Chapter 2020
Before the end of the world, there was a collection folder on a video APP on Xue Ling’s phone, which contained all the Chicken Soup of the Soul videos.
There is a beautiful female voice telling some life truths that no one knows who has realized it, with the background sound of flute and erhu;
A broadcast-accented baritone reads some classic literary excerpts amidst the scenery of mountains and rivers accompanied by exciting music;
There is a clip of a famous Chinese culture master from the last century giving an inspiring lecture;
A Taoist priest with a beard, a bun and a Taoist robe calmly taught how to face difficulties;
There are Buddhist life classes taught by famous university professors;
There are two-dimensional cartoon characters who tell some strange and funny tricks for young people to "show off";
A tarot master spreads out the tarot cards and tells you what kind of luck you will encounter in the future...
From highbrow to lowbrow, from ancient philosophy to Western metaphysics, the main theme is all-encompassing and chaotic, with only one common theme - chicken soup.
Wen Jiuze had seen her collection folder before and had even made a mocking comment about it.
This book, "The Chicken Soup for the Soul that Contemporary Young People Need Most", is definitely full of his deliberate irony!
OK, Xue Ling admitted that some of those chicken soup videos were a bit weird.
However, she doesn't watch these videos to learn any great truths. She only has one purpose.
She wanted to hear others tell her that as long as she persevered, life would be fine, all the pain she was experiencing now would pass, and many good things would happen in the future.
In her past life, there were many times when she felt miserable and she didn't know who to talk to, and no one could comfort her. She could only digest her emotions silently.
When she has too much accumulated emotions and can't release them, she will watch these videos.
Some of the reasons made no sense, but they made her laugh;
If some poisonous chicken soup makes her angry, she will refute in her heart that it is not the case;
Some humor and cuteness can put her in a better mood;
After some gentle soothing, she continued, “Yes, that’s right, something lucky will happen next!”
She used this method and lived happily and healthily into her twenties.
But Wen Jiuze is very hostile and wary of everything around him, and is also a little pessimistic.
His first reaction when he heard the word "chicken soup" was to kick it over, and he refused to listen carefully to what others were trying to teach him.
Because of his birth and environment, he is more mature than most of his peers, but he still has some immaturity.
Even though he made fun of her, Xue Ling didn't bother with him - just treat him as a dog.
I was really angry and punched him hard a few times. He wouldn't fight back anyway.
Xue Ling sat in the passenger seat and calmly opened the copy of Chicken Soup of the Soul that Wen Jiuzhe had put on his belt. The first sentence that caught her eye was: "As long as people are alive, there is hope."
Xue Ling: “…”
You are really bringing up something irrelevant. Isn't the person already dead?
Xue Ling closed the book and put it aside.
Wen Jiuze said, "Why don't you just look at it?"
Oh, forget it, the versions are incompatible.
Xue Ling thought sadly and wrote on the writing board: "Because you have bad taste and don't like to read."
How can someone with such poor cooking skills make good chicken soup?
As they were talking, they passed by Yuanhu City First Hospital.
This large hospital was almost half razed to the ground. There were no zombies crowded inside, only bombed and collapsed buildings that looked like they had been violently cleared.
Xue Ling leaned on the window and looked out at the hospital ruins, wondering how large a team it would take to force its way into the strongest hospital copy in the apocalypse.
There are still a small number of people, so the firepower support required must be considerable.
The explosion would attract zombies from the surrounding area. No wonder there were so few zombies in the hospital and several nearby streets.
But beyond this area, the closer you get to the busy streets in the city center, the more zombies there are.
Many zombies followed their car. Wen Jiu rushed left and right on the street full of abandoned cars. More and more zombies chased after the car.
Wen Jiuze was already accustomed to being chased by zombies. He observed the surrounding environment, turned the steering wheel, crashed through the roadblock placed at the gate of a high-end residential area, and turned into the community.
After driving across the neighborhood and arriving at the back door, Wen Jiuze did not get out of the car. Instead, he raised his gun and accurately opened the lock on the door, broke the door open and got rid of the large group of zombies.
We kept changing routes to avoid the zombies and it took us a long time to finally see the original lake.
Yuanhu City is named after the most beautiful lake, Yuanhu. It is said that the lake water is clear, and there are dozens of lotus flowers planted along the lakeside. There are peach, plum and apricot blossoms on the embankment, which attracts many tourists every spring.
Now is not the best season to view the original lake, but it is not bad.
When we drove to the vicinity of Yuan Lake, we could see people coming and going by the lake from a long distance away. At first glance, it seemed no different from before the end of the world.
When you get close, you can clearly see the "pedestrians" by the lake walking slowly, dragging, stiffly and unsteadily.
Many of the stalls along the shore were in a mess, their bright signs having lost their color due to wind and rain.
Wen Jiuze found a place with few zombies to park the car and got out with Xue Ling.
Xue Ling hesitated, is he going too?
"Wait for me in the car."
Before she finished writing, Wen Jiuze said, "No."
He lifted his legs and walked in front of her.
The lakeside is shaded by green trees, with willows and poplars swaying in the wind. It is so quiet that only the sound of cicadas can be heard.
There are many pink and white lotus flowers in bloom, which are particularly beautiful against the backdrop of the round green leaves. There are also many green lotus petals.
But if you look closely, you can see that there are quite a few zombies soaking under the lotus leaves.
——It’s really not okay to have no railings around the lake. The zombies wandering around on the shore can easily step on air and fall in!
Xue Ling glanced at the warning sign standing by the lake: Be careful not to fall into the water, pay attention to safety.
Look at the zombies piled up in the water. They are not drowned, but they can't get out either.
Wen Jiuze stepped on the head of a zombie that was raised in the water, blocked the roar from its mouth, and grabbed a lotus leaf to wipe the knife.
Behind him fell two headless zombies.
Xue Ling was just looking at the lake and didn't hear him killing the zombies.
There are just fewer zombies on this section of the lake embankment, but there are some.
In addition to the two lying on the ground, other zombies have already discovered the living people here and are rushing over here.
The second group of zombies came over. Wen Jiu grabbed Xue Ling's shoulders and pushed her forward quickly: "Let's walk faster."
Xue Ling: I want to take a walk by the lake, not race by the lake?
Wen Jiuze was different from her. He was playing Plants vs. Zombies by the lake.
It really was quite similar. At the beginning, there were only one or two zombies coming over, and he dealt with them easily. But as time went on, there were more and more zombies, and it became too late to deal with them all.
Seeing so many zombies surrounding them, Xue Ling pushed Wen Jiuze's back hard: Stop killing, hurry up! Hurry up!
Wen Jiuze held a dagger in one hand and grabbed her arm with the other. He crossed the flower bed by the lake with his long legs and pulled Xue Ling, who walked more slowly, over with him.
Avoiding a group of zombies on the left, he kicked down a zombie that jumped over from the path.
Xue Ling hit Wen Jiuze hard on the back, urging him to get back in the car.
Wen Jiuze turned around and saw that she was also trying to kick the other zombie like he did. He couldn't help but laugh, so he dragged her back and carried her on his shoulder.
While the large group of zombies had not yet arrived and the small group of zombies in front of them had not yet surrounded them, the two of them broke out from the side and ran back to where they parked the car.
The lake cruise plan was terminated just as it began because the tourists were too enthusiastic.
The car started and left the lake. Xue Ling sat in the passenger seat and looked out.
She had never felt so frightened before because of being surrounded by zombies.
Wen Jiuze is too brave.
"Puff, puff." Xue Ling lowered her head and saw the lotus in her hand. She had just picked up a few lotus flowers by the lake.
As soon as I tensed up, my fingers dug into the lotus epidermis, making a popping sound.
A hand reached out from the side, took the lotus leaf from her hand, peeled it and ate it.
Wen Jiuze chewed lotus seeds, started the car, and asked her in a relaxed tone: "Where are we going next? Duyun Ancient Temple?"
Xue Ling waved her hands.
I'm not going anymore. What's the point of going? There are too many zombies. And Wen Jiuze insists on going with me.
She had lived in the countryside for so long that she almost forgot there were so many zombies in big cities.
At Xue Ling's strong request, the short trip to Yuanhu City ended. They changed direction and drove onto a remote road.
This is a highway connecting two provinces. A long section in the middle passes through the mountains. It is so remote that after driving for more than ten kilometers, the houses on the roadside disappeared and there was not a single abandoned car on the road.
There were only trees left on both sides of the relatively wide asphalt road.
The endless green on both sides of the road made their car seem to be driving into a quiet green light belt.
The sky is getting dark and it's going to rain.
In the drizzle, Wen Jiuze parked the car in a tunnel on the road, preparing to spend the night there.
Since Xue Ling didn't urge him to get out of the car to cook, Wen Jiuze just ate a little and then lay in the car to kill time.
The car window was open, and the sound of rain outside was getting louder, diluting the sultry summer air.
Wen Jiuze turned on a dim light in the car.
The sound of pages turning made Xue Ling glance over.
He touched the book of Chicken Soup for the Soul and started reading it. Suddenly, he slowly read a passage from it.
"Life's predicament can also be seen as life's growth... Life is an experiential lesson. We perceive the world with our bodies and explore meaning with our souls..."
He read lazily, and there was no sign of agreement or sarcasm in his words. He just read it calmly. But perhaps because his voice was more pleasant, it actually made this ordinary chicken soup sound very reasonable.
It seemed to be much better than the chicken soup videos she had collected.
Listening to Wen Jiuze reading this hypnotic book amid the sound of rain, Xue Ling felt a long-lost peace.
She placed her hands on her stomach, closed her eyes and listened quietly, lying on the reclined passenger seat, feeling a sense of peace in her heart.
Wen Jiuze read a few paragraphs out of boredom and suddenly stopped.
He came over and touched Xue Ling's shoulder.
Xue Ling didn't move, still keeping her eyes closed quietly.
Wen Jiuze, who didn't see her move, dropped the book and moved closer. He held his breath for a moment and pried open Xue Ling's eyelids with his fingers.
Xue Ling: “…”
Her dark red eyes rolled around and she reached out to push his hand away.
Really, disturbing her rest.
He is the one who is best at ruining the atmosphere.
Wen Jiuze withdrew his hand and returned to the driver's seat, smiling relaxedly, "You scared me. I thought I accidentally chanted for your soul to rest in peace."
Do you think you are reciting Buddhist scriptures?
She changed her posture, but did not close her eyes again. When Wen Jiuze looked over, she moved her fingers perfunctorily to indicate that she had not been saved.
A night of rain passed, and in the morning the sky cleared up and the sun came out again.
The dim tunnel lit up, and the exits in the front and back were glowing. The car started forward and drove into the bright green washed by rain.
Wen Jiuze was looking at the road sign ahead and preparing to turn left by referring to the map when Xue Ling beside him suddenly handed him a writing board.
It said: "I want to see the Terracotta Warriors."
Wen Jiuzhe: "..."
The Terracotta Warriors are very far away from Andong City where he was going, one to the south and the other to the north.
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