Chapter 209

"Light Calendar, seeking light from the darkness. Light Calendar, good!"

Yu Wen nodded heavily and took the lead in applauding.

Everyone followed suit, a vague and indescribable emotion growing in their hearts, adding something that hadn't been there before.

"Brother Su, if tomorrow is the first day of the first month of the first year of the Light Calendar, should we celebrate? This counts as New Year's Eve!"

Lu Yu suggested with a face full of joy.

Zhang Su nodded: "Since we've made the decision, there must be a sense of ritual. If this snow gets heavier, we won't go out tomorrow; everyone will prepare a sumptuous New Year's feast together. If it has no effect, then we'll go out to do what we need to do, and leave the cooking to the people in the camp!"

"Brother Su, should we call the person in charge of United Village over to join us?"

Wang Xin asked.

"That's right, Brother Su, for such a grand event, do we need to let United Village know? They are our affiliated village now!"

"Uncle, where am I not as good as Brother Bo? Why doesn't Lanlan like me?"

Zhang Su waved his hand: "No need. United Village is going through a change of leadership, and Wang Longzhong has a ton of things to deal with. We can notify them later. Tomorrow, we'll just have fun among ourselves! That's it, everyone go rest."

Lu Yu stood in the corner watching Pei Lan and Chen Hanzhou as a couple, curled his lip, and was about to turn and leave to take a walk by the gate to clear his head when a voice called him.

Zhang Su exhaled smoke and casually tossed a cigarette to Pang Dakun, who was sitting in the corner with a face full of disappointment.

Lu Yu had really felt satisfied after going to United Village today. Since the disaster broke out, he hadn't enjoyed the feeling of being fawned over, but he felt it again today.

Lu Yu guessed that Tan Huajun had known about Mo Qianlan coming to find him!

"Do you have time, Lanlan? Want to go for a walk?"

"Do you have time?" Mo Qianlan asked with a smile.

Lu Yu suddenly felt he was back in the game. He led Mo Qianlan outside, his hand instinctively wanting to hold hers, but he hesitated twice and didn't do it, instead just naturally resting his hand on Mo Qianlan's shoulder.

If a girl takes the initiative to invite you and you have feelings for her, there's no reason to refuse. Taking the initiative is the better choice.

The group dispersed, and the discussion mostly focused on the new calendar; this matter was particularly novel to everyone.

"Lanlan, what's wrong?"

Seeing that she had already left with Zhang Ya and Zhong Xiaoshanyi, he hadn't paid any attention to Mo Qianlan's whereabouts, but could she really not be paying attention?

"Hmm?"

"Stop looking, they're all gone!"

Zhang Su sat down next to Pang Dakun and put his hand on his shoulder: "Kid, matters of love are about feelings; you can't define them simply by whether you're as good as someone else. Besides, with your status, chasing Lanlan makes her feel a bit strange, you know?"

Pang Dakun muttered dejectedly.

"Me? Well, there's a lot..."

Lu Yu could be slow-witted about anything, but when it came to men and women, he was as sharp as a dog. As soon as he heard Mo Qianlan's words, he knew what she meant. His heart trembled, and his eyes darted around, searching for Tan Huajun's figure.

"Okay, let's go for a walk. I heard you used to work at a KTV? Whose songs do you like to listen to?"

Lu Yu looked back and saw Mo Qianlan standing prettily under the light. Her plain cotton jacket was very simple, and her bare face couldn't hide her youthful aura.

"Brother Lu Yu."

Pang Dakun was Tan Huajun's godson, which meant he was Mo Qianlan's godbrother. As long as they didn't talk about romance, this relationship was actually quite good.

"But I just think Lanlan is great, I like her."

Pang Dakun took a deep breath of his cigarette.

Zhang Su rubbed Pang Dakun's crew cut and said: "Have you been idle lately while recovering in the camp, so you have the energy to think about these messy things, right? Come out with me tomorrow for a walk, clear your head. Don't keep staring at the one you like; next time, try chasing someone who likes you, I guarantee you'll get her on the first try!"

"Is there anyone who likes me?"

Pang Dakun immediately perked up, his eyes brightening a bit.

"Didn't we just incorporate United Village? There are plenty of young girls and wives there. If we keep in touch, once they see you're sharp and capable, someone will definitely like you!"

Zhang Su understood Pang Dakun. At sixteen or seventeen, male hormones were secreting vigorously, and once the pressure of survival was gone, he started thinking about love—that was normal.

"Got it, Uncle. I'm going to watch my godmother and the others play Fight the Landlord. Remember what you just said—if we can go out tomorrow, take me with you!"

Pang Dakun's mood came and went quickly; after a little guidance, he was fine.

"Sigh, Brother Su, you've arranged things for everyone else, what about me, your loyal follower? Aren't you going to solve my problem?"

Seeing Pang Dakun leave, Wu Lue stood up from the corner and shrugged helplessly.

Zhang Su looked at the scrawny Wu Lue with a smile and said: "You deserve it. Who the hell told you to try and take advantage of others from the start? Now no one wants to play with you!"

Ever since the camera installation incident, Wu Lue had been strongly condemned by all the women. Now, in the camp, except for Tan Huajun, all the women were quite cold toward Wu Lue. Of course, this sentiment was limited to private matters; they still maintained basic communication for things like defense work.

"I've already turned over a new leaf and started over, Brother Su, give me some advice."

Wu Lue said with a fawning smile.

"Luezi, there's no shortage of women in the apocalypse, men are the scarce species. What you need to do is make yourself strong, and what you're supposed to have will definitely come!" Zhang Su patted Wu Lue on the shoulder.

Wu Lue scratched his head and asked skeptically: "That's not right, Brother Su. Look at our camp, there are more men than women, how can men be the scarce species?"

"How far are we into this? It's been less than three months. Wait half a year and see! Women generally have weaker combat power, and even in survivor organizations, most do logistics work. We men have it a bit tougher—we have to go out to search for supplies and fight zombies. Think about it: one stays in the camp, the other is always running outside, which one is more dangerous?"

Zhang Su shrugged with a strange expression. He didn't mind shouldering the responsibilities of a man, because he also enjoyed the generous treatment that came after shouldering those responsibilities.

After hearing Zhang Su's words, Wu Lue nodded thoughtfully and said: "In other words, as long as we hang on, we win?"

"Right. Just like fighting in the past—if you want to be a general, you at least can't die on the battlefield. As long as you can return home in glory, wealth and beauty will follow. So train hard, be sharp on missions, don't screw up, or you'll have nothing!"

"Got it, Brother Su, don't worry, I'm terrifyingly strong now!"

"Get lost..."

Zhang Su gave Wu Lue a slap on the head, just like he used to back at the convenience store, and then went back to his room to rest.

The next morning, in the warm room, Zheng Xinyu was the first to wake up. She walked to the window and pulled back the curtain to look, puffing out her cheeks. There wasn't even a speck of snow on the ground. If they hadn't seen the snowflakes falling with their own eyes last night, they definitely wouldn't have known it had happened!

She had hoped for heavy snow to block the mountains, so Zhang Su wouldn't have to go out to scavenge for supplies and could hold the New Year's feast safely in the camp. If the snow continued, the safety camp wouldn't have to worry about food, and the people from the Azure Dragon Legion definitely wouldn't be able to come over to collect debts through the snow, allowing for temporary peace.

The accumulated snow would definitely affect the zombies' movements, and perhaps they could safely get through this winter.

In short, if the snow kept falling, it would be great, but unfortunately, it stopped, and didn't even leave any traces...

However, the lack of traces was only in people's eyes; some changes were happening subtly, for example, the zombies!

"Happy New Year!"

Since the new calendar had been set, everyone in the camp naturally followed it, and the first thing they said when they met was to wish each other a Happy New Year.

If an outsider saw this, they would definitely think it was very absurd, but in the hearts of the people at Tianmayu, they didn't think so. Whether it was cutting off the past to welcome the future or a spiritual solace and redemption for the old era, in short, the page had been turned, and everyone was creating a new era together—an era belonging to the light!

"What kind of shitty snow is this? It fell like it didn't fall at all. Back to work!"

After Zhang Su finished breakfast in the dining room, he said to everyone: "Old Tan, Master Jia, Guo Dachao, Pang Dakun, Zhao De, Zhang Ya, Wang Xin, get ready, we're leaving in ten minutes."

New Year's Eve was important, but given the current state of life, they were still a distance away from a comfortable life. Even on the first day of the New Year, they had to go out to work.

"Hey!"

Zheng Xinyu stood behind Zhang Su, hands on her hips, and said: "You're taking both chefs away, how are we supposed to make the New Year's feast?"

"That's right, Brother Su, Old Tan and Master Jia are leaving, who are you going to let cook..."

"At least leave one behind."

Everyone in the camp knew that Tan Huajun and Jia Shiqin cooked well. They weren't at the level of master chefs, but in the category of home-cooked meals, they were definitely top-tier. After all, there were several people who couldn't even make egg-fried rice...

"Since you're saying this, well, I... hehe, I don't have any opinion!"

Zhao De was just about to speak up for himself because he cooked pretty well too, but then he thought, it was hard to get a chance to go out for a stroll, and if he really got left behind to cook, he'd be quite depressed, so he quickly shut his mouth.

"Let's have something different today! Let's have hot pot. Didn't we bring back a lot of meat and vegetables from Xiangzhuang? If we don't eat them, they'll go bad. Put everything in, set up three tables, big hot pots, hahaha!"

Eating hot pot on a cold day was an absolute treat, and the camp had all kinds of ingredients ready. They even brought back some hot pot soup base packets from Niuquanzi Town. This was a simple yet grand delicacy!

(End of chapter)