Chapter 61

After hearing Zhang Su's words, the tense nerves of Zheng Xin and Zhong Xiaoshan relaxed slightly. They also took off their backpacks, placed them on the ground, laid their weapons across their laps, and began rubbing their shoulders and kneading their arms.

"Uncle, what should I call you?"

Zhang Su asked for the milkman's name.

Wang Guangjun heard Zhang Su talking to him and hurriedly said, "My surname is Wang, Wang Guangjun."

"Good, then I'll call you Old Wang..."

"Hee, Old Wang from next door... sorry."

Before Zhang Su could finish, Zheng Xin laughed, but she was glared at and pouted in apology.

"Old Wang, looking at your clothes, are you responsible for delivering milk on that street?"

Zhang Su took out a cigarette, lit it with satisfaction, and seeing Old Wang looking on with envy, tossed one over to him.

"Yes, yes. I'm responsible for four residential complexes on this street, and I also deliver milk to some merchants on Xishan Road."

Old Wang took a deep drag of the cigarette, the various negative emotions in his heart lessening, and he managed a faint smile.

"I don't know whose house this is, but it looks quite clean and there are no zombies. Xin, you go check the kitchen; Xiaoshan, you go to the master bedroom and the bathroom; Old Wang, you go check the other two small bedrooms and the balcony, and bring back anything useful!"

Zhang Su didn't continue resting; he stood up with the cigarette in his mouth and assigned the work.

"This is someone else's house... is it convenient?"

Wang Guangjun clearly hadn't adapted to life after the apocalypse yet and looked at Zheng Xin and Zhong Xiaoshan, who had already started working, with some awkwardness.

Zhang Su rummaged through the living room and said, "Old Wang, times have changed. Don't always use old concepts to do things. It doesn't matter if you don't know how; just follow orders. Otherwise, you can open the door and go upstairs to find Officer Qin right now."

"Yes, yes, Brother Zhang, I understand!"

Wang Guangjun wasn't stubborn; it was just that his mindset hadn't had time to shift. He only needed a little reminder, and he learned very quickly.

In a short while, the group returned to the living room.

"This family must have run away after the disaster happened. The kitchen is a mess, and there's nothing useful left, just these seasonings that are decent, and oh, a little bit of oil."

Zheng Xin placed some bottles and jars on the dining table.

Zhong Xiaoshan put down a plastic bag and sighed, "They have a baby. I found a bag of unused diapers, half a can of stage-two formula, two packs of alcohol wipes, and nothing else."

Escaping the apocalypse with a child who drinks formula is a desperate thing to think about.

"This family is lucky; the family of three wasn't infected. I hope they can escape."

Zhang Su held a photo frame in his hand; inside was a photo of the family of three. It looked very new, probably a commemorative photo for the child's hundredth day.

"Brother Zhang, I... can you give me these clothes?"

Wang Guangjun had found a few rolls of toilet paper and some clothes, and he was holding a mop in his hand, looking a bit comical.

"Of course, no problem. If you think they fit, put them on. The weather is getting cold; stuff more clothes into your bag for emergencies. But Old Wang, what are you doing with a mop?"

Zhang Su frowned and pointed at the mop, whose head was dry, hard, and set in place.

Wang Guangjun smiled when he heard he could take the clothes to wear, then raised the mop in his hand: "I'm planning to make a weapon for self-defense."

"How do you plan to modify this broken wooden stick?"

Zhang Su looked at the mop in Wang Guangjun's hand and really couldn't look down on this thing.

"Hehe." Wang Guangjun showed a simple, honest smile and said, "There's no other technique; I can just sharpen the head and use it."

Zhang Su nodded noncommittally and didn't say anything, letting Wang Guangjun mess around.

After searching for supplies, the group stood in front of the window, pulled back the curtains, and looked at the scene in front of them in a daze.

Building No. 4 is located at the northernmost part of Shengqin Garden. Across the wall is not a street, but another old city renovation complex called Tiezhuangli. The houses are all six-plus-one, basically all relocated residents, and the population density is very low.

But even with so few people, the Tiezhuangli complex was still a miserable sight.

Wandering zombies could be seen everywhere. The roof of the carousel specially built for children had collapsed, trapping several struggling zombies underneath. Human limbs were scattered in the sports equipment area, and there were charred walls, shattered windows, and blood-stained ground everywhere.

The most conspicuous thing was someone who had been caught by fiber-optic cables when they jumped off the building before they died. Even after turning into a zombie, they hadn't been able to break free, waving their arms unconsciously in the air, causing their whole body to twist back and forth—a very miserable sight.

"It's too terrifying. I really don't know when this disaster will end!"

Even Zhong Xiaoshan, who was used to life and death in the hospital, couldn't help but cover her mouth.

"Someone is calling for help..."

Zhang Su pointed helplessly at a building further away.

The group looked in the direction he pointed, and sure enough, they saw a woman holding a large piece of cardboard behind a window with "SOS" drawn on it. She must have seen them, as her gaze remained locked on their side.

"Poor girl."

Wang Guangjun shook his head, suddenly thinking that his son might be struggling to survive in the cracks just like this woman, and he turned his head away, unable to bear it.

Swish.

Zhang Su pulled the curtains shut again, preferring to face the dimness rather than continue witnessing the scene of hell...

It was already afternoon when the explosion happened, and soon the sky grew dark.

"Ha, tell me, Old Wang, is this what you survived on?"

Zhang Su licked the white yogurt off his lips, a look of happy satisfaction appearing on his face.

This delicacy, once easily accessible, had now become a luxury. Not long after the power went out, the yogurt that needed refrigeration would spoil, and room-temperature yogurt would gradually mold over time.

Wang Guangjun scratched his messy hair and smiled: "I drank milk for two days, and later when the milk went sour, I started drinking yogurt... Do you have enough? I have a few more boxes there!"

As he spoke, he went to get the dirty shoulder bag on the side.

"Enough, enough, Old Wang. Before finding supplies, you can't just gorge yourself; you have to be restrained. By the way... doesn't eating instant noodles like this make you choke?"

Zhang Su was a bit speechless as he rummaged through the instant noodle bags on the table.

He took three boxes of yogurt from Old Wang and gave Wang Guangjun two packs of instant noodles.

Perhaps because he hadn't eaten anything salty for several days, Wang Guangjun's eyes turned green when he saw the instant noodles. Just like eating dry noodles as a child, he crushed them, sprinkled the seasoning, and started devouring them, not even letting the sauce packet go, licking it clean.

Zheng Xin and Zhong Xiaoshan were both stunned by the way Wang Guangjun devoured the dry noodles, secretly discussing whether he could even chew up a bag of snail rice noodles if given one—that bite force was probably no weaker than a zombie's!

"Brother Zhang, you don't know the feeling of not eating salt for five or six days; it's not easy..."

Wang Guangjun licked his lips, touched the shriveled instant noodle packaging, clearly still wanting more, and said: "Brother Zhang, I'll trade three more boxes of yogurt for two packs of instant noodles, and half a pack of cigarettes, how about it?"

(End of chapter)