The Absolute Favorite in the Apocalyptic Rebirth

Compared to the perilous journey there, the return trip was smooth sailing.

Of course, the smooth sailing was due to Gan Jingcheng. Qiu Rong unhesitatingly put Gan Jingcheng to work, taking him wherever he was needed. Moreover, Gan Jingcheng was a genius, and with the zombie virus research in progress and in dire need of talent, sending him to the research institute was the best option. The prerequisite was to have someone keep a close watch on him and assign specific research projects. As for those wicked human experiments, he could forget about them. If he dared to entertain such thoughts again, Qiu Rong would not hesitate to eliminate him!

Gan Jingcheng's mutated psychic power could shield them from zombies, so on their way back, even when passing through the high-risk zone of the salt lake, no zombie birds attacked them.

It took a day and a half, and the group arrived safely at the base in the afternoon of the next day.

The bus stopped in front of the base gate. Except for Gan Jingcheng, everyone else had to line up and wait to enter. The necessary procedures were numerous, but Qiu Rong had someone put in a good word, so no one made things difficult for them. Qiu Rong had Gan Jingcheng brought to their vehicle and taken into custody.

After Qiu Rong showed her identification card, another passage of the base opened, and two jeeps entered one after the other.

Not long after they entered the base, before they even parked, Lou Zhan and Yan Ge came running over in a hurry. The two men's faces were grim. Lou Zhan looked even more serious, and Yan Ge's usual smile was gone, replaced by a solemn expression and a faint air of authority.

Their eyes scanned the people getting out of the vehicles. After confirming that everyone was present, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"A-Zhan, Xiao Yan!"

"Big Brother, Big Brother Yan!"

"Big Brother, we're back!"

Everyone greeted them, and Lou Yan was the most excited. She hopped over and tugged at Yan Ge's sleeve, smiling ingratiatingly.

Yan Ge's face was dark. He gritted his teeth, looking at the young girl, pinched her cheek, and said through clenched teeth, "You little rascal, who allowed you to run off like that?" Thinking of the anxiety he had felt over the past half month, the worry that kept him awake at night, he wanted to pick up this little rascal and spank her.

"Sister-in-law and Mom agreed!"

"But I heard you sneaked out on your own!"

"No, I didn't! Yan Wanku, don't falsely accuse me!" Lou Yan loudly protested her innocence.

Yan Ge held back his anger, his large hand firmly gripping her, waiting to settle the score with her later.

Amidst the commotion, after Qiu Rong arranged other matters, the group headed towards the Lou family home. On the way, Qiu Rong reported to Lou Zhan about the mission and Gan Jingcheng. Having heard about Gan Jingcheng and Qiu Rong's arrangements, Lou Zhan didn't say anything and agreed to Qiu Rong sending someone to monitor Gan Jingcheng's actions.

Back at the Lou residence, from afar, they could see the dense evergreen vines climbing on the high walls, their leaves rustling and swaying in the wind, looking incredibly vibrant and adding a touch of green to the base.

Aunt was at home taking care of her grandson. Seeing her son, daughter, daughter-in-law, nephews, and nieces all return safely, her eyes reddened. She angrily punched her second son a few times, repeatedly scolding him for being unfilial. It was because he disregarded his safety and went missing that others had to go rescue him. Although she turned a blind eye to her daughter running out of the base, how could she not worry? No matter how open-minded she was, she would still worry about whether her ordinary daughter would encounter any accidents.

Lou Shang stood there with good humor, letting his mother hit him. After all, the responsibility for this incident did lie with him, and it was because of his disappearance that his family worried. A few hits were deserved.

Qiu Rong held her clinging son and sat with her husband, talking. The tension she had been holding onto finally relaxed. At this moment, she didn't have the strength and shrewdness she showed to outsiders. Like a little woman, she spoke softly with her husband. Their eyes met, each understanding the other's heart, their affection evident.

While they were chatting animatedly, Lou Tang also rushed back after receiving the news. Upon seeing his second son standing there being nagged by his wife, he flew into a rage, grabbed a clothes pole from the wall, and chased after his second son, also scolding him for being unfilial.

These past few days, the Lou family hadn't been able to eat or sleep well, all worried about the few people outside, especially since they had been gone for more than half a month. The base had even sent out ability users to look for them, but they didn't know where they had gone. Searching in the salt lake area had only alarmed the zombie bird flocks there, causing heavy losses for those ability users. Even the army was useless against them, so how could they not worry?

Moreover, what angered the three men the most was that Lou Yan, that audacious girl, had actually run off with them. As the only girl in the family, all the men doted on her. She was an ordinary person, so how could they bear to let her venture out of the base? The fact that Lou Yan went with Qiu Rong was something the matriarch of the family knew about and had tacitly allowed, making the three men even angrier. They couldn't vent their anger at the women, but couldn't they take it out on Lou Shang, the culprit?

So, when Lou Shang returned safely, what greeted him wasn't the care and concern of his family, but a beating from the three men in the house. Of these three men, one was his father, one was his elder brother, and the other was his childhood friend and partner-in-crime. They were all people he couldn't afford to offend, so he could only dodge and weave, looking utterly pathetic.

After venting their anger, Aunt finally checked on her son with concern, seeing that he had lost weight, her heart ached, and tears streamed down her face. Lou Shang could only embrace her and wipe her tears with a tissue.

After Lou Tang and the others learned what had happened, they were extremely grateful to Lou Dian. This mission was indeed extremely dangerous. If it weren't for Lou Dian, it was likely that everyone would have perished. Their second son would have died in that dark warehouse, and their daughter and daughter-in-law would have died on the road.

Lou Dian just smiled at Lou Tang's gratitude and said, "Uncle, you are my family, and Second Brother is my brother. It's nothing."

Lou Tang also knew that excessive gratitude wasn't necessary. He patted Lou Dian's shoulder, said "Thank you for your hard work," and told them to rest well at the base for a few days.

After spending the afternoon at the Lou residence and having dinner, the two finally took their leave.

Hand in hand, they strolled in the setting sun. A ten-minute walk took them a whole hour, and they even took a detour before returning home. The safe environment of the base allowed them to relax their tense nerves. If it weren't for the high walls, this peaceful world would give them the feeling of being back before the apocalypse.

By the time they got home, it was dark.

Lou Ling immediately went to take a bath, washing herself thoroughly from head to toe. Her pores opened, and she felt indescribably comfortable. During those days outside, she didn't have the opportunity to bathe, at most using a clean towel dipped in water to wipe herself down, trying to keep her body clean and odor-free.

After they both bathed and hung their washed clothes to dry on the balcony, the night deepened, and they could finally lie down in bed to rest.

Because they could stay home all day tomorrow without going out, Lou Dian easily suppressed her half-hearted resistance. They frolicked in bed until three or four in the morning, only stopping when she insisted on sleeping.

The next day, Lou Dian got out of bed feeling refreshed. Near noon, he went to the kitchen and prepared a very rich meal, then covered the dishes to keep them warm. When Lou Ling woke up and saw the table full of delicious food and the gentle, handsome smile of the man beside her, any lingering annoyance disappeared.

They sat at the round table in the living room to eat, bright light streaming in from the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating everything clearly. While eating, they discussed their next steps.

It was already September. After October, winter would arrive. Winter in the northwest was colder than in the southeast, and heavy snow would block the roads, making even ability users reluctant to go out. Therefore, Lou Dian didn't plan to take Lou Ling too far, at most just around the Northwest base. When winter came, they would still return to the base.

"Next summer, we'll go to the desert to collect some mutated plant seeds," Lou Dian said. His ability was wood-type acceleration, and he found that wood-type ability users were more powerful in combat if they had mutated plants. So, he was very willing to find some mutated seeds for her. Seeing her grow stronger little by little gave him a sense of satisfaction.

Lou Ling naturally agreed happily. She had a restless heart now. If she were confined to the base for safety, she wouldn't be able to stand it. It was better to go out and kill more zombies.

After lunch, Lou Ling was too full and didn't want to stay home and rest, so she decided to go out for a walk and see if Lin Bao and the others had returned.

Lou Dian supported her waist, his hand firmly attached, and asked with a caring expression, "Are you really alright?" When he asked this, it seemed that if she expressed any discomfort, he would immediately carry her to bed.

Lou Ling felt uncomfortable hearing this, and looking into his eyes, she felt that no matter how she answered, it wouldn't be right. Finally, she patted his hand away and said, "I can walk by myself!" If she answered "yes," she would probably be confined to the house. If she said "no," given this man's perverse nature, he would only get excited and want to do this and that again.

So, it was better to say nothing.

They went to Lin Bao's residence, but no one was there in the afternoon, so they went directly to the restaurant where Grandpa Mo worked. It was during the afternoon break, and the restaurant wasn't busy. Grandpa Mo was in the kitchen carving a carrot flower. Because Lou Dian and Lou Ling were ability users, the restaurant staff didn't dare to offend them. Hearing that they were looking for Grandpa Mo, they quickly led them to the kitchen.

"Grandpa Mo~~" Lou Ling called out.

Grandpa Mo put down his small knife. Seeing the two, he happily replied, "Ai!" and quickly washed his hands and came over.

Lou Ling considerately said, "Grandpa Mo, please finish your work. My brother and I came back last night, and we have free time today, so we came to see you."

Grandpa Mo smiled and led them to a corner of the restaurant to sit down. The restaurant manager had seen Lou Tang walking around the base with Lou Dian. Although he didn't know Lou Dian's identity, since he was being looked after by the base leader, his status must be considerable. He hurriedly and personally brought over a pot of tea, hoping to leave a good impression on Lou Dian.

Lou Dian smiled gently and dismissed the restaurant manager with a few words before quietly watching Lou Ling talk to Grandpa Mo.

"Tan Mo and the others came back a few days ago, stayed for two days, and then went out on another mission. They'll probably be back in a few days. It's really unfortunate that you came back now." Grandpa Mo said, looking them over for a moment before adding, "You've worked hard these days. You both look thinner. Come over for dinner tonight, and I'll make you something delicious."

Lou Ling happily agreed and chatted with Grandpa Mo for a while longer. Knowing that he still had work to do, they left.

After leaving the restaurant, Lou Ling dragged Lou Dian to the base's school.

The base's school was next to the military zone. Children under ten in the base were arranged to study here during the day. The curriculum included cultural classes and martial arts, and the school provided two free meals a day, all paid for by the base, which led many parents to send their children here.

Now that it was the apocalypse, supporting a school was actually very difficult for the base. However, Lou Tang had overruled the dissenting voices and established the school, making it the only base among all the bases with a school. Of course, running this school would have been truly difficult before, but the supplies provided by Lou Dian had solved this problem.

Lou Ling stood at the school gate, watching a group of children running with the instructor on the open space inside the school. The children were of different ages, but they had to endure rigorous physical training. Being strict now would give them the skills to survive later. So, although the children cried at first because it was too strict, they later got used to it and accepted it. Now, these fragile children, even with their faces flushed, refused to give up, running hard behind the instructor, sweating profusely.

Lou Ling watched for a while, feeling touched and somewhat dazed. It wasn't until a hand rested on her shoulder that she looked up and saw the man embracing her, gazing down at her with his familiar smile.

A thousand thoughts ran through her mind, but with him by her side, she couldn't help but smile and reach out to hold his hand.

After resting for two days, before Lin Bao and the others returned, Lou Ling and Lou Dian went to take on another mission.

Lou Ling was someone who couldn't stay idle, especially after seeing those children at the school. She felt a surge of compassion and immediately wanted to play the saint, going with Lou Dian to move all the supplies from nearby cities back to give to Lou Tang and the others to build the base. Since they had the ability, why not do it?

Of course, the night before, while having dinner at the Lou family home, they took the opportunity to inform the Lou family.

"You're going out again?" Lou Yan looked at them enviously, hesitated for a moment, then looked at Yan Ge, her face twitching. Remembering the spanking she received, she didn't make a fuss about going with them.

The Lou family father and son, along with Yan Ge, were very satisfied with the little girl's obedience. Regarding Lou Dian going out on a mission, they all gave some concerned reminders, but they weren't too worried.

Author's Note:

Today's goals:

Lou Ling's goal: Be a saint within her capabilities!

Lou Dian's goal: Satisfy his sister within his capabilities!

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