Translator: transcendentwings
The following day, the fourteen companions began to pack their bags, clean their weapons, equip what they should bring, and keep what they should.
The radio was still on after all this time, there was enough power in the batteries after all, besides it was pretty much treated as background noise for the majority of the time these past few days.
The class from the chemistry department and the new students quietly watched the Wusheng class bustle about under the noisy broadcast repeating roughly the same content over and over again. There was no expression on their faces and they seemed to be very calm, but their eyes were unwilling to budge from the Wusheng class, as if they could draw even just a bit more strength by just laying eyes on them.
Even if they didn’t know when this power could be condensed into unwavering courage.
Huang Mo and Lin Dilei were organizing the suitcases. Most of the space was used to store warm clothes while a small part was allocated for pan-fried pancakes and jerky. They called them pancakes, but they were actually more similar to naan. Huang Mo had proposed to make them in order to dry out the moisture as much as possible so that they could maximize shelf life and be stored as dried rations. The same principle applied to the jerky. They selected pork and beef, cut them into strips, boiled them then drained the water, and finally stir-fried them in oil, salt, cumin, etc, until the water content in them dried up. A minimalistic volume providing the maximal energy, its main purpose was to stave off hunger, while still taking into account flavor and aroma.
The comrades also designated some space for the pancakes and jerky that were in their backpacks, but even more space was still saved to store bottled water, various tools, and other miscellaneous items.
When it came to tools and items, everyone had their specialities such as the flashlight that had been basically exclusive to Qi Yan, Zhao He’s triangle instrument, Feng Qibai’s xiao, He Zhiwen’s remote aircraft; though there were also hot cakes such as ropes and cell phone chargers. Song Fei and Lin Dilei even reclaimed the rope that was tied to the door handle on the roof and replaced it with a substitute made of multiple plastic bags twisted together—Although it wasn’t as strong as a real rope, under the countless turns from it being winded together, as long as the zombies didn’t go crazy, it wouldn’t be easy for them to unravel it.
As for the rope that dangled down from the rooftop, because the two of them still had to use it to climb down, it couldn’t be recycled, so they just let it go. It could also be considered an extra route the chemistry class and the new students who chose to remain could take—In case of an emergency in the future at this kitchen, at least they could scale to the roof and make further plans there.
While Huang Mo and Lin Dilei prepped the dry provisions, whether it was the removal of meat from the freezer or retrieving flour from the warehouse, neither the chemistry class nor the new students made any objections. This surprised Huang Mo. You must know that this was the rations for fourteen people, even if it were only stocked for a few days worth, it was still a considerable amount.
Huang Mo had even drafted a persuasion stratagem consisting of a mix of reason and emotion in order to deal with any possible protests. After all, the more dehydrated foods they took away meant less food that would remain for them.
Yet not to mention complaints, not even a grumble could be heard.
When she and Lin Dilei finished these tasks, spread them out to cool down, and started to pack them up, Wang Shan had even asked, “Is that enough?”
Lin Dilei didn’t have the fastidious thoughtfulness Huang Mo possessed and so upon hearing this inquiry, she immediately answered, “Any more and we wouldn’t be able to carry it all la.”
Wang Shan didn’t expect this answer and didn’t know whether he should cry or laugh.
Huang Mo also joked, “I was afraid that you would think that we’d be taking too much ne.”
Wang Shan was taken aback, then without even thinking about it, he blurted, “How could that be possible.”
Huang Mo was also a little surprised. She and the other party didn’t seem to be on the same channel and could only explain, “After all, this is a state where just sitting and eating can deplete even a mountain of food. The more we take away, the less would be left for you.”
Wang Shan was abruptly enlightened and quickly shook his head with a wry smile. “If rescue doesn’t arrive, it is useless to have so many things here anyway. Assuming that rescue does eventually come, if we starve for a few days then that’s just how it’ll be. Besides, the amount that you are taking away, isn’t even enough to last us for a bit.”
Indeed, the rations for fourteen people split among forty-three would only speed up the consumption rate by three times.
Huang Mo understood Wang Shan’s train of thought, thinking that the conversation would just end there, but unexpectedly the other party pondered for a moment, then spoke again.
He refuted, “Why don’t you think in the reverse, when you leave, the canteen will lose fourteen mouths to feed. In the long run, you’d be leaving us more food instead.”
When Wang Shan said this, he did so word by word, loud and clear, with such a serious and earnest expression, making Lin Dilei, who originally wanted to tease him not make a mountain out of a molehill like this, hesitate, and ultimately didn’t dare to speak further.
“Don’t always consider things from other people’s point of view. Acting like a living Lei Feng wasn’t the trend these days. Who knows whether one would fall into a trap instead!”
Someone among the new classmates exclaimed this sentence laced with a bit of gloom, a little helplessness, and a hint of complaint, but it was mostly filled with awkward goodwill.
Huang Mo and Lin Dilei exchanged a look, their brow crinkled with joy in unison.
By the evening, the companions had basically packed their bags. Only Zhao He and Li Jingyu were still struggling with their weapons.
Zhao He was actually not in too poor of a state, he just fell in love with Luo Geng’s military-style blade, too bad that this kind of thing was probably exclusive to Luo-tongxue alone among the many people on campus. Thus under Song Fei’s suggestion, he settled for the next best thing and used a whetstone to sharpen metal chopsticks he pilfered from the second level. Now it was just a matter of perseverance in leading to the success of grinding even an iron rod into a needle, only that this brawny man still needed to work hard for a while to achieve that goal.
Li Jingyu’s was slightly more difficult to deal with—What he had in mind was the cast iron pot.
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.
Ever since he had bashed the zombie in a fit of anger last time, Li Jingyu developed lingering sentiments towards this heavy weapon and felt that only with such a divine item in his hand could he stimulate his little universe.
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So he was suspended in a state of not being able to carry it, but also unable to let it go. It caused Li Jingyu to be at such a loss and also tortured the Wusheng class.
In the end, Song Fei had a sudden inspiration and took the spatula from the pot that Li Jingyu had fought side by side with and stuffed it into the other’s hand. Bestowing a glorified name, the spatula at hand, the giant pot is in command, its temperament is intertwined, the spirit is eternal.
Li Jingyu’s eyes lit up, he accepted it readily and soon waved it in the air like a dance to cultivate a tacit understanding as a trusted partner in battle.
After Zhao He finished sharpening his chopsticks, it was almost eight o’clock in the evening.
The fourteen well-equipped companions communicated silently with their eyes until their gazes ultimately fell upon Song Fei in unison.
It wasn’t convenient to speak up so Song Fei could only signal with his eyes—Why me?!
The thirteen companions spread their hands in a coordinated movement and even the look of begging for a beating was carved out of one mold—You have the least shame.
Song Fei dawdled for a long time, then finally gritted his teeth, picked up the grocery bag on the ground, turned around and strode towards the chemistry class and their new classmates.
At this time, the two groups of people were no longer so distinct. To be precise, they had gradually merged during the daytime. The Wusheng class were aware that they did so in order to free up more space for them to busy about. Whether it was cooking or tidying up, it made it more convenient for them to bustle around. However, now that they had finished cleaning up and were ready to leave, they realized that the radio was also situated within the place the two classes chose to huddle.
Of course this coincidence had nothing to do with the chemistry class and newcomer class as the radio had originally been broadcasting on the shelf closest to the newcomer class for the past few days and was still there at this moment, the only difference was that next to the newcomer class, there was an added thirteen youths of the chemistry department.
And now, Song Fei needed to take it away under the scrutiny of forty-three pairs of eyes.
What kind of comrade would arrange such a task to another fellow comrade, they weren’t humane ah!!!
The roar exploded in his heart, just like the endless fluttering ceremonial flowers during festivals, bursting with a pengpeng until Song Fei was completely dazed.
But his feet already brought him before the forty-three people.
The sound of the broadcast was still playing over their heads, Song Fei forced himself not to look at everyone’s expression and swiftly scooped up the radio before turning it off at the speed of light.
The kitchen was instantly dunked into dead silence.
Song Fei ultimately couldn’t resist and turned his head to peer back at the forty-three of them.
Yet only taking this one look made him regret it instantly.
Even if he were mentally prepared, the feeling of watching the light in other people’s eyes go out was still hard for Song Fei to handle.
However this wasn’t a personal matter, Song Fei tried his best to disregard the stifling emotion in his heart as he carried the radio back and stuffed it into Zhao He’s arms.
Zhao He caught it but was also caught off guard.
Song Fei frowned, he didn’t have anything to say to the chemistry class and the newcomers but he did have words to say to Zhao He: “What’s that expression supposed to mean, haven’t you been the one holding onto it this entire time?”
Zhao He seemed to want to give a rebuttal, but opened his mouth several times yet couldn’t find the right words. In the end, he could only sigh heavily and hug the radio somewhat unwillingly.
Song Fei noticed that he still had a bag of miscellaneous items in his hand and realized that he had just been preoccupied with forcibly taking the radio away and had completely thrown this matter to the back of his head.
Quickly swiveling back around, he returned to the chemistry class and the newcomers class, crouched down and started to unearth each item one at a time: “Honey, goji berries, beauty tools. . . We got all of these from the Express Pickup Point and left them all in a box this entire time, forgetting about it. It’ll be inconvenient to take with us, so we’ll be leaving it for you, letting you profit from it. . .”
He subconsciously wanted to blunt the atmosphere caused by the removal of the radio so Song Fei tried his best in order to make his tone sound cordial and lively. However he still didn’t dare to lift his head, let alone make eye contact.
Wang Shan snorted in laughter.
Song Fei was surprised, before he could raise his face, he heard Wang Shan scoff with derision: “Who the hell wants your modeling clay.”
Song Fei had been moving mechanically when he took things out, and was still preoccupied with thoughts about the matter with the radio so he hadn’t taken note of what he had been taking out. After being scolded by Wang Shan, he took a closer look, low and behold, there was a small container of modeling clay as colorful and vibrant as could be.
Song Fei was also amused.
The spoils from the second Express Pickup Point run weren’t sorted out and had just been thrown all together, as such they had forgotten to sort them.
“Be content ba,” Song Fei finally dared to look Wang Shan in the eye, “We didn’t bring back the civil servant’s examination for you.”
Wang Shan chuckled and gave him a look: “Hurry up and scram ba.”
Sometimes, the literal meaning of words was never just what was on the surface.
There were thousands of twists and turns hidden underneath. The speaker needless to say, and the listener also understood.
Turning around again, he returned to the Wusheng class. Song Fei pondered for a while and finally declared lightly: “Let’s go ba.”
He originally assumed that his companions were waiting for this command of his when, yet when he finally made up his mind and opened his mouth, the twenty-six legs of the other members didn’t even budge.
Everyone looked past him, gazing in the direction he had been not too long ago.
The expression on everyone’s faces was calm, but there was an inexplicable glint in their eyes.
Song Fei’s heart trembled as he peered back slowly.
Wang Shan and many students of the chemistry class and the newcomer class just stared at them, as if they would watch them fixedly until they left. Whereas a small group of students were not staring at them, but at the radio. One of them was already unable to hold back as he blurted out “ra”, he was sharply kicked by the hulking classmate that had been entangled with Song Fei in the warehouse earlier.
That kick was so solid that the one who made the sound didn’t dare make another peep.
“If you’re going to leave then hurry up, or else are you waiting for us to escort you a thousand miles ah.” The male classmate who booted the other seemed as if he hadn’t finish venting his anger, fierce as could be.
But Song Fei couldn’t bring himself to become riled up.
Not only was he not irate, but he also felt quite sad in his heart.
“I have a suggestion,” Huang Mo interjected abruptly, her voice was so low that even the Wusheng class couldn’t hear her unless they drew in close. She didn’t possess her usual calmness at all and was rather hesitant, “Uh, I’ll just speak casually, if you don’t want to listen, then pretend that I didn’t say anything. . .”
“Let me interrupt first!” Zhao He cut in impatiently before Huang Mo could continue, his chest puffed out as he squeezed the radio into the pocket of space in the middle of his circle of companions, “Do we really have to bring this thing with us? It’s a mass of dead weight. After all, we already know that the motherland is working hard, they are regaining lost ground every day, getting the virus under control, restoring the heating, air dropping rations and supplies, even if we listened to it more, we wouldn’t be able to sound out any more splashes. . .”
The radio was placed on the ground with a slap, Zhao He simply dropped his load on the floor, letting his actions speak for themselves.
“It’s fine if we definitely have to take it with us, at any rate, I won’t do it, whoever would like to can do so. . . Alright, I’ll only be saying so much, Huang Mo you can continue.”
Huang Mo couldn’t help laughing: “You’re already said what I wanted to say.”
“Ah?” Zhao He didn’t comprehend.
However it didn’t prevent the rest of the comrades-in-arms from affirming his grand idea.
Qi Yan: “It’s indeed a tire broadcast.”
Wang Qingyuan: “And it will greatly affect the speed of our advance.”
Song Fei: “Even if we wanted to listen to it in two days, we could just procure another radio from the urban center. Perhaps everyone there already has one and we could just tune in.”
Feng Qibai: “Then we’ll just abandon it here?”
He Zhiwen: “Toss ba.”
Luo Geng: “I represent the remaining people, get rid of it.”
Qiao Siqi: “Who let you represent the rest of us!”
Lin Dilei: “You don’t agree?”
Qiao Siqi: “That’s not true, I just want to remind everyone to look carefully the next time you look in a mirror. Each and every one of us counts as an individual, a holy light is guaranteed to shine from behind us.”
Zhou Yilu: “You don’t mean good looking?”
Qiao Siqi: “I’m about to fall in love with myself again.”
The Wusheng class companions delivered the radio back to the forty-three others while the latter gaped at them as if they were facing the mentally ill.
Either that or it was the gaze that meant they were willing to block a blade for you.
Some of them even burst into tears directly, it was inexplicable why their emotions were so delicate despite being a mass of masculinity.
On this side, Huang Mo was patiently reminding them to save as much battery as possible and not to use it as liberally as they have been in the past few days. However, there had been newcomers after all at that time so they couldn’t not play it and be stingy and such. On that side, Song Fei turned on the radio again, just in time for the news to start from the beginning again on the dot. He held up his cell phone to record the audio for fifteen minutes.
Finally, when he thought it was about time and tapped on the stop recording function, Song Fei realized that Qi Yan was staring at him.
“In case of emergencies.” Song Fei raised an eyebrow and slipped the phone back into his pocket.
Qi Yan nodded approvingly: “Clever.”
Song Fei was stunned then saddled over in the next second: “Say that again!”
Qi Yan blinked blankly: “Smart?”
Song Fei: “You were clearly being affirmative earlier!”
Qi Yan finally got it and smiled as he ruffled Song Fei’s hair, while he refused to utter that word of praise again no matter what.
The chemistry class and the newcomers class off to the side no longer knew how to express their feelings. Those who were crying were still wailing, those who weren’t shedding tears were sincerely grateful. They were thanking them so much that the Wusheng class didn’t know how to accept them anymore. With the posture they demonstrated, if there was an altar, they’d be worshipping them upon it by now.
“That’s about enough of that now—”
Song Fei shouted loudly, making the kitchen quiet down in an instant.
“Everyone is a part of the same university, there is no need for this!”
Song Fei’s exclamation was so sincere that those who heard it were all thoroughly moved.
“There will be plenty of opportunities to repay us after classes reopen. Remember, I’m Song Fei, of the Department of Tourism and Travel Management. . . Aiai don’t drag me away ah I haven’t finished speaking ne my dorm room is building No. 2 of the male dormitories in the eastern district wuwuwu—”
Author’s Chapter Summary:
I will walk on my single-plank bridge of adversity, you guard your little bunker of stability!
The translator has something to say: I hope that their “sacrifice” and other actions will motivate the ones remaining not to just stay in their passive situation until they are forced into a dead end, it’d be nice to see the Wusheng classes being an inspiration
Update 2/2 for this week and I’ll try to push out two more chapters next week
It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever read, I almost wanted to rank it above ‘global examination’ and ‘I upended campus urban legends’ in my heart. It’s just… beautiful. Tearfully beautiful. I love all the characters, those alive and those who have perished (No, Yi* is not included). They’re all wonderful. I’ll miss it so badly… I already feel like rereading… I wish all novels were this good T^T I wish all characters were this dimensional and in depth….
Thank you, dear translator, for translating this! After MTLing this I realized that your translations are what give the novel so much of it’s flair! Thank you so much for your hard work!
I wish all my companion the best of luck.
P.S. Does anyone know of any similarly good novels? They don’t even have to be unlimited flow or horror. Please do message me if you do know of anything. Thank you! <3
*Gym dude who took over the supermarket. I forgot his full name…
I just realized how ironic my comment is when correlated to the chapter name…
This chapter hit hard. This is really one of the most realistic End Times novel. And the character are so real it scared me to read every chapter because I am afraid of what will happen.
Thank you for the update. I hope you are well and sound.
No need to forced yourself. We (the reader) understand if the update is slow.