My Romance Game Updated – Chapter 61
by Little PandaHomecoming
They had been locked in the quarantine room for a day. When they got hungry, all they could do was stomach the dry rations and mineral water Ren Chenxi had prepared for them. At the same time, they had to stay vigilant against any other survivors with ill intentions. At night, they could only lean against their chairs to sleep, which wasn’t very comfortable.
So, the moment they heard Ren Chenxi’s group had found a place to live—and in the Villa Area, no less—everyone was overjoyed and immediately followed along. As they walked, they excitedly asked what their new home was like. Even when they learned the four-story building was just an old rural self-built house1 with dusty grey cement walls and floors, and that the entire building had only one toilet and one bathroom, they were still thrilled.
After all, this was going to be their home from now on.
After asking about the house, Tang Ying curiously turned the question back on them, asking where they had been. Ren Chenxi wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but when Huo Keyu heard the question, her expression seemed to darken for a split second before she shook her head at Ren Chenxi with a look of indifference.
“We knew you were probably going to search that underground warehouse, so after we left the quarantine room, we decided to wander around the base first. We ended up at the Sports Field where people set up stalls. Chen Gu mentioned before that we could earn crystal cores by setting up a stall ourselves, so we wanted to check it out. Who knew…”
“What happened?” Tang Ying pressed curiously.
“We ran into people trying to touch porcelain2…” one of the S University girls interjected sullenly.
“Touch porcelain?” Jian Dan looked just as surprised. “Trying to touch porcelain in the base, in broad daylight?”
“Yeah. We just wanted to look at the stalls and see what people usually sell. But when we passed a stall selling all kinds of vegetables, the baskets holding them suddenly tipped over. Then the stall owners swarmed us, insisting we were the ones who knocked their baskets over and demanding we buy all the vegetables!”
“But we saw the vegetables that spilled out! Every single one was rotten, and some were even starting to stink. They were obviously things no one else wanted, so those stall owners tried to pin them on us!” another S University girl complained resentfully.
“So how did you get away from them?”
“It was Mu-xuejie! In the end, Mu-xuejie arrived with Tongqi and the others just in time. The second those stall owners saw Mu-xuejie, they were so scared they immediately admitted they were wrong.”
“Yeah, yeah, Mu-xuejie’s timing was perfect! Otherwise, from the looks of them, they would have tried to skin us alive!”
“It’s more than just skinning you alive! If you’d kept arguing, those people would have dragged you away by force and made you go into that kind of business!” Zhang Tongqi suddenly said in a low, grim voice. “You all have some serious nerve, walking around the base with new faces and not a single esper among you!”
Although Zhang Tongqi didn’t specify what “that kind of business” was, some of them, thinking back on what they had seen and heard over the past two years of the apocalypse, immediately guessed. For a moment, everyone’s expression turned ugly.
“Thank you so much for getting there in time!” Huo Keyu, having personally suffered at the hands of those scumbags, was more disgusted by such vile things than anyone. Her face was ashen when Zhang Tongqi mentioned “that kind of business.” However, she quickly got her emotions under control and sincerely thanked Mu Ning’s group.
Seeing Huo Keyu’s pale face, Ren Chenxi quickly tried to distract her. “See? That’s why it’s safer for you ordinary people without abilities to live with us. From now on, if you want to walk around the base, you’d better ask Jian Dan and the others to go with you, okay?”
Huo Keyu looked at Ren Chenxi’s concerned expression, pursed her lips, and then gave a slight nod. From the side, Mu Ning watched the two of them with a sidelong glance.
Perhaps Zhang Tongqi’s words had brutally exposed the darkness lurking in the corners of the base, along with the cruel transactions they couldn’t condone. The once-chattering group fell quiet. In the end, it was Huo Keyu who first lifted her spirits and joked with Ren Chenxi, “By the way, you were late getting back to the base. Don’t tell me you made a huge haul at the underground warehouse?”
At the mention of their haul, the expressions on Song Xin and Chang Ling, who were walking beside Huo Keyu, visibly lit up with excitement again. But since they weren’t in the villa and people were coming and going all around them, they couldn’t say too much. Besides, Song Xin was afraid she’d get too excited and lose control of her voice. If someone else overheard and got greedy, it would be bad. So she could only bottle it up, winking and nudging Huo Keyu before leaning in to whisper furtively in her ear, “The haul was amazing~”
“…”
Seeing her expression, and the obvious delight on the faces of Mu Ning’s group, the few who had been in quarantine instantly understood. It must have been a massive haul. Their gloomy mood vanished, and everyone began to chatter excitedly about how they would decorate their rooms.
This time, aside from food and various daily necessities from the underground warehouse, Ren Chenxi and the others had been pleasantly surprised to find a lot of unassembled furniture! As soon as they got back, they would properly plan out what to do with their empty, dusty rooms.
Of the four ordinary people who had been in quarantine, besides Huo Keyu, there was one male and two female S University students. The male, Fang Hong, went with Yang Xiangrui to tour the Men’s Building. As for the girls, the moment they stepped through the “villa” gate, they rushed to line up for the toilet. Huo Keyu was the first to go. She was inside for barely a second before she retreated, a look of utter disbelief on her face.
“Keyu, what’s with that expression? Did the toilet explode?” joked a girl named Du Tian, who was next in line.
Huo Keyu stepped aside to let her pass. “You go first.”
Seeing Huo Keyu’s reaction, Du Tian, who had only been joking, felt her smile slowly stiffen. It was replaced by a look of horror. “Don’t tell me… the toilets in these rural self-built houses are in terrible condition, covered in filth and…”
“What nonsense are you spouting!” Tang Ying, who had been waiting for praise, impatiently shoved Du Tian forward and said in great displeasure, “This is a toilet this mother3 personally renovated! Get in there and experience it for yourself!”
Then, as expected, a shriek came from the toilet. The other S University student, Yue Yue, peeked her head in out of curiosity. After being successfully dazzled by a toilet made entirely of crystal, she turned to Tang Ying and said with great difficulty, “Yingying, this renovation is too over-the-top… With a crystal squat toilet4 like that, I… I can’t go5…”
“Relax, relax!” Tang Ying patted Yue Yue’s shoulder, looking extremely proud. “Stunned by how beautiful the toilet is, right? Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it. And as long as you hold it long enough and get desperate enough, you’ll be able to go eventually~”
“…”
If the toilet was this gorgeous, then wouldn’t the rooms where they would rest and sleep be even more meticulously decorated? At this thought, the group of girls happily huddled together again, chattering away as they imagined what style they wanted for their rooms and what furniture they would need.
Of course, before they could decorate their rooms, the girls had to fill their stomachs first.
With yesterday’s experience, and because they had to renovate and organize their rooms after the meal, everyone unanimously requested a simple lunch. Ren Chenxi announced that to welcome Huo Keyu and the others, she would treat them all to a big feast for dinner. Hearing this, Huo Keyu initially refused, feeling it was unnecessary to be so extravagant for just a few of them. But Ren Chenxi insisted, because from now on, they were all partners who would live and fight together. She couldn’t skip a feast to welcome important partners.
That one sentence moved the two young women, Du Tian and Yue Yue, so much that their eyes immediately reddened. Huo Keyu simply stared at Ren Chenxi, her mouth opening as if to say something, but in the end, she just nodded slightly and said in a very soft voice, “Thank you.”
Before the meal, Sun Jia came downstairs with Tantan. The moment Du Tian and Yue Yue saw the cat, they were delighted and wanted to give it a good petting6, but Tantan was too aloof and wouldn’t let them touch it at all. Instead, it clung to Ren Chenxi, meowing nonstop, making the other girls feel as if they could smell something sour in the air. Even after Ren Chenxi took Tantan away to prepare its lunch, the sour scent lingering around their noses didn’t dissipate.
It wasn’t their imagination, because the sour smell was coming from the pickled vegetables7 Ren Chenxi had provided.
Lunch was the same Pickled Vegetable Beef Noodles they’d had the night before. The men’s group came over to get some pickled vegetables and beef to take back with them. Ren Chenxi’s group had already eaten the dish last night, but they didn’t find it tiresome to have it again for lunch. For Huo Keyu and the others, who had endured two years of the apocalypse, it was the first time they’d had it, making it feel all the more precious and cherished. The pickled vegetables Ren Chenxi had bought were excellent—sour, spicy, and appetizing. They were naturally fantastic in beef noodle soup. If they were used to make Pickled Vegetable Fish8…
Sluurp—
Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, Ren Chenxi started thinking about the seafood by the beach again.
Everyone ate their lunch with great satisfaction. Huo Keyu, especially, having grown accustomed to hardship in the apocalypse, sniffled as she ate several bowls of the noodles. Du Tian and Yue Yue were practically a mess of tears and snot. Seeing them like this, Ren Chenxi said with a laugh, “It’s just some simple Pickled Vegetable Beef Noodles, and you’re already this moved. For the big feast tonight, are you going to cry until you pass out?”
Her teasing instantly lightened their emotional mood. Full and content, everyone rested for a while before preparing to tackle the room decorations and furnishings. Aside from the rooms on the second floor belonging to Mu Ning’s group, the rooms on the third and fourth floors were all in basically the same state: empty and dusty, with nothing but a single, lonely bed.
Ah, no, Tang Ying’s room was a girly pink.
So, after a short break, they all gathered to discuss how to furnish the rooms. The first step was to take out the furniture Ren Chenxi had collected from the underground warehouse. Some of the cabinets would have to be assembled by hand. This was going to be a huge project.
The author has something to say:
Wooden-head: Heh, so lunch was Pickled Vegetable Beef Noodles after all.
Footnotes
- A common type of housing in rural or suburban China, often constructed by the family that lives in it. They can range from simple brick structures to more elaborate multi-story homes.
- A common scam, literally 'to touch porcelain' (pèngcí). It involves a scammer feigning injury or damage to their property after a minor, often staged, collision, then demanding exorbitant compensation from the 'at-fault' party.
- Original: lǎoniáng. An arrogant and assertive self-referential used by women, similar to how a man might use 'this father' (lǎozi). It establishes dominance and confidence.
- A toilet used by squatting rather than sitting. They are common in many parts of Asia and the world.
- A colloquial and slightly euphemistic way of saying one cannot defecate. The character 'dà' (big) is used to refer to 'number two'.
- The verb 'lū' has become popular internet slang for the satisfying action of petting a cat or dog.
- A traditional Chinese pickled vegetable, typically made from mustard greens. It has a distinct sour and sometimes spicy flavor.
- A popular Sichuan dish made with pickled vegetables (suāncài) and fish, known for its sour and spicy (suānlà) flavor.
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