16: Chapter 16: Only the four of you?

Lin Ci stirred his bowl of rice noodles and spoke as if casually, "Aren't you going to check your messages?"

Xu Wanning shook her head, "I'll check them later. I don't use my phone while eating."

Lin Ci gave a slight nod, "That's a good habit," and as he said this, he tucked his own phone into his pocket.

Wen Shuyang and the others looked back and forth between them, feeling constrained, and finally lowered their heads to focus on their own meals.

After finishing the meal, Lin Ci stood up to leave. He looked at Xu Wanning sitting opposite him, "There's a basketball game at our school tomorrow. Do you want to come and cheer for me?"

Xu Wanning immediately refused, "Sorry, tomorrow is Zhiyu's birthday, and we're going to celebrate it with her."

Lin Ci's eyes narrowed slightly before returning to normal. He looked at Lu Zhiyu, "It's your birthday; would you mind if one more person joined?"

Lu Zhiyu felt oppressed, as if a pair of invisible, massive hands were pressing down hard on her shoulders, "N-no, I don't mind."

Lin Ci curled his lips, "Alright then. I'll wait for you at your school gate after school tomorrow."

After saying this, he left the cafeteria with his hands in his pockets.

Lu Zhiyu gasped heavily, "Wuwu, it seems we've provoked someone incredible. I didn't even dare to breathe just now."

Wen Shuyang grabbed her hand across the table, "You're right. Ningning said he likes to collect the eyeballs of his trophies, wuwuwu."

Lu Zhiyu and Song Yunqing both opened their mouths wide. So, that photo from just now…

That beautiful, pure, and loving scene was actually him coveting Ningning's eyeballs. Looking at it now, there was no beauty left, only fear.

They looked at Xu Wanning, "Ningning, why are we even interacting with such a pervert? Your eyeballs are in danger!"

Xu Wanning stood up, "It's not as exaggerated as you think. Actually, Lin Ci has saved us many times. If it weren't for him, we might have died in the first year of The Apocalypse."

The three of them immediately fell silent. Originally, they had approached him because of his strong combat ability, and since he had saved them so many times in their past lives, it was wrong of them to dislike him. They needed to reflect—they definitely needed to reflect.

Xu Wanning pulled Song Yunqing along as they walked out, "Let's go. We'll think about what else we haven't stockpiled when we get back, and we can go buy it tomorrow."

She had been holding back from checking her phone, and it wasn't until they returned to the dormitory that she took it out and opened wechat.

[Haven't eaten yet.]

[Is he your roommate's boyfriend?]

Xu Wanning couldn't help but let the corners of her mouth curl upward; if she hadn't been biting her lower lip, she would have laughed out loud.

She could imagine how unhappy he must have been when he saw the photo.

She had let him wait for half an hour, so it was time to reply.

[No, his name is Lin Ci, and he's from the medical school next door. Our school had a mixer with theirs before, and he sat across from me. This time, he happened to help Yangyang, so she invited him to dinner, and he came.]

She couldn't lie at a time like this; she had to tell the truth.

There was a long silence on the other end, and the 'Other party is typing…' indicator flashed on and off.

[Image.jpg, a gift for Zhiyu. Do you think she'll like it?]

The picture showed a white plush bear, and the bear was holding a big heart on its chest. It was very cute.

What a stiff change of topic.

[Yes, I think it's very cute.]

As soon as she sent it, he replied immediately, [I'll pick you all up tomorrow.]

Xu Wanning thought about it, [No need. Just bring your comrades with you. I bought a car, so I'll just drive there.]

The place they agreed on was a very delicious barbecue restaurant near the school. They had originally wanted to have hot pot, but Zhiyu wanted barbecue, so naturally, everyone had to fulfill her wish.

Xu Wanning thought Lu Chengyue wouldn't send any more messages; after all, that was how he had been before—he would stop talking after just a couple of sentences.

As it turned out, the next second, her phone rang again, [Only the four of you?]

Xu Wanning stifled a laugh, [No, Lin Ci is coming too. He heard it was Zhiyu's birthday tomorrow and said he wanted to join.]

This time, there was absolutely no sound from the other end.

Wen Shuyang leaned over, "Ningning, you're smiling so flirtatiously. Are you chatting with the boy you like?"

Lu Zhiyu and Song Yunqing looked over curiously, "Ningning, you're serious? You really have someone you like?! Do we know him?"

Xu Wanning nodded, "Yeah, I do. But I'll tell you once I've successfully pursued him."

The three of them nodded, "Alright then. But if there's anything you don't understand, you can ask us. We'll help you strategize."

Xu Wanning looked at them with disdain, "One of you is dating a scumbag, and the other two have never been in a relationship. Forget it."

The three of them exchanged glances, rushed over, pinned her to the bed, and started tickling her, "How dare you make fun of us!"

After the commotion, the four of them gathered together again.

Lu Zhiyu tapped their stockpile notebook, "Is there anything else we need to stockpile?"

Xu Wanning nodded, "Of course. Most importantly, fuel, diesel, and gasoline. We need them for the generator, and we need them for the car too."

Lu Zhiyu frowned, "It seems we can't stockpile gasoline in large quantities. How about we drive to the gas station every day to refuel? And then siphon it out after filling up?"

Xu Wanning nodded, "That's all we can do for now."

Wen Shuyang had a flash of inspiration, "Let's try buying a few oil drums and tell the gas station staff we're going on a road trip. Let's see how much gas they'll let us get. How about we try every gas station one by one?"

Lu Zhiyu hit her on the head with the notebook, "What are you thinking? Gasoline is a flammable and explosive hazardous chemical. Private cars aren't allowed to carry backup fuel outside of the fuel tank without a hazardous goods transport permit."

Wen Shuyang rubbed her head aggrievedly, "I—I just didn't know. Then—then let's just drive to refuel."

Song Yunqing pouted, "If only my dad believed me. That way, we'd have more money."

Wen Shuyang pinched her cheek, "Don't worry, don't worry. There are four of us. As long as one set of parents believes us, they could give us at least ten million, and we'd be able to stockpile even more things."

"Especially Zhiyu's family—they run a supermarket. Uncle Lu would definitely be able to stockpile a large amount of supplies."

"My parents work in real estate. Things haven't been great these past few years, but if they sold our house and cars, we could still get quite a bit of money."

"Ningning's parents work in import and export trade. If they could believe us, it would be even better if they could bring back more things from abroad."

After saying this, she looked at Song Yunqing, "Qingqing, you've always said your family is from the countryside, but your expenses on food and clothing are no less than ours. What do your parents do? They aren't just farmers, right?"

Song Yunqing blinked, "My parents don't just farm; they also do livestock breeding. They mainly raise cattle and sheep. My family has pastures, and the cattle and sheep are free-range. Every year, my parents give me 2 million in pocket money, so I don't actually know how much money they have."

Xu Wanning and the other two stared at Song Yunqing with glowing eyes.

Wen Shuyang shook Song Yunqing's shoulders, "Ahhhhh, Qingqing, why didn't you say so earlier?"

Lu Zhiyu pushed up her glasses, "Conservatively estimating, there must be at least twenty thousand cattle and sheep in total. We haven't stockpiled meat yet, so if we keep all of Qingqing's family's stock, we'll be able to eat for a long time."