Chapter 370

The Maple Leaf homestay was located in a relatively high position among the Tianmayu homestay cluster. In terms of customer positioning, it should be considered the most high-end. Though called a homestay, each unit was complete, no different from a two-bedroom, two-living-room apartment in the city.

There were six guest rooms in total, each about a hundred square meters, decorated with great style. Of course, those styles were of no use now; some decorations had even been removed because they took up too much space.

The main reason Zhang Su hadn't chosen to live at Maple Leaf originally was its geographical location; it was too high up and too remote.

Zhang Su walked out of the dining hall and looked toward the high ground. Sure enough, two figures were standing outside the courtyard of the Maple Leaf homestay—it was Tachibana Mai-Sakura and Yi Xiaoling.

"Heh, this is interesting."

The dark night was like nothing to Zhang Su. Even from a hundred meters away, he could still see that by the parking area of the Maple Leaf homestay, Yi Xiaoling's hand was being held by Tachibana Mai-Sakura, but Yi Xiaoling seemed unhappy, turning her head away and not looking at her. Tachibana Mai-Sakura was saying something in a gentle and pleasant manner. It wasn't hard to see that this was a standard lovers' spat...

He strained his ears and could vaguely hear a little sound coming from afar.

"Hmm, the energy value is at ninety-five percent now, and my hearing has still been enhanced, but it's too noisy, I can't hear clearly..."

Zhang Su tested his ability. The Little Lucky restaurant behind him was too lively, and he could hear Yi Xiaoling talking, but it was useless; he didn't know what she was saying. However, just as he lit a cigarette and intended to walk toward the Maple Leaf homestay, the other party suddenly looked toward the Little Lucky side!

There was a street lamp outside the Little Lucky courtyard, and Zhang Su was particularly conspicuous standing under it. He immediately pretended to be nonchalant, lit his cigarette, and stretched toward the pitch-black mountain.

"Keep on bickering, what are you looking at me for..."

Zhang Su pretended to smoke and look at the black mountain, but his gaze was actually focused on the Maple Leaf homestay. Just as he was secretly urging them, he saw Tachibana Mai-Sakura pull Yi Xiaoling toward the courtyard. Yi Xiaoling seemed a bit reluctant, but still followed her into the yard, half-pushed and half-willing.

"Perfect..."

Zhang Su chuckled. He thought to himself, if they had stayed standing out in the open, he wouldn't have had anywhere to hide. Now that they had ducked into the house, he only needed to listen through the wall to hear everything clearly.

Puffing on his cigarette, he walked toward the Maple Leaf homestay, feeling quite pleased.

"Xiao Ju, my life was saved by Brother Zhang and the others. They even gave us such a big house according to your request, so we naturally have to make a contribution!"

Zhang Su had just walked to the Cuileng Pavilion, and only by continuing upward would he reach the Maple Leaf homestay. From fifty meters away, he heard Yi Xiaoling's voice. Tachibana Mai-Sakura said something immediately after, but even with translation software, it was useless—he couldn't pick up the audio at all. But he wasn't in a hurry; as long as Yi Xiaoling spoke, he could judge the general situation.

"But you also know that Brother Zhang doesn't need just your individual combat power. The maintenance of the camp requires everyone's joint efforts; you and I both understand this principle."

"Xiao Ju, you can't think like that... I know you're used to being a loner, but we are human, and humans are social animals. We need to establish connections with others. If we want to live well, we must be within a collective. You can't just deal with me; you also have to communicate amicably with others!"

"Brother Zhang and the others treat us with sincerity, so we should also repay them with sincerity. I respect the traditions of the Tachibana clan, but those were traditions of a peaceful era. Now that the whole world is like this, you can't keep clinging to tradition. Think of it this way: what if your hope of returning to the island nation lies with Brother Zhang? Shouldn't you show goodwill in advance and build a good relationship?"

"Mm, that's right. Think carefully about whether my words are correct; I'm doing this all for your own good..."

Hearing this, Zhang Su had an unreadable expression on his face. He turned and quietly left the corner of the Cuileng Pavilion's courtyard wall. With things having developed to this point, he shouldn't need to worry too much about the rest.

"Back so soon?"

Zheng Xinyu had returned to her room to read after dinner. She had found a copy of "Practical Manual for Wheat Cultivation Techniques" from somewhere and had just reached the part about nitrogen fertilizer application in Hebei wheat fields. She still had to go to the monitoring room for her shift later, and just as she was lying on the bed feeling extremely comfortable, she heard the sound of the door being pushed open. Seeing Zhang Su walk in, she said: "Looks like there was no harvest?"

"Heh..." Zhang Su gave a strange smile, took off his coat and other cold-weather gear, and said: "The development of things was a bit beyond my expectations."

"Oh? What's the matter? Tell me quickly."

Seeing Zhang Su's "I have a story to tell" expression, Zheng Xinyu tucked a bookmark into her book, closed it, rolled off the bed, and very considerately poured him a cup of hot water to moisten his throat, ready to listen to the story.

"You should already know about the special relationship between Yi Xiaoling and Tachibana Mai-Sakura, right?"

Zhang Su took the water cup and sat down.

"Even a fool could see it; they're lesbians!"

Zheng Xinyu sat on the bed and nodded, her face full of curiosity.

"That's right. But I feel like Yi Xiaoling seems to have a problem!" Zhang Su recalled the tone of Yi Xiaoling's voice while he was eavesdropping and said: "Tachibana Mai-Sakura's behavior is very normal; you can tell she cares a lot about Yi Xiaoling, but Yi Xiaoling... it's like she's acting."

"Huh? You mean... Yi Xiaoling is actually pretending to be a lesbian to be with her just so Tachibana Mai-Sakura will take care of her?"

The fire of gossip burned brightly on Zheng Xinyu's face. Where had she ever heard such interesting news since the apocalypse?

Zhang Su took a sip of water and nodded: "That's my feeling, but there's one point that doesn't make sense..."

"Which point?"

"Tachibana Mai-Sakura has a special ability; she can perceive other people's emotions toward her, such as hostility, killing intent, and love. If Yi Xiaoling is faking it, how could she not feel it?"

Zhang Su asked curiously.

"Pfft." Zheng Xinyu curled her lip and said: "I thought it was something amazing. Liking someone—what's hard about faking that? And if they were the only two relying on each other at the time, it would be even easier! Besides, are you sure Tachibana Mai-Sakura's claimed ability isn't exaggerated?"

"That's true..."

Zhang Su nodded, feeling that Zheng Xinyu's analysis from a woman's perspective made sense. He said: "Whether Yi Xiaoling is real or faking it, it's not a bad thing for us. I see that Tachibana Mai-Sakura really falls for Yi Xiaoling's act. If we use this well, we can tie Tachibana Mai-Sakura down firmly. She is a rare talent; her only flaw is that her principles are too strong!"

From the brief eavesdropping, Zhang Su could be very certain of one thing: Yi Xiaoling was very satisfied with Tianmayu and really wanted to stay here, while Tachibana Mai-Sakura had a relatively indifferent attitude. However, she didn't want to have an unhappy falling out with Yi Xiaoling, nor did she want to leave this place, and even less did she want to be separated from her.

"Hehe, so the island nation woman is a 'love-brain'..." Zheng Xinyu laughed mischievously.

Zhang Su nodded unconsciously, feeling that Zheng Xinyu's summary was spot on. From what he had learned so far, Tachibana Mai-Sakura was indeed a bit of a "love-brain"!

"Actually, I don't quite understand, husband, is that woman surnamed Tachibana really that amazing?"

Zheng Xinyu poked her lips with her finger, a look of imagination on her face: "Could it really be like in martial arts dramas, flying over walls and using internal energy to hurt people?"

"That's not quite it... A while before dinner, I had her do a bullet-dodging test. At a distance of about ten meters, Old Tan used a pistol, and she used that steel bar of hers. They dueled—guess what the result was?"

"Since you're asking me to guess, then Tachibana Mai-Sakura must have won. But Old Tan actually missed?"

Zheng Xinyu was very surprised by this result. Tan Huajun was the recognized sharpshooter among the core members of the camp; this was an indisputable fact.

"That's right. She dodged Old Tan's shot and at the same time rushed in front of Old Tan at extreme speed. Unless you know her strength in advance and are prepared for continuous shooting, and can keep up with her speed that exceeds ordinary people, she's really hard to deal with!"

Zhang Su recalled that scene, his tone somewhat heavy. He imagined how he would deal with such an enemy. Based on his current understanding, other than a desperate "injury-for-injury" fighting style, all that was left was to run...

Zheng Xinyu had a look of astonishment and frustration on her face: "How can she be that amazing? How did she do it? Even Big Sister Tan couldn't hit her!"

"You can't really blame Tan Huajun for missing, because... according to Tachibana Mai-Sakura, she can sense people's 'Qi'. I don't know what this Qi is, but anyway, she can use it to make predictions and move before Old Tan pulls the trigger. You know about 'Observation Haki', right? It's just like that stuff!"

Zhang Su's face was full of longing. If he could also have this ability, even if not as exaggerated as being invincible, it would still raise his strength by a huge margin.

(End of chapter)