After checking the accelerator and brakes, Lu Xinghe said, "Pack your things and get ready to leave. We shouldn't stay here any longer."
“But we don’t have enough food right now. We need to stock up on dry rations before we leave.” Luo Ning didn’t want to leave without any preparation.
Lu Xinghe glanced at the fish kept in the pit outside: "Killing those fish is enough. There will be food at the next stop."
"Next stop? So you do have a stop here." Luo Ning asked tentatively.
“No,” Lu Xinghe replied, “I’m going to find the place where the plane crashed; there are supplies there.”
There were not only supplies there, but also weapons and a radio. If the radio was still intact, he could make contact with the base.
The plane crashed in the abandoned city. Luo Ning immediately thought of those huge animal species. Although she was a little worried, staying here was not a long-term solution. She still had to get out.
Lu Xinghe filled the tank with all the gasoline and then began to check if the vehicle was in good condition. Luo Ning also quickly processed the fish. By 3:30 p.m., everything was ready.
Luo Ning took one last look at the place where she had lived for two years. If it weren't for the apocalypse, this place would truly be a paradise, with mountains and rivers, and far fewer alien species than those that had come close to the human world. She was a little reluctant to leave.
"Let's go," Lu Xinghe urged. Sure enough, Instructor Shen was right; women just dawdle.
"Coming, coming." Luo Ning jumped into the car. Sure enough, men have no patience. They wouldn't wait even a minute longer. He's still so young, and he's already learned all those old men's ways.
She got into the car and went straight to the driver's seat, but Lu Xinghe was already sitting in the driver's seat. He started the car and asked, "Which way do we go?"
Although the car had a navigation system, it was unusable without a satellite connection, and since the satellites in the sky were controlled by the base, he couldn't make any contact with them.
Luo Ning pointed in a direction: "This way."
Lu Xinghe felt that she was being a bit casual: "Are you sure? If we take the wrong road, we won't have enough fuel."
Luo Ning nodded firmly. In the past two years, she and Xiao Ruo had traveled back and forth to the abandoned city several times in search of supplies. She had measured the area step by step with her own feet, so there was no way she was wrong.
After the car started, the trees slowly receded, and Luo Ning and An Xiaoruo leaned against the window looking at the scenery outside. This time, they finally didn't have to walk.
As night fell, after An Xiaoruo fell asleep, Luo Ning sat in the passenger seat to guide Lu Xinghe. To save fuel, Lu Xinghe did not turn on the headlights, and since he did not have Luo Ning's eyesight, he could only rely on Luo Ning's guidance to move forward.
Fortunately, this was already on the edge of the desert, and the road was relatively flat, so the car traveled smoothly. Taking this opportunity, Luo Ning prepared to get closer to Lu Xinghe.
"How old are you this year?" she asked.
"You can't talk while driving." Lu Xinghe focused intently on the road ahead.
Luo Ning looked around and asked, "This is a flat plain, there shouldn't be any problems. Are you fourteen or fifteen?"
"Sixteen." After Lu Xinghe finished speaking, he glanced at the rearview mirror. Did he look like a child?
"Oh, you're sixteen? I'm six years older than you. I'm twenty-two this year. So you must be married by now, right? Do you have any children?" she asked again. In the novel, the base stipulated that men and women should marry and have children at the age of fifteen or sixteen in order to expand the population. If Lu Xinghe already had children, then she could start from this point to make him get closer to An Xiaoruo.
After An Xiaoruo returned to the base, she was unable to take care of her anymore, so she wanted to find someone to take care of the orphan An Xiaoruo.
Lu Xinghe was puzzled. How did she know the rules of the base? Could it be that she was not an original infected person, but someone who was infected after leaving the base in recent years?
However, when it comes to marriage, he was indeed asked to do so by the base when he was fifteen, but he refused each time. One of the reasons he came out this time was to avoid the matter of marriage.
“No,” he replied.
Luo Ning: "Are you not married or do you not have children?"
Lu Xinghe recalled the male mutant's lustful gaze towards her earlier that day, which proved that mutants have desires. Why was she asking him so many questions? Could it be that she had some ulterior motive?
He glanced at her instinctively and found her looking at him expectantly, her blue eyes like the twilight sky.
"Don't look at me like that." He didn't like the color of her eyes; it reminded him of many painful things.
"Why? Aren't you looking at me too?" Luo Ning asked.
He gripped the steering wheel tightly: "Your eyes don't suit my aesthetic."
He phrased it tactfully; he didn't want to lie, but he also didn't want to anger her.
Luo Ning was stunned for a moment. So he thought she was ugly? Girls are afraid of being called ugly, and Luo Ning was no exception. She turned her head away awkwardly, and then secretly looked in the mirror. She didn't seem so ugly. Back in school, she had at least eight or ten suitors. Today, he actually called her ugly.
The atmosphere suddenly became quiet. Luo Ning silently tugged at a loose thread on her clothes while sitting in her chair. Suddenly, An Xiaoruo, who was fast asleep, started crying as if she had been frightened. Luo Ning hurried over to comfort her and found that An Xiaoruo was covered in sweat. She must have been frightened by a nightmare.
"Did you have a nightmare? Don't be afraid, Mommy is here." She gently patted An Xiaoruo's back.
An Xiaoruo hugged her tightly: "Mom, sleep with me. I just dreamed about that big brown bear. He wanted to eat me."
"Okay, Mommy will stay with you." Luo Ning held An Xiaoruo in her arms, but when she thought An Xiaoruo had fallen asleep, she was about to leave to give directions to Lu Xinghe. However, the little girl woke up immediately as soon as she moved, so she had no choice but to carry An Xiaoruo to sit in the passenger seat as well.
And so, Lu Xinghe drove, with Luo Ning sitting beside him, holding An Xiaoruo in her arms, comforting An Xiaoruo while keeping an eye on the road.
"So delicate." Lu Xinghe couldn't stand it anymore. An Xiaoruo was being protected too much by Luo Ning. In the apocalypse, a child like that would have no chance of survival. The girls in the base started receiving military training at the age of five, and none of them would cry like her.
Luo Ning was a little angry. It was one thing for him to say she was ugly, but he didn't even spare An Xiaoruo. Although she wasn't An Xiaoruo's biological mother, she still protected her child.
“What’s wrong with being delicate? Girls can’t be delicate. I’m happy to have my daughter. You can say I’m ugly, but you can’t say that about Xiao Ruo,” she muttered.
Lu Xinghe was stunned. He had only said that he didn't like her eyes, when had he ever said she was ugly? She had misunderstood.
He opened his mouth as if to explain, but he knew that explaining would only create more misunderstandings, so he chose to remain silent.
But Luo Ning grew angrier the more she thought about it. She was clearly the boss, yet he had overshadowed her. She put An Xiaoruo in his arms and said, "Get up, I'll drive."
"You can drive?" Lu Xinghe didn't believe it; she couldn't even start a car.
"Don't underestimate me, I'm just as good a driver as you." She pulled him over. Although she hadn't driven in two years, there were no obstacles in the desert, and even if she drove haphazardly, she could still get to her destination.
With a press of the accelerator, the car sped across the desert. Occasionally, blue lights could be seen flashing by; these were alien creatures wandering the desert. Sensing the presence of humans, they took off in pursuit, but were quickly outpaced by Luo Ning.
"How about that? I'm not worse than you, am I?" Luo Ning said smugly, but Lu Xinghe did not respond to her.
She turned her head and saw that he had already fallen asleep, holding An Xiaoruo against the car door. His breathing was even and his lips were slightly parted, indicating that he was fast asleep. She knew that he hadn't been sleeping well these past few days because he was wary of her, and he must be extremely tired now.
Never mind, I'll show him my driving skills next time.
When the car arrived at the abandoned airport at dawn, she decided to stop and rest for a while. Although she was a mutant, she still needed to use the toilet, and she had been holding it in for two hours.
"Wake up." She nudged Lu Xinghe.
Lu Xinghe groggily opened his eyes, and upon seeing her blue eyes, he reflexively wanted to attack. In the Red Gate, they were trained like this every day.
Luo Ning grabbed his hand and said lightly, "I've told you so many times not to resist in vain. Keep an eye on the surroundings. I... I'm going out for a bit."
"What are you going to do?" Lu Xinghe looked at her hand on his wrist. It was slender and fair, the kind of hand that made one want to protect it, yet it was so strong.
Luo Ning snorted: "I'm going to be spoiled."
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