Chapter 19 Missing

After Qiao Yu came out of the hospital, she didn't rush home. Instead, she drove to the mall. After buying a dress at a lingerie store like a thief, she carried the bag back to the Jiang family mansion. She was still hesitating this morning about what birthday gift to get Jiang Zhan, but now, she has made up her mind.

The servants of the Jiang residence would leave the main house after eight o'clock in the evening. Qiao Yu silently waited for them all to leave, then locked the door and continued to store hot water.

It takes a long time to store water, and Qiao Yu didn't want to waste it, so he decided to store water while making a route map.

Qiao Yu set her alarm to go off every thirty minutes, reminding her to collect the water tank. While waiting for the water to fill, she pulled out the detailed maps of China's provinces and cities she had printed out. From memory, she marked the approximate locations of the major survivor bases from her past life and began meticulously planning her route.

After the apocalypse, although many creatures would undergo mutations, their habits would mostly remain largely unchanged. Just as humans could never live under the sea, even if other creatures underwent mutations, they would not go too far beyond their natural instincts.

Even before the apocalypse, the ocean and darkness were places most people were reluctant to venture into, let alone in the perilous apocalypse. Therefore, avoiding places with many waterways and tunnels became almost the default principles for people after the apocalypse.

Following these two principles, Qiao Yu quickly mapped out routes to the major bases. Just in case, he drafted two or more alternative routes for each base. He then highlighted all the villages, gas stations, large shopping malls, water plants, and food processing plants along the way.

This was not a small project. Qiao Yu worked hard all night and only managed to finish marking the map before the backup desk lamp ran out of battery.

Qiao Yu sorted out all the maps, bound them into a book, and placed them in the space with satisfaction.

In one night, 120 water tanks were filled. As the sky gradually brightened, Qiao Yu stopped and went downstairs to unlock the door. Then he went back to the bedroom, lay down, and fell asleep contentedly.

Qiao Yu slept until noon. When he woke up, the brightness of the sky outside had begun to return to normal, but his cell phone still didn't work and the battery had not yet been restored.

Qiao Yu went downstairs to eat something simple, then went back upstairs to store water. While storing water, he also exercised. Anyway, he couldn't do anything now, so he saved as much water as he could while it was still usable.

Qiao Yu didn't dare to stop. She had to find something to do, otherwise she would fall into endless longing.

Fortunately, I will be able to see Jiang Zhan tomorrow.

In the past two days, Qiao Yu has relied on such self-suggestion to relieve her inner anxiety.

She had never missed someone so much before. Even when she was just reborn, she could control her urge to see Jiang Zhan. But now, in just two days, she felt like she had been enduring two years, and she was eager to see Jiang Zhan.

Around nine o'clock in the evening, the call finally came. Although the mobile phone still didn't work and the TV had no signal, it was much more convenient.

Qiao Yu used the copier to make ten copies of the route planning map he had compiled yesterday and put them all in the space, so that even if he accidentally lost it, he would have a backup.

Nearly four hundred water tanks were already full, so Qiao Yu no longer pursued speed and decided to go to bed early tonight. Jiang Zhan would be back tomorrow, and it happened to be his birthday.

Cheng Sinian said that he hadn't celebrated his birthday since Jiang Zhan's father's accident. But this year, Qiao Yu wanted to spend his birthday with him. She wanted to give him a surprise.

The next morning, Qiao Yu woke up early and drove straight to the cake shop. But when she got there, she realized that she hadn't eaten cake in a long time and had forgotten that she needed to order one.

Qiao Yu stood in the cake shop, waiting for the pastry chef to make the cake, cursing himself for becoming so stupid.

Qiao Yu picked up the phone and looked at it, but the communication was still not restored.

She didn't know when Jiang Zhan would come back. What if she wasn't there when he came back?

"Qiao Yu?"

Qiao Yu was looking at her phone worriedly when she suddenly heard someone calling her. She looked up and saw a boy who looked familiar.

Qiao Yu couldn't remember who this person was, but he was already walking towards her with a look of surprise on his face. Seeing that she couldn't avoid him, she could only smile awkwardly and say, "What a coincidence."

The other party seemed to see her embarrassment and chuckled, "It's been so many years since we last met, don't you remember me?" Seeing that Qiao Yu was still confused, he simply introduced himself: "I'm Xu Yizhou, I sat in front of you in high school."

When Qiao Yu heard the name, she had a vague impression of it. "Oh, I remember now. Sorry, I'm a very forgetful person." It seemed like they had a good relationship in high school? She even invited him to her birthday party once.

However, she was captured by Jiang Zhan on that birthday and couldn't go.

The other party didn't seem to care, smiled, and took the initiative to change the subject, "Are you here to buy a cake?"

Don't hit a smiling person. Qiao Yu nodded and smiled, "Yes, you too?"

The other person shook his head and said, "No, this store is owned by my sister, and I came here to look for her. But my sister went out for something, and I'm waiting for her here."

"Oh." Qiao Yu responded and said nothing more.

The atmosphere was a little awkward for a moment.

Fortunately, the cake was ready quickly. Qiao Yu took the cake, waved politely to Xu Yizhou, said "goodbye", and quickly left the cake shop with the cake.

Qiao Yu carried the cake to the parking lot. Just as she placed it on the passenger seat, she heard Xu Yizhou calling her from behind. She turned around and saw him running towards her with a bouquet of roses.

Qiao Yu was a little stunned, "This is..."

Xu Yizhou smiled and explained, "We are having a promotion in our store today. We will give away roses of different numbers for every amount of consumption. The cake you bought is quite expensive, so we will give away nine roses. The pastry chef was in a hurry and forgot to give them to you, so I brought them to you. By the way, I'd like to apologize to you on behalf of the pastry chef. It was our negligence. I'm really sorry." After Xu Yizhou finished speaking, he bowed slightly, with a very sincere attitude.

Qiao Yu heard this without any doubt and took the flowers. Seeing that they were quite fresh, she thought of taking them home to give to Jiang Zhan. She didn't know what his expression would be when he received the flowers.

Qiao Yu was thinking of Jiang Zhan, and the smile on her face became a little wider. She politely said "thank you" to Xu Yizhou, then got into the car and hurried back, thinking of returning before Jiang Zhan got home so that Jiang Zhan could see her as soon as he entered the house.

After Qiao Yu left, Xu Yizhou still stood there, looking at the direction her car drove away, and his smile gradually faded.

After three years, he finally delivered the roses to the girl he loved today. Although he sent them under the name of a cake shop, it also put an end to his youthful secret love.