Chapter 19: What Kind of Friend?
The wheels kicked up dust. Amidst the swirling dust, Ji Nian stopped the car in front of Qin Xiao and glared at him with a grumpy expression.
Qin Xiao opened the car door and got in. As soon as he sat down, the car sped off. The inertia slammed the door shut, and Qin Xiao fell against Ji Nian. “Ouch!”
Immediately, a cold voice reached his ears. “Fasten your seatbelt. Don’t come crying to me if you die.”
Qin Xiao “Oh”-ed, fastened his seatbelt, and looked back. The zombies had already gotten up and were chasing after them.
Suddenly, the window on Qin Xiao’s side slid down, and Ji Nian said, “Call your grandma!”
“What?”
Qin Xiao looked at him in surprise, but quickly understood. Han Qing was still outside the iron plate enclosure. The people inside were afraid that if they opened the gate, the zombies would come in, so they hadn’t opened it!
“Grandma! Get in the car quickly!”
“Grandma!”
The car drove fast and furiously. When Han Qing looked back, she saw the car suddenly turning in front of her, just five meters away, sliding sideways towards her with the force of impact, stopping gracefully in front of her.
It was only a few centimeters away; she could have been run over.
Holy crap!
Was Xiao Xiao’s girlfriend that good of a driver?
She opened the door and got in. As soon as she closed the door, a zombie lunged at the window, its bloody mouth gnawing at the glass.
“So close!”
Han Qing patted her chest. Qin Xiao turned to look at her. “Grandma, are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
Han Qing shook her head and looked at the iron plate through the windshield. “Your girlfriend should have just rammed through that iron plate! They didn’t even open the door for me; they wanted me to die!”
Ji Nian, sitting in the driver’s seat, didn’t say anything, but almost threw the steering wheel away when he heard the words “granddaughter-in-law.”
Han Qing was just venting; Ji Nian wouldn’t actually do that. There were hundreds of people in the village, and they would probably live there in the future. Destroying it would mean losing their safe haven.
Zombies kept chasing the car, and because of the honking, zombies from a distance were also rushing towards them.
To lead them away, Ji Nian drove the car further away, taking them with him.
Gradually, only a few zombies were left chasing them. Ji Nian turned the car around, knocked those persistent ones away, and drove back towards the village.
“I never expected my granddaughter-in-law to be such a good driver.”
Han Qing, sitting in the back, sincerely praised him, leaning forward to look at Ji Nian.
Ji Nian was whiter than most girls, his fingers long and slender as he gripped the steering wheel.
His hair hadn’t been cut for a while, and his bangs almost covered his eyebrows.
His eyes were slightly upturned, long and sharp, but Han Qing couldn’t see his eyes from her angle.
“Tsk tsk, so pretty.”
Han Qing’s eyes were full of admiration. She never expected that in this near-apocalyptic world, her grandson could survive with his girlfriend; their fate was truly deep.
“I’m male.”
Then she heard a low male voice.
Han Qing was stunned. What the hell?? Male?
Leaning forward again, she saw that Ji Nian, the driver, did look somewhat like a boy.
“Oh, so it’s your boyfriend.”
She realized. “I’m sorry. This old lady didn’t see clearly, haha.”
Ji Nian: …
What the hell boyfriend!
He coldly glanced at Qin Xiao in the passenger seat. This guy hadn’t said a word since their relationship was misunderstood.
Qin Xiao had noticed Ji Nian’s gaze but pretended not to see it.
He asked Han Qing, “Grandma, is the village safe?”
“Safe.”
Han Qing nodded, already sitting back, casually asking, “Are your parents dead?”
Her tone was like she was asking a stranger, without any sadness.
But no one noticed that her hands were clenched into fists, her nails digging into her flesh.
“They’re gone.”
Qin Xiao shook his head.
When he received a call from his parents, he heard their cries, the approach of death.
Was he sad?
Not being sad would make him a fool.
But he had to live.
His parents called not to tell him they were about to die and wanted him to join them in the afterlife.
They wanted him to live well, to take care of himself, not to go out, to stay home.
When the virus first broke out, who could have imagined that the world would become so devastated and unbearable?
“Dead is dead.”
Han Qing closed her eyes indifferently. “Living is also suffering. They weren’t like you; they complained about everything. You take after me.”
Qin Xiao chuckled, nodding at Han Qing. “Right, so we have to live well.”
“Mm.”
Han Qing’s gaze fell on Ji Nian, who was driving. “What about you? Xiao Xiao’s boyfriend, you don’t have any family left either, right?”
Ji Nian didn’t respond; he wasn’t that guy’s boyfriend.
Seeing that he didn’t speak, Qin Xiao said in a low voice to Han Qing, “He has a bad temper.”
“…Oh.”
Han Qing nodded, whispering, “Then don’t worry, Grandma won’t upset him.”
Qin Xiao gave an OK sign.
Ji Nian wanted to explode!
In such a confined space, they thought he couldn’t hear or see!
He drove with suppressed anger, while the grandmother and grandson continued to chat. “Did you come all this way like this? Was it always dangerous?”
“Of course! But it’s nothing. Those zombies are nothing; I didn’t even take them seriously.”
Qin Xiao boasted greatly.
“Impressive!”
Han Qing was very encouraging. “You take after me.”
“That’s right.”
Qin Xiao swaggered, crossed his legs, and swung them like they were cramping, his shoe tip repeatedly hitting Ji Nian’s pant leg.
Ji Nian glared at him. He smiled at Ji Nian, his smile bright, his eyes twinkling with stars; a very handsome boy.
But Ji Nian wasn’t a superficial person. At this moment, Qin Xiao was about the same as the zombies running around outside.
“Kick me again, and I’ll chop off your toes.”
Only then did Qin Xiao realize his shoe had been hitting him repeatedly.
He didn’t want to upset Ji Nian, so he immediately put his legs down and apologetically patted the spot where his shoes had hit. “I didn’t see, let me clean it up for you.”
“G…” Ji Nian originally wanted to say “get lost,” but because of Han Qing, he changed his mind. “Don’t touch me!”
Still a cold tone.
Qin Xiao still patted the invisible dust, asking, “Still angry? Don’t be like this. I sincerely apologize; just forgive me, okay?”
They both knew he was referring to Qin Xiao kissing Ji Nian.
“No.”
Ji Nian kept his eyes on the road.
“This kid.”
Qin Xiao leaned closer. “You really can’t let it go?”
“…”
Ji Nian didn’t answer.
Qin Xiao directly apologized. “Anyway, I apologized. As far as I’m concerned, it’s over. You can do whatever you want.”
Qin Xiao didn’t say things like “If you don’t forgive me, don’t follow me into the village,” or “Why did you help me if you won’t forgive me?”
Because threats didn’t work.
If he dared to say that, Ji Nian would definitely get out of the car, even if the zombies outside were swarming, he would resolutely leave.
As for why he hated him yet still helped him? Because…he couldn’t bear to?
Damn it!
So, this inexpressive kid also likes him?!