Ch66 - Solid Friends

Translator: transcendentwings

What was the meaning of being wild with joy? The hope that was originally thought to have been smashed into smithereens along with the zombie who plummeted from the building, reignited its beacon from the depths of the locker.

What did a bolt from the blue represent? When the plug was grabbed and a jack was sought, a belated realization hit, f*cking hell, there’s no power.

“Well, is a power bank okay?”

“What. Do. You. Think. Ne.”

Song Fei pursed his lips and gave Qi Yan a glare full of resentment. He merely wanted to liven up the awkward atmosphere a bit, so did the other have to be so serious ah!

Qi Yan’s lips were drawn into a straight line, his expression looking darker in the dim illumination of the flashlight.

After some thought, He Zhiwen gently put down the cassette player, laying it on its back and then stroked the bottom edge with his hand and ran his fingers along it until he reached the final third and stopped: “Sure enough.”

Before Song Fei was able to ask what he found, he heard a kakada and the delicate half-arc-shaped cover opened under He Zhiwen’s hands.

Song Fei had never used such a radio before, but the principle of such electrical products were the same, so he instantly recognized it was the place to insert batteries. It’s just that it was different from the number 5 and number 7 batteries normally used in common remote controls, wireless mice, etc. The vacated battery space was much larger and very similar to the allocated battery spaces of old-fashioned flashlights he saw at home as a child: “Number 1 batteries?”

He Zhiwen nodded, affirmed his guess, and accurately reported the required capacity: “Four of them.”

Song Fei became depressed, let alone four, even one was enough to cause them a headache: “Who still uses number 1 batteries in this day and age ah.”

He Zhiwen: “Uh. . . We do.”

Song Fei made a face, looking at He Zhiwen, who had silently raised his hand, unsure if he should cry or laugh: “Why didn’t you say so sooner!”

“But it’s in the experimental apparatus storage room on the sixth floor, can we even go back downstairs to retrieve them?”

“Why can’t we.” Qi Yan looked up slowly. It might’ve been considered a dilemma if they didn’t know where to look for the batteries, but now that the coordinates were confirmed, there was nothing that could stop their yearning for information on the outside world, “We have already found the radio that was the most difficult to find and you think we can’t handle four measly batteries?”

His comrade-in-arms gaze was so confident and firm, and the slightly raised corners of mouth were so calm and collected, making He Zhiwen have the illusion that he had crossed over into a movie: “Qi-ge, with such a smile hanging on your face ba, I feel like I’m fighting side-by-side with Tom Cruise.”

“They don’t fight against monsters in Mission Impossible, Tomb Raider is more apt.” Qi Yan commented with a slight smile as he affectionately greeted his BF, “Angelina Jolie, pack up, it’s time to go.”

Song Fei shot him a flirtatious look: “Right now my hair is still a little short, just make do with it first, later, I will braid it when it grows longer. I promise that you’ll have a taste of hell.”

Qi Yan: “You’re underestimating yourself too much, even if you had Zhao He’s hair style, I would still be able to ascend.”

Song Fei: “Does Zhao He even have a hairstyle?”

Qi Yan: “You can’t insult others just because he isn’t present.”

Song Fei: “It seems that you started it ba.”

Qi Yan: “. . . Seems so.”

Song Fei: “Heiheihei.”

Qi Yan: “Speaking of, with those looks, Zhao He doesn’t need to have a hairstyle.”

Song Fei: “True ah, it’s a pity he’s straight.”

Qi Yan: “En, what a pity.”

Why did these two break up because their three views clashed? He Zhiwen was completely puzzled when he recalled the romantic history Song Fei disclosed to him in the past. In his opinion, a third person that could match with either one of these two people who were exchanging amorous glances and flirting with each with a little nudge to the head exchanged with coquettish hammering in this world. These two who, no matter whether they were still in a shattered relationship or were associating with each other with sweetness mixed within, were still provoking each other in a deranged manner, should belong to each other and can only belong to each other.

Why?

There was no reason, just for the sake of world peace.

Showing off their affection didn’t delay the pre-battle preparations. While He Zhiwen was still immersed in the infinite laments that “Yue-lao really knew how to matchmake ah”, his two comrades had already packed up and were ready to open up the path.

He Zhiwen was startled and fumbled for his dagger as he scrambled off the floor: “Wait for me!”

His two comrades-in-arms who were about to open the door turned around in doubt: “What are you doing?”

He Zhiwen replied naturally: “Coming along ah.”

Song Fei sighed as he squeezed his round face: “Wait here obediently, be good.”

He Zhiwen always felt that ever since Song Fei pinched his face, his status was in danger of slipping from a fellow comrade to a cute pet. He removed Song Fei’s mangy paws unhappily: “The two of you are venturing out and taking risks, while I’ll be huddled here doing nothing, could I still be considered a fellow human being like that!”

Song Fei took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Qi Yan turned his head slightly and gazed out of the window as he knew that the classic routine was nigh.

“The two of us are heading out to engage in combat, did you think that you wouldn’t be fighting if you were here? On the contrary, you have to remain to guard the recorder to the death! In other words, this is actually the most crucial and dangerous front.” Song Fei delineated clearly and orderly without losing their team’s unity and bonds of friendship. There was a hint of austerity in the midst of tenderness and a sprinkle of kindness hidden in the sternness and upon hearing it at first, was like a needle concealed in cotton, but after mulling it over, the words were earnest and sincere, “Imagine it for a moment, if you came with us and we located the batteries, yet upon our return, we discover that the radio is missing, then what is the point of our bloody battle?”

He Zhiwen: “I. . .”

Song Fei: “Let’s picture it again, what if there was someone else in this building and he doesn’t want to share the outside information with us, then while we sacrificed all of our efforts, wouldn’t he just be benefiting for free?”

He Zhiwen: “But. . .”

Song Fei: “Then let’s suppose once more, there’s such a persistent professor beyond this window, if it were to find out that we’ve taken its treasure, wouldn’t it be possible for it to climb back through the window?”

He Zhiwen: “I’ll stay!”

Song Fei: “Really?”

He Zhiwen: “En. But I’ll be honest, I don’t particularly like that last scene you envisioned. . .”

But who knows what crazy scenes Song Fei will continue to conjure up if he didn’t agree at that time!

What should he do if he was entangled with a boyfriend who was full of trickery?

Qi Yan’s way of expressing love was to offer the other party maximum freedom and let him go play tricks on others to his heart’s content.

Watching his two comrades as they snuck into the moonlit and chilly corridor accompanied by the wind, all his previously messy thoughts completely disappeared. When the door was closed and locked, He Zhiwen only had two thoughts left in his heart—His comrades would definitely make it back and he would protect the cassette player with his life.

The former allowed him to feel grounded in his reliance and faith.

The latter made him gain some courage in his resolution.

The whistling wind gushed into the room from the window frame bereft of glass. He Zhiwen got up and approached the window, probing outwards to survey the surroundings, and only after a long while did he finally confirm that the area he was in was safe. Let alone wanting to climb up from downstairs to the twelfth floor, even if someone wanted to scramble over from next door, the smooth and sleek building had no climbing holds to grasp or step on.

When he finally retracted his head, his face was already flushed from getting buffeted by the winds, but He Zhiwen didn’t feel a chill in his heart, not only was he not cold, instead he was burning up, as if there was a surge of roaring blood. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that if a companion was in need at this exact moment, he could be naked and still declare, go, let’s go and be able to get tangled up in a battle with vigor.

This was simply unimaginable before.

He Zhiwen has always been a well-behaved student in the eyes of his teachers and a nerd under his classmates’ gazes. After kindergarten, not only had he never held hands with another female classmate since then, but he had also never gotten into a fight with any of his classmates regardless of gender. In fact, that time in kindergarten was also the other party beating him up while he just cried.

In college, although he got along well with his fellow classmates and roommates, there was always a subtle alienation within this harmony. There was a time when their dorm room drank behind closed doors and one of the roommates became drunk and spilled the truth under the influence of the alcohol, saying that he was someone who was inscrutable. He Zhiwen didn’t know what it meant to be easy to read or incomprehensible, he only knew that although they wouldn’t backstab him, he also wouldn’t go through fire and water for them.

Besides, who didn’t place morality and righteousness on either side of themselves these days while sticking the word benefit in the center. Just those three roommates who drank and ate together, if you told them one day that there would only be one postgraduate quota selected among the three of them which they could decide amongst themselves. Would the three of them not shed all pretenses? Impossible.

So was the viral outbreak the turning point?

He Zhiwen recalled it carefully, however that didn’t seem right.

A week ago, when he couldn’t bear the hunger any longer and broke out of the dormitory with a majority of the others, he didn’t even care who he was with. It wasn’t until they raided the second floor of the canteen and realized that there were only a few scattered companions left, that the six of them came to an agreement and formed a temporary refugee team.

The six of them shared one roof, seemingly relying on each other, yet in fact, they didn’t aim to have a deeper relationship. They were just forced to gather together and happened to be just as isolated and helpless. Even if Zhao He, Fu Xiyuan, and Wu Zhou originally belonged to the same department, their relationship was limited to mere familiarity, not intimacy.

Then within two days, a group of strange classmates broke through downstairs.

And after that, everything started to go awry.

When it was proposed to join forces with Class 1 to seek the radio, his intent was very straightforward—To borrow the combat power of Class 1 to increase their safety index and improve the probability of their success.

Because the motive was too obvious, they didn’t hide it, they just changed it to a better way of phrasing it.

However Class 1 didn’t waste any words and the decision couldn’t have been made any faster. Summing it up, it was only four works—Just do it ah!

And following that, they just took action.

The eight-member squad that joined hands temporarily ventured forth ignorantly, rushing to the forefront when met with danger, and stabbing zombies when encountering them. Treating it as if this not a reality where one could die at any time, but a stand-alone game with a hundred lives that allowed one to resurrect at will.

How does one associate with each other transparently? He Zhiwen understood it now. That was, in a relationship, there must be a fool who offers everything up without expecting anything in return and then another who thinks they are sharp and clever, hesitating as they take their first step, but they take a second, until finally they become a simpleton themself.

He met four of these dorks in one go. No, according to the theory of birds of a feather flock together, there might be eight of them. Then going by visual inspection, more than half of their Class 2 had already been converted. Disregarding those in the distance, just considering those two situated at the Yixin building and Zhao He who may or may not have returned to the canteen already, they were obviously competing neck to neck against each other and rushing head on the road of no return to see who was the bigger blockhead.

If the university were to now offer the postgraduate quota to an individual from the two Wusheng Classes and let them choose amongst themselves, He Zhiwen believed that it was highly likely that they would just draw lots together while Song-tongxue would definitely speak plausibly that luck was also a part of comprehensive quality.

The moon was covered by the appearance of a sudden cloud and the office instantly darkened, plunging into darkness completely, unfathomable and oppressive.

He Zhiwen was unmoved, he embraced the radio cassette player, leaned against a corner of the walls and closed his eyes, a light shone in his heart brilliantly. He didn’t know when Song Fei and Qi Yan would come back, but he knew that they would definitely return.

The moonlight dimmed and then brightened, the wind petered out and then rose again, heavy and stiff footsteps could be heard in the corridor from time to time. On such a night, every minute and every second felt like years, yet He Zhiwen just embraced the radio and waited serenely for four hours.

Up until, a ping pong ball bounced across the corridor before the door.

The husband and wife party teamed up to battle, Physics Man He deduced the truth of friendship!

The translator has something to say: HZW is making it seem like a Dr. Seuss story with Thing 1 and Thing 2, then Thing 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 hahaha. Also I bet SF would sneakily rig the lottery so that he would definitely lose the chance to make that quota

Update 3/3, Merry Christmas everyone!