Fu Xiyuan and Wu Zhou, who were eating tuna rice balls for a late-night snack, waited for over an hour. The rice balls were almost digested, but their friend still hadn't returned. They were starting to doze off when a few shouts jolted them awake.
"What's wrong?" Wu Zhou asked, confused.
Equally bewildered but having managed to make out a few words, Fu Xiyuan's face was filled with worry: "It sounded like they were shouting something about dying, did they start fighting?"
"Damn!" Wu Zhou jumped up and ran towards the window. "We have to hurry down and help!"
Before Fu Xiyuan could stop him, Wu Zhou had already opened the window and stepped out with one leg. Startled, Fu Xiyuan rushed over and grabbed Wu Zhou's waist, while leaning out and shouting, "Are you alright?!"
Zhao He's voice quickly came through: "It's nothing—"
Fu Xiyuan quickly tried to lift the ancestor down by putting his arm around his waist. However, the ancestor's legs were too long, and Fu couldn't lift him high enough, so he could only drag him off the windowsill, letting the ancestor's legs scrape and hurt all the way down.
Wu Zhou, who had finally landed, had no time to pay attention to his comrades. He gasped for breath and rubbed his long legs, which had been ravaged.
Fu Xiyuan was still not entirely at ease. He was certain that he had just heard the talk about being dead or alive, but Zhao He said that everything was fine. What on earth was going on downstairs?
What are you doing now?
The response to the second question was delayed until Fu Xiyuan was on tenterhooks, at which point he heard Zhao He's helpless voice.
"Apply a face mask—"
Fu Xiyuan was stunned, and Wu Zhou, who was rubbing his thigh, was also dumbfounded, saying in disbelief, "In just a short while, our relationship has become this good?"
A group of men sat together, each with a face mask on, their expressions dreamy, the atmosphere peaceful, their eyes sparkling, and their lips curved in a smile… Two sunny and healthy male students from the sports academy were stunned by the scene they had involuntarily conjured up in their minds.
"Luckily we didn't go down..." Fu Xiyuan said with a sigh.
Wu Zhou strongly agreed.
Half an hour later, the four members of Squad 2 finally returned. When Fu Xiyuan brought them in, he took a special look at his comrades' faces. Their skin didn't look any better than when they left; the oily skin was still there, and the acne was still there.
"How did the talks go?" Wu Zhou didn't care about the face mask. As long as the cooperation could be reached, he wouldn't mind if Zhao He and his group came to a nudist beach with Class 1.
"It's settled," Zhao He ruffled his bald head to dispel the chill, "We'll go to the courier point as a team tomorrow night."
Wu Zhou was stunned: "A courier point?"
Fu Xiyuan, who had just closed the window, turned around and asked curiously, "Aren't we going to Gewu Tower?"
"Gewu Building is too far away," He Zhiwen explained. "We don't know what dangers we might encounter along the way, and our two classes have never really teamed up before, so we thought we'd team up and go to the nearest courier point first, mainly to get to know each other better, and it would be even better if we could get some useful stuff."
Wu Zhou asked, "Did they propose it?"
He Zhiwen remained silent, and together with Feng Qibai and Zhao He, the three pairs of eyes slowly turned to Huang Mo, their gazes filled with silent accusation.
Huang Mo felt a little embarrassed by the stares, so he readily admitted his mistake: "Okay, it's all my fault. But you have to understand, it's in a woman's nature to want to put a face mask on her face. Besides, if it weren't for the face mask, I wouldn't have gotten involved with the courier point. Maybe I would have recklessly stormed into the Gewu Building tomorrow, which would have been too dangerous."
Feng Qibai sighed and said gently, "Sister, no one's stopping you from taking care of your skin, but can we bring the products back before applying them? We won't complain if it's 200 minutes or even 200 minutes."
"Do you know how awkward the atmosphere was when you two were lying there side by side applying face masks? I almost broke into a dance to make the time pass faster." Zhao He never wants to recall those quiet twenty minutes again.
"It was because of Xiao Dilei's constant urging that I couldn't resist... Never mind, it was definitely my fault." Huang Mo suddenly sat down on the spot, crossed his legs and bowed his head. His low voice contained both the sincerity of admitting his mistake and the composure of taking responsibility. "I shouldn't have made you wait for me for twenty minutes because of my own selfish desires. I'm sorry."
The three grown men stood there dumbfounded, their faces turning bright red.
Wu Zhou and Fu Xiyuan were unaware of the details, but just listening to what they heard didn't seem like a big deal, so they couldn't stand it anymore.
"What are you doing? Three old men forcing a girl to admit her mistakes? Is that something to be proud of?"
"I'm so disappointed in the three of you!"
Zhao He and the others didn't know how things had turned out this way, but looking at the pitiful Huang Mo, they felt that the two students who stayed behind were absolutely right to scold him. The three of them were just bullying people; they were simply beasts!
"Actually, after so many harrowing days, it's good to be able to sit down and relax for a while," Zhao He said, clutching his aching chest, against his conscience.
"Yes, yes, I feel so peaceful." He Zhiwen quickly agreed.
Feng Qibai sat down directly opposite Huang Mo, bent down and looked up at the other's downcast eyes, and said with a determined look, "Actually, we're just jealous. Why does Little Landmine only give you face masks and not share with us!"
Huang Mo burst out laughing.
Zhao He and He Zhiwen exchanged glances, and in their hearts, they both gave Feng Qibai a thumbs up—a true man who's willing to go all out.
However, what they couldn't understand was how it ended up with the three of them trying different ways to make Huang Mo happy. When exactly did they reverse the initiative?
When they finally settled down and were ready to rest together, Wu Zhou and Fu Xiyuan finally understood the whole story. The previous discussion goes without saying; He Zhiwen had already given a brief explanation to Class 2. Apart from the fact that Class 1 actually had a car among their fixed assets, which was an absolutely out-of-the-box event, everything else was as planned in the initial negotiations. The location was set in the Gewu Building, and the target was the full-band radio.
However, Huang Mo later accidentally saw the face mask sticking out of Lin Dilei's backpack, which became the opportunity to increase the number of cooperative branches.
We'll leave aside the details of how the two women, overcome with passion, did their on-the-spot skincare routine, but this incident brought the special place of the "courier point" to the forefront. Originally, Lin Dilei was just telling Huang Mo where the face masks came from, but then, for some reason, a brilliant idea struck her: why don't we go to the courier point first? The cafeteria is close to the courier point anyway, perfect for testing our teamwork. The worst-case scenario is that we lose all teamwork and get scattered, but those who can run can still make it back to the cafeteria's first-floor window, or even climb a tree—the risk isn't too high. Besides, there are still many unopened packages at the courier point; just thinking about it makes one's hands itch.
The bizarre cause led to a reliable result.
In reality, the items at the courier point aren't very useful for those who are currently staying in the cafeteria and don't have to worry about food for the time being. At most, they might find some warm clothes, which could be used as sleeping mats or blankets. But from another perspective, as Lin Dilei said, it's definitely worth trying as a litmus test for forming a group—if they can't even break through such a nearby courier point, then they shouldn't even think about Gewu Building; going there would just be suicide.
"It's getting late, everyone should go to sleep. You'll need plenty of sleep to be energetic tomorrow night." Zhao He yawned, bringing the discussion to a close.
Goodnight to all my friends.
Zhao He: "Good night."
Huang Mo: "By the way, there's a restroom downstairs."
Fu and Wu: "...Why are you only bringing this up now?!"
You have to understand that during those three days without a toilet, every time they threw the heavy, tied plastic bags out the window to some unknown place dozens of meters away, they were filled with self-loathing guilt!
"What are you shouting about? Why do movies always save the post-credits scene for last?" Zhao He exhaled a deep breath of white air, letting it drift away into the night before slowly saying, "Because of the surprise."
The students upstairs were in high spirits because the cooperation negotiations went smoothly, and were also pleasantly surprised by the unexpected access to the restroom. They quickly drifted off to sleep. This was the first time in days that they had truly fallen asleep, and even the cold could no longer penetrate them; only the bright sunshine and vibrant colors of their dreams remained.
The students downstairs had a subtly different mindset.
Compared to Class 2, who only experienced the battle from the dormitory to the cafeteria, Class 1's combat experience was far richer and more thrilling. There's a saying, "The more you fight, the braver you become," but more often than not, it's about becoming more clear-headed. They were willing to optimistically believe in a bright future, but also objectively foresaw the twists and turns of the road. This wasn't a game where you could start over after a game over; it was a reality where once you died, your account and save data were deleted.
You only get one chance, and you only get one life.
They can't help but overthink.
The result of everyone overthinking was an inexplicably quiet atmosphere, as if they were a group of revolutionary martyrs who were about to be sacrificed tomorrow.
Until Song Fei couldn't help but yawn.
This made him a little embarrassed, as if everyone else was deep in thought while he was carefree. He could only extricate himself by asking a question: "Uh, aren't you all sleepy?"
Qi Yan glanced at him, as if she wanted to laugh, but in the end she didn't show it. Her eyes softened, and she turned to everyone and said, "Go to sleep, it's already past midnight."
The group finally got moving, some washing their faces, others brushing their teeth—originally only Zhou Yilu, Song Fei, and Luo Geng, who came from their dorm, brought toothbrushes, but Qi Yan, Qiao Siqi, and Lin Dilei only bought them after they went to the supermarket. So now only Wang Qingyuan and Li Jingyu are still using their index fingers to apply toothpaste.
Before long, the eight people lay down on the floor one after another. Their heads were resting on their backpacks, and most of their feet were outside the floor. They couldn't lie flat, so they were all lying on their sides, squeezing each other together, which barely made the students on both sides have a little bit of floor space available.
This extremely intimate distance, resembling two people sharing a single bed in a dormitory, far exceeds the psychological safety distance. It's worth noting that even when sleeping on the floor in supermarkets and libraries, students still maintain relative independence from each other.
But it was really too cold in the kitchen.
The latter half of the night is when the temperature is lowest. I hadn't noticed it while we were discussing it, but now that I'm actually lying down, I feel the bone-chilling cold. Even though we're so close, with my chest almost touching your back, I still feel stiff involuntarily.
In the kitchen, with the lights off and the blinds drawn, there wasn't a ray of light. Even after our eyes adjusted to the darkness, we still couldn't see anything. Only our breathing was so clear, and our reliance on each other so real.
"Hey, why are you hugging me!" Zhou Yilu's startled cry suddenly rang out, filled with discomfort and fear.
"It won't kill you to hug me, I'm freezing, can't you give me some heat?" Jonhs said as he tightened his arms, and later even put his legs on top of me.
"Why is heat transfer supposed to be me transferring heat to you? Why don't you transfer some to me?" Zhou Yilu was utterly exasperated, completely baffled as to why he had chosen such an unlucky neighbor when he lay down. "Hey, hey, slow down, you're choking me..."
"You two can keep warm, but can you not be so intense?" Song Fei rolled her eyes in the dark. She had just complained that straight people are more like gay people than gay people these days, but suddenly felt something was wrong.
Because of the difference between men and women, even though they were sleeping so close together, Lin Dilei was still placed on the edge of the floor mat, with Song Fei to her left and nothing to her right. Admittedly, Song Fei was very safe, but perhaps due to a woman's modesty, or perhaps because even if he was gay, he was still a man, Lin Dilei didn't move closer to Song Fei. On the contrary, she tried to maintain a slight distance.
Quietly, Song Fei placed his palm on the other person's back. His movement was extremely light, and he stopped moving after touching the other person's down jacket. Even so, it still confirmed his judgment—Lin Dilei was trembling, trembling violently.
Without making a sound, Song Fei withdrew his hand and suddenly called out softly, "Little Landmine."
"Hmm?" Lin Dilei responded quickly, her voice feigning composure.
"Don't wear your down jacket anymore, take it off and cover yourself with it, it will be better."
With limited sleeping mats available, everyone slept fully clothed. However, the same piece of clothing makes a world of difference when worn to sleep versus when used as a cover-up; the latter is warmer.
Lin Dilei remained silent and motionless for a long time, indicating some hesitation.
Although it was dark, she knew everyone was awake, so she undressed herself...
"Damn, you should have warned me sooner."
"I'm freezing stiff."
"You only know how to pity women, but you don't care about your brothers. You scum!"
Sizzle.
Click.
rustling sounds.
Do I need to take off my thermal underwear?
"Who the hell is shirtless and hugging me?!"
Lin Dilei couldn't help but laugh, all the coldness in her eyes turning into a pool of water, which she then tried hard to hold back.
Without any hesitation, she neatly took off her down jacket and then put it back on. But no sooner had she been fully covered than she was pulled into a strong embrace, jacket and all.
Lin Dilei instinctively tried to break free, but the person behind her held her even tighter.
"Don't worry," Song Fei solemnly promised, "I really don't have any feelings for you."
Lin Dilei was speechless, unsure whether to feel relieved or kick him.
Girls are naturally more susceptible to cold than boys. Song Fei had a female best friend in high school whose hands and feet were always freezing in winter. At the time, he didn't understand and even laughed at her for being delicate, which resulted in him getting a beating and being forced to learn a lot about women's blood and qi. Because he was beaten so badly, he remembered the knowledge particularly well.
Even now, every time Song Fei goes home for vacation, she still asks him to hang out, share their college stories, and reminisce about their lost high school days...
Shaking her head, Song Fei forced herself to stop thinking about it.
The more you think about it, the more afraid you become of death.
The girl in his arms was much better, but she wasn't completely warmed up yet, and she would occasionally shiver, which Song Fei could feel.
Should she switch places with Lin Dilei? Song Fei pondered. After all, there was no one on the other side, and no matter how tightly she hugged him, the other side would still be filled with a chilling aura. But if they switched places, Lin Dilei would be with him, and Luo Geng would be on the other side. Song Fei really had no confidence in Luo Geng's self-control. Not to mention that he liked Xiao Dilei, even if he were just an ordinary guy, sleeping so close to a beautiful woman, anyone who said he wouldn't react would be lying.
"Qi Yan".
In the darkness, Qi, who had been mentally rehearsing the battle at Gewu Tower, suddenly heard her ex-boyfriend calling out to her.
"Huh?" His reaction was almost instantaneous; forget about the Gewu Building and the radio.
"Come here, lie down over here."
"..."
The sudden invitation made Qi Yan feel as if she were in a dream.
The other friends who weren't asleep at all were also startled. Qiao Siqi quickly advised, "Hey, Song Fei, although friction can generate heat, it can also easily start a fire. Don't you want to reconsider?"
Think about it for a second!
Qi Yan suppressed the urge to kick Qiao Siqi, leaped up, and instantly teleported to Song Fei's side. His speed was as if he were wearing infrared goggles, moving through the darkness with effortless ease.
"Where?" Qi skillfully concealed her panting breath in the depths of the night, leaving only a cool and aloof question.
"Wang Qingyuan, move over there a bit," Song Fei suddenly said.
With Qi Yan gone, there was an empty space between Wang Qingyuan and Zhou Yilu. Now, with Song Fei's instruction, Wang Qingyuan understood immediately. He moved to the left to Qi Yan's position, followed by Li Jingyu and Luo Geng on the right. Finally, Song Fei, with his arm around Lin Dilei, moved to the left, creating another empty space on the far right.
Qi Yan couldn't see clearly, but she could guess what was going on. Judging from the sounds, after everyone had moved, she obediently lay down in Lin Dilei's original spot.
When Song Fei called Qi Yan over, Lin Dilei understood his intention. After Qi Yan lay down, the other friends belatedly realized what was going on, especially Luo, whose protest of "Why didn't you call me?" was practically mournful, although not many people believed his promise of "never crossing the line."
The cold wind is gone.
Lin Dilei rested her head against Song Fei's chest, her voice changing: "I'm sorry, I wish I were a man..." She tried so hard to keep up with everyone and not to hold them back, but sometimes, gender differences are truly an insurmountable obstacle.
"No way," Song Fei rejected the terrifying idea without even considering it. "If a bunch of grown men were just running for their lives, they'd stink to death before they even got killed by the zombies. You smell us now, we all stink, except you, who smells a little good."
Lin Dilei was speechless; she admired this perspective on the problem.
Moreover, Song Fei was absolutely sincere, especially now that he had his beloved in his arms, the contrast was even stronger: "It's strange, we both wash up, wash our hair, and dry ourselves as usual. Yes, you're a bit more diligent, but what about our clothes? We haven't washed our clothes, right? How come we smell bad while you don't? It's not logical..."
"I'm naturally more fragrant than you guys!" Little Landmine insists on this point, but "of course, I also need some assistance."
"Perfume?" Qiao Siqi guessed it right away.
"Yes." Lin Dilei readily admitted, but she didn't bother to explain why she used roll-on perfume instead of spray.
"So Song Fei is right," Qiao Siqi added to reassure Lin Dilei, "Girls are essential in a team, just like air freshener is essential in a restroom."
Lin Dilei: "Uh, thank you for your compliment, but actually I don't really like this analogy."
All the male students: "...We like it even less!"
With the dust settled, the "Qi Family Windbreak" is now firmly in place.
Although a late-night rendezvous has become a form of helping others, it's still much better to be separated by a girl than by three old men.
Judging from the sound, Song Fei determined that Qi Yan was fully settled in bed, and said to Lin Dilei, "Trust me, he's absolutely safe too..."
Before he could even utter the word "full," Song Fei, along with Lin Dilei, was pulled into the Windbreak's embrace. To be precise, the Windbreak wrapped its long arms around him, and the little landmine became the white filling in an Oreo.
Lin Dilei is really warm this time; you can feel the heat even through her down jacket.
"Qi Yan," Lin Dilei suddenly asked playfully, "Are you absolutely safe?"
The windbreak behind him thought about it seriously and answered honestly, "It depends on whose perspective you're looking at it from."
Song Fei: "..."