Chapter 140 She belongs here, like a drop of water…
A moment later, the group, having heard the whole story from Shen Qingqing, were completely convinced.
It turns out that the zombies they had fought in the past were only the most basic types.
It turns out that there are many more powerful zombies in the world, such as the extremely fast-moving zombie they just saw. Even sending dozens of people might not be enough to take it down without any preparation.
Thinking about how they had been living in the same county as these zombies for over a week, only managing to avoid them by sheer luck, cold sweat broke out all over them.
Shen Qingqing then gave a general description of the types and characteristics of evolved zombies.
As for how to deal with it... she only said one word, "Run".
Forcing a fight is not a wise move; if you do encounter one, the farther you run, the better.
As she spoke, the team members couldn't help but glance at the pit again and again.
They have to run, but she doesn't... is that what you mean?
Fu Jinhua finally remembered that he had heard the name "Fangzhou" somewhere before.
The expression on his face when he looked at Shen Qingqing was even more unusual.
The others didn't immediately recall Fang Zhou's name; they only knew that Shen Qingqing had cleared away the remaining threats in the city before leaving, and they were extremely grateful.
Adding to the fact that she had saved their lives before, they owed her far too much.
Shen Qingqing had originally asked them to meet at 3 PM for this very reason, and now that they had run into each other earlier, she could conveniently give them the instructions. Afterward, she drove home to make preparations for the mission, while Fu Jinhua and the others returned to their hideout to properly bury the fallen team members.
Seeing the gruesome state of the corpse, they were filled with grief and lingering fear.
If Shen Qingqing hadn't arrived in time, and the zombies had broken into the enclosed building, there might be more than just her lying here now...
*
Shen Qingqing never expected that she would witness such a scene when she returned home early.
Several young men surrounded her front door, seemingly arguing. From the crowd came Old Mrs. Shen's loud, forceful shout: "Let's see who dares to step into my house today!"
"A bunch of cowards who get weak in the knees at the sight of zombies. Who stopped you from going to the city to find supplies before? Now you're taking advantage of Shen Qingqing's absence to freeload. Shameless! I spit on you!"
"If you want to share your things with others, why don't you first take out what's in your own homes and distribute it among everyone?"
Old Mrs. Shen has always had a fiery temper, something Shen Qingqing knew.
But it was the first time she had ever heard her grandmother argue with someone over her sake, and she stopped in her tracks as she was getting out of the car.
Shen Mingjiang was not there; he should be out working in the fields at this time. Zang Lijun stood protectively in front of her mother-in-law.
The young men who had come to cause trouble were made red-faced and swollen by what they had been said. Shen Qingqing looked around and was surprised to find that Zhao Hailin was not among them.
I heard that after the commotion in the square, he has been under strict surveillance by Wang Yuqin ever since.
No one knows a son better than his mother. Wang Yuqin knew her son's character all too well. She would even hang a chain on his bedroom door when they slept at night. The two of them slept together with a knife under their pillows, fearing that he would take things from the house and run away into the mountains while they were asleep.
But they overestimated Zhao Hailin. With the situation outside so chaotic, how could he dare to run away? And without the survival skills in the mountains, he stayed behind in such a humiliating way, and has been unusually well-behaved these past few days.
With Zhao Hailin absent from the group causing trouble, the others lacked initiative. They only came because they were envious of Shen Qingqing driving around every day and wanted her to share in their profits.
The village had no shortage of food for the time being, and the group didn't expect things to escalate to the point of falling out. However, they didn't expect that as soon as they explained their purpose, they would be scolded by Old Lady Shen.
These words made the men's faces turn very ugly.
They just wanted to borrow some things and return them to the Shen family after the apocalypse, so why were they talked about in such a terrible way?
Seeing that the men were getting angry and about to attack, Zang Lijun suddenly drew a dagger and pulled it out of its sheath with a thud.
The knife was still stained with dried bloodstains, which she had deliberately left untouched after returning home last night, hoping to give herself more courage, but now they came in handy.
“This is the blood of an infected person,” Zang Lijun said.
The crowd immediately stepped back, staring at the blood-stained blade, and no one dared to step forward.
Grandma Shen's expression also changed slightly.
Shen Qingqing saw all this through the car window and smiled silently.
The only zombies the villagers had ever seen were the few that stormed into the village when the apocalypse broke out.
These days, they listen to the radio, watch the news, and learn about everything in the outside world through various indirect descriptions and video footage, as well as the shockingly high daily death toll. The terrifying image of zombies is constantly reinforced and distorted in their minds.
They had long since lost the courage to face zombies.
Zang Lijun and Shen Mingjiang, who successfully killed zombies, will be far ahead of the villagers.
“The county town is right there. There’s no need to hide. Anyone can go there,” Zang Lijun said, word by word. “It’s yourselves who lack the courage.”
If it weren't for Shen Qingqing, she wouldn't have had such courage.
Everyone was stunned for a moment. Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the crowd. It was Shen Mingjiang, who was working in the fields, who had come over with the village chief and others after learning that something had happened at home.
Among them were elders from the families of these young men, who immediately came over to grab them, and some even started beating them on the spot with belts.
There's nothing going wrong at home, and at a time when unity is essential, how could they possibly come to the Shen family to cause trouble for such a small gain? How could they be so stupid!
What if they anger Shen Qingqing and offend the village chief, and then the village stops including their family in the grain and goods exchange programs?
Zang Lijun breathed a sigh of relief, her body drenched in cold sweat. Only then did she notice the black car parked quietly not far away.
She exchanged a glance with Shen Qingqing in the car, and the mother and daughter smiled at the same time.
Grandma Shen gave Zang Lijun a complicated look, then turned and went inside.
In just a few days, not only has the granddaughter become a completely different person, but even the daughter-in-law has been led away.
How come she never knew before that Zang Lijun, who always worked silently and never uttered a word about anything at home, actually had her own ideas?
Shen Qingqing got out of the car, locked it, glanced at the group of people who were still arguing as she passed by, and then went inside.
That one glance sent a chill down the spines of the village chief and his men. When they turned around, they saw the bloodstains splattered on the body and bumper of the black SUV, and they gasped in shock. Their men then beat the vehicle even more mercilessly.
While beating him, he muttered angrily, "How could I have raised such an idiot like you..."
Once the gate is closed, the noise outside becomes irrelevant to them.
Zang Lijun went back inside to pack her luggage. Old Mrs. Shen and Old Mr. Shen knew yesterday that she was going to go with Shen Qingqing. Old Mr. Shen had already made a scene, but Shen Qingqing ignored him. However, she couldn't help but look back at the closed door and walk to Old Mrs. Shen's side.
"Grandma, do you want to come with us?" she asked, not having thought it through herself.
In fact, with Shen Qingqing's points, she could have easily redeemed at least four shelter spots, but she didn't.
It's because she doesn't want to.
Dad and Grandpa belong to this village; they'll be very comfortable here. But what about her Grandma?
Grandma Shen was washing vegetables on a stool when she heard this. She turned her head and looked at Shen Qingqing. She was stunned for a couple of seconds, then raised an eyebrow and put on a domineering look again.
"Go where?"
“My old bones can’t take any more trouble. Besides, I’ve lived here my whole life. If I die here, that’s fate. Why bother going through all that trouble to travel thousands of miles?”
After saying that, he waved his hand impatiently, "I'm not going, I'm not going..."
Shen Qingqing readily agreed and walked away, saying, "Okay."
Grandma Shen continued washing vegetables with her head down, unaware that Shen Qingqing had stopped and turned around to watch her half-hearted movements.
As she was about to leave, Shen Qingqing suddenly and briefly understood her grandmother's thoughts.
From childhood to adulthood, she always blamed her for belittling herself and not caring about her mother, but it turned out that in her grandmother's heart, her own life was just as worthless.
Resign yourself to fate...
Shen Qingqing silently repeated the two words, but her gaze fell on the vegetable patch she had marked out in the house.
After she and her mother left, only three people remained in the family. Even if they dried half of the harvested vegetables to save for winter, they still couldn't finish them all.
They originally planned to stockpile some of the remaining vegetables and exchange the rest for grain, but since they were going to exchange them anyway, it didn't matter who they exchanged them with...
Shen Qingqing had made up her mind.
The next morning, she and Zang Lijun loaded their pre-prepared luggage into the car and left home, watched by Shen Mingjiang and Old Mrs. Shen.
The off-road vehicle drove smoothly over the bumpy dirt road in the village, and the people working in the fields, including Old Man Shen, couldn't help but look up.
Unlike them, who were trapped in the village by the virus, the off-road vehicle was free to drive. The vast plains in front of it and the rolling mountains in the distance seemed to allow it to go wherever it wanted.
Only after the car disappeared from sight did everyone reluctantly turn back, feeling both melancholy and bewildered.
Shen Qingqing eventually left.
After that day, they never saw another zombie, but an unease lingered in their hearts. With Shen Qingqing gone, this unease intensified suddenly.
All they could do was pray that the disaster would end soon.
No one saw that after the SUV drove out of their sight, it turned around and went to another place.
In the afternoon, the Shen family home was unusually quiet after two people left.
Grandma Shen was home alone when there was another knock on the door. When she opened it, she saw a middle-aged couple she didn't recognize. Their aura was quite unusual, and Grandma Shen immediately became alert: "What do you want?"
The two men were very polite: "Hello, is this Shen Qingqing's home? She gave us the address and asked us to come here."
"Before Qingqing left, she told us that we could get fresh vegetables here. We brought some supplies from the county town with us, including rice, flour, cooking oil, winter clothes, and spare socks and underwear..."
Chang Liang opened the trunk, and Fu Jinhua introduced each item one by one, his expression filled with anticipation.
They carried a lot of things, mostly for the others in the hideout.
Shen Qingqing only gave the Shen family's address to the couple. Even if others knew there was a village nearby, they wouldn't know the visitor's name and would be watched if they entered the village.
The villagers lacked supplies from the outside world, and those living in the county town also lacked fresh fruits and vegetables.
After describing Shen Qingqing's characteristics and how the two met, Old Mrs. Shen relaxed her guard and welcomed the two into the door.
Fu Jinhua declined the old lady's offer of tea, and said with a smile, "We will come to trade once a week from now on, but Qingqing said that we will only trade with you. The goods are limited, so I will inform you of the quantity of each item in advance. You can see how much your family needs, and if the villagers need the rest, we will let you know together."
In other words, it was up to Old Mrs. Shen to decide how much supplies each family could exchange.
At the same time, Shen Qingqing essentially hired two reliable helpers to come to the village every week to check on the situation, taking advantage of the opportunity to exchange supplies.
If they find that something is wrong with Grandma Shen, they can intervene immediately. They believe the villagers will not be willing to give up this only channel for exchanging goods.
Even for this reason, they will treat Old Mrs. Shen well.
Grandma Shen stopped boiling water and said sternly, "That girl is gone, but she's left me with this trouble."
Fu Jinhua chuckled and pretended not to hear. Chang Liang took out a small piece of paper and read it aloud one by one: "...This is the list Qingqing gave me. She said that she will not do any transactions with these people within three months."
"We'll drive you around the village later to let you know about the exchange of goods, and you can also help us get to know our faces."
The blacklist contains the group of people who caused trouble yesterday.
Three months won't necessarily drive someone to the point of running out of supplies, but it certainly won't be a good time either.
Especially when they saw that other villagers were able to obtain supplies from the outside world.
Fu Jinhua and Chang Liang had been fighting zombies every day and leading a small team of over a hundred survivors, so they were completely intimidating. When they said they refused to trade with someone, the village fell silent; no one dared to object.
I always felt that although Shen Qingqing was gone, her shadow and protection still remained in the village.
She brought hope, but also left a lingering sense of dread.
Some are happy, some are sad.
When Old Mrs. Shen was pushed in front of everyone and felt all eyes on her, a moment of stunned silence flashed across her face.
All of this is now irrelevant to Shen Qingqing and Zang Lijun.
The two officially embarked on their long journey back to Fangzhou. The off-road vehicle drove along winding mountain roads and finally arrived at the nearest highway entrance in the evening.
Red and blue lights pierced the night as people in riot gear stopped passing vehicles one by one for strict inspection.
Zang Lijun had never seen such a scene before and couldn't help but feel a little scared. She secretly glanced at the driver's seat but found that her daughter looked calm and composed.
The red and blue light of the warning lights reflected in his eyes. He adjusted his posture and even seemed relieved.
Before Zang Lijun could even wonder, their car had already moved to the checkpoint.
The car window opened, and someone bent down to look over. Shen Qingqing lifted her sleeve, revealing the signature bracelet on her wrist.
"Hello, I am Fang Zhou's student, my name is Shen Qingqing, my ID number is xxxx..."
She recited it in one go.
Zang Lijun saw the person's eyes, hidden behind a transparent mask, suddenly widen, and quickly ran away to report to another person not far away.
Immediately afterwards, even more people rushed over from all directions of the highway exit.
They welcomed Shen Qingqing, who had just gotten off the bus, into the group with obvious enthusiasm, and Shen Qingqing, who had rarely smiled since returning home, finally relaxed and smiled.
She belongs here, like a drop of water merging into the ocean.
Zang Lijun stared at all of this without blinking, and suddenly, she smiled from the bottom of her heart.
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