Chapter 35

Lin Tantan regretfully discovered Zhou Yan wasn’t in Zhou Li’s convoy. She couldn’t ask Zhou Li where his brother was, so she had to put aside, for now, the idea of beating someone until they couldn’t take care of themselves.
By evening, Bai Cheng had already dug up information about Lin Tantan.
“Your household registration is in Su City. Judging by your usual food, clothing and spending, your family is fairly well-off, but your relationship with them doesn’t seem good. Among the survivors there just happens to be the manager of your dorm building, he said when you were a freshman you checked in by yourself; he never saw relatives come, and apart from winter and summer break you stayed in the dorm even on small holidays.”
As for interpersonal relations, Lin Tantan is quiet by nature and keeps a certain distance from classmates and roommates. The only close friend is Chen Qianya, because she fell for her brother. But the pursuit was nowhere near as dramatic as Chen Qianya made it sound, she had Chen Qianya deliver some chocolate on Valentine’s Day once, and then went with Chen Qianya to watch a basketball game. That was all.
Bai Cheng said as he handed the things he’d compiled to Lin Tantan. They were mostly trivial notes. Getting her full identity would be simple, pull her student file from the university registrar. If it weren’t for the blackout, he could have pulled all the data with a few keystrokes.
“That’s enough to know. So basically I’ve got no ties here in Yang City; I don’t need to oblige anyone, got it.” Lin Tantan nodded, fished two loquats she’d been saving from her pocket. “Thanks for your work, Brother Bai. Here, have a loquat.”
Bai Cheng, slightly surprised: “Where did these come from?”
“Hehe, I’m just offering borrowed flowers to the Buddha.” Lin Tantan shoved the loquats into his hand and let out a long breath. The one-of-a-kind things Ye Xiao had procured had finally reached their rightful owner. How clever of her, give herself a pat on the back!
She even winked at Bai Cheng, then happily ran back to her room, leaving Bai Cheng staring for a moment at the two golden-orange fruits in his hand and unable to help smiling.
In the western development zone, survivors were concentrated in a single area. Around it ran a trench three meters wide and two meters deep; on the trench’s inner side the dug-up earth mixed with cement and other materials had been piled into walls over three meters high. The remaining openings for people and vehicles had been welded shut with heavy iron gates.
Outside the trench many original and modified night surveillance devices had been set up; there were countless monitors, each watched by someone at all times. Even if zombies got close, unless they could fly, it would be very hard for them to cross the trench and scale the wall in a short time.
So this makeshift survivor enclave was genuinely quite safe. Still, sentry posts and patrol squads were set at intervals, and Ye Xiao himself came by every night to check things. As more people arrived, he pretty much spent every night around here.
Tonight, near the main gate at the most important checkpoint, in those large rooms serving as both command posts and sleeping quarters, someone who shouldn’t be there had appeared. When Ye Xiao came in he asked in surprise, “What are you doing here?”
Bai Cheng sat under the lamp, sketching and doodling. The light made his face look exceptionally refined and handsome. He didn’t look up. “You didn’t go back for dinner; Lin Tantan asked about you.”
The man in front of him unconsciously stopped. Ye Xiao asked, “What did she say?”
“I said you were busy, so she didn’t ask any more.” Bai Cheng looked up at him and smiled.
“Oh.” Ye Xiao replied, his expression unreadable. Then his gaze swept the room and he noticed on the small round table beside them a pair of very familiar little items.
Those two fruits grew on the same branch, both round and unmistakable, so Ye Xiao had no doubt, these were the pair of loquats he'd given away earlier that day.
His face went stiff.
Bai Cheng followed his gaze and smiled, "Tantan gave these to me. I don't know where she got them, how thoughtful."
Ye Xiao's expression darkened two shades.
As if that weren't enough, Bai Cheng kept smiling and asked, "By the way, has she ever given you anything?"
No, she even turned around and gave away the things he’d given her.
Ye Xiao: "Did you come here just to show off?"
Bai Cheng laughed, "I just saw Meimei looking down, and when I asked I learned that he spent the whole afternoon running circles on your orders, busy until his eyes swam. He said it was because you're jealous that he and Tantan have nothing they don't talk about?"
Ye Xiao gritted his teeth, that kid deserved a lesson, and said stiffly, "Don't listen to his nonsense."
"I don't know if he was lying, but it's true you have feelings for that girl, isn't it?" Bai Cheng said slowly.
Ye Xiao suddenly narrowed his eyes and fixed his gaze on him. Bai Cheng looked back with a half-smile, like a handsome, sly fox.
Bai Cheng slowly twirled the black pen in his hand. "Because of some things, I checked into Chen Zhihao, and found that now he's skulking like a rat afraid of daylight because someone threatened him to his face. I don't know who Zhou Yan is, but I do know your attitude toward Zhou Li cooled by three degrees over the afternoon, and you investigated the backgrounds of those people. While we weren't paying attention you'd already done a lot."
Ye Xiao was silent for a moment, then said, "I want to look after her; it's only natural."
"It's natural, she saved Meimei, now she's part of our small group, the youngest and the only girl, so of course we should care for and protect her. But shaving someone's head in a fit of anger, losing your composure over someone you don't even know, going out and thinking about stealing loquats to stuff in your pocket and bring back to the little girl, just because she likes them."
Bai Cheng paused, looked into Ye Xiao's eyes and smiled, "Are all those things natural too?"
After another silence, Ye Xiao leaned against the wall and sighed, "Old Bai, no wonder so many people want you dead, sometimes even I find you hard to deal with."
Without even noticing, he had gathered all the information, reached the most precise conclusions, and launched the most direct, cutting attack at once.
It really was disarming.
He pressed his forehead in mild annoyance.
Bai Cheng raised an eyebrow, thoughtful: "Seems it's true, you really have feelings for her."
Ye Xiao was taken aback, suddenly looked up: "Are you trying to trick me?"
Bai Cheng shrugged slightly: "I just wanted to be sure. After all, if you don't have feelings for her, I'll make my move."
He straightened slowly, his expression growing solemn. Under the poor incandescent bulb above, his already sharp features appeared even more severe.
Bai Cheng picked up the pair of loquats from the table. Thinking of the look on the girl's face when she pressed them into his hand, his only thought at the time had been: how utterly cute.
So, he felt a little stirred.
He had the sense that living with a girl like that would make life very interesting.
He laughed, "Is that so strange? I've been single for over twenty years. Suddenly a girl appears, pure of character, lively and sweet, capable, and refreshingly straightforward, it's only natural to feel the stirrings of courtship, isn't it?"
Who would willingly choose to grow old alone when they could find a partner who fits in every way?
He looked up, his eyes lifting with a hint of challenge: "I can assure you it's not just me. Do you know how many people give her gifts every day, try to get close to her? Some are awakened powers, some are patients who have been cured; some simply like her and want to win her favor. All kinds, among them are plenty whose character and ability are outstanding."
He said, "Ye Xiao, you don't think that because you met her first and she's by your side now, she'll stay put forever, letting you waver a hundred times, pacing and overthinking until you've analyzed every corner of your heart, and still never change, do you?"
Ye Xiao's face went completely solemn, not dark or cold, but grave, as one becomes when facing something important. After a long beat he said, "Thanks for the warning."
...
Lin Tantan couldn't sleep. Thinking of Zhou Yan made her feel stifled, so she began counting, on her fingers, the major events since the end of the world.
In the end she figured that before the army arrived, Yang City would go through a zombie uprising and an outbreak of mutated animals.
The zombie uprising would be concentrated in the downtown area, where people are densest, while the mutated animal riots would mainly involve rodents, cats and dogs, and birds.
In recent days, the zombie birds and mutated fowl that flew to the west of the city had all been slaughtered; she guessed a large portion of Yang City's birds were dead. But rodents and cats and dogs were still enough to cause headaches, she didn't know whether the west side would be affected.
She thought she'd first catch a mutated rat to show everyone and give them a warning.
So she got up and went looking for mice.
She searched a long time without finding so much as a rat hair. She remembered that when they dug the trenches they had severed many underground pipes; although they had filled and blocked them afterward, there might be stragglers. So she wandered over that way.
She headed toward that big iron gate; the house beside it with lights on was, of course, very noticeable. From afar she peered, and oh, what did she see!
She immediately crouched, stood on tiptoe, and darted closer like a cat. She scrambled behind a car and poked her head out. Looking closely, sure enough, it really was Ye Xiao and Bai Cheng!
At that moment one stood and the other sat: one with a solemn expression, the other's mouth curved in a smile and his eyes full of teasing challenge, so adorably prickly. As they looked at each other, sparks seemed to crackle between them.
Aaaah, isn't this the most classic "long, tender gaze"?! Lin Tantan felt as if a pink arrow had pierced her heart.
By the way, photos of Ye Xiao and Bai Cheng together were rare. The only picture of the two of them together must have been taken before the end of the world, in some room with a window where sunlight slanted in. Ye Xiao wore a crisp military uniform, standing by the table with his hands on the surface, leaning in slightly. Bai Cheng sat behind the table in a shirt and glasses, holding a pen as if about to write, looking up to speak to Ye Xiao.
Both wore faint smiles, their gazes so focused on each other. Both were strikingly handsome, the youthful tension between them was everywhere, their chemistry off the charts. This was one of the key pieces of evidence later fans used to insist there was something going on between them.
And now, in front of her, Lin Tantan was seeing that iconic scene again, even more charged! She cupped her face and let out a silent, high-pitched squeal. My god, what a fan perk! She couldn't handle it, she was going to faint! She felt like she'd explode on the spot! Wait, right, she had to take a photo to remember this!
Lin Tantan rummaged through her pocket and pulled out her phone. Thank goodness she’d brought it. Thank goodness she charged it every day just to play games now and then.
Ah, no, they're too far away, the shot won't be clear.
She tiptoed closer, heels barely touching the ground.
Inside, after a moment of silence, Bai Cheng smiled regretfully. "Looks like I really don't stand a chance."
Ye Xiao paused. "We can compete fairly."
Bai Cheng waved a hand. "Forget it. I'm not at that point yet. I asked because I wanted to avoid the melodrama of brothers tearing each other apart over a woman. Besides, " he stopped, smiling wryly, "that little girl is clearly closer to you."
Ye Xiao's sharp features softened instantly.
Bai Cheng shook his head inwardly; it seemed he was truly smitten. He added mischievously, "Though she comes to me when she needs help, and she's more willing to confide in Meimei."
Ye Xiao: "……"
Ye Xiao: Thanks, I appreciate that.
Just then, click, they both turned sharply. At the door someone had poked their head out stealthily, phone raised, half a rose-colored handset, its dark camera lens pointed straight at them. The click had been the picture being taken.
Oh no, they'd been caught. Why did taking a photo make a sound? Mortified, Lin Tantan hid her phone and pressed herself against the door, weakly saying, "I was just wandering around. You two carry on, carry on! Heh heh heh…"
Leaving a string of unsettling, vaguely suggestive giggles, she fled at top speed.