Embarrassment

After finishing the meal, Chen Xu washed the dishes and found Luo Xiyun walking around the Main Camp. "Let's talk," he said.

"Okay." Luo Xiyun nodded and followed him to the place where he usually stayed.

Once they sat down, Chen Xu asked her, "What are your plans from now on?"

A flicker of confusion passed through Luo Xiyun's eyes, and her voice dropped low. "I don't know..."

If all the people in the world had vanished, it didn't seem to matter much where you went.

"In that case, I suggest you stay here for now," Chen Xu said.

Luo Xiyun looked up at him.

He continued, "First, with the two of us together, if one of us gets a headache or a fever, we can look out for each other. Second, I've made quite a bit of preparation over the past month, so the living conditions here are definitely better than elsewhere. What do you think?"

"Let me think about it."

Luo Xiyun didn't agree on the spot. "I'll give you my answer tonight."

"Alright."

Chen Xu certainly hoped she would stay—it would make the next few months much easier.

But worst case, even if she didn't want to stay, it wasn't something he couldn't accept.

This was just a dream anyway; in another five months, he'd be back to reality. It wasn't like he couldn't live without her. Begging her to stay with his tail between his legs? That was absolutely out of the question.

That afternoon, Chen Xu cleared out a room in a nearby shop for Luo Xiyun to stay in.

The room had been empty for a month and was caked with dust. It took quite a while to clean it up.

Luo Xiyun helped out too.

After cleaning, they moved in a bed, along with some tables and chairs.

Before they knew it, the afternoon was gone.

For dinner, Chen Xu simply pan-fried two steaks. With no vegetables to go with them, he put a bit of leftover mung bean sprouts on the side of the plate. He'd grown the sprouts himself from mung beans, using them as a vegetable substitute.

Once Luo Xiyun was seated, Chen Xu took a bottle of red wine from the liquor cabinet. "This is supposed to be the legendary 1982 Lafite. I grabbed it from a pretty upscale Western Restaurant. No idea if it's real or fake."

With that, he opened the wine and poured a glass for each of them using stemware.

"Is it from that Cloud Top Restaurant on the top floor of XX Building?" Luo Xiyun picked up the bottle and examined it.

Chen Xu was a bit surprised. "How did you know?"

"I used to go there often." Luo Xiyun set the bottle down. "It has that restaurant's logo on it."

The two of them had worked together that afternoon, which had eased the awkwardness between them, and they were talking more now.

Chen Xu raised his glass. "I heard this red wine tastes better if you decant it with a proper decanter. But we don't have one of those here, so we'll just make do."

"This is fine too." Luo Xiyun also raised her glass, clinked it against his, and took a sip.

After setting down her glass, she said, "I've decided to stay. But there are some things I think it's better to say upfront."

Hearing that she was willing to stay, Chen Xu felt pretty good inside. There were still five months until the dream ended. Having a companion was better than being alone.

Especially since she was a real beauty—nice to look at every day. "Go ahead, say whatever it is," he said.

"Then I'll be direct."

Luo Xiyun clasped her hands together and looked at him. "You're not my type. I hope that in our time together, we can keep some distance..."

The smile froze on Chen Xu's face. He couldn't control his expression, and it stiffened.

He never expected that what she wanted to say was this.

He knew he wasn't handsome, wasn't tall, and his family wasn't rich. He'd never had much luck with women growing up. But he'd never thought of himself as that bad.

Now, in this dream world, only he and Luo Xiyun were left. Under these circumstances, it seemed only natural for the two of them to pair up. Any man in his situation would probably think the same.

Any other woman would probably feel the same way too.

But Luo Xiyun had bluntly told him she wouldn't like him, telling him to give up hope.

Who do you think you are, looking down on me like that?

Chen Xu's face burned, his pride deeply wounded.

After Luo Xiyun finished speaking, she fell silent.

An awkward silence stretched on.

Only the muffled roar of the Diesel Generator running outside could be heard through the door.

Chen Xu gripped his wine glass in his right hand, staring at the steak on the table with its slightly charred surface. After a long moment, he slowly said, "That's fine."

His voice was dry and hoarse.

But once he spoke, his heart gradually calmed down.

It wasn't the first time he'd been rejected by a woman. And besides, this was just a dream. Even the woman in front of him wasn't real—she was just a simulation.

He cleared his throat and continued, "It's better for everyone to get some things out in the open. I think your request is perfectly reasonable, and I can fully accept it."

The tension on Luo Xiyun's face finally eased.

Chen Xu released his grip on the wine glass, picked up a clean towel nearby, and wiped the sweat from his hands. "Just so happens, there's something I want to discuss with you."

Luo Xiyun leaned back slightly, her brow furrowing noticeably. "What is it?"

"Since you're willing to stay, then from now on, we'll be living together. I'd like to talk about how we divide the work."

Chen Xu didn't look at her as he continued. "Right now, it's likely just the two of us left in this city. No electricity, no running water, no delivery. Everything has to be done by hand."

"Before, I handled all of this alone. Now that you're here, it's only fair for you to take on some of the work, right?"

Luo Xiyun nodded. "That's very reasonable."

"Strictly speaking, to be truly fair, all tasks should be rotated. Today I fetch water and you cook; tomorrow we swap—I cook, you fetch water. But—"

"Considering the difference in physical strength, I think a different arrangement works better. Heavy lifting like fetching water or hauling diesel—that's on me. Cooking, washing dishes, doing laundry—those are yours. Does that sound fair to you?"

Luo Xiyun nodded again. "Pretty fair."

"We'll hash out the specifics tomorrow." With that, Chen Xu picked up his knife and fork and cut into the steak, which had long gone cold.

Luo Xiyun said nothing, silently picking up her fork.