What Do You Want

It was completely dark by the time Chen Xu drove back in a truck, more than an hour later than last time.

When he entered, his brows were tightly furrowed. He had not gained much from this trip. The month-long rainstorm, followed by the heavy snowfall, had buried more than half the city beneath ice and snow.

Every few days, he went out to search for supplies. He had already hauled away nearly everything available nearby.

Other things were manageable. Food and water, for instance, were still fairly abundant. The most urgent issue was gasoline. With the weather so bitterly cold, they had used far more fuel for warmth than planned.

Many gas stations had been buried under the ice and snow. He had already drained the few surviving stations nearby. Left with no choice, he had to search farther afield.

He had finally found a surviving gas station, but its remaining stock was limited—enough for only one more refill at most.

"There's still a month before the dream ends. Looks like I need to find another gas station." As he shut the door behind him, the crease between his brows eased. He walked casually to the entryway and took off his thick Cold-Weather Clothing.

Luo Xiyun was nowhere to be seen in the living room. At this hour, she should have been taking a shower.

A stainless steel insulated lunch box sat on the dining table. After changing clothes, he went to the kitchen to wash his hands before opening it. The food inside was still steaming.

The aroma made his appetite surge. He picked up the chopsticks beside it and put a slice of ham into his mouth.

Compared to a month ago, Luo Xiyun's cooking had improved. It was no longer as hard to swallow as it had been at first.

Honestly, over this month of "cohabitation," he had discovered some of her strengths. At the very least, she had a sense of teamwork. She tried her best to complete whatever tasks were hers. Even when the two had minor frictions, she would not throw a tantrum and refuse to work.

After eating, he took a flashlight to the basement, turned off the large generator, and filled the smaller remaining generator with gas.

To save fuel, he had separated the heating from their other daily electricity use. That way, when they went to sleep at night, he only needed to run the generator dedicated to heating.

Back on the first floor, he did as usual. After showering, he took his laptop into bed and resumed the drama he had not finished yesterday. It was a melodramatic urban romance with no acting and no logic, yet he watched it with great interest. At least the female lead was pretty.

He could not help it. He was simply too bored. Daytime was fine, with all kinds of things keeping him busy, so it did not feel too unbearable. The few hours after night fell and before bedtime were the dullest.

He was not interested in computer games, so he could only pass the time watching movies and TV dramas. By now, he was not particularly picky about what he watched. As long as the female lead looked pleasant enough, he could keep watching.

After finishing two episodes, he closed the video. He stretched, then habitually opened a certain folder.

"Huh?"

The moment he opened it, he discovered that the folder named "Learning Materials" was gone. He froze for a moment. How could a folder disappear for no reason? He quickly confirmed that it had been deleted, and a startled "Fuck!" burst from his mouth.

Those were the finest picks he had filtered out from dozens of terabytes of material. And now they had been deleted! Worse still, he had never been in the habit of backing up those files. Once deleted, they were gone.

At that moment, he was beside himself with rage.

Without that spiritual nourishment, how was he supposed to get through the coming month? How dare she?

He did not need to think to know who had done it. Only two people remained in this world. Other than Luo Xiyun, who else could it have been?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. He threw back the covers, put on a coat, jumped out of bed, grabbed a rechargeable desk lamp, and strode to Luo Xiyun's door, pounding on it hard several times.

A few minutes earlier, Luo Xiyun had been curled up beneath the covers. The room was pitch-black, with only the glow from her phone screen lighting her somewhat anxious face.

Her attention was not on her phone at all. Instead, she strained to listen to the sounds outside. She had heard every move Chen Xu made after returning.

When she heard the door to the next room close, her heart began pounding.

How would Chen Xu react after discovering that the folder had been deleted? Would he be furious?

Would he turn on her outright? Uneasy, she calmed down and felt somewhat regretful, thinking she had acted too impulsively. But what was done was done. It was too late to say anything now. She could only hope he would pretend nothing had happened.

From their interactions over the past month, Chen Xu truly was the most stereotypically straight man she had ever met. He had a mountain of flaws, a foul and stubborn temper, not a shred of gentlemanly grace, and no idea how to take care of people or say anything nice.

Still, he was not the kind of person who was hot-tempered and unreasonable.

It was just that his pride was exceptionally strong. Maybe he would find such a matter too embarrassing to mention and pretend he did not know? As she waited anxiously, pounding sounded from outside the door.

He was here!

Her heart raced violently. She pulled the covers over her head, not daring to move, pretending she had not heard anything.

Bang bang bang! The pounding grew harder. Knowing it was useless to hide, she forced herself to say, "What is it? I'm already asleep."

Her voice was slightly tight, but fortunately, muffled by the thick covers, it was impossible to tell.

"Open the door."

Even with a door and a layer of covers between them, Luo Xiyun could still hear the anger in Chen Xu's voice. Her heart lurched. "W-what is it? L-let's talk about it tomorrow."

Bang bang bang! This time, it was practically smashing against the door.

That sparked some anger in Luo Xiyun too. I've already humbled myself this much, yet he's still refusing to let it go. This is too much.

Fine, I'll open it. Do you really think I'm afraid of you?

She steeled herself, threw back the covers, got out of bed, and pulled the door open a crack. A beam of light shone through the gap onto her face. She saw Chen Xu's dark expression, her heart skipped a beat, and she began stammering, "I-it's so late. W-what do you want?"

Chen Xu reached out and pushed the door open. Luo Xiyun retreated several steps as if startled.

Expressionless, Chen Xu asked, "Why did you touch my computer?"

"I..." Luo Xiyun's voice trembled. Not only her voice, but her whole body was shaking. Only then did Chen Xu notice that she wore nothing but a thin nightgown. Blown by the cold wind from outside, she was shivering all over.

He frowned, stepped into the room, and shut the door behind him, blocking out the cold wind. Then he set the desk lamp on a nearby table and took off his coat.

"W-what are you... going to do?" This time, Luo Xiyun's voice was nearly distorted.