this chapter is brought to you by mio
as translator, proofreader and editor!
“That’s great. We launched this delivery service to make things more convenient for some of the survivors,” Jiang Ci replied.
They had ordered a seafood hotpot, which wasn’t very spicy and was just right for children.
Jiang Ci and Lin Fei took out the dishes and the pot one by one, arranging them in a circle on the wooden table.
Seeing such a lavish spread before her, the youngest girl couldn’t help but let out a gasp of amazement.
After all the dishes were laid out, Jiang Ci remembered a pudding that had been included as a free gift in a previous meal set. She had been too full to eat it at the time and had stored it in her space, nearly forgetting all about it.
She handed the small pudding to the birthday girl, “This is all I have for now. Happy birthday.”
The little girl was shy and well-mannered. Only after seeing her parents nod slightly did she accept the pudding and whisper a small thank you.
There were four survivors in this base who had ordered takeout, and Jiang Ci delivered to each of them.
From the outside, the base didn’t seem very large, but once inside, she realized it was quite labyrinth, with various paths that weren’t easy to navigate. It took Jiang Ci two to three hours to deliver all four orders.
After delivering the last order for this base, Jiang Ci’s task progress reached (7/10). Just three more deliveries, and she could unlock the braised delicacies she had been longing for.
On the way back, Lin Fei was still riding the bike, with Jiang Ci sitting on the back. Only half a day had passed since they had left.
Jiang Ci checked the map and decided to make a detour on the way back to deliver two more orders at a smaller base.
When Jiang Ci mentioned they might need to take a slightly longer route back, Lin Fei immediately changed course without a word.
Upon arriving at the small base marked on the map, Jiang Ci almost thought she had made a mistake in navigating; the whole place had turned into a pile of ruins.
The sounds of survivors crying and wailing filled the air, and with the ground littered with fragments of human body parts—it was a gruesome scene.
Jiang Ci saw a man frantically digging through the rubble, his hands worn and bleeding, yet he didn’t stop.
After digging for a long time, he finally unearthed a human arm. Jiang Ci noticed a small tattoo and a ring one of the fingers.
The man cradled the arm and wept uncontrollably.
Standing not too far away, Jiang Ci felt a complex mix of emotions. Perhaps she had seen too many happy smiles recently, almost forgetting that this was an extremely harsh apocalypse where people died every day.
“Boss Jiang?” At that moment, a survivor covered in soot passed by and saw the two of them, sounding somewhat surprised.
Jiang Ci didn’t recognize the man at first. Seeing her puzzled expression, he wiped the soot off his face, and only then did she realize he was a regular at the hotpot restaurant who had also bought bottled water twice. He was the leader of this base.
“What happened?” Jiang Ci asked. “Was it mutated beasts or zombies?”
“Neither,” the base leader, usually cheerful and optimistic, now looked utterly defeated. “It was a group of unknown ability users who appeared out of nowhere. Their powers were too strong; we couldn’t even fight back, and the base was completely destroyed by them.”
As if to emphasize his words, a mournful cry echoed nearby, causing everyone’s hearts to tighten uncontrollably.
The base leader had to search for survivors and didn’t have time to chat with Jiang Ci and Lin Fei. After a hurried farewell, he left to continue rescue efforts.
With food delivery no longer possible, Jiang Ci and Lin Fei stayed to help. Survivors pulled the injured from the rubble. Less than a hundred people remained alive in the base with most of them heavily wounded. The group huddled together on a relatively intact patch of land to rest.
If another enemy attacked now, the base would be completely wiped out.
Jiang Ci was covered in dust and blood, her hair scruffy, looking utterly disheveled.
The base leader had already notified other bases for assistance. In the apocalypse, mutual aid was an unwritten rule.
The rescued survivors were deeply despondent, and the air seemed heavy with sorrow.
“Hey, what are you doing? Put that down!” A sudden shout suddenly broke the silence, drawing everyone’s attention.
Jiang Ci looked over and saw the man they had seen earlier searching the ruins holding a sharp piece of metal. Despite the shouts, he didn’t hesitate to slash his own neck.
Blood gushed out instantly. His movements were decisive, the cut deep, and within moments, he was gone.
The sudden turn of events left everyone stunned.
The scene shifted from quiet sobs to uncontrollable wailing. The man’s death was the final straw, shattering the already fragile nerves of the survivors.
From their fragmented accounts, Jiang Ci learned of the man’s story. The severed hand he had been searching for in the ruins belonged to his childhood sweetheart and wife.
When the apocalypse struck, they were still in college. Their families had perished in the initial disasters, leaving only the two of them to rely on each other.
Over time, they comforted and encouraged one another, surviving through the hardest times and naturally getting together as a couple.
They settled in a base and held a simple wedding witnessed by their close friends.
It wasn’t until a year into their marriage that the woman discovered the man had loved her for ten years.
The two of them were so happy during those years that even the air around them seemed to filled with pink bubbles.
Their story should have ended happily there, but this sudden tragedy not only took away his beloved but also the hope that had sustained him during the apocalypse.
Jiang Ci was deeply moved by such emotions. In her world, fast-food-style love had led many to proclaim that the wise do not fall into the river of love. Yet, in this chaotic and dangerous world, she had witnessed the most sincere and purest of feelings.
On the way back, Jiang Ci sat in the back seat and sighed several times. At that small base, she had already witnessed several instances of eternal separation between the living and the dead, which greatly impacted her. She felt that the longer she stayed here, the more she could empathize with the people here.
By the time they returned to the hotpot restaurant, the sky had already darkened.
pls do not share this anywhere or u will always stub ur toe when u walk past a door frame !! this translation has been stolen from mioscorner.com, pls only read there i’m begging u :kneels:
Song Jinchuan was busy at the pot helmet stall, occasionally glancing outside.
When he saw the familiar electric scooter coming in from outside, Song Jinchuan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Although he knew that Jiang Ci had mysterious and powerful abilities, he couldn’t help but worry as the sky grew darker.
“Oh my, Boss Jiang, what happened to you?”
The voice of a survivor outside came through, and Song Jinchuan’s heart, which had just settled, instantly started racing again. He simply put down his work and walked outside the shop.
When he saw Jiang Ci’s appearance under the light outside the shop, his eyes couldn’t help but freeze in shock.
“What happened? Where are you hurt? Did you encounter a mutant beast or a zombie?” A series of questions came tumbling out his mouth before Jiang Ci could react.
Song Jinchuan quickened his pace, his whole person unusually flustered, not daring to reach out and touch her, only using his eyes to examine her, wanting to see where she was injured and how there could be so much blood.
Jiang Ci realized from his nervous demeanor that he must have mistaken the blood on her body for her own.
She quickly waved her hand, “It’s not my blood.”
After saying that, she briefly mentioned what she had encountered at the small base today, which immediately sparked a discussion among everyone.
Why did they attack the base? Was it for revenge, to seize supplies, or simply to slaughter others? Regardless of the reason, it was enough to alert the survivors.
They all gathered around Jiang Ci to ask for more details, and soon, Jiang Ci was surrounded by the crowd. Song Jinchuan could only stand to the side, frowning as he watched.
Although Jiang Ci said she wasn’t injured, Song Jinchuan still noticed several scratches on her elbow.
By the window on the first floor, the members of the Cheetah Squad were peeking out.
“Tsk tsk tsk, just take a look at our captain, could it be that the old tree is finally blooming1?” Huang Mao joked with a laugh.
The survivors in the Cheetah Squad, including Old Li, still referred to Song Jinchuan as Captain.
The short-haired girl next to him instinctively glanced at the girl in the ponytail beside her, who had a faint look of disappointment in her eyes. Sensing her gaze, the girl in the ponytail smiled at her, indicating that she was fine. After all, she had long since buried her feelings deep in her heart.
This was the apocalypse, and there were many things that were more important than emotions. She might feel disappointed for a while, but she could still quickly snap out of it and move forward.
After learning about the tragic state of the small base, the survivors all fell into deep thought. Were there really such powerful people now? Capable of turning an entire base into ruins in an instant?
What kind of power could reach such an extent? And who exactly is this person?
As long as the other party has taken action against humans, there is a high probability that they belong to the opposing side of humanity. Could it be that some unknown mutation had occurred again?
Jiang Ci couldn’t answer the survivors’ various questions since she didn’t know much either.
After finally managing to extricate herself, Jiang Ci was dragged away by Song Jinchuan to treat the wound on her hand. They left suddenly, leaving Lin Fei outside to help reassure the customers, telling them to remain calm.
Song Jinchuan first cleaned the blood and dust off Jiang Ci’s hand before taking out disinfectant from his pocket to apply to her wound.
He had prepared a lot of these medical supplies before coming to the hotpot restaurant since they were all necessities for when they went on missions.
Throughout the entire process, Song Jinchuan’s brows remained furrowed. Even though he had suffered more severe injuries himself, he still felt that the wound in front of him looked extremely painful.
He attributed this unusual emotion to the fact that Jiang Ci had protected him when they went out to deliver takeout earlier, ensuring that he didn’t get hurt at all. However, this time, he hadn’t insisted on going with her, resulting in Jiang Ci getting injured. He felt like this was his dereliction of duty.
“It’s nothing, just a small wound. I didn’t even notice it myself,” Jiang Ci said, trying to lighten the mood when she saw Song Jinchuan’s serious expression.
Song Jinchuan was meticulously treating her wound and paused his movements upon hearing her words. “It’s my fault for being negligent.”
i love song jinchuan hehehehe
- Or ‘old bachelor finally finding love’ — used to describe when someone who seems oblivious to romantic feelings (or is old) finally falls in love ↩︎