Ch40 Yaya, You're My Lucky Star
"Oh, what do you do for a living?" Meng Ci suddenly asked.
"To show my sincerity, let me introduce myself first."
"My name is Meng Ci. I just turned eighteen this year. I was a senior in high school before."
Only then did Meng Ci realize he didn't even know what Shen Que did.
Since they had time now, why not get to know each other?
After all, given their current situation, they'd been forced into a team and would have to cooperate for some time.
Shen Que said, "My name is Shen Que. I'm twenty-three. I used to work as a coach at a boxing gym."
"I served in the military for two years when I was eighteen. After my discharge, I trained under a boxing master for two more years before becoming certified."
"I've also participated in several boxing competitions before."
"No wonder you're in such great shape-you're a boxing coach!" Meng Ci said enviously.
"If you want to learn, I can teach you!" Shen Que offered.
Hearing Shen Que volunteer to teach him, Meng Ci's eyes lit up, though he remained somewhat reserved.
"Wouldn't that be too much trouble for you?"
Shen Que shook his head. "Not at all. It's pouring out there anyway, and I've got nothing else to do."
"Teaching you boxing will help me brush up on my skills too."
Meng Ci nodded. Offering money during a downpour felt awkward, so he suggested covering one meal a day for Shen Que.
Shen Que gladly accepted-his own cooking was notoriously terrible.
After dinner, though it was only past four, the rain had darkened the sky. They abandoned further wall-building.
Back home, with nothing to do, Meng Ci wondered what Liu Jie and Li Xiaoya were up to.
He placed his fully charged surveillance drone on the twelfth floor.
"Brother Jie, I'm starving!"
When food rations were distributed yesterday, both had overslept.
Later, hearing others mention Meng Ci's group had gone out for supplies last night, they'd mustered the nerve to ask him for some.
Liu Jie was also ravenously hungry now, with no patience left for Li Xiaoya.
Feeling Liu Jie's coldness, Li Xiaoya remembered the benefits
her parents could offer.
But now that Zhang Lu had been accidentally killed by her, only Li Shanyang remained.
"Brother Jie, why don't we go get my dad back? Then we can get an extra portion of food when we collect it."
What Li Xiaoya really had in mind was that bringing Li Shanyang back would give her another source of support. If Liu Jie proved unreliable, she could rely on her father.
She hoped her father wouldn't hold it against her for agreeing to send him to that Fatso.
"Fatso!"
Liu Jie suddenly seemed struck by an idea. His eyes lit up as he jumped to his feet, pacing excitedly.
"Right! Why didn't I think of that?"
"Fatso! Fatso!"
Li Xiaoya glanced at Liu Jie fearfully, unsure why he was suddenly acting so frantic.
"Jie... Brother Jie, what's wrong?"
Li Xiaoya curled up on the sofa, wearing III-fitting clothes she'd scavenged from a vacant apartment on the fourth floor.
She'd resisted wearing them at first, but had no choice-without them, she'd freeze to death.
Now, just thinking these clothes belonged to someone else made her skin crawl.
What if that guy had a skin disease? What if he ruined her beautiful body?
Liu Jie came over, wrapping his arms around Li Xiaoya's shoulders, his eyes shining.
"Xiaoya, you're my little lucky star!"
"If you hadn't reminded me, we'd both be starving to death."
Li Xiaoya was puzzled.
She even wondered if Liu Jie had gone mad from hunger, talking nonsense like this.
"Let's go kidnap that fat guy now. He's got food in his place."
"Then all the food in his place will be ours, right?"
Li Xiaoya perked up at this.
Right! That fat guy had so much food-he couldn't possibly eat it all alone.
Why not contribute it to save two lives?
They sprang into action immediately. Just in case, Liu Jie grabbed a kitchen knife from the kitchen.
Now, except for that fat guy, everyone else on the fifth floor had moved up.
Even the sixth-floor residents had gradually moved to other levels.
The two descended without fear of being spotted.
"Thump! Thump! Thump!"
"Fat bastard, open the door!"
"Open up!"
Yet no one answered.
Liu Jie, fixated on grabbing food, charged forward without hesitation. He rammed the door with his shoulder, then kicked it violently.
The fat guy's security door hadn't been replaced during renovations.
It was the developer's cheap, low-quality door, so Liu Jie kicked it open quickly.
Despite all the noise outside, there was no sound from inside the apartment.
Everything felt off, but Liu Jie and Li Xiaoya were so fixated on food they didn't notice anything amiss.
"Fuck!"
Moments after entering, Liu Jie's furious shout echoed through the room.
Meng Ci had descended the stairs by then, hiding in the apartment next to the fat guy's.
He deployed the fly camera inside the fat guy's home, just in time to see Liu Jie lift one foot-the sole caked with what appeared to be excrement!
He maneuvered the fly camera around the room. The filth here was even worse than he'd remembered.
"Fuck, where's that fat bastard?"
"Get out here and lick my shoes clean!"
Liu Jie disgustedly scraped his shoes against the sofa several times, his nostrils filled with the stench of feces and the sour rot of accumulated garbage.
How could someone be so utterly unsanitary?
Li Xiaoya covered her nose, clutching Liu Jie tightly as her eyes darted around, terrified a rat might suddenly emerge from the trash heap.
The stench was unbearable, but she could endure it. What she couldn't stand was the gnawing hunger.
After confirming no strange creatures lurked in the house, the two began rummaging everywhere.
Nothing. Nothing at all. Not a single edible item.
Not even expired food.
Empty packaging bags, not even a crumb inside.
Finding nothing in the living room or kitchen, they moved to search the other bedrooms.
"Ah!"
Li Xiaoya entered a room and stumbled backward, falling to the floor in shock at the sight.
Her hand brushed against something furry. Curiosity got the better of her, and she pulled it out-only to discover it was a dying rat. "Ah!"
Li Xiaoya screamed again, flinging the rodent away.
But it landed squarely on Liu Jie, who had heard the commotion and come to investigate.
Liu Jie hopped, flinging the mouse off his body onto the floor before kicking it away.
"What's going on?"
Liu Jie asked upon entering. Seeing the state of the room, he too was utterly horrified.