Teammates reunited

Gu Cheng hadn't expected to be proven wrong twice over.

With the huge iron gate between them, Ye Ruan held the locator and met Fang Ci's eyes as he sat in a wheelchair on the other side.

Fang Ci's eyes lit up at the sight of Ye Ruan, and he wheeled himself over. "Ye Ruan! Captain!"

"Fang Ci! Lu Jiayi!" Ye Ruan bounced with delight.

Lu Jiayi ran over to the Guard Room and exchanged a few words with someone. The huge iron gate slowly opened.

"Fang Ci, what happened to your legs?"

Ye Ruan jogged over and hugged Fang Ci, who had opened his arms to him.

Gu Cheng walked over with a roguish air. "Buddy? How'd you end up crippled?"

Fang Ci sighed. "A Level Three Monster slammed me into a wall. I'm lucky I wasn't mashed into pulp."

Gu Cheng's smile vanished. He crouched down and pressed Fang Ci's legs, his expression growing grimmer by the moment.

"The bones are broken. We need to get back for treatment as soon as possible."

Fang Ci endured the pain. "Captain, half the people on the bus died. There are only fifty-odd left now."

Ye Ruan asked anxiously, "What about Li Tuantuan?"

"She's fine. Don't worry." Fang Ci smiled gently and rested his hand on top of Ye Ruan's head.

"I know you're fond of that little chubby dumpling. She's been well protected, and she doesn't hold anyone back herself. She's very obedient."

Ye Ruan's shoulders relaxed. "That's good..."

Lu Jiayi patted the little bunny's shoulder. "Let's not stand around here. We can talk somewhere else."

Gu Cheng nodded. "I'll drive the Biohazard Vehicle inside."

When Gu Cheng returned with Ren Fei'er, Hu Fu, the director of the Printing Factory, hurried over.

Zhao Quan followed behind him.

Zhao Quan looked visibly surprised to see Gu Cheng still alive.

Hu Fu extended both hands, beaming. "Captain Gu! I've heard so much about you! I'm Hu Fu, director of the Printing Factory."

Gu Cheng shook his hand. "Hello, Director Hu. My teammates told me everything. Thank you for taking them and the civilians in. You're truly a good man!"

Hu Fu looked thrilled. "Not at all! We're all from Huaxia. Helping each other is the only way we'll get out of City H. We'll be counting on you from now on!"

"You're too kind. It's our duty." After speaking, Gu Cheng tried to withdraw his hand but couldn't, inwardly sighing over his overwhelming charm.

I'll have to keep my distance from other people from now on. I'm a taken man, after all. My bunny sweetheart has to come first.

Ye Ruan rested his chin on the armrest of Fang Ci's wheelchair, chatting quietly with him.

"The captain can strike up a conversation with anyone..."

Fang Ci chuckled. "He's always been like that. Whenever we had to socialize before, he handled it all himself. He's very good at sweet-talking people."

"Little Ye Ruan!!!"

Yu Jingjing shouted and charged over from dozens of yards away.

She hurtled toward him like a missile, moving so fast her feet almost left the ground.

Ye Ruan's face filled with horror. If she crashed into him, his poor butt would definitely pay the price.

Gu Cheng yanked his hand out of Hu Fu's tight grip, swept Ye Ruan into his arms, and neatly dodged Yu Jingjing's attack.

"Boohoo! Little Ye Ruan! I've missed you so much these past few days!"

Yu Jingjing screeched to a halt and threw her arms around Ye Ruan.

The black cat clung to Ye Ruan and wailed without a shred of dignity.

Gu Cheng protested, "All right, all right. That's enough hugging."

Yu Jingjing sobbed. "Captain, you're inhuman. It's one thing for you to go missing, but how could you take my Little Ye Ruan with you?"

"Your what?" Gu Cheng laughed in disbelief.

"Captain-"

Another mortifying wail rang out as Li Rang, that big bear, flung himself onto Gu Cheng and burst into tears.

Like a chick looking for its mother, he chattered on without stopping.

Gu Cheng peeled Li Rang off his back in disgust and gave him a kick.

"Stop embarrassing yourself. Whatever you have to say can wait until tonight."

Hu Fu smiled awkwardly. "Captain Gu, you must be tired after coming all this way to find them. The cafeteria still has food at this hour. Why don't we have a simple meal together?"

The Printing Factory was small, and when the virus broke out, it happened to be closed for the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, apart from employees who wanted to earn some extra money working overtime.

There hadn't been many people there in all.

Together, they numbered only sixty or seventy.

Someone took Ren Fei'er to find Li Tuantuan, the only person she knew.

Eager to please Gu Cheng, Hu Fu also had someone cook rice and prepare two meat dishes.

Ye Ruan turned to look. The other survivors' lunches consisted of one baked potato, a clump of noodles with greens, and seaweed egg-drop soup as thin as water.

Yu Jingjing and the others probably hadn't been eating much better. They looked a lot thinner.

Ye Ruan hurriedly took a bag of taro-filled bread out of his Storage Wristband and passed it to his teammates under the table.

Fang Ci declined, gently patting the back of Ye Ruan's hand.

"Be good and keep it for yourself. I'm not hungry. Food is limited here, but we're not going without meals."

Lu Jiayi declined too, smiling.

"Come to think of it, you're the youngest member of the First Team now. None of us have done much to help you, yet we've eaten plenty of your food lately."

Ye Ruan shook his head. "We've been through life and death together. We don't need to keep score."

His teammates knew the bunny had a delicate constitution and couldn't get caught in the rain or chilled, so Gu Cheng and the others had taken turns on watch most nights.

Some care and concern lay hidden in the little details.

The First Team truly considered him one of their own.

Fang Ci smiled. "Ye Ruan, once we get back, come meet the other members of the First Team with us."

Ye Ruan tugged at his hair and said quietly, "They probably won't like me..."

He'd heard that the First Team looked down on the Second Team and the Third Team.

The Second Team looked down on the Third Team.

As for their Third Team... he didn't know who they were supposed to look down on.

They really were the weakest of the three teams.

Aside from Ye Ruan and the Third Team's vice-captain, who could hold their own, the other thirty members each had their strengths, but when it came to competitions...

They'd never won at anything except eating...

Yu Jingjing waved a hand. "They won't. Even if someone does, I'll beat some respect into them. Or you can do it yourself and knock them flat with one punch. Then no one will dare say anything to you!"

"Okay!" Ye Ruan said softly, "Hurry up and eat. I heard your stomach growling."

Yu Jingjing rubbed her stomach sheepishly and took a huge bite of bread.

"I ate lunch just an hour ago, but two potatoes and one mouthful of noodles really weren't enough. I got hungry again so fast."

Li Rang sniffled. "Me too. These past two days, I've kept thinking about how we never went hungry when Ye Ruan was around."

Gu Cheng gave an unsparing snort of laughter. "Yu Jingjing's still growing, so it's normal for her to eat more. You just have a big appetite and can't stop craving food."

Despite his dismissive tone, Gu Cheng rummaged in his pocket for a while and tossed Li Rang a large pack of compressed biscuits.

"Hide those away. Break off a piece if you get hungry tonight. Don't take the kid's food."

Ye Ruan took out another bag of honey-glazed jerky for Li Rang and Yu Jingjing.

"I have lots more of these snacks. My mom bought them for me. They're good for satisfying cravings."

"The food's here!" Hu Fu came over carrying the dishes.

They exchanged glances and tacitly changed the subject.

"We keep a few chickens and geese in the backyard. I had the cook slaughter two for a stew. Captain Gu, give it a try!"

Gu Cheng wasn't hungry. They had eaten just before arriving, and whenever they'd passed supermarkets and convenience stores along the way, he'd gotten out to gather supplies.

"We'll just take a small portion."

Gu Cheng picked up a bowl, scooped out some stewed chicken, and set it in front of Yu Jingjing and the others.

"Director, sorry for the trouble, but could you share the rest with everyone?"

Delighted, Hu Fu readily agreed. "Yes, of course, of course."

Hu Fu called someone over to put the chicken back in the pot and add more cabbage and radishes.

With so many people, even a little taste of meat was a treat.

Ye Ruan turned to look at Gu Cheng, and their eyes happened to meet.

Gu Cheng mouthed a question, asking what he was looking at.

Ye Ruan's eyes curved into a smile. Beneath the table, his finger lightly traced a few words on Gu Cheng's thigh.

[I like you.]