Chapter 70: Feelings, Past and Present (Part 1)

Bian Changxi looked up—it was Lu Shaoyang.

He handed her breakfast: a bowl of thick rice porridge, a steaming, plump bun, and a hard-boiled egg with its shell still intact.

“That’s quite a spread. Dr. Lu, you didn’t save your own share just to give this to me, did you?”

“Of course not. I’ll go get my own in a minute. You’ve done a great service—surely you deserve a proper breakfast.” As he spoke, he really did go fetch himself the same meal and sat down to eat with her.

Bian Changxi took a sip of the porridge. It tasted pretty good, so she let her guard down and started eating heartily. She found a moment to ask Lu Shaoyang, “I heard this breakfast is a sign that the medical staff’s treatment has improved?”

Lu Shaoyang smiled. “Whether it’s improved or not, I can’t say. But this incident has definitely drawn a lot of attention from above.”

“Oh? How so?”

He swallowed a mouthful of bun and lowered his voice. “Five thousand people went out, but less than three thousand came back. Nearly half of those were infected by zombies, and of the uninfected, over two hundred died from serious injuries. There are still more than four hundred lying here in the infirmary—that’s the latest count. This time, the losses were truly heavy. The city district has become a complete no-go zone.”

It was the first time Bian Changxi had heard such specific numbers. Her eyes widened. “It’s that bad? The zombies in the city have gotten that dangerous?”

“I don’t know the details. You should ask Captain Gu—he knows more than a doctor like me. I’ve only heard two things: First, Colonel Yue Fushan has given a strict order that all surviving wounded must be treated. Second, we’re preparing to pull out and leave the new district.”

Ask Gu Xu? Ha.

Actually, she didn’t need to ask anyone. Bian Changxi could guess what happened: people on the mission got reckless, or were just unlucky, stumbled into a zombie nest, got attacked in all sorts of ways, and ended up scattered or hiding. That’s why the survivors trickled back, with the last group not returning until midnight—and even then, they got into a car accident on the way.

She also remembered: in her previous life, the main group evacuated the new district around the tenth day of the apocalypse. Today was the tenth day, so it would happen any day now.

Should she get her own car and drive herself, or hitch a ride with others?

She glanced at a group chatting nearby—apparently, they were wood-type ability users already recruited by the military medical department, now forming a medical squad.

She asked Lu Shaoyang, “Dr. Lu, how are the medical squads arranged during the evacuation?”

Lu Shaoyang glanced over. “There’s more than just that group. Some of us from the original system will be reorganized into teams, with licensed doctors at the core. They’re still recruiting people. Eventually, there’ll be several squads, distributed evenly—like the Warrior Squad.”

Bian Changxi nodded. She’d just participated in the Warrior Squad’s preliminary selection yesterday, and by the afternoon, a soldier had given her notice to continue with the assessment. She thought it would be best to get an official position in a team.

Her original plan was to drive her own car and follow the main group from a distance—no benefits, no management, just like many others. But now, that didn’t seem practical.

For one, leaving Gu Xu’s group and ending up alone felt off. And there was still the issue with Boss Zhang—being on her own would make her an easy target.

If she wanted a position, with her abilities, either the Warrior Squad or the Medical Squad would be a breeze. There was also the management team, apparently. Weighing her options, she’d go wherever was the most relaxed and free.

Lu Shaoyang joked, “What, Miss Bian, thinking of joining the Medical Squad? With your skills, I could recommend you for a great position.”

Bian Changxi narrowed her eyes. “Me, huh…”

“Hey? You want to join the Medical Squad?” A woman with a wild afro suddenly popped up, clutching her breakfast and exclaiming, “That’s great! With our abilities, we could easily get top positions. We’d be in the same team, and with a wave of our hands, we could bring a whole group back from the brink!”

Lu Shaoyang gave a wry smile and walked away. Bian Changxi quickly finished her porridge, then unhurriedly peeled her egg. The afro woman sidled up flirtatiously. “I’m Wei Xiaodong. You’re younger than me, so just call me Sister Dong. By the way, I saw you using a crystal core to recover your energy last night. How does that work?”

She held out a white core.

Bian Changxi glanced at it, then at her, and said seriously, “You’d better not mess with that thing. It’s dangerous.”

“Dangerous? Why is it fine for you but not for me? I don’t buy it—you just don’t want to share.” Wei Xiaodong waved dismissively. “How can you be so selfish? At a time like this, one more top wood-type could save so many people! You can’t just think of yourself…”

Bian Changxi couldn’t be bothered. “If you don’t want to die, don’t touch it. And if you’re clueless, at least keep your eyes open.”

Wei Xiaodong was baffled and wanted to ask more, but just then, a man who looked like a researcher walked over, his serious face stiffly trying to smile. “Miss Bian, our institute is very interested in your remarkable abilities. Would you be willing to talk?”

“The institute?” Bian Changxi blinked. “No thanks. That sounds kind of scary.”

“Miss Bian, we just want to discuss your experiences and insights. We have no intention of conducting any illegal experiments.”

Bian Changxi chuckled. “Well…”

“Experience and insights aren’t something you can just share,” another voice cut in. Boss Zhang appeared, all smiles. “Miss Bian, our Director Xiao would like to meet you.”

Bian Changxi glanced at him but just smiled and took a bite of egg white.

A doctor in a white coat, eating breakfast by the door, had been watching all this. Sensing trouble, he quickly put down his precious meal and came over, smiling. “Quite the crowd here! Miss Bian, you did a great service yesterday. Interested in joining the Health Department? We have all the top experts and professors…”

“Miss Bian isn’t a doctor. What would she do with experts and professors?” Boss Zhang whispered to her, “If you join us, you can name your terms. Director Xiao won’t treat you unfairly.”

Bian Changxi smiled. “What if my condition is to get rid of you first, Boss Zhang?”

Boss Zhang’s smile froze, but he quickly recovered. “Miss Bian, we just had a little misunderstanding…”

“Sometimes, a little misunderstanding can be fatal.” Bian Changxi finished her egg, packed the bun away—she’d save that for the chickens at the farm. She’d just taken a sip of water when two soldiers in dark green uniforms approached. “Miss Bian Changxi? Colonel Yue requests your presence.”

Bian Changxi screwed the cap back on her bottle and said crisply, “Alright.”

Yue Fushan was a middle-aged man with a square face and skin like a jujube—both in color and in the deep wrinkles. He looked prematurely aged, a man who’d clearly weathered many storms.

So, he was very stern.

“Miss Bian, I’ve heard about your performance last night. I’m sure many people have tried to recruit you, but you can ignore them. Come join the military—we’ll do our best to meet your needs and provide you with the best resources.”

“Oh.” Bian Changxi made a noncommittal sound and picked up a white folder from the table. “Hey, aren’t Gu Xu and his team already military? Why are they in this plan, too?” It looked like a recruitment plan for talented individuals, with a handwritten list of names.

“Gu Xu’s group isn’t part of our military system. Mixing them in would cause confusion,” Yue Li, standing by, explained. “They also feel that serving as special recruits for the military and survivors is more effective. If you join, you’ll be able to look out for each other.”

Bian Changxi pursed her lips. Actually, this plan placed a lot of restrictions on those recruited: you had to follow orders, obey commands, and when the military needed you, you’d be sent to the front lines. It was a strict hierarchy—a virtual indenture. As for the so-called “best resources,” she doubted it. The military had plenty of talent and privileged people. She wasn’t the most outstanding—by the time resources trickled down to her, they’d be several grades lower.

It was all empty talk. It would be better to lower their status and openly hire talent—at least both sides would know where they stood.

She didn’t know what Gu Xu and the others thought, but for her, unequal pay was one thing—being ordered around was intolerable. Anyone who hadn’t been brainwashed or trained in the military would feel the same.

“I’m afraid I’m not interested.”

“You refuse?” Yue Fushan’s tone carried a hint of danger and coldness.

Bian Changxi thought to herself, This guy is really domineering. If he ever becomes the top dog, it’ll be his way or the highway. She decided to be tactful for now. “Not exactly. I just want to wait and see. The military only arrived yesterday—I don’t know how things will go yet, so I’d like to observe a bit longer.”

Yue Fushan stared at her for a long time. Maybe he thought his imposing presence would make her back down, but she didn’t—she remained calm, with a faint, almost invisible smile.

In the end, Yue Fushan looked away.

Bian Changxi ended up with a marginal spot in the Medical Squad, like a low-level employee drawing a salary. Her “pay” was a parking spot during the evacuation and a certain degree of protection. Her job was to be on call when needed to save people, but she didn’t have to strictly follow military orders like the other special recruits. All in all, she had a fair amount of freedom.

In short, both sides compromised—a pretty good result. She’d worried that she’d stood out too much yesterday and Yue Fushan wouldn’t let her go. But faced with so many dying people, she couldn’t just hold back—her conscience wouldn’t allow it."