TSIAGBICATMWI Chapter 58

Chapter 58: Different Agendas

Lin Yi and the others were taken to a two-bedroom apartment. The person who brought them said, “You can stay here for now.” Then, his probing gaze swept nakedly over the bag on Lin Yi’s back. After a few seconds, he handed him a badge resembling an identification card and said:

“You probably don’t have any food, right? Take this badge, and you can get free meals in the cafeteria tonight and tomorrow morning. Tomorrow, you can join a team to go on missions and earn corresponding rewards.”

“Or, if you have any crystal cores, you can go to the market to exchange them for things you want.”

In the apocalypse, as the uses of crystal cores were developed, they gradually became the circulating currency everywhere, and this place was no exception.

After that person left, Lin Yi threw his bag on the ground and comfortably flopped onto the sofa, scanning the living room layout with his eyes. It looked good, like a well-off family’s setup.

“Phew! Not bad, I can finally get a good night’s sleep tonight.”

After lying down and relaxing for more than ten minutes, he got up to check the two bedrooms. They were ordinary, like the uniform furnishings of a bland and boring youth hostel.

He walked into the bathroom and turned on the faucet. He was pleasantly surprised to find that there was water. That was great, he hadn’t showered in a long time, and the stench on his body was almost comparable to a zombie’s.

Seeing that Lin Yi had entered one of the bedrooms and hadn’t come out for a long time, Lin Yan silently walked into the other bedroom.

After washing up and tidying himself, Lin Yi walked out of the bedroom. Hearing the sound of the door opening, Lin Yan, who was always alert, quickly got out of bed and walked out of the bedroom door.

He didn’t have a badge, and if he didn’t follow Lin Yi, he would go hungry tonight.

Lin Yi glanced at Lin Yan following behind him, ignored him, and went straight out the door. Lin Yan quickly followed.

The two wandered around and found the cafeteria. The food inside was very ordinary: a big pot of stewed potatoes, several large steamers of steamed buns, and a bucket of clear soup with only a few pickled vegetables floating on top. There wasn’t even a hint of oily aroma in the cafeteria.

The hall was already filled with many people taking big bites of steamed buns and chewing potatoes. This food, before the apocalypse, even dogs wouldn’t eat. Now, however, it was a delicacy that only a few could afford.

Lin Yi walked to the window and handed the badge to the middle-aged man distributing the food. Lin Yan followed closely behind Lin Yi. The man took the badge, rubbed it twice, looked up and sized up Lin Yi for a while, then handed the badge back to him.

The man opened the steamer, took out a steamed bun, added a potato from the pot, and handed it to Lin Yi. An aunt on the side put a bowl of soup on the table in front of Lin Yi.

Lin Yi picked up the steamed bun and potato, turned around with the soup, and met Lin Yan’s somewhat anxious and embarrassed expression. A trace of impatience flashed across his eyes.

This emotion was clearly conveyed to Lin Yan, and he suppressed the embarrassment that welled up in his heart.

In the apocalypse, dignity and face were the most useless things, unable to fill the stomach or save lives.

Lin Yi turned to the man and said, “Brother! There are two of us, can you give me another serving?”

The young man looked up at Lin Yan behind Lin Yi, lowered his eyes and continued the distribution, “Where’s his badge? I only issue food based on the badge, not the number of people, or you can use crystal cores to buy it.”

At this moment, someone was using a crystal core to exchange for a pile of steamed buns. The man looked at the person’s back and gestured to Lin Yi, “See! If you have crystal cores, you can get as much as you want.”

Lin Yi walked away with a humiliated face. Lin Yan watched the whole process, and these words drilled into his ears word for word. He clenched the hand hidden in his sleeve, inwardly resenting why he wasn’t an ability user.

Why did Lin Yi have something he didn’t? Lin Yi was clearly inferior to him in every way. When they were young, he was a better student than Lin Yi, more handsome than him. When they grew up, his mother could alienate Lin Yi because of a few words from him, and the girl he liked could push Lin Yi away and turn to him because of a few glances from him.

Wasn’t Lin Yi just a rough soldier who had been in the army for two years? He was incorrigibly stupid. Why did he have to rely on him for a living!

No matter how much unwillingness he had in his heart, he still walked up to Lin Yi with a smile and sat down.

Lin Yi had just eaten two bites of the steamed bun and taken a sip of soup when he was defeated by the undeniable gaze that Lin Yan was casting on him. With a cold snort, he pushed the only potato over.

Lin Yan wore a grateful smile on his face, picked up the potato, quickly peeled off the skin covered with dirt, and couldn’t wait to take a bite. His whole body and mind were satisfied, as if it were the most delicious delicacy.

Lin Yi smiled contemptuously. What was the use of being a good student and being handsome? Now, he still had to rely on his mood.

Damn it! One steamed bun wasn’t even enough to fill a gap between his teeth.

He drank the clear soup as if it were jade nectar, not leaving a single drop.

Lu Yunzhou, after getting used to the zombies’ roars in the second half of the night, his exhausted body gradually fell into a deep sleep, unaware of anything.

At daybreak, one side of the iron plate creaked and rose up. Two people outside joked, “Yo, he’s got a big heart, he can even fall asleep in this place.”

Another person chimed in, “That’s right, how else would he be chosen to awaken his ability!”

“This isn’t something to be envious of.”

“It will be worth envying when he awakens his ability.”

“Doubtful! No one has succeeded among so many people.”

One of them poked Lu Yunzhou, who was lying on the ground like a dead person, with an iron rod, “Hey! Wake up! It’s time to eat, it’s time to eat.”

They spoke loudly, and Lu Yunzhou had long been awakened by the noise and heard every word they said.

Awakening an ability would be worth envying?

Lu Yunzhou felt a certain expectation arise in his heart. Perhaps he could be the one who found life in a desperate situation.

Seeing Lu Yunzhou open his eyes, the person with the iron rod put it away. The other person put down a bowl of clear soup and a bowl with half of it broken, containing a steamed bun.

They walked far away, but Lu Yunzhou could still hear their conversation:

“Isn’t there still a potato?”

“Shut up, what does he know? Have you been eating your fill with that little bit of food every day?”

“No.”

“Don’t make a fuss, I’ll share half of the potato with you when we get back.”

“Okay!”

This “Okay!” was clearly said with a lighter tone, obviously, his purpose was to get a share, and whether Lu Yunzhou had more or less rations had nothing to do with him.

Lu Yunzhou supported himself on the ground and leaned half of his body against the iron railing. He was exhausted and hungry after fighting for half the night yesterday and hadn’t eaten anything. Fortunately, they sent a little food today, so he wouldn’t starve to death.

He picked up the hard steamed bun and quickly gnawed on it. Steamed buns were already difficult to swallow, and they were even worse when they were cold. He coughed from being choked and picked up the bowl of soup to gulp it down.

It was more like water than soup. Lu Yunzhou smiled self-deprecatingly, at least they didn’t look down on this bowl of water, he needed this bowl of water more than a potato now.

After being choked, he began to chew slowly and carefully, his legs spread out in a relaxed manner, savoring the remaining half of the steamed bun.

Looking ahead, he saw where the piercing light was coming from. The place where the zombies were kept was more like a long warehouse, facing Lu Yunzhou’s direction. Above the tall door frame were two panes of glass, and the sunlight shone directly from there, illuminating his face.

He saw the whole picture of the warehouse clearly. The door opposite him was about ten meters away, and it was filled with zombies.

He didn’t know how those people outside gathered them here.

The iron railings were very strong, no matter how they roared and wanted to come in and tear Lu Yunzhou apart, it was just a little noisy.