Chapter 44: He owed Mibao
The answer revealed itself when Chaolu reached the fourth floor.
She remembered Chaoyang saying that Mibao had gotten separated from them on the fourth floor.
And on the fourth floor—there was no sign of Mibao’s corpse.
Chaolu’s eyes lit up. She drew her machete and cleaved down the zombie that had just struggled to its feet. Then, as she walked, she called out:
“Mibao! Mibao, are you here?”
She had barely called out when the door of the first classroom opened. A sleepy little head poked out:
“Sister Chaolu?”
Mibao spoke while rubbing his eyes and yawning, clearly just waking up.
“Mibao!”
Chaolu’s face lit with joy. She rushed over and scooped Mibao up into her arms.
Mibao was hugged tightly.
“I knew you’d be fine…” The weight finally lifted off Chaolu’s chest.
Then, as she lifted her head, she spotted Ye Duo standing behind Mibao.
Chaolu froze for a moment.
Ye Duo also looked awkward, her gaze darting away.
She didn’t quite know how to face Chaolu…
“Sister Chaolu, good thing Sister Ye Duo came to find me afterward, otherwise I would’ve been in real danger!”
At that moment, Mibao let go of Chaolu, then grabbed Chaolu’s hand with one of his and reached for Ye Duo’s hand with the other as he spoke.
Ye Duo stiffened slightly.
Chaolu’s expression grew complicated. “Is that so…”
But she clearly remembered Chaoyang saying Ye Duo had stormed out after being angered by her words…
“Yes! That’s exactly it!” Mibao nodded firmly. “Oh, right, Sister Chaolu—we even found a cake here. Let’s eat it together!”
Chaolu: “…?”
What the heck?
Cake?
It’s bread, right…
There’s no way a cake could still be around…
Then she saw it—the six-inch key lime cake, still three-quarters intact.
Chaolu: “…”
Say no more. This cake was definitely conjured up by Mibao’s alien brother.
How could something like this possibly show up in a middle school classroom! And damn it, it’s been sitting there all this time without spoiling!
So Chaolu shot Ye Duo a discreet glance, then laughed awkwardly and said:
“Ahahaha, you two sure got lucky! I heard there are these high-tech cakes nowadays, ones that can keep for over a month. Maybe this is one of those cakes?”
She couldn’t let Ye Duo get suspicious.
Oh, and also the three dumbfounded adults nearby.
“Huh? There’s really tech like that now?” Zhao Xuehua looked astonished. “How come I’ve never heard of it?”
Zhu Dafu was just as baffled: “Yeah, what kind of cream cake can last over a month… Could this be some kind of industrial trickery?”
Would eating this even be digestible?
Qian Suiyou… Qian Suiyou was a middle-aged man who didn’t talk much. Though puzzled as well, he kept silent.
If it’s not necessary, he doesn’t want to speak.
Yep.
“O-of course it exists! I’ve heard of that technology too,” Ye Duo quickly stepped in to cover, “That kind of preservation tech is super expensive. Maybe some rich family’s kid left it here. We’re just really lucky.”
Phew…
At least no suspicions were raised.
Mibao’s secret mustn’t be discovered!
But still—so there really is technology like this? Amazing!
Hearing Ye Duo back her up, Chaolu also let out a breath of relief.
Ha, she was pretty awesome—she’d just made something up off the top of her head, and it turned out such a thing actually existed!
The two middle schoolers silently congratulated themselves.
The adults accepted the explanation—seemed like they were just too old to keep up with the pace of society.
Look, even middle schoolers knew about this kind of technology. Clearly, their own horizons were too narrow.
So everyone cheerfully accepted the fresh… uh, cream cake that had sat out overnight.
Then they went together up to the fifth floor to meet Chaoyang.
After the initial excitement, when Mibao and the others brought out the cake—before Chaoyang even had a chance to speak—Chaolu and Ye Duo were already chattering away, explaining everything.
When they finished, Chaolu even shot Chaoyang a meaningful look.
Chaoyang: “…”
Got it.
“Mm, that kind of tech does exist. I’ve heard of it too.”
Hearing Chaoyang say so erased the last trace of doubt the adults had.
Chaoyang was knowledgeable—if even he said it existed, then it must really exist!
So that cake became everyone’s breakfast.
It wasn’t quite enough, so they grabbed some bread from the van to fill in.
“The van’s out of gas. I’ll go check if any of the cars in the school’s parking lot have fuel,” Zhu Dafu suggested. “Chaolu, can you come with me?”
He was too scared to go alone.
Chaolu nodded. “Sure. Uncle Qian, you come too. The rest of you wait in the van.”
…
…
Ji Ruwen had been awake for a week now, and he was still not quite used to his body.
Mm…
His strength was too overwhelming, but his brain hadn’t caught up yet. When he first woke, he often accidentally smashed tables or punched holes in the walls.
Things had gotten much better recently.
But every now and then, he still wrecked things by mistake.
For example… just now, Ji Ruwen was about to sit down for a meal when he spotted a cockroach on the floor. He instinctively stomped on it.
And then…
The floor caved in.
Ji Ruwen: “…”
“Yo, stomped another hole again?” Bai Qi walked in carrying compressed biscuits. Seeing the pit in the floor, his expression showed he wasn’t surprised in the slightest. “Here, your rations.”
Ji Ruwen accepted the biscuits with a helpless look. “Accident.”
Ever since he woke up, his strength had been dozens of times greater than before. At first, he couldn’t control anything, but with the help of Liang Shaoqing, Bai Qi, and the others, he had slowly learned how to manage his strength.
Because of his unique condition, he donated blood once a week to Professor Sui and the team for research.
Of course, he was compensated.
Not just with compressed biscuits, but with official points that could be exchanged for supplies.
Still, Ji Ruwen figured that when Mibao arrived here, he’d need to prepare a lot of things, so he was saving up. For now, he mostly gnawed on compressed biscuits, only occasionally exchanging for a decent meal to supplement his nutrition.
Each blood donation earned him one thousand points, and those thousand points carried roughly the same purchasing power as currency before the apocalypse.
It might not sound like much, but after the end of the world—when resources were scarce—the average person completing missions in the safe base only made about thirty points a day.
“Seriously, look at you. You’ve got so many points and you don’t even use them. Even if your daughter comes, you won’t be able to spend them all.”
Bai Qi pulled out a chair and sat down, utterly puzzled.
“Why eat compressed biscuits every single day?”
Ji Ruwen shook his head. “I owe her.”
He owed Mibao.
Bai Qi couldn’t understand. Even though Ji Ruwen had gotten fairly familiar with the special squad over the past week, he still didn’t talk that deeply.
“Forget it, your business isn’t mine to meddle in—oh, right. We’ve got a mission tomorrow. You’ve adapted well enough, so join us.”
Bai Qi pulled a sheet of paper from his pocket and placed it on the table. It was a mission list.
“Completing missions earns points and supply rewards.”
…
