Chapter 8 Take it back

Bai Chenzhu was forcibly pushed into the passenger seat of the SUV by Jiang Ye.

The woman showed no objection to her seat being taken. She opened the car door and calmly sat in the back seat.

Jiang Ye turned the key and started the car.

There were three living people in the car, but no one spoke. Bai Chenzhu silently surveyed the interior, feeling like a giant, oversized light bulb.

The passenger seat should be for the girlfriend, doesn't he know that? How does this kind of person have so many girlfriends? Bai Chenzhu, a workaholic who has been single for many years, subtly felt a little unbalanced.

In the silence, just as Bai Chenzhu was about to suggest that he move to the back seat, the woman suddenly spoke up: "Jiang Ye, I want to discuss something with you."

Jiang Ye glanced at the rearview mirror, his voice softening slightly, "Hmm?"

The woman leaned forward. "You see, although there are already zombies and some mutated plants and animals, it's still under control. But it's hard to say what will happen in the future. So I have to hurry back to my hometown now."

The woman adjusted her glasses and said, "Don't worry, I'll just drive my own car."

Jiang Ye remained silent.

The woman shook his headrest. "Hey, Jiang Ye? If you're still alive, say something."

"Squeak." Jiang Ye said somewhat reluctantly, "Sis, can we talk about this when we get back?"

"Go back and keep dragging it out, huh? I have my own legs, I'll leave tomorrow." The woman sneered, clearly determined, and sat in the back seat with her arms crossed, pretending to doze off.

The atmosphere inside the car fell silent for a moment. Even Bai Chenzhu sensed something was wrong. He quietly looked at the woman in the rearview mirror, his gaze lingering on Jiang Ye, who was humming a tune.

Something felt off. Bai Chenzhu's thoughts drifted elsewhere, and he unconsciously tapped his thigh with his index finger.

The car drove along a sparsely populated road, heading into the mountains.

This isn't the road to the city; it's more like finding a desolate wilderness to commit murder and dump the body. Bai Chenzhu suddenly called out, "Jiang Ye."

The nameless tune he was humming stopped, and Jiang Ye glanced at him, his face full of impatience, "Spit it out if you have something to say."

In the silence of the car, Bai Chenzhu laughed in anger, a laugh that was so hard she gritted her teeth. Enduring the humiliation, she asked in a low voice, "Hey, where are you planning to take me?"

Jiang Ye lazily stared ahead, "Take them back as reserve grain."

Reserve grain? Bai Chenzhu frowned. His previous anger had largely dissipated, and he had intended to try to get along peacefully with Jiang Ye.

But when he heard Jiang Ye's words of scare, the words of goodwill that were on the tip of his tongue turned into a sarcastic remark without changing his expression: "Tch, Young Master Jiang, have you evolved into a living zombie king? You eat and store up food, and since domestication isn't enough, you have to go out and hunt for wild food."

Jiang Ye was playing with the steering wheel like a spinning top, and suddenly he did a huge fishtail, deliberately throwing Bai Chenzhu, who was in the passenger seat, into the door.

The sound of the impact filled Jiang Ye with joy; his small counterattack seemed to have turned the tide.

Seeing Bai Chenzhu's pale face as he covered his mouth, he smugly threatened, "If I mutate, you'll be the first one I eat, I'll bite your skin, flesh, and bones off one bite at a time..."

"Who will eat whom is still uncertain. Don't forget how he looked at the nightclub earlier." Bai Chenzhu calmed down, suppressing his anger, and said sarcastically, "Young Master Jiang that night was quite dashing."

"Wow, that's incredible! How about we test whether your words are tougher or my fists are tougher?" Jiang Ye was eager to try.

"If you dare to mess around again, I'll dump both of you in the wilderness! And let you eat each other's fill!" The woman in the back seat, who had been startled awake, slammed her fist on the back of the chair, her morning grumpiness terrifying.

Bai Chenzhu and Jiang Ye exchanged a glance, both feeling disgusted with each other, and turned their heads away.

Jiang Ye went to a villa on the outskirts of Jiangzhou, which was located on the mountainside. Villas were scattered around it at a distance, and a straight and wide road led directly to the door.

The villa is three stories high and occupies a large area. It has a garden, an outdoor swimming pool and a relaxation platform, as well as parking spaces. The villa is surrounded by an electric fence.

The first floor is a warehouse, with heavy iron doors tightly closed, its contents unknown. A stylish white staircase spirals up the side of the villa, and through floor-to-ceiling windows, one can see exquisite furniture on the second and third floors.

It's not hard to imagine that this house was used for vacations and fun before the apocalypse.

Before the car even entered the villa, Bai Chenzhu, in the passenger seat, already saw two dark figures crouching in front of the ornate iron gate. Judging from their furtive movements, the two were trying to pry open the gate.

Upon hearing the car, the two thieves turned around and were surprised to find themselves with Wang Xinxin and a strange man in black.

It never seems like anything good ever comes from seeing someone he knows. Bai Chenzhu's eyelids twitched.

Upon seeing the car approaching, the two were initially surprised but then delighted, rushing over to stop it. Jiang Ye clicked his tongue impatiently and slowed down.

Two dark figures frantically pounded on the car window. Jiang Ye slowly lowered the window halfway down.

The man in black exclaimed excitedly, "Brother Jiang, it's you! Is this villa yours?! This is wonderful!"

Overjoyed, Wang Xinxin wept tears of happiness, as if she had seen a savior, filled with hope, "Jiang Ye!"

Jiang Ye's expression was indifferent, and he opened a crack in the car window, asking, "What do you want?"

His attitude puzzled the two of them greatly; they couldn't understand why the person who had been so friendly before was now so unfriendly to them.

The man in black couldn't hold back any longer and quickly recounted how they participated in the class activity at the hot spring resort, and how they narrowly escaped death after discovering zombies at the resort, running all the way to the villa area halfway up the mountain to seek help.

Bai Chenzhu propped his cheek on his hand, remaining aloof and listening silently to the two telling their story. He would occasionally glance at Jiang Ye, who had no expression on his face, a hint of doubt and confusion on his face.

This shouldn't be happening. Bai Chenzhu calculated the date.

He remembered that in the book, a few days after leaving the nightclub, the two confirmed their relationship. Jiang Ye was clearly dating Wang Xinxin, and they even booked a hot spring resort for a romantic getaway. After the apocalypse, the two of them were trapped alone in the resort...

At this point in time, the two were deeply in love.

But now her childhood sweetheart has appeared ahead of schedule, and her first love, who should have been with her, has escaped from the hot spring resort alone because of a class activity. Bai Chenzhu thought to herself, "What complicated relationships, what a messy plot."

Was it because he infected Jiang Ye prematurely that night?

"So what do you want?" Jiang Ye's brows furrowed with impatience.

"This place is in the middle of nowhere, far from the city. We can't hail a taxi without internet, and we can't catch a bus. Brother Jiang, please take us in." The man in black rubbed his hands together, revealing a fawning smile.

They stumbled and fled all the way to the villa area, only to find that most of the houses were empty, with only a few showing signs of life. They saw that this villa was the best maintained and clearly inhabited, so they figured it must have food and decided to 'stay' for a while.

Unexpectedly, it was Jiang Ye! The two of them were now absolutely certain they would be moving into the villa.

“Don’t you have legs?” Jiang Ye asked.

"Jiang Ye!" Hearing that he wasn't going to pay them any attention, Wang Xinxin exclaimed in disbelief, "Are you even speaking human language? There are so many plants and animals here, they might all have turned into zombies. How can you expect us to walk all the way back to the city? What if we encounter zombies?"

Jiang Ye said nonchalantly, "Oh, what does that have to do with me?"

The man in black and Wang Xinxin were surprised by Jiang Ye's reaction, which seemed to be completely different from the Jiang Shao they knew.

"Brother Jiang, how could you be so heartless!" the man in black wailed, clinging to the car door. "These are tough times, we should help each other out! Don't worry, Brother Jiang, we'll only stay for two or three days at most, we won't trouble you at all."

“We’re friends after all,” Wang Xinxin’s tone softened. She stood timidly to the side, sniffed, and her eyes were slightly red. “Jiang Ye, please let us stay. We can look after each other and get through this pandemic together.”

Jiang Ye showed no mercy to his former ambiguous relationship, saying, "Who said we're friends? Do you think we don't charge you for food and drinks?"

Jiang Ye remained unmoved by either soft or hard tactics, determined not to let them into his villa, regardless of their lives.

He was expressionless, radiating an aura of menace. Bai Chenzhu even felt he was capable of driving straight into her.

The two clung to each other shamelessly, refusing to leave.

Jiang Ye clicked his tongue impatiently and started the car.

The two, oblivious to their own mortality, blocked the way, betting that Jiang Ye wouldn't dare to crash into them!

Unexpectedly, when Jiang Ye stepped on the gas, the car flew off. The two were terrified, and their survival instincts made them run away. The car grazed the corners of their clothes as they dodged, and crashed into the remotely opened iron gate.

If they don't move aside, they'll really bump into each other!

However, the two disregarded their fear and anger, and rushed in during the brief moment the iron gate was open, falling onto the lawn and crying out in pain.