Chapter 81 The Only Friend
May 20, 2026.
A full year has passed since the zombie outbreak.
Most of the survivors in China have gone to the underground city base, and the number of active netizens online is gradually increasing.
Lin Xi saw someone sharing their life in the underground city on Weibo, where there were two types of accommodations: small one-bedroom apartments and dormitories.
Those with three or more family members or those who have made special contributions to the base are entitled to a one-bedroom apartment, while most people live in dormitories with four people per room.
The food was either compressed biscuits or fast food, which were distributed uniformly.
People will be assigned jobs there; some are said to be assigned to farming and others to animal husbandry. In the near future, the base will have organic produce and fresh meat.
There are almost no entertainment activities, after all, the apocalypse is not over yet, and the purpose of the base is to protect refugees and continuously provide military force to clear out zombies and recapture cities.
The base has internet access, but most people have lost their phones and can only go to the server room once a month to access the internet.
Some people joked that it felt like going back to university life before 2010, when everyone could only access the internet in the computer lab.
Some people also recounted the hardships of life at the base.
Lin Xi discovered that the online popularity had recovered somewhat, and the network administrators had also returned.
Many negative comments are blocked, and only positive information about the base circulates online.
Authorities continue to urge scattered survivors to go to the base.
When Lin Xi and Gu Yixuan discussed these matters, Gu Yixuan said mysteriously:
"My mom suggests you don't go."
Lin Xi: "I wasn't planning on going anyway."
Gu Yixuan: That's good, anyway, your family has no shortage of food and clothing.
Lin Xi glanced at her right hand, gave a wry smile, and changed the subject.
Two months have passed, and there is still no improvement in his right hand.
Online information suggests that this type of injury requires professional rehabilitation training. If Lin Xi goes to the base, she might receive professional treatment, but there would be dangers on the way there.
Moreover, there's no guarantee that she'll receive medical treatment at the base. If she can't get medical treatment and can't easily leave the base, she, as a "semi-disabled person" with limited mobility, can't provide labor and isn't suited to that lifestyle, so it's better for her to stay at home.
Lin Xi asked Gu Yixuan about her situation again, but Gu Yixuan gave an ambiguous answer, only saying that they had been moved and that they were now safe but would not reveal any more details.
Lin Xi was somewhat puzzled by this attitude.
Chatting with Gu Yixuan was Lin Xi's only social interaction in the past few months. Although they had good intentions towards each other and were thousands of miles apart with no conflict of interest, Gu Yixuan avoided talking about her life.
They don't even show off their privileged lifestyle anymore.
-
June 7, 2026.
The drone patrol finally discovered something unusual.
For the past few months, Lin Xi had been using a drone to patrol the living environment every day without fail, but he had not found any living people or zombies. On this day, he finally spotted a zombie at the entrance of the village.
It wandered over from who-knows-where and limped around the village entrance.
When Lin Xi saw this scene, she didn't feel scared, but rather felt a kind of inexplicable excitement.
Since she came out of the basement, this was the first thing that could still move that appeared in Lin Xi's eyes.
The drone followed the zombie at a distance until it reached the edge of the control distance, at which point the zombie wandered away.
The village fell silent once again.
-
June 20, 2026.
Yunxiang entered the plum rain season. The continuous rain not only ruined the vegetables in the yard, but also put Lin Xi in the predicament of a power outage.
The solar panels were damaged, so the charging efficiency is not as good as last year. The little bit of sunshine these past few days has not been enough to charge the batteries.
In the sweltering heat, Lin Xi stopped using the air conditioner and all entertainment activities. Even so, the cold storage still lost power on the 6th day.
To avoid opening the cold storage and thus losing the meat, Lin Xi cooked a self-heating hot pot and ate it slowly by the window.
-
July 3, 2026.
After the end of the plum rain season, the temperature suddenly soared to 37 degrees Celsius.
After finishing her farm work each day, Lin Xi would go home to take a shower and hide in the air-conditioned lounge. All she could do was watch dramas and read novels. When she got tired of that, she would take out the puzzles and other DIY toys she had prepared to play with.
This summer has been very quiet.
Lin Xi suddenly realized that there were no cicadas chirping or mosquitoes this summer.
Pollution of the water cycle has brought about a series of consequences, including the destruction of ecosystems and the loss of vulnerable small animals.
-
August 15, 2026.
Lin Xi left the loose birdcage with fear and went to Zhang Xiulan's former field to harvest a basket of corn.
She planted this corn in an empty field. Because she resisted going out, she hardly fertilized or weeded it. The corn grew wildly, and although the harvest wasn't good, quite a few ears of corn had grown.
The stagnant life was stirred up a little. Lin Xi enthusiastically cooked a pot of corn, and the aroma filled the whole house.
She took a picture and sent it to Gu Yixuan.
Gu Yixuan said: That's really good.
Lin Xi was somewhat surprised.
She felt that Gu Yixuan should say something like, "What's so great about corn? I'm eating it right now, blah blah blah..." and then post a beautiful picture to fit Gu Yixuan's style.
Lin Xi poured all her pent-up energy into corn. In the past few days, she made roasted corn, corn fritters, and even painstakingly pounded some corn flour.
The shock left her left hand numb for a long time.
Lin Xi didn't throw away the discarded corn stalks and cobs; she spread them out on the open ground to dry in the sun, and then stored them in the small house in the backyard.
That was originally a fish room, but after Lin Xi came out of the basement, the fish that hadn't been fed for five months had long since rotted, and the fishy and putrid smells mixed together. Lin Xi had to put on a filter mask to clean the fish room.
This room is now used to store dried corncobs, which can be used as fuel in case of emergency.
-
September 25, 2026.
It's Mid-Autumn Festival again.
The orange tree in the yard, which was hanging by a thread, miraculously produced some fruit despite its disability. Lin Xi climbed the ladder and picked a few.
It feels hard and has a thick skin; it doesn't look appetizing.
Lin Xi didn't dare to eat raw fruits and vegetables, so she simply searched for tutorials online and made them into orange pie instead of mooncakes.
Over the past six months, she has become increasingly skilled with her left hand, and her orange pie has become surprisingly exquisite.
Lin Xi found some pretty plates she had stockpiled when she ran her online store, paired them with forks, made an exquisite plating, took a picture, and sent it to Gu Yixuan.
This looks like the afternoon tea that Gu Yixuan used to love.
Gu Yixuan did not reply.
Late that night, Lin Xi received a call from Gu Yixuan. The young lady showed no remorse for disturbing Lin Xi's peaceful sleep, but instead chatted with her non-stop.
Gu Yixuan didn't comment on Lin Xi's orange pie, nor did she talk about her recent life; instead, she started talking about university out of the blue.
Lin Xi yawned and said, "Why are you dreaming about your youth in the dead of night..."
Those days seem too distant for Lin Xi.
Gu Yixuan said, "Because we're college roommates, this is the only thing we can talk about."
Lin Xi: "Although, you hardly ever lived in the dorms during college, so we didn't have much in common."
Gu Yixuan: "Although, you don't talk to me when I'm in the dorm, so not having anything in common isn't just my problem."
At that time, Lin Xi could never have imagined that one day Gu Yixuan would become her only person to talk to.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
