They had said they would leave as soon as possible, so early the next morning, Fu Qi took the zombie to say goodbye to Academician Jiang.
Academician Jiang was old, after all, and the long journey had left her looking exhausted. She lay in bed, utterly drained.
Seeing her like this, Qin Zhen tugged at Fu Qi’s sleeve and whispered, “Could we leave in a few days instead? M-maybe?”
Her voice was very quiet, but the old lady still heard her. She said affectionately, “Little Daoist Jiang really is such a good child. But don’t worry. I’m in excellent health. I’ll recover after a couple of days’ rest.”
Qin Zhen explained, “No, I wasn’t worried about you. I was waiting for you to… to kick the bucket.”
Once the old lady kicked the bucket, Qin Zhen would secretly put a rope around her and lead her away, stash her in some hidden cellar, and wait until the zombie’s luxurious tomb was finished. Then she would move this zombie granny inside to add a little more dead-person atmosphere.
Counting the corpses already in her tomb together with her reserve staff, she had now assembled men and women of all ages.
Not bad, not bad. A zombie’s life was getting better and better.
The future was bright.
Unfortunately, the old lady completely misunderstood what the zombie meant. She said, “There’s no need to pretend otherwise. I know you’re a good child.”
“I’m not pretending!”
“Yes, you are!”
Academician Jiang’s energy returned in an instant, as if she had transformed back into that wild old lady whose road rage had once driven her to curse out five young men single-handedly.
Only Fu Qi understood the hidden meaning in the zombie’s words. Standing to one side, he wore a relaxed smile in which a trace of amusement was concealed.
“Good child, I left in such a hurry that I didn’t bring you anything…” Academician Jiang rolled up her sleeve and slid a milky-white jade bangle off her wrist. “This bracelet was given to me by my grandmother. I’ve worn it for nearly twenty years. I’m giving it to you now as a parting gift.”
The zombie looked at it and asked, “Is it worth money?”
The old lady said, “Quite a lot.”
The zombie was instantly moved!
Although she had no idea how much the thing was worth, given the old lady’s status and discerning eye, if she said it was valuable, then it definitely had to be expensive!
Qin Zhen took it and clutched it in her hand. Hopefully, she asked, “Do you have anything else? Valuable n-necklaces or rings, maybe?”
“I do,” the old lady said. “But those have to be saved for my granddaughter.”
The light in the zombie’s eyes swiftly went out. She muttered, “So stingy…”
“Oh, that’s not how you put it…” The old lady refused to admit she was stingy. “Friends believe in reciprocity. I gave you a gift, so shouldn’t you give me one in return? You can’t just keep asking me for things.”
“I’ll give you one, I’ll give you one!” The zombie felt embarrassed by her words and began rummaging through her little shoulder bag.
After digging around for a long time without being willing to part with anything, she closed it up and turned to search through Fu Qi’s backpack instead.
This time, she pulled out something good.
With great authority, the zombie slapped the advanced mathematics textbook that had once tormented her onto the bed and declared, “I’m giving you this!”
The old lady: “…”
After thinking it over carefully, the old lady said, “I’ve decided that in true friendship, return gifts aren’t actually that important. You don’t have to give me anything back.”
“You have to take it!” The zombie shoved the book into her arms. “Go on, don’t be shy!”
“No, no, I couldn’t possibly…”
“Oh, just take it! It’s for the child!”
The old lady really did have a child.
After an exaggerated and entirely pointless round of tugging and polite refusal, the old lady was forced to accept the advanced mathematics book on behalf of her granddaughter. She waved them off. “Have a safe journey. Goodbye!”
The morning glow was fleeting, and people had to part. After a few simple words, Qin Zhen and Fu Qi got into the car and set off.
The moment they left the temporary safe zone, the zombie eagerly asked Fu Qi how much the bangle had been worth before the apocalypse.
Fu Qi glanced at it while turning the wheel. “The color is like mutton fat, and it’s smooth and richly lustrous. It should be Hetian jade. With this quality and workmanship, you could call it a small antique. Before the zombie virus broke out… it would’ve been worth around a hundred thousand yuan. After auction hype, the price could only have gone higher.”
“Wow!” The zombie cried out in delight, then asked, “How many phones could ten thousand—ten thousand buy?”
Why did the zombie have to measure the value of everything in phones?
That wasn’t good.
Fu Qi said, “If you count one month’s salary as equal to one phone, then a hundred thousand yuan would be three years of an ordinary person’s wages.”
Qin Zhen was thrilled. “Then I can skip working for three years!”
Fu Qi: “…”
He glanced toward the passenger seat and saw the zombie happily stroking her jade bangle. He gave a soft laugh and said, “Of the four things people should abstain from—wine, women, wealth, and anger—you’ve got all but wine covered.”
The zombie didn’t like hearing that. She held up the bangle and said, “You’re just j-jealous that I got a gift.”
“I’m not jealous,” Fu Qi said. “I got a gift too.”
“What good thing could you possibly have received?”
Fu Qi merely smiled and said nothing.
Other than the previous day, when he had needed to speak with North City Base and look up some information, the two of them had hardly been apart. Qin Zhen knew Fu Qi’s movements like the back of her hand. If he had really received a gift, it could only have come from the temporary team leader or Academician Jiang.
The former was so poor that if he wanted to give Fu Qi something, he could probably only offer him a bowl of porridge. The zombie had no interest in that.
As for the latter, there was even less to say. If Academician Jiang had been able to give Fu Qi something, she would have brought it out at the same time.
Qin Zhen decided Fu Qi was bluffing and ignored him, concentrating on admiring her treasure.
Fu Qi did not say anything more either. He drove on, stealing a glance at her every now and then.
The zombie rolled up her sleeve. The lustrous white jade bangle looked rather pretty against her pale blue wrist, but her wrist was too thin. The bangle swung loosely, leaving too much empty space.
A bracelet might suit her better than a jade bangle.
Fu Qi remembered the luxury brands that had existed before the apocalypse and said, “Little Daoist Zombie, be a good sport and drive for a while.”
“No!” the zombie said. “I need to concentrate on admiring my new treasure.”
“Really?”
“No!”
“If you won’t even help with something this small, then don’t even think about touching my treasure later.”
The zombie drawled in reply, “As if I care—”
Fu Qi said, “That’s what you said. Whoever goes back on their word is a puppy.”
The two of them settled the matter. One continued driving while the other remained absorbed in her newfound wealth. Before long, they had driven out of the little town where they had been staying temporarily.
There was a village on the outskirts of town. A few zombies came running after them when they heard the noise. The moment Qin Zhen saw them, she remembered the talismans she had not yet had a chance to use and hurriedly rummaged through her backpack.
After pulling them out, she wanted to get out and fight the zombies, but she was worried that she might accidentally smash the jade bangle. For a moment, she was caught in a dilemma.
As she vacillated, she suddenly saw a flash of white light at Fu Qi’s waist.
“Huh?” Qin Zhen leaned over and reached out to grab it. The instant her hand touched Fu Qi’s clothes, he caught her by the wrist.
“There’s a difference between men and women. Don’t touch me without permission,” Fu Qi said.
Qin Zhen was just about to explain the reproductive isolation between different species when his hand had already slipped inside his clothes and come out holding a phone.
A phone!
The zombie was stunned. “W-where did you get that?”
“Someone gave it to me.” Fu Qi imitated her, raising the phone and saying, “My new treasure. Jealous?”
Qin Zhen understood. He really had received a gift!
But things were different now. She was a well-informed zombie who had once possessed an entire backpack of phones. She wasn’t about to get excited over something like this…
She still had one in her own bag, after all. She simply hadn’t been willing to turn it on because she wanted to conserve its battery.
“Not jealous!” the zombie said disdainfully.
This guy is so boring. Back at Dawn Base, he couldn't even pay attention when watching movies, so there's definitely nothing fun on his phone. Zombies don't care about that stuff anyway.
"Don't peek then," Fu Qi said as he pulled the car over.
Fine, I won't peek. Qin Zhen tilted her head to watch the horde of zombies surging outside the window, her fingers brushing over her precious jade bracelet as she mentally assigned paper talismans to each of them. Just as she was doing the math, a strange voice came from beside her.
"...We've already set off, going with the base's search team. Hitching a ride with them first, I can't stand Old Mo's driving at all, it's like riding a roller coaster every single day..."
The zombie snapped her head around and saw Fu Qi talking into his phone screen. "No rush. If we don't run into each other then, we'll head to the next city."
He didn't even glance at the zombie, and kept talking. "Check my location, send me the detailed map of the nearby cities."
A new reply came through the phone soon. "Sent it... Are you going to the mall to get more clothes? Yeah, the weather's getting colder and colder. Has it started snowing where you are?"
Fu Qi said, "Almost."
The other person spoke again. "By the way, Captain, I heard someone say we have a new member on the team, and she's a female Daoist? Is that real?"
Fu Qi turned his head, and saw the "female Daoist" staring at his phone with eyes wide as saucers, completely shocked.
He curled the corners of his mouth into a small smile and said, "She's Little Daoist Zombie, just call her Little Zombie."
"She's actually a girl?" The person on the other end was stunned.
"Yes."
"Whoa! She's with you right now? Captain, let her say a few words!"
Fu Qi held the phone out in front of the dumbfounded zombie, gesturing for her to speak.
The zombie was still reeling from the shock, and when she saw the lit phone held out to her, she realized the person on the line was her human teammate she'd never met before. She got so nervous that she sat up straight, clutching the strap of her bag tightly with both hands, her lips moving several times without a single sound coming out.
It was only when she caught sight of Fu Qi's teasing grin, knowing he was making fun of her, that she took a deep breath and summoned the courage to speak. She started out full of bravado, but the sound that came out was as soft as a kitten's meow.
"Hello..." she said.
"It really is a girl! Old Mo, listen, did you hear that? It's really a little sister!" The other person yelled in surprise, nudging the person next to him to listen. "Your voice is so sweet, little sister. How old are you? Say one more thing for us."
The zombie felt a little shy, and looked at Fu Zhen awkwardly.
Fu Qi took the phone back, barely holding back his laughter, and blatantly lied through his teeth. "Little Zombie is a gentle, shy girl who likes quiet and doesn't like using her phone... We'll cut this short, you two stay safe."
"Got it!" The other person replied energetically, shouting, "Captain, you stay safe too. Call me any time if you need to look up information."
After talking to Fu Qi, he loudly added a reminder, "Little Zombie, Little Zombie, you stay safe too!"
Little Zombie was so embarrassed she didn't have the heart to say anything back, just looking at Fu Qi awkwardly as he hung up the call.
Fu Qi didn't say much else. He hung up, put his phone away, and kept driving, plowing through the zombies in his path.
After they'd driven a short distance, the zombie next to him called out in a flattering tone, "Sweetie..."
He pressed his lips together, staring straight ahead and pretending not to hear.
"Cap...tain..." she called again.
The corners of Fu Qi's mouth were twitching, he almost couldn't keep his cool. He steadied himself, glanced at her lightly, and asked, "What do you want?"
The zombie leaned closer to him, fawning. "Nothing, I just... I was worried you'd get bored driving, so I wanted to chat with you."
"Chat about what?" Fu Qi cleared his throat, and said in a deliberately teasing voice, "Chat about... 'Hello'?"
The zombie went speechless.
She pouted and sat back in her seat. A moment later, she held her stomach and leaned over again. "Sweetie, I... did I eat something bad yesterday? My stomach hurts..."
Fu Qi glanced at her and said, "It's fine, you won't die."
Qin Zhen went speechless.
She sat quietly for a while, closed her eyes while still holding her stomach.
Three minutes later, Fu Qi noticed that she really did look off. "Baby, what's wrong?"
The zombie coughed a couple times, saying weakly, "Nothing... it's fine, I won't die."
Fu Qi frowned, and muttered to himself, "Did she really eat something dirty and feel unwell?"
The zombie winced in pain and said nothing.
"Baby?" Fu Qi stopped the car, leaned over towards her, and said softly, "Where does it hurt? Baby, let me see..."
Before he could finish his sentence, the zombie suddenly snapped her head up and pounced on him. She pressed one hand to his chest, and reached quickly into his pocket with the other.
"Hand it over!" she cried.
But she fumbled around several times, and couldn't even feel the phone case. The zombie looked up in confusion, and saw Fu Qi looking at her with an amused smile, his right hand held high as he waved the phone in front of her.
"Nope, I told them wrong earlier. Our new teammate isn't some gentle, shy girl..." He drew out his words slowly, enunciating each one clearly. "...She's a very scheming, little troublemaker."
