Each doing their own thing
My serious and firm attitude didn't have the desired effect. I said I was revoking his command, but Yu, with an expression that said he was too busy with important matters to chat, waved his hand at me and casually said, "Okay, we'll talk about it when I get back." Then he started discussing the mission with Gao Chen, Zhou Yi, and the others, pointing east and west, while the others didn't even glance at me.
I:?
Grandpa Tang strolled over to me, looking exasperated: "Can power be transferred so easily? It's not a big deal if a leader works while sick. You delegated power too readily back then, and now look what happened, you can't get it back."
I glanced at him and said against my will, "Grandpa, I don't care about power or not, please don't keep thinking about it. The surgery was a bit rough, but it saved a life. Someone who was about to die was brought back to life by your skillful hands. The team members call you a miracle doctor behind your back."
"He just survived by luck, what does that have to do with me? Don't go around saying I cut off his arm." Old Tang snorted, hands behind his back. "You can't tell unless you interact with him normally, but forcing me to have surgery this time shows what a leader's style is like: radical, autocratic, and disrespectful of medical ethics. Don't forget, there are many people in our team who are not very capable or have no ability at all. Can you manage them like soldiers?"
I sighed: "I also want to take back command, but look how high his prestige is now, everyone is willing to listen to him, and no one takes my words seriously."
"Sigh, this is what they call 'it's easy to invite a god but hard to send him away.' It's hopeless. I've been a doctor my whole life, and I almost ruined my reputation in my later years. Once things settle down, it'll be time to take on a few apprentices. With a leader like this, there will be no shortage of difficulties in the future." Old Tang shook his head and walked away.
Actually, I know my own limitations. In terms of ability, I'm not as good as him, and in terms of vision, I don't have his foresight. It's not that I really want to remove Yu Zhongjian and lead the team myself; I just want to use this as an excuse to threaten him into making me carry out the mission. He didn't listen to me, so I just waited quietly on the sidelines, intending to protest to him after they finished their discussion.
But after he finished talking, Zhang Yanhuang went up to get more work. I didn't get a chance to interject, and I glared at the two of them with deep resentment.
"Aifeng," Gao Chen walked up to me, "Are you unhappy?"
The moment I saw him, I felt like spring was in the air. How could I not be happy? I quickly shook my head and said, "No, no, I just wanted to go with you. My heart is burning with excitement, and I can't stand staying in the back."
He took a piece of candy wrapped in gold paper from his jacket pocket and handed it to me: "You're really quick, I didn't even know when you slipped it in. Here, have some."
I took it, unable to suppress the urge to smile. "Didn't I put two pieces in? Where's the other one?"
"I ate it." He smiled slightly. "I don't like sweets, but didn't you say that eating something sweet makes you feel good? It really worked! Why don't you try it?"
"I told you, of course I've tried it." My heart was already filled with sweetness even before I tasted the candy. I could feel that the smile on my face was different from usual—sweet, cloying, with little red hearts popping out of my eyes.
Seeing me eating candy, he added, "Don't blame Captain Yu, he's doing this for your own good. It's easier for men to infiltrate the large base; girls are more likely to attract attention. Your mission in the rear is also very important; everyone's safety depends on you."
Five people went out in total, and there were still more than a hundred strong men in the group. It was obviously an exaggeration to say that I was safe. But my mood improved, and I found everything he said agreeable. I didn't want to argue with him, so I nodded and said, "Alright then, I'll wait for you here...when you come back."
Yu Zhongjian dismissed Zhang Yanhuang and stood seven or eight meters away from us, watching Gao Chen and me talk indifferently. The moment our eyes met, my sweet expression was cut short by his cold smile and a disdainful glare.
You're crazy! I haven't even started a fight with you yet, and you're already rolling your eyes at me!
Yu Zhongjian and three others drove one car, while Zhang Yanhuang drove another car alone, heading towards the capital. I directed the convoy into the Lizhou service area.
This is a medium-sized service area. Although there are no motels, it has all the other facilities. However, when we parked our car and entered the passenger rest area, we found that it had been completely ransacked. Apart from the craft shop, not even a single packaging bag was left.
In the middle section of the Yujing Expressway, we had a few good days. None of the service areas had been entered by survivors, and there were still some local specialties, groceries, and bottled water in stock. However, the further north we went, the worse the quality of the service areas became. Everywhere we looked, there was a scene reminiscent of a tornado, which was clearly the work of survivors from the capital or nearby suburbs.
I absolutely do not believe that there is a shortage of food and supplies there. Before the apocalypse, the capital city had a population of over 20 million, with an extremely high population density. The mutation rate should be higher than in other provinces and cities. If zombies don't steal food and the city's supplies are sufficient for the survivors, why would they risk their lives to raid highway service areas? It seems the situation in the capital city is not simple.
The men were divided into twelve groups, taking turns on 24-hour shifts for guard duty. They were tasked with collecting flammable materials such as twigs and paper around areas with minors, while the women cooked meals and sorted out remaining supplies. Although I hadn't been in charge for a long time, assigning this task was still a piece of cake for me.
I walked around the service area, watching everyone resting or working, and my mind kept racing with my own thoughts. Yu Zhongjian didn't want me to participate in the reconnaissance mission, probably mainly because he was afraid I'd cause trouble. After all, in several operations, I'd shown a tendency to act impulsively and disregard orders. If I wanted to fight and he wanted to retreat, he wasn't confident he could control me.
We don't click, and we're likely to clash when we're on a mission together, so we might as well just do our own thing.
Around 4 p.m., Zhang Yanhuang returned. As soon as he got back, he looked for Yu Zhongjian. When he heard that Yu Zhongjian was not there, he didn't say anything and ate some dry food in large bites.
“Telling me is the same.” I looked at his head covered in straw, wondering where the kid had gone.
Zhang Yanhuang smiled sheepishly: "I'll wait for Captain Yu to return before reporting."
He was young and naive, so of course I wasn't angry with him. I just lazily asked, "How's the situation in Li County?"
He was surprised: "Huh, Captain Yu told you about the task he assigned me?"
I wasn't told, but I can guess, and I can even try to fool them: "You haven't forgotten who our team leader is, have you? It's only natural that he reports to me."
Seeing that I already knew about his mission, Zhang Yanhuang didn't insist on waiting for his Captain Yu any longer. He said, "It's not good. I can't get off the highway. There's a checkpoint at the toll station with five or six armed men guarding it. I had to climb over the farmland next to it to get into the county town."
How's it going in the county town?
“Well, how should I put it,” Zhang Yanhuang said, looking somewhat puzzled, “it’s very clean. I’ve been lying in wait in the county for almost four hours and haven’t seen a single zombie, but I haven’t seen any ordinary survivors like us either. It’s mostly armed men with guns around, in several locations, averaging four to six people. Their behavior is quite strange; they just walk around by the roadside, or sit together chatting and smoking, very leisurely. I feel like…”
"Like a gatekeeper."
"Yes, yes, like guarding something."
I slapped my thigh—I wouldn't dare slap other people's thighs like that now—and exclaimed excitedly, "You must not have watched the news before! Don't you know what Li County is? It's the granary of the capital! There are no zombies because they've all been cleared out, and there are no ordinary survivors because they've all been moved. It must have become some big shot's backyard for storing supplies. We have to take over this place, and we won't have to worry for the rest of our lives!"
Zhang Yanhuang straightened his back and asked in surprise, "Sister Qi, didn't you say you came to petition for compensation? Now that we've occupied Li County, are we not going back to Huaicheng?"
“From the day we left Huaicheng, every step we took was in the hope of one day returning home with a full harvest to rebuild our homes. But without strong troops and resources, how can we ask for compensation? How many people from Lixian County are currently living in the city?”
"There must be about sixty or seventy people at the toll booth."
I grinned maliciously: "Tonight we'll muster our forces and take that place down."
Zhang Yanhuang looked troubled: "Let's discuss it with Captain Yu before we do it. We don't have many guns right now, and we won't have the upper hand if we fight."
Impulsive as I may be, I'm not a mindless brute, okay? Have some faith in me, please? I haven't been involved in much of the work during my two-month journey, but I haven't been idle either. I've been studying the art of war, "deception," over and over again, generating countless inspirations. I've secretly devised several plans to ensure the success of my petition while also guaranteeing my own safety. For example, an undercover agent plan, a kidnapping plan, a stalking and assassination plan, and even a femme fatale plan were all on my shortlist, though I haven't publicly discussed them.
If I had publicly solicited opinions, everyone would have discovered that none of my proposals followed a completely aboveboard approach. Unfortunately, my capabilities didn't allow it. You can't force an egg against a rock; you either have to wrap the egg in a sufficiently thick, soft sheath or freeze it into something as hard as a rock.
But even with the strength to fight, I have to consider the outcome of mutual destruction. I only want to hurt the enemy and not myself. So how can I do it without using some extreme methods that combine unrestrained and cunning tactics?
I tried to persuade Zhang Yanhuang to come with me on a big mission, but he insisted on waiting for Yu Zhongjian. I disdainfully tossed my hair and left. Back then, when he wanted to save Gao Chen, he was fearless, while I was full of reservations. Now the tables have turned, and he's learned to be cautious. But it's not about safety; it's about whether Yu Zhongjian will agree. He won't give me any face at all—he's treating me like I'm nothing!
In contrast, Han Bo was much more outspoken. I told him that if he didn't support me, we would break off our friendship, and I would also spread rumors throughout the team that he had sexual orientation issues and secretly admired Yu Zhongjian. He got so angry that he cursed at me for five minutes, and then agreed.
I contacted Fu Hua, Liu Sicheng, and representatives of survivors from Baicheng and Yucheng. I also called on more than thirty former veterans' field team members and told them all that this was a task Yu Zhongjian had assigned to me before he left. It's pathetic that no one listened to me when I said it was my own idea.
As night fell, a biting wind blew, and Commander Yu indeed did not return. The twelve vehicles, equipped with the necessary gear, quietly drove out of the service area and headed towards the Lizhou toll station.
It's only about ten kilometers away, a short drive. I stopped the car at the ramp entrance and pulled the bewildered Zhang Yanhuang out. "Should we go over here, or go a little further ahead and then over?"
Zhang Yanhuang was brought up here by two strong men I found. He was very distressed: "Sister Qi, let's wait for Captain Yu's instructions. Is what you're doing okay?"
"Enough with the nonsense!" I said, my face contorted with malice. "That guy surnamed Yu's off doing espionage, he'll be back a long time from now. Are you going to just sit here and do nothing with a couple hundred men? I've made myself perfectly clear, if you still don't get it, you're in for a beating. Lead the way!"
Having no other choice, Zhang Yanhuang led me and two veterans along the ramp for several hundred meters, climbed over the highway, and went down into a patch of grass.
We crouched low and followed behind him, walking on a patch of uneven, thorny mounds of earth, without any lighting equipment, relying only on the faint daylight to avoid the thorny plants and to discern the wild path.
After driving for a few minutes, the toll station came into view. A single-story building appeared on one side of the exit road; Zhang Yanhuang said it belonged to a patrol police team. Going around it from behind and continuing straight would allow them to avoid the toll station and enter the county town.
I didn't leave immediately, but instead peered into the tollbooth from behind the house. The exits there were blocked off, and two large emergency lights were set up. Two men with guns were leaning against one of the toll booths, talking idly. Judging from the occasional laughter that drifted over, it was just a long night of chatting and joking around.
A dim candlelight shone from the back window of the patrol station. There were curtains on both sides, but the residents inside probably didn't consider privacy a concept in this world, so they didn't draw them. Officer A crouched down and peeked inside through the corner of the window, quickly giving a "three" gesture.
There were three rooms in this room, and there might be others. I patiently squatted under the window, silently counting down the time. The twenty minutes I had agreed upon with Han Bo were about to begin, and soon I heard the sound of a car running over a speed bump.
"Who goes there! Stop the car! Stop the car!"
Han Bo said, "Hey brother, don't shoot. We're survivors too. We're being chased by zombies and have nowhere to go. Can we go into the city?"
“This is not a survivor shelter. Go back to the highway and drive a few dozen kilometers further to the outskirts of the capital. There is a base there.”
"There are a lot of zombies on the highway. If we go back, we're doomed. There are only five of us. Brothers, please give us a way out."
"No, turn around now, or I'll shoot."
"Don't fire! There are hundreds of zombies chasing us!"
The door opposite the window opened and closed slightly, and a man called out, "What's going on?"
"Another group of survivors who took a wrong turn came and said that a large number of zombies had come to the highway."
"Holy crap, didn't we clear over a hundred kilometers? It's gathered again? This is fucking ridiculous!"
The man in front of the house walked past, cursing. I gestured, and the group tiptoed around to the main entrance of the police station.
Everyone in Han Bo's car got out, exaggerating the horror of the horde of zombies in the dark, and continued arguing with the guards. Meanwhile, we quietly pushed open the candlelit police office door.
The two men sat on either side of a long bench, guns out of their hands, happily pouring small bottles of liquor into their mouths. The instant they noticed something amiss and glanced over, we pounced on them like tigers descending a mountain and hungry wolves snatching their prey.
Four people taking on two unsuspecting guys is practically a piece of cake. Their cries were forcibly suppressed before they could even escape their throats. One of them took several fatal punches, and before I could even unleash my ultimate move that could break neck bones, they were all knocked out.
I looked around the rooms on both sides, but there was no one there. There were only five guards at the entire toll station.
Han Bo was still pleading and trying to persuade the three men to lower their guns. I beckoned to Zhang Yanhuang, and we slipped out the door, taking advantage of the darkness to circle around from behind the house to the tollbooth exit, next to a small booth behind the three men.
After exchanging glances with Han Bo and the other team members, I asked in a high-pitched voice, "Big brother, want a massage?"
The three men trembled violently in shock and turned around simultaneously. Just then, Han Bo and his men swarmed forward, disarmed them, tripped them, twisted their arms, and gave them a thorough massage, easily subduing the three men.
I took out my walkie-talkie, turned it on, and tuned it to the pre-set frequency. "Captain Fu, Captain Shi, it's safe. You can exit the ramp now."
The three men were pinned to the ground by their teammates, their eyes darting around in panic. One of them opened his mouth and shouted, "Help! Someone help me..." A team member stepped on his face, distorting his mouth.
I crouched down to look at him, pressing the small dagger against his cheek: "Help? Who do you want to call for help? Want to see if your reinforcements arrive faster, or my knife?"
The man pouted and breathed heavily, his eyes fixed on the tip of the knife, no longer daring to cause any trouble.
"Find some cloth and gag them all."
Han Bo said, "We only have rope, where is the cloth?"
"If you don't have cloth, use socks. Socks that haven't been washed for two or three months, smelly and stiff, stuff them in, let's see who can still make a sound?"
Han Bo and his teammates wore expressions that were hard to describe, while Zhang Yanhuang, seeing that no one had moved, honestly said, "How about I take it off?"
The three guards struggled to their feet. The one whose mouth had been stepped on couldn't speak, while the other two immediately whispered, "We won't shout, we promise we won't shout. You can do whatever you want, just please don't kill us!"
I picked out a man with severe hair loss on the top of his head, signaled my team to change him from a prone position to a sitting position, and brushed back the few strands of long hair that had flown to the side from being beaten to cover his bald spot. I said, "I'll ask you a few questions. If you answer them well, I won't kill you."
"Please ask me, I'll tell you anything I know." He was forced to lower his back by the arm that was restraining him, but he forced his head up with a sincere expression.
"Which base are you from? The local base in Lizhou or the base in the capital?"
"The beacon fire base belongs to the capital."
How many bases are there in the capital?
"Three large bases and a dozen or so small bases."
Since the Fenghuo base can bring the entire Lizhou County under its jurisdiction, it must be no small base. So I asked again, "What are you doing here in Lizhou?"
"Guard the warehouse."
What's in the warehouse?
"It has everything: some guns and ammunition, food and clean water, and all kinds of supplies."
Han Bo and I exchanged a knowing, excited smile. "How many warehouses are there in the county town? How many guards are there?"
The man hesitated for a moment, then said, "There are plenty of people in the city. If you just want to get some supplies, there are still a few hundred pounds of grain in that house over there. You can take it."
"Trying to show off, huh? Let me ask you how many warehouses you have and how many people you have!" I grabbed a small dagger and tapped him on the head.
"Ten...ten storage points, six people at each point."
I clicked my tongue: "Who gave your base commander the confidence to send only sixty men to guard a supply base dozens of kilometers away? Unless he can launch a missile from the capital tonight, I'm sorry, this batch of supplies will have to change hands!"
The bald man stared at us blankly, his eyes seeming to say, "Seven of you trying to rob us? Who gave you the confidence?"
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