His Daughter Chen Yi

“Too much! Too much!”

Ren Anhua stormed out of the dance room.

To be precise, she ran away from Liu Shi’s side.

That feeling of being touched by someone else still lingered on her body.

Her overly sensitive body preserved that awful sensation with such clarity, as if she would never be able to forget it for the rest of her life.

Although Liu Shi’s figure was no longer in sight, Ren Anhua’s emotions were still agitated.

Her pupils were still locked in the shape of hearts, showing no sign of fading.

She walked quickly, muttering to herself, as if questioning Liu Shi’s unreasonable behavior.

“Damn it! What does it matter to her if I’m a man or a woman!”

The more Ren Anhua thought about it, the angrier she got.

Especially when she recalled how Liu Shi had forced her to admit she was a girl—she had almost blurted it out.

Even though she managed to swallow the words in the end, why did Liu Shi have to do something like that?

“Who just goes around touching people like that! Pinching feet is one thing! But even that place…”

Ren Anhua felt she needed to calm down first, to stop thinking about it.

Otherwise, she didn’t know when these heart-shaped pupils would ever go away.

She couldn’t understand Liu Shi’s behavior—just as Liu Shi couldn’t understand why Ren Anhua insisted on wearing that thing and stubbornly claiming she was male.

In Liu Shi’s eyes, her actions were nothing more than a harmless joke between girls, a little act of payback for Ren Anhua’s casual lie.

From her perspective, girls doing such things wasn’t a big deal, and asking another girl to admit her gender wasn’t excessive at all.

But for Ren Anhua, Liu Shi’s behavior hurt her pride.

The very thing she had always tried to avoid, Liu Shi had to shove it right in her face, bolded and underlined, even forcing her to say it aloud.

This had nothing to do with her—why go to such extremes with Ren Anhua?

Since humans couldn’t understand each other, Ren Anhua chose to run.

The truth was, she was afraid Liu Shi would grope her again.

That kind of shallow, appearance-judging person could never understand Ren Anhua’s ruthless nature.

Clearly, she was so strong, yet Liu Shi still had the nerve to casually hug and squeeze her.

But Liu Shi was a girl, and a rather pretty one at that.

When it came to such girls, unless she was truly provoked, Ren Anhua couldn’t bring herself to strike hard.

In fact, at this stage, most of their behavior didn’t really make her angry—it was more that their “wrong” assumptions about her gender made her feel shy, leaving her unable to lash out.

Having fully realized she couldn’t handle this strange “opposite s*x” relationship, Ren Anhua left the Youth Palace building.

Most of the building, aside from the first floor, was sparsely populated.

The upper levels mostly stored supplies and also housed classrooms filled with books.

According to Liu Shi, those classrooms were meant to preserve educational resources—Chen Shu’s idea.

Ren Anhua hadn’t expected this “good guy” Chen Shu to think so far ahead, though clearly he hadn’t considered that even in peacetime, students were reluctant to study, let alone in this chaotic era.

As a result, few ever stepped into those classrooms.

The storerooms were visited more often than the classrooms.

Still, Chen Shu always said knowledge was worth preserving, even if no one learned it now—there would always be a chance later.

In short, the building was large, but except for the first floor, it was deserted.

As Ren Anhua walked downstairs, she gradually encountered more people.

And soon, more and more eyes turned toward her.

But compared to before, the gazes felt different—this time, they all seemed to focus on her lower body.

After what had happened with Liu Shi, Ren Anhua was extremely sensitive to such looks.

She even grew worried—did these people also want to lift her clothes?

Nervously, she tugged at the hem of her hoodie, like a shy girl clutching at her skirt.

But soon she realized the reason behind their strange stares.

It was the “new socks” on her legs.

The delicate white silk gleamed faintly pink.

At her ankles, two large bows swayed adorably with each step.

Pink ribbons crisscrossed upward, as if binding her slender legs, giving off a strangely wrong yet pitifully delicate impression.

Looking closer, one could see the scattered pink petal patterns adorning the ribbons, as if blossoms were falling across them.

It felt like a broken window view, beautiful but incomplete, making people want to stare longer.

Her soft feet were encased in the dance shoes she had just put on in the studio, their flexible soles keeping her ankles poised in elegant positions.

Every step she took seemed to fall like she was wearing invisible heels, turning her walk into a graceful, restrained dance.

The pink-toned stockings wrapped around her slender legs became a swaying, alternating beauty that captured all attention.

Even Ren Anhua herself was drawn in, staring curiously at her own pretty legs for a while.

But soon she shook herself out of it, forcefully shifting her gaze away and trying not to think about them.

The onlookers’ gazes, however, kept reminding her, making it impossible to forget that glimpse of pink loveliness.

Though shameful to admit, Ren Anhua thought her legs right now were stunning.

So stunning that she desperately wished she could go back in time to the moment she put on the shoes—so she could dodge Liu Shi’s unrestrained hands.

Embarrassed by all the stares, Ren Anhua slinked off toward emptier areas.

She wasn’t used to such gazes, and her pupils were threatening to change again.

She slipped out the main doors and ran beyond the Mutual Aid Society’s walls.

If there was anywhere with fewer people, it was the zombie activity zones that ordinary folks considered dangerous.

Of course, for Ren Anhua, zombies in such places posed no danger at all.

After witnessing the madness in the city center, her standards had risen a lot.

Now, away from the crowd, she finally felt relief from those stares.

But then she spotted a shadowy figure crouching near the wall.

In a lightless corner, a girl squatted.

In such unsafe territory, it wouldn’t be surprising if someone mistook her for a zombie.

But Ren Anhua recognized her—it was Chen Shu’s daughter, Chen Yi.

During that so-called “rescue” last time, she had been sitting in the passenger seat.

Judging by her looks, she was about the same age as Tang Yunxuan—likely both high schoolers, maybe even classmates.

As Ren Anhua came closer, she saw the girl was feeding a dog.

She held what looked like leftovers, though in the apocalypse, even scraps were valuable resources.

In fact, leftovers themselves were almost impossible unless intentionally set aside—otherwise, no survivor group would have them.

Leftover food.

For a dog.

And fed in a zone where zombies might appear.

Like father, like daughter, huh.

“In a place like this, aren’t you afraid of zombies?”

Ren Anhua’s sudden words made Chen Yi jump like a startled cat.

Her sudden appearance clearly frightened her.

But once she saw who it was, Chen Yi calmed quickly—Ren Anhua’s appearance held no threat.

If anything, such a cute girl showing up even seemed to put her at ease.

Still, she looked flustered, especially realizing she had been caught.

“This… don’t tell anyone, okay? Especially Aunt Qian. If she finds out, she’ll scold me.”

Chen Yi looked at her pleadingly.

So she did know what this meant in times like these.

“I couldn’t care less about your business. I’m just curious why someone would still worry about stray dogs now.”

Ren Anhua naturally wouldn’t bother spreading this around—especially not to that Aunt Qian, whom she had once even thought about killing.

“It’s not a stray. It’s the old director’s watchdog. It stayed with him for almost ten years. After he died, it refused to return home. Every day, it runs along the same routes he used to walk it, like it thinks it’ll find him again.”

Chen Yi stroked the big yellow mutt as it devoured the food.

It didn’t look like any specific breed—Ren Anhua guessed it was just an ordinary rural dog.

The older generation never cared much about breeds.

If they came from the countryside, they usually kept these local dogs.

“What a stupid dog. No matter how much it searches, it’ll never find him.”

Chen Yi spoke harshly, but her hand gently smoothed the dog’s fur.

“The old director did my father a kindness. I can’t avenge him, so this is all I can do—feed his dog.”

“And it doesn’t get eaten by zombies?” Ren Anhua asked curiously.

“It runs fast—zombies can’t catch it. Plus, it knows the area well. Shaking them off is easy for it.”

After finishing, the dog quickly trotted off, just as Chen Yi said, like it was busy searching for someone.

Ren Anhua found it oddly amazing.

But a dead man could never be found.

“And you? Aren’t you afraid of zombies?” Ren Anhua asked casually, keeping the talk going as she watched the dog leave.

“Of course I’m afraid. But this is still Mutual Aid Society territory. My dad forbids me from coming out, but honestly it’s pretty safe. I’ve come out many times, and not once have I—”

Chen Yi’s words were cut off by a chilling roar.

Zombies.

And not just one—a whole horde.

The timing was so bad it made Chen Yi’s face burn.

Still, they were just ordinary zombies.

Ren Anhua wasn’t worried.

In a small place like this, at most a level-two zombie might appear.

With her energy flow enhancements, she could easily chop through a horde with her watermelon knife.

But just as she reached for her blade, a strong hand grabbed her smaller one.

“Even if we run into zombies, it’s fine. Don’t be scared—just come with me.”

Without giving her a chance to speak, Chen Yi pulled her and ran.

Almost as if to regain some dignity, her movements were decisive, not leaving Ren Anhua any chance to object.

And so, once again, Ren Anhua was “rescued.”

But she didn’t want to be rescued.

She wasn’t even afraid.

She had wanted to slash that zombie horde herself.

“Let go, I can take care of them.” Ren Anhua protested.

Chen Yi looked back at the little one who didn’t even reach her chest.

That she could still joke in this situation showed good spirits.

Chen Yi reached out and ruffled her cherry-colored head.

“Save that talk for when you grow up. Come on, little An-sis, just follow your sister.”

‘Little An-sis my ass, call me brother!’

Ren Anhua’s heart was full of resentment.

But she couldn’t be bothered to explain.

She was afraid Chen Yi would also try to shove that “correct gender identity” at her.

Thinking of that, she realized Tang Yunxuan was actually the more sensible one.

That ‘Brother Ren’ he called her had sounded really nice.