Chapter 20: Who Insulted Ji Nian?
Soon, the car returned to the iron plate enclosure. The empty field was devoid of zombies; only a single car remained.
“Damn!”
It was the burly men’s car. In such a dangerous situation, neither of them had gotten out of the car; they had been cowering inside like cowards.
Ji Nian, who was driving, curled his lips. “Isn’t that normal? They’re scared to death. Why should I help them?”
Qin Xiao scoffed. “They’re not real men.”
After saying this, he glanced at Ji Nian and said, almost like a confession, “You’re completely different.”
The car stopped in front of the iron plate.
Han Qing got out and pounded on the plate. “Open the door! Open the damn door!”
“If you don’t open it, I’ll ram this car right through you!”
The two burly men also drove over, concerned about Ji Nian and Qin Xiao at this point. They rolled down their windows and asked, “Are you two injured?”
Qin Xiao looked at them coldly. “Thanks to you, we’re not.”
After saying that, he got out of the car, glanced sideways at the two burly men, and walked towards Han Qing.
The two burly men knew they hadn’t acted righteously, so they smiled and said, “We wanted to help, but the car door wouldn’t open.”
“Yeah, yeah, that’s right. I didn’t have any handy tools either. I was worried that if I went down and got bitten, I would become a zombie and cause trouble for you.”
Heh.
They’d come up with an excuse?
Ji Nian didn’t even look at them.
Qin Xiao, unable to listen anymore, turned around and said, “Don’t bullshit me! If you don’t want to help, just say so. Don’t make up such flimsy excuses! It’s disgusting!”
“It’s true, we really wanted to help…”
Qin Xiao almost took off his shoes to throw at their faces. “Shut up! Say another word, and let’s fight!”
He hated people who made excuses.
Especially such lousy excuses. Did they think they were all fools?
The people inside the iron gate, having confirmed that there were no zombies outside and that the people outside hadn’t been bitten, opened the door.
“Damn!”
As soon as the door opened, Han Qing grabbed a man by the collar and kicked him, glaring at everyone and shouting, “Who didn’t open the door? Who the hell wanted to kill me?!”
Han Qing wouldn’t have reacted this way if the door truly couldn’t have been opened.
At that time, the zombies weren’t even nearby. There were hidden compartments in the iron plate to see outside. They were trying to get her killed!
“You thought I was going to die, didn’t you? Did you forget who killed the first zombie that stormed into our village?!”
Han Qing roared, “It was me! I didn’t close my eyes for three days and three nights building this iron plate fence. What about you? Trash! Spit!”
Han Qing spat.
The dark-faced boy stood in the distance with obvious bruising around his mouth.
He had been trying to open the door for Han Qing, but the others were too cowardly to let him, and they punched him in the face.
Ji Nian and Qin Xiao stood behind Han Qing. Han Qing raised her hand, looking as fierce as a bandit. “Come in with Grandma! Let’s see who dares to stop you!”
No one dared to speak.
As Qin Xiao passed the dark-faced boy, he patted him on the shoulder. “Thank you, Jiang Jie.”
Qin Xiao and Jiang Jie were childhood playmates. Once, Jiang Jie was chased by a big dog from an unknown family in the village and cried all the way, a truly pitiful sight.
Qin Xiao had just learned to ride a bicycle at that time and wasn’t very skilled; he held the handlebars like he was holding two grenades.
He came out of an alley, afraid of hitting someone, and rang the bell. But then, “Bang!”, he hit a big dog that didn’t understand bicycle bells.
The dog was stunned, fell to the side, and lay motionless, like a fool.
Qin Xiao also fell off the bike; although the basket was flattened, he had made a new friend.
It was Jiang Jie.
Jiang Jie was a year younger than Qin Xiao and, from then on, followed him like a little shadow, saying that Qin Xiao had saved him, and Qin Xiao was his big brother.
They even swore brotherhood like they saw on TV, kowtowed, and stuck three small sticks in the ground as incense, lighting them until they smoked.
The dry ground wouldn’t hold the sticks, so they peed on the ground, and the sticks stayed put.
However, Jiang Jie had changed a lot. He didn’t remember him being this dark-skinned as a child. How had he gotten so tanned in a few years?
Han Qing took Qin Xiao and Ji Nian inside; the two burly men followed closely behind.
The villagers, thinking they were with Qin Xiao and Ji Nian, didn’t say anything.
However, the two burly men gave themselves away.
Because they were so nervous, their bodies were stiff, and their walk was awkward and comical; they were stopped by the villagers.
“Are you also Qing Jie’s grandsons?”
The two immediately nodded. “Yeah, we are.”
Qin Xiao, not far away, turned around and looked at them, smiling faintly. “I don’t have brothers your age.”
In other words, he denied their relationship with Han Qing.
The villagers immediately became wary and grabbed them. “You can’t go in.”
“Why not?”
The two burly men said, “Even if we aren’t her grandsons, we came with her real grandson. If they can go in, why can’t we?”
“That’s right. We’re not zombies; we won’t bite anyone?”
“No!”
The villagers were firm. They were strangers; no one knew what they would do once inside.
The two boys were different; their grandmother, Han Qing, was here.
Han Qing was righteous, and Qin Xiao had lived here before; he knew people. Wait…the other boy??
Thinking this, someone turned to look at Ji Nian; he was also a stranger.
Coincidentally, the two burly men thought the same thing. “Then why can Ji Nian go in?”
“He’s just like us; he has no connection to this village!”
Han Qing, who wasn’t far away, stopped and turned around when she heard the two burly men. Her eyes narrowed. “What did you say?”
The iron plate behind the two burly men was already closed, not to keep them out, but to prevent a sudden zombie attack.
The two burly men met Han Qing’s gaze and spoke almost simultaneously. “Isn’t what we said right? Qin Xiao is your grandson, but Ji Nian is nothing!”
“If he can go in, why can’t we?!”
“Nothing?”
A low chuckle sounded.
Qin Xiao walked back, standing in front of the two burly men, his bright eyes cold and dark. “Who insulted Ji Nian just now?”
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