36: Lin Wanwan is gentle and graceful, while Su Yuran is bright and flamboyant.

The RV drove steadily across the snowy plains.

Qin Lin kept the speed at about thirty kilometers per hour.

It wasn't that he couldn't go faster, but the snow was too thick; driving fast would lead to skidding and increased energy consumption.

The dashboard showed that the current energy consumption was 2 points per hour.

Every two hours of driving, he would find a relatively hidden spot to park and rest, allowing the two girls to stretch their legs.

It was now ten in the morning, the second rest stop.

Qin Lin got out of the car and walked around it, checking the tires and chassis.

Even though this Doomsday RV didn't actually require any inspection from him.

He was simply habitually worried about accidents.

The snow was deep, and the tire treads were almost filled flat.

He took a shovel from the toolbox and cleared the snow around the wheel hubs.

Inside the car, the living area was warm and comfortable.

Su Yuran and Lin Wanwan did not get out.

It was too cold outside, and Qin Lin wouldn't allow it.

They sat on the sofa in the living room, with fruit and hot water placed on the small table in front of them.

After three days of recuperation, Lin Wanwan's complexion had improved significantly.

The frostbite had mostly faded, and her skin had returned to its original fair and delicate state.

Today, she wore a cream-colored knit sweater and a yellow short skirt.

Su Yuran had helped her pick it out, saying that wearing a skirt inside the car was more comfortable.

It was indeed comfortable.

The RV was kept at a constant 22°C, so wearing a short skirt wasn't cold at all.

White silk stockings wrapped around her long, well-proportioned calves, shimmering with a delicate luster under the light.

She sat with a proper posture, legs together and tilted to the side, the mark of a well-educated lady.

She stood in sharp contrast to Su Yuran.

Su Yuran was wearing loose loungewear today.

Light gray cotton trousers paired with an oversized white T-shirt featuring a cartoon print.

She sat cross-legged on the sofa, clutching a cushion, her hair casually tied into a bun with a few stray strands hanging by her neck, looking lazy and carefree.

Two girls, two completely different kinds of beauty.

Lin Wanwan possessed the gentle and elegant beauty of the Jiangnan water towns.

Her features were soft, with a delicate nose and beautiful lips; when she smiled, shallow dimples appeared at the corners of her mouth.

Her beauty wasn't flashy, but it was enduring, growing more charming the more one looked.

Her figure was also the slender and graceful type, standing at 166cm, which was average for a girl.

But her proportions were excellent, especially those legs—straight and long.

Su Yuran, on the other hand, was the bright and bold beauty of a modern urbanite.

Standing tall at 173cm, her legs were excessively long, and her proportions were near perfect.

Her features were exquisite and three-dimensional, her eyes large and bright with thick lashes; she was strikingly beautiful even without makeup.

She had an outgoing personality, and when she smiled, her eyes curved like crescents, possessing a contagious vitality.

At this moment, these two girls of such different styles sat together like a pleasing painting.

“Senior, your complexion looks much better.”

Su Yuran handed her a luxurious apple.

This was prepared by Qin Lin, who said that girls must take good care of themselves.

After all, in this Apocalypse, they were the scenery that relieved his boredom.

“There's color in your face now.”

Lin Wanwan took it and took a small bite:

“Yes, the medicine is very effective. Plus, it's warm in the car and the food is good.”

As she spoke, she glanced toward the driver's cab.

Qin Lin was still outside shoveling snow; she could only see a blurry silhouette through the window.

“Yuran.”

Lin Wanwan hesitated for a moment before finally asking the question she had been holding in for days.

“Are you and Qin Lin... boyfriend and girlfriend?”

Su Yuran's movement of eating the apple paused.

Then she smiled, a somewhat complicated smile.

“We used to be,” she said. “Now, he's my ex-boyfriend.”

Lin Wanwan was stunned: “Ex... boyfriend?”

“Yes.”

Su Yuran nodded.

“Three days before the disaster happened, I broke up with him. Because of some... small matters.”

She didn't elaborate on what those small matters were.

She couldn't exactly say it was because Qin Lin bought the car, leaving them with no money to book a hotel room, right? That would be too embarrassing.

Lin Wanwan's focus, however, landed elsewhere.

“In other words, you two are... not in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship right now?”

Su Yuran looked at her with a meaningful gaze:

“Strictly speaking, no. But we stay in one room and sleep in one bed. What kind of relationship would you call that?”

Lin Wanwan blushed.

She understood.

Not boyfriend and girlfriend, but more intimate than boyfriend and girlfriend.

“Then... will you get back together?” she asked softly.

Su Yuran shook her head: “I don't know. In the Apocalypse, romance is too much of a luxury. Being able to live and be together is enough. Titles and such... aren't important.”

As she spoke, she took another bite of the apple, chewed a few times, and suddenly asked:

“Senior, what do you think of Qin Lin?”

Lin Wanwan didn't expect the question to be thrown back at her, and her heart skipped a beat.

“He's... very good.” She tried to keep her voice calm. “Handsome, capable, responsible... and very gentle.”

When she said “gentle,” she thought of Qin Lin's careful movements when he helped her apply medicine, his patient tone when he taught her how to use weapons, and his focused profile every day when he checked the vehicle.

“Yeah, very gentle,” Su Yuran echoed. “Even though he looks cold on the surface, he has a soft heart. Otherwise, he wouldn't have saved you or taken you in.”

She paused and looked at Lin Wanwan:

“Senior, if... I mean if, Qin Lin needed you to help him do some things, things that might be a bit... beyond the scope of ordinary friends, would you be willing?”

Lin Wanwan's heart thudded wildly.

She remembered that Su Yuran had asked a similar question before.

This time she wasn't in a hurry to answer, but asked instead:

“What kind of things?”

Su Yuran thought for a moment and decided to put it another way.

“Senior, you know this car is very special, right?”

She lowered her voice.

“It can transform, it can upgrade, it has that 'Points Store'... all of this is because Qin Lin is completing certain 'tasks'.”

Lin Wanwan nodded.

Of course she knew.

“Some of these tasks are very simple, like surviving for a certain number of days. Some are... more special.”

Su Yuran chose her words carefully.

“It might require establishing a deeper connection with someone, perhaps... a more intimate relationship.”

She spoke very vaguely, but Lin Wanwan understood.

Her face instantly turned bright red.

“Senior, don't misunderstand,” Su Yuran said quickly.

“I'm not speaking on behalf of Qin Lin, nor am I trying to make you do anything.”

“I just... I just want to tell you that if you're willing to help, Qin Lin will be grateful to you, and our entire team will benefit.”

“But if you're not willing, that's perfectly fine. Qin Lin won't force you, and I won't blame you.”

She spoke very sincerely.

Lin Wanwan lowered her head, her fingers twisting the hem of her clothes.

Her heart was beating like a drum.

Qin Lin needed her... to establish a more intimate relationship?

In order to complete tasks?

In order to upgrade the RV?

In order to let everyone live better?

Should she agree?

Reason told her this was absurd.

She had only been in the car for a few days and had known Qin Lin for less than a week; was she really going to consider such a thing?

But emotionally... she thought of how Qin Lin looked when he saved her, how he had taken care of her these past few days, and the inexplicable fluttering in her heart every time she saw him.

And there was what Su Yuran said: “Our entire team will benefit.”

If her “help” could upgrade this car and allow everyone to live better, then...