Since Du Beiye didn’t seek protection, then the reason she stayed close to her was to protect her. But they were strangers who had just met for a few days, and she had no reason to protect her at all.
After a while, an absurd thought flashed in Jiao Lizhi’s mind as she stared at her fiancée. "Brother Yan, maybe she treats me as her stepmother."
As soon as she said these words, Jin Xuyan flicked her forehead and replied with a hint of helplessness and annoyance in his voice, "What nonsense are you saying? Don’t tell me you really believe her words."
Rubbing her forehead, Jiao Lizhi shrugged and replied, "Who knows? Maybe she comes from the future and is indeed your daughter?"
Hearing this, Jin Xuyan shook his head and said, "If she is my daughter from the future, then her mother will only be you. Beside you, I will never like another person, let alone have a child with another woman. So, stop overthinking."
Jiao Lizhi was only teasing him. So when she heard his solemn reply, she was stunned. Lowering her head to hide her embarrassment, she let out a soft "oh" and stopped talking.
Noticing her shyness, Jin Xuyan smiled as he looked at her with a doting gaze.
The two of them ate some crackers and drank a bottle of water in silence. When the break was over, Du Beiye suddenly opened her eyes and stood up.
The tiredness in her eyes had already disappeared, replaced with sharpness. Standing in front of them, she was full of energy when she said, "Captain, the break is over."
From her behavior, Jin Xuyan was sure that she was someone who used to lead a team. The three of them left the small pharmacy and went to the hospital.
Unlike other places, the number of zombies in the hospital was three times higher. But since the zombies inside the building weren’t soaked in the rain, they were only Normal Zombies.
With their current strength, Jin Xuyan and his team managed to clear all the zombies in less than five hours. When they were done collecting the medicines, machines, and medical tools, the sun had slanted to the west.
Standing at the hospital’s rooftop, Jiao Lizhi checked her watch and said, "Brother Yan, if we use the military chopper, we can return in half an hour."
Just after she said this, Jin Xuyan’s satellite phone rang. Seeing that it was a call from Zhang Yuan, he picked it up and said, "What’s up?"
"Captain, Old Qin caught the Jiangning City Base’s spies yesterday and learned that they were looking for Subject Eighty-Eight," Zhang Yuan reported.
When he heard this, Jin Xuyan narrowed his eyes. No one knew that Subject Eighty-Eight was Fu Guai besides the Facility, him, and Li Qixuan. It seemed that they couldn’t stay in the Lin’an City Base any longer.
"Inform our members to pack up. We will leave in two days," he ordered.
"Understood."
After he hung up the call, Jiao Lizhi took out a military chopper from her space. The three of them didn’t delay any longer and returned to the base.
At the same time in the Lin’an City Base, Pei Yijun and his team had just arrived an hour ago and were resting inside one of the roadside stalls in the area near the Fourth Ring Gate.
Li Yang finished a bowl of cold, sweet soup and let out a satisfied sigh before he said, "It’s only several days after the zombie horde ended, but Lin’an Base has already recovered from the attack. I wonder how they do it."
Hearing this, Pei Yijun lowered his eyelids and replied, "The main reason is the leaders know how to improve the living condition of the survivors and give them a place to call home."
Chu Zhimiao nodded and added, "People will do their best to defend their home. Even if their home was destroyed, they would rebuild it again."
When his team members heard this, they nodded in agreement. If not because their Captain was the son of the Jiangning City Base’s Commander, they also would have wanted to live in the Lin’an City Base.
While they were chatting, the stall’s owner placed a basket of steamed corn buns on their table and said, "Comrade, you all must be tired from the long journey. We just received rations from the base, so these steamed buns are on the house."
Before Pei Yijun could refuse, the stall owner had already walked away and tended to other customers. They looked at the warm steamed buns and licked their lips.
While the steamed buns were made using more corn flour than wheat flour, they were much better than the hard, coarse grain buns sold in their base.
Pei Yijun always knew that his father prioritized the Pei family’s benefit above the survivors’ needs. But only now did he realize how wrong he was.
His father not only sought profit by trampling on others’ lives, he also selfishly used them to defend the base while preserving his army’s strength. "It’s no wonder she didn’t want to return home," he muttered under his breath.
"Brother Pei, what did you say?" Chu Zhimiao asked.
Regaining his composure, Pei Yijun shook his head and replied, "Nothing. Let’s eat before the food turns cold."
The moment his team members heard this, they no longer hesitated and reached out to the steamed buns.
Standing not far from them, one of the guards asked the stall owner, "Comrade, why did you give them the food for free? Even if we receive rations from the base, it’s only enough for your family."
The stall owner smiled when he heard this and replied, "When my family was still locked up in the Capital Base, my wife was sick and someone gave my son food, water, and medicine that saved her life."
"The one who saved my family is a member of the Phantom Team. Because they are here, my family decided to stay in this base."
"They might be Ability-Users and strong enough to get their own supplies. But from their eyes, I know that their lives are not better than ours. Maybe they would consider staying in our base after experiencing our hospitality," he added.