060 Old Wang

Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan felt their tensed nerves relax slightly after hearing Zhang Su’s words. They also took off their backpacks, placed them on the ground, rested their weapons across their knees, and began massaging their shoulders and arms.

"Mister, how should I address you?"
Zhang Su asked the milk delivery man for his name.

Hearing Zhang Su speak to him, Wang Guangjun hurriedly replied, "My last name is Wang, Wang Guangjun."

"Alright, then I'll just call you Old Wang..."

"Hehe, Old Wang from next door... sorry."
Before Zhang Su could finish, Zheng Xinyu chuckled, only to receive a glare from him. She pouted and apologized.

"Old Wang, judging by your clothes, are you a delivery guy for that dairy company down the street?"
Zhang Su pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lit one up with evident satisfaction, and noticing Old Wang's envious gaze, tossed one over to him.

"Yes, yes. I'm responsible for four residential compounds along this street, and I also deliver milk to some businesses on Xishan Road."
Old Wang took a deep drag of the cigarette, feeling his various negative emotions ease as a rare, faint smile appeared on his face.

"I wonder whose apartment this is. It looks quite clean and there are no zombies. Xinyu, go check the kitchen. Xiaoshan, you take the master bedroom and the bathroom. Old Wang, you check the other two small bedrooms and the balcony. Bring back anything useful!"
Without resting further, Zhang Su stood up with a cigarette dangling from his lips and began assigning tasks.

"This is someone else's home... is that appropriate?"
Clearly not yet adapted to life after the apocalypse, Wang Guangjun looked somewhat uneasy as he watched Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan already getting to work.

Rummmaging through the living room, Zhang Su said, "Old Wang, times have changed. Don't always rely on your old mindset to do things. It's fine if you don't know how; just follow orders. Otherwise, you can open the door right now, go upstairs, and look for Officer Qin."

"Yes, yes, Brother Zhang, I understand!"
Wang Guangjun was not completely set in his ways; his mindset simply hadn't caught up yet. With just a brief reminder, he was a quick learner.

Before long, the group reassembled in the living room.

"This family probably fled right after the disaster happened. The kitchen is a complete mess with nothing useful left, except these condiments which look okay, oh, and a little bit of cooking oil."
Zheng Xinyu placed several bottles and jars on the dining table.

Zhong Xiaoshan put down a plastic bag and sighed, "They have a baby. I found an unopened bag of diapers, a half-empty small can of stage two formula, and two packs of alcohol wipes. There's nothing else."

Escaping through the apocalypse with an infant who still drank formula—just thinking about it was a despairing prospect.

"This family was lucky. The family of three didn't get infected. Let's hope they managed to escape."
Zhang Su held up a photo frame containing a family portrait of three. It looked quite new, likely a commemorative photo taken when the child reached one hundred days old.

"Brother Zhang, I... can I have these clothes?"
Meanwhile, Wang Guangjun had found several rolls of toilet paper and a few sets of clothes. He was holding a mop in his hand, looking somewhat comical.

"Of course, no problem. If they fit, put them on. It's getting cold, so stuff a few extra clothes into your bag just in case. But Old Wang, what are you doing with a mop?"
Zhang Su frowned, pointing at the mop whose bristles were stiff and warped.

Hearing that he could take the clothes, Wang Guangjun smiled, then raised the mop in his hand. "I'm planning to make a weapon to defend myself."

"How do you plan to modify this piece of junk wood?"
Looking at the mop in Wang Guangjun's hand, Zhang Su really couldn't think much of it.

"Hehe." Wang Guangjun flashed a simple, honest smile. "No special tricks. I'll just sharpen the tip and it'll work."

Zhang Su nodded noncommittally and said nothing more, leaving Old Wang to tinker as he pleased.

After searching for supplies, the group walked over to the windows, pulled back the curtains, and stared blankly at the scene outside.

Building No. 4 was located at the northernmost part of Shengqin Homeland. Separated only by a wall was not a street, but another old urban renewal residential area called Tiezhuangli. The buildings there were mostly six-plus-one stories, primarily populated by relocated residents, resulting in a very low population density.

Yet, sparse population or not, the Tiezhuangli neighborhood remained a scene of utter misery.

Wandering zombies could be seen everywhere. The canopy of the children's merry-go-round had collapsed, trapping several struggling zombies underneath. Human limbs were scattered across the fitness equipment area, and scorched walls, shattered windows, and blood-stained ground were visible everywhere.

Most conspicuously, someone who had jumped from a building before death had gotten caught in some fiber optic cables. Even after turning into a zombie, they hadn't managed to break free, and their arms waved unconsciously in the air, twisting their entire body back and forth in a deeply wretched manner.

"This is too terrifying. I really don't know when this disaster will ever end!"
Even Zhong Xiaoshan, who was accustomed to life and death in the hospital, couldn't help covering her mouth.

"Someone is calling for help..."
Zhang Su pointed helplessly toward a more distant building.

Following the direction of his finger, everyone indeed saw a woman holding a large piece of cardboard behind a window, with "SOS" drawn on it. She must have seen them, as her gaze remained locked firmly on their side.

"Poor girl."
Wang Guangjun shook his head, suddenly imagining that his own son might be struggling to survive in the cracks just like this woman. Unable to bear it, he turned his head away.

*Swish.*

Zhang Su drew the curtains shut once more, preferring the dimness over continuing to witness the scenes of hell...

It had already been afternoon when the explosions occurred, and the sky quickly grew dark.

"Ha, tell me, Old Wang, is this what you survived on?"
Zhang Su licked the whitish yogurt from his lips, a look of blissful satisfaction on his face.

Once an easily accessible delicacy, this had now become a luxury. Not long after the power outage, refrigerated yogurt would spoil, and even room-temperature yogurt would gradually grow moldy over time.

Wang Guangjun scratched his messy hair and smiled. "I drank milk for two days, and after the milk went sour, I started drinking yogurt... Do you guys have enough? I still have a few boxes over there!"
As he spoke, he reached for the dirty shoulder bag beside him.

"Enough, enough. Old Wang, until we find more supplies, we can't gorge ourselves. We have to pace ourselves. By the way... doesn't eating instant noodles like this make you choke?"
Zhang Su looked speechlessly at the packets of instant noodles scattered on the table.

Having taken three boxes of yogurt from Old Wang, he had also given him two packs of instant noodles.

Perhaps because he hadn't tasted salt in five or six days, Wang Guangjun's eyes turned green at the sight of the instant noodles. Like a child eating dried noodle snacks, he crushed them up, sprinkled the seasoning packet over them, and dug right in. He didn't even spare the sauce packet, licking it completely clean.

Both Zheng Xinyu and Zhong Xiaoshan were stunned by Wang Guangjun's way of eating raw noodles, secretly whispering that if someone handed him a packet of river snail rice noodles, he'd probably chew and swallow those dry too—that set of teeth was likely just as formidable as a zombie's!

"Brother Zhang, you don't know what it's like not having tasted salt for five or six days. It's unbearable..."
Wang Guangjun licked his lips and stroked the deflated instant noodle wrapper, clearly unsatisfied. He then said, "Brother Zhang, I'll trade you three more boxes of yogurt for two packs of instant noodles, plus half a box of cigarettes. How's that?"