Chapter 180: Childhood sweethearts Chapter 180: Childhood sweethearts This Underground City was even more impressive than the one above.
The streets were actually paved in concrete.
The streets of the base above were all dirt, worn down by foot traffic.
Here, the population was sparse. They had been squatting there for a while and didn’t know whether it was too remote or there were simply few people around, as they hadn’t encountered a single person all that while.
They had originally planned to squat and question someone, but since no one showed up, they just had to move around and see.
As it turned out, it was indeed because the street they were on was too remote, which was why there were no people.
As they walked on, they encountered more people.
These people were also very neatly dressed, and they walked in the middle without any mismatch.
However, they were all men.
At this point, Su Yinhe was glad she had disguised herself.
If she, a woman, walked among them, it would definitely be conspicuous.
Lin Murong looked around curiously, but he didn’t stand out, as there were several others on the street who seemed new and were looking around like him.
This seemed to be the main street; it was wide, and there were actually storefronts around.
They sold food, drinks, clothes, desserts.
But all required food in exchange.
Lin Murong curiously looked around but was frightened off.
“A bowl of noodles for three kilograms of grain. This is robbery.” If you had three kilograms of grain, why would you eat noodles.
“You don’t understand. Some people have plenty of grain and still want to enjoy,” Su Yinhe said after stepping onto the street, her voice had changed.
Quite fitting for her appearance.
Along this street were stores, each more expensive than the last.
Lin Murong was curious and looked at each one; it even made him somewhat want to open a shop here.
It would be a cash cow.
Just requiring a bit of labor and time, the grain earned would be dozens of times that of the raw materials.
In the apocalypse, human labor and time were worthless; only grain was valuable.
But he just thought about it—first, he didn’t have any grain.
He was currently mooching for food and drinks.
Freeloading off Chi Yan, freeloading off Su Yinhe.
He was just a poor guy, repaying his debt by washing dishes and mopping floors every day.
Thinking of washing dishes, Lin Murong remembered someone locked in the villa.
He thought they would only need a day here and assumed Chen Yuan could survive a day without food, so he didn’t leave him anything to eat.
But by the looks of it, they might need to stay a few days.
He could only hope that Chen Yuan was strong.
And wouldn’t starve or die of thirst.
When they returned home.
Although people had died in the villa before, that was a long time ago, and having another person die while living there wasn’t great.
Brother Chen, you need to stay strong.
After praying, Lin Murong tossed Chen Yuan aside.
He was now very interested in the Underground City.
He remembered what they had come to do.
While wandering around, he struck up a conversation with a brother nearby.
Su Yinhe and Chi Yan wisely kept some distance from him to let him do his thing.
“Hey, big brother, I got separated from my brother. He told me to find him where there are women, but it’s my first time coming down here, so how would I know where to find women? He must be joking with me.”
The brother he approached was very helpful.
“It’s simple, I know where that is. Brother, you clearly look new here, not even knowing this. Just follow this street, keep going, and you’ll get there. However, to get in, you’ll need to give up more food.” He looked at Lin Murong, who was empty-handed, and hesitated.
“That’s okay. My food is with my brother. He said he’d wait for me at the entrance.”
“You better be careful, the entry fee is very expensive, it costs a lot of food. I don’t know if your brother has prepared enough food. Don’t let him take yours too.” Brother Chen shook his head; that place wasn’t cheap. This one looked like a fool, giving away so much food so freely—he’d have nowhere to cry if it was taken.
“No way. That’s my brother—we’ve been through life and death together…” Lin Murong’s words were filled with uncertainty.
“Pff. Life and death? Brothers turn against each other over a woman easiest, all the more when there’s a group of them. It’s been a while since you and your brother encountered women after entering the base, and there are a bunch of them inside. How do you know your brother won’t take your food for those women?” Seeing Lin Murong this way, Brother Chen was even more certain.
“Ah… what should I do?” Lin Murong panicked.
“There’s nothing you can do, just fend for yourself. If your brother really paid the food to get in, then he’s a guest inside, and the guards there will protect him. If you try to force your way in and kill him, they’ll beat you, even kill you.” Brother Chen stroked his chin, pleased with Lin Murong’s frantic state.
“No way,” Lin Murong’s face fell as if the sky had collapsed.
“Don’t do anything rash. When your brother runs out of food, he’ll be driven out. You can settle scores with him then. Just don’t rush in there like a fool.”
“Okay, thank you so much, big brother. I’m really lucky to have met such a good person like you.”
“It’s nothing, just a few pointers,” said Brother Chen, swelling with pride as Lin Murong looked grateful.
“Big brother, have you been inside? Is it really full of women?” Lin Murong, seizing the opportunity, continued pressed.
“I… I haven’t been inside. My wife and I were childhood sweethearts. She died, and I don’t want to look at other women anymore.” Brother Chen grew a bit sheepish; of course, he hadn’t been inside. It was too expensive, and he barely had enough food, the food he paid to come down here was what he had saved for three months by scrimping and saving, hardly enough to spend on seeing women.
But Brother Chen was prideful, so he brought up his long-dead wife.
His long-dead wife had been his childhood sweetheart. She was pretty as a child but grew up to be fat. Pressured by their parents, they married. Afterward, she was controlling, often checked his phone, always asking him for money.
She couldn’t dress up, got fat, and he was too embarrassed to bring her out to meet friends.
So, when the apocalypse came and zombies attacked, he didn’t think twice before using the nearby fat pig as a shield.
The “fat pig” looked bewildered as she got bitten, like a fool.
He was finally free of her.
Bringing her up now was still of some use.
She had some value even in the end.
“Big brother, you are really faithful. If your wife hadn’t died, you two would have been deeply in love,” Lin Murong said, moved.
Brother Chen felt even guiltier.
“Let’s not talk about her anymore. It makes me sad to think about her. Let me tell you about the inside. Although I’ve never been, my brother’s brother has.”
“Alright, thank you, big brother. You are really a good person.”
“To get in, you need to pay with food, but that’s just for entry. Inside, there are women, gambling houses, all kinds of shops, and in these shops, there are women too. However, in these shops, you can only touch the women, not really get involved. And to enter these shops, you have to pay more.”