Chapter 34: The Sanctioned Bumpkin
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“What’s your name?”
The little girl screwed the cap back onto the bottle of mineral water.
“My name is Zhao Meina, sis.” Zhao Meina smiled at her, her eyes curving into crescents.
“How old are you this year?”
“Sixteen.” She thought for a moment, then added, “I’m a freshman at No. 1 High School.”
She looked rather proud, as though she were showing off to Pei Siying that she had been admitted to a prestigious school.
But she would never attend No. 1 High School now, because the world had ended.
Taking Zhao Meina’s earlier words into account, Pei Siying felt a cramping pain in her stomach. Such a young girl—and tonight, that devil was going to…
Before pitying anyone else, she had to pity herself first. She turned her head toward the ropes binding her hands behind her back.
“Meina, could you help your sister untie these ropes?”
Zhao Meina’s expression grew solemn. Like a little adult, she said, “No. If Big Brother finds out…”
She fell silent at once, as though she had thought of something terrifying, then covered her head and crouched on the floor.
Pei Siying closed her eyes briefly and sighed. “What about the other sisters?”
“Where are they?”
Zhao Meina stood up and patted the dust from her trousers. “The other sisters are still alive. Big Brother’s friends are guarding them.”
“But they aren’t as lucky as you, Sis.” Her tone suddenly became startlingly mature. “Those men keep insulting them, but they don’t dare do anything reckless right now.”
“After all, the sisters all belong to Uncle Zhou.”
“Me included.”
“Do you want to be with Uncle Zhou, then?”
Why did this child have thoughts like that? Pei Siying shut her eyes in distress.
“Do I?” Zhao Meina pondered. Pei Siying saw confusion in her eyes as the thin little girl propped her chin on her fingers.
“I don’t know. But Big Brother says Uncle Zhou is a superpowered person.”
“In this apocalypse, the only way to survive is to follow Uncle Zhou.”
Pei Siying could only think that it was madness. Such a young child—but for now, the most important thing was getting this little girl to untie her ropes.
Before her powers had been exhausted, Pei Siying could have broken free with ease. But now she was so weak that she was even less capable than an ordinary person.
Thinking of Zhang Min still being viciously insulted, she felt a dull pressure in her chest, as though something were wrapped tightly around her and she could not breathe.
That was someone with whom she had shared two lifetimes of friendship—the only kindred spirit she had in this world.
Forget it. Since her powers had not recovered, remaining tied up here might actually be safer. Going outside and wandering around would only amount to delivering herself straight into someone’s hands.
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After thinking it over, she decided to continue drawing information out of the girl. “What kind of power does this Uncle Zhou have?”
“Uncle Zhou can breathe fire.” As she spoke, she stood up and struck a pose with her hands. “Just like this—the flames whoosh right out.”
A fire-based superpowered person? That would be easy enough. As long as Yu Niaoniao recovered her powers by then…
But what if neither Yu Niaoniao nor she had recovered? In that case, they would never be able to defeat an adult man with superpowers.
As for this little girl…
She looked seriously at the girl before her. Her hair was dry and yellow, dark circles ringed her eyes, yet her eyes themselves remained bright.
Like a flame that could never be extinguished, waiting only for the moment when it would suddenly illuminate the ashen earth.
If she died, then so be it. They were not running a charity—not for someone without any powers.
In the apocalypse, living on in agony was itself a kind of suffering.
Meanwhile, in two rooms not far away, Yu Niaoniao was locked in a war of words with the two men standing before her.
“Fuck your mother! Untie me this instant!”
The man in front of her seemed impatient. He raised his hand to slap her, but his companion stopped him.
“Hey, Pockmark, don’t lose your temper.”
As he spoke, he leered at Yu Niaoniao’s face, licked his lips, and reached out with his other hand. “If you ruin a pretty little face like that, it’ll be hard to explain things to Boss Zhou.”
Yu Niaoniao noticed that the man’s fingernails were caked with mud, while his hand gave off an indescribably foul odor.
She turned her head away in disgust.
The man laughed. “Well, well. The little wench has some spirit. Looks like Boss Zhou is in for a feast tonight.” He licked his lips again.
“What, we can’t hit her, and we can’t even let her get some sun?” A malicious glint shone in Pockmark’s eyes. “The sun’s blazing outside. Let’s put her out there for a while and knock some of that arrogance out of her.”
“Wouldn’t that be a little risky? What if she gets tanned?”
“What’s there to be afraid of? This stinking bitch is already dark enough.” Pockmark spat in irritation. “She’s as dark as a skinny monkey. She really thinks everyone’s dying to have her.”
The two men exchanged a laugh.
Then they circled around behind Yu Niaoniao and lifted the chair together, one on either side.
“Fuck you! Put me down!”
The sudden sensation of being suspended made Yu Niaoniao curse furiously as she kicked the chair with her heels.
“Well, well, she’s stubborn!”
“You’re going to suffer for that, you filthy bitch.”
…
“There are so many people. I can smell them.”
Little Rascal’s voice came through the sports car’s sound system.
The two diamond-shaped headlights at the front flickered on, casting their beams across the road.
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“It really can shine. I thought they were actual diamonds.”
Yu Yue widened her eyes, looking as though she had never seen the world before.
Little Rascal’s haughty voice came from the speakers. “Of course they can, you bumpkin!”
“Who are you calling a bumpkin, you damn rascal?”
With that, she rolled up her sleeves and twisted the leather seat as hard as she could.
Little Rascal let out a series of agonized cries. Its windshield wipers began flailing wildly, and the car started to drift, so badly that even Lin Youwei could barely control it.
Li Luyan frowned and slapped Yu Yue hard across the back.
“Move again and I’ll throw you out.”
Yu Yue shamelessly leaned toward Li Luyan. “Sis Yan went to all that trouble to save me and Weiwei. You wouldn’t really be willing to throw me out, would you?”
Li Luyan suddenly smiled.
Yu Yue found that smile particularly ominous.
Before she could react, Li Luyan seized her by the collar with her left hand, rolled down the window with her right, and shoved Yu Yue’s head outside.
“Hey, hey, hey… Sis Yan, that’s against the law! You’re not allowed to stick your head or hands out of the window while the car is moving.”
“There isn’t another car on the road besides Little Rascal.”
The hot wind outside whipped across Yu Yue’s face. It felt awful, like the blast from a heater in winter pressed directly against her skin.
But this was not winter. The weather was scorching, and all she wanted was to pull her head back inside and enjoy the air-conditioning.
She tried to move, only to discover that Li Luyan was holding her head firmly in place.
The howling wind mingled with Little Rascal’s gleeful laughter and poured into her ears.
“Hee-hee, I’m dying! The bumpkin is finally getting what she deserves.”
Yu Yue refused to be outdone. “You damn rascal, just wait!”
Then, looking utterly defeated, she turned to Li Luyan with a pitiful expression.
“Haha… ha…” She gave an awkward laugh. “Could you let me go, Sis Yan?”
“I promise! I won’t cause trouble while you’re driving again.”
Li Luyan raised an eyebrow and looked at her with amusement. “All right.”
Then she yanked Yu Yue’s head back inside with all her strength.
Bang!
Yu Yue’s head struck the roof of the car.
Clutching her numb, aching head, she glared at Li Luyan with a face full of resentment. “Aah… Sis Yan, you did that on purpose!”
Li Luyan lifted an eyebrow and watched her with mocking amusement, as though to say: Yes, I did it. So what?
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