549690339 , “`, Thump, thump, thump—, “Sister-in-law, it’s me.”, Wang Tao knocked on Ding Yuqin’s door, intending to ask her to help move some things upstairs. With manpower available, he didn’t want to waste it., Hearing the noise, Ding Yuqin hurried to open the door and, seeing some black blood on Wang Tao, she immediately asked with concern:, “Wang Tao, are you hurt?”, “I’m fine, got lucky, almost took a bad spill.”, The voice from under Wang Tao’s mask sounded a bit muffled., It was when he had been tackled by a zombie that his wrist had felt a bit sore. But he hadn’t lost much blood, which indicated that there was nothing serious., “Do you want me to get the first aid kit…”, Ding Yuqin sounded somewhat worried., Wang Tao shook his head., “No need, just help me move some stuff first.”, “Okay!”, Ding Yuqin followed Wang Tao to room 601 and, seeing the pool of black blood at the entrance and the marks of struggle in the living room, swallowed instinctively before asking softly,, “Were there two zombies here?”, “Mhm.”, Wang Tao nodded., Observing Wang Tao’s silhouette, Ding Yuqin couldn’t help but be amazed—two zombies! He had taken care of both!, “These items are all packed up, let’s move them.”, Wang Tao pointed to the stuff on the ground., “Okay!”, Although Ding Yuqin wasn’t very strong, the distance wasn’t far, and together they moved everything to room 501 in one trip., As they neatly sorted and arranged these supplies, Wang Tao suddenly felt that his apartment was becoming too small., Mainly because he had brought back everything that felt useful now or might be in the future, like clothes, books, electronic products, and so on., He had even started thinking about other people’s furniture., Although furniture was difficult to move, it could be disassembled and taken away. After the gas supply ran out, the wood could also be used to cook…, While Ding Yuqin was organizing and categorizing the items, Wang Tao took a shower. A cold splash instantly sent shivers through him., After killing the zombies, his spirit was still somewhat tense, as being suddenly attacked by a crafty zombie had left him with a not insignificant psychological shadow., Now the cold water had sobered him considerably., It was just a pity that he hadn’t wanted to use electricity to heat the water, which would have been more comfortable with a hot shower., During the bath, Wang Tao checked his wrist, which had a bruise, but it wasn’t serious, and he expected it to heal in a couple of days. The previous bruise on his arm had already healed., After the shower, Ding Yuqin had just finished tidying up., The bruise on Wang Tao’s wrist was still fairly noticeable, and Ding Yuqin spotted it immediately., Holding back her surprise this time, Ding Yuqin still asked,, “Wang Tao, shall I apply some medicine to your wrist? It’ll heal faster with ointment!”, “Sure.”, Wang Tao nodded, and Ding Yuqin immediately went home to fetch the first aid kit., “`, In fact, Ding Yuqin had intended to give the medical kit to Wang Tao, but after hesitating for a moment, she refrained. It wasn’t that she couldn’t part with it, but she knew she didn’t have much of value to offer Wang Tao. If she were to give away the medical kit as well, she’d be left with truly nothing…, Wang Tao lay on the sofa while Ding Yuqin sat beside him, applying medicine to his wounds. The ointment felt cool and soothing as it was smeared on., Ding Yuqin, observing the muscles on Wang Tao’s body, thought about offering to massage him to help him relax, as she had some knowledge in that area. But it felt somewhat inappropriate, so she didn’t mention it., After applying the medicine for a while, Ding Yuqin suddenly asked,, “Ahem, Wang Tao, that… Are you planning to go to the Survivor Base next?”, Before the internet went down, she had seen the Government’s announcement and knew about a large Survivor Base organized by the Government in Huangfeng City., She certainly wanted to go, having heard that it still maintained the semblance of a normal society, with rules and order, and that each survivor even guaranteed a minimum standard of living!, To those in this post-apocalyptic world, that was nothing short of paradise!, But the problem was, the Survivor Base was too far from their residential area. She simply didn’t have the means to make it there…, So she asked Wang Tao to see if he had any plans to go and if he did, whether he could take her along., Upon hearing the question, Wang Tao pondered for a moment before replying,, “I’m considering it, but I’m not sure when to go.”, Though at present, he was able to kill zombies and scavenge supplies, seemingly equipped to survive the apocalypse, who could predict future struggles?, Moreover, Wang Tao was interested in seeing what the Survivor Base was like. If it was as good as they said, he was willing to settle there., But he certainly wouldn’t go now. His current location was in Shuize County of Huangfeng City, while the Survivor Base was in Red Stone County. There was a full fifty kilometers between them. Unless he grew wings, venturing that far with his current capabilities was suicide., “Ahem, if you decide to go, could you, maybe, take me with you?”, Ding Yuqin asked with a smile, looking tentatively at Wang Tao., “We’ll see. It’s too early to talk about this now.”, Wang Tao didn’t directly answer., And this non-committal response turned Ding Yuqin’s face pale., In the world of adults, rejections are not usually so direct, often giving the other person some face., Taking into account the current situation, Wang Tao’s response was clearly a refusal., After all, she couldn’t kill zombies and had little strength. To Wang Tao, she was nothing but a burden; perhaps without her, he could move faster…, “Oh…”, Ding Yuqin bit her lip, confused, not knowing what to say next., Wang Tao hadn’t openly refused, so she couldn’t very well pester him to agree; what if he was still on the fence and her insistence pushed him to decide against taking her…, Ding Yuqin didn’t need to prepare dinner; some leftover food from lunch, just reheated, would suffice for Wang Tao., Taking into account Ding Yuqin’s help in the afternoon, Wang Tao gave her a pack of instant noodles as a bonus reward., This bonus was supposed to make Ding Yuqin happy, but she just couldn’t seem to find the joy in it., Once Ding Yuqin had left, Wang Tao ate a simple meal, rested for a while, and then commenced his routine exercise., “I feel like my physical condition has slightly improved after killing those two zombies today! It shouldn’t be an illusion – killing zombies indeed seems to incrementally enhance one’s physique! While the change isn’t noticeable at once or twice, I surmise that the improvement will be substantial after reaching a certain number…”, After several hours of exercise, Wang Tao took a shower, and then suddenly realized that the water supply had stopped., Actually, he had noticed the water flow weakening during his shower, so the cutoff wasn’t altogether unexpected., Still, he felt somewhat distressed about it, as it meant he had another task ahead – finding water., Using his pre-stored water, he rinsed off the sweat, and didn’t discard the used water, saving it for later toilet flushing., Then he lay in bed, turned on the radio as usual, to see if he could pick up any signals., “Zzz… Zzz… This is Red Stone Survivor Base… Zzz…”