew for certain: Mibao definitely had a secret.
“I see,” Ye Duo nodded, not exposing Mibao’s lie. “Mibao, I’m sorry… for leaving you behind this afternoon…”
Although Mibao had given her a way to save face, Ye Duo still felt she owed Mibao an apology.
“It’s okay, Sister Ye Duo. You didn’t do anything wrong.”
Mibao hugged Ye Duo again, and the soft, warm embrace made Ye Duo’s heart soften.
“It’s just that my stamina is too poor,” Mibao said earnestly. “You must have been really tired, too, pulling both me and Brother Chaoyang along.”
So, she really wasn’t angry, nor did she blame Ye Duo for letting go.
The fact that Ye Duo had managed to drag her along for part of the way was already amazing. Mibao knew Ye Duo must have been too exhausted to keep holding on.
Sister Ye Duo had already done her best.
Hearing Mibao’s words, warmth spread through Ye Duo’s whole body, wrapping her from the inside out.
Mm… even her eyes felt warm.
She wanted to cry again.
She nodded hard, then hugged Mibao back with equal force, clutching her tightly as she burst into tears again.
“Wuuuu… thank you for understanding me… I really, really didn’t mean to abandon you… I’m so sorry… wuuuu…”
Mibao: “……”
Why was she crying again after all that talking?
Fortunately, this time Ye Duo didn’t cry for long before she sniffled and stopped.
Then her stomach began to growl.
Feeling embarrassed, Ye Duo gave Mibao a sheepish smile, let go of her, and wiped the tear stains off Mibao’s clothes.
“Sorry, I dirtied your clothes.”
Mibao didn’t mind. “It’s fine, they’ll dry soon.”
Then she touched her own stomach. She seemed hungry too…
[Mibao, I’ve got a cake someone gave me. You can have it.]
Xiaonian’s anger more or less subsided.
Forget it—she was just a kid.
He could tell Ye Duo must have noticed there was something off about this room full of zombies.
Probably only Mibao was still feeling proud about fooling Ye Duo.
“Brother, then how should I explain it to Sister Ye Duo?”
Hearing Xiaonian’s words, Mibao once again covered her mouth and whispered softly.
Ye Duo, beside her: …?
She seemed to have seen Mibao do this several times now—covering her mouth, as if speaking to someone.
Ye Duo’s heart stirred. She guessed this might be Mibao’s secret.
Could it be that she was talking to something?
Ye Duo couldn’t help recalling an anime she liked to watch. In it, the protagonist had a magical pet invisible to others, a divine beast with incredible powers—capable of anything!
Could it be… that Mibao also had one?
Her imagination immediately began to run wild.
And the more she thought about it, the more possible it seemed—the more reasonable it felt.
Ah…
What would Mibao’s magical pet look like?
It must be something cute, right?
Mmm, but also super powerful!
While Ye Duo’s mind was busy picturing whether Mibao’s pet was a fluffy bunny or a kitten, Mibao stood up and walked over to a desk.
Then she received the lime cake Xiaonian gave her.
It was a six-inch cake—so big!
The sweet fragrance wafting off it made Mibao’s mouth water.
“Wow! There’s a huge cake here!”
Mibao launched into an over-the-top performance.
Hearing her exclamation, Ye Duo walked over too, and saw the beautiful lime cake.
She was completely stunned.
Th-this…
“Sister Ye Duo, we’re so lucky! Who would’ve thought we’d find a cake here!” Mibao placed the cake on the desk, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Ye Duo. “Let’s eat it together!”
Ye Duo: “……”
Even though she was only a middle schooler, she still knew cakes like this wouldn’t last very long.
At most, three or four days.
So…
This cake must have been made by Mibao’s magical pet!
So it really was like that…
Ye Duo took a deep breath.
Such a big secret—she absolutely couldn’t let anyone else know.
Otherwise, Mibao might get caught by bad people, cut open, and experimented on—just like in TV dramas.
“Wow! Yes, we’re really lucky!” Ye Duo echoed, nodding and playing along with Mibao. “Mibao, you’re amazing, finding the cake so quickly.”
Mibao grew a little shy at the praise.
The cake even came with knives, forks, and plates. It was so big that the two little girls couldn’t possibly finish it by themselves.
“Tomorrow we can bring the rest to Brother Chaoyang, Sister Chaolu, and Uncle and Auntie,” Mibao said, smacking her lips. “They’ll definitely like it too.”
Ye Duo nodded. “Okay.”
With their bellies full, the two little ones soon grew drowsy. Hugging each other, they curled up in the corner and drifted off to sleep.
…
…
At dawn, Chaolu was already awake.
There was no helping it—yesterday’s events had left her restless. In her dreams she kept seeing Mibao, then Ye Duo.
So she woke up early.
After waiting a while, until it was brighter outside, Chaolu finally looked out the window.
Thankfully, the giant bees were gone.
Chaolu immediately grabbed the walkie-talkie. “Chaoyang, are you awake? The bees outside have all left.”
“I’m awake.”
Chaoyang hadn’t slept well all night either, so the moment the walkie-talkie crackled he was instantly alert.
“We can leave now. The sooner the better—I’m afraid those bees might come back.”
Chaolu agreed, then called over the three adults. Together they stepped out of the classroom, preparing to head upstairs to fetch Chaoyang.
And then look for Mibao and Ye Duo.
Chaolu and Chaoyang shared the same thought—since Mibao had that alien brother, maybe she would be safe?
