The rabbit went bald

The rabbit and cat played for a while before Gu Cheng set up the table and tapped the food tin.

"Come eat, you two little kids!"

Breakfast was rice porridge, soft and creamy, served with fist-sized rice balls filled with vegetables and luncheon meat.

Ye Ruan ate half a rice ball and drank a bowl of porridge, but he really couldn't finish the other half.

"You don't even eat as much as Yu Jingjing, and she's a cat. You're so delicate."

Gu Cheng took Ye Ruan's remaining half and ate it.

Yu Jingjing took a sip of porridge and glanced over to the other side.

Fang Ci said gently, "Don't worry. We've already given them porridge, and we boiled all the eggs in the kitchen and handed those out too."

Lu Jiayi slurped down a couple of mouthfuls. "Those women are so pitiful. Boss, why don't we take them with us?"

"That's not possible."

Li Rang put down his bowl. "I asked yesterday. Only two... pregnant women were willing to leave with us. The rest refused."

Yu Jingjing couldn't understand. "Why? This place is so disgusting."

"Maybe... they already died the moment they were forced." Ye Ruan suddenly said.

Yu Jingjing seemed to understand something too.

"Perhaps I can help them."

Xia Yue walked over and smiled at them.

"I majored in psychology and often helped people with depression. These women have severe depression. I can counsel them one at a time."

Lu Jiayi hurriedly stood to give her his seat. "Come sit down and talk."

Xia Yue said, "Thank you."

Lu Jiayi grinned sheepishly. "Y-you're welcome."

Gu Cheng handed her a rice ball. "Thanks for your help, then. Just let us know if you need anything."

Xia Yue didn't stand on ceremony. "There is something I need, actually."

Everyone looked over, and Yu Jingjing asked, "What do you need?"

"The little white rabbit Captain Gu was holding a few days ago."

Xia Yue's eyes curved with her smile. "Small animals can be a great help. They can comfort some patients with mental illnesses."

Gu Cheng sucked in a breath and exchanged a look with Ye Ruan.

Ye Ruan hurriedly shook his head.

He still had a bald patch in his fur that hadn't grown back yet.

Gu Cheng looked troubled, but then he caught sight of Yu Jingjing opening her cavernous maw to take a huge bite of her rice ball and suddenly asked:

"Miss Xia, would a cat work?"

Yu Jingjing stopped chewing, struck by a bad feeling.

Gu Cheng added, "A black one. A black cat."

Xia Yue nodded. "Of course, as long as she's well-behaved and doesn't scratch anyone."

Gu Cheng slapped his thigh. "Don't worry about that. She wouldn't dare."

As the sky darkened, the black cat, who had been petted all afternoon, started complaining the moment she returned to the Biohazard Vehicle.

"Little Ye Ruan! Captain Gu is a bad person. Stay away from him!"

Yu Jingjing's black tail thumped against the chair as she wailed without shedding a single tear.

"Those ladies petted me all afternoon and passed me around. They squeezed my paws until they went numb!"

Yu Jingjing lifted her tail. "My tail! Look, hasn't it been stretched longer?"

Ye Ruan studied it carefully for a while. "No, it hasn't."

"Oh..."

Yu Jingjing sat on the little stool beside Ye Ruan's legs, looking utterly aggrieved.

"And that's not all. To make them happy, I spent the whole afternoon acting cute, meowing and being as cutesy as I possibly could."

"I've been on this team for years, and I've never acted that cute!"

Gu Cheng came in at the sound of her voice. "Bullshit. Two years ago, you blocked the cafeteria window and pestered the lady there for over ten minutes just to get two extra pieces of braised pork."

Yu Jingjing said, "..."

Gu Cheng said, "If you've got nothing to do, get out there and stand watch. Stop disturbing the rabbit's rest."

Yu Jingjing immediately flopped onto her bedding on the floor and fell asleep in a second.

When Gu Cheng spoke to Ye Ruan, even his voice grew quieter.

"Get to bed early. We'll stay one more day tomorrow, then leave the morning after."

There were no outsiders in the Biohazard Vehicle, so Ye Ruan hadn't hidden his rabbit ears. They drooped on either side of his head.

"What about you?"

Gu Cheng stroked his rabbit ears. "I don't quite trust them. We're leaving the day after tomorrow anyway. Staying up one more night won't hurt."

"Okay..."

Ye Ruan really was sleepy, rubbing his thick lashes with his fingers.

Gu Cheng changed his dressing and stayed with him until he fell asleep before heading outside.

Two people approached him.

Tang Cheng asked with a smile, "Captain Gu, I'm not sleepy tonight either. Can I stand watch with you?"

Gu Cheng glanced at Tang Yi, who kept following close behind Tang Cheng, and knew those two were definitely up to no good.

Still, as the saying went, you didn't slap a smiling face. Gu Cheng said:

"Sure. How about this? You can stand watch on the roof. I'll have Number Six bring you some night-vision binoculars in a bit."

Tang Cheng's smile stiffened. "The roof..."

Gu Cheng nodded. "Right, the bus roof. You'll be able to see farther."

"But it's very cold at night now. You'll catch a cold if you stay up there all night." Tang Yi looked at him with pitiful eyes.

Unfortunately, Gu Cheng had a heart of steel. He only went soft for Ye Ruan; anyone else's attempts to charm him, man or woman, were useless.

Gu Cheng clicked his tongue. "Then don't stand watch. Just stay put and behave."

Tang Cheng hurriedly forced an apologetic smile. "No, it's fine. I'll just wear something thicker."

"Good!" Gu Cheng slapped Tang Cheng hard on the shoulder.

He nearly sent that slight frame crumpling to its knees.

"Thanks for putting in the effort, then. We're leaving the women and children on the bus in your hands!"

After Gu Cheng set him up, Tang Cheng initially thought he was only joking. He hadn't expected Lu Jiayi to actually bring over two pairs of binoculars.

Lu Jiayi enthusiastically clasped Tang Cheng's hand and said excitedly:

"Comrade Tang! What a strong sense of duty! None of us wanted to sit on the roof in the wind when we drew lots. Who knew you two suck... no, great heroes would volunteer! Thanks for your hard work!"

Tang Cheng and Tang Yi's faces were dark.

Xia Yue happened to pass by and snickered. "Oh, thanks for your hard work, little Tang. We're counting on you to keep us safe. Bye~"

Tang Yi nearly ground her teeth to pieces in fury.

But with all of them having put the pair on such a pedestal, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and climb up.

The late-autumn night wind cut like a knife, stinging their faces.

Tang Yi and Tang Cheng sat on the roof until midnight, shivering with cold and huddling together for warmth.

Tang Yi's teeth chattered. "Brother... I want to go down and sleep in my sleeping bag..."

Tang Cheng sniffed back his snot.

"So do I, but we can't get down now. That thug Gu moved the ladder away just now... fucking bastard!"

Tang Yi asked, "Wh-what time is it?"

Tang Cheng stared at the digital watch on his wrist for a while.

"T-two in the morning."

A gust of wind hit them square in the face. Both shuddered with cold and sneezed twice in perfect unison!

In the stillness of the night, the three men sitting around the fire below heard those sneezes loud and clear.

Lu Jiayi covered his mouth and laughed for quite a while.

Fang Ci laughed too. "You're seriously wicked."

Gu Cheng was poking at the sweet potatoes roasting in the fire with a stick. "What the hell does that have to do with me? They wouldn't behave, so this is a good chance to teach them a lesson."

Once Lu Jiayi had laughed enough, he said, "Just kill them and be done with it."

"I'm afraid we can't."

Fang Ci said quietly:

"So many survivors trust us unconditionally. Even though we're not regular troops, we're still people of Huaxia, and we follow our superiors' orders. Even if those two won't behave, we need to find the right moment to act."