Chapter 03

Shen Yuan tried to explain and comfort the little flower fairy in front of him, but Shen Yuan was not proficient in human language and had no idea where to start.

He took out the fertilizer, intending to use it to divert the little flower demon's attention, but when Lin Ling saw the fertilizer, he was overwhelmed with grief and howled even louder: "Are you really planning to fatten me up——"

The fatter you get, the faster you'll be eaten.

The little flower demon sniffed and secretly decided in his heart that he would go on a hunger strike from now on.

But just as he made up his mind, the abyss in front of him stuffed the can of fertilizer into his hands.

But Lin Ling, who was already hungry, said:

God wants to kill me.

Looking at the little flower fairy whose face was still full of anger, Shenyuan sighed and tried to make a sound, calling out.

"Lingling."

When the little flower demon heard her name being called, she subconsciously looked at the other party.

The word "abyss" was pronounced slowly but fluently, so fluently that it seemed as if it had been rehearsed in the mind many times.

In this world, calling someone by name is an act of intimacy.

Because resources are scarce, humans like to number various resources for ease of coordination. Even their own names have gradually been replaced by numbers or codes. The humans who used to water and fertilize him now only call him Xiaohua Xiaohua affectionately.

The little flower demon would remember everyone's name, and Lin Ling thought it was a courtesy and respect, but this was the first time someone called his name.

Lin Ling is a small flower, but other small flowers are definitely not Lin Ling. There can be many small flowers here, but there is only one Lin Ling.

"What do you want me to do?" Lin Ling clenched his hands, suppressed the fear in his heart, and talked to the abyss in front of him.

But Shenyuan did not answer. He just looked at Lin Ling silently, just like before, calm and focused. This made the little flower demon's heart unconsciously calm down.

Seeing that the other party stopped explaining or saying anything, Lin Ling understood immediately and asked tentatively, "Is this the only sentence you have learned now?"

"Um."

Lin Ling said “Oh”: It’s two sentences.

Shen Yuan only learned "Lin Ling" and "Hmm", but that was enough. It was much more useful than when he first learned the second human language, "Hello" and "Goodbye".

"So, you're not going to eat me?"

The little flower demon once again carefully confirmed, "That's it. No matter how plump and delicious I become in the future, you won't eat me, right?"

Shi Changyuan looked at the little flower demon in front of him. Although her cheeks were a bit fleshy and looked easy to pinch, she could not be described as "plump and beautiful" in any way. However, he paused and still agreed: "... Yeah."

After only getting a verbal assurance, Lin Ling's eyes sparkled as he took a few steps towards Shi Changyuan, trying to confirm their relationship. "So are we friends now?"

"Um."

Lin Ling solved a major survival crisis and made new friends. His eyebrows suddenly curved up. He secretly glanced at the abyss, put his hands behind his back and announced, "Friends can't be eaten either."

Shi Changyuan looked at the little flower demon in front of him. The previous moment, her eyes were full of tears and shaped like a fried egg. The next second, she raised her tail high and counted the rules of friendship between deformed creatures on her fingers.

"Friends should not drool over friends."

"Friends should not think that friends are fragrant."

"You can't eat friends of friends either. But all my human friends have moved away, and you're my only friend now, so don't worry about that."

In the apocalyptic era, not only do humans no longer trust their own kind easily and are wary of each other, even animals and plants that have evolved to be intelligent rarely have friends or partners, or other relationships that are not related to survival.

Most of the relationships are about devouring each other and serving as cannibals. A slightly more peaceful relationship is one of parasitism and symbiosis.

After all, when two different creatures become friends, it is easy for tragic incidents to occur: even though you don’t eat me, I eat your relatives and friends today, and your family tomorrow.

Lin Ling saw that Shenyuan had no objection and seemed not to understand their tacit rules of friendship, so she secretly and guiltily added one more rule.

"Another thing is that friends will call each other by their names."

After Lin Ling finished speaking, he first shifted his gaze guiltily, but after a few seconds, he looked back.

He looked at Shi Changyuan expectantly, "If you agree, just, just call my name again!"

Shi Changyuan lowered his eyes and looked at the little flower demon in front of him. Without hesitation, he called out again, "Lingling."

The new neighbor's voice was deep and magnetic, a little too pleasant to hear. At such a close distance, Lin Ling's ears instantly felt tingling.

Lin Ling rubbed his earlobe, but corrected her in a very unromantic way, "It's Lin Ling. Lin and Ling have different nasal tones."

"Yeah, Lingling."

"Lin-ling-" The little flower demon tried to teach Shen Yuan a lesson, but under Shen Yuan's persistence, Lin Ling chose to let it go.

"Well, this language is indeed a bit difficult for beginners."

Shenyuan is a beginner, so it is normal that he cannot distinguish the front and back nasal sounds.

Lin Ling thought very tolerantly.

In the future he may not be able to distinguish between flat tongue sounds and reflex tongue sounds, or nl or hf, but it doesn’t matter, he will not dislike his new friend because of this.

"There are many kinds of human speech. I can teach you." Lin Ling was very confident.

He is an ordinary little language genius. Among all the mutants near the Seventh Base, he is the only one who has mastered two or three human languages ​​very skillfully and can blend into the human base perfectly.

Shi Changyuan looked at the little flower fairy who was dancing with joy, with a smile in his eyes that he himself had not noticed.

【His seed grew.】

Deep thought.

"Yeah, it's getting dark."

Lin Ling looked at the sunset and said goodbye to Shi Changyuan reluctantly, "The forest is very dangerous after dark. Most of the powerful mutants will come out to hunt. I have to go back."

"See you tomorrow, new friend!" Lin Ling waved his hands wildly, turning back every few steps.

Shi Changyuan stood there and watched the little flower fairy skipping back home.

"See you tomorrow."

"Lingling."

After the two parted ways, Shi Changyuan waited until the afterglow of the sunset had completely faded before turning around and walking back. His journey back to the abyss was smooth and no mutants even dared to make a sound.

Shi Changyuan returned home late at night. He first saved the wreath that Lin Ling had sent him today, and then took out the books he had devoured, intending to make up for the human language.

A mountain of books appeared beside Shi Changyuan, and he picked up one at random.

【These are human languages?】

Shi Changyuan held the book in one hand, and the pages turned automatically.

There are only 13 language families and 45 language groups, with a total of only more than 6,000 languages.

He looked at the books he had sorted out, tapping the pages lightly with his fingertips, and lowered his eyes in thought.

As long as he slowed down and learned one thing a day, then in the next sixteen years, whenever he and the little flower fairy were together, there would never be a dull moment due to lack of topics.

Shen Yuan has no experience in making friends, but if his seed wants him to be a friend, then he can become the seed's best friend.

Shi Changyuan closed the book in his hand, and walked to the old flowerpot. Looking at the empty little hole, he reached out and skillfully watered and fertilized the soil to maintain the fertility of the soil in the pot.

However, after playing outside for so long, it’s time to come back.