The Outskirts of the City

I was shaken awake by Su Yanlan.

By the time I woke up, the truck had already stopped.

The scenery on both sides of the road had changed from wasteland to abandoned houses and long-neglected fields.

There was no water in the fields, only snow and wild weeds.

Most of the surrounding houses had collapsed. Standing in the truck, I looked into the distance and could faintly see the shadows of tall buildings.

“Miss Qin Yue.”

Su Yanlan rubbed my head. I was still groggy from sleep, but perhaps because I’d been playing the submissive part for so long, even in this confused state, I had no intention of resisting.

“Hmm? Good morning, Miss Yanlan… mm…”

The fever hadn’t subsided yet. My speech was slurred, and my brain felt muddled. After a brief moment of daze, I shook my head to force myself awake.

“It’s still early before dawn.”

As Su Yanlan’s voice fell, I woke up completely. Only then did I notice the sky was still gray and dim.

It was probably around two or three in the morning?

It seemed I hadn’t slept for long. But compared to the nightmare before, this was much better.

At least I wasn’t panicked with pain in my dreams.

Below the truck, soldiers began to set up camp. Space on the trucks was limited, and naturally, there were no tents, so people tried to find shelter from the wind near the abandoned houses.

I got off the truck with Su Yanlan and saw a half-collapsed house by the roadside. Looking around, there were very few places left that could barely block the wind, and more than half the soldiers hadn’t found shelter yet.

“Let’s stay here.”

There was nothing left to pick from. If we wasted any more time, we’d have to spend the rest of the night on the truck.

Although the cargo bed could block some wind, the space was somewhat cramped. Unless something unexpected happened, we would enter the heavy radiation zone at dawn. It would be bad if we didn’t rest well.

“Mhm.”

Su Yanlan didn’t object. Letting her hold my hand, we stepped over the fallen threshold and the bricks at the entrance together, entering the house.

This abandoned house only had two walls left. A wooden beam had fallen, one end sunk into the ground, the other leaning against the wall.

Stooping down, I passed under the obstructing beam and reached the corner between the two walls. It was the only part of the house that still had some tiles hanging above.

Rather than calling it a house, it was more appropriate to call it ruins.

The ground was covered in broken bricks, tiles, and scattered cement chips. Fortunately, the heavy snow covered these things that could hurt people. As long as one didn’t foolishly dig through the snow, one wouldn’t be poked by this debris.

On the walls that still stood silently, scorch marks and conspicuous bullet holes were visible—traces left by the war years ago.

“Rest.”

Su Yanlan walked over, sat down beside me, and leaned against the scorched wall.

The snow on the ground was cold. The chill penetrated my clothes and seeped into my skin, clearing my fever-addled brain.

I couldn’t sleep like this, or my illness would only get worse.

Thinking this, I forced my weak body up and walked out of the house to find firewood to burn.

“Phew… thank goodness…”

Touching the matchbox in my pocket, I began to rejoice. It was precisely because I carried this with me that I didn’t have to worry about getting a fire started.

There were always some weeds at the base of the walls. Although damp, they weren’t completely soaked and could barely be ignited.

I pulled them out one by one, and soon I had a small handful of kindling.

I rummaged through the ruins of the house for various wooden boards and sticks, finally barely gathering enough material for a fire.

I arranged the drier wooden boards and chips into an arch, stuffed the weeds pulled from the corner into the small space, then took out a match and lit the weeds.

Under the beam, accompanied by thick smoke, flames flared up.

“It’s lit.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. If I couldn’t start a fire, I would probably have to choose to return to the truck’s cargo bed.

I added the remaining wood to the fire pile and went back to sit beside Su Yanlan.

Leaning on her shoulder, listening to the crackling of the fire, my heart settled down a bit.

I could sleep peacefully again.

Outside the shelter, the footsteps of patrolling soldiers could be heard. After all, this was a radiation zone; being alert was never wrong.

Beside me, Su Yanlan didn’t seem to be asleep yet. She pulled me, whose brain was becoming muddled again, into her arms.

A warm embrace. I subconsciously nuzzled against it, then quickly realized something was wrong.

I opened my eyes and met Su Yanlan’s gaze.

Was she staining me with her scent again?

Before I could ask, strange footsteps sounded outside the house.

Through the orange firelight, I could faintly see a person behind the beam. It was Qin Dai.

Her chestnut curly hair looked somewhat warm under the illumination of the firelight. The experience of being stepped on by her earlier was unforgettable.

My body went stiff.

What is she doing here?

“Qin Dai?”

Breaking free from Su Yanlan’s arms, I stood up and looked carefully at those emotionless blue eyes.

It was indeed Qin Dai herself. Especially that silver arm; I couldn’t mistake it.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

She stepped over the beam, then leaned near the fire, quietly watching me and Su Yanlan.

“Miss Qin Dai.”

Su Yanlan greeted her with a smile. She responded with a polite smile but immediately reverted to that cool look, staring coldly at me.

“What are you doing here?”

Hands pressing against the rough wall behind me, I asked softly.

I regretted it the moment the question left my mouth. If she wanted to lean there, let her lean. Why did I have to run my mouth? If I angered her, I’d get beaten up again.

My current state couldn’t handle that…

I gently touched the spot on my left shoulder where the wolf had bitten me. It wasn’t as numb now; a slight press brought obvious pain.

Although I’m actually a bit afraid of pain, feeling pain is better than feeling nothing. If I lost all sensation, the arm would be useless.

“Sleeping.”

She didn’t seem to want to talk to me. She extended a hand towards the fire, feeling the warmth.

Fine. She probably saw the firelight, came to check, found out I built the fire, and simply decided not to leave.

“Oh, oh.”

I breathed a sigh of relief. As long as she didn’t come specifically for me. If she wants to warm herself by the fire, let her. It doesn’t make a difference either way.

I stopped forcing my exhausted body to stay upright. I sat down, leaned against the wall, and closed my eyes.

Although deep down I didn’t want to share the fire, what right did a weakling like me have to refuse others?

Discarding distracting thoughts, treating Qin Dai by the fire as air, drowsiness soon invaded me again.

In my trance, I seemed to hear Qin Dai and Su Yanlan talking. What was it? I didn’t know.