Title: A Fake Holy Mother in the Zombie Apocalypse
Translator: Little Bamboo Spirit
Chapter 273 - Illusion (3)
Bei Nuan and Lu Xingchi walked back together. It was the hottest time of the day. The sun was shining brightly, and there were clouds of red dust on the road. The few trees on the roadside were listless.
They were walking side by side and very close to each other. His hand kept nonchalantly brushing her hand.
He seemed to want to hold her hand, but didn't take any action. It was completely different from his usual resolute and decisive style. He would normally hold her hand at every opportunity without even asking her.
For some unknown reason, he had suddenly become bashful. Was it because there were many people walking on the road?
"I wonder what Taipingmen is like?" Lu Xingchi idly chatted with Bei Nuan.
Bei Nuan could feel his hand coming towards her when he said those words. The back of his hand gently brushed against her wrist. It was barely discernible and gave her a feeling of uncertainty.
A gossamer feeling of budding romance floated between them.
"It's a place that Captain Zheng put so much effort to go to. There's probably something special about it. Let's just go there and we'll see," Bei Nuan answered. She tried to keep her tone as natural as possible as if she didn't care and to match his tone.
Up ahead was the building they were staying in. They were almost home.
Bei Nuan inexplicably felt a bit fidgety. She surreptitiously curved her pinky and touched Lu Xingchi's fingertip.
As a result, Lu Xingchi grabbed her hand. It was like a little rabbit had dared to poke its head out and was successfully captured by a hunter, who had placed bait at the entrance of its hole.
Lu Xingchi lowered his head to look at her. He had the smile of someone who's scheme had been successful.
He had laid a trap to entice her. What a bad guy.
Bei Nuan tried her best to pull her hand away.
Lu Xingchi didn't force it. He let go of Bei Nuan's hand. He took off his backpack, handed the backpack to her, and leaned over in front of her. "Get on, I'll carry you upstairs."
Bei Nuan was baffled. What was he up to?
Lu Xingchi insisted, "Come on."
Fine, it was just a piggyback ride.
Bei Nuan jumped onto his back, wrapped her arms and legs around him, and hugged his neck.
Lu Xingchi easily straightened up, secured her legs, and carried her into the building.
The outdated hallway had poor light and was a bit dark. She could faintly hear voices from other people's homes. It felt a bit surreal.
The distance of six floors wasn't short. Lu Xingchi walked briskly as if the weight of another person was nothing to him.
Other than when her dad had carried her on his back when she was very young, Bei Nuan hadn't been carried like this for many years. It wasn't tiring at all and completely worry-free.
His back was very wide and comfortable. It would be easy to drift off into sleep.
Bei Nuan silently lied on his back and was very well-behaved.
He walked up the six flights of stairs very quickly. In no time at all, they reached the sixth floor.
When Lu Xingchi opened the door, Bei Nuan jumped down and called out, "Du Ruo! Du Ruo! Come see what we brought back for you!"
The big sofa in the living room was currently Du Ruo's territory. He crawled out from the depths of the sofa fort, popped his head out, and sleepily asked, "Did you bring back yummy food?"
He was only concerned about eating delicious food.
Bei Nuan happily said, "It's not food. It's your virus inhibitor!"
Even Jiang Fei and Tang Tang came out now. "Virus inhibitor? Really?"
Bei Nuan carefully took out the small glass bottle and paper from her pocket space and placed the treasure in the middle of the dining room.
The team gathered around to look at the hard-earned miraculous bottle. Everyone only looked at it from a distance. No one was allowed to carelessly touch it.
Lu Xingchi carefully told the team what happened and strived to not miss any detail.
Jiang Fei stared at the small bottle and pondered. "Is that person reliable?"
Du Ruo confidently said, "I think he's reliable. This should be a virus inhibitor. I have an intuition that that guy won't harm me."
And then, he rubbed his head in bewilderment. "The question is, is my hair curly?"
Bei Nuan burst into laughter. She carefully looked. Du Ruo's soft hair really was curled a bit at the tips.
"Do you want to inject the virus inhibitor now?" Tang Tang asked.
Du Ruo thought it over. "I think so. If I'm supposed to wait, he would have left that in his message."
He had Bei Nuan take out a first-aid kit. He took out a single-use needle and swept his gaze over the surrounding spectators.
In the end, he sighed. None of them looked reliable. Dr. Du finally endured the pain of giving himself an injection in the arm.
After he injected the liquid, everyone was scared and on edge.
After a long time, Du Ruo seemed the same as usual. His mind was clear, and his eyes weren't bloodshot. Everyone was relieved.
How long would Du Ruo last with this extra dose?
Jiang Fei bustled around, paying attention to Du Ruo's eyes the entire time. He suddenly asked, "What do you want to eat for lunch?"
Bei Nuan wanted to laugh.
Was that Jiang Fei's special move? Using delicious food to incentivize Du Ruo from turning into a zombie?
Du Ruo seriously thought about it for a while before answering, "I haven't had spicy food in a while. I suddenly want to eat mouthwatering chicken."
(T/N: Here's a link for a recipe for mouthwatering chicken. It's a specialty of Sichuan province.)
Jiang Fei wasn't good at cooking Sichuan dishes. He thought about it. "I'll have to think about how to cook it…"
Bei Nuan saw Lu Xingchi immediately raising his head. Lu Xingchi had read so many cookbooks. One of them must have a recipe for that dish.
Before Lu Xingchi could speak, Tang Tang jumped out. "Mouthwatering chicken? I know how to make it. It was my dad's specialty. I used to eat it all the time."
Tang Tang took charge of cooking. First, he asked Bei Nuan for ice. The chicken had to be plunged into an ice bath after cooking so that the skin would be chewy and the meat tender.
Bei Nuan didn't have any ice cubes. She could only donate her precious popsicles. She put them in a bag to use to cool down the chicken.
Lu Xingchi came over to observe and expertly remarked, "Other dishes like white cut chicken also need to be plunged into an ice bath. How about we make some ice now for later use?"
(T/N: Here's a link for a youtube video for white cut chicken.)
It hadn't been a waste for Lu Xinghi to read so many books these days. He studied hard in cooking. Although he still wasn't that good in practice, his theoretical knowledge had advanced by leaps and bounds.
Bei Nuan simply took out the generator, connected it to the refrigerator, and made ice cubes with Lu Xingchi.
Du Ruo suddenly thought of something. "Lu Xingchi, stop making ice cubes. Come over here and help me to do something that demonstrates your irreplaceable value."
Lu Xingchi raised his eyebrows and waited to hear his request.