Thud thud thud—
"Ding Yuqin, it's me."
Wang Tao knocked on Ding Yuqin's door. He was planning to have her help move things upstairs. Since he had manpower available, there was no reason not to use it.
Hearing the noise, Ding Yuqin hurriedly opened the door. When she saw some Black Blood on Wang Tao, she quickly asked with concern, "Wang Tao, you weren't hurt, were you?"
"I'm fine. Got lucky. I almost went down."
Wang Tao's voice was somewhat muffled beneath his mask.
Other than some soreness in his wrist from when the zombie had knocked him down, he was fine. He had barely lost any health, so it wasn't serious.
"Should I go get the Medical Kit...?"
Ding Yuqin looked worried.
Wang Tao shook his head.
"No. Help me move the stuff first."
"Okay!"
Ding Yuqin followed Wang Tao to Room 601. Seeing the pool of Black Blood by the door and the signs of fighting in the living room, she subconsciously swallowed and then asked softly:
"Were there two zombies here?"
"Yeah."
Wang Tao nodded.
Ding Yuqin looked at Wang Tao's back in secret amazement. Two zombies! And he had taken them both out! "Everything's packed up. Let's move it."
Wang Tao pointed at the things on the floor.
"Mm!"
Though Ding Yuqin was not very strong, the distance was short. The two of them moved everything to Room 501 in a single trip.
Once the supplies had been sorted and put away, Wang Tao suddenly felt that his place was a little too small.
Mainly because he had brought back everything he thought might be useful now or in the future—clothes, books, electronics, and the like.
He was even starting to consider the furniture in other people's homes.
Furniture was hard to move, but he could take it apart first. Once the gas ran out, he could burn the wood for cooking too...
While Ding Yuqin organized and sorted the supplies, Wang Tao went to take a shower. The cold water hit him, and he instantly shuddered.
After killing the zombies, he had still been somewhat on edge. After all, being suddenly ambushed by a scheming zombie had left a small psychological shadow.
The cold water pouring over his head calmed him down considerably.
Unfortunately, he could not bear to use electricity to heat water. A hot shower would have felt much better.
While showering, Wang Tao checked his wrist. There was a patch of bruising, but it was not serious and would probably heal in a couple of days. The bruising on his arm from before had long since disappeared.
When he finished showering, Ding Yuqin had just finished organizing everything as well.
The bruising on Wang Tao's wrist was still quite obvious, and Ding Yuqin spotted it at once.
After her surprise last time, Ding Yuqin did not make a fuss this time, but she still asked, "Wang Tao, should I put some medicine on your wrist? It'll heal faster with medicine!"
"Sure."
After Wang Tao nodded, Ding Yuqin immediately went home and brought over the Medical Kit.
Ding Yuqin had originally wanted to give the Medical Kit to Wang Tao, but she hesitated and ultimately did not. It was not that she could not bear to part with it; she knew she did not have much value to offer Wang Tao right now. If she gave away the Medical Kit too, then she really would have nothing left...
Wang Tao lay on the sofa while Ding Yuqin sat beside him and applied medicine to him. The ointment felt cool and refreshing on his skin.
Looking at the muscles on Wang Tao's body, Ding Yuqin had wanted to offer him a massage to help him relax. She knew a little about that sort of thing. But she felt it might be inappropriate, so she did not mention it.
After applying medicine for a while, Ding Yuqin suddenly asked:
"Ahem, Wang Tao, um... are you going to the Survivor Base next?"
Before the internet had gone down, she had seen the government announcement too. She knew there was a large government-organized Survivor Base in Yellow Wind City.
Of course she wanted to go. She had heard that it still retained the semblance of normal society, with rules and order. Every survivor even had a basic minimum livelihood guarantee! For people living through the apocalypse, it was practically heaven! But the problem was that the Survivor Base was too far from their residential complex. She had no ability to get there at all...
So she asked Wang Tao whether he planned to go. If he did, perhaps he could take her with him.
Hearing the question, Wang Tao thought for a moment before saying, "I do want to go, but I'm not sure when."
For now, he could kill zombies and scavenge supplies. It seemed like he had what it took to survive in the apocalypse, but who could say what would happen in the future?
Besides, Wang Tao wanted to see what the Survivor Base was really like. If it truly was as good as people said, he would be willing to live there.
But he definitely would not go now. He was currently in Water Marsh County of Yellow Wind City, while the Survivor Base was in Red Stone County. There were a full fifty kilometers between them. Unless he grew wings, walking that far with his current strength would be suicide.
"Ahem, um... when you do go, could you take me with you?"
Ding Yuqin forced a smile and looked at Wang Tao nervously.
"We'll talk about it later. It's too early to be discussing that now."
Wang Tao did not answer directly.
But his attitude made Ding Yuqin's face turn pale at once.
In the adult world, people generally did not reject others so directly. They left them some dignity.
Given the situation, Wang Tao was clearly refusing her.
After all, she could not kill zombies, nor did she have much strength. To Wang Tao, she was just dead weight. He might be able to move faster without her...
"Oh..."
Ding Yuqin bit her lip blankly, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Wang Tao had not openly refused her, so she could not exactly pester him until he agreed, could she? What if he had been somewhat hesitant before, but her making a scene made him decide on the spot not to take her...
Ding Yuqin did not need to cook dinner. There was some leftover food from lunch, and reheating it a little would be enough for Wang Tao.
Considering that Ding Yuqin had helped out that afternoon, Wang Tao gave her a packet of dry noodles.
The packet of dry noodles was an extra reward. Ding Yuqin thought she would be happy, but she could not feel happy at all.
After Ding Yuqin left, Wang Tao ate a simple meal, rested for a while, and then began his daily workout.
"After killing those two zombies today, it feels like my physical fitness improved a little again! It probably wasn't an illusion. Killing zombies really can slightly improve physical fitness! It isn't obvious after one or two kills, but once the number reaches a certain point, the improvement should be considerable..."
After working out for several hours, Wang Tao went to shower again. Then he suddenly discovered that the water had been cut off.
Actually, he had noticed that the water flow was weaker during his earlier shower, so the outage was not surprising.
Still, he felt somewhat upset. His list of upcoming tasks had gained another item—find water.
He used the water he had stored in advance to quickly rinse off his foul sweat. He did not pour out the remaining wastewater either, saving it for flushing the toilet later.
Then he lay on the bed and turned on the radio as usual to see if he could hear anything.
"Crackle... crackle... this is the Red Stone Survivor Base... crackle..."
Before you continue