"Benefits? What more benefits do you want? We're being kind enough to take you in so you can have a home. Instead of thinking about contributing to the community, you're asking for benefits?"
Aunt Liu was displeased. She had already sacrificed a pot of millet congee for this matter today and didn't even get a single bite herself. Didn't that count as a benefit?
"That's right. Nowadays, these young people are so impetuous. They think about getting benefits before even doing any work," someone came to their senses and quickly chimed in. The millet congee couldn't be eaten for nothing.
"Exactly. Dazhuang and Chuanzi weren't this finicky."
"That's why they're dead!" Lei Min shrugged.
"You!" The old man who had just spoken was left speechless, so angry that he could only glare.
"Me? What about me? We're the 'witches' in your mouths. Would you dare to eat the things we find?" Lei Min retorted.
Seeing that their side wasn't getting anywhere and was instead left speechless by the other side, Aunt Liu said with a cold face, "Do you really have to oppose so many of us?"
"You're the ones who aren't being reasonable first!" Lei Min wasn't afraid of her.
As the atmosphere grew more and more tense, reaching a hair - trigger state, Director Liu quickly stepped forward to mediate.
"Don't get excited. What are you all doing? Can't we sit down and discuss things properly?"
"I don't think you really want to discuss properly," Lin Qingqing said coldly.
"How could that be? This is all a misunderstanding, a misunderstanding!" Director Liu forced a laugh.
"Liu Fugui, whose side are you on?" Aunt Liu protested.
"I..."
Director Liu was about to speak when Lin Qingqing interrupted him. "It seems you haven't reached an agreement yet. I think you'd better come to us again after you've worked it out."
After saying that, she got up and led Lei Min and Wen Ling away, completely ignoring the pleas for them to stay from behind.
After that, Director Liu and the others never came to look for Lin Qingqing and the others again, as if they had forgotten the existence of these three people.
Lin Qingqing knew that Director Liu and the others wouldn't give up easily, but she didn't care. As usual, she went to Sister Dai every day to claim supplies for the three of them. Then she took Wen Ling to get the things that belonged to her. Finally, the three of them stayed in the house to recover from their injuries in peace.
Although they didn't go out much, with Wen Ling around, they could always know the general situation outside.
For example, Director Liu organized several more meetings; Dazhuang's mother, together with Grandma Chuanzi, almost went to make trouble with Aunt Liu every day; and in these few days, Director Liu also tried to organize some young people to go outside to search for supplies.
Unfortunately, every time they encountered the group of zombies that had gathered before, they could only flee in a sorry state.
By the time Lin Qingqing's injury had almost healed, they still hadn't dealt with the group of zombies outside. Instead, their repeated attempts had attracted even more zombies.
In these few days, Lei Min had come into contact with two surviving female ability users through Wen Ling. However, she wasn't very satisfied with them. She always felt that they weren't on the same wavelength as her. On the contrary, this little girl Wen Ling had impressed her quite a bit.
Seeing that Lei Min was adapting well, Lin Qingqing thought about leaving.Her car was still parked in front of the convenience store as before. Although there were quite a few zombies gathered outside, it wasn't difficult for Lin Qingqing to leave alone.
She didn't even alert anyone in the courtyard. Before most of the zombies could react, she was already sitting in her car.
It was just dawning. Lin Qingqing held the steering wheel, looking at the family building hidden in the morning mist not far away, and silently said "goodbye".
The next moment, the harsh sound of the engine roared. Lin Qingqing turned the car around and drove out of this old urban area along the way she had come.
The weather wasn't very good today. A drizzling rain had been falling all morning. Lin Qingqing drove the car slowly, as if strolling in the rain. She didn't mind and just drove aimlessly.
Suddenly, a black shadow darted out from the corner of the street, flashing past her like a bolt of lightning.
Lin Qingqing was startled and quickly stepped on the brakes.
The black shadow didn't run far. Instead, it jumped onto the roadside wall and looked back at her.
"A mutated animal!"
Lin Qingqing squinted her eyes and stared at those vertical pupils glowing with a faint green light through the car window.
"It should be a mutated cat!"
Lin Qingqing looked at the mutated cat. Its pure black fur and a pair of green eyes made it even more creepy and eerie than those she had seen in the park before.
Fortunately, this mutated cat didn't seem to have the intention of attacking. It just stared at her quietly for a while, then jumped off the wall and disappeared.
Lin Qingqing let out a sigh of relief and looked in the direction where the mutated cat had left, lost in thought for a long time.
She thought of Lei Min and Wen Ling. She wondered how they were doing now. Would Director Liu make things difficult for them? "They'll be angry when they wake up in the morning and find I'm gone, right? Lei Min must have guessed that I've long wanted to leave!"
Lin Qingqing chuckled softly, not knowing exactly what she was feeling melancholy about.
At this moment, as she had expected, Lei Min and Wen Ling had already discovered that she had left.
"Sister Lin might have something urgent to attend to!" Lei Min's expression was complicated.
In fact, Lin Qingqing had already made her stance clear. Although she had saved Lei Min, she wasn't obligated to take her along all the time.
Lei Min knew very well that this time Lin Qingqing had really left, not even bothering to come up with an excuse.
"What a free - spirited person!" Lei Min felt a bit sad.
"Is it... because of me?" Wen Ling tugged at the corner of Lei Min's clothes, asking uneasily.Although she couldn't see, she could sense the low - spirited mood emanating from Lei Min.
"No, it's because of me..." Lei Min stroked Wen Ling's soft hair and explained to her how she had met Lin Qingqing.
"She originally saved me."
"Sister Lin is a kind - hearted person. She saved me too." Wen Ling understood that although Lei Min was the first to rush up to save her, if it hadn't been for Lin Qingqing fending off the zombies behind them, they wouldn't have been able to return here safely.
They were both her saviors!
"Will you leave too?" Wen Ling asked softly.
Lei Min was taken aback. Then she stroked Wen Ling's head again and said, "Don't worry. I won't abandon you."
"Okay..." Wen Ling replied in a low voice, secretly relieved.
Without Lin Qingqing, life still had to go on. It would be fine for herself, but with Wen Ling, Lei Min suddenly felt a great deal of pressure.
When Lin Qingqing was around, she had never felt this way. No matter what happened, just thinking about the calm and aloof woman beside her made her feel extremely at ease.
But now it was different. Her "sense of security" was gone, and this feeling was as if she had returned to the beginning of the apocalypse.
Lei Min looked at Wen Ling beside her and pursed her lips. Was it the same for Sister Lin when she was taking care of herself as it was for her taking care of Wen Ling now?
No, that wasn't right. She was much more capable than herself. Even with Wen Ling and her around, she never showed the slightest bit of dislike. It seemed that as long as she wanted to, she could take care of as many people as she wanted.
"But the point is she didn't want to! Ahh!" Lei Min lay back on the bed, sprawling out in a big "character" shape, motionless.
After a long while, she sat up, rubbed her face vigorously, and forced herself to perk up.
She was just about to discuss with Wen Ling what to do next when there came a knock on the door.
"Knock, knock, knock～"
"Is Miss Lin here?"