In the world now, there were far too many abandoned, vacant houses.

In big cities where zombies wandered through every street and alley, even places with fewer zombies couldn’t be lived in for long, because you never knew when a zombie would suddenly pop out from a corner. No matter how capable a person was, they couldn’t stay vigilant every moment.

So they could only look outside the big cities.

Wen Jiuzhe was the first to suggest it: “How about taking you to live in a big villa?”

Xue Ling firmly refused. A big villa—looks good but useless!

She really had lived in one before. During those three years wandering on the road, she had stayed in many different houses. At first, whenever she saw a pretty house, she would go in, look around, and live there for a few days to experience it.

She remembered one big villa in particular, built like a palace, especially large in area, with countless rooms, complete with pools and gardens.

But it was not comfortable to live in at all—flashy but impractical!

The steps inside the house made it inconvenient for zombies to move, the ceilings were high, and everywhere felt empty. Aside from the areas that were used often, the rest were all covered in dust.

It was grand enough, but the comfort level was zero.

At a time like this, if you wanted to live somewhere long-term, it was best to choose roadside county towns or small villages that had already been cleared of zombies and had sparse human presence.

It was best if the surrounding terrain was relatively open, so that if a person or a zombie appeared, you could spot it immediately.

Within half a day’s drive of the residence, there needed to be a base. Wen Jiuzhe could go there regularly to exchange for necessities of human life, and in another direction there should be a big city that not many people dared to scavenge in, making it convenient for Xue Ling to go stock up.

It would be best if there were existing vegetable plots around the house, so they could grow some vegetables themselves.

A nearby river would be even better, so they could fish to eat.

It would be best if there was running water too; now, in many places, running water could no longer be used.

Some remote rural areas, however, had water pipes connected to mountain spring water. As long as the reservoir tower built in the mountains didn’t dry up, it could still be used.

The house didn’t need to be very big, but it was better if it was newer. The inside couldn’t be too dirty or messy; as long as the furniture was basically complete, that was enough.

It was best to have an independent kitchen, the kind with a traditional earthen stove, because now there wasn’t that much electricity to boil water or cook, and there was no gas either. It seemed they could only burn firewood, and an earthen stove was more convenient.

Then nearby there would also need to be mountains and forests, so they could chop firewood……

Wen Jiuzhe didn’t let her continue. If she went on any further, they wouldn’t find a suitable place even after the snow fell.

In the end, the two of them spent ten days and carefully selected a place.

It almost perfectly met Xue Ling’s requirements, except that running water couldn’t be drawn, but there was a hand-pump well in the courtyard to make up for that.

Wen Jiuzhe felt it was just a temporary place to settle down, but Xue Ling was as excited as if she were moving into a new home.

She urged Wen Jiuzhe to clean up the house, unload all the miscellaneous items piled in the car, and move them into the house and kitchen.

Xue Ling had been staying in the car for several months, and the things in the car had grown more and more. There was only a narrow space left in the carriage to lie down, and even the roof was almost out of room.

Previously, when Wen Jiuzhe had been running around outside for three years, there hadn’t been many things in the car at all.

Now that they were sorting everything out, the two of them had to make several trips together to move it all.

Wen Jiuzhe helped Xue Ling carry her books and clothes, while Xue Ling carried her own frequently used items—the tablet, comb, small mirror—trotting along behind him.

They lived in a bedroom on the first floor. This bedroom had been cleared out by Wen Jiuzhe, leaving only the bed, the wardrobe, and a table.

They put the things that had filled up the space inside the car into here, yet the room still looked a bit empty.

Xue Ling took a look around and felt that everything was lacking.

First, they lacked quilts. Before, Wen Jiuzhe had been making do in the car with just a blanket and a thick cotton coat. When winter arrived, it would be very cold—cotton quilts were obviously necessary.

They lacked bedding, and they also lacked clothes, mainly Wen Jiuzhe lacked clothes.

Not only did he lack clothes, he also lacked shoes.

Wen Jiuzhe went through shoes very quickly. Those very sturdy leather boots, and sports shoes of good quality, he would wear them for a while and soon ruin them.

Wen Jiuzhe carried the battery box into the room. Xue Ling lowered her head and looked at his shoes.

The pair on his feet now had been worn for two months. Inevitably, they were covered in dust and stains. The creases on the uppers were just a bit ugly, but the soles were already close to cracking.

This pair was still considered a good one. His previous pair of shoes had been worn until the entire sole came off, and one of the shoelaces had even been replaced with a piece of rope.

Wen Jiuzhe wore clothes with holes without a care, and shoes with holes as well. If no one reminded him, he was too lazy to notice himself. When he stopped caring, he really looked like a vagrant.

So how could someone live so roughly and still be so handsome?

Men who were often exposed to wind and sun outside usually had skin that wasn’t delicate, and they easily became weathered and looked old.

Wen Jiuzhe was also a bit rough, but the rougher he was, the more flavor he had—that kind of “very capable at a glance” flavor.

Like rough tree scars, hard yellow earth, or like his car, with its exterior full of dents and scratches, yet still able to chug along into the wild and wade through rivers.

Seeing her staring at his shoes, Wen Jiuzhe casually put down what he was holding. “Looking at my crappy shoes again and finding them an eyesore? If you dislike them, then don’t look.”

He wore a large shoe size, so finding shoes for him was also a bit troublesome.

Xue Ling suddenly clenched her fist. Wen Jiuzhe instinctively shifted to the side, thinking she was about to suddenly hit someone again, but who would have thought that this time Xue Ling clenched her fist just to encourage herself, preparing to roll up her sleeves and get to work.

She quickly announced that she was going scavenging, going to the city to carry out a large-scale zero-yuan shopping spree, bringing back lots of things to fill the new home!

On the road, everything could be made do with, but once you really stopped and lived day by day, then everything was lacking.

At night, a small lamp glowed on the bed.

Xue Ling lay prone on the hard wooden bed, thinking about the things they needed. She wrote one item after another on the writing board, and Wen Jiuzhe recorded each one with a pen on paper.

“Oh, and laundry detergent,” Xue Ling added. “But detergent is heavy and gets used up fast. Soap is more economical.”

Wen Jiuzhe leaned against the bed and added soap to the shopping list.

Back when the two of them lived together before, it seemed there had also been scenes like this—discussing what to restock at home and making a memo.

“Oh right, and solar lamps. These don’t use electricity!” Xue Ling said whatever came to mind.

Wen Jiuzhe wrote wildly on the shopping list, saying as he did, “Do you know where to find solar lamps?”

“Doesn’t the supermarket have them?” Xue Ling asked.

“Supermarket? I haven’t seen them in supermarkets. You’ll probably have to go to a hardware store to look. If you’re going to a hardware store, bring me back some tools while you’re at it. I fix things.”

“What tools? Screwdrivers?”

……

They chatted until late at night. Wen Jiuzhe fell asleep, while Xue Ling was still thinking about what else was missing.

For her convenience, the small lamp on the bed wasn’t turned off. In any case, Wen Jiuzhe could sleep with the light on.

After checking the shopping list for omissions, Xue Ling grew bored, turned over, and casually grabbed the hand Wen Jiuzhe had placed by his side, holding it up to the light to look.

His palm was broad, his fingers long with thick joints. Fingers that often gripped a knife with force were a bit crooked and deformed. There were scars on his palm and thick calluses, much rougher than before, and the nail on his index finger was slightly split.

After studying his hand for a while, Xue Ling flipped open the shopping list again and decided to add hand cream.

It wasn’t until white daylight seeped in through the window that Xue Ling finally clicked the small lamp off.

༚༅༚˳ .  . ˳༚༅༚

After getting up early and tidying the house, Wen Jiuzhe drove Xue Ling to the zombie-infested city to get things.

This wasn’t Xue Ling’s first time doing this kind of activity, and Wen Jiuzhe was familiar with it too, finding a place to hole up and wait for her.

Holding the shopping list, Xue Ling set off.

Wen Jiuzhe sat on the roof of the car, the cold wind stirring the coat Xue Ling had forced him to put on.

Feeling a bit warm, Wen Jiuzhe casually took off the hat he was wearing.

This blue knitted hat had originally been worn by Xue Ling, but after Wen Jiuzhe got sick last time, Xue Ling had forcibly given the hat to him.

Holding a book that Xue Ling had casually left in the car, Wen Jiuzhe occasionally flipped a few pages to pass the time. Every so often, he would also use binoculars to look for Xue Ling’s figure, and check whether there were other scavenging teams approaching.

He had both a gun and a short blade on him, but it had been some time since he’d uncontrollably fidgeted with the blade while waiting.

He also wasn’t as anxious and restless as he’d been a few months ago, because he knew Xue Ling would be back very soon.

Xue Ling returned pushing an extra-large supermarket shopping cart, piled full of things.

Wen Jiuzhe put the hat he’d taken off back on and got up to help. Xue Ling said there was more, turned around, and went back again, pushing over three large shopping carts piled completely full, along with several bags of brand-new down quilts.

Wen Jiuzhe also saw two fishing rods, which weren’t on their list.

There were many things not on the list that Xue Ling had still taken as well—like a kettle, vegetable baskets, a mop and rags, and also some oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and other seasonings, all little everyday odds and ends.

“Even though they’re expired, maybe they still have some flavor. Let’s try them!” Xue Ling was especially excited every time she came back from a zero-yuan shopping run.

What else could Wen Jiuzhe say—just haul everything back.

The items that belonged to Wen Jiuzhe alone filled up an entire shopping cart by themselves.

His clothes and shoes, scarves and socks, shaving lotion and razor… everything was there, along with the toolbox he wanted for repairs.

There was a very strong feeling of living off his girlfriend.

But Wen Jiuzhe didn’t mind. He had a good appetite.

While sorting through all the miscellaneous items, Wen Jiuzhe saw more than a dozen packets of vegetable seeds.

He’d thought her talk about growing vegetables was just casual talk. He hadn’t expected her to be serious.

That night, a mattress and cotton quilts were laid out on the hard wooden bed, with a down quilt on top.

It just so happened that the temperature dropped outside. The wind howled past the window at night, and even if Xue Ling wouldn’t be cold now, being wrapped up in the soft quilts still brought a sense of psychological comfort.

It was Wen Jiuzhe who felt too warm, with more than half his body exposed.

On the table by the bed sat a thermos filled with hot water, and beside it lay an old tea cake.

Xue Ling loved drinking all kinds of beverages—flower teas, fruit teas, different teas for different seasons. In winter, her thermos would definitely have chrysanthemum and red dates steeped in it, and strong, stimulating tea was an essential before every exam.

But Wen Jiuzhe was more used to drinking plain water, preferably with nothing added to it at all.

So this old tea cake—rather than being something she’d brought for Wen Jiuzhe—was more something Xue Ling wanted to drink but couldn’t, and thus kept just to look at.

In the early morning, the nearby mountains and forests and the distant road were all shrouded in a thin layer of mist, and the bedroom too carried that faint, cool chill.

Wen Jiuzhe was woken by Xue Ling getting out of bed and putting on her shoes. He grabbed his hair and sat up as well.

His hair was a bit long, messy and slightly wavy, blocking his eyes, so he pushed it back.

“What are you doing, getting up so early?”

Xue Ling proposed with great enthusiasm, “Let’s farm today!”

Wen Jiuzhe: “……”

She quickly came back with those vegetable seeds and asked Wen Jiuzhe which one he wanted to plant.

Wen Jiuzhe didn’t say anything, taking the packets of seeds and looking at them carefully.

“Although I don’t have any experience growing vegetables, it says here the planting season is May. Right now it seems to be winter?”

Only then did Xue Ling remember this. She also had no experience farming, couldn’t even tell many vegetables apart, and had once made a joke of herself thinking peanuts grew on branches.

But modern young people who don’t use their limbs much and can’t tell grains apart, living in concrete forests—who doesn’t have a pastoral dream?

There had once been a period when short videos about returning to a pastoral lifestyle were especially popular online. Many bloggers repaired houses and grew vegetables in the countryside. Regardless of whether it was real or not, the life shown on camera was particularly serene and beautiful.