Translator: transcendent.wings
Editor: phizzlepop
Whisper, Kao, Kotex, or Sofy. For girls, this would forever remain a serious conundrum. Some preferred switching it up frequently to keep things fresh, experiencing a new sensation each month. For others, it was love at first sight, faithful unto death they’d remain to the object of their affections.
Lin Dilei belonged to the latter category.
So, when she couldn’t find her usual brand anywhere on the shelves, internally, she’d begun to fall apart.
However, what was even more unbearable was when you were currently holding onto a back-up brand, meticulously examining various product specifications such as the extent of its coverage, thickness, length, etc., when you realized that a man had tagged along.
No matter how valiant Lin Dilei was, she still blushed instinctively.
Unexpectedly, the other party didn’t bother acknowledging her at all, simply stepping forward to sweep all of the sanitary napkins onto the ground with a hulala before climbing up to the top of the shelves, panting huchi while opening the sole ventilation window.
Lin Dilei turned pale with fright. The outside was full of monsters, and this action of desperately opening the window was no different from committing suicide in her eyes. But before she could even open her mouth to ask, three more people had caught up, all of them wearing worried expressions on their faces.
Lin Dilei subconsciously took two steps back to make way, temporarily swallowing down everything she’d just wanted to say.
Meanwhile, Song Fei had already opened the window. With half of his body outside, he anxiously called out: “Qi Yan—”
When his last syllable dissipated into the haze, everything was still as quiet as ever.
Song Fei’s heart sank precipitously. After a moment of brief contemplation, he gritted his teeth, just about ready to vault outside, when a pair of feet brushed past his face, steadily landing on top of the shelves. In the next second, Qi Yan’s entire body slipped inside.
Song Fei promptly closed the window and locked it up. Only after confirming everything was perfectly safe did he turn back around to look at Qi Yan.
Qi Yan’s whole body was surrounded by a cold air. Not the kind that resulted from the chilly weather outside, but the kind that originated internally, one that was naturally emitted. The tip of his nose was thoroughly red, and his narrowed gaze swept over his comrades-in-arms below one by one—
Luo Geng hurriedly raised his hand: “You didn’t lure all the zombies away!”
John immediately nodded: “Three of them!”
Zhou Yilu wasn’t as senseless as the others, and wholeheartedly said: “We believed in you.”
Qi Yan was convinced that if he developed angina pectoris when he turned 60 years old, the precipitating factor ought to be this day.
Retaining his last bit of rationality, Qi Yan finally turned to look at Song Fei. Usually after the minions had finished dishing out their attacks, the BOSS would always tack on a critical strike. He had some experience, and was confident he could survive it with a smile on his face.
“I’m sorry,” Song Fei said.
Qi Yan froze on the spot.
On the rooftop, he’d nearly been frozen into an ice statue, but at this very moment, he’d truly been petrified into one of stone.
In Qi Yan’s memories, Song Fei had never once apologized before. If he was at fault, he’d resort to unreasonable quibbling. If he wasn’t at fault, then he’d act even more unbridled, practically the very embodiment of Sun Wukong wreaking havoc in the heavenly palaces, never making any concessions.
But now, he’d apologized.
Perhaps his ears had been frozen outside for too long, so an error had occurred somewhere, Qi Yan thought discursively.
A pair of warm hands covered his ears.
The warmth spread from his ears to the rest of his body, even down to his fingertips, and the stone statue named Qi Yan shattered into pieces.
“Still cold?”
Through his hands, Qi Yan could only see Song Fei’s lips opening and closing, his voice sounding muffled.
“Not cold.”
Equally muffled was the sound of his own voice.
“Sorry,” Song Fei repeated once more.
Qi Yan could no longer recall any of the accusations, retorts, complaints, or criticisms he’d prepared beforehand. He could only hear an unprecedented tenderness in his own voice: “No worries.”
Looking up from the foot of the shelves were three people who’d witnessed this entire course of events. Although each of them had focused on something different, all of them had similarly fallen into a complicated mood—
Qiao Siqi: “Foolish.”
Luo Geng: “What an old driver.”
Zhou Yilu: “How nefarious ah…”
It wasn’t until Qi Yan jumped down from the shelves that he noticed Lin Dilei. The latter had unobtrusively blended herself into the sidelines this entire time without making a peep, but it was obvious the pink bubbles around him and Song Fei had left her stunned, with a look of incredulity on her face.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Ah, this is the xuemei we just saved.” Luo Geng was afraid that if this girl continued down her train of thoughts, she’d end up developing a deep misunderstanding about the idiosyncrasies of their entire squad. Thus, he hastily spoke out to break the air of ambiguity, “From the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Lin Dilei.”
Lin-guniang walked in front of Qi Yan, looking back and forth between him and Song Fei, sizing them up in turn, before she finally stamped her foot and sighed: “How annoying, why didn’t you say so earlier!”
Qi Yan had a helpless look on his face. Seeing his three classmates fix him with a “hurry up and explain” stare, then seeing Song Fei shoot him an unmistakable warning glance, he finally smiled bitterly with resignation: “Don’t fuss, xuejie.”
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Lin Dilei pouted, and coquettishly grumbled in a slightly aggrieved tone: “I already told you not to call me xuejie, I’m eternally 18 years old!”
Qi Yan immediately put both hands up in surrender: “Okay, Little Landmine.”
A smile bloomed across Lin-guniang’s face. Evidently, this pure and refined nickname had won her over completely. However, halfway through this, she suddenly covered her mouth, as though it’d finally occurred to her that she still had an urgent matter to attend to. After hastily stuffing the item she was holding into her coat pocket, she bolted for the bathrooms located in the office space at the back of the supermarket without sparing so much as a backwards glance.
The five of them sent her off as she left them in the billowing dust of her wake.
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Yet, Song-tongxue didn’t believe it: “What’s up with Little Landmine?”
Qi Yan took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, subconsciously clenching his fists: “Being forced to call out such a perverse nickname leaves a psychological shadow in my heart too, you know!”
Song Fei couldn’t bear to continue grilling him.
He only wanted to give his ex-boyfriend a hug right now!
“You called her xuejie earlier?” Luo Geng was still fixated on this tiny detail.
Qi Yan nodded: “She’s a third-year, in the year above mine.”
Luo Geng’s eyes lit up: “So, she’s not a xuemei, but a fellow classmate instead…”
His comrades had no idea what could possibly be so joyous about a negligible change like this. But then again, considering it from another point of view, perhaps the logic of students studying math was just different from the average person.
When Lin Dilei returned from the bathroom, Song Fei and the others had already opened up a pack of blankets, directly spreading them across the open space in the everyday essentials aisle. This section was situated in a corner of the supermarket where it was more spacious. There were bed sheets, duvet covers, pillows, and the like as far as the eye could see. Looking up at the shelves in the area, there were cups, water kettles, plastic basins, and plastic buckets, all items commonly found inside dormitories, offering an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
Lin Dilei sat right on top of the blankets unreservedly, neither hemming nor hawing. However, her face appeared much paler than before, while her eyebrows were knit together as she bit her lip. Her hair was tucked behind her ears, a thin sheen of sweat on her temples.
Naturally, the heating in the supermarket had already been cut off. Fortunately, there were still a few standing air conditioner units available. Usually, they’d only use these during the summer, but now, they’d certainly come in handy.
With the warm air turned all the way up, the chill accumulated over the past few days was gradually dispelled at last.
“Are you feeling uncomfortable?” Luo Geng immediately asked Lin Dilei with concern after seeing her complexion.
Lin Dilei hesitated for a moment, before answering vaguely: “I’m okay.”
“Why’ve you been holding onto your stomach? Did you get hurt there?”
“…”
Luo Geng said whatever came to mind with no filter at all. Only upon catching the girl’s eye roll and his four comrades’ looks of disdain did he belatedly recall that after entering the supermarket, the first place she’d rushed to was the feminine hygiene product area!
“I, that’s not what I meant. I forgot. I remember now, I…”
“It’s fine,” Lin Dilei interrupted him with a smile.
Luo Geng’s intuition told him that although what he was looking at was a smile, what he was actually sensing was something more like a knife.
“What’s that smell?” Qi Yan abruptly asked.
A pungent, yet spicy fragrance had suffused the air. That was from earlier, when Luo Geng had battled against the three zombies, shattering some Lao Gan Ma.
Qi Yan couldn’t figure it out, while Luo Geng was all too clear on the matter. Seeing Lin-guniang scrunch up her eyebrows due to this, he promptly volunteered to toil away at the front lines: “I’ll go clean up a bit!”
Sensing something was off, Qiao Siqi and Zhou Yilu coincidentally also stood up in concert: “The two of us will go help!”
Only three people were left on the blankets.
Lin Dilei looked at Qi Yan, then looked at Song Fei, before suddenly directing a charming smile at the latter: “What’s your name?”
Song Fei felt an enormous sense of pressure bearing down upon him from this gorgeous smile, and subconsciously swallowed a bit: “Song Fei.”
Lin Dilei nodded, looking somewhat apologetic: “Earlier when I demanded you guys to open the door, I was a little distressed and lost control.”
Qi Yan: “You shattered the glass again?!”
Song Fei: “…”
Lin Dilei subtly raised an eyebrow: “You. What did you say?”
Qi Yan jumped to his feet: “What’s taking them so long to clean up ne, I’ll go take a look—”
Only two people were left on the blankets.
Lin Dilei placidly gazed at Song Fei without saying a word.
If this world truly had a femme fatale, Song Fei thought, then it was probably the owner of this face in front of him.
“No wonder he wouldn’t respond no matter how much I pursued him,” Lin Dilei pulled her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them, her long hair slipping to the front, projecting a semblance of sweetness.
From the moment Lin Dilei had woefully stamped her foot at Qi Yan, Song Fei had already made a rough guess of the situation. But, when he seriously thought back to the way Qi Yan had fled in panic, he felt that his ex not reciprocating Lin-guniang‘s advances, in truth, probably had nothing to do with whether he was straight or not.
“But, none of that matters anymore,” Lin Dilei’s lips suddenly twisted into a wry smile, “Now I just want to survive.”
“You stayed in the water room all by yourself for five days,” Song Fei still could hardly believe it, “Everything else will definitely turn out all right.”
Lin Dilei lowered her gaze. She was silent for a while, before she suddenly murmured, “I want to drink some hot water.”
There was a water dispenser in the office space, but once Song Fei stood in front of it, he discovered that the water jug was covered in splotches of blood. He turned back and went to the product aisles to retrieve a thermos, then rinsed it out under the faucet in the bathroom sink before filling it to the brim. He used their immersion heater to bring the water to a boil, then finally poured it into a new mug.
This came as a pleasant surprise to Lin Dilei when she accepted the proffered mug. She blew on it twice before gingerly taking a small sip, a shallow smile spreading across her face: “Brown sugar.”
Song Fei gestured with one hand dashingly: “Free of charge, whatever your heart desires.”
Lin Dilei burst into laughter, her pale face becoming a little rosier.
“Good thing you’re not straight,” she said, “Otherwise, who knows how many young ladies you’d bring to ruin.”
By the time Lin Dilei had finished drinking her cup of brown sugar water, their four comrades still had yet to return.
Although the supermarket was large, it wasn’t to the extent where they’d set off, never to return again. He took down a pillow for Lin Dilei to lean against, then went off to seek out their comrades for himself. But, when he arrived at the food section, he saw their four comrades-in-arms sitting on the ground there, in the middle of kengchi kengchi munching away.
Song Fei stalked over, boiling with rage as he snatched up the pork floss bun in Qi Yan’s hand: “You guys didn’t even come and get me!”
Song Fei’s grandest dream as a child was to open up a supermarket with a variety of snacks he could eat to his heart’s content. He wouldn’t need to fly into a tantrum to beg his mom and dad, nor would he need to cry and shout to ask for some from his grandpa and grandma.
Today, his dream had come true.
Although it was ten plus years late, it was still… awesome ah!
“The feeling of hunger is really too unbearable,” Qiao Siqi’s cheeks were already bulging, but he still emotionally proclaimed, “My biggest dream right now is to drown myself in instant noodles.”
“What puny aspirations you have,” Zhou Yilu gave a snort of contempt, “I’ll have twenty cans of luncheon meat!”
Song Fei smiled at them as he ravenously downed some AD Calcium Milk, experiencing an unprecedented sense of happiness and contentment.
Luo Geng stuffed himself halfway before he eagerly delivered some cooked instant noodles and sausages to Lin Dilei.
Lin Dilei gladly accepted it. And since no one else was around right now, she honestly spoke her mind: “You’re great, but you’re not really my cup of tea.”
Luo Geng asked: “What is your type?”
Lin Dilei chewed on her lower lip. Despite her reluctance, she still remained resolute: “Someone like Qi Yan.”
Despair spread across Luo Geng’s face: “Liking men is too difficult.”
Lin Dilei: “That’s not what I was talking about!!!”
At noon, the smog slightly dispersed. Sunlight filtered through the clouds, the sun barely peeking out from behind.
Inside this huge supermarket, the haphazardly arranged shelves with blood splatters everywhere in sight spoke volumes about the tragedy that had occurred here. But now, it was a safe haven for a few lucky survivors, a place that gave them hope for survival.
After filling their stomachs, the six of them thoroughly double-checked anything that might attract unwanted attention from the zombies, and any potential spots that ran the risk of being breached, blocking off and reinforcing everything as needed. About an hour later, they gathered together again, settling down to chat about the things that had happened over the past few days, seriously planning for the future.
“Department of Mass Comm, Broadcasting major, Lin Dilei. You guys can call me Little Landmine, da.”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“…”
“Say. Something. Ah!”
“Department of Architectural Engineering, Architecture major, Zhou Yilu!”
“Department of Foreign Languages, English major, Qiao Siqi!”
“Department of Mathematics, Mathematics and Applied Mathematics major, Luo Geng!”
“Department of History, Travel Management major, Song Fei!”
“Department of Life Sciences, Biology major, Qi Yan!”
Song Fei: “Why’d you also introduce yourself…”
Qi Yan: “Safety in numbers…”
No matter how tough Lin Dilei was, her heart would still race whenever she thought back to the incident five days ago: “I was in the water room fetching water at the time when I saw a group of people running back frantically, and mistakenly thought there was some sort of terrorist attack. Aren’t those always in the news, ma, whatever indiscriminate stabbings and campus shootings. But later, I realized that none of those were it. It was zombies.”
Song Fei was astonished: “You believed it was a zombie virus from the very beginning?”
Lin Dilei nodded: “My ex-boyfriend adored those kinds of movies. I used to always watch them with him.”
Song Fei narrowed his eyes, squinting suspiciously at Qiao Siqi.
John lamented: “I would never dream of chasing a girl this out of my league, okay…”
“Honestly, by this morning, I was already feeling pretty desperate, thinking I might as well just open the door and go out, ba, I’ll probably die sooner or later anyway. Rather than starving to death or dying of fright, why not just directly get bitten to death, and get it over and done with. Yet, I was also loath to do so. I’d held on for this long already, so why should I just give up? And that’s when I heard someone play a song on their cell phone…” Lin Dilei raised her head, her smile fading as she looked at the five of them solemnly, “Those riding white horses aren’t necessarily princes, but those that fight zombies definitely are. Thank you guys for saving me.”
Song Fei: “We’re all classmates, no need for thanks!”
Zhou Yilu: “It’s no bother.”
Qiao Siqi: “We’re men ah!”
Luo Geng: “Do you want to devote yourself in exchange?”
Qi Yan: “Don’t worry about it.”
Why did it feel like something strange got mixed in.
Author's Chapter Summary:
A warm supermarket to shelter them from the storm, a long road ahead so no need to rush!
The translator has something to say: Hello readers of ZU, I’m transcendent.wings, a maybe-new-translator-in-training. I made a lot of mistakes, but thank you phizzlepop for all of your help, suggestions, and edits. I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Fight on Luo Geng!
And as promised, the novel recommendation: Criminal Psychology
This is definitely off on a tangent, but I really liked the conversations that the characters had in this novel in general, which, to me, seemed to have a lot of profound meaning and it made all of the characters very endearing to me. And since this passage is a spoiler for the novel as the current translator is chapters away from this portion… click at your own risk!
The editor has something to say: for some, Dilei-meimei has become Dilei-jiejie. for others, well… Luo Geng… jiayou, ah…
why is the bit about pads at the beginning such a mood lol
hello there and thanks for the chapter!
im also team love at first sight. new sensation each month what’s that
Being a woman in the apocalypse would be hell
tfw characters need to use the bathroom and have periods during the zombie apocalypse… i’d be so annoyed i’d either give myself a hysterectomy or also consider just opening the door and pcing out
Yeah, specially because in almost every zombie story zombies are attracted to blood so imagine being in your period when a zombie apocalypse hit
Some facts: if stressed or shock enough, women menstrual cycle would be delayed because of hormones. I was in a minor accident before and I didn’t had my period for a month or two after. So I guess in an apocalypse, some women (if not all) could survive the initial month and buy some time for a solution.
Awww it’s so nice seening SF and QY warming up to each other and spreading dog food!! I also love how quick this is because they had a relationship before, unlike novels where they meet each other later on so it’s slow burn.
Ty for the chapter!!💜💜💜
ultimate olympic sport is using the zombie apocalypse to amass a large squad just so you can shower them with dog food… im p sure they’re gold medal winners
It’s also refreshing to see the lead be more enthusiastic about getting back together (although it seems they never broke up in the first place) without any dog-blood drama
She realized their relationship so early xD
Thank you for the chapter 💜
women’s intuition is strong in this one…
Sheesh. I would just pack the whole rack of pads away, just in case I need to leave the store and wanna be ready
Thanks for the chapter and welcome new translator <3
poor thing, may she be blessed with few days and light flow~
Thanks a lot for the welcome, I’ll continue to work hard
Luo Geng… aren’t you a bit tooooo eager? lol
Thx for the ch and welcome transcendent.wings ٩( >ヮ<)۶
luo geng: 🤡
everyone else: …
Thank you for the welcome! And isn’t Luo Geng great comedy relief?
Being a woman during the apocalypse would be so tough.
Thanks for the chapter and welcome the new translator
Thank you \^o^/ and your welcome~
And yes, I have to say that so many things would be inconvenient for women in general which is why it’s great how realistic this novel is about it
welcome to new translator 🎉🎉
Song Fei warming Qi Yan up uwu uwu uwu can’t believe I’m already getting dog food…
Thanks a lot! And I can only imagine that the dog food will get much worse further down in the story. . . I’m prepared to be stuffed for three days and three nights!
I’m on my period right now and I just know, I just know that I would not survive a zombie apocalypse on my period!! Like even right now I can’t stand up properly to get some water what more run from hundreds of zombies 😭