Translator: transcendentwings
The moon was dark and the wind gusts were frequent. The base of the back wall at the Express Pickup Point.
Zhao He, Feng Qibai, and Wu Zhou laid the foundation, Qi Yan and Zhou Yilu stepped on the shoulders of the three to form the second layer. At this time, the two of them joined forces and were trying to levy Qiao Siqi up.
“You can’t just think of relying on us, you also have to provide some force yourself ah!” Zhou Yilu didn’t dare to exclaim too loudly and could only squeeze it out through his teeth in utter exasperation.
“I am using force ah!” Qiao Siqi even had the heart to die. The 321 pyramid formation wasn’t an issue, but he didn’t heroically volunteer to be that 1. After all, just because he was light didn’t mean he should be relegated to do something that exceeded his abilities ah!
“He really did try using force, don’t ask me how I know that.” Zhao He lifted his head to look at the sky, his eyes full of desolation while the faint pattern of a sole printed on the side of his face depicted a different kind of hazy beauty in the moonlight.
Qiao Siqi, who was kicking about wildly, finally stepped onto Zhao He’s shoulder. After reaching the same height as Qi Yan and Zhou Yilu, the two could finally transition from yanking him by his arms to pushing him by his feet, thus the process of having him step onto Zhou Yilu’s shoulders was much easier. After standing on Zhou Yilu’s shoulders, the height of the roof transitioned from being unreachable to barely reaching waist-height. Qiao-tongxue hoisted himself over with his two arms then straddled the edge before effortlessly vaulting over it.
With someone standing by at a commanding height to receive the rest, the efficiency of getting to the top of the structure became much faster. Without much effort, all nine people successfully reached the roof.
“This is colored-steel tile roofing, try to step in the center, don’t step on the edges.” Zhou Yilu reminded.
The leg Zhao He raised, froze in the air, and after he steeled himself, he carefully avoided the edges as he stepped on the middle of the tiles.
As the weight of his entire body shifted to that foot, he could clearly feel his sole gradually sinking down. . .
The slightly thin roof material made crisp, fragile sounds when everyone shuffled across it. Song Fei originally only wanted to look backwards to see if all his companions were keeping pace behind him when he happened to witness a figure slowly falling down.
“Are you planning to crawl forward?” Song Fei made a face and watched as Zhao He laid completely prone. This warrior was using his elbow as a fulcrum and was inching forward bit by bit as if there was a bunker before him waiting for him to blast it sky high.
“I’m tired. I’ll save some energy if I advance like this, you have something to say about it?” Zhao He raised his chin defiantly.
Song Fei squatted down and rubbed his bald head: “Whatever makes you happy.”
Zhao He felt a chill and lifted a hand to swat him directly.
Song Fei anticipated it from the start and quickly withdrew his hand.
Pa.
Zhao He’s hand that could palm a basketball single-handedly, slapped the crown of his own head just like that.
Song Fei was so smug that flowers bloomed around him, but who knew that the moment he turned around again, he would catch sight of Qi Yan frowning at him from the side, an expression of hating iron for not becoming steel.
Song Fei shrunk his neck. Knowing that he had made a mistake again. He rapidly lowered his head and displayed a good attitude showing that he knew that he was wrong—this was a conditioned reflex that he disliked very much, but was unfortunately already deeply rooted.
“At such a dangerous time, can’t you be more serious.” Qi Yan criticized very fluidly. The slap wasn’t very loud, but Song Fei admitted his errors and naturally needed to cooperate in rectifying the problematic actions.
“Okay, yes, I will.” Song Fei agreed naturally. Only after he spoke did he react, d*mn, the two of them already had no relations, why should he still act more humbly and tolerantly ah.
However, aside from the attitude issue, Qi Yan’s criticism wasn’t wrong. It really wasn’t suitable to pull pranks at this time.
But—
Song Fei spread out his hands, palms facing up, and stared at them for a good while before he sincerely suggested to Qi Yan as he savored the aftertaste: “You can try touching it next time, it feels really good.”
Zhao He: “Scram!”
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.
Qi Yan: “. . .”
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So Song Fei actually liked this style?
What if, he tried shaving all of his hair off too?
But now it was the middle of winter, it would be really cold without any hair ah. . .
Under the bright half-moon, Qi-tongxue fell into a deep, fretful anxiety.
John, who was as light as a swallow, was the first to walk over to the spot directly above the front door. He swiftly laid down, grabbed the eaves, probed his head out and shouted towards the door down below: “Attention all zombies inside, you’ve already been surrounded, those who are sensible quickly come out and surrender—”
The zombies most likely couldn’t comprehend human words anymore.
So the effect of Qiao Siqi’s hollering was basically equivalent to singing.
There were no street lights in the area around the Express Pickup Point, and the Express Pickup Point was also shrouded in darkness. Under the faint moonlight, the pitch black doorway seemed gaping, serene, and hazy.
As Qiao Siqi’s voice dissipated, everyone was already next to each other, lying neatly along the edge of the roof.
There were no noises by the threshold, all was very quiet.
“There are no more zombies inside?” Qiao Siqi muttered to himself, not quite certain.
This was a remote location. The last time they visited was during the day, so there weren’t many zombies. Now that it was already night time and they’ve already slaughtered four that had run out from here, it wouldn’t be strange even if it was currently empty inside.
“Let me try.” Song Fei volunteered bravely and struck again, “Beloved maiden, you have to listen to me~~ Back then I was also a handsome guy~~ It’s just that the years are ruthless and have ruined me~~ My heart will always be the most beautiful~~”
Still, no movement.
The Wusheng classmates looked at each other and nodded in unison: “En, really all clear.”
—If there was only one thing left in this world that could pull the zombie’s aggro, then it had to be Song Fei’s songs.
Zhao He and Qi Yan leapt down first and quietly approached the doorway from the wall on both sides, while the remaining seven stayed on the roof.
Soon, the two arrived to the left and right of the entranceway. Qi Yan signaled Zhao He with his eyes and the latter indicated that he understood. As such, Qi Yan used his fingers to cue one, two, three, and the two of them took a step simultaneously then whipped around swiftly. This stride brought them to a position a step away from the threshold of the door and then Qi Yan switched his flashlight on with a pa at the same time!
The bright light instantly illuminated the entire entryway. Due to the protective goggles, Qi Yan and Zhao He weren’t blinded by the brilliant light so they could see the zombies that were inside distinctly under the strong beam!
However, the zombie moved faster than them and almost at the exact moment the flashlight lit up, the zombie lunged forward!
Zhao He, whose body reacted faster than his mind, pierced the zombie through the right eye with his military-style blade. Taking advantage of the momentum, he shoved the zombie back violently into the middle of the entrance, blocking the few zombies that were charging outwards behind it at the same time!
The zombies were knocked over onto the ground, and the backmost two even directly fell backwards with all their limbs hanging in the air!
“A total of six!” The moment Zhao He stabbed the first zombie, Qi Yan had come around and tallied up the number of enemies as rapidly as he could.
Song Fei jumped down with a word. Zhou Yilu, Wu Zhou, Yu Zisheng, and Feng Qibai also dropped to the ground along with him.
“You two don’t move, just remain as reserve forces on the roof!” Song Fei raised his head and ordered He Zhiwen and Qiao Siqi after he reached the ground.
The two who hadn’t yet acted, nodded in agreement: “That’s what we were thinking as well.”
Maybe it was because it was no longer necessary to conceal themselves, but the zombies that climbed to their feet again finally dashed out, restoring their ferocious nature of sinking their teeth into whomever blocked their way no matter if it was a human being or Buddha.
Seven against six, adding on the fact that Zhao He was already engaged with one and that the battlefield was a vast open space suitable for the companions to move with ease, the skirmish this time around wasn’t too difficult.
However, the deep-seated reasons behind this clash was scary to think about.
“They were already aware that we were creating a diversion.” Zhou Yilu looked solemn, “So no matter whether Qiao Siqi was shouting or Song Fei was singing, they still hid themselves and didn’t come out.”
Qi Yan lowered his gaze and concluded after a brief silence: “They aren’t the same as we initially conjectured. Their IQ hasn’t been completely lost, rather it was only maintained at a relatively low level.”
Zhou Yilu: “Seeing through our baiting and knowing to keep themselves out of sight to wait for us to fall right into their trap ourselves is considered having low IQ?”
“It depends on what your standards are,” Qi Yan gave an example to explain, “Some cats and dogs know to feign innocence when they’ve done something wrong. If you think that is considered a high IQ, then you can ignore everything I said just now.”
“. . .” Zhou Yilu took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, so that he could continue this conversation calmly: “Did you know that your attitude of ‘I’ve already said what should’ve been said, whether or not you understand it, is your problem’ is very unpleasant?”
Qi Yan was stunned and judging by his slightly embarrassed and apologetic expression, he really didn’t realize it.
Song Fei tugged Zhou Yilu over and grasped his hand: “I know!”
The lights in the Express Pickup Point finally came on, and the room became fully illuminated.
Qiao Siqi and He Zhiwen were still in charge of guarding their post. If anything, they were quite comfortable in their prone positions and could even occasionally exchange amusing anecdotes about their respective professional fields. For example, Qiao-tongxue presented to He-tongxue a literary film that perfectly incorporated zombies “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies”, while He-tongxue analyzed the difference between zombies and Jiangshi from a physics perspective.
In the room, the most exciting activity in history—tearing open packages together was in full swing again like tea steeped in boiling water.
Zhao He: “Men’s style UGG!”
Zhou Yilu: “Imported honey!”
Feng Qibai: “Raw chocolate.”
Song Fei: “Beauty steamer. . .”
Feng Qibai: “Adhesive heat plasters!”
Zhou Yilu: “Coral fleece pajamas!”
Wu Zhou: “Goji berries.”
Song Fei: “Play-doh. . .”
“Song Fei?” Qi Yan looked at him in confusion as he put down the cardboard box and walked out.
“I’ll keep watch by the door, you guys continue.” Song Fei gazed at the heavens and the stars, suspecting that he had a bad karmic reputation with express packages.
Qi Yan shrugged. After all, the main purpose of this trip was to develop teamwork. They didn’t expect to uncover any pleasant surprises at the Express Pickup Point since the beginning, thus it didn’t really matter if there was one more laborer or one less.
Retrieving his gaze, Qi Yan continued to take courier boxes down from the shelf, but kept an eye on Yu Zisheng every now and then through his peripheral vision.
There was nothing unusual about him so far. If he found something useful, he’d keep it and he discarded them when they were useless. He didn’t deliberately try to saddle up to anyone from the Wusheng classes, but also didn’t act alone. He basically was just reducing his sense of existence to the lowest level possible.
Qi Yan didn’t know if this type of balance was good or bad, but there was always a tense chord in his mind that he didn’t dare to relax.
A rectangular express package was taken down. Qi Yan used a knife to cut the tape and opened it. Encased inside was an equally rectangular gift box. The outline of the present was slightly smaller than the express box and at first glance it was meticulously wrapped with bubble wrap, making it fit perfectly in the express parcel.
After slashing open the bubble wrap, a blue gift box was finally revealed. It was a very stunning navy blue, like the clear night sky or like fine blue velvet. Removing the lid of the gift box, a black wallet laid serenely in the nest of aquamarine raffia straw filler.
There was also a card weighed underneath the wallet.
Qi Yan was compelled to pull it out as if magic was at work. The handwriting on it was neat and exquisite—[Husband, happy birthday! Remember, I will accompany you on your every birthday in the future yo, the tomboy who will always love you!]
Apparently, this was a birthday present from a certain lively, boisterous girl to her boyfriend.
Yet for a moment, Qi Yan had a subtle sense of a twist in time and space. It was as if he was currently his self that was in the dormitories a year ago when he opened an express package in utter confusion where a wallet was nestled in layers of old newspapers used for shock prevention.
It was Christmas a week ago when he was forcibly dragged by Song Fei to go shopping in the city. As a result of them wandering on the streets where the pedestrians were like a flood, he had only walked around for a short while when his wallet was stolen by someone. At the time, he had reacted instantly and even caught the silhouette of the thief, but unfortunately it was so crowded that after chasing after the thief a few steps, they still got away cleanly.
In the final analysis, the culprit was Song Fei because when the other party proposed to come to the urban commercial shopping district to stroll around aimlessly, he had warned that there would definitely be a lot of people. In the end, he was dragged over against his will and had even sacrificed a wallet. But Song Fei didn’t think so. He retorted defiantly, insisting that it was him who didn’t keep a firm hold on his wealth, basically speaking fallaciously.
They quarreled more intensely than the festive atmosphere and in the end they still had to walk back together side by side—The bus had already stopped running, and most taxis were reluctant to head to the suburbs as driving an empty taxi back for the return trip wasn’t worth the trouble, so they’d rather refuse the business. In the end, they eventually headed all the way back while continuing to flag down a taxi in vain.
It was unknown if it was for the occasion, but after walking a kilometer, snowflakes unexpectedly started to drift in the sky.
The two who were in a cold war were taken aback.
“It’s snowing.” Song Fei was first to break the silence with a low voice.
Qi Yan agreed with an “en”, nearly murmuring.
Song Fei squinted his eyes and thought for a while, then he suddenly fished his phone out and started to fiddle around with it.
Qi Yan turned his face away and deliberately didn’t try to take a peek over his shoulder.
Unexpectedly, the cell phone in his own pocket rang soon after with a WeChat notification.
Qi Yan took out his phone suspiciously and found that Song Fei had sent him a picture. Tapping on the image to enlarge it, it was a long, snowy street where a couple was making their way forward while holding hands, leaving only an intimate silhouette in the heavy snow for any onlookers.
There was a line at the bottom of the it—If we keep going on like this, isn’t it possible to be able to grow old together?
Qi Yan didn’t know what nonsensical things Song Fei usually browsed on the internet, that he’d be able to find such a fitting picture so quickly. Furthermore, he really felt that this sentence was very cliché and contrived.
Yet his body didn’t listen to his brain as he forcibly hugged the other and kissed him passionately in the dark.
If he could, he wanted to squeeze this wayward b*stard tightly into his embrace until they were melded together.
However much Song Fei didn’t like studying, was however much he was proficient at teasing others. This aspect of his made Qi Yan love and hate him at the same time.
And so when he received the parcel without warning a week later, rummaging through the pile of old newspapers to uncover a wallet and card, he stopped putting up a struggle against his heart. When he was angry, he only focused to his vexation and explosive frustration, when he was happy, he fixated solely on the joy that practically blossomed with flowers. Getting mixed up with Song Fei meant that his mood would hitch a ride on a roller coaster and he had already accepted that.
On the card, the handwriting was lively and flamboyant, wild and unrestrained—[Handsome, the wallet has been replaced for you, the money won’t be. Even if I gave it to you, you can’t accept it. Come, give me a kiss!]
Until now, Qi Yan still remembered that there was no one else in the dormitory at that time, but he still crouched down quietly and then secretly kissed that piece of paper with a foolish smile adorning his face.
Author’s Chapter Summary
Crazily tearing packages open without fear, others eat dirt while I live with cheer!
The translator has something to say: I like how our author-dada also visually lowered YZS’s existence by barely mentioning him throughout (and he didn’t even speak in this chapter with his glib tongue), in fact he was only brought up twice and the first was halfway through the chapter
On a side note: it’s funny how both the ZU and VOB chapters mentioned shaving one’s hair off, speaking of, sometimes I really don’t get what goes on in QY’s head. . .
China also has adhesive cold plasters for fevers
has various health benefits such as protecting the eyes, immune system support, healthy skin, stabilizes blood sugar levels, improves sleep and anxiety, prevents liver damage, protects the liver, and high antioxidant levels. It’s often used to steep tea
QY was and still is such a twat. Song Fei deserved so much better.
thanks for the chapter <3
I don’t know about you but personally I have never had a perfect relationship. So if my boyfriend does something bad I’ll get angry but if I see that he’s trying to change so hard I’ll forgive him. Cause I’m not perfect either and I make just as many mistakes.
You say that Song Fei deserves better but I don’t think there’s someone better for him that Qi Yan. You should look positively and you will find out that they both have a great understanding between them that even married couples don’t.
(◕ᴗ◕✿)
I dont remember all the details about their relationship (or the story in general). I do remember that he put him down a lot. and for me, that is unforgivable.
Thanks for the chapter ~