Ch58 Hello, May I Call You Gege?
Shen Que's arm injury had been superficial to begin with. After several days of rest, it was now completely healed.
The military had already evacuated most of the residents. Meng Ci and Shen Que had also killed seven of Deng Yang's men.
Now, including Meng Ci, there were only eight people left in the building.
Five of them were teachers from the same high school. During the five days of torrential rain, sensing something was amiss, they had banded together.
All were ambitious young adults in their mid-twenties, fresh out of graduate school and having taught high school for barely a year.
Having graduated from the same university and taught overlapping classes, the five shared a particularly strong bond.
Among them was a physics teacher who, drawing on his academic background, fashioned a paper boat from cardboard on the sixth day of the downpour. He used it to navigate outside and procure food for everyone.
With remarkable foresight, he even brought back a small inflatable boat.
The rain showed no sign of stopping, and the meager food rations distributed by the government fueled discontent among the building's residents.
The teachers knew that openly flaunting their food supplies would only invite a mob attack. So, whenever their own provisions ran low, they ventured out under cover of night.
They still came down to collect the government-issued rations as usual.
Since two of the girls knew how to apply makeup, they would carefully paint the others to look utterly emaciated, as if starved for days, whenever they needed to go out.
Each time the five obtained food, they left quietly, never causing any trouble.
Had Meng Ci and Shen Que not gone out yesterday to gather firewood and happened to meet them, striking up a brief conversation,
Meng Ci would likely remain unaware that such formidable figures resided in the building.
Moreover, the five had rescued a sophomore student. Word was his parents, driven by starvation to search for food, had been swept away by the floodwaters.
When the five teachers intervened, the boy was being bullied by a group of thugs.
His delicate features made him an easy target for abuse, his helplessness leaving him vulnerable.
Fortunately, their timely intervention prevented the bullying from escalating.
Meng Ci found it surprising that the teachers hadn't gone to the refugee settlement.
After all, even Si Chen and the others had chosen to head there. He hadn't expected these teachers to remain here.
Noticing Meng Ci's confusion, the teachers explained that they felt they didn't need assistance themselves and should leave the space for those more in need.
They were perfectly capable of managing their lives independently.
One male teacher, a biology instructor, had started a garden on the balcony of their room. Word was they'd already achieved self-sufficiency in greens.
Fresh out of school, these teachers carried passionate hearts, unaware of the treacherous nature of people.
Meng Ci found them noble, though he hoped they wouldn't be crushed by the cruelty of society.
The teachers noticed Meng Ci was about the same age as their former students.
Even if some claimed he was dangerous or violent, they reasoned that a high school senior driven to such extremes must have suffered severe bullying.
"So, would you like to join us?"
A female teacher named Yun Jingcen, who taught sophomore Chinese, had large eyes with distinct double eyelids and fair skin.
Considering Meng Ci was still a child, the teachers decided to protect him too.
Meng Ci shook his head. "No, thank you for your kindness, Teacher Yun."
"But I've built a wall there. It should be safer than an ordinary room."
Yun Jingcen nodded in understanding.
She then thought that with a child of this age, it was best to go along with him. At worst, they could share some of the good things they found during the day.
Day 57 of the Apocalypse.
Temperatures had dropped to two or three degrees Celsius. With sub-zero weather approaching in days, they needed to hurry and gather firewood.
Meng Ci and Shen Que agreed to go out and salvage some timber.
The trees washed down around the residential buildings had already been cleared, so Meng Ci and Shen Que had to take the assault boat further out.
Their destination was the area where they'd previously found coal.
Here, floodwaters reached the third floor level, completely submerging some buildings.
Spotting a suitable log, Meng Ci and Shen Que tied a rope around it. Climbing onto the roof of a building still above water, they hauled the wood up with all their strength.
Though the roof held water, it was still better than being in the flood itself.
The rain was too heavy to risk using a chainsaw, so Shen Que took a hand saw and began cutting the logs into manageable sections for transport.
When Zhang Mingtian left, he returned the rubber dinghy Meng Ci had lent them. Perfect-it could be used to haul the firewood.
They stacked the wood neatly in the raft, tied it to the assault boat with ropes, loaded more timber onto the boat, and finally set off home.
There wasn't much left in the building now. Meng Ci trusted Yun Jingcen and the others wouldn't stoop to taking his meager supply of wood.
After bringing the items inside, Meng Ci and Shen Que first went upstairs to eat before starting the move.
"Do you two need help?"
Meng Ci and Shen Que had just carried a load of wood upstairs when they came down and suddenly saw a boy wearing a white down jacket and light blue jeans.
Jet-black hair, bright, clear eyes, dimples on his cheeks, and fair skin.
He was about 5'9", with a round, chubby face-a cute-looking boy.
This must be the sophomore Yun Jingcen and the others had rescued-Ruan Qing.
Yun Jingcen and the others doted on the boy excessively, even believing that as teachers, they should do more for him. They never let Ruan Qing lift a finger, and whenever they brought back treats, he was the first to receive them.
With such a cherished student, Meng Ci and the others naturally dared not ask him to help.
"Thanks for the offer, but we're fine!" Meng Ci declined his kindness, even reminding him it was cold outside and urging him to head home.
Ruan Qing ignored the advice and followed the two downstairs.
"Meng-gege... ah, is it okay to call you that?"
At those words, alarm belis immediately rang in Meng Ci's mind.
Wait, why did that way of speaking sound so familiar?
"Meng Brother?" Ruan Qing called out.
Meng Ci snapped back to reality and cleared his throat. "You can call me Big Brother."
Big Brother? What kind of nonsense was that? It sounded far from imposing or commanding. Ruan Qing refused. "But Meng-gege sounds better."
"Meng-gege, what do you think?"
Meng Ci felt... Meng Ci felt goosebumps rising all over his body.
But when he looked at him with those wet, pleading eyes, he couldn't bring himself to refuse.
"Fine, whatever you want!" Meng Ci sighed.
Ruan Qing's face lit up instantly. "Meng-gege, you can call me
Ruan Ruan, or Xiao Qing!"
Softie? Xiao Qing?
Meng Ci thought he could call him that, but those were girls' names, right?
And using repetitive syllables felt way too embarrassing.
But!
Then it hit him-could this kid actually have a crush on him?
Why else would he come looking for him?