A Fake Holy Mother in the Zombie Apocalypse

“Illusion or not, Bei Nuan, your home is really comfortable,” Du Ruo said, sprawling comfortably on the living room's large sofa.

Not even a second later, Lu Xingchi hauled him up.

“We need to ask the person who assigned us rooms if they know anything about this place being so special. Why would there be such a new apartment in a deserted city?” Lu Xingchi said.

Bei Nuan didn't want to leave.

She wasn’t afraid at all.

It was an instinct, an intuition. Bei Nuan could clearly feel that this was her home, not some strange replica created by someone else.

Her real fear was that once she left, she wouldn't be able to come back. Bei Nuan wasn't ready to leave yet.

But Lu Xingchi was uneasy.

In such a strange place, he absolutely didn't want to leave Bei Nuan behind while he went out to investigate.

Jiang Fei offered a solution. “I'll go ask around.”

He returned shortly.

“The person who assigned the rooms said that there are indeed some occupied units in the city's buildings. Furnished apartments aren't unusual. The owners probably left as soon as the zombie outbreak started.”

They considered it normal and didn't think much of it.

Bei Nuan looked at Lu Xingchi pleadingly.

She knew this was all too strange. Lu Xingchi would most likely suggest they switch to another apartment; he wouldn't stay here.

Lu Xingchi silently glanced at the pitiful expression on Bei Nuan's small face, then turned to the others. “Shall we stay here?”

“Stay, stay!” Du Ruo was quite satisfied with the place.

Jiang Fei smiled. “As long as Bei Nuan likes it, I have no objections.” Then, he goaded Lu Xingchi, “You’re not scared, are you?”

Lu Xingchi gave him a bland look, expressing his disdain by not answering.

Tang Tang had no opinion whatsoever. “I'm good with anything. I'll go with whatever you guys decide.”

And so it was decided.

They all figured, whatever strangeness might occur, they would face it as it came.

It was already past noon. Since Bei Nuan absolutely didn't want to go out, they didn't go to the canteen to use their meal tickets.

“I'll cook,” Bei Nuan said, rolling up her sleeves.

She hadn't cooked since Jiang Fei took over the cooking duties.

But this time was different.

This was Bei Nuan's home, her familiar kitchen. She felt like the host and should be the one cooking.

It was as if time had twisted, bringing her entire team to her former home as guests.

There was still running water.

The book mentioned that this place was close to the Yan River, and the entire base used filtered river water. Water wasn't scarce.

Bei Nuan took the gasoline-powered generator from her space. It was relatively quiet, producing some noise but not too loud.

The refrigerator was empty and clean. Bei Nuan retrieved ingredients from her space.

She cooked rice and prepared to make crispy salt-and-pepper pork, stir-fried clams, and mushroom soup.

While Bei Nuan busied herself in the kitchen, the others acted like guests, sitting outside and waiting for the meal. Only Lu Xingchi followed her into the kitchen.

He hovered behind her, getting in the way. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

Bei Nuan handed him two cucumbers and assigned him a task. “Wash these, smash them with a knife, and cut them into sections. I'll make the dressing.”

She took the checkered apron from the door, reached around him, and helped him put it on.

“This is what my dad used to wear,” Bei Nuan said, tying the strings behind his waist. “Put it on so you don't get your clothes dirty.”

Lu Xingchi smiled down at her, seemingly in an exceptionally good mood. He finally took his cucumbers and moved to the side.

After washing the cucumbers, he took a cutting board and knife and started working. After a long while, Bei Nuan still hadn't heard the sound of cucumbers being smashed, so she went over to check.

She was startled by what she saw.

He had carved two perfect cucumber dragons.

He had meticulously sliced the cucumbers without cutting all the way through, alternating diagonal and vertical cuts, transforming them into long, extendable, decorative dragons.

Regardless of the aesthetics, it showcased Lu Xingchi's exceptional knife skills.

In any case, it looked much more impressive than Bei Nuan's suggested smashed cucumbers.

While they were cooking, Du Ruo, feeling completely at home, wandered around the apartment, looking at everything.

Suddenly, he pointed at a painting on the wall. “Bei Nuan, did you draw this when you were little? Is it a dog?”

Bei Nuan came out of the kitchen, took a look, and said, a little speechless, “That's an elephant!”

Du Ruo froze for a moment, then nodded. “Not bad, quite abstract. The trunk is a bit short, though.” He pointed to a red streak next to the elephant. “Is this the elephant carrying a giant torch? Very imaginative, very creative.”

Bei Nuan groaned. “What torch? That's clearly a tree.”

Du Ruo argued, “Why is the tree red?”

Bei Nuan felt it was impossible to communicate with him. “It's an autumn maple tree. Of course, it's red. Should it be blue?”

Du Ruo silently looked at her “Autumn Elephant Maple Leaf” painting again, then shifted his gaze to the side.

Next to the painting hung a small copper bell with a small wooden tag underneath it, bearing four red characters: “Good Fortune and Happiness.”

Beside the red characters was a line of handwritten words in elegant script.

“Nuan Nuan…” Du Ruo leaned closer and read each character aloud, “…safe surgery?”

Bei Nuan froze.

Du Ruo turned to her. “Bei Nuan, you had surgery? What kind of surgery?”

Lu Xingchi, who was placing bowls and chopsticks on the dining table, also heard and looked over.

Bei Nuan hesitated for a moment. Du Ruo was a doctor, and Lu Xingchi was so intelligent; any lie she came up with would quickly unravel.

She decided to tell the truth.

“I had heart surgery when I was little. Congenital heart disease.”

Everyone looked at her, and the room suddenly fell silent.

Bei Nuan said lightly, “Why are you all staring at me? I had the surgery when I was three, a long time ago. I’m completely recovered now. See? You can’t even tell.”

Du Ruo seriously examined Bei Nuan from head to toe and said sincerely, “You’ve recovered remarkably well. I can’t tell at all.”

Bei Nuan thought, Well, duh. I’m in a completely different body, of course you can't tell. It would be strange if you could.

The matter was dropped.

They spent the afternoon playing mobile games and board games, and no one mentioned it again.

Since Bei Nuan had made lunch, the boys took over dinner. Uncharacteristically, tonight's chef was Du Ruo.

Bei Nuan was wondering why they hadn't requested many ingredients when she saw what they had cooked.

She wanted to cry.

So…plain.

Stir-fried shredded potatoes, stir-fried broccoli and carrots, stir-fried eggplant.

The only meat dish was cold shredded chicken breast.

It was sprinkled with finely chopped green and red pepper and black sesame seeds, looking presentable enough, but it lacked even a hint of chili oil or any other flavorful seasoning.

Low-fat, low-salt, lots of vegetables, and lean protein like chicken and fish, without any stimulating spices.

This was the kind of food Bei Nuan had eaten her entire life.

She hadn't expected to see it again in this distant world, after such a long period of unrestrained indulgence.

Du Ruo observed Bei Nuan's pained expression and said earnestly, “Bei Nuan, I just learned about your condition. Your usual diet is not good for you.”

Bei Nuan protested weakly, “But I’m really, completely cured now…”

It was no use.

Du Ruo patted Bei Nuan's shoulder magnanimously. “Health is most important. Don’t worry, whatever you eat, we’ll eat with you. We’ll all lose weight together.”

So, from now on, she had to say goodbye to her beloved spicy hot pot again?

Bei Nuan finished her healthy meal with tears in her eyes. It was already dark.

The four boys would sleep two to a room in the master bedroom and two on the living room floor. Bei Nuan would sleep in her own small room.

The night was too dark and quiet to continue using the generator, so they lit the scented candles provided by the base.

As Bei Nuan returned to her room, Lu Xingchi followed, placing the candle he was carrying on the table and casually closing the door.

Like a puppy, Bei Nuan sniffed the air, following the scent to the table beside her bed, where she was instantly struck with anguish.

The candle he brought in was…bacon scented!

Who in their right mind would make a candle with this scent?

Salty and savory, like someone frying bacon, or a giant burning ham, it made Bei Nuan, who had just eaten boiled chicken breast for dinner, want to bite the candle.

As Bei Nuan was drooling over the candle, Lu Xingchi came over and sat on the edge of her bed.

“What’s the story with the surgery? You were being evasive.”

Bei Nuan thought, Because it was another body's surgery, I was a little nervous, and Boss Lu saw right through me.

As expected, she couldn't hide anything from his eyes.

“I wasn't being evasive, I just didn't want you to know.”

Bei Nuan sat down too, looking into his eyes, and tried to be as truthful as possible.

She had been born with a heart defect, diagnosed early on with atrial septal defect and ventricular septal defect. The doctors said she needed surgery or she wouldn't live long.

When she was three, her parents scraped together every penny they had, borrowed a lot of money, and got her open-heart surgery.

She didn't remember much about the surgery itself because she was so young, only that it was very painful for a while, and she had to take medicine for a long time.

“Do you still feel unwell?” Lu Xingchi asked.

“Not really,” Bei Nuan replied.

Actually, it wasn't true.

Many people who had congenital heart disease as children recovered well after surgery and were almost indistinguishable from healthy individuals.

But Bei Nuan wasn't one of them.

She had always been frail.

She tired easily, got sick often, and had a much weaker constitution than others.

Especially during strenuous exercise, she felt like she was dying.

Every day she lived felt like a miracle.

Everyone thought the current Bei Nuan, with her thin arms and legs, looked fragile, but she knew this body was much stronger than her original one.

At least this was a healthy body that could run up six flights of stairs without stopping.

Lu Xingchi looked at her silently.

“It wasn't all bad. My dad talked to the school, so I never had to run the 800 meters in PE class, and I didn't have to participate in sports meets. The other girls were so envious.”

Bei Nuan sounded quite proud of this.

“I think the only downside was that I couldn't eat certain delicious foods.”

While her father was alive, he was especially strict about her diet, forbidding anything fried or spicy, which only made Bei Nuan crave them more, leading her to sneak food behind his back.

After her father passed away, there was no one to control her, but she became strict with herself, until she arrived in this world.

With this healthy body, she could eat whatever she wanted, and it was pure bliss.

Bei Nuan quickly added, “But I’m completely cured now, I can eat anything! Really! Completely! No! Problem!”

She was afraid Lu Xingchi would restrict her diet.

Lu Xingchi couldn't help but smile and reached out to hold her hand.

Bei Nuan continued to plead her case. “It’s really fine. Even my best friend said that she usually couldn’t tell I had this condition, until one day she saw the big scar on my chest…”

Bei Nuan stopped abruptly mid-sentence, filled with regret.

“Big scar?” Lu Xingchi asked, his eyes fixed on her.

Having already said it, Bei Nuan had to continue. “When I had the open-heart surgery, it was a median sternotomy, so I have a long scar on my chest.”

The scar was long and ugly, right down the center of her chest.

It stretched almost from a few centimeters below her collarbone all the way to her stomach, as if she had been cleaved in two.

Because of this scar, Bei Nuan couldn't wear low-cut tops, or even clothes with slightly lower necklines.

But, of course, this body didn't have that scar.

Last time, Lu Xingchi had pulled open her clothes and kissed her collarbone. She wondered if he had noticed anything.

He shouldn’t…be that much of a pervert, right?

Lu Xingchi watched her quietly, his expression unreadable.

Bei Nuan tried to backpedal.

“Later, I had scar revision surgery, so it shouldn’t be very noticeable now.”

“Where did you have it done?” Lu Xingchi asked casually.

“Abroad,” Bei Nuan replied, then immediately wanted to bite her tongue.

Someone had once mentioned that a neighboring country was excellent at scar revision, and Bei Nuan had dreamed of getting the surgery there when she had enough money.

Lu Xingchi asked casually, “Such a long scar, the revision surgery must have been very expensive, right?”

It was expensive, very expensive.

Bei Nuan could only answer, “It was quite expensive.”

“Where did you get the money? Did your father leave it to you?”

This didn't make sense. Last time, Bei Nuan had mentioned being short of money after her father's death.

Bei Nuan didn't fall for the trap and calmly replied, “I rented out part of our house and saved up a small amount.”

She waited nervously for Lu Xingchi to ask more strange questions, but he didn't.

He simply leaned forward, gently pulled her towards him, and held her in his arms.

“It’s okay,” he said, hugging her and patting her back gently.

His hands were large, his voice gentle, as if he was comforting a child.

Bei Nuan buried her face in his broad, warm chest, clutching his shirt tightly, her nose stinging.

She was afraid of crying and wetting his clothes, which he would surely notice.

After a long time, just as Bei Nuan had calmed down, Lu Xingchi released her.

“It’s late, you should sleep,” he said.

Lu Xingchi stopped asking questions; the alarm was lifted.

He stopped questioning her and instead started talking about his own childhood.

His voice was gentle and soothing, and Bei Nuan listened quietly, her whole body relaxing.

Only the flickering candlelight illuminated the room. Sitting on her familiar bed, Bei Nuan started to feel sleepy.

After traveling so far, she finally felt like she had returned home.

Drowsiness became overwhelming, her eyelids heavy, but Bei Nuan tried to stay awake.

“You should sleep,” Lu Xingchi said, seeing her struggle. He stroked her hair and smiled. “I’ll sit here for a while and then leave. I won’t do anything to you.”

Bei Nuan wasn’t worried about that. It wasn’t the first time they had been alone together at night.

“That’s not it,” Bei Nuan said shyly. “I know this sounds crazy, but I can’t help but think, maybe in this place, my dad is still alive, and he might come back and open the door sometime…”

Lu Xingchi didn’t seem to think her words were crazy at all.

His tone was serious. “Go to sleep. I’ll wait for you. If your dad comes back, I’ll wake you up.”

Bei Nuan was still hesitant.

Lu Xingchi promised, “Your dad should have the key, he’ll open the door himself. But I’ll stay awake. If I hear a knock, I’ll open it for him.”

Reassured, Bei Nuan closed her eyes.

She fell asleep quickly.

Lu Xingchi covered her with the blanket, leaned against the desk beside the bed, and watched her sleeping face in the candlelight.

Du Ruo was right, she did look “peaceful.”

She lay soundly in bed, eyes closed, like a mischievous child who had finally returned home.

Lu Xingchi glanced around the room.

Traces of a girl's life were everywhere, much like her personality: lively, cute, and a little messy.

Books were stacked on the bookshelves, novels, textbooks, and workbooks, all piled together haphazardly.

Lu Xingchi couldn't help but reach out and straighten the books, placing them upright on the shelf one by one.

Soon, his attention was drawn to a beautifully bound set of books.

A History of World Civilizations.

Lu Xingchi randomly pulled out a volume and opened it.

On the title page, it read: Happy birthday, Nuan Nuan, may you grow up healthy.

Signed, "Dad."

It seemed to be a birthday gift from her father.

Lu Xingchi flipped through the pages.

Pencil annotations in Bei Nuan's small, childish handwriting filled the book, occasionally accompanied by a little flower or a smiling face drawn with a pencil.

She had read these books carefully.

Lu Xingchi turned the pages, one by one.

A wondrous picture unfolded before him, a world similar yet different from his own.

Author's Note:

Don't worry, this book won't have any horror elements.^^

ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ

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