The Wallet on the Ground

Nighttime.

Bringing a child back from Sister Li, a novice parent often feels overwhelmed and at a loss when first starting out.

But such a situation would never happen around Lin Fan.

Because he was sufficiently calm.

To soothe a child, one must have patience and not be in a hurry; the child can feel your gentleness.

He took a baby bottle to the constant-temperature kettle, poured the water, and watched the measurement lines on the bottle.

150 milliliters.

Five scoops of formula, shaking it to ensure the powder and water were evenly mixed, then dripping a bit onto his wrist to test the temperature. Although the kettle displayed forty-five degrees, machines were just machines; he had to feel it himself to be one hundred percent sure there were no issues.

He held the infant in one arm and the bottle in the other.

A smile graced his face as he watched Mengmeng gulp down the formula, his mood quite good.

He stood before the window, looking at the night view outside.

It was pitch black and devoid of life. Darkness shrouded Huang City, which had once been filled with the light of hope, but no matter how deep the darkness, there was always a faint glimmer of light shining within it, blooming desperately, trying to dispel the gloom.

The night was deep and very tranquil.

Lin Fan lulled Mengmeng to sleep and gently placed her on the bed. He lay down beside her, closing his eyes, and began to recall the glory and bustle of Huang City in his mind.

He did not know how much time had passed.

The sound of an infant crying drifted over.

Lin Fan woke up; it was already two in the morning. He hurried to mix formula. Usually, when she woke at this hour, she needed a midnight snack. He didn't mix too much, just 120 milliliters.

After the feeding, he held the child and rocked her gently, coaxing her back to sleep. This process required some time; otherwise, if he put her down before she was sound asleep, the infant would start crying again.

Time passed very slowly. Holding an infant for a long time would cause back pain and soreness, but he felt nothing of the sort, which likely had to do with his physical stamina.

He checked the time.

It was already two-forty in the morning.

He placed the infant on the bed with light, careful movements, terrified that a single misstep would startle Mengmeng awake. If that happened, all his previous efforts would truly have been in vain.

Roar!

The roar of zombies came from outside. Perhaps some little mouse had scurried by, attracting their attention, as several zombies were now swaying in the residential street.

From time to time, they let out a few low growls.

Such sounds seemed exceptionally jarring in the quiet night.

Looking at the sleeping Mengmeng, who furrowed her brows every now and then, he knew that if he let the zombies continue to roar aimlessly in the street, they would definitely wake her up.

"Be a good baby, sleep soundly."

Lin Fan looked at Mengmeng, picked up Frostmourne, and prepared to go down to the street to have a proper conversation with this group of zombies.

He closed the door gently.

He strove not to make a single sound.

It would be quick; he would be back before long.

Arriving at the residential complex's iron gate, he leaped up lightly and vaulted over. Looking at the street, two zombies were swaying not far away. Their stiff movements made them look foolish, and they occasionally twisted their heads, letting out bursts of low growls toward the silent night.

Lin Fan walked toward the zombies.

"Hey, hello there. It's already past two in the morning, almost three. There's a child sleeping upstairs, so could I discuss something with you? Could you please keep it down and stop shouting around outside?"

"Of course, shouting is your freedom, and I'm not in a position to demand you comply, so I just wanted to discuss it with you."

Lin Fan took the initiative to show goodwill, hoping that the two zombies, who looked quite ferocious, could be understanding.

He truly hoped these two zombies in front of him could be a bit polite, or at least easy to talk to, but he knew that possibility was slim.

Sure enough...

Roar!

The two zombies, seeing fresh flesh, could certainly not respond in a friendly manner. Their dull expressions vanished, their stiff bodies became agile, and they lunged crazily toward Lin Fan.

Puchi!

He swung his sword, his movements and speed fluid, possessing a faint air of coolness.

In the dark night, the sword light flickered.

Cracks appeared on the necks of the two zombies, and their heads rolled to the ground.

"Sigh, really now."

Lin Fan shook his head, tossed the heads into a trash can, and then hauled their bodies into the bin as well.

It was too dark now, and Mengmeng was home alone; he couldn't leave her unattended, so he would just have to wait until tomorrow to take the stuff in the trash can to the dump.

He looked toward the dark streets on both sides to see if there were any more zombies.

He waited for a few minutes.

No zombies appeared.

He turned and left, returning home to lie down beside Mengmeng.

The child was too young to sleep soundly and would wake up in a fright from time to time. By five o'clock, Mengmeng woke up startled again. Hearing her cries, he got up to hold her, soothing her young heart.

Early morning.

The sky brightened.

Lin Fan prepared a bottle of milk for Mengmeng. After feeding her, he boiled two eggs for himself and drank a bottle of milk.

Afterward, he took Mengmeng over to Sister Li's place.

He put on his security uniform and went to the guard station to sign in for work. Then, as usual, he made a round of the residential complex to check for any oversights and see if any strangers had broken in.

If you work in this trade, you have to love this trade.

The duty of a security guard is sacred; it requires protecting the peace of one's territory, and his territory was this residential complex.

"The kid gave you a hard time last night, didn't she?" the two old men came over to ask. They had been wondering all night if Lin Fan could really take care of the child. Although they were old, they knew they could certainly help out.

"It was alright. Every time she finished her milk, a little coaxing in my arms was enough to settle her," Lin Fan said with a smile.

Old Man Wang gave him a thumbs-up. "In this apocalypse, it's Mengmeng's good fortune to have been taken in by you."

"Not at all. Anyone who saw the situation would have extended a helping hand; how could one just sit by and watch?" Lin Fan thought of many news stories from the past involving children—nannies who kept raising infants after the parents ran off, unable to watch the babies suffer. Not only did they never receive a cent in wages, but they even spent their own money to support them.

Greatness and love do not distinguish between high or low, poor or rich. To be human is to possess a heart filled with kindness.

Look at that.

Listening to Lin Fan's words, the two old men felt reassured.

With that kind of awareness, if this were the past, he would have been a political commissar, no doubt about it.

"The surveillance is holding up well. Old Zhou and I got it fixed, so we can see every corner of the complex, and even the streets outside," Old Man Wang said, pointing at the screens.

The screens were divided into sections, displaying various views of the complex.

"You two are truly impressive; this will save us a lot of trouble," Lin Fan said.

"Eh, idle hands are the devil's workshop. We might as well see what needs improvement in the complex."

Old Man Wang and Old Man Zhou were clearly people who couldn't sit still.

Whenever they had time, they would think of various things to do.

At this moment, Lin Fan remembered the zombie he had killed outside last night, which he had left in a trash can. It had been too dark to transport it to the dump last night, but now that it was daytime, he had the perfect opportunity.

"Old men, I'm going out to take care of something. I'll be back soon."

He spoke to the two old men and then vaulted over the iron gate. The sight left the two old men a bit dazed; they were still wondering... had the country been secretly training a group of super-soldiers?

That gate, that height—without a running start or tools, it really shouldn't be possible to climb over.

The street.

Lin Fan pushed the trash can toward the dump.

The sound of the wheels created a slight disturbance in the quiet street.

For some reason, there weren't as many zombies in the area where he lived as he had imagined. He then recalled the fireworks someone had set off earlier; perhaps that display had drawn the zombies away.

As a result, the zombies were concentrated in that other area.

That was a good thing.

He didn't like unfriendly zombies; they were always lunging at people like mad dogs.

He delivered the trash to the dump.

On his way back, he stopped. It wasn't because he saw a zombie.

It was the ground...

There was actually a wallet lying there.

This left him deep in thought.

Who dropped it?