Chapter 31

Lin Tantan frowned at the pair. Could they be people the original Lin Tan‑tan knew? They were both fairly good-looking, but she had no memory of them at all.
So she could only nod briefly. "Oh, hello. Keep up; don't fall behind." Hurry up and move on.
She had no intention of taking over the original girl's social ties.
But things were clearly more complicated. The man and woman grew anxious; the man reached out and grabbed her hand. "Tantan, don't be like this. I know I screwed up before, I'm sorry…"
Lin Tantan's eyes widened. What was this? Something about this felt off!
She pulled her hand back, leaving him clutching at air, and frowned. "Wait, who are you?"
The man looked puzzled. "I‑I’m Zhihao, Chen Zhihao. I am, I am…"
He couldn't finish his sentence and turned red with embarrassment. The girl beside him, anxious for him, spoke up for him: "Weren't you chasing my brother before? My brother was about to say yes, he planned to tell you when he came back from the New Year holiday."
Lin Tantan: "…"
The original was unbelievable. So young and chasing boys, didn't she know studies should come first? And judging by the man's downtrodden, worn-out look, he was clearly useless. What kind of taste was that?
Xu Qin came over. "Do you know them?"
Lin Tantan shook her head decisively. "No, I don't."
The Chen Zhihao siblings grew panicked. His sister said, "How can you not know us? Even if things didn't work out with my brother, we're still classmates, good friends. You met someone better and think you can ditch us?"
She stared at the striking-looking Xu Qin, feeling as if she finally understood. Gritting her teeth, she thought back to how the girl used to pester her about her brother, clinging like a stubborn sticker she couldn't shake. Now she's found a better man and tossed my brother aside! What a bitch!
Her face was full of aggrieved urgency, but the resentment leaking from her eyes couldn't be hidden from Lin Tantan, nor from Xu Qin. Seeing Chen Zhihao look anxious but have his sister step forward, Xu Qin's glance at Lin Tantan turned subtly different, as if to ask, "What kind of taste is that? Look at the people you attract."
Lin Tantan felt wronged, she hadn't asked for any of this.
She hardened her face and said, "Stop pretending to be so close. There's nothing to ditch, it's just a classmate relationship. Come tell me that if you're my mother or my sister." Do I owe you anything? Are classmates really that arrogant these days?
Before Chen Zhihao's sister could speak further, Xu Qin said, "Do you want to come with us? If you don't want to stay, then leave."
Those words cut deeper than Lin Tantan's. The two didn't dare loiter any longer; seeing that Lin Tantan truly was "stone‑hearted" to the core, they had no choice but to fall in with the main group and head toward the office building.
They had struggled to get here, with safe houses to stay in and food being provided, why would they readily leave?
Their neighbor, a gossip‑loving sister‑in‑law, came over. "You know that girl from earlier? I think she seems to have a fair amount of standing here."
Chen Zhihao's sister, Chen Qianya, still fuming, glanced at her; a flash of determination crossed her eyes and she hissed into the neighbor's ear indignantly, "Isn't that right? We were classmates. Once she came to my house and immediately set her sights on my brother, clinging and pestering him, sending gifts, taking him out to eat. I even helped her chase my brother, took her to his school to watch them play basketball. And now she turns her back like she doesn't know us!"
The neighbor snorted at the sight of her faux‑betrayal. She's always acted like her brother was the best thing under heaven, fit for even a tycoon's daughter. Would she really chase after her classmate's brother for him? At most she was showing off to classmates that she had a good brother. Besides, a couple of days ago those two had even tried to latch onto the wealthy Zhao family down the street to hitch a ride out of Yang City.
The Zhao family was rich, and their daughter quite liked Chen Zhihao.
But the Zhaos' family completely ignored them.
Chen Qianya kept going, "She and my brother were only a hair's breadth from making it official. Now she acts like that, she must have climbed up to another man."
Otherwise, what, people don't try to better themselves? Why would she still be hung up on your unfortunate brother?
The neighbor glanced at Chen Zhihao, who'd put on a woeful expression like a man jilted by his lover, and nearly laughed. She felt a little regretful too, if those siblings really managed to latch onto a big name, she might benefit from the association.
Lin Tantan didn’t really pay much attention to the two of them; she was only a little annoyed, and once the annoyance passed, that was that.
Yet the rumor that someone who might be her boyfriend had shown up somehow spread like it had sprouted wings, and by evening even Jiang Xiaotian was teasing her about it.
“I went to take a look, just a pretty boy, decent face but not an ounce of meat on him. How did you ever fall for someone like that?” Because of the suggestion to “cut off his fingers, gouge his eyes, and tear him a new one,” Jiang Xiaotian was convinced Lin Tantan was a kindred spirit. He liked her temper and treated her like one of his brothers, speaking without any filter.
Lin Tantan’s expression darkened a little. “Ah, I didn’t know any better before.” She didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
The people who’d gone out that morning were back now. Besides several big trucks of supplies, a whole column of people had returned as well, survivors picked up along the way, some driven, some on foot. They all stayed in the office building; Lin Tantan didn’t join the crowd and remained in the South Garden, watching the trucks unload.
The trucks were piled high with sacks of rice and other goods, and everyone’s faces lit up at the sight.
Jiang Xiaotian, oblivious to the hint, went on: “Hey, you were just a student before, didn’t see much of the world. No problem, I’ll introduce you to some decent guys later. If none of the ones on our team suit you, tell me who you fancy and I’ll set you up. How about our captain?”
Lin Tantan nearly jumped up. “Don’t talk nonsense!”
Why did he sound just like Mei Baisheng, as if their leaders needed someone to marry them off?
“Huh? You don’t like our captain either?”
“What do you mean, don’t like?” At that moment Ye Xiao walked over from a distance; his ears were keen enough to pick up Jiang Xiaotian’s words even over the trucks’ rumble. He stopped in front of them and looked at them, puzzled. “Are you talking about me?”
“Ahem, ahem.” In front of the man himself, Jiang Xiaotian dared not blather on. “Nothing, nothing. Uh, there was a guy today who they said had chased after Tantan before. His sister acted like Tantan should support them or something. I said that man’s no good, what use is a pretty face? He’s obviously a kept man. You should find someone like our captain, capable and reliable.”
He slapped on a loud compliment right then and there.
Lin Tantan wished she could sink into the earth. Why did they have to publicize the original owner’s stupid past? She knew it was the original owner’s doing, but everyone else thought it was her!
She forced a weak, awkward smile at Ye Xiao.
“Oh.” Ye Xiao nodded, about to walk off, but before the two could breathe a sigh of relief he stepped back two paces. “Do I look that bad?”
As if he were that ugly.
Jiang Xiaotian; Lin Tantan: “…”
“No, no, you’re very good-looking, handsome, so handsome, very charming!” Jiang Xiaotian hurried to say, and Lin Tantan kept nodding, “Yes, yes, yes.”
Ye Xiao: “…” Fine, no point arguing with these two.
Lin Tantan happened to see Bai Cheng approaching from behind. His antennae perked up and she quickly added, “Bai Cheng’s good-looking too. You and Bai Cheng each have your own strengths, evenly matched.”
Bai Cheng, faced with an unexpected compliment: “…” Apparently everyone’s in a good mood today.
After dinner that evening, everyone gathered to talk about the day’s haul.
Lin Tantan reported that the three-meter-wide trench had already been dug quite a distance; in another two or three days they should be able to complete a full circle centered on Tianhe, Jiayuan, the office building, and the mall. Those with special abilities had been working hard too; it wouldn’t be long before they became a real force.
Xu Qin briefly went over how many groups of survivors had arrived during the day, where they’d come from, and the numbers. He also said their ammunition was nearly gone and that he’d managed to get some throwable, grenade-like weapons.
Jiang Xiaotian said the nearby surveillance cameras that had been damaged by zombies had all been repaired.
Mei Baisheng… Mei Baisheng said he’d done some proper rehab today and helped people out wherever he could; Cheng Qinan was the same.
Then Bai Cheng reported how many supplies they’d managed to secure that day, how many people the rice and flour could feed and for how many days.
Tomorrow they planned to go out again for medicine and weapons. They didn’t need everyone to go; a few people would stay to handle things inside, and they’d pick some physically capable survivors for basic training to teach them how to kill zombies.
After listening a while, Lin Tantan remembered: “Did Xu Meijuan and her daughter come back?”
Ye Xiao said, “By the time we got there, they’d already been rescued.”
“So they didn’t come back with us? Is that okay?”
“It’s fine. The people who rescued them have their own group and a place to stay. I let Xu Meijuan choose; she trusted them more.” Ye Xiao said, “But I expect those people will come over here in a few days.”
The place they’d chosen wasn’t very reliable.
At that moment two people slipped over from the office building toward the South Garden. Chen Zhihao hesitated, “Will this work?”
Chen Qianya said, “Of course it will. Lin Tantan was attracted to your face, wasn’t she? Her attitude this afternoon was because you didn’t handle things right. Brother, you need to think this through, she’s gotten herself some skills now!”
Chen Qianya thought back over what she’d dug up all afternoon and felt like she was boiling over. Lin Tantan turned out to be someone with special abilities, two different powers even, and she had a very close relationship with the leadership team here!
What rotten luck had Lin Tantan stumbled into!
She’d originally looked down on her, assuming she must be clinging to some man. But now it was clear: whether she’d hooked up with a man or not, this woman was going places.
Such a powerful patron was practically in front of her, how could she let that pass? So swallowing her disgust and resentment, she persuaded her brother, found out where Lin Tantan lived, and came over that night.
It was already past seven in the evening. The South Garden, inside and out, was relatively safe, and the hours that demanded the most vigilance were in the dead of night, so the night watchman in the security booth had dozed off a little; the two of them slipped by without trouble.
Although the western part of the city was without power, they’d brought in a few generators and each building had been given electricity, only small bulbs were allowed; high-powered appliances were forbidden. So light leaked out from some of the buildings. The two of them stumbled their way to Building 1, Apartment 302; Chen Qianya cheered her brother on and then slipped aside.
Chen Zhihao smoothed his clothes, the only clean outfit he had left in his bag. It was thin, and the cold made him shiver. He ruffled the hair he'd barely managed to towel dry and held a gift box in his hands. When the siblings fled home they’d taken their valuables; inside the box was a bracelet, fairly valuable.
Having steeled himself, he began to knock.
Meanwhile Lin Tantan was still in 301; after they’d finished, everyone grew excited to see how big Bai Cheng’s space really was, what it contained, and how large an object it could hold, so Bai Cheng had to put on a demonstration for them.
Ye Xiao was the first to hear the knock, coming from next door. He glanced at everyone, rose, and walked to the door. Silently opening it, he saw a man trembling in the hall outside 302.
Not only did the man knock, he began to speak, “Tantan, I know you’re in there. I’m such an idiot, really. The moment I saw you I fell for you, but my parents didn’t approve of us being together. I was afraid you’d get hurt, so I pulled away. But I kept every gift you gave me, I remember every word you ever said to me, I had Qianya look after you at school, and I couldn’t help asking her about everything to do with you…”
Ye Xiao: “……”
Ye Xiao closed the door, crossed his arms, and leaned in the frame, wanting to hear what else the man would say.