Chapter 82

Clutching bowls of steaming hot dough drop soup, everyone felt a sense of unreality. This Small River Base was almost too good to be true—they were given food the moment they arrived.

What’s more, the dough drop soup wasn't thin at all. At first, everyone pushed forward anxiously with their bowls, fearing that if they were late, there would be none left.

The uncle serving the food frowned, tapping the edge of the bucket with a ladle, and scowled, "Line up, did you hear me? Get in line, now!"

With hundreds of people, crowding like this was bound to cause problems, so those who didn’t line up wouldn’t be served.

Seeing this, everyone quietly joined the back of the line. They were hungry and anxious, but if they didn’t line up, they wouldn’t get food. Better to line up quickly so they could eat sooner.

The line was crooked and disorganized, but the uncles and aunties serving the food didn’t say anything. Their hands moved swiftly, and they didn’t skimp—each person received a full bowl.

Someone brought a basin, and the auntie said, "You can get seconds after you finish, but whatever you take must be eaten. You all know how precious food is now—no waste allowed!"

The person with the basin quickly explained, "This is for my family of four. We don’t have bowls, just this one basin."

Seeing this, the auntie’s stern expression softened, and she filled their basin generously.

Those still in line anxiously looked ahead, afraid there would be none left by the time it was their turn. When it was their turn, they saw there wasn’t much left in the bucket and couldn’t help but count themselves lucky.

But after they were served, someone pushed over two more buckets of food. At this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief—no need to worry about running out; there was plenty more.

And Small River Base really came through—the dough drop soup wasn’t thin at all. It was rich and hearty. With one sip, their stomachs warmed, and their whole bodies relaxed.

Everyone held their bowls, slurping up the food, faces beaming with happiness. After finishing, they went back for another bowl. Some had worried they wouldn’t be allowed more and hurriedly finished, only to find their worry was unfounded—when they went back, they were served.

By the time they were on their second bowl, they slowed down. The uncles and aunties serving food in the distance shouted, "There’s more! Who wants more?"

Someone called out, "I do, I do!"

The uncle carried the nearly empty bucket over and poured the last bit into the person’s bowl, saying, "Eat every last bit."

The person looked at how much there was and immediately pulled a face. He was actually full, but seeing there was still food, he wanted it. But since wasting wasn’t allowed, he had to finish it.

Of course, after he'd been starving for so long, he couldn’t bring himself to waste it anyway.

In the end, he shared it with others to finish it all.

Patting his full stomach, he still felt dazed. Just yesterday, he'd been starving and worrying about the future, but today he was eating hot dough drop soup.

It felt absolutely dreamlike.

"Tomorrow, we need to pull our weight. They’re giving us food, so we should do a good job."

"By the way, I didn’t hear clearly—what's on for tomorrow?"

"Putting up the wall? Actually, it’s for ourselves. We’re doing it for our own sake, building it around us, and we’ll live inside it. We'll be more secure."

"Oh, and those with superhuman abilities don’t have to build the wall—they have training."

"Training?"

"Yeah, who cares. As long as we get food, it’s fine."

Cheng Zhiyu thought that no matter what, the superhumans needed to be trained. Precisely because there weren’t many of them, each one’s abilities had to be improved.

Moreover, the superhumans in the team, though their abilities weren’t very strong, were of good character. They had never abandoned the ordinary people, protecting them in the mountains. That was enough to show they had excellent character.

Abilities could definitely be developed through training. It’s just that most superhumans now developed their abilities haphazardly on their own, with very few receiving specialized training.

Cheng Zhiyu thought they needed proper training.

He put Tian Qiao and Tian Manman in charge of this task. Cheng Mo occasionally went to teach as well, but his training was pretty intense, and he was afraid everyone wouldn’t be able to keep up, so it couldn’t be too frequent.

Not only the newly arrived superhumans but also the original superhumans in Small River Base had to take part too.

Meanwhile, Liu Pingan’s family arrived at Cheng Zhiyu’s home. As soon as Cheng Zhiyu's mother and father heard the news, they put down their work and hurried back.

When Cheng Zhiyu's mother saw her brother’s family, she burst into tears. "Pingan, you’ve been through so much. How… how did you get so skinny?"

Liu Pingan and his wife also cried, calling her "Sis" through their tears.

"As long as you’re safe, that’s what matters," Cheng Zhiyu's mother said, wiping her tears and urging Cheng Zhiyu's father to open the door. "Help Pingan's family get cleaned up properly. I’ll go cook something good for you to eat!"

Cheng Zhiyu's father reminded her, "It’s not good for Pingan’s family to eat anything too greasy right away. Make something light and easy to digest."

Cheng Zhiyu's mother only then remembered this and quickly nodded.

Liu Pingan and his family were covered in grime and really needed to wash up.

They took a bath; the water had to be changed several times. Especially the first round of water, which turned black. It took several rounds before they were finally clean.

By the time they finished washing, they could smell the delicious aroma wafting through the air.

Cheng Zhiyu and the others had already returned and were calling everyone to eat.

After taking a sip of hot soup, Liu Pingan’s family finally relaxed.

Han Tingting and Han Ping were discussing what they should do.

Cheng Zhiyu said, "You just got here. No rush."

Han Tingting said, "But we can’t just do nothing. We’ve rested enough along the way. Let me do something—it would put my mind at ease."

Han Ping also nodded.

Cheng Zhiyu thought about it and agreed. "Then, Tingting, you can go to the livestock farm. As for Ping, join the training sessions. If there are tasks, go on missions."

Cheng Zhiyu added, "There’s an empty room in my house. You can stay there for now. We’ll talk about it again once you’re settled."

Han Tingting didn’t refuse again. They had just arrived with nothing, so naturally, they had nowhere else to stay.

After the meal, Cheng Zhiyu went to store the solar panels and power generation equipment in the base’s warehouse. Tomorrow, they would start arranging for people to install them.

He also went to Chi Hongyi’s research institute to deliver the experimental equipment they had found.

Cheng Zhiyu took everything out at once. "See which of these you can use."

Chi Hongyi was dazzled and joked with a smile, "Looks like you stripped the research institute clean. Oh, this is great—we really need this! And this one—I remember a set of this equipment costs tens of millions!"

Chu Mingda and Feng Wentao were also excited, looking around. They had previously thought that while Small River Base had everything, it lacked experimental equipment. But now they had it—and everything they needed.

They were like kids in a candy store, overjoyed. "This is perfect. Our research progress can leap forward now."

"Too good, too good! Let’s try this one right away."

True research fanatics, they were so absorbed that they didn’t even bother with Cheng Zhiyu and Cheng Mo anymore, turning around immediately to busy themselves with experiments. They probably forgot all about Cheng Zhiyu and Cheng Mo.

Cheng Zhiyu actually thought it was great—this was exactly the kind of dedicated researcher they needed. They held humanity's future in their hands.

Once the vaccine was developed, he believed the zombie outbreak could soon be brought under control.

He just hoped this disaster would end sooner rather than later.

Cheng Zhiyu said to Cheng Mo, "Let's go, we shouldn't disturb them."

Cheng Mo cleared his throat and asked, "Are you having a late-night snack tonight?"

Cheng Zhiyu: "Huh?" *Why ask so suddenly? Didn't we just finish dinner?*

Unbeknownst to him, Cheng Mo was still thinking about Cheng Zhiyu praising Han Ping's cooking.

Cheng Mo: "Let's have a late-night snack tonight."

Cheng Zhiyu looked at him: "Are you hungry? What do you want to eat? I'll make it for you."

*He thought Cheng Mo was hungry.*

But Cheng Mo shook his head: "I'm not hungry. If you're not having a snack, then let's have breakfast tomorrow."

Cheng Zhiyu didn't understand what he meant—*why was he so fixated on whether I was hungry or not?*

But when he asked, Cheng Mo didn't elaborate.

Cheng Zhiyu: "Fine."

That night, Cheng Zhiyu went to bed early. After traveling for so long, he was actually quite tired. But now that he was gradually taking over the management of the base, he probably wouldn't be going out much anymore.

*Hmm... even if he did go out, he'd need someone who could temporarily manage the base.*

Cheng Zhiyu drifted off to sleep, feeling as if he were hallucinating—he thought he heard the sound of pages turning nearby.

Cheng Zhiyu: "Huh? *Must be hearing things. Why would Cheng Mo be reading a book in the middle of the night? Yeah, definitely hearing things."*

Then he fell asleep, unaware that Cheng Mo, beside him, had taken out a stashed comic book, hesitated for a moment, and slowly began flipping through it.

Earlier, while they were outside, it wasn't convenient, so he'd only skimmed it briefly. But even that quick glance had felt like glimpsing a whole new world.

During the journey, Zhou Min had even sneaked over to ask for the comic book. Cheng Mo said, "Haven't finished it yet."

Zhou Min grumbled, "Why so slow? I only brought this one to pass the time. Ah, well, these past couple of days staying in the same room with Han Ping hasn't been convenient anyway. Cheng Mo, you have to give it back to me as soon as we get back."

For the sake of the comic book, Cheng Mo was in a good mood and didn't find him annoying. "Got it," he said.

Now, Cheng Mo was secretly flipping through the comic book. Since Cheng Zhiyu was asleep, he didn't want to disturb him, so he didn't turn on any lights. Only a sliver of moonlight shone through the window, leaving the room mostly dark.

Fortunately, Cheng Mo was from the Winged Tribe and had excellent night vision, so it wasn't a problem for him.

The two main characters in this comic were pretty bold—they were already getting physical by their second meeting. Cheng Mo thought, his face cold.

Tsk, and kissing... *He knew how to do that.*

Cheng Mo was reading purely for educational purposes. Whenever he came across something he already knew, he'd skip ahead.

*Taking clothes off... hard to watch.* Cheng Mo frowned, imagined Cheng Zhiyu, and instantly felt a bit better. He kept reading.

Then, he came across a scene that opened up a whole new world for him. In his mind, the two people in the comic automatically turned into Cheng Zhiyu and himself. Cheng Mo's face flushed bright red.

*So that's how it was.* He felt a sudden sense of clarity.

To make sure he hadn't missed anything, he flipped through a few more pages. His face grew redder and redder until, finally, as the two characters in the comic finished their entanglement, Cheng Mo slammed the book shut with a "smack."

Pursing his lips, he tossed and turned in bed.

Cheng Zhiyu, half-asleep, felt the person next to him tossing and turning. He mumbled, "What's wrong?... Can't sleep?"

Cheng Mo silently scooted closer to him: "...Yeah."

Cheng Zhiyu didn't say anything for a while, as if he'd fallen back asleep.

Cheng Mo glanced at him, couldn't resist, and reached for Cheng Zhiyu's hand.

Cheng Zhiyu: "?" *What are you doing?*

He could feel Cheng Mo holding his hand, but he was too tired to even speak.

Then, he felt something else. Cheng Zhiyu: "..."

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at Cheng Mo: "You..."

Then he couldn't speak anymore. The latter's tan skin was slightly flushed, and as Cheng Zhiyu looked over, he sheepishly showed a pair of black ears.

His tail even curled around—*who knew a dog-like tail could be so flexible!*

Anyway, Cheng Zhiyu was already half-asleep, and now he was completely drawn in. Before he knew it, they were kissing.

His hands explored chest and abdominal muscles.

Cheng Zhiyu: "Heaven."

After they finished, Cheng Mo gently wiped his hands clean and helped him take care of it as well.

Cheng Zhiyu yawned: "Let's sleep now."

Cheng Mo glanced at him and decided to call it a night. Another day, maybe—Zhi Yu was too tired.

Before dawn the next day, Cheng Mo was already up. Usually, he'd only get up after Cheng Zhiyu, but this time he slipped out of bed, carefully washed up, and left the room.

Downstairs, he headed straight for the kitchen.

It was probably just past 4 a.m.—even Cheng's parents, who usually rose early, weren't up yet.

The solar panels had only been brought back yesterday, so power hadn't been connected yet. The kitchen was completely dark, but it wasn't a problem for Cheng Mo much.

He recalled the steps Cheng Zhiyu usually followed when cooking and decided to copy them exactly.

Zhi Yu had praised Han Ping's cooking—he was going to make delicious food too, so Zhi Yu would praise him.

Cheng Mo was confident. However... *why did the noodles burn? Why did it turn into a sticky mess?*

Cheng Mo frowned. *Try again... It was his first time cooking; he couldn't expect to get it right immediately...*

When Cheng's mother woke up yawning, ready to start breakfast with Tian's mother, she heard noises coming from the kitchen.

The two mothers immediately became alert—*had something gotten into the kitchen? And it sounded quite noisy.*

They didn't dare go in without checking. Tian's mother said, "I'll go wake my son."

Mom Cheng nodded and said, "I'll keep watch here."

If it really is a zombie, the base better boost security.

Soon after, Tian’s mom dragged a half-asleep Tian Qiao over and patted her son, saying, "Snap out of it, hurry! Something’s in there. I suspect it's a zombie."

Tian Qiao immediately snapped awake: "How is that possible?"

A zombie sneaking in, not attacking people, but hiding in the kitchen?

Tian Qiao thought it might not be a zombie—maybe some small animal?

He had the moms wait outside while he went in to check. As soon as he entered, he saw Cheng Mo standing by the stove with a serious expression, as if facing some major dilemma.

Tian Qiao let out a sigh of relief but found it strange: "Brother Black? What are you doing here?"

Why couldn't it be me? Cheng Mo frowned: "You know how to cook?"

Tian Qiao: "...?"

He pointed at himself, making sure he hadn't misheard: "Since when do I know how to cook? I usually just help out."

Cheng Mo said flatly: "Oh, then you can leave."

Useless.

Tian Qiao: "..."

He sighed and left the kitchen, deciding to go back for a nap. What was Cheng Mo doing in the kitchen so early in the morning?

Seeing Tian Qiao come out, Tian’s mom relaxed and quickly asked, "How is it? What was inside?"

Tian Qiao yawned: "Brother Black is messing around with something in the kitchen. Mom, stop overreacting next time. How could there be zombies in the base?"

Then, he got a smack on the head. Tian’s mom said, "I was startled by the noise. Why else would I call you?"

Tian Qiao: "..." Had he said something wrong?

Rubbing his head, annoyed, he went back to sleep.

The two mothers entered the kitchen and indeed saw Cheng Mo standing thoughtfully by the stove. When he noticed them come in, he called them "Aunties."

Mom Cheng walked over and said, "Kid, what are you doing in the kitchen so early? Are you hungry?"

Cheng Mo said he wasn’t hungry.

"Not hungry? Then why are you in the kitchen?" Mom Cheng was puzzled, then noticed Cheng Mo’s kitchen disasters.

Mom Cheng: "? You came to cook?"

Cheng Mo nodded.

Mom Cheng, having watched plenty of idol dramas, guessed: "Are you cooking for Zhi Yu?"

Cheng Mo seemed a bit embarrassed and pressed his lips together: "No idea why, but I keep failing."

Mom Cheng smiled: "You’ve never cooked before, have you?"

Cheng Mo nodded: "I’ve watched Zhi Yu do it."

It didn’t seem hard when he was watching, but once he tried it himself, he found it difficult—getting the heat and portions right wasn’t easy.

"It’s normal to fail the first time," Mom Cheng said, getting Tian’s mom to help teach him how to cook.

Cheng Mo wasn’t joking; he genuinely wanted to learn and paid close attention.

But since he’d never cooked before, Mom Cheng decided to teach him something simple.

The kitchen was buzzing with activity. Upstairs, Cheng Zhiyu stretched and instinctively rolled over, but he found the spot empty. He opened his eyes and found the other side of the bed empty.

He reached out and touched it—it was cold. Cheng Mo must have gotten up a while ago.

Cheng Zhiyu got up and peeked in the bathroom—no one there. He muttered, "Strange, where did he go?"

He washed up in a flash and went downstairs, only to see Cheng Mo coming out of the kitchen, wearing a pink, flowery apron.

Cheng Zhiyu burst out laughing. Can you believe it? Cheng Mo, so big and tough, wearing such an apron—haha, it was a bit funny.

Cheng Mo walked over, gave his cheek a pinch, and said discontentedly, "What are you laughing at?"

Cheng Zhiyu swatted his hand away: "Not laughing at you."

If not at me, then who? Cheng Mo didn’t believe him: "Then who are you laughing at?"

Cheng Zhiyu changed the subject: "Why are you in the kitchen, and why are you wearing an apron? What are you doing?"

Cheng Mo cleared his throat and said, "It’s time to eat. Come to the kitchen and help bring the food."

Everyone else was up too. With so many people in the house today, they split into two tables.

Liu Pingan’s family and the four elders sat at one table, while the younger ones sat at another.

Cheng Mo scooped a bowl of rice and placed it in front of Cheng Zhiyu, staring at him: "Try it."

Cheng Zhiyu: "?"

He took a sip.

Cheng Mo: "How is it? Does it taste good?"

It was just ordinary congee, something Cheng Zhiyu drank every day. He didn’t find it particularly good or bad, but he still said, "It’s good."

Cheng Mo’s lips curled into a smile. He then handed Cheng Zhiyu a bun: "Try this."

Cheng Zhiyu: "..."

Among all the buns in the basket with thin skin and generous filling, he had to get this ugly one with obviously thick skin...

He took a bite. Great—he hadn’t even reached the filling yet. It was like eating plain steamed bread. Cheng Zhiyu quickly took a bite of vegetables to go with it.

Cheng Mo asked with starry eyes: "Is it good?"

Cheng Zhiyu lied through his teeth: "It’s good."

Cheng Mo was in high spirits and finally told Cheng Zhiyu: "I cooked the congee, and I made this bun."

Sure enough, Cheng Zhiyu had already suspected as much. While drinking the congee, he had an inkling; eating the bun confirmed it tenfold.

Mainly because, no matter how off their game, his mom and Tian’s mom would never make a bun like that. Plus, seeing Cheng Mo in an apron downstairs had already given him a clue.

Cheng Zhiyu was both touched and amused, putting on an exaggerated surprised look: "You made this?"

Cheng Mo was even more beaming: "Yeah, I think cooking isn’t that hard after all."

As if it wasn’t him who had failed earlier and was standing thoughtfully in the kitchen.

Cheng Zhiyu gave him a thumbs-up: "Really impressive! You did so well on your first try. You’ve got talent!"

Cheng Mo was grinning from ear to ear, though he said casually, "It’s alright, just whipped something up."

In reality, Cheng’s mother had guided him through the entire process of making the porridge, and Tian’s mother had taught him several times before he managed to shape one that even looked somewhat like a bun.

But at this moment, Cheng Mo acted as if he had mastered it effortlessly on his first try.

Tian Qiao, seizing the chance, tried to boost Cheng Mo’s image in front of Cheng Zhiyu: "Orange, I saw Brother Black working hard in the kitchen as early as 4 a.m. He worked really hard!"

Cheng Mo, who wanted to maintain the image of a natural-born cook: "...Why do you talk so much?"

Tian Qiao rubbed his nose, wondering what he had said wrong. Wouldn’t Orange be really touched to hear that Cheng Mo had gotten up at 4 a.m.?

Seeing Cheng Mo’s displeasure, Cheng Zhiyu tried not to laugh: "For your first time cooking, you’ve already done really well."

As he spoke, he took some side dishes to eat with the bun.

Hearing this, Cheng Mo brightened up again and casually glanced at Han Ping.

Han Ping, who was focused on eating the bun: "?"

Han Tingting: Tsk tsk, every single day, I’m already full from all this dog food.

Zhou Min ate his bun with a knowing, fond smile.

Tian Manman kept his head down, chowing down, having already finished five buns.

"Did you only make this one?" Cheng Zhiyu asked hopefully.

Truthfully, he really wanted to eat a bun with thin skin and generous filling. This dense, doughy thing was... but he didn’t want to hurt Big Black’s feelings, especially since he had gotten up at 4 a.m.

"No, there’s one more..." Cheng Mo quickly grabbed the last bun from the basket and handed it to Cheng Zhiyu: "Eat it now."

It was almost taken by someone else.

Tian Manman, who had been agonizing over whether to eat that bun: Thank goodness!

That bun looked utterly unappetizing, but he couldn’t just throw it away and take another, so he had been stuck in a dilemma. Luckily, Cheng Mo took it away.

Tian Manman happily picked up the basket and went to the kitchen to get more buns.

Cheng Zhiyu took it: "..."

At least that was the last one.

As he ate the steamed-bun-like bun with side dishes, he found it a bit kinda dry and hard to get down.

Cheng Mo said gently, "Eat slowly."

Cheng Zhiyu: "..." Sigh.

Cheng Mo: "If you like it, I’ll make it for you again tomorrow."

Cheng Zhiyu couldn’t hold back and quickly said, "Please, no!"

Cheng Mo: "?"

Cheng Zhiyu cleared his throat, making an excuse: "You get up so early every day—how is that sustainable? No, you need more rest."

Cheng Mo: "It’s fine, I don’t have to get up that early." He could just learn from the two moms and wake up around the same time as them.

"But it’s still early," Cheng Zhiyu said, dreading the idea of him cooking every day, thinking hard for an excuse. "If you get up so early every day just to cook for me, I’d feel terrible."

Ugh, so corny.

Cheng Mo was thrilled: "It’s alright, it’s no trouble."

Cheng Zhiyu coughed lightly: "But I’d still feel bad." Well, practice makes perfect.

Cheng Mo’s lips curled up uncontrollably again, and he finally changed his mind: "Then I’ll only cook once in a while."

Cheng Zhiyu: Great!