Joy Turns to Sorrow

The girl outside vaguely heard someone shouting inside.

"I wonder what's going on in there. I clearly smelled meat just now. Do I still have my steak?"

She tried struggling twice, but to no avail.

Thinking of her current predicament, tears of frustration streamed from the corners of her mouth.

"Wuu~ Roar!"

A Zombie's howl came from nearby. It had probably been drawn over by the voices of those people.

The girl tied to the tree was filled with terror and muttered softly:

"Don't come over! Big brothers, hurry and take me back! I'm willing to scrub toilets every day!!!"

The only response she got was the intermittent screams and curses of the three people inside.

In the brightly lit room, a young man took a sip of cola and let out a satisfied burp.

"She's filthy, and I can't even see what she looks like. Should I save her or not?"

Smacking his lips, the young man shook his head helplessly.

The cameras outside showed a Zombie from the neighboring house staggering over.

"I don't really want to meddle, but throwing a human flesh party in my yard is going too far."

"Besides, the smell of blood and flesh will draw even more Zombies over. Then I won't be able to sit quietly on the second floor and enjoy the view."

He skillfully wrapped himself in three layers of thick cotton clothes,

then put on a suit of Iron Armor,

slipped into thickened Zulijian shoes,

pulled on leather gloves,

put on a windproof helmet,

and clumsily walked outside with an Iron Pickaxe in hand.

A while later,

in an inconspicuous corner of the first floor of the villa, an entire brick suddenly shattered out of an otherwise intact brick wall.

The opening was perfectly smooth, as though it had been machine-cut!

It was neither too large nor too small—exactly 1m by 1m!

"Biu~"

A soft sound rang out, and another brick broke apart.

A rectangular opening measuring 2m by 1m was revealed, and an excessively bulky young man walked out from inside.

His figure was impossible to make out, and his face had been completely hidden away.

At first glance, there was clearly something wrong with this guy. If this had been peaceful times, sending him to a psychiatric hospital would basically never have been a misdiagnosis.

Shen Jin picked up two small brick models from the ground and muttered softly:

"If I come out from here, no one outside can see it. After I bring the young lady in later, I'll arrange for her to stay in the basement first. Mm."

"No, that doesn't make sense. A wall with such a huge hole in it would look strange in anyone's house. So..."

Smack!

The young man tossed out a small model. The instant it hit the ground, it expanded into a wooden door!

It fit perfectly, with part of the wooden door even embedded into the brick wall.

It practically defied the laws of physics!!!

"That makes much more sense," Shen Jin said, nodding clumsily.

Shen Jin came in directly from the girl's blind spot behind her.

At first, she had looked filthy and not particularly pretty.

Now that he was closer, she actually looked fairly good. At the very least, her skin and figure showed that she was the type whose back was more than enough to kill.

Riiip~

The nylon rope behind the girl was cut apart.

"Mmph."

Although the girl was frightened, the past few months of life had taught her not to scream casually. That would only put her in an even more terrifying situation.

Covering her mouth, she turned around and found an Iron Man holding a small knife in one hand while the other rested outside his helmet, making a "shh" gesture.

Ten thousand alpacas galloped through the girl's heart, but she did not say anything unnecessary at a time like this.

Being saved by an Iron Man was a little surreal, but it was still better than being eaten by Zombies.

The young man gave the girl a surprised look. She was quite obedient.

"Come on. Follow me inside first. The Zombie is scratching at the door."

Then the girl heard,

"Wula wula wula wula, huff huff."

This helmet's sound quality had really reached its limit!

Shen Jin led the girl into the villa, then went through a hidden passage on the first floor to the villa's basement.

The basement was completely different from the empty appearance outside.

It was stocked with all kinds of daily necessities. Though it was not brightly lit, at least several candles were burning.

There were also sofas, a television, a refrigerator, and everything else one might need.

There's no electricity in the apocalypse anymore. Why keep so many appliances? the girl inwardly complained.

"Alright, now you can talk."

Was that a dialect, or an alien language? The girl looked utterly confused as she listened to a string of "wula wula wula wula" coming from the helmet.

A while later,

Shen Jin removed his Iron Armor and helmet, and human language began working again.

After they chatted briefly, the surprise in the girl's eyes grew stronger and stronger.

"Ah! I remember now!"

The girl brushed aside her unevenly grown bangs, revealing her grimy little face, shiny with oil, and said in delight:

"Uncle Shen Jin, it's me! I'm your uncle's cousin's niece's older brother's sworn brother's daughter's classmate—Li Moxiao!

"We met at a parent-teacher conference before!"

What kind of uncle does that make me? And are you sure you remembered that right??? Shen Jin's face darkened.

However, Shen Jin had already remembered who the girl was.

Although they had only met once,

the memory had been profound.

It had been an afternoon that summer, two months before the Zombie virus outbreak.

At the request of a distant relative, Shen Jin had attended his little niece's parent-teacher conference.

He had arrived early. While leaning against the railing on the fourth floor of the school and spacing out, a tall "young" woman walked up beside him.

Judging by her temperament and clothes, she definitely was not a student, but she did not look like a parent either.

"Maybe she's like me—the student's older sister."

Bored out of his mind, single Shen Jin took the initiative to strike up a conversation.

Thinking he looked extremely handsome, Shen Jin struck a pose. "Nice to meet you, beautiful."

The woman's lips curved upward in a half-smile.

"How nice?"

(°ー°〃)?

Shen Jin suddenly froze. He went "uh, uh" for a long while before finally managing to continue.

"Uh... extremely nice!"

The woman stared straight into Shen Jin's eyes. "Why not mention it?"

It felt as though a fly had been stuffed down Shen Jin's throat. He forced out a grin. "Well... if I mention it, then it won't be nice anymore."

The woman pressed forward step by step. "So if it isn't nice, you won't mention it?"

Shen Jin's face reddened. "Cough, cough... Don't mention it. I'm so happy I could die!"

The woman looked at Shen Jin's awkward appearance and sneered.

"Hehe."

After that, Shen Jin did not speak to anyone else for the entire parent-teacher conference.

That was not the key point. The most important thing was!

During the student commendations, Shen Jin discovered in shock:

that "young woman" was actually a classmate of his friend's daughter!!!

Shen Jin's mentality instantly exploded!

Even now, he remembered the suspicious, astonished look in his friend's daughter's eyes, as if she were looking at some creepy old uncle.

Her gaze swept over him,

again and again,

making him so ashamed that he practically clawed out a three-bedroom apartment in the classroom floor.

Are kids these days really this calculating???

That was right. The girl Shen Jin had hit on was the pitiful Li Moxiao of today.

Today, the wheel had turned. Three months east of the river, three months west of the river—now it was your turn to be on my turf!

Hehe.

All sorts of scenes from webnovels, Japanese anime, and manga appeared in Shen Jin's mind.

If he did not get revenge now, when would he?

"Sorry, but it is difficult to see any evidence of humanity's current evolution from your face. How about you use a small amount of the spring of life to cleanse the outer layer of material covering your skin?"

Li Moxiao looked stunned. "I know every word you said, but why does it turn into a heavenly scripture when you put them together?"

Shen Jin coughed dryly. "Go wash your face in the bathroom."

"Oh." Li Moxiao looked aggrieved.

Suddenly remembering something, Shen Jin hurriedly added:

"Well... clean water is hard to come by now. You can use half a bottle of Bottled Water at most."

The girl froze, then nodded solemnly.

"I understand."

Shen Jin's mind failed to keep up for a moment. You understand just like that?

No way, no way. Did she see through my plan to mess with her?

He carefully checked the ten packs of Bottled Water beneath the sofa. There did not seem to be any obvious flaw.

Are kids these days really this calculating?

Little did he know that Li Moxiao had instead recalled the past three months of the apocalypse.

The Zombie virus had infiltrated everywhere. The city's water treatment plant had already been contaminated, and the water flowing from the taps was "dirty" water carrying infectious viral sources. It could not be used, though mere skin contact was not a problem.

After all, the people who had survived had relatively strong immunity. Simple contact with the skin would not infect them.

But! If it accidentally got into their eyes or mouths, then it was over!

The Zombie virus would take root. It was just that the amount would be smaller, and the outbreak would be slower.

Li Moxiao still remembered a pretty girl at the Gathering Place. Relying on her looks, she had ignored everyone's warnings and insisted on washing her face at a tap.

Several hours later, blood flowed from her eyes, and she began madly biting everyone around her.

That time, ten people had died.

So afterward, everyone only used sealed water sources.

And as time passed, the government rescue they had been waiting for still had not arrived.

A month ago, everyone had already stopped washing entirely.

Water was for drinking. It was for saving lives.

She had not washed her face in a month.

"I never thought that after I embarrassed him so badly back then, he would still treat me so well now and be willing to let me wash my face with precious Bottled Water!

"No! I understand now! That wasn't Bottled Water.

"That was the spring of life!

"No wonder."

She seemed to have understood Shen Jin's strange words.

The girl did not even want to waste this bottle of Bottled Water. She unscrewed it and put it down again, but in the end, she gritted her teeth and poured out half the bottle.

She carefully poured it into a basin.

"No, I have to use my beauty to conquer this creepy uncle. It looks like he isn't lacking food here."

She meticulously scrubbed her little face.

Sitting on the sofa outside, Shen Jin began pondering life's two most important questions:

Why was the universe so vast?

What should he eat for lunch today?

"Sigh, I can only eat some instant steak and frozen shrimp today. I wonder when these boring days will end."

Li Moxiao poked her head out from the bathroom.

"Uncle, I think I just heard you say beef? Can I eat some?

()"

Shen Jin: ...

"Go wash your face. There's only a little rice left. Eat it or don't."

"Okay ((/--)/"

Disappointed, Li Moxiao went back to the basin and kept scrubbing her fingernails.

You were so cheeky back then. Now you'll learn how hard life is!

Shen Jin steamed half a basin of rice.

He kicked the ten packs of Bottled Water under the sofa farther inside.

By then, the three people who had fallen from the first floor had calmed down after cursing enough.

Zhao Laoda moved his leg. Thanks to years of exercise, it was only an ordinary dislocation.

"Quit your fucking yapping. Who still has rope?"

"No."

Xiao Yang said, "Wasn't the only bundle of rope with you?"

At that, the veins on Zhao Laoda's forehead bulged.

Way to bring up exactly what I didn't want to hear!

After another round of discussion, they concluded that there was no way they could get out of this four-meter-deep pit.

Xiao Yang was the more optimistic one.

"Do all your pits have cameras?"

"Yes."

"Mine even fucking rotates!"

Xiao Yang's eyes lit up. "It rotates? That means there's electricity here? And the owner of this villa is probably watching us right now!"

Zhao Laoda was so furious he practically started smoking!

I was just passing by your house, and three of us got knocked underground.

What the fuck did we ever do to you?

Did we rob you? Steal from you?

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got!

Then he began raging helplessly inside!!!

Still, Zhao Laoda had spent several years in the underworld. He understood that when you were under someone else's roof, you had to bow your head.

There was no point in talking tough right now.

With difficulty, he squeezed out a smile and humbly addressed the camera.

"Big brother inside, us brothers were reckless. Please don't hold it against us. Humanity needs to work together now—we can't turn on our own people. In the apocalypse, one more friend means one more chance at survival."

The middle-aged man followed suit.

"Yeah, brother. We're not here to steal food. We were only looking for someone from our Gathering Place and happened to pass by here. I guarantee that once you let us out, we'll go straight back to our Gathering Place. We've got a supermarket there, with plenty of snacks and food!"

Xiao Yang gave a puzzled grunt. "That's not right, Brother Meng. Didn't we finish all the snacks ages ago? All we have left is rice and flour. Don't make things up out of nowhere. You're beyond help!"

The first floor fell silent.

What a pig of a teammate!

Zhao Laoda and Old Meng's faces darkened. They had long thought something was wrong with this young man's brain.

If he hadn't had some lockpicking skills, they never would have brought him out.

The girl came out after washing her face. She found a hair tie in Shen Jin's place and casually tied up her hair.

Her delicate, refined face was revealed, brimming with youthful energy.

She was a little malnourished, and her complexion was not very good. But even so!

"Hisss~~"

Shen Jin sucked in a sharp breath.

It was this girl! The shameful memories from back then surged into his mind. He had originally planned to fry her an egg.

Not anymore!

"Uncle, why do you keep staring at me? Don't tell me you really have that kind of fetish? I'm still underage!"

As she spoke, she deliberately thrust out her flat chest.

Shen Jin was silent for a moment. "You should smile more in the future."

Li Moxiao smiled shyly. "Uncle, are you saying that girls who love to smile are never too unlucky? Meeting you really was lucky. You're a little creepy, but much cuter than Zombies."

Shen Jin sneered. "Your comprehension is fucking terrible. I'm telling you to smile more—maybe your cup size will go up."

Li Moxiao:

Then Shen Jin placed half a bowl of freshly steamed rice on the table and brought over a bottle of soy sauce.

"Eat."

"Uncle, aren't you eating?"

Please don't compete with me for it. There isn't even enough for me. Li Moxiao wore a fake smile.

"No, eat it yourself. I'm not hungry."

Me, eat plain rice? What a joke. Shen Jin put on the face of a good man.

"Ah?"

Li Moxiao watched as Shen Jin really did walk out of the basement step by step.

The teasing look in her heart gradually faded.

He really wasn't going to eat? Was it for... me?

She knew how important food was in the apocalypse.

Yet this strange uncle from before was willing to let her have the most precious food while he secretly went upstairs to starve!

At that moment, her nose suddenly stung. Shen Jin's figure looked almost great in her eyes.

In a corner of the first-floor kitchen, Shen Jin pressed an inconspicuous tile beside him.

The tile split apart, revealing a passage.

Following the passage, Shen Jin entered his real "home."

He took out a piece of Australian Hand-Cut Steak from the refrigerator.

"Sigh, when will these plain, unremarkable, boring lunches ever end?"

"Right, I need to seal the door tight. Otherwise, the smell of meat will drift out."

The three people trapped underground were now somewhat listless.

"I'm a little hungry."

"Me too."

"Sigh, the supermarket's food won't last many more days."

"Forget that. Let's think about how to get out first."

Xiao Yang twitched his nose and suddenly said, "Do you guys smell steak?"

Old Meng curled his lip. "It's over. Xiao Yang is so hungry he's hallucinating."

Zhao Laoda grinned. "You brat, always dreaming about good things. Still... we did eat steak for a few days at the beginning. That flavor, tsk tsk~"

"Yeah."

Xiao Yang also sank into his memories. When everyone had first been trapped in the supermarket, they had not rationed their food at all. They ate whatever they had, and there had still been electricity then.

Electric griddles, steak, black pepper sauce~

"Damn hallucinations. Am I having a final flash before death?"

"But... it really smells so good. If there's a god, let me eat one piece of steak before I die!"