Translator: phizzlepop
Editor: transcendent.wings
T/N: reminder that anything in bold was originally written in English in the raws
The next two days passed by peacefully and harmoniously.
The six people spent half a day tidying up the warehouse inventory, then gathered around to take a deep dive into the campus map. But, after poring over it with a fine-tooth comb, they were still left with the same locations. Any further discussion would be pointless. Since no one could come up with anything new after a while, they simply ended their discussion.
A breakout was no doubt dangerous, but would keep them alert. Staying put seemed safe, but they’d gradually grow complacent during a drab and bland wait. It was hard to say which one was better, but currently, the six of them were indeed bored out of their minds.
On the eighth day after the zombie outbreak and their fourth day entering the supermarket, the skies transitioned from cloudy to overcast.
“We have to look for things to do ah. We’ll end up depressed if this goes on.” Song Fei really couldn’t stand it anymore, and got up to pace back and forth, racking his brains for suggestions.
“Don’t waste your energy,” Zhou Yilu snatched a stick from the Glico Pocky box in Qiao Siqi’s hand next to him, and stuck it in his mouth to nibble on, “No books, no internet, no playing cards, no mahjong tiles, and I’m sick of playing these killing games. Six bachelors like us can’t actually play Truth or Dare ba.”
Qiao Siqi hurriedly covered his remaining biscuits, warding off the hand Zhou Yilu had reached out for a second time: “Truth is still okay. How would Dare even work? Run out to fight with some zombies? Or take two bites of powdered laundry detergent?”
Luo Geng was speechless: “Things are already looking bad enough as is. How much more daring do you want us to be? Let’s not play with our lives like that.”
Zhou Yilu rubbed his chin and thought for a long time. Then, he suggested: “How about Idiom Solitaire?”
Song Fei: “…”
Qiao Siqi: “…”
Luo Geng: “…”
Lin Dilei: “We can try ah.”
Qi Yan: “I agree.”
Three against three. Although there wasn’t a majority, this was already hard enough to come by, so the game soon began—
Qiao Siqi: “Me first, me first. Berserk frenzy!”
Luo Geng: “Frenzied wind and rain! ”
Zhou Yilu: “Rain nurturing bamboo shoots!”
Song Fei: “…”
Qi Yan: “…”
Lin Dilei: “…”
—And soon came to a premature end.
Song Fei practically wanted to award Zhou Yilu a pennant embroidered with six large characters— A Silent Guardian, A Watchful Protector.
Yawning sleepily, Song Fei tapped on his phone to check the time. 12:10 in the afternoon, no wonder he was so sleepy… yi? Song Fei’s eyes widened as he checked the date on his phone again, then reacted belatedly: “Comrades, today’s Christmas Day!”
His shout energized his companions, and they took out their phones one after another to check—
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.
“Well, d*mn.”
“Pa gfjiis lr.”
“The days are really blurring together, haha.”
No one noticed that someone was currently glaring hatefully at them with a look of envy.
Hljb Vldl yla boo tjio j ralmx bo Ubmxs lc bcf ub, mtbwqlcu vbkc klat ugfja obgmf!
“Ai, last Christmas, I set up a stall in the city square to draw some sketches and portraits, so I was surrounded by a lot of single girls who’d come out with their friends for the holidays. Truly beautiful.” Zhou Yilu lay on his back, spread out across the floor, reminiscing about the past and savoring the aftertaste.
Olc Glifl kjr regqglrfv: “Tbe mjc jirb vb rxfamtfr?”
Itbe Tlie rja eq, jcv rjlv rfglberis: “P rajgafv sbecu. Dfobgf P fnfc rajgafv ublcu ab rmtbbi, P kjr obgmfv ab jaafcv jga mijrrfr.”
Lin Dilei looked Zhou Yilu up and down with incredulity: “You can play the guitar, you know how to draw, plus you went out of your way to buy a knife in Japan just so you could make Japanese food in your dorm room. Why does someone like you not have a girlfriend?”
Zhou Yilu thought long and hard, before shrugging: “I don’t know either.”
Song Fei and Qiao Siqi knew: “Because he operates on a completely different wavelength!”
Luo Geng hesitated for a long time, then quietly sidled up to Lin Dilei’s side, and mumbled: “Although I can’t draw, I can calculate derivatives…”
Lin Dilei thought for a long time, but couldn’t figure out a good way to respond, so she turned to Song Fei and the others: “What about you guys, how’d you guys spend Christmas last year?”
Qiao Siqi’s immediate answer indicated that this was something he apparently had a deep impression of: “I fansubbed a Santa Claus horror movie. Tsk, there was a huge plot twist that ruined the fairy tale, and the ending was incredibly dark. Let me think of its name…”
“No need to share its glorious name with us, thank you,” Song Fei rushed to stop him, while searching his memories for Christmas last year.
This wasn’t a memory that was too difficult to uncover. To be more precise, it was practically radiating light, lying there in plain sight as soon as Song Fei opened up his chest of memories.
Raising his head, he met Qi Yan’s gaze. He wasn’t sure if he’d just so happened to look this way, or if he’d always been looking in this direction, but some emotions were flitting through his eyes, indefinable and indescribable.
“En?” Lin Dilei was still waiting for Song Fei to answer.
Song Fei retracted his gaze and shrugged: “Went window shopping in the city, then got miserably smushed into a crowd of people.”
Lin Dilei imagined that scene for a bit. Then, either intentionally or unintentionally, she turned to Qi Yan and asked him next: “What about you, how’d you spend Christmas last year?”
Qi Yan smiled bitterly: “I lost my wallet. Chased the thief in vain.”
Lin Dilei nodded. Sure enough, this was a TV drama series.
Luo Geng had waited fruitlessly this entire time for his goddess to call upon him, but wasn’t discouraged. He simply left and brought back a bunch of Fanta Apple cans. There weren’t enough on the shelves, so he hunted more down in the warehouse, then stacked them up one by one into a half-a-person-tall conical tower. From afar, there was a mesmerizing patch of green.
Lin Dilei made a bold guess: “Christmas tree?”
Luo Geng vigorously nodded his head.
Lin Dilei burst into laughter.
Luo Geng almost passed out from happiness.
The atmosphere instantly turned festive as the oppressive dullness dissipated, holiday cheer gradually surging to take its place. The companions opened up two more packs of Chacha sunflower seeds, cut the red packaging into strips, glued them together, then draped it around the “Christmas tree” like a garland. There was red and green, both soul and spirit. Perfect.
The six of them formed a circle. Qiao Siqi had already piled up a bunch of snacks at the center. Everyone raised a can of Coke for a toast—
“Merry Christmas!”
If no one bestows light upon us on this dark night, then we’ll just light a flame for ourselves.
Eight glasses containing unequal amounts of water had been placed on the ground, arranged in order from low to high. Zhou Yilu was using the metal chopsticks he’d borrowed from Song Fei, and with a ding, got the show on the road.
Musical notes sprang out with each tap from Zhou Yilu, neither too fast nor too slow, pleasantly clear and melodious. Finally, they flowed together into a familiar melody, like snowflakes dancing in the wind, cheerful, dainty, and brimming with child-like exuberance.
Lin Dilei felt an irresistible urge to hum along: “Jingle bells, jingle bells~~ Jingle all the way~~ Oh what fun it is to ride~ In a one-horse open sleigh, hey~~~”
Song Fei couldn’t help but join in. But, after only two “jingle bells“, he really couldn’t pronounce the English words after that, and turned it into “jingle all the way”. In light of the aesthetics being ruined like this, he quickly shut up, and obediently retreated into the audience to stand alongside everyone else.
“Dashing through the snow~~ In a one-horse open sleigh~~ O’er the fields we go~~ Laughing all the way~~ Bells on bobtails ring~~”
Lin Dilei’s voice was as mellifluous as a nightingale, lively and playful when projected, gentle and warm when softened. When they closed their eyes to listen, they could almost see a small town covered in ice and snow, fireplaces crackling in each home with all of the windows brightly lit.
Just when the entire group was immersed in this dreamy holiday atmosphere, a heartrending scream cut through their Silent Night—
“Help ahhhhh!!!”
The six people shuddered in unison, this sudden turn of events bringing them back to reality.
“Help ahhhh—”
“Help—”
“Ahhhh—”
There was more than one person crying for help!
At the same time, a furious pounding sound came from the glass doors at the entrance of the supermarket!
The six of them didn’t dare to delay anymore, and sprang to their feet, sprinting straight for the front door as though they were doing the 100-meter dash!
Qiao Siqi took the lead, arriving there first and pushing at the shelf blocking the door without any hesitation. Soon afterwards, Qi Yan arrived before he’d finished moving it out of the way, reaching through the existing gap to draw the curtains!
They were greeted by the impressive sight of a stampede of tall, burly male students!
They couldn’t tell how many of them there were. When the closest student whose face was practically pasted against the door saw them, he slapped, no, practically almost broke down the door out of desperation!
For a time, the sounds of pounding on the door and cries for help were deafening!
Song Fei arrived next. The keys to the seven or eight locks there were all on him, but there were too many students outside, while there were even more zombies chasing them from behind. While Song Fei was taking out the keys, another two students were dragged away by the zombies in front of him.
“Head for the roof—” Qi Yan suddenly yelled through the crack between the doors, “They can’t climb up, hurry onto the roof!”
If they really waited for those seven locks to be opened one by one, there probably wouldn’t be any bones left of them on the other side of the door!
Some more quick-witted students reacted first and immediately ran to either side of the building. Owing to the boundless power of having a role model, within two seconds, the students gathered in front of the door scattered like mice. Maybe through pyramid-stacking or maybe through bare-handed climbing, either way, they’d definitely gone off to demonstrate their prowess.
The six people also hurried to the back, bypassing the bathrooms with tacit understanding. All of them gathered underneath the ventilation window that Qi Yan had climbed through— the bathroom window was too low. Once the zombies heard the sounds and gathered around, the consequences would be disastrous.
Qi Yan climbed to the top of the iron shelf, opening the ventilation window and shouting to the roof: “Over here, come through this window—”
Soon, the first student was helped inside.
Afterwards, Luo Geng also climbed up and assisted Qi Yan with this. Approximately ten minutes later, a total of 17 classmates were rescued.
Once everyone had safely settled on the ground, the six of them discovered that although these people were dressed differently, a majority of them were in sportswear. These boys ranged from short to tall in height, and from slender to stocky in build, but every single one of them was oozing with testosterone in an overpowering wave that assaulted the senses. There was a stark contrast in their temperament from that of ordinary students. It’d be obvious with one of them, much less with seventeen.
“Athletics department?” Qi Yan locked the window, then jumped down from the shelf.
“En. We really couldn’t go on anymore, so we just went for it. I thought we were dead meat, I was so scared my legs went weak. Thank f*ck we have some good luck.” The one speaking was a student about the same height as Qi Yan, but looked more burly and robust. He was wearing a gray tracksuit and a loose-fitting, long black down jacket on top, left hanging open unzipped. “You guys are pretty good at finding a spot ah. Everyone’s about ready to eat each other in the dormitories. F*ck!”
While this guy was here talking with Qi Yan, the other dozen-or-so of them had long since scattered. Judging by the direction, all of them were rushing towards the food area.
Qi Yan had wanted to ask him a few more questions. But, once that person noticed that the others had disappeared without a trace, he didn’t bother paying him anymore attention, also turning to run in that direction: “D*mn, save some for me—”
From start to finish, barely half a minute had passed by with no more than two sentences in their exchange. The six people exchanged looks, all of them a bit taken aback.
Qiao Siqi: “What’s going on ah?”
Zhou Yilu: “They’re probably starving ba.”
Luo Geng: “Even so, they should still thank us, ah. We saved their lives!”
Lin Dilei: “Forget it, let’s be more understanding ba.”
Qi Yan also wasn’t feeling too pleased. He’d originally wanted to ask for that person’s name, but now couldn’t be bothered. As he frowned, his gaze naturally swept past Song Fei, and he found that his brow was furrowed, his expression appearing grave. Apparently, he was deep in thought about something.
Qi Yan lightly nudged him with his elbow: “What’s wrong?”
Song Fei slowly looked over at him, his expression unexpectedly serious for once without the slightest hint of his usual expressiveness: “When they were smacking on the door, how many people were there?”
Qi Yan shook his head. He only knew: “Definitely more than now.”
Song Fei: “When classmates you know die, shouldn’t you be sad?”
Qi Yan thought for a moment, then said, “Perhaps it hasn’t hit them yet?”
Song Fei couldn’t think of anything else, so he had to give up: “Maybe ba.”
Hunger and fear could temporarily cause people to act abnormally. The six companions empathized with them and could understand, so when they walked back to their spot and found that their Christmas tree had been knocked down, while Zhou Yilu’s “musical instrument” had been kicked aside, they didn’t make a fuss about it.
It was a bit unfortunate that their Christmas festivities had been interrupted, but they’d been able to save seventeen lives. How could this not be a most wonderful Christmas.
Author's Chapter Summary: A zombie ambush on a Christmas night, Happy Holidays while making the best of it!
The translator has something to say: putting my vote down for not-wonderful Christmas. Has anyone else noticed how perceptive our bby Sunflower usually is when it comes to reading other ppl?
The editor has something to say: Our bby Sunflower strikes again with his social perceptiveness. Something is definitely off if they know that people they know have lost their lives and the first thing they do is fill their stomachs (I think I’d be too nauseous to eat). I fear dark and turbulent waves will destroy the tranquility in this once peaceful supermarket safe haven. . .
Thank you for the chapter!
thanks for reading! <3
Listen, Song Fei doesn’t need to suffer more. so as long as y’all behave, we shall welcome you.
thanks for the chapter <3
I agree, but unfortunately a flag was raised here
:0 So many… I have a bad feeling about their attitudes tho;;;;
I have a bad feeling with this students and i’m not so sure if that someone who is glaring hatefully at them with envy is one of those people 🤔
Cough wasn’t that QSQ?
I have a bad feeling about this new group of students
Thanks for the chapter
You’re welcome, and indeed there are many suspicious points with how they present themselves
“The days are really blurring together, haha.” Why do I know that feel too good? xDD
Happy times are over. Now there are those ‘gorillas’ and ‘alphas’, I bet the shit starts flying soon.
Thx for the ch ٩( >ヮ<)۶
Thank you for the chapter 💜
As cruel as I may sound but I think they shouldn’t have saved them, a lot of other apocalypse novel have taught me to never let a bunch of people into your safe haven when they can easily overpower you and more when you have limited supplies and women with you
I have a bad feeling..
Thank you for the chapter ☺️