Chapter 82 Lu Wei Reunited

January 1, 2027.

New Year according to the Gregorian calendar.

Lin Xi picked a bunch of sprigs of spinach and a white radish to cook a hot pot at home to welcome the New Year.

The strong aroma of the hot pot masked the smell of the frozen meat, which was nearing its expiration date, and Lin Xi ate with a flushed face in the warm room.

The tablet is broadcasting a live stream of New Year's activities at an underground base.

On the dark red stage, some festive and unity-themed songs were sung, military boxing and martial arts performances replaced the dances, and the language programs consisted of some inspiring recitations.

The camera panned across the crowd; some were enjoying taro with gusto, some were moved to tears by the recitation, and many more had numb expressions on their faces.

-

January 1, 2028.

There is less and less information about the base online, and fewer and fewer netizens are active.

Lin Xi and Gu Yixuan had already exhausted their few common topics from their university days, and their boring lives had nothing new to share.

Send a greeting every now and then.

Gu Yixuan, who used to love sharing her life, suddenly stopped talking about it, so Lin Xi had to use a VPN to access foreign websites to learn about things abroad.

Due to different national circumstances, few underground city bases abroad absorb ordinary citizens; those bases are all used for military purposes.

However, many countries are sparsely populated, and some people are self-sufficient on farms or as pirates, while cities are ravaged by zombies, and survivors fight each other for supplies, resulting in countless deaths and injuries due to the proliferation of guns.

Lin Xi couldn't help but wonder about Gu Yixuan's situation. She didn't seem to be in danger, just unhappy.

In her previous lives, Gu Yixuan was still able to share her happy life when she experienced the zombie riots in Nanhua. What made this young lady lose her desire to share?

-

September 15, 2028.

The orange tree in Lin Xi's yard has produced even more fruit.

However, she had almost used up all her meat that year, and after a long period of vegetarianism, these fresh fruits and vegetables brought her no joy.

When I crave meat, I can only satisfy my craving with a self-heating hot pot or canned food, and every now and then I'll eat a can of protein powder to supplement my protein intake.

However, both canned food and protein powder have a shelf life. Even if you eat them sparingly, you will still not have any protein to supplement after 3 years.

Lin Xi's right hand still showed no improvement, but she still believed that the apocalypse would end.

-

January 1, 2029.

Unlike last year, the underground base did not broadcast the welcome party inside the base live.

No one shared their life inside the base.

Lin Xi suspected that the base had blocked the signal for some reason, so that people inside could not contact the outside world whether they went to the computer room or had their own mobile phones.

The only information available online comes from survivors who did not go to the base.

Like Lin Xi, these people were able to survive and access the internet thanks to their solar charging systems.

-

May 20, 2029.

Lin Xi finished all the puzzles and DIY handicrafts.

With this kind of weather, the only forms of entertainment are watching TV and reading novels.

-

September 20, 2029.

Lin Xi made ham mooncakes.

It was an expired sausage. Lin Xi could only hope that the high-temperature baking would sterilize it and prevent her from getting diarrhea.

Otherwise, her medicine might also be expired, and taking it could make things worse.

Lin Xi told Gu Yixuan about this unfortunate event.

Whether the young lady experiences a life of happiness like Versailles or simply responds with a perfunctory "not bad," she accepts it all.

But Gu Yixuan didn't reply.

Even after October, the young lady still hadn't replied.

So Lin Xi sent a greeting to Yu Shiyun.

Another month passed, and winter arrived, but the mother and daughter, far from home, still hadn't replied to any messages.

The apocalypse has been here for so long, perhaps they encountered some difficulties, such as power outages or internet outages, which is why they were unable to respond.

Lin Xi thought so.

So, I started looking at the calendar and posting a photo to share on each holiday.

By the Mid-Autumn Festival in 2030.

Lin Xi asked: Are you still alive?

No one answered.

Lin Xi, who hadn't spoken to a living person in a year, browsed Weibo and foreign forums, searching for signs of life, and replied to every post about "Are there any survivors?"

She wouldn't have dared to do these things before, afraid that people would find out she was still secretly alive and that she would be attacked through the internet.

There were many replies under those posts, with survivors encouraging each other.

-

May 20, 2031.

Lin Xi's house was mostly empty.

The shelves in the storage room, which were originally full of supplies, were empty; almost all the fast food and snacks had been consumed.

Only the basement still had a lot of compressed biscuits and canned food stored there.

These things are said to be edible even after they expire, with an extremely long shelf life.

The storage room on the first floor is still full, filled with seeds. Half of these seeds were stockpiled in the past and may no longer be usable, while the other half are seeds saved from each year's crop planting.

Lin Xi expanded the scope of her farming, and the fields near her home were now filled with staple crops and vegetables.

Even without all the stockpiled goods, Lin Xi was still able to eat her fill and stay warm. She couldn't help but think that choosing to return to her hometown to build a fortress and survive the apocalypse in this life was a good option.

-

January 1, 2032.

Lin Xi posted a Weibo post:

"Happy New Year"

Someone replied to her, wishing her a happy new year while trying to say hello and make friends.

Lin Xi refused to make friends; she just wanted to hear a response.

Every year, relevant departments issue notices calling for people to take refuge in underground bases, but the number of likes on these notices is decreasing each year.

-

August 15, 2032.

Lin Xi dug a basket of fresh lotus roots from the lotus pond and brought them back.

She suddenly realized that she hadn't seen a zombie in three years, so much so that she became complacent and stopped using the drone for patrols before going out each day.

This discovery surprised her. She searched online for information about zombies, but most of the relevant information was published three years ago, and in the last two years, the few blog posts online rarely mentioned zombies.

Lin Xi had an unrealistic fantasy:

Could it be that the zombies have already been wiped out, the people in the base have rebuilt their homes, and started using new networks and domain names, while she has been forgotten in Cloud Village?

The day after she had this idea, two camouflage trucks with wire mesh on them were parked at the entrance of Yun Village.

When Lin Xi saw the two cars at home, her first reaction was not fear, but relief.

When the people in the car arrived at her house, upon seeing the face of the leader, Lin Xi even felt an urge to open the door for him—

Lu Wei, whom I haven't seen for many years.

He was wearing a military uniform and was followed by several men, each carrying a gun.

Upon seeing the gun, Lin Xi stopped inside the house.

Lu left his men at a distance and went to the courtyard gate alone, saying that they were carrying out a zombie extermination operation and urgently needed supplies.

Hearing that long-unheard, indifferent tone, Lin Xi couldn't help but secretly grumble to herself:

Even though they came to ask for something, their tone was still so cold.

Lin Xi remained silent through the door.

She wasn't afraid of Lu Wei; in fact, she admired him. Even after the zombie outbreak had lasted so long, he remained brave and persisted in clearing out the zombies.

But there were others behind Lu Wei, and they were all carrying guns.

Upon seeing the gun barrel, Lin Xi instinctively covered her right arm, which she couldn't move.

Lu Wei didn't receive a reply, so he turned and left, leading his men to camp at the village entrance for the night.

Late at night, Lin Xi used a drone to send him a letter, asking him to pick up supplies at her doorstep.

She was afraid to open the door, but she wanted to help Lu Wei.

She took out two-thirds of the compressed biscuits and canned food from the basement, which would allow Lu Wei's team to last for a while.

This was the most help she could offer.

Seeing that her attitude had softened, Lu Wei asked her from outside the door if she was willing to join the zombie extermination team.

Lin Xi declined.

Lu Wei's team left at dawn the next day.

-

January 1, 2033.

Lin Xi's iPhone could only be used when it was plugged in with a charging cable, so she had no choice but to switch to a new backup phone.

The new backup phone was also bought 8 years ago, but it hasn't been used in the past few years, so the battery is in good condition.

After downloading Green Bubble, Lin Xi thought of Lu Wei and wanted to say something to him.

A greeting, or... a cry for help?

The new phone had no chat history with Lu Wei, so Lin Xi typed "Lu Wei" into the search bar.

Lu Wei's profile picture appeared along with a WeChat public account post that received a lot of likes.

The blog post, published on June 15, 2025, recognizes those who assisted the police in killing zombies and maintaining order near Hongwen Hospital when the zombie outbreak first occurred.

They acted bravely and fearlessly, joining the fight against zombies.

It didn't work out, though; the zombie outbreak still occurred around 5 p.m.

Everyone sacrificed their lives heroically.

Lin Xi noticed "Lu Wei" and "Liang Hui" among the bolded names.