By the time Ren Fei'er opened her eyes, the porridge was ready.
Ye Ruan waved her over. "Come and eat."
Ren Fei'er hurriedly hopped off the chair and took a clean cloth to wipe the table.
Ye Ruan stroked the back of her head. "Just sit down."
Ren Fei'er smiled. "The day you took me away, Auntie Song, Mom's friend, told me to be good."
Gu Cheng set down two bowls of porridge and gave Ye Ruan a pointed look.
"Children should be good, Ruanruan."
Ye Ruan ignored the bad wolf and lowered his head to stir the thick, creamy porridge in his bowl. The sweet potato chunks had softened too, giving it a sweet taste.
Gu Cheng had made a few egg pancakes, which both the big and little ones across from him loved.
Using his pocket to hide what he was doing, Ye Ruan secretly took out a packet of ketchup for Ren Fei'er.
Ren Fei'er's eyes lit up. "Thank you, big brother!"
"You're welcome!" Like Ren Fei'er, Ye Ruan squeezed ketchup onto his pancake and rolled it up at the same time she did.
Gu Cheng chuckled to himself for a while.
A family of three.
Ye Ruan took a bite of his ketchup-filled pancake, his cheeks puffing out.
He still ate like a rabbit, stuffing a mouthful of food in and chewing rapidly with his mouth closed.
Sometimes, when he really enjoyed his food, his nose would twitch a little. If his rabbit ears were out, they would flick a couple of times too.
Once they had eaten their fill, Gu Cheng took care of the dishes.
Ye Ruan found a few military books in the Biohazard Vehicle for Ren Fei'er and patiently explained them to her.
Unfortunately, Ren Fei'er had no interest in military ranks. Instead, she was engrossed in the book about firearms.
"Big brother, big brother!"
Ren Fei'er pointed at an illustration and asked, "Why does this gun look like that?"
"This is an old kind of gun, called a revolver."
Ye Ruan added a complaint of his own. "Doesn't look very nice, does it?"
Ren Fei'er agreed. "No, it's so ugly."
Gu Cheng dried his hands and came over, sitting beside Ye Ruan and putting an arm around him. "There are plenty of nice-looking guns. When you grow up, you'll have a chance to carry one."
Ye Ruan went limp and sank into Gu Cheng's arms.
Ren Fei'er flipped through a few more pages, then asked, "What's this, then?"
"A white phosphorus bomb. A very terrifying kind of bomb."
Gu Cheng rested his chin on Ye Ruan's shoulder, his large hand covering the back of Ye Ruan's.
"Last time, your big brother Ye Ruan and I threw a white phosphorus bomb and set a whole crowd of zombies on fire."
Ren Fei'er said, "Wow, I really want to see that."
Ye Ruan rubbed his forehead against Gu Cheng's cheek and answered softly, "You'll have a chance to see it someday."
"All right, it's getting late. Time for bed."
Gu Cheng scooped Ye Ruan up.
"We'll leave a little light on for you inside the vehicle. If you're scared, sleep in the big cardboard box again. Your big brother Ye Ruan and I will keep watch on the roof. Call us if you need anything."
Ren Fei'er nodded and lay down in a cardboard box at the back of the vehicle that had originally held a wall-mounted air conditioner. With a blanket and a little pillow laid inside, sleeping there made her feel safe.
Gu Cheng opened the sunroof, gripped its edge with one hand, and pulled himself up one-handed, carrying Ye Ruan onto the roof.
Gu Cheng's already solid muscles bulged with the effort, their smooth contours standing out.
Ye Ruan sneaked a couple of quick glances.
"It's so windy."
The moment they emerged, Ye Ruan got a mouthful of wind. He shivered and curled into Gu Cheng's arms, taking the opportunity to feel his arm.
Gu Cheng couldn't stop laughing. He caught Ye Ruan's hand and slipped it under his snug tank top, placing it directly on his abs.
"Please, do whatever you like to me."
Ye Ruan really didn't hold back. He tilted his head up and wheedled softly:
"Then can I pinch you, big brother?"
Gu Cheng was dumbfounded. "Why?"
Ye Ruan thought seriously for a moment. "A d-destructive urge?"
Gu Cheng was speechless.
"In that case, will you let me bite you?"
"Bite me where?"
"Your mouth, the side of your neck, and..."
"Bad wolf!" Ye Ruan pinned Gu Cheng's hand down and smacked the back of it hard through his clothes.
Gu Cheng's breathing deepened, and he gathered Ye Ruan into his arms to keep him warm.
Ye Ruan turned his head and asked, "Didn't you say it would rain tonight?"
"Yeah. Shall we chat for a bit before heading back inside?"
Gu Cheng kissed him.
Ye Ruan's eyes were still damp from Gu Cheng teasing him earlier. "Why do I feel like you want to kiss for a bit instead?"
Gu Cheng asked, "Can I?"
Ye Ruan shook his head. With only the two of them there, he hadn't hidden his ears, and they swayed along, brushing softly against Gu Cheng's cheek.
"We can talk."
"About what?" Gu Cheng held a rabbit ear, kneading it fondly, unable to let go.
Ye Ruan pulled his ear free before it went completely numb. "About whether you're a silly doggy."
"You rabbit, give you an inch and you'll take a mile!"
Gu Cheng turned Ye Ruan around to face him, trapping him against his chest inside his roomy coat.
Ye Ruan looked up and laughed at the wolf ears that had emerged. He reached out to pinch the big gray wolf's ear tips and tug at the soft white fur inside.
"Ow! That hurts, that hurts!" Gu Cheng yelped.
Ye Ruan laughed until his stomach hurt. "That's what you get for pulling my ears."
Gu Cheng bared his teeth and rubbed his ears. "I wasn't even pulling hard! How could you yank out my wolf fur?!"
"Soft fur."
Ye Ruan reached out and gave the big gray wolf's ear another squeeze.
Gu Cheng let him, tightening his hands around Ye Ruan's waist.
"Does it still hurt?"
Ye Ruan looped his slender arms around Gu Cheng's neck and smiled faintly, his voice very soft.
"No."
Gu Cheng shook his head and asked expectantly:
"Want to pull it again?"
Ye Ruan was just about to say something when he suddenly heard movement nearby. He slipped off Gu Cheng's lap and silently ducked behind the wall.
The Biohazard Vehicle was parked against a wall inside the market. From its roof, they could see the street outside.
"Something out there?" Gu Cheng took off his coat and draped it over Ye Ruan, then looked out with him.
Ye Ruan murmured an acknowledgment. At first, he couldn't see clearly, but as the source of the noise drew closer, he finally realized what was going on.
Gu Cheng rubbed his chin with a finger and asked in a puzzled whisper, "Is that... a monkey?"
"It looks like a level-three monster. Look at its eyes, there's a ring of gray. It's covered in thick fur, except for its face and head."
"It looks like a gorilla's body with a human head, and the head's bald. Seems a mutated gorilla ate a bald man, and they combined into this monster."
The monsters in City H grew uglier as they evolved, and stranger too.
The wind was fierce that night, and thick clouds blotted out every trace of moonlight.
The gorilla monster stood roughly three meters tall, powerfully built, its clenched fists as big as human heads.
The two held their breath, concentrating, and thought the gorilla would simply pass by and leave.
But the gorilla suddenly stopped in its tracks!
Sensing something was wrong, Gu Cheng held Ye Ruan tightly and ducked a little lower.
Suddenly, a shrill, piercing howl rang out, echoing down the street!
The sound was incredibly, incredibly loud.
For special people like Ye Ruan and Gu Cheng, a sound like that was devastating.
They both had keen hearing. That single shriek made their heads feel as though they were splitting apart, even leaving them nauseated.
Gu Cheng had already clapped his hands over Ye Ruan's ears.
Ye Ruan was a little better off. Once he reacted, he hurried to cover Gu Cheng's ears too.
Gu Cheng retracted his wolf ears quickly, but the sound still seeped in everywhere. He held Ye Ruan and hunched over as, under the assault of that piercing sound, his wolf traits slowly began to emerge.
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