29: Chapter 29 Zheng Xiaoxiao's Predicament

He opened the system's virtual panel.

The panel data pulsated clearly:

[Host: Song Yang]

[Survival Level: Ordinary Survivor (EXP 55/100)]

Physical Attributes:

Strength: 10

Agility: 10

Stamina: 10

Spirit: 11

(The average for an ordinary adult male is 10)

[Next Tier: Doomsday Elite Survivor]

Five people had earned him fifty EXP.

With forty-five more EXP, his title would upgrade, and the system would grant an unknown reward.

What would that reward be? Weapons? Supplies?

Or some kind of special ability?

Whatever it was, it meant one more asset for survival in this apocalypse.

As Song Yang was speculating about the system reward, his phone popped up a new friend request notification.

The applicant's note contained only three characters: Zheng Xiaoxiao.

Song Yang's brow twitched almost imperceptibly.

Zheng Xiaoxiao?

He hadn't expected this woman to still be alive.

Song Yang tapped the screen and accepted the friend request.

Almost instantly, a message came from her.

"Song Yang? It's me, Zheng Xiaoxiao!"

"I'm trapped in the company dormitory! There are others in our dorm, but we're almost out of food!"

"Song Yang, please, can you bring some food over?"

"I know it's dangerous, but I won't let you make the trip for nothing! I can pay!"

"I'll give you a hundred times the market price! Cash, bank transfer, anything works!"

A hundred times the price?

Song Yang just wanted to laugh.

Before the apocalypse, this might have been a tempting number.

But now? Money? It was nothing more than waste paper.

This woman, it seemed, still hadn't recognized the reality.

Monsters were hidden everywhere in the darkness outside; only a fool would go out courting death.

...

West of the city, in an apartment building.

Inside a girls' dormitory.

Zheng Xiaoxiao curled up on the single bed against the wall, clutching a power bank with almost zero charge, staring intently at the chat interface with Song Yang.

"Damn you, Song Yang! How dare you not reply!"

Not long after Song Yang had slammed the door and left that day, her "boyfriend" had discovered the red handprint on her butt.

After a round of arguing and questioning, he had mercilessly broken up with her and even had her fired from the company.

When the apocalypse arrived, those "backup tires" who used to fuss over her and come whenever she called became her last straw.

She had sent mass help requests to these simps and backup suitors, making many promises.

At first, a few guys had sworn to come and "save the damsel in distress."

But as the monsters appeared, those people had gone silent.

Dead, probably? They were likely all dead.

Zheng Xiaoxiao thought numbly, her heart barely stirred, feeling only disdain for their "uselessness."

Food was running lower and lower, and the other two girls in the dorm couldn't find a good solution either.

In utter desperation, she finally remembered Song Yang.

She remembered that Song Yang seemed to have rented a warehouse to hoard things?

At the time, she only thought he was crazy; now she realized she was the stupid one.

She licked her cracked lips and let her gaze fall back onto the phone screen.

At this moment, the other two girls in the dorm crept over.

"Xiaoxiao, how is it? Did he reply?"

A short-haired girl named Xiaomin asked in a low voice.

Zheng Xiaoxiao turned off her phone screen, shook her head, and forced a weary, bitter smile:

"No reply. I've contacted everyone I could on WeChat, and no one is willing to come bring supplies."

The other girl, Jiajia, who was usually a bit delicate and long-haired, couldn't help but complain:

"How can this be! How many men used to chase after you, sending flowers and bags, asking you every day what you wanted to eat? Now that a disaster has happened, they're all playing deaf and dumb! They're really scum!"

Xiaomin sighed, her eyes dim: "I've called the police almost a hundred times; either it's busy, or no one answers. What on earth is going on outside?"

Zheng Xiaoxiao took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down, and patted Xiaomin on the shoulder:

"Don't overthink it. It's definitely chaotic outside right now, and rescue forces need time. The most important thing for us now is to conserve our strength; don't scare yourselves."

"Everyone go back to bed and lie down. Talk less, move less. Rescue will definitely come."

The two girls exchanged glances. Although they didn't believe it, they couldn't find any other solution, so they could only silently climb back into their respective beds and cover their heads with quilts, as if that could alleviate their hunger.

The dormitory became quiet again, with only the sound of repressed breathing left.

Confirming that the two wouldn't notice her, Zheng Xiaoxiao silently got out of bed, tiptoed into the bathroom, and gently locked the door behind her.

She crouched down and carefully lifted the heavy toilet tank lid; it had long since dried up, without a drop of water.

At the bottom of the tank lay a few pieces of chocolate wrapped in plastic bags.

This was her last food reserve, which she had secretly hidden.

Absolutely, absolutely must not let them find out.

What Zheng Xiaoxiao didn't know was that while she was in the bathroom, the people on the other two beds weren't entirely still either.

Xiaomin, with the short hair, lay on her side facing the wall, the quilt pulled tightly up to her neck.

Her right hand was hidden under the pillow, her fingers unconsciously rubbing a piece of compressed biscuit tucked inside the pillowcase.

On the other bed, the long-haired girl Jiajia had covered her head with the quilt, leaving only a small tuft of hair exposed.

In the darkness, her hand was carefully reaching into the inner pocket of the faded canvas bag hanging at the head of the bed.

Hidden there were two bottles of mineral water.

...

Song Yang did not intend to pay attention to Zheng Xiaoxiao.

Still thinking about using money to buy supplies now—this woman was either stupid or still living in a dream.

Just then, a very faint knock on the door sounded.

Through the surveillance, he easily saw the situation outside.

The person standing outside the door was wrapped up like a mummy in a thick down jacket, with her hood pulled very low, and what seemed to be a scarf around her face, revealing only a pair of somewhat red and swollen eyes.

But Song Yang recognized those eyes.

It was Xiao Xue.

"Song Yang? Song Yang, I know you're inside!"

Xiao Xue's voice came through the thick door panel.

"I know you've hoarded a lot of things! Please, give me something to eat."

"It was my fault before; I shouldn't have mocked you! Please, give me something to eat, just a little bit is fine, I'm really about to starve to death..."

After confirming that no one was hiding around, Song Yang finally opened the door.

In his right hand, he held a duck leg roasted to a golden brown and dripping with oil, the aroma instantly drilling into Xiao Xue's nostrils.

It made the pitiful stomach acid in her stomach churn wildly.

Too fragrant...

She couldn't remember how long it had been since she smelled meat.

Xiao Xue stared fixedly at the duck leg, her throat bobbing unconsciously, saliva secreting uncontrollably.

This was something she wouldn't have even glanced at before, yet now it had become an unattainable delicacy.

Xiao Xue reached out almost instinctively, trembling as she tried to grab the duck leg that was within reach.

However, before her wrist could touch the oily skin of the duck leg, a stronger hand clamped onto her chin first.

It was Song Yang's left hand.

Xiao Xue froze, her outstretched hand stopping in mid-air, her cheek hurting from the grip.

Yet her gaze remained uncontrollably glued to the duck leg.

"Hungry?"

Song Yang's voice was very flat.

Xiao Xue wanted to nod, but with her chin being gripped, she could only make a muffled "mm-mm" sound.

"Heh,"

Song Yang chuckled softly, his fingers gripping her chin tightening slightly, "Didn't you say I was a psycho back then?"

"Now, you want it?"

Xiao Xue admitted she had said it.

Back then, she called him a worrywart, called him paranoid, and said he was just a poor loser pretending to play at doomsday survival.

The harsher her mockery had been then, the more pathetic she was now.

"I know I was wrong."

Xiao Xue's voice was tearful, "Please give me something to eat, I'm really about to starve to death."

Song Yang weighed the duck leg in his hand, a smile appearing on his face.

"Want to eat?" he asked.

Xiao Xue nodded quickly, like a chick pecking at rice.

"Sure."

"However, what are you trading for it?"