Chapter 008 Caring fans
"Still sulking? … Fine."
Zheng Xinyu pouted, feeling that asking to freshen up during a water shortage was a bit excessive. Yet she really wanted to wash up. For example, she hadn''t even brushed her teeth after waking up—she’d only sipped a bit of water, leaving a sticky and unpleasant feeling in her mouth.
"Oh, right!" Zheng Xinyu suddenly remembered something in her struggle and hurriedly ran back to her room. She rummaged through a fan-mailed package and triumphantly held up two large bottles of mouthwash to Zhang Su.
"One time during a livestream, I got ambushed in a game and ranted at the player. Turns out they were also watching the stream. They said my language was so, uh, stinky and sent me these."
Recalling her embarrassing story eased some of the tension, and an awkward smile crept across her face.
Zhang Su looked at her with mild amusement. "Aren''t you supposed to be the cute and innocent girl?"
He took a bottle of mouthwash to examine it: peach-flavored, 1500 ml each. They were large enough to last a while.
"Come on, you know that''s just an act, not the real me. Ugh, so lame." Zheng Xinyu rolled her eyes, the red veins in them still visible.
"By the way, what other goodies have your fans sent you? Anything useful right now?" Zhang Su glanced at the pile of delivery boxes in the corner of her room—there were at least a dozen of various sizes.
With a strange expression, Zheng Xinyu shook her head. "Mostly bizarre stuff. If you''re curious, feel free to dig through it. But I doubt there’s anything practical."
She vaguely remembered things like , a book on military boxing, a spoon as long as her arm, masquerade masks, a demon-repelling cross, and other oddities. The more practical items had already been eaten or used up.
Zhang Su nodded thoughtfully. In times like these, even seemingly useless items could become unexpectedly valuable.
Thanks to the mouthwash, they at least resolved the bad breath issue. As for their slightly oily faces, that would have to wait.
Zhang Su went back to his room, checked his phone, and found there was still no signal. Returning to the living room, he sat on the sofa and glanced at the dazed Zheng Xinyu.
"Hey, what are you thinking about?"
She pointed toward the window. "Someone was shouting for help again earlier. Sounded like it was from the next building, very close to us…"
"The louder you scream, the faster you die. It won’t be long before the zombies surround them," Zhang Su scoffed, shaking his head.
Zheng Xinyu pouted. "I wish none of this were real. I''d be slurping noodles right now, and you’d come out of your room yelling at me to clean up. Those days were so much better."
"Yeah, they were." Zhang Su looked up at the ceiling. "I still feel like I’m dreaming."
“Pfft…” Zheng Xinyu let out an unprompted chuckle.
Zhang Su, puzzled, asked, "What’s so funny now? What are you imagining?"
"I was just thinking…" She smirked mischievously. "Su-ge, if the landlord died in this mess, wouldn’t the apartment be ours? No more rent hikes, ha!" She wrinkled her nose in mock defiance.
"Cough!" Zhang Su almost choked, glaring at her. "Keep cursing me, and I’ll spank you until you cry!"
“Huh?” Zheng Xinyu froze, staring wide-eyed at him. It took her a few seconds to process before she stammered, "You… you… you don’t mean—are you the landlord?!"
Zhang Su sighed and reached under the coffee table, pulling out a hidden drawer. From it, he retrieved two red property title deeds.
"This residential area was completed eight years ago. I paid in full when it was brand-new. It was so cheap back then, only a bit over 3,000 yuan per square meter. Renovation included, it cost me just 400,000."
He handed the documents to Zheng Xinyu.
Her lips parted slightly in shock as she flipped through the papers. Sure enough, the name was printed on them.
“You mean… you were the one who banned durians and pets, and charged me 1.5 yuan per kilowatt-hour for electricity? You…! I could just…”
Memories of past grievances flooded her mind. Furious, she raised her fists to pummel him.
Zhang Su casually caught her hand and pulled her into his arms. Seeing her cheeks flush red with anger, he quickly gestured toward the door. "Keep it down."
Her anger and indignation were stifled mid-yell, leaving her even more flustered. Feeling the strength in Zhang Su’s arms, her heart raced uncontrollably. Despite herself, she stopped struggling, overwhelmed by the unexpected sense of security.
But just as she relaxed, his grip loosened, and—
Smack! Smack! sea??h thё N?vel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
Zhang Su lightly slapped her on the backside. "You''re so heavy you almost cracked my ribs. Do you think there''s a hospital open for that right now?"
“I…” Zheng Xinyu looked down at him indignantly, then suddenly adjusted her oversized T-shirt to emphasize her figure.
"165 centimeters tall, 52 kilograms—open your eyes and take a good look!"
Zhang Su, fully aware of her figure, was about to retort when he noticed the temperature drop. "Put on another layer. It’s getting colder."
The exaggerated tone of his word "another" made her realize what he was implying. Her angry expression froze, and she bolted toward her room, her footsteps light yet hurried.
Now alone in the living room, Zhang Su could hear the faint shuffling sound of the zombie "Li-ge" outside the door.
"This is a ticking time bomb," Zhang Su thought. Leaving the zombie outside wasn’t ideal. If something fell and made noise, the creature would start pounding on the door.
One zombie wasn’t a big deal, but if more were drawn to the commotion, the fragile door wouldn’t hold.
"How should I handle this?" he pondered.
At that moment, a row of inky text appeared in his mind:
[How to deal with the zombie at the door: A. Capture it alive, B. Kill it, C. Lure it away.]