One Hundred and Forty-Six: Ordinary Days

The bustling prosperity of Shanghai was enough to dazzle even Xie Han, who lived amidst urban environments, making him feel like a country bumpkin who had just entered the city for the first time. After wandering around for just over an hour, Xie Han initially wanted to buy a few small trinkets for Qi Feiwu, but after some thought, he decided against it. With his time running short, Xie Han had no choice but to return to his hotel and head back to the apocalyptic world.

In the apocalypse, luxury goods were practically reduced to trash; the dominant themes of survival were food and firearms. Consequently, hunting expeditions focused almost entirely on vital supplies, and it was exceedingly rare for anyone to bring back anything practical. Everyone's room was simple and functional, and daily life was lived at a breathless, compact pace.

Realizing that this would be his first meeting with Zhou Ruomeng in over two years, Xie Han naturally felt he should bring some gifts. Yet, finding suitable gifts genuinely put Xie Han in a difficult position. To him, many modern gifts fell far short of what the apocalypse represented. However, creating a gift within the apocalyptic world was currently impossible, at least for New City. Left with no other options, Xie Han could only instruct Xu Qiang to bring back as many interesting items as possible during his hunting excursions. Because of this, Xie Han had to delay his reunion with Zhou Ruomeng once more.

Lately, Xie Han had been pondering the matter of the GGB biological agent. Under the current production standards, even if the supply of Nuwa Grass were massive, mass production would remain out of reach. Nuwa Grass was presently being almost exclusively utilized for the GGB biological agent, and this manner of consumption clearly did not align with Xie Han's vision.

New City housed a mixed population of men and women, and over the past half-year, many had coupled up to form new families. Initially, this was wonderful news. For married couples, however, it was a period of constant dread and anxiety for one simple reason: the fear of pregnancy. With a shortage of entertainment in the wasteland, intimacy between couples increased correspondingly, which in turn drastically raised the probability of conception. Although families were forming at a much higher rate than before, they still constituted only a small fraction of the population.

This situation ran counter to New City's future development, forcing Xie Han to pull Wang Yezhi away from the research center. He went straight to the point, stating, "Dr. Wang, I personally feel that the current GGB biological agent has major flaws. First and foremost is its potency. It is not that the agent lacks destructive power; rather, my personal feeling is that it is simply too strong. Think about the time it takes to kill an ordinary zombie: barely two minutes. To kill an R3-class zombie takes no more than ten minutes. With a GGB biological agent of this concentration, don't you think it's a massive waste?"

When Wang Yezhi had originally developed it, he had aimed for the most perfect kill rate possible, which required a tremendous amount of Nuwa Grass. Now, prompted by Xie Han's words, he recognized the flaw of excessive waste and replied, "It is indeed somewhat wasteful. Do you have any good suggestions?"

"I think the GGB biological agent should be divided into two different formulas. One should be for ordinary zombies. Its dilution rate should be at least ten times that of the current GGB biological agent. We have plenty of time when dealing with ordinary zombies, so even though twenty minutes might seem long, given their movement speed, we don't need to worry at all. The other formula should maintain the current concentration, and its purpose will be specifically targeted at R3-class zombies and above, where terrifying strike power is absolute necessity."

Once implemented, this suggestion by Xie Han would increase the quantity of the GGB biological agent tenfold or more. If they had possessed hundreds of doses of the agent during the previous zombie siege, the casualties among the soldiers might have been reduced significantly. In truth, Xie Han had another intention as well: he hoped to divert a portion of the Nuwa Grass toward producing resistance-boosting serums. These could be distributed to newly formed families, enabling them to start bearing the next generation of New City—the very future of New City.

In view of the crucial role played by Nuwa Grass, Xie Han had spared no expense upon discovering its properties, purchasing a set of cultivation equipment from the modern world specifically for growing it. However, Nuwa Grass required a growth cycle of at least eight months before it could produce substances capable of targeting the XR virus. Although tens of thousands of Nuwa Grass plants were currently sprouting within New City's greenhouses, they were merely young shoots and still needed at least six and a half months to become truly useful.

When Xu Qiang returned from his hunt, he did indeed bring back some interesting items, but to Xie Han's disappointment, they were all somewhat dated and completely unsuitable to serve as gifts. With no other choice, Xie Han dumped the lot onto Qi Feiwu, which left her in a daze all day because she had learned straight from Xu Qiang's mouth that Xie Han had specifically asked him to find these items.

In the experimental base's gold reserve vault, various types of jewelry and blocks of gold were piled high. Jewelry that would have fetched hundreds of thousands or even a million per piece during peacetime was worth nothing more than a little extra grain in the apocalypse. Xie Han did not stand on ceremony; he picked out the most dazzling necklace from the lot. It was encrusted with diamonds, particularly the central stone, which was at least thirty carats. Calculating its value even made Xie Han feel a bit dizzy. It was worth over twenty million.

"Who knows which wealthy family was raided, only for New City to reap the benefits," Xie Han mused idly. Looking at the massive vault, piled everywhere with gold, diamonds, and jewelry, he figured that if he took them back to the modern world and converted them, they would easily be worth tens of billions. It was just that Xie Han had already cleared the hurdle of initial funding shortages in the modern world; he had no need to flood the market with such massive quantities of gold and jewelry and arouse unnecessary suspicion.

Shanghai at night was as bright as day, illuminated with lights everywhere, with skyscrapers casting their silhouettes against the sky. Such a scene was far beyond the comparison of Chaoyang City. At least, as far as Xie Han was concerned, the tallest building in Chaoyang City was only over forty stories high, which looked utterly insignificant when placed in Shanghai. Any random building pulled from here was likely much taller than Chaoyang City's highest tower.

"Senior Sister Zhou, I've arrived in Shanghai. Do you have any free time right now?" Xie Han was not particularly skilled at sweet talk, and coupled with his nervousness, his words came out quite blunt.

Although Zhou Ruomeng knew that Xie Han would arrive in Shanghai around this time, she was still somewhat startled when she finally received his call. "Where are you?" she asked. Realizing that Zhou Ruomeng was worried he might get lost, Xie Han smiled and replied, "Me? I'm right outside your company's building." Zhou Ruomeng asked with puzzlement, "How did you know my company is here?" But as soon as she asked, she chuckled. With the company's name and address, just hop in a taxi—did he really think he wouldn't be able to find it?

"Wait a moment, I'm coming right down." Zhou Ruomeng tidied up the documents on her desk, quickly touched up her makeup in the breakroom, and then left her office.

Xie Han's attire was very ordinary, perhaps due to a subconscious sense of familiarity with Zhou Ruomeng that kept him from dressing up intentionally. He stood somewhat idly at the entrance of the building, gazing at the numerous luxury cars parked in the plaza outside, feeling a twinge of emotion. Shanghai, this financial center, was truly different and far beyond the comparison of other inland cities. Thinking of the luxury cars treated as mere scrap metal everywhere in the apocalypse, Xie Han felt a wave of disdain for these vehicles, thinking maliciously in his heart, "In my eyes, your pieces of junk aren't even qualified to be melted down into iron; you're only fit to be weathered and corroded into rust by the wind and rain."

Especially upon seeing individuals with styled hair, impeccably dressed like successful elites, Xie Han felt a burst of amusement. He made a shooting gesture in the air with his hand. "If this were the apocalypse, you lot would be nothing more than ordinary zombies. When the time comes, *bang*, a single shot—tsk tsk, that styled head of yours would burst open like a watermelon, absolutely satisfying."

Zhou Ruomeng's descent was quite fast. Xie Han's sharp eyes quickly spotted her emerging from the elevator, and he stood at the entrance of the building, waving toward her inside.

Xie Han still remembered clearly what Zhou Ruomeng had looked like two years ago. Compared to back then, she now possessed an added layer of mature and sensual allure. Xie Han was extremely familiar with her appearance, so a brief surge of excitement in his heart quickly subsided into calm.

However, the change in Xie Han gave Zhou Ruomeng a profound sense of astonishment. On the surface, he hadn't changed much from his university days, but given the social strata Zhou Ruomeng now inhabited, she could still discern at a glance a certain aura deeply concealed within Xie Han. It was an aura Zhou Ruomeng couldn't quite put her finger on, but at the very least, she had never seen anyone else possess such presence.

"Senior Sister Zhou, you're still as pretty and charming as before..." Xie Han spoke quite naturally, preventing Zhou Ruomeng from detecting in the slightest that this was his first meeting with her in two and a half years. Zhou Ruomeng was momentarily stunned, but Xie Han just smiled with great poise. Reaching out into the empty air, he grabbed a bunch of colorful, starlit wild flowers, and amidst Zhou Ruomeng's surprised gaze, he said, "A gift for you. You know how it is, your junior is dead broke, so I could only run out into the wilderness to pick some wild flowers to make up the numbers. I hope you won't mind."

Zhou Ruomeng accepted them somewhat flustered. To be honest, the flowers she received every day were enough to open a flower shop, but for some reason, facing this bunch of wild flowers from Xie Han made her heart suddenly beat faster. Simple as Xie Han made it sound, just how vast was Shanghai? How far would one have to run to gather these wild flowers? How much effort would it take to collect them? This kind of thoughtfulness was likely something money spent at a florist's shop on pre-packaged bouquets could never compare to.

She gave them a sniff with her nose and could actually catch the faint, natural fragrance of wild flowers. Zhou Ruomeng grew somewhat curious. "You... you sly bug, this... where did you get these flowers?" Xie Han chuckled inwardly, knowing his move had hit the mark. Wild flowers might be hard to find in Shanghai, but back in New City, they were everywhere—a simple stroll would yield a massive bunch. Besides, his spatial storage was in a state of stasis, so these wild flowers were absolutely no different from ones just freshly picked. "Senior Sister, you know how it is working in my organization; we have plenty of free time. So I went and learned some magic tricks from someone, and this is just a minor little trick."

This explanation sounded plausible enough. Zhou Ruomeng said with a pleased smile, "Thank you for the flowers. Have you eaten yet?" Xie Han shrugged and said, "If Senior Sister has eaten, then I have eaten. But if Senior Sister hasn't eaten yet, then of course I haven't eaten either."

Zhou Ruomeng blushed faintly—a rare sight for her—and said, "Let's go. I can be considered a local in Shanghai, so I'll treat you to something. What would you like to eat?" Xie Han glanced at Zhou Ruomeng and said, "Let's find some night market food stalls instead. I just don't know if Senior Sister is willing to drop her airs. Alas, living in a high-pressure city like this is terrible; even such a simple wish is hard to fulfill. Don't you agree, Senior Sister?"

"You..." Zhou Ruomeng's heart suddenly fluttered in turmoil. She hadn't expected Xie Han to know about this tiny wish of hers. As her status changed, it had long since become impossible for Zhou Ruomeng to eat heartily at night market food stalls with a group of classmates the way she had in college. This had always been a small regret for Zhou Ruomeng, and now that Xie Han had brought it up out of the blue, with such pointed meaning... could it be... that he understood her so well?

"Since you, you sly bug, want to eat there, I, your senior sister, will accompany you once. What's the harm?" After a moment of hesitation, Zhou Ruomeng finally nodded in agreement.

Seeing Zhou Ruomeng agree, Xie Han was ecstatic in his heart; he knew that if he didn't hold a certain standing in her heart, she would never have agreed to such a request, regardless of whether it was her wish or not. He smiled and said, "Shanghai is your territory, so the snacks are entirely up to you."

In Xie Han's view, cliché soap opera events happened every day in this world. He didn't deny the existence of such tropes, but when it actually happened to him, it felt rather irritating. Originally, Xie Han and Zhou Ruomeng were about to leave, but the sound of a voice calling out "Ruomeng" forced them both to halt their steps. They saw a silver Cadillac sports car silently pull to a stop. A young man around Xie Han's age rushed out of it holding a large bouquet of flowers, and with an apologetic expression, said, "Ruomeng, I'm so sorry. I got caught up with something and arrived late. These are for you..."

Xie Han couldn't read Zhou Ruomeng's expression and asked curiously, "Senior Sister, did you have an appointment with someone?" Zhou Ruomeng shook her head and said to the young man, "Yang Hao, I'm sorry, I really don't have time today. Let's schedule another date. How does that sound?" She generously introduced Xie Han: "This is my junior from university, Xie Han. This is Yang Hao..."

To be honest, Yang Hao was rather handsome and looked every bit like a young man of talent and wealth. Just looking at the Cadillac he drove, it had to cost at least several million. When Zhou Ruomeng made the introduction, she didn't elaborate, which made Xie Han feel a slight pang in his chest, though outwardly he remained calm as he said, "Hello, Young Master Yang." He then turned his gaze back to Zhou Ruomeng and said, "If Senior Sister has an appointment, I suppose I'd better come back another day to avoid intruding."

Yang Hao saw that Xie Han was dressed plainly and lacked any particular bearing; upon hearing that he was merely a university junior of Zhou Ruomeng's, he looked down on him slightly. He merely nodded politely and asked, "Young Master Xie, where might you be working?"

Xie Han shrugged. "Just an unemployed vagrant, currently planning to sponge off Senior Sister Zhou and hope she tosses me a bone. Why? Does Young Master Yang have any good recommendations?" Who didn't know how to climb up a pole when given a chance? In his heart, Xie Han was already itching to pull out a six-barrel heavy machine gun and turn this so-called Young Master Yang into a sieve. Damn it, his time was tight!

Fortunately, although Zhou Ruomeng took Yang Hao's bouquet of flowers, she still declined Yang Hao's invitation, saying, "Yang Hao, my junior finally made it to Shanghai for once, so as his senior sister, I have to fulfill the duties of a host."

Yang Hao put on a magnanimous front and said, "It doesn't matter, I can always make another appointment with you later." However, his gaze swept toward Xie Han with a trace of unnatural disdain, and he cursed inwardly, "Where did this country bumpkin crawl out from? It took me forever to land a date, only for it to be ruined by him. Tsk tsk, what kind of bullshit wild flowers is he giving? What a total hick."

As soon as Zhou Ruomeng and Xie Han got into Zhou Ruomeng's Lamborghini, Yang Hao sneered, dove back into his sports car, and vanished into the traffic outside.

Driving the car, Zhou Ruomeng said, "You sly bug, you aren't blaming me for not introducing Yang Hao properly, are you? He's not someone you can afford to provoke." Xie Han remained unconcerned, replying, "I figure he's some kind of crown prince or the wealthy scion of a major corporation. That's completely normal. If Senior Sister, who is so pretty, beautiful, and charming, didn't have anyone pursuing her, I'd seriously doubt whether the unmarried young men of Shanghai have working eyes."

Zhou Ruomeng laughed and didn't refute him. Instead, she drove Xie Han toward the suburbs of Shanghai, where there was a fairly decent street of roasted snack stalls. Zhou Ruomeng had always wanted to try it out, but due to lack of time, she had never made it there. This trip could also be considered fulfilling that little wish of hers.

After parking the car, Zhou Ruomeng led Xie Han straight into the roasted snack street. It was packed with bustling crowds, mostly ordinary citizens of Shanghai. The appearance of someone as striking as Zhou Ruomeng, coupled with her attire, still managed to draw sideways glances. Matched with Xie Han's ordinary civilian clothing, it looked even more bizarre, prompting many to cast odd looks their way.

Xie Han didn't mind at all, remaining calm and composed. He followed Zhou Ruomeng to a snack stall that looked slightly cleaner than the rest and claimed a small table. Once they sat down, they went on a wild ordering spree of the local roasted delicacies, piling the small table high. Xie Han glanced worriedly at Zhou Ruomeng's curvaceous figure and asked, "Senior Sister, aren't you afraid of ruining your figure by eating all this?" Zhou Ruomeng likewise glanced at Xie Han's unusually delicate and fair skin, and replied, "With skin as tender as yours not being afraid, what do I have to worry about?"

Xie Han let out a mischievous chuckle, reached out his hand toward Zhou Ruomeng, and said, "Let me perform a magic trick for you—consider it a formal gift." A meticulously packaged necklace box suddenly materialized in his hand.

Zhou Ruomeng took it and made to open it, but Xie Han stopped her, saying, "Open it when you get back. It's nothing expensive, just a small necklace. When I saw it and thought it suited you, I bought it."

Zhou Ruomeng didn't suspect anything; she tucked the necklace box into her small handbag and said, "Thank you, giving me a gift the moment we meet." After thinking for a moment, she took an exquisite gold pen out of her handbag, handed it to Xie Han, and said, "This was a birthday gift from my father when I turned eighteen. I've always carried it with me, and I don't have anything better to give you, so now I'm giving it to you. You must take good care of it!"

Xie Han took it with pleasant surprise, and with a flick of his hand, it vanished. Although this gift wasn't expensive, the sentiment it represented was incomparable to ordinary gifts.

*(Sweat, please don't throw bricks, I've revised it... revised it... by the way, begging for monthly votes)*