Chapter 14 - Staying A While
Before the apocalypse, everyone had many things they could do after dinner- studying to improve themselves, a normal person would watch TV, play online games or use their phones, effortlessly idling away several hours. But now, besides the large-scale security base, everywhere else had no electricity. Every kind of signal was also affected by an ineffable energy, and it was really hard to get reception.
Under these circumstances, everyone could only sleep a little earlier.
The husband and wife apartment they were currently living in was structured the same as Qi Jingchen’s apartment. Both had two rooms, one hall, but one room had a bed, while the other room, though was decorated according to a child’s room, only had a computer table placed in the middle. They probably wanted to wait for the child to be born, only then would they go buy a crib.
As it should be, nowadays everyone didn’t care about whether there was a bed to sleep in. On a great summer day, they could spread a woven mat on the floor then they could immediately sleep.
Nie Yi’s two bodyguards used batteries to connect to a few compact fluorescent lamps, then borrowed the light to take out a woven mat in a familiar manner, and spread it out in the living room. Shao Zhenglan entered the child’s room that was currently regarded as a study, intending to make a place for her to sleep.
“You guys find another room to sleep in.” Right at this time, Nie Yi suddenly opened his mouth.
“What?” Shao Zhenglan was startled.
“Shao Zhenglan, you bring Qi Yaoyao along to find another place to sleep.” Nie Yi repeated.
“No way, I want to be with my ge!” Qi Yaoyao immediately said. Her brother was currently weak all over his body, a single accident would have him taken unfair advantage of by another person!
“Do you think I’ll allow it?” Nie Yi condensed a fireball in his hand to threaten the little lady.
“I...” Qi Yaoyao was frightened again, but still clenched her jaw tightly to confront Nie Yi.
“Yaoyao, listen to him,” Qi Jingchen suddenly said.
“Ge!” Qi Yaoyao said in alarm.
“I’ll be fine,” said Qi Jingchen.
“Okay little lady, leave with me ba!” Shao Zhenglan saw that Qi Yaoyao was still a little dazed, then hauled the person away. Nie Yi would even fight her; if he went one round with this little lady, wouldn’t this little lady lose half her life?
Qi Yaoyao and Shao Zhenglan left. Yan Zhe gave Ping Shengchao a look, and also left.
Before, every time they set up camp, Nie Yi had always slept next to him and Ping Shengchao. Now, he had driven them out like this... it’d be a wonder if there were no problems!
The two bodyguards were the last to leave, tidying up the apartment opposite then went in to stay there. Waiting until everyone had left, Nie Yi then carried Qi Jingchen onto the bed, “Let’s sleep together today?”
Qi Jingchen didn’t say anything, so Nie Yi then took it as his tacit acceptance, conveniently laying down by his side.
“Jingchen, this way, right now, is really good.”
“But we’re just waiting to die,” Qi Jingchen said. After nightfall, his head was in more and more pain, and he increasingly felt that it was better off for him if he died a little earlier.
“Jingchen&#k2026;” Nie Yi looked at Qi Jingchen’s dark eyes that had no hope and expectations towards the future whatsoever, and his heart ached. So he held him in his embrace, held him tightly.
Qi Jingchen didn’t talk at first. After a while, he said, “Too hot, you let go.”
“I’ll turn on the fan.”
“Nie Yi, what do you think of this ‘humiliated by a man then ashamed and resentfully killed himself’ death method?” Qi Jingchen suddenly said.
Nie Yi subconsciously let go of him.
Qi Jingchen closed his eyes and didn’t speak anymore, but after a while, his head was increasingly excruciating, and he couldn’t resist frowning.
Nie Yi reached out and helped Qi Jingchen press on both sides of his head. Because of his previous ability riots, he learnt a few massage techniques that could alleviate a headache, so it was really handy right now.
Qi Jingchen didn’t stop him, and his facial expression also gradually relaxed. Nie Yi looked at his face that was within reach, and couldn’t help but lower his head and kiss Qi Jingchen’s hair.
Qi Jingchen didn’t say anything to this.
Nie Yi suddenly wanted to laugh a little. Qi Jingchen really did want to die, and furthermore, he knew of his feelings. So if Qi Jingchen wanted to entice him and make him do some things, then kill himself, he absolutely could use Nie Yi’s remorse to pressure him into promising not to harm Qi Yaoyao. But would Qi Jingchen really do this?
Of course not.
Qi Jingchen would even continue living for Qi Yaoyao, so how could he use this method to hurt him? Not to mention that he had even said it aloud.
But... under the circumstances where he still hadn’t awakened to his water ability and had no means to control his body temperature, he feared that he had no way to hold Qi Jingchen to sleep, or else he would be hated for being warm and in passing, be ignored.
Furthermore, regarding this matter of taking unfair advantage, he also needed to stop while he was ahead... even though he knew that Qi Jingchen was actually very softhearted, but he would still be scared and worried, lest Qi Jingchen really did things that would make him feel like it was too late for regrets.
Nie Yi massaged for a long while, until Qi Jingchen’s breathing finally evened up, only then did he get up to open the door.
The door opposite was open, and Ping Shengchao and the two bodyguards were sitting there.
After meeting Qi Jingchen, he was constantly busy. Even though he found the time to ‘settle’ Shao Zhenglan and Jiang Huai, he still hadn’t explained the matter of Qi Jingchen to these three people, and it was time to explain.
“Boss, who on earth is that Qi Jingchen?” Once Ping Shengchao saw Nie Yi, he immediately questioned him.
Nie Yi’s changes were very big, but a lot of small habits and so on were still the same. When he was interacting with him a few days ago, he didn’t indicate any problems, so he felt that the transmigration matter was impossible. But Nie Yi suddenly treating Qi Jingchen this well, and abandoning Yan Zhe, this still made him somewhat puzzled.
“Qi Jingchen is someone I met when I was in the army. Back then, he had saved me before.” Nie Yi said. “At that time, I already really liked him, we had even fallen in love, but later he insisted on breaking up with me.”
Ping Shengchao basically knew everything about Nie Yi’s matters, except for his situation when he joined the army. But he did remember that later that year, Nie Yi had indeed come across some trouble and was even injured, so now he believed Nie Yi’s words without a doubt. “Then Yan Zhe?”
“Do you understand Yan Zhe?” Nie Yi suddenly asked.
Ping Shengchao couldn’t be said to understand Yan Zhe very well. Because of Nie Yi, he had always treated Yan Zhe pretty well, but based on the principle that he shouldn’t be close to the boss’s man, he practically never had any interactions with Yan Zhe on his own.
“He actually secretly has a girlfriend. When chatting with other people, he would say that I’m disgusting, loathing us second and third generations... He really hates me, but when I gave him money and gifts, he still didn’t restrain himself from receiving it. Not only that, but he once had sold to other people my company’s classified information,” Nie Yi said. Some of this was false and some were true, but anyhow, speaking of Yan Zhe this way wasn’t wrongly accusing him.
“What?!” Ping Shengchao’s expression changed. “Boss, we definitely cannot let him off!”
“It also doesn’t matter. He’s unkind, I’m unjust, so why don’t I just place him in the light and make him be the target for my grandfather to vent his anger?” Nie Yi laughed. Ever since before, he had already fabricated an entire set of excuses.
He didn’t intend on speaking of the matter of his rebirth. In that case, he needed to give an explanation of his attitude towards Yan Zhe and Qi Jingchen, so as to avoid Ping Shengchao and the others from misunderstanding and attracting inconveniences.
“So it was like this... Then Qi Jingchen...” Ping Shengchao had always felt that Qi Jingchen shouldn’t treat his boss that way.
“He actually isn’t malicious.” Nie Yi smiled. “Even if he tossed me from side to side he wouldn’t do anything that would harm me, and also, the reason he’s like this right now is that he’s sick.”
After saying this, Nie Yi’s smile became a bitter laugh. “He wants to make some excessive demands to make me fed up with him, so as not to be a burden to me, but I won’t let him go.”
Nie Yi explaining it like this, Ping Shengchao once again lost all his misgivings. Thinking back on Qi Jingchen’s behaviour, he felt that it all made sense.
What normal person would be like Qi Jingchen, bossing around the person who was taking care of him? Unless... he didn’t want to live.
Could it be that he had a terminal illness and didn’t want to implicate other people? Then when he broke up with Nie Yi at that time, it should also be for this reason?
“Shengchao, I still have one more matter I haven’t said,” Nie Yi suddenly said. “Three days ago when I was scouting alone, I actually came by some good things; it’s a red mutated plant. After I ate it, my abilities improved. I feel that if we can find this kind of mutated plants, maybe you can also obtain an ability.”
Nie Yi said this towards Ping Shengchao, then looked towards the two bodyguards. “And you guys, you’ve been with me for this long, I definitely won’t treat you unfairly.”
These three people were currently loyal to him, but he also couldn’t freely squander this loyalty. He should give them some guarantees.
Mutated plants were very hard to come by, but for him who had been reborn, it really wasn’t considered much. He could always find some for these people.
“Thank you, boss!” Shengchao immediately said.
“Thank you young master!” the two bodyguards also said.
After talking with Shengchao, there were no more hidden dangers in his team besides Yan Zhe... Nie Yi softly and quietly returned to the room, but unexpectedly met Qi Jingchen’s open eyes.
Qi Jingchen quickly shut his eyes. Nie Yi walked over to lie down, then gently helped Qi Jingchen massage, massage and massage. The him who hadn’t had a good sleep in a long while closed his eyes and fell asleep near Qi Jingchen.
At this time, Qi Jingchen, contrarily, didn’t drive him away.
When the sunlight penetrated through the window, Nie Yi was kicked awake by Qi Jingchen.
Qi Jingchen currently had no strength at all. The foot kicking against his leg was smooth and tender, it didn’t make him hurt, on the contrary, it made him restless and jumpy.
“I want to go to the restroom,” Qi Jingchen said.
historical
“I’ll carry you there!” Nie Yi instantaneously replied.
“You letting me go would be fine,” Qi Jingchen said. Who knew whether after Nie Yi carried him to the restroom, he would even help him take off his pants? He had never known that Nie Yi who was originally reliable and competent in his last life, actually had a side like this...
Nie Yi grudgingly let go of the hands that were gathering Qi Jingchen against him. Qi Jingchen stood up, went into the restroom, then closed the door with a ‘bang’.
After Qi Jingchen used the restroom and washed his face with the water prepared by Nie Yi, he said, “I’m hungry.”
“I’ll go find something to eat at once!” Nie Yi promptly said.
After Qi Jingchen finished eating some multi-grain porridge mixed with cucumbers, it was already nine in the morning. Shao Zhenglan and the rest had also come over. “What do we do next?”
“We’ll stay here temporarily for three days, then we’ll leave.” Nie Yi said. “In three days’ time, we can train the troops. By the time we’re at B city, we’ll have our own power.”
Shao Zhenglan wanted to urgently go to B city, but staying here for three days was still acceptable. “Then just three days!”
After determining that they were staying for three days, Nie Yi immediately had the bodyguards call out those people who had persevered until the end yesterday.
Among the people who had came, there were a few that hadn’t persevered until the end that had infiltrated them. They probably thought Nie Yi would turn a blind eye to them, but it was the exact opposite. Nie Yi had found every one of them, and had driven them off.
However, there was someone that wasn’t driven off, and that person was precisely Yan Zhe.
“This morning we’ll continue training. In the afternoon I’ll bring you all out,” Nie Yi said, in passing, he had opened several holes on the earthen wall.
The battle that was the same as yesterday thus began. Those people who went through yesterday’s exercise were mostly aching all over, yet they didn’t dare slack off in the slightest. As a result, when they turned their heads, they could see someone setting up a hammock to lie on at the side, and the one who could fling out several fireballs without effort, Nie Yi, was even by his side fanning him.
Could that person be the real strongest person in their team?
Baobao Notes
Imma be real, when I read another translation, I had thought that Qi Jingchen was threatening Nie Yi with his death if he dared to touch him, but I understood after reading the raws. In case it wasn’t clear, Qi Jingchen was genuinely thinking of using that excuse to kill himself, thus guilting Nie Yi into protecting Qi Yaoyao so he could die peacefully, but Nie Yi knew him too well lol, so he was like, Qi Jingchen wasn’t this sort of bad person