Chapter 3

Loujiang Town, near the sea, is one of the towns rated as livable by the state. Her parents had long considered moving there after Xu Zhou finished her college entrance exam.

After a two-week graduation trip, Xu Zhou came to Loujiang Town.

After a week here, Xu Zhou hasn't seen the morning in Loujiang Town.

While chatting with a friend in the evening, she heard that the sunrise in Loujiang Town was very beautiful, so she turned over and decided to get up early the next day to see it.

As the morning mist filled the fence, Xu Zhou put on his backpack, opened the gate, and wondered what to eat for breakfast.

The sound of a door being pushed open came from next door, and the swallows under the eaves were startled and flew away. They swayed like a dot of ink, and finally landed on the door lintel, their wet tail feathers shaking gently.

Xu Zhou lowered her eyes and saw a young man in a white shirt closing the door and turning around. As if noticing her gaze, he looked up at her.

"Hello." When he met those eyes as still as a pool of water, Xu Zhou greeted them without thinking.

"Hello."

The boy nodded in agreement and turned to leave.

The figure disappeared into the mist, and her last memory was of a faded badge pinned on his shirt.

It looks pretty good.

Continue thinking during the day.

This is the first meeting between Xu Zhou and Xun Chun.

In the following days, whenever Xu Zhou encountered Xun Chun, he would take the initiative to greet him. His answers were as plain as ever, just like his eyes.

Those eyes looked at her for a long time, and she seemed to have other thoughts in her mind.

She didn't know Xunchun, but her parents did.

"Are you asking about the boy next door?" Xu's mother picked up the kettle and watered the flower pots one by one. Xu Zhou followed her and ate an apple. "His name is Xunchun, and he's about your age, but he lives alone. He's quite warm-hearted. Last time, when your father was away, there were so many boxes delivered, and he helped me move them."

"Why does he live alone?"

"You, stop prying into other people's affairs."

"I know."

Xu's mother raised her hand, gently bent her index finger, and tapped Xu Zhou's forehead with her knuckles. Xu Zhou chuckled, took Xu's mother's arm, and nodded immediately.

Stepmother talked about other topics.

Xu Zhou looked at the same flowers as the ones next door, lost in thought.

At dinner, Xu's father mentioned Xunchun, and his words were full of praise for him.

Xu Zhou became even more curious about this.

After dinner, she stood on the second-floor balcony, opposite Xunchun's home.

It was pitch black and he had not returned yet.

His yard was full of roses, and now was the blooming season. Dark brown branches stretched from the low gray brick wall over the balcony railings, and at the top, four or five roses were in full bloom.

She reached out and stroked the petals.

I was just thinking about how beautiful the flowers were when I suddenly realized there was a person standing under the street light.

He stood at the door, holding his bicycle, and watched her evil hand reaching out to Qiangwei.

"Good evening. The flowers in your house are so beautiful. Can I pick one?" Xu Zhou asked with a smile.

The evening breeze brought the scent of roses, and the green leaves swayed and rustled.

"Okay." After a while, he replied, "Good evening."

After saying that, he pushed the door open and walked in. Not long after, the light next door came on.

So cute.

Xu Zhou was in a good mood. He reached out and gently touched the corolla of each rose, counting them as he did so, muttering to himself which flower was the most beautiful.

In the end, no results were obtained.

She didn't pick the flowers, but just watered them occasionally.

There is a coastal highway in Loujiang Town. It was when Xu Zhou saw Xunchun’s bicycle that he came up with the idea of ​​cycling along the coast.

Xu's father told her to go to Cai Shi Park, where there are more people, more lively and the scenery is more beautiful.

It should be good to continue during the day.

The scenery that day was picturesque.

The only drawback is that the chain fell off.

Xu Zhou squatted beside her bicycle and called her father, hoping he would come and rescue her. She opened her phone, glanced ahead, her eyes lit up, and her hands, quicker than her brain, naturally pulled out the camera and took a picture.

In the photo, Xunchun is holding a sunflower and lowering his head slightly.

"hello."

What a coincidence! Xu Zhou put away his phone, stood up and waved.

Xunchun heard her voice, stopped, and turned to look for the source of the voice. Seeing her, he nodded and said, "Hello."

"Can you fix a bike? My chain fell off." She pointed to the bicycle next to her.

"I can try."

Xunchun handed the bouquet to Xuzhou and squatted down to check the condition of the bicycle chain.

Xu Zhou stood beside him holding flowers and looked at him.

Heat waves twisted the air on the asphalt, shadows dappled the boulevard, a sea breeze blew, cicadas chirped, and spots of light swirled on the stone bricks. Seabirds skimmed over the surface of the ocean, and in the distance, waves shattered into shards of glass.

The bustling sounds seemed to have faded away.

The light and shadow danced on his profile, making him look even gentler.

Xu Zhou was more and more satisfied the more she looked. When she saw the sunflowers, her heart skipped a beat. She fiddled with the bouquet and asked casually, "These flowers are nice. Where did you buy them?"

"It was given to me by my tutor." Xunchun replied.

"I see. Do you like flowers?"

"good."

Xunchun finally checked the operation of the chain, stood up, pushed the bicycle for a few steps, and after confirming that there was no problem, he said to her: "Okay, you can try it."

"No need, I trust you." Xu Zhou held the flowers in one hand, took out a pack of wet wipes from his bag, and handed it to him, "Here you go."

"Thank you." Xunchun took the wet wipes and wiped his dirty hands carefully.

"It's okay. I should be the one thanking you. Thanks to you, otherwise I would have to wait here until sunset."

His fingers are long and slender, with distinct joints, and even when he does simple movements, he looks pleasing to the eye.

Xu Zhou praised silently in his heart.

"Why wait until sunset?" Xunchun asked.

"Because I still want to see the sunset." Xu Zhou pointed in the direction of the sea level. Above the intersection of the sea and the sky was the sun, ready to set. "I haven't seen the sunset over the sea yet."

Xunchun tilted her head, looked at the sea, then turned to Xuzhou who was also looking at the sea, and said quietly, "It's quite beautiful."

"Have you seen it?"

“I have.”

"Do you want to watch it again?"

Seeing that Xunchun had wiped his hands, Xu Zhou returned the flower to him and looked at him straight, waiting for his answer.

Xunchun took the flower, looked into her eyes, and did not answer for a moment.

Xu Zhou was not in a hurry and waited for his answer.

Seeing this, he originally wanted to refuse, but when he said it again, his meaning changed: "Okay."

"Then let's wait a little longer."

Xu Zhou smiled, his eyes curved like crescent moons.

Xunchun nodded.

"By the way, you don't know my name yet, right? My name is Xu Zhou."

"Searching for spring."

"It's a nice name, just like you."

"Um?"

“It gives people a sense of spring.”

…

The two of them found a long wooden bench and sat down, chatting about all sorts of topics. The sunset that day was just as beautiful as Xunchun had said.

The last moment the camera froze was when seabirds flew by, and the orange afterglow and the azure sea water together amazed the time.

She looked at him, as if something had quietly broken through the ground.

The start of university semester has arrived quietly.

On the morning Xu Zhou went to school, the gate next door was closed, and the person who usually appeared in the morning had not appeared.

Looking at the wall full of roses, she felt a little lost.

If she had known this, she would have given advance notice.

Xu's mother drove Xu Zhou to the station.

As soon as the car started, I saw a man walking around the corner from behind.

He is holding flowers.

I walked forward, stood at the gate of my house, and watched the car drive away.

It's a bit late.

Xunchun looked at the flowers, then at the empty street, and finally put the flowers at the door and took a photo.

After taking the photos, he brought the flowers in and slowly processed the bouquet, removing excess leaves, cutting the flower stems at an angle, and putting them into a vase. The originally dull space was instantly decorated with bright and colorful flowers.

【I'm leaving for school】

【Currently one third of the way to school】

There were two "buzz" sounds, and the phone received a message.

Xunchun took a look and saw that it was a message from Xu Zhou.

【Bon Voyage】

Seeing Xunchun's reply, Xu Zhou was not surprised. She had already guessed what he would reply. As expected, after spending so much time together, she understood him.

The day continues to be wonderful.

Alas, I just don’t know when we can meet again.

This day came quickly.

Because Xu Zhou met Xunchun in college.

"You're here too?"

Xu Zhou, who hadn't started military training yet, walked around the campus with her roommates. The campus was so large, and they grew tired halfway through. They decided to take a break, and there happened to be a stone bench on the grass in front of the teaching building, so they used it.

When the bell rang for the end of get out of class, she was surprised to see Xunchun in the crowd. She greeted her roommate and went to find him.

"Yes." Xunchun said, he was also surprised.

Xu Zhou lamented his fate.

Fate is really amazing.

After discovering that they were in the same university, Xu Zhou and Xun Chun became closer and closer, so close that Xu Zhou chose a very ordinary day to confess his love to him.

That day was not ordinary.

It happened to be the weekend, and neither of them had any classes or homework.

The forecast said there would be a solar eclipse that day, and Xunchun happened to ask her out, so she thought it was a good day sent by God. If he refused, she would say that her brain was blurred by the solar eclipse and she was talking nonsense.

Xu Zhou found a good excuse for himself and resolutely rushed to the battlefield.

Before leaving, her roommates all cheered her on.

The location for the Spring Seeking Date is the garden in the central square, where there is a huge city cultural symbol - the cobblestone pier.

The square was thronged with people, and the noise spilled into the garden. Xunchun sat upright on a long wooden chair, his white shirt slightly open at the collar, a bouquet of flowers in his arms. He stared straight ahead, the shadows of the trees fragmenting his profile into fragments of light and dark, a dappled effect of light and shadow.

Xu Zhou stopped behind the tree.

She unconsciously twirled the hem of her clothes with her fingertips, brushed off the nonexistent dust, and tucked her loose hair behind her ear. As the hawker's cries reached her, she stepped forward on the scattered sunlight.

"You're here so early."

"I asked you out, it's my duty."

He stood up, handed her the bouquet with his bony hands, and invited her to sit down.

The topic shifted with the clouds until the solar eclipse appeared.

At first, it was just a tiny chipped edge, like a bite from an invisible celestial dog. Gradually, the chipped edge began to leap across the sun, expanding its reach. The light gradually dimmed, and the crowd around it grew restless, exclamations rising one after another.

Xunchun grabbed Xuzhou's wrist.

The shadow devoured the sun, and at the moment the darkness collapsed, the noisy world seemed to be muted. Xu Zhou turned his head and bumped into a pair of burning eyes.

All those assumptions she had made thousands of times were suddenly thrown out of her mind. She turned her hand and grabbed his wrist, smiling: "Xunchun, I like you, let's be together."

"Okay." Xunchun's last syllable was wrapped in a smile, which was particularly clear amidst the sudden screams.

As the sun broke free from the moon's shadow, the chaotic crowd surged over the stone steps like a tide. Xunchun protected her with one hand behind him and led her step by step, slowly retreating to the edge of the crowd.

Xu Zhou looked at the tense back of his neck, and her restless heart suddenly settled. She looked up at the sky, and the sun was shining again.

——

The figure in his memory and the figure in reality gradually overlapped, and Xu Zhou came back to his senses.

"System, do you think zombies can be conscious?"

"He has brain waves."

The system just sits back and watches the show.

The wind started to blow, and Xu Zhou suddenly smiled.

On the doomsday, she received a message from Xunchun.

Let's break up

This incoherent sentence made her dazed for a moment. With his personality, he would never say such words.

She didn't know what had happened to him.

At that time, he was in Loujiang Town. The two were thousands of miles apart. He didn't reply to messages and didn't answer phone calls. His parents and friends had no news of him.

She couldn't reach him.

She felt lost and angry. When she woke up, it was four years after the apocalypse. The unfamiliar surroundings made her uneasy. She desperately wanted to know about his situation. Out of spite, she didn't ask the system, thinking that with his abilities, nothing would happen.

As fate would have it, he became a zombie.

But he still remembered her.

He tried hard to come to her, and she felt like crying, but she was also angry that he broke up with her without saying a word, so she pretended not to care all the way.

Until now.

Her heartbeat told her—

What would it be like to have a love affair with a zombie?

Xu Zhou moved.

She stepped forward and grabbed Xunchun's wrist. He turned his head away, as if puzzled, wanting to struggle free, but he hesitated.

The cries of the zombies ignited the signal to escape.

Without hesitation, she pulled him back, her ponytail bouncing wildly behind her head. He stumbled half a step and followed her pace in surprise.

The wind howled as the zombies followed closely behind. The heavy footsteps seemed to make the ground tremble, and the system cheered in her mind. Her rapid breathing was mixed with the wind, the tail sound drifting away in the running air, but she never let go of that cold wrist.

She said,

"Xunchun, let's elope!"