I'm Off to Work

After a busy day, night fell.

Another fulfilling day.

After watching the movie, he tossed the zombies outside into the trash bin.

Without the help of a cleaning lady, he had to handle everything himself. But thinking about it that way, did that mean he no longer had to pay property management fees?

The annual property fee was over a thousand yuan—quite a lot. Whenever he paid it, his heart ached, as if something important had left him.

He had polished off all the food from lunch.

"Forget it. I'll work a little harder tonight and eat instant noodles."

He rummaged through the fridge and found some ingredients.

One egg and one sausage—both were essential ingredients for his instant noodles.

Sizzle!

Bubbles boiled along the edge of the pot.

Lin Fan skillfully opened the instant noodles and poured them into the pot. Then he tore open the seasoning packet and sprinkled it over the noodles.

Holding the egg, he gently tapped it against the pot. The shell cracked, and the soft egg white and yolk spread over the noodles.

The sliced sausage was scattered over them with a touch of artistry.

"Cooking instant noodles is a technical job. You need to control the heat and timing. Not just anyone can cook a perfect bowl of instant noodles." Lin Fan stood quietly before the gas stove, waiting and keeping the heat under control.

Before long, the distinctive fragrance of instant noodles filled the air.

The egg was cooked just right—not fully done. When torn open, the yolk still flowed.

Fully cooked eggs were not tasty. An egg with a runny yolk, mixed into the noodles, tasted the best. It had not only the flavor of the broth, but also the flavor of the egg. When the two blended together, that was true deliciousness.

Click. He turned off the heat.

He picked up a dishcloth and carried the pot of noodles to the table.

Seeing some cilantro, he washed it, chopped it into short pieces, and sprinkled it over the noodles.

An ordinary yet extraordinary bowl of noodles was finally ready. In this apocalypse, it probably counted as a feast.

He slurped down the noodles.

Night.

The zombies outside wandered everywhere, far more active than during the day. Now and then, zombie howls could be heard. In his sleep, Lin Fan dreamed that he worked hard, earned his boss's appreciation, got a huge raise, made over ten thousand a month, bought a small car, got a girlfriend, and then...

Roar!

Bang!

Bang!

Violent sounds came from somewhere in the distance.

Lin Fan was awakened by the piercing noise.

He realized that zombies at night were like they were on drugs.

There was clearly no one around, yet they were strangely active.

He threw off the blanket, unable to endure it any longer, went to the balcony, and shouted into the darkness.

"Can you have some decency? Look what time it is. It's already... two in the morning. If you won't sleep, can you at least not disturb other people's rest? I still have work tomorrow."

He felt hopeless about this group of zombies. Basic manners...

Where had their manners gone?

That was right, it was the apocalypse now.

But the apocalypse was not a reason for you to have no manners.

Roar!

Their response was endless howling, wave after wave, accompanied by the sound of running.

The zombies that heard him seemed even more excited.

"Sigh."

"Their manners are seriously worrying."

"This is clearly the failure of nine years of compulsory education."

What else could he say? There was nothing left to say.

He had a pretty good temper. If it were someone hot-tempered, they would definitely go downstairs and have a huge fight with them.

But he would not. Compulsory education had taught him:

Endure for a moment, and the wind and waves will calm. Take a step back, and the sea and sky will open wide.

He could not go teach someone a lesson just because they were being unreasonable.

Win a fight and pay compensation; lose a fight and go to jail.

There had once been a mahjong buddy who, over twenty yuan, crushed another male mahjong buddy's balls, resulting in the man's death.

20 yuan = two balls + one life.

Just thinking about it was terrifying.

"Do whatever you want. I'm going to sleep." Lin Fan shook his head. With zombies this lacking in manners, what could he do?

There was really nothing he could do.

Just as he was about to pull the blanket over his head and sleep.

Bang!

Bang!

The security door was being slapped with loud bangs.

Lin Fan took a deep breath and kept reminding himself...

Endure for a moment, and the wind and waves will calm. Take a step back, and the sea and sky will open wide.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Lin Fan: ...

He came to the door with a kitchen knife and opened the security door. A group of zombies had crawled up the stairs and were wandering outside his home.

"Can you stop taking this too far? I wasn't even planning to bother with you."

"You came right to my door and started banging on it, disturbing my sleep."

"I'm so angry..."

After saying that, instead of receiving apologies from the zombies, he got their savage howls.

Splurt!

Lin Fan swung his knife, chopping again and again, each strike followed by another sound.

"Get lost! All of you, get lost! I've already called the police. The police officer said I'm not wrong for acting in self-defense."

He rarely swore because he was a polite young man. But now he was furious. He had reached the limit of his patience and only wanted a good night's sleep. Was that too much to ask?

Black blood stained the floor red and splashed the walls, creating a massive workload for him again.

A long while later.

Lin Fan returned inside, slammed the security door shut, and placed the kitchen knife on the shoe cabinet.

He returned to his room and pulled the blanket over his head to sleep. Suddenly, a hand reached out from beneath the blanket and, with a whoosh, dragged the little bear doll from the bedside table under the covers.

Morning.

Sunlight shone in.

The alarm went off at six twenty.

"Time to go to work." Lin Fan got up and, as usual, got dressed and washed up.

The company rules were strict. Leaving early meant a pay deduction, and being late meant one too. Each offense cost two hundred yuan. A few more deductions and an entire month's salary could be gone.

But he liked the atmosphere at the company. Everyone was nice.

Only the boss was not.

But he understood. The boss was under a lot of pressure and had many expenses, so Lin Fan needed to cooperate properly.

He took two eggs from the fridge, boiled them, and paired them with a bag of milk for breakfast.

Standing before the mirror, he tidied himself up a little. He looked energetic—clearly an excellent office worker.

He needed to get to the company early and explain to the boss that he really had been watching a movie yesterday.

Holding the kitchen knife, he opened the security door.

The hallway was quiet without a single sound.

That group of zombies from last night must have gotten tired from partying and gone somewhere to sleep.

He came downstairs.

He breathed in the fresh air. Morning air had a unique scent, air that had not been polluted by exhaust fumes. After taking a deep breath, he felt refreshed and full of energy for the day.

There should still be zombies in the residential complex.

But he did not provoke them or make any loud noises.

They had partied so late last night, so they must be exhausted. A quiet environment was the best way to rest. That was what an excellent person should do.

Actively searching for them and chopping them with a knife...

That was not something a law-abiding person should do.

"Psst! Psst!"

Just as he was about to leave the residential complex, a faint sound came from nearby.

He stopped and looked over in confusion.

A fourth-floor window in a nearby building slowly opened. A man in terrible mental condition was making sounds at him, his expression gradually becoming excited.

He wanted to say something, but did not dare speak loudly.

"Good morning." Lin Fan waved, showing what he believed was his friendliest smile.

A beautiful morning paired with the most beautiful smile would make for a good start.

"I'm off to work. Goodbye."

After greeting him, Lin Fan left directly.

"I fucking..." Hearing Lin Fan's words, the man was speechless for a moment. After a while, he said, "Is this guy insane?"

"Good morning?"

"Work?"

He was starting to go mad. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. It was an illusion, definitely an illusion. That had not been a person just now. There was no one there at all. I was greeting someone from my hallucination.

Zombies wandered outside his door, occasionally slamming into the security door. He did not know how long it would hold.

He wanted to leave, but he did not know how.

The waves of howling last night had frightened him so badly that he had not dared sleep all night. His mind had been tortured by fear that the zombies would break in and devour him.

An illusion. It was all an illusion.

There were no zombies.

It was all an illusion.

The man unsteadily opened the security door. Seeing the two zombies outside, he smiled.

"You're illusions too, right?"

Roar!

The zombies howled, their eyes gleaming as they pounced on him.

"It's so quiet."

Lin Fan stood at the entrance of the residential complex and looked around. Everything was silent, with none of the usual bustling scene.

The storefront windows and doors were shattered. Corpses were piled on the roads, and congealed black blood was everywhere.

Although the current situation made him a little uncomfortable, he was already used to being alone.

"Time for work."

He usually took the bus to work, but judging from the current situation, there was probably no hope of catching a bus.

Fortunately, there was a yellow shared bicycle by the roadside. He scanned the code with his phone, successfully paid, put on his backpack, held his kitchen knife, and pedaled toward the company.

One yuan per hour was not expensive—very cheap. He could even ride it back later.

Many cars had crashed and overturned along the road.

There were luxury cars, as well as cheaper vehicles.

In quite a few cars, the drivers were still sitting in the driver's seats, but they no longer had any breath left in them.

They had not turned into zombies. They had died from collisions between cars while trying to escape.

Many other cars had burned down until only their shells remained.

The charred corpses inside were a horrifying sight.

He pedaled at a moderate pace. On some roads, he could see zombies still wandering around in a stagger.

His bicycle made little noise and did not attract attention.

Occasionally, a zombie spotted him.

It immediately went mad and lunged at him like a dog, only to be killed by a single chop of his kitchen knife.

"Protecting myself is what I should be doing right now."

He only wanted to return to the company. His boss was still holding a month's worth of salary.

No matter how things turned out.

He had to collect the wages he had worked so hard for.

He still needed to live.

PS: Sigh, I didn't sell the account, so don't overthink it. My condition hasn't been good lately. I've been playing games and drinking, living in a bit of a daze. As for changing the protagonist, I wrote this book to take a break and recover. Thank you all for your support.

PS: Oh, right, it's already under contract, so you can vote with monthly tickets now. Dear dads, please send some monthly tickets my way, or tips would work too.

Damn it, either there's something wrong with you guys or something wrong with me. That's right, there's something wrong with all of us. I really did change the protagonist's name to Lin Fan. Forget it, so I stop mistyping it all the time, I'll just keep the original name.