Everyone scooped out a spoonful of shiitake mushroom sauce from the can and spread it over their rice.
The shiitake mushrooms were soft yet supple. Chewing them felt like chewing meat, and the taste was salty and delicious. It was the best thing to have with rice.
Smelling the fragrance that was drifting over nonstop, Xiao Han’s saliva flowed like a fountain, but he could only chew on his instant noodles. His mouth was filled with the taste of the seasoning packet and preservatives, but he could only stare as he swallowed, choking until his eyes rolled back into his head.
He resisted his impatience until the smell of rice was gone and the sound of washing up stopped. Then, he grabbed a shirt, wrapped it around his fist a couple times, and smashed the glass pane of the back window with a few hits. After pulling out the remaining shards of glass from the edges, he clumsily climbed out the window.
He thought that everyone was asleep.
Therefore, just when he held up his knife and crept over to push open the door, planning to take advantage of when they’d just fallen asleep and their minds weren’t clear, he saw Jing Zihua crouching by the fire pot in the middle, adding wood to the fire.
It wasn’t only Jing Zihua, nobody else was asleep either. They all turned their attention to this visitor who’d come in the middle of the night.
Xiao Han: “……” This was really damned embarrassing.
Jing Zihua frowned as she looked at the knife in his hand, “What are you trying to do?”
Xiao Han couldn’t be considered a smart person. At this moment, his heated blood rushed through his brain and made it pound. Since he’d already started, he had to push on with his plan. He gritted his teeth and said, “You all need to get the hell out for Laozi!”
He Wanwan and Jing Yiming both opened their eyes wide in surprise.
Mother Ding hugged Jing Yiming’s little head, stroking him gently and telling him not to be afraid.
Yan Lanlan protected He Wanwan behind her body, her hand reaching into her sleeping bag and wrapping tightly around the weapon that Ding Qiuyun had given her.
Father Ding frowned, “Young man, be more polite when you speak. Whose Laozi are you?”
As Xiao Han took in their fire pot that they were using for heat, their warm sleeping bags, and even the hot water that was steaming and boiling in the pot, he grew so jealous that his eyes became red. He opened his mouth and snapped back, “I’m your f*cking Laozi!”
Jing Zihua also knew that the person in front of them was a living, self-propelling fool and retorted directly, “What gives you the right to drive them away? I was the one who invited them to stay here.”
Xiao Han used the tip of his knife to gesticulate as he spoke, “Sister Jing, don’t you see? They have so many good things with them!”
Jing Zihua: “Those are their things! Not yours––”
“Who decided that those are ‘their’ things?! I want them, so they’re f*cking mine!! I have a knife in my hand!”
Seeing that his emotions were about to get out of control, Yan Lanlan pulled out the gun that Ding Qiuyun had given her before he left. The black, hollow muzzle of the gun was aimed directly at Xiao Han’s face, “Get lost! Get out of here!”
Xiao Han: “……” The scene became even more awkward in an instant.
However, for a young man who had a low IQ and a long-term problem of thinking with his balls, Yan Lanlan’s move was tantamount to throwing a firecracker into a manure pit.
After a brief moment of distraction, his blood boiled even hotter and he became even more agitated, “Shoot! Come, hit me, shoot right now!”
He pointed at his own forehead, “Can you shoot accurately? Huh? Go on, make sure to aim accurately, don’t hit anyone else. Each shot is one bloody hole!”
He was knocked to the ground by a kick from behind and directly lost half his front teeth.
Behind him stood Chi Xiaochi, coated in a layer of chill air, frost and snow.
Standing behind Chi Xiaochi were two baby-faced, droopy-eyed youths. Although they didn’t know what had happened, they still came around either side to hold him down.
The slightly older one’s motions were skilled and his technique was also a standard arm grapple, “Captain Ding, I’ve got him.”
After entering the warm room, Chi Xiaochi closed the door. Without saying another word, he took away the two knives on Xiao Han’s body.
He’d first been taken down, then lost his weapons. The hot blood in his brain cooled and Xiao Han started to calm down.
He really wished he could slap himself twice in the face. Xiao Han then tried to make excuses for himself, “I, I drank too much. Guys, let me go!”
Chi Xiaochi waved to the pair of young brothers, “Drag him out, don’t let him disturb my parents’ sleep.”
Chi Xiaochi then turned back and said, “After I go out, the children should cover their ears. Have some self-awareness.”
He Wanwan obediently did as she was told.
Jing Yiming still wanted to watch the commotion, his voice young and child-like, “I’m not a child anymore.”
Then, Jing Yiming’s mother ruthlessly covered his ears.
After pulling Xiao Han outside like a broken sack, Chi Xiaochi didn’t say anything unnecessary. He kicked the waist of the man on the ground, “Drank too much?”
Then came another kick to the stomach, “Drank too much?”
After being asked like this over and over again more than a dozen times, Xiao Han finally couldn’t stand it anymore and cried bitterly, “I didn’t, didn’t drink too much, I was possessed by ghosts, I’m sorry Brother Ding, I was wrong, I was wrong––”
“You don’t actually think that you were wrong to come and rob us.” Chi Xiaochi said, “You just feel that you didn’t pick the right time and ended up running into the muzzle of my gun.”
Xiao Han’s thoughts were exposed and his forehead was covered in sweat. He could only shake his head and cry as he denied it.
Chi Xiaochi was no longer polite to him. He reached into his pocket and found the key to the bicycle lock.
After finding the key, Xiao Han was also no longer of any use.
Chi Xiaochi gave him an ultimatum, “Go and drill back into whatever dog hole you came out of. I’ll give you five minutes to pack up all the necessities you need from the convenience store and get the hell out of here.”
Xiao Han instantly felt like he’d been struck by lightning on a sunny day, “The convenience store is mine…”
“Who decided it was yours?” Chi Xiaochi used his original words, “I want it, so it’s mine.”
He raised his wrist and looked at his watch, “You still have four minutes and fifty seconds.”
Xiao Han still wanted to make one last dying struggle, “How could five minutes be enough…”
Chi Xiaochi: “Three minutes.”
Xiao Han: “Just now, there were still––”
Chi Xiaochi: “Two minutes and fifty seconds.”
Xiao Han scrambled up and rushed back. He didn’t dare to say another word.
In the end, Chi Xiaochi still gave Xiao Han a full five minutes to pack up his things.
He carried out three boxes of instant noodles, two boxes of water and a box of ham sausages into the car, then fled straight towards Guang County in the south.
Chi Xiaochi didn’t inform him that the city he was heading towards would suffer from a serious snake attack half a day later.
As long as such people continued to live, they would become lackeys if they cooperated with new humans, become thugs if they cooperated with old humans, drag others down if they cooperated with good people, or harm others if they cooperated with evil people.
It was better to let him have a good fight with the animals so that he could understand what animal ferocity was.
Chi Xiaochi opened both locks, took stock of the supplies that remained in the convenience store, then moved the supplies into an empty room next door with the two baby faced brothers.
He said he’d be gone for three days, but in fact, Chi Xiaochi had a plan right from the start.
One day had been more than enough for the round trip.
Xiao Han was a typical petty, ordinary citizen. He was cruel, cowardly, and greedy. He had no previous criminal record, but criminal acts would remain in his mind and he would be under the impression that it was safer to commit crimes at night. Therefore, he wouldn’t make trouble for Yan Lanlan and the others during the day. Most likely, he wouldn’t do anything until the first night, forcing his parents and Yan Lanlan to leave and then robbing them of their supplies.
The two Sun brothers were in the next city and it was only a two hour round trip on his motorcycle. If he went out in the morning, he would be able to return before 8PM at the latest.
The Sun family’s eldest brother, Sun Yan, was once a member of Ding Qiuyun’s team. Like Ding Qiuyun, he’d retired early due to an injury and worked in a shipping company. His younger brother, Sun Bin, studied systems engineering and had gotten a doctorate at the age of 24.
This pair of brothers had a good relationship.
When he was in the army, Ding Qiuyun had just listened to Sun Yan talk once, and he already learned that his younger brother’s birthday was the same as his, September 12th, a Virgo. He loved spicy food, could memorize books, liked small animals, and was a genius but wasn’t proud at all. He was very easygoing and had a good temper, but sometimes, his behavior was a little strange.
When the disaster occurred, Sun Bin happened to be staying in Sun Yan’s dormitory. The two brothers had made plans to play racing games all night.
When they fled, Sun Yan drove off in an empty truck that he used to drive.
This was the truck that would then become a long-term mode of transport for Ding Qiuyun’s team.
At the start, Sun Yan, being a military driver, was completely in charge of the truck. As for Sun Bin, who was born to deal with various advanced AI, it was already very good if he knew which foot to use for the throttle and which foot to use for the brakes.
Before Sun Yan died, he’d pulled Qiuyun over and said to him, Captain Ding, take good care of Little Bin.
He also said, the Pikachu ornament that hung on the rearview mirror was not to be thrown away. Although everyone said that it was ugly, it was the first birthday present that Little Bin had given to him when he was five years old.
Finally, he called out Sun Bin’s name, calling it out three times before breathing his last breath.
After his death, Sun Bin soon learned to drive.
Before Sun Bin died, he never once left the driver’s seat again. Even when he slept, he would sleep hugging the coat his elder brother had left behind.
Fortunately, both brothers were still here. Fortunately, they were still standing right in front of him.
After dealing with the man surnamed Han and taking inventory of the supplies left behind, Chi Xiaochi also placed the hand-operated generator he’d purchased before, a dozen or so cans, bedding, and two barrels of sealed water into the new warehouse as ‘new materials’ they’d retrieved from the trip.
When he came out, he found Yan Lanlan waiting for him outside.
The girl’s face that was pale from the cold also held traces of shame, “Brother Ding, I’m sorry.”
Chi Xiaochi looked at her.
She returned the gun to Chi Xiaochi and said in a small voice, “I… promised to protect Sister Jing and the others. But I didn’t dare pull the trigger…”
Chi Xiaochi calmly pushed the gun back to Yan Lanlan.
He said, “Yes, you handled it incorrectly this time. Next time, pay attention to two things. Firstly, in a situation where you aren’t familiar with guns, unless it’s a last resort, don’t take the gun out in a narrow space. Secondly, when there are no other options, no matter what the situation is, you must have the courage to shoot. This isn’t just about protecting other people, it’s also about protecting yourself.”
In fact, after giving the gun to Yan Lanlan, Chi Xiaochi could originally have gone out without worries.
Yan Lanlan was young and impulsive, filled with hot-blooded impetuousness, and always thought that death was something that was too remote and far away from her. She felt that she was the center of the world and that anyone else might die but it wouldn’t be her turn. That was why she had no scruples when it came to taking risks.
Yan Lanlan didn’t know what death meant, but Ding Qiuyun knew and Chi Xiaochi also understood.
Therefore, she needed to learn, and Chi Xiaochi needed to teach her.