“Brother!”
Nana’s eyes lit up as she stopped in her tracks upon seeing Jiang Hua beside Tong Sui, and she shrank slightly, calling out, “Captain brother.”
Tong Sui bent down and patted the top of her head, “What are you doing here so early? Have you eaten?”
“I’ve eaten!”
The little girl looked much cleaner than yesterday. She opened her palms, revealing a few small grass-woven animals. Though not exquisitely made, they had a clumsy cuteness to them.
“I made these last night…”
Her voice grew quieter as she spoke. Even at a young age, after experiencing two months of the apocalypse, she understood that compared to the supplies Tong Sui and Jiang Hua had provided, her little offerings were hardly impressive.
Tong Sui, however, smiled and accepted them.
“They’re very cute! Thank you. I will keep them safe.”
The little girl clearly felt encouraged, nodding vigorously before running off.
Tong Sui examined the grass-woven animals in his hand as he walked.
Jiang Hua glanced over.
“What’s so special about this?”
“Aren’t you impressed?” Tong Sui replied, “They are handmade, and a lot of thought went into them. Plus, Nana is still so young.”
“When I was her age, I could make a lot more.”
Back then, he was already capable of using various techniques to kill an adult independently.
Tong Sui laughed, “Captain Hua, why are you comparing yourself to a child?”
Jiang Hua paused slightly.
“I…”
He just felt that Tong Sui was distracted by something that didn’t belong to him, causing an inexplicable unhappiness even he could not explain.
Tong Sui stored the grass animals in his space. “But I’m a little curious, Captain Hua, you didn’t have such a stern face as a child, did you?”
Jiang Hua: “…”
Tong Sui teased him, giving his head a pat. “How about you call me brother too, and I’ll praise you?”
Jiang Hua stared at him.
His dark blue eyes seemed heavy, and Tong Sui feared being hit, quickly stepping into the cafeteria.
Jiang Hua raised his hand to touch the hair on his head that Tong Sui had just patted.
Brother.
He rolled the word in his heart, feeling his chest warm up unexpectedly, and his ears grew slightly hot.
More than wanting to say it himself, he wanted to hear Tong Sui say it.
The sensation of being awake was completely different from when he was asleep.
Asleep, Tong Sui remained well-behaved and cute, but without that lively gaze and without speaking, even if he acted terribly, it would only leave temporary marks on him.
It felt like a monster hiding in the darkness, shrinking back into a damp and shadowy corner once day broke.
He didn’t know why.
He was gradually becoming unsatisfied with just that.
Tong Sui remained oblivious to it all as he entered the cafeteria, where he encountered the group of men with beaming smiles from yesterday.
They were part of the management at the base.
“Get up,” one man said. “The cafeteria lady just made hot porridge with pumpkin; it’s great for your stomach.”
Tong Sui felt a bit creeped out by his attitude.
In his mind, he asked the system, “They’re not putting anything in the food, are they?”
The system replied: [No.]
Only then did Tong Sui take a bowl and serve himself two bowls of porridge.
On another plate, there were steam-cooked buns, and he casually took a few.
As Jiang Hua walked in, Tong Sui set down his plate.
“I’ll help you carry it.”
Seeing Jiang Hua, the men’s eyes brightened, as if he was a walking stack of cash.
Jiang Hua sat down opposite Tong Sui.
Tong Sui handed him one of the fuller bowls of porridge.
Jiang Hua said, “Thank you.”
Tong Sui took a spoonful and tasted it.
The pumpkin porridge was sweet and light, not greasy for breakfast. The buns were filled with pork and vermicelli, and the seasoning was just right.
Tong Sui was used to eating little in the morning but ate a bit more than usual today, finishing a small bowl of porridge and a couple of buns.
As they were nearly done eating, one of the men standing by said, “So, how is it? I specially had the kitchen make this; it’s not bad, right?”
Jiang Hua replied coldly, “When we leave, we will reimburse you for these expenses at market price.”
“No, no, no, that’s not what I meant. This is just a little gesture from the base,”
the man said with a grin. “You see, the weather today is quite gloomy; it might rain heavily. Traveling in the rain can be dangerous, so why not stay here for a couple more days?”
Rainy days increase uncertainty, lowering visibility for vehicles and making accidents more likely, so it indeed isn’t suitable for traveling.
Jiang Hua replied, “Alright, we will wait until the rain passes before we leave.”
“Good, good.”
Only then did the management members leave the cafeteria.
In a conference room that had been converted from a classroom, someone expressed dissatisfaction, saying, “Director, why are you letting them stay here for free? We barely have enough to eat ourselves.”
“Why are you so thick-headed?” The person called director was the leader among the wood-based ability users from yesterday.
“Do you know how rare a lightning ability user is? If he wants to stay, we won’t have to worry about supplies anymore!”
“And that clean-looking experimenter beside him might even develop an antidote for zombies.”
Upon hearing this, the dozen or so people present fell silent.
Their base had so few ability users that each acted like a little tyrant. If it weren’t for the ample supplies in the supermarket, they would have starved long ago.
Yet anyone randomly picked from that team was clearly stronger than their group of half-baked ability users.
One person said, “It’s easy for you to say, but he comes from the large North China base. Would he be willing to stay in a small place like ours?”
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