Ch 90: The Farmer Ger in the Apocalypse

The winter sunrise was late, but Song Kaiji had set an alarm on his phone. He was a light sleeper now, and as soon as his phone vibrated twice beside his pillow, he opened his eyes.

The first thing he saw was Shen Qing’s sleeping face. The usually sharp and decisive person was curled into a small bundle under the thick blanket, revealing only half of his face.

Song Kaiji had once read online that sleeping curled up like that was a sign of insecurity. He wasn’t sure how much truth there was to it, but whether it was real or not, he silently swore to himself—he would work hard to become Shen Qing’s support, to give him a sense of security.

Shen Qing woke up to the smell of food. Perhaps because he hadn’t grown up in the apocalypse and never truly experienced the terrifying days when the outbreak first started, he had the soundest sleep among everyone here. When he opened his eyes, the others were already gathered around eating breakfast.

Feeling a little embarrassed, he sat up with his blanket still around him. “Why didn’t you wake me?”

Ge Bingbing smiled. “It’s still early. We’re not in a hurry to leave. If you can sleep, then sleep a little longer.” She had woken up naturally at four or five in the morning. Even though the outside world was quiet, traveling outside always kept people on edge. Shen Qing being able to sleep so well was a blessing.

Song Kaiji had already moved closer. “What do you want for breakfast?” He took out various breakfast options from his storage space and laid them out in front of Shen Qing—buns, stuffed pancakes, tea eggs, rice porridge, salted duck eggs—covering the floor. “Do you want to eat first or wash up?”

Shen Qing could feel Qu Weiwei and the others glancing at him, which only made him more embarrassed. But at the same time, he couldn’t deny that he enjoyed being treated like this by Song Kaiji. Logic was one thing, but who didn’t like being taken care of? Song Kaiji hadn’t done anything wrong, and he wasn’t about to reject kindness for no reason.

“…I’ll wash up first.” Shen Qing spoke with some reluctance. He should have just slept a little longer—Song Kaiji was so enthusiastic that it was almost overwhelming. “I’ll just have porridge with a salted duck egg. Put the rest away, or they’ll get cold in this weather.”

Song Kaiji quickly did as told. He even took out a basin of water from his space, let Sun Cheng warm it to the perfect temperature, and squeezed toothpaste onto Shen Qing’s toothbrush before handing it over.

Shen Qing was speechless. He had bought servants back home but never even used them, and yet here he was, getting pampered like this. Feeling even more self-conscious, especially after thinking about Song Kaiji’s feelings, his ears turned red. He quickly took everything and went aside to wash up.

He was very thorough. Before coming to this world, he had never even seen a toothbrush—back in the village, people used willow twigs, fraying the ends and scraping their teeth with them. The cleanest people might rinse their mouths with water. Washing one’s face was just using plain water—who could afford soap?

After discovering toothbrushes, toothpaste, and facial cleansers in the apocalypse, Shen Qing became obsessed. The fresh, clean feeling was addicting, and every morning and night, he scrubbed meticulously, as if by brushing a little longer, he could make up for over a decade of rough hygiene.

Meanwhile, Song Kaiji ate his breakfast while watching him, eyes fixed and unwavering. Now that he knew the truth, everything Shen Qing did seemed like a child exploring the world for the first time, fumbling through new experiences. In Song Kaiji’s eyes, he was utterly adorable.

Qu Weiwei, on the other hand, felt like she was getting cavities just from watching. She hadn’t eaten much, but somehow, she felt full. She didn’t dare tease Shen Qing, but Song Kaiji was fair game. She smirked and said, “Alright, alright, we get it. Do you have to make it so obvious that you finally grew a heart?”

Song Kaiji peeled a large salted duck egg and said matter-of-factly, “Even if I didn’t act like this, wouldn’t you all still be able to tell?”

Qu Weiwei was momentarily speechless. “Yeah, but you don’t have to be this cheesy…”

“Cheesy?” Song Kaiji swiftly peeled another egg, removed half of the white for himself, and placed the yolk-heavy portion into Shen Qing’s bowl. Then he picked up another egg. “I don’t think so. I’m just doing the most ordinary things. I like him, so it’s natural to do this. It never even crossed my mind whether it’s cheesy or not. Weiwei, do you think this is cheesy just because no one’s ever done this for you?”

He looked at her seriously. “If you had a boyfriend, wouldn’t you want him to treat you this way?”

Tang Wenjie, who had been dozing off, suddenly burst out laughing, almost choking on his porridge.

Qu Weiwei fell silent.

Of course, who wouldn’t want that?

And it wasn’t just her—when Shen Qing finished washing up and saw the salted duck egg in his bowl, he also felt something stir inside him.

This duck egg had been cured by Miao Shi. The yolk had already begun to release fragrant oil, making it incredibly flavorful. But the egg white was quite salty, enough to season an entire bowl of porridge. Shen Qing always finished eating but often craved more yolk. Yet, because of his upbringing and the scarcity of food, he could never justify wasting the egg white just to eat the yolk.

But Song Kaiji had noticed.

Looking at the contrast between his own bowl and Song Kaiji’s, Shen Qing felt a growing sense of guilt.

He had already planned to leave this world after returning from Zizhou, to seal the cave entrance and disappear from Song Kaiji’s life forever.

But Song Kaiji was still dreaming of a future together.

“You really don’t need to do all this,” Shen Qing murmured, lowering his head to take a sip of porridge, using it as an excuse to hide his emotions. The oil from the egg yolk swirled in the bowl, filling his mouth with rich, salty flavor.

“I want to. And I don’t see this as a sacrifice or effort at all.” Song Kaiji smiled, biting into his portion of egg white. “I like you, so taking care of you makes me happy. If you accept it and feel happy too, then I’m even more satisfied.”

Shen Qing was silent for a long moment before finally lifting his head and smiling at him. “I’m very happy.”

Even though he had decided to sever all ties with the apocalypse after this trip, to make sure Song Kaiji never had a chance to find the cave entrance, he thought—just for this journey, maybe he could allow himself to indulge a little, to treat Song Kaiji as his lover, to give them both one last happy memory.

It was a form of compensation. A momentary escape from reason.

Now that he had been honest with Song Kaiji about his origins, there was one good thing about it—there was no need to hide anymore.

Once daylight fully arrived, they packed up and got back on the road. Before leaving, Sun Cheng set fire to the back of the gas station. There, they had found the mutated vine—it was no wonder it needed zombies to do the killing for it. Its main body was barely a meter tall, thin and frail, no thicker than a bean sprout. But around its roots lay a thick pile of bones.

It couldn’t kill humans directly, so it simply shattered windows and let the zombies do the rest. Once the zombies had their fill, the vine scavenged the remains as fertilizer.

Song Kaiji poured some gasoline over it, and Sun Cheng sent a fireball into the pile. The thin vine writhed violently in the flames. For a moment, Shen Qing almost thought he could hear it screaming.

With that threat dealt with, they were back on the road to Zizhou.

Song Kaiji nestled in the back seat with Shen Qing. He had so many things he wanted to ask about Shen Qing’s past, so many affectionate words he wanted to say. But with so many people around, he didn’t want to speak out loud.

So he opened his phone and typed into the notes app.

Shen Qing glanced at it once and said flatly, “I can’t read.” He spoke vaguely, making sure others couldn’t hear.

Song Kaiji froze. Then, after a long pause, he finally understood—Shen Qing was illiterate.

That was why he had asked for beginner-level books, not for a child, but for himself. That was why he insisted on learning recipes in person instead of reading them.

Shen Qing watched Song Kaiji’s stunned face, searching for any hint of disappointment. “So? Do you still like me?”

“Of course,” Song Kaiji replied immediately.

Up front, Tang Wenjie shifted in his sleep. Song Kaiji quickly lowered his voice.

“What does that have to do with liking you?”

Would it really have no impact?

Shen Qing pressed his lips together. In this world, everyone was literate, and scholars were highly respected. Scholar Miao in his village was already considered excellent, but if it had been a scholar from another village, they wouldn’t even bother speaking more than a few words to illiterate peasants like them.

Before, Song Kaiji didn’t know he was illiterate. Now that he did, would he still like him?

“I am a bit surprised,” Song Kaiji admitted. Given Shen Qing’s clothing when they first met, he should have realized that someone from a poor ancient village wouldn’t have had the opportunity to learn to read. But from the moment he met Shen Qing, he had always been so sharp, so bold. He had hidden it so well that Song Kaiji had never once suspected that he couldn’t read. “But more than that, I feel regretful and sorry for you.”

Even without literacy, Shen Qing was already this smart. If he had received a proper education, how dazzling would he be? “From now on, I’ll teach you. Anything you don’t understand, I’ll teach you.”

Shen Qing looked at Song Kaiji with a complicated expression. For a fleeting moment, a thought crossed his mind—if, just if, he and Song Kaiji could spend their lives together, would Song Kaiji always feel this way about him? Would all his flaws always be something Song Kaiji could accept? Would his eyes always be filled with love and tenderness?

Were all men not like Shen Zhigao, turning their faces as quickly as flipping a page? Did unwavering love truly exist in this world?

But it was just a passing thought. There would be no if. Shen Qing would never have the chance to find out the answer to that question.

He simply smiled and agreed. “Alright.” Then he asked Song Kaiji to find a newer phone, one that hadn’t been used to store anything. “The person who was teaching me has some family issues and won’t be available for a while. Could you read Three Character Classic to me? I’ll record it and use it to study later.”

He lifted the phone, pointing the camera at Song Kaiji’s handsome face. The soft winter sunlight fell on him, casting a gentle glow over his features.

Song Kaiji suddenly felt a little self-conscious and ran his fingers through his hair. “This formal? You need to record a video? Isn’t just audio enough?”

“I want to watch it,” Shen Qing replied. Since he put it that way, Song Kaiji had no way to refuse. Stiffly, he started reciting Three Character Classic to the camera.

From the front seat, Qu Weiwei, who had been listening to the whole thing, stared blankly into the distance and muttered, “Even if I were in a relationship, I wouldn’t be this much in love. Other people record good morning and good night messages, maybe even bedtime stories about counting sheep… Who the hell records Three Character Classic?”

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Thandar: Qing Ge’er is so decisive. But I could understand. I would never do anything that would put my family and friends in danger. I feel so sad for ML tho. Poor guy. So innocent.