This Wave of Zombies is No Good - Chapter 44

Zou Lang thought that the banquet would last for a few hours. Unexpectedly, Yu Jingtang returned in less than an hour.

On his way back, Yu Jingtang insisted on walking by himself. The first thing he did when he entered the door was to unbutton the first button. This button was a bit tight, making him feel a bit suffocated. His personality was not inherently optimistic like Zou Lang’s. He had been prepared for many things, but being pressed on his shoulder made him feel increasingly uncomfortable.

Zou Lang leaned in and said, “Hey, Instructor, come on, gossip, who is the new division head?”

Yu Jingtang shook his head, walked a few steps, and fell on the bed, “I don’t know, and I didn’t wait for the new division head to appear.”

He was not good at lying, but this lie was hidden in pain and not so easy to be seen through.

Zou Lang finally noticed something wrong with Yu Jingtang, leaned over and asked him, “What’s wrong?”

Yu Jingtang’s hand was on his stomach, wishing to deeply insert it into his stomach, curled up his long legs, closed his eyes and said, “I was happy today, drank some beer, and now my stomach hurts a bit.” He indeed couldn’t hold his liquor, seven parts pain, plus three parts drunk. This little bit of drunkenness made him feel a bit wronged.

Zou Lang frowned, “Happy? What kind of happiness are you talking about? Happy enough to torment yourself like this?”

Yu Jingtang’s forehead was covered with cold sweat, all his internal organs felt like they had been put in a freezer, and all his intestines were twisted in pain like living creatures.

Zou Lang touched his body and asked, “Why are you so cold?”

Yu Jingtang whispered, “The beer is a bit icy.”

Zou Lang’s hair stood on end in an instant, “Yu Jingtang, are you crazy! Do you know what your body is like, drinking what icy beer?”

Yu Jingtang was suffering, suddenly being scolded by him, his eyes slowly opened, staring at Zou Lang, and said coldly, “Yes, I am crazy, but it’s not your turn to manage me.”

Zou Lang was also angered by Yu Jingtang’s words, sneered, “Heh, I worry about you but I’m wrong? Good intentions are treated as donkey liver and lungs, anyway, the one who suffers is not me.”

(t/n: Good intentions are treated as bad intentions)

All the suffocation caused by Zou Lang’s troubles was held in Yu Jingtang’s heart. He didn’t have the ability to fight back in public, he could only vent his nameless anger at Zou Lang when he came back. He didn’t want to quarrel with him at this time, and said, “You get out, I don’t want to see you today.”

Zou Lang left the bedroom door without saying a word, and Yu Jingtang lay on the bed alone, the light in his eyes gradually dimming. He suddenly felt that he was not worthy of happiness, and such love could not bear. He laid alone for a while, and then there was the sound of footsteps by the bed. Only then did he know that Zou Lang had not really left. Well, if Zou Lang could obediently listen to him, then it wouldn’t be Zou Lang.

Then a hot water bottle was handed to Yu Jingtang. Zou Lang came over, sat on the edge of the bed and asked Yu Jingtang, “Does it hurt badly?”

Yu Jingtang, with eyes still closed, shook his head, “Much better.”

The light in the room at night was not very bright, shining on Yu Jingtang’s face, casting a small shadow under his trembling eyelashes. His forehead was all cold sweat, his breathing was sometimes rapid and sometimes suddenly held back, the more he clenched his teeth and struggled silently, the more Zou Lang felt distressed.

Zou Lang was not stupid, combined with the previous rumors, the appearance of Xiao Cheng, the identity of the new division head was obvious. He knew that something must have happened this night, but some things were not within his control and could not be avoided.

After a while, Zou Lang poured a cup of warm water for Yu Jingtang, and took the painkiller that Fang Yanzhou had prescribed for him before. Yu Jingtang was in so much pain that it felt like there was an ice knife in his body, twisting in and out. After taking the medicine, his body was still cold and trembling, he had to stop and rest every few sips of water, and only laid down after drinking half a cup of water.

Yu Jingtang was still lying on the bed, his forehead was all sweaty, biting his teeth and pressing his abdomen tightly with both hands, and still could not relieve a bit of pain. But he suddenly understood something in his heart, no matter what kind of road was ahead, whether it was flat or rugged, he couldn’t go on by himself, this was originally a matter of two people. He opened his eyes and looked at Zou Lang, suddenly feeling that he was also quite pitiful, and reached out to gently hold Zou Lang’s hand.

Zou Lang knew that he was not angry anymore, and also gently held Yu Jingtang’s cold hand in response.

Neither of them mentioned what had just happened.

It was as if the quarrel had never happened.

Yu Jingtang laid for a while, but still feeling nauseous, let Zou Lang help him to the bathroom door, and closed the bathroom door as soon as he turned around.

Zou Lang was not at ease of him being alone, and knocked on the door from the outside.

Yu Jingtang’s stomach hurt terribly, and his head was dizzy. As soon as he leaned over the sink, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

After spitting out the blood, he was stunned. The blood was not blood stasis or anything, it was bright red.

Zou Lang outside the door heard that something was wrong and shouted, “Yu Jingtang?”

Yu Jingtang then reacted and replied, “I’m fine.”

Then Yu Jingtang frowned and turned on the faucet, the bit of red was washed away with the whirlpool of the water flow. He rinsed his mouth with water again, looked up at himself in the mirror, his face was so pale that it was a bit scary. It seemed that there was something wrong with this body…

Just as Yu Jingtang wanted to open the door for Zou Lang, he turned around and found that Zou Lang had already taken the spare key and opened the bathroom door, looking at the sink with a serious expression. That expression meant he obviously saw it. Yu Jingtang wanted to say a few comforting words, but before he could speak, his legs softened and he fell into Zou Lang’s arms.

Zou Lang dragged him slowly to sit on the ground, not daring to move him.

Yu Jingtang’s heartbeat was racing, as if the whole world was magnifying, spinning. He had his eyes open, but he couldn’t see clearly, and his ears were listening, but he could only hear his heartbeat and tinnitus. After probably a few minutes, he felt gradually better, and the pain in his body slightly subsided. He tried to regain a bit of will and moved his fingers.

Zou Lang saw that he woke up and dared to hold him to the bed, “Instructor, why don’t we go to the medical room and have a look?”

Yu Jingtang shook his head, “I feel much better after vomiting.” He didn’t want to be labeled as delicate, it would be too exaggerated to drink a glass of iced beer to the point of gastric bleeding.

Zou Lang knew that it might be another side effect of the R reagent, and didn’t insist anymore. He lowered his head and said to him, “I’ll help you take off your coat.”

Yu Jingtang hummed in response, and Zou Lang slowly took off his uniform for him, folded the uniform and put it in the wardrobe.

When he turned his head, he touched Yu Jingtang’s forehead again, which was a bit feverish.

This tossing and turning lasted half the night.

The next morning, Zou Lang asked for leave on behalf of Yu Jingtang. With dark circles under his eyes, he arrived at the cooking class.

The cooking class had long given the green light to this son of the army commander, and now that he had added the identity of the younger brother of the division head, they respected him even more.

Zou Lang rolled up his sleeves and laughed, “My brother has finally come, I will make him a few of my best dishes to reward him.”

Early this day, Zou Fang’s official transfer order finally came down.

Commander Zou finally began to take office. As the saying goes, a new official takes office with three fires. Commander Zou pulled together the business backbones of various departments and prepared to hold a day-long meeting.

(t/n: a new official takes office with three fires-Newly appointed officials do several influential things. It is a metaphor that you are very motivated when you first arrive at a new position.)

By noon, it was time for lunch. The duty officer brought what looked like a very ordinary three dishes and one soup: scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stir-fried pork with celery, lion’s head (meatballs stewed with vegetables), plus a winter melon and pork rib soup. The other attendees also had these dishes in front of them.

Zou Fang picked up his chopsticks, and a sense of foreboding suddenly rose in his heart.

He first tasted the scrambled eggs with tomatoes, slightly frowned, there was sugar in it, which was unbearable for him who preferred salty food.

Zou Fang’s gaze fell on the second dish, celery, which he least liked to eat, and reluctantly picked up a chopstick.

Then Zou Fang tasted the lion’s head, and the ginger inside was doubled.

Finally, Commander Zou tasted a spoonful of soup, which contained a lot of pepper powder.

Only a small fraction of people in the world were allergic to pepper powder, and he happened to be one of them.

The allergy was not a big deal, it just caused small red bumps all over the body, which were unbearably itchy.

Commander Zou’s forehead was throbbing, and he was about to flip the table the next second.

But one of the topics in the morning was to oppose extravagance and waste at the end of the world.

While eating, those officers were still discussing, “Now these soldiers, clearly it’s the end of the world, resources are scarce, as the K Division, it’s already very good to have special supplies of meat and vegetables, yet they are still picky.”

“Yes, the problem of extravagance and waste must be solved.”

“How good is our food here, what’s not satisfactory about this food?”

“Yes, today’s dishes are quite delicious.”

In response to this, Commander Zou could only smile awkwardly, gritting his teeth and started to eat lunch.

Afterwards, the Zou brothers passed by each other in the corridor. Commander Zou gently retracted his jaw, his hand seemed to inadvertently buckle on his belt, and he glanced at Zou Lang from the corner of his eye.

Zou Lang, on the other hand, unabashedly met his gaze, and hooked his right middle finger.

With just one glance, the two brothers understood each other, and from then on, they tacitly drew a Chu Han River Boundary, and made a non-interference agreement.

(t/n: The boundary river (i.e. chasm) between the areas controlled by both sides during the battle between King Xiang Yu of Chu and King Liu Bang of Han. It is a metaphor for clear boundaries, antagonistic relationships or disconnection; it also refers to chess.)