Chapter 68 New Year
This was the first time that all members of the Fangzhou teaching team had acted together.
Fortunately, Fuqing's car was big enough to seat seven people and had extra storage space.
Apart from Grandma Liu, everyone else on the bus had a driver's license. Fu Qing naturally adopted the airs of a principal, handing over the driving task to Hao Zhenye, while he sat in the last row, opening his social media app to check today's news amidst the teachers' casual conversation.
Since the second half of the year, not only in S City, but also throughout China and even around the world, unrest has become frequent. Especially in some small countries already plagued by conflict, various forces have come and gone, with the situation changing almost weekly. While major powers maintain a facade of calm, those who pay close attention to the news can still sense an ominous atmosphere from some ambiguous wording.
The sea was still calm, but a storm was brewing.
Fu Qing also developed the habit of checking the news every day, both locally and domestically, and finally using technology to check local news from key regions on the internet.
She tried to dissect the events from the rigid media reports to determine whether there were any believers behind them, but found it very difficult.
They are being too cautious.
Moreover, according to the analysis of Fu Qing and Lu Yan today, core figures such as the hooded woman and the skeleton who have truly come into contact with the zombie king, received "His favor" and undergone mutation should only account for a small portion of the entire group of believers.
Apart from the two operations targeting Fu Qing and Fang Zhou, Fu Qing has not seen them take any further action.
Similar news reports also failed to mention any unusual appearance or strange behavior of the attackers. Fu Qing initially speculated that attacks around the world were more often committed by people like Liu Yong who learned about the existence of devout believers online and took action to defect.
Of course, it cannot be ruled out that some cases are indeed caused by the "deteriorating economic situation, rising unemployment, and social unrest" mentioned by experts.
To some extent, the devout believers, like the people of Fangzhou, were secretly accumulating power, quietly waiting for the opportunity for the virus to break out.
The car beneath them screeched to a halt. Hao Zhenye was a skilled driver, and he reversed into the parking space in one go. At the same time, Fu Qing turned off her phone screen and looked out the window, her expression becoming somewhat subtle.
“This Carrefour supermarket is relatively close to us, and it’s quite large. They also have year-end promotions, with some items discounted by 10%.”
Zhao Yunxiao looked at the navigation on his phone and explained.
He had been sitting in the passenger seat giving directions the whole way. When Fuqing got in the car, he only said, "Find a supermarket with a full range of products," before getting lost in his own world.
They completely forgot that neither the driver nor the passenger were locals, and they had to rely on navigation.
Looking at the supermarket in front of him, Zhao Yunxiao felt he had done a good job and looked at the principal with hope: "This place should be alright, right?"
Fu Qing: "...Okay."
She glanced at it again and went to get the shopping cart first.
Noticing that Xu Mingyue and Bai Tang's expressions were also off, Zhao Yunxiao was puzzled. Lu Yan patted him on the shoulder, speaking earnestly, "You haven't used the simulator much, have you?"
"Ah, right." Zhao Yunxiao touched his nose and admitted embarrassedly.
He'd always been poorly coordinated, consistently excelling in physical education, so he focused solely on his academic studies as a shortcut to success. After finally getting into a prestigious university, he unexpectedly found himself with a cheat-like ability that allowed him to level up only by defeating zombies, making his life a rollercoaster of ups and downs.
Even after killing zombies for more than four years under the protection of the state, he didn't improve much. After wandering for half his life, he was still a novice. He was so desperate that even though he knew that teachers could also use the simulator, he rarely went there.
“No wonder,” Xu Mingyue said. “If you use it a little more often, you’ll know that Carrefour supermarket is a famous intermediate-level dungeon.”
Zhao Yunxiao: "???"
"On the seventeenth day of the outbreak, a fierce battle for supplies took place here. Of the more than two hundred humans in the supermarket at the time, only seven made it out alive," Xu Mingyue said with emotion. "It is worth noting that there were no zombies in the supermarket that day; everyone died at the hands of their own kind."
In the student forum's description, this is a copy that vividly exposes the evil of human nature.
Zhao Yunxiao suddenly turned his head to look at the crowded supermarket in front of him.
Bright red lanterns hung from the streetlights in the parking lot, their golden tassels swaying in the cold wind. Even from a distance, one could hear the announcements of year-end special offers and the indispensable New Year's songs blaring from the loudspeakers.
Men, women, and children pushed shopping carts, carrying New Year's goods, their faces beaming with smiles. Who could have imagined that just a few months later, a large portion of them would turn into zombies or perish at the hands of their own kind, and that this festive supermarket would become the site of tragedy?
Zhao Yunxiao's mood suddenly turned heavy.
He really hadn't expected this: "This... I joined the research institute not long after the apocalypse started, and I've never experienced anything like this before."
As she spoke, she even felt inexplicably guilty.
I feel guilty for standing among these people without having experienced the same misfortunes as them.
Xu Mingyue slapped him hard on the back, causing Zhao Yunxiao to stagger and almost vomit blood.
She said casually, "It's a good thing you haven't experienced it, otherwise you would really be disappointed in humanity. I've also played that instance. This supermarket has a large flow of people, and many people mutated on the day of the apocalypse. Before that day, it was almost always surrounded by zombies, but there were still a lot of supplies left inside."
"Actually, if the people in the supermarket that day hadn't been greedy, there would have been enough left for them to share, and there would have been no need for a fight. But two groups of people couldn't agree on what to take and started fighting, which eventually escalated into a massive brawl. Everyone had been starving for too many days and was very weak, which is why so many people died. Many of them were inexplicably dragged into it."
"Those who started the fight were bloodthirsty and wanted to seize all the resources. If they didn't intervene, the things they had worked so hard to get would also be taken away, so they had no choice but to join in."
Grandma Liu had never played in a simulator before, but upon hearing this, she came over to listen to the commotion and sighed, "How could this happen?"
Zhao Yunxiao also said, "This is too unlucky. What happened to the last supplies? Were they stolen by those bad guys?"
Those who preemptively attack their fellow countrymen are naturally bad people.
Zhao Yunxiao was like a child listening to a story, always looking forward to the ending and the punishment of the villains.
"No, they died in the fighting themselves," Xu Mingyue gave him the reply he was hoping for.
Zhao Yunxiao sighed with satisfaction, "That's good, otherwise I wouldn't have been in the mood to go grocery shopping today."
"yes……"
A strangely mournful voice came from the side. Lu Yan said quietly, "If your principal and I weren't two of the unlucky ones who happened to be trapped inside that day, the ending of this story would sound even better."
Zhao Yunxiao: "………………"
As they were talking, they reached the supermarket entrance. Fu Qing, who had already picked up a shopping cart, overheard their conversation and let out a cold laugh, her expression displeased.
This incident clearly left her with considerable psychological trauma, and she had no interest in joining the discussion.
Grandma Liu and Zhao Yunxiao were completely baffled: "What exactly happened?"
Xu Mingyue finally couldn't help but cover her face and laugh out loud: "Although it was a bit like hell, that day was actually..."
Actually, it was Fu Qing who painstakingly cleared out the zombies inside the supermarket that day.
Just as Xu Mingyue said, after the apocalypse, this supermarket has been surrounded by zombies. People in the neighborhood all know that there is such a Carrefour, but almost no one dares to break in.
After escaping from school, Fu Qing found a house nearby to hide in and then secretly coveted the supermarket for a long time.
Finally, one day, when everyone was almost out of supplies, she, Lu Yan, and their companions discussed the matter and decided to break into the supermarket to retrieve supplies.
To this end, the group devised a detailed plan. Some were responsible for driving to lure the zombies in the parking lot, while others provided backup outside. Fu Qing, skilled and daring, was tasked with infiltrating the supermarket with Lu Yan to clear out the zombies inside.
Unexpectedly, after a group of college students worked hard for half a day and finally cleared away the zombies, someone else took the credit at the crucial moment.
By then, Fu Qing and the others were exhausted. Seeing that the people who had broken in were all humans, hungry and weak, including the elderly, women and children, and considering that they couldn't take everything inside, they decided to share it with everyone.
Unexpectedly, those people were so greedy that they tried to swallow an elephant whole, which eventually turned into a chaotic battle and resulted in the deaths of hundreds of people.
Seeing the scene of blood flowing like a river in the supermarket, no one can describe the feeling in their heart.
...
"You're still too young," Xu Mingyue shook her head.
Thinking back to when Fu Qing was only nineteen years old, just two weeks out of school, still holding onto naive hopes for humanity, she was quickly taught a lesson by society. I felt sorry for her, heartbroken for her, and there was a vaguely funny sense of misery.
Perhaps because the experience was too humiliating, neither Fu Qing nor Lu Yan mentioned it after they teamed up with Xu Mingyue. If they hadn't happened to play the dungeon, Xu Mingyue wouldn't have known about it.
Taking advantage of the rare opportunity, she rather unethically put her arm around Fuqing's shoulder, preparing to interview her about her feelings at the time: "Young man, you..."
He had only uttered half a sentence when Fu Qing suddenly raised an index finger.
Xu Mingyue: "?"
Fu Qing scoffed at Xu Mingyue's behavior of acting superior despite being only a few years older than her, and said indifferently, "Let me remind you, young man, you are now your superior."
Xu Mingyue: "?"
“Discussing your superiors without permission will result in a 100 yuan deduction from your New Year's shopping allowance.” Fu Qing casually tapped Xu Mingyue’s incessantly chattering mouth with his finger, exuding an elegant villainous aura reminiscent of a character in a movie, as if he were about to shush her at any moment—
"If there are any objections, deduct another 100."
Xu Mingyue: "..."
The innocent and naive college students who were fresh out of school have been worn down by society and turned into ruthless monsters who show no mercy when it comes to withholding the pitiful benefits of wage slaves.
Xu Mingyue clutched her heart, left the stage dejectedly, and went to a corner to mourn the hundred yuan she had lost.
*
No matter how tumultuous the year may have been, the unpleasantness and pain of the past seem to be washed away with the arrival of the new year.
Apart from Grandma Liu, none of the others had experienced such a strong festive atmosphere for a long time.
Pushing their shopping carts between the shelves, their eyes weren't on the goods on the shelves, but rather on the people passing by, observing their cheerful expressions, then looking at the banners hanging from the ceiling, the bold and elegant calligraphy adorned with gold powder, and the ever-playing "Wishing you prosperity" in their ears.
There is nostalgia, and also a faint sadness.
Because I know that all of this will vanish in about six months.
If it weren't for the unbearable stares from those around her, Xu Mingyue would have wanted to hug the supermarket's mascot and cry for a while—once the end of the world comes, who would be willing to dress up like this to make people happy!
She was lost in her own sorrowful little world, which surprised Bai Tang: "Teacher Xu, I didn't expect you to be so sexy... no, so sensual."
Xu Mingyue wiped her eyes, not saying that her sadness actually stemmed more from her unscrupulous boss withholding her benefits...
Everyone was mesmerized by the festive atmosphere in the supermarket, except for two people who remained completely detached.
Fu Qing, carrying a box of pork belly, returned to Xu Mingyue earnestly to order: "Can we have braised pork belly tonight?"
Xu Mingyue: "..."
Meeting the longing gaze above her, she nodded reluctantly.
With three loud clatters, three boxes of pork belly were tossed into the shopping cart. Fu Qing then went to find her next target, her departing figure exuding an indescribable joy.
Before Xu Mingyue could catch up on her interrupted emotions, someone else came looking for her.
Lu Yan, carrying a large, lively carp, asked, "For our New Year's Eve dinner, could we stew a fish?"
Xu Mingyue: "...I'm not responsible for killing."
"No problem, I'll have my master take care of it." Lu Yan happily agreed, and left with the fish that was still thrashing its tail wildly.
Xu Mingyue sighed, turned her head, and found that the mascot had disappeared somewhere, leaving only Bai Tang standing in the same spot, looking at her with a completely new perspective: "Teacher Xu, are your skills that good?"
Xu Mingyue thought for a moment and then told the truth: "Actually, it's just so-so."
Before the apocalypse, no one had ever praised her cooking skills.
At most, I can eat a lot—after working for a long time, I have a lot of health problems during physical examinations, so cooking for myself is always healthier than ordering takeout.
But for some reason, Fu Qing and Lu Yan liked it very much.
Over time, in order to live up to the enthusiastic feedback from the two, Xu Mingyue would try her best to make the meager seasonings and the mediocre ingredients she could find from all over the place taste better.
Bai Tang said "Oh," then looked at Xu Mingyue expectantly, a little hesitantly, "Could you make one of my favorite dishes for this year's New Year's Eve dinner? I'll help."
Xu Mingyue: "Of course."
Xu Mingyue had mentioned in the car that she could be the head chef for this year's New Year's Eve dinner.
Bai Tang's words reminded her that she could go and ask other people what they wanted to eat.
The long-awaited New Year's Eve dinner should naturally be enjoyed in the best of our ability to fulfill our wishes and make up for any regrets.
In the following days, she traveled to various teachers, interviewing them about their favorite dishes. Then she searched for ingredients in supermarkets, and as her shopping cart gradually filled up, she put her earlier sadness aside.
All that remained in Xu Mingyue's mind were the cooking methods for various dishes and the schedule for New Year's Eve.
Looking at the long menu on her phone's memo app, and at the top, where "braised pork" was highlighted in bold at someone's suggestion, she suddenly laughed, put away her phone, and muttered to herself, "I knew it, there's no way I can feel sentimental with those two."
Xu Mingyue had a premonition that as long as she was with them, even in the face of the apocalypse, the New Year would be lively and joyful.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
