"It must have been that time in the laboratory when I stabbed your crystal core a few times," Ji Zhaoxi said with a serious face.
She looked at Pei Yufeng, who had his arm resting over his face beside her, and poked him. "Pei Yufeng, are you listening to me? You're not allowed to let your imagination run wild anymore."
Pei Yufeng didn't say a word, but the tips of his exposed ears were completely red.
The thought of what he had just dreamed about, and that Ji Zhaoxi could feel all of it...
Seeing that Pei Yufeng wasn't speaking, Ji Zhaoxi got a bit anxious. "Pei Yufeng!"
Pei Yufeng's Adam's apple bobbed, and he replied in a hoarse voice, "Got it."
He just wouldn't think about it.
But how could he control what he dreamed about?
Pei Yufeng unconsciously thought back to the scenes from his recent dream—the temperature of her skin in the dream, and her...
Now, Pei Yufeng's face and neck flushed entirely red.
Ji Zhaoxi was almost brought to tears of frustration by Pei Yufeng. "You're thinking about it again!"
Pei Yufeng looked at her angry, red eyes, forced himself to look away, and said stubbornly, "I only think about it occasionally. Now that you're telling me not to, I can't control it even more."
Before, he only thought about it a few times a day. Now that she emphasized it, it had turned into dozens of times a day.
As a result, Pei Yufeng got beaten up by Ji Zhaoxi again.
Outside, Zhang Jili, who was eating canned food, glanced at Pei Yufeng getting beaten up again, a hint of sympathy in his eyes.
The neighboring team had been watching them from a short distance away. Their food was running out, and they had no idea when they would be able to make it out of the desert.
"Boss, go ask for some food. We're starving to death."
The man called Boss looked conflicted. "Will they give us any?"
These people didn't look like they were easy to mess with, especially the man sitting in the car.
"Boss, go ask that fool sitting on the sand. He looks like he's easy to talk to."
The boss looked at Zhang Jili, who was enthusiastically wolfing down his food, and hesitantly walked over.
Zhang Jili, who was in the middle of eating, felt a sudden shadow fall over him. He looked at the person in front of him with a bewildered expression.
The boss gave him a dry smile. "Um, could we borrow some food? We'll pay you back later, alright?"
Zhang Jili looked at the emaciated and starving people across from him, then at the man standing in front of him. A sense of responsibility instantly surged in his heart.
"Take it!"
He directly handed over the last few packs of compressed biscuits from his bag.
Seeing that he was still short one pack, he ran over to borrow one from Shen Jiaxue next to him. "Shen Jiaxue, lend me a pack of compressed biscuits."
Shen Jiaxue's mouth twitched, but she tossed a pack of biscuits to him.
Zhang Jili handed this pack to the boss as well, looking at him with an encouraging expression. "Even in the desert, you have to eat well."
The boss looked at him with a complex expression. It wasn't out of being moved, but rather wondering if there was something wrong with this guy's brain.
After all, in the apocalypse, to still maintain such a personality meant he was either extremely well-protected or somewhat intellectually challenged.
"Thanks, brother."
The boss thanked him and left. He returned to his team and distributed the compressed biscuits to his teammates.
While eating the compressed biscuits, he couldn't help but look up at Zhang Jili, who gave him a wide, eight-tooth smile.
The boss realized—he really was a fool.
At the foot of the mountains lay an abandoned prison. On the other side of the prison flowed a very murky river, and the prison walls were covered in barbed wire.
Yan Jiasui decided to set up a base here.
The buildings were too narrow, and with more people, everyone's living space had dwindled.
"Ruixin, take the other ability users to search for supplies. I need to get the people in the base organized today." Yan Jiasui looked somewhat exhausted.
Wen Ruixin looked at the dark circles under her eyes and said worriedly, "Sister Jiasui, the base matters aren't urgent. You should rest for a while first."
She hadn't closed her eyes for the past few days.
Yan Jiasui smiled at her. "I know, I'll get some proper rest. Don't worry, Ruixin."
But Wen Ruixin knew that as soon as they walked out that door, Yan Jiasui would start busying herself again.
How to best utilize these ordinary people was crucial.
In the afternoon, Yan Jiasui took stock of the skills the ordinary people in the base possessed. She planned to train them so that they could handle internal logistics in the future. Things like sewing and taking care of the wounded didn't require special abilities.
Yan Jiasui even discovered an elderly woman among the refugees who used to be an engineer; perhaps she could be of help with the base's construction.
Upon hearing Yan Jiasui's plan, the old engineer shed tears. "I never thought there would be a day when I'd still be useful at my age."
Ever since entering the apocalypse, working felt like something from a past life to her.
There wasn't much entertainment in the desert, but Zhang Jili was cheerful every day, always enjoying telling lame jokes to the people around him.
He told them most often to Shen Jiaxue, but Shen Jiaxue found him incredibly annoying.
Zhang Jili grabbed Shen Jiaxue's arm and whined, "I'm begging you, just listen to one last one!"
Shen Jiaxue said impatiently, "Speak."
Zhang Jili sat beside her and said earnestly, "Do you know what two terracotta warriors say when they flirt?"
Shen Jiaxue remained deadpan. "What do they say?"
Zhang Jili's face turned red from holding it in. "You little piece of pottery!"
After saying that, he burst into laughter all by himself, while Shen Jiaxue rolled her eyes.
The people from the opposite team all looked at him with calm expressions.
Ji Zhaoxi chuckled lightly and continued wiping the crystal core in her hand.
She was originally in a pretty good mood, but suddenly, she felt a sour smell permeating the air, like a ten-year-old jar of aged vinegar had been knocked over, so sour it made her teeth ache.
Ji Zhaoxi instinctively looked at the person next to her. Pei Yufeng was leaning against the window, staring coldly outside.
Looking at his cold profile, Ji Zhaoxi burst out laughing.
"No way, right?"
Pei Yufeng's ears turned red, and he glared at her. "Don't laugh."
He realized that Ji Zhaoxi's sense of humor was really easily amused; even Zhang Jili's low-level jokes could make her laugh.
Throughout the afternoon, Pei Yufeng hardly spoke. He frowned as he looked at the sand outside the window, as if deep in thought about something.
Just as Ji Zhaoxi was feeling drowsy, Pei Yufeng suddenly turned his head and looked at her seriously. "Can I buy a piece of land from you?"
There was a rare trace of anticipation in his eyes.
Ji Zhaoxi didn't process it immediately. "What land?"
Pei Yufeng pursed his lips. "Your wholehearted devotion."
Ji Zhaoxi: ...
The air fell into a dead silence.
Ji Zhaoxi's drowsiness was instantly dispelled.
Mainly because the scene of Pei Yufeng telling a cheesy pickup line was just too bizarre.
"If it's not funny, forget it."
Pei Yufeng's face turned blood red. He abruptly turned around and curled up in the corner of his seat, far away from Ji Zhaoxi.
His lightning ability crackled continuously due to his emotional fluctuations.
Ji Zhaoxi finally snapped out of it and hurriedly tried to coax him. "It's very funny, I was just stunned for a moment."
She tugged at Pei Yufeng, who had buried himself in the seat, his ears blood red.
"It's really funny, much funnier than the ones Zhang Jili tells!"
Ji Zhaoxi tried her best to suppress her laughter and said earnestly, "You are the best person at telling cheesy jokes I've ever met."
How could Pei Yufeng not know that Ji Zhaoxi was laughing at him? He was never going to tell her a lame joke again!
The moment he thought of how stupid he had just looked, Pei Yufeng wished he could just electrocute himself.
Just as he was sinking into despair, a warm, gentle touch suddenly brushed against his cheek, incredibly light and soft.
The overwhelming shame that had made him want to explode on the spot just a second ago vanished without a trace. The crackling sparks of electricity fizzing around him completely died out.
Lowering his gaze, he wordlessly took her hand and gave her palm a gentle squeeze.
