The Journey of Resident Evil

“Wow!”

“What are you making a fuss about?” Liu Feng was still half asleep when Xueqi brought a bowl of pig trotter in front of him.

When Liu Feng woke up, he exclaimed, “Wow, my goodness! Delicious!”

“Haha! Nonsense. Hurry up and eat!”

“Wow! It’s really tasty! I haven’t had this in ages, it’s delightful!”

“Is it good?” Xueqi asked.

“It’s delicious! Have you eaten yet?”

“Let me feed you! Girls need to eat more to avoid malnutrition during development!” I fed Xueqi.

Xueqi puffed out her chest and said, “I’m developing just fine! Qimeng-Jie is too!”

“What’s with all the chatter! Eat quickly. When I say eat, you should listen. Come on, Qimeng, have some too!”

I hadn’t eaten a bite myself but fed Xueqi and Qimeng first. They finished the entire bowl of pork between the two of them.

Afterwards, I indulged in a few bowls myself, rubbing my belly, feeling quite satisfied!

Finally, I had a meal that was both delicious and nutritious.

Meanwhile, Liu Feng, Ye Xiang, and Shen Wei were grilling meat. Even though the grilled meat lacked nutrition, it still tasted quite good!

Suddenly, a small puppy appeared outside the iron gate, very tiny, with a body covered in long white fur. It had a keen nose and smelled the bones, so Qimeng wanted to catch it but was afraid it might bite.

However, tempted by the bones, the little dog entered. We didn’t disturb it, letting it come in to eat the bones on its own. Slowly, the puppy approached me. I gently stroked its head as it wagged its tail, seeming to agree to my touch.

Qimeng felt a little jealous seeing how well the puppy got along with me; she wanted to play with it too, but it kept running away from her.

We weren’t going to the mountain today, so everyone was a bit bored with nothing to do!

Ye Xiang was rummaging upstairs, who knows what that kid was after. What good stuff could be left up there for him? Just like a robber, he searched the entire room, and we couldn’t figure out what he was looking for.

But when he came down, he had found lots of food! Wow, there was still this stuff left!

What a robber.

Ye Xiang distributed the food to everyone, only to find he had nothing left for himself. He ran back upstairs to search again and found something quite delicious, although he didn’t know what it was. The package just had the word “fish” on it, with the rest being unreadable gibberish. There were also compressed biscuits, which are a staple in the military.

It took until midday for the little dog to accept these women! Of course, it was thanks to me because, among everyone, I was the one born in the Year of the Dog!

Dogs are friendly to each other like that. Pfft. I’m not a dog. I was just born in the Year of the Dog.

I didn’t worry too much today; I wanted to get some sun, so after lunch, I took Xiao Bai¹ out for a stroll.

A few little pigs were staying in the yard; who takes pigs for a walk! It’s not like we’re herding pigs.

The yard is enclosed with iron mesh and red bricks, so there’s no fear of zombies coming in. Zombies have rigid bodies-climbing walls? Impossible!

Ye Xiang was handling a sniper rifle, and who knows what the kid was planning!

Seeing Ye Xiang shooting at wildlife, Shen Wei pulled him away, not allowing him to shoot. The poor guy is always scolded! But what can he do, for acting like this!

“Haha…!

“Liu Qi, what tasty food do you have here?” I really want to try some local specialty or something.

“We do have some!” Liu Qi thought for a moment, “But it’s quite far!”

Qian Jing added, “Going out might be dangerous, who knows?”

“Sigh! Forget it, let’s just stay put for now!” Liu Yonglin said.

“Even if it’s dangerous, I want to go! What’s it called, is it watermelon, chestnut, pear, or something I’ve never seen before? Tell me, I’ll go check it out right away-I really want to eat something, show us the way!”

I’m so hungry right now, and besides, there shouldn’t be any zombies at this time!

I rambled on quite a bit, not sure if Liu Qi caught it all.

But today, I really want to go for a stroll outside. The sun is hanging high, not going out would be wasting such a beautiful day.

Talking about food got Ye Xiang excited too; he really wanted to eat, but he didn’t speak up because Shen Wei was around.

However, Qimeng was certainly against me going, so I talked to her and then with Xueqi. After discussing it together, we decided we could go, and then we packed explosives, guns, and food like bandits, as if we were going to rob something.

We walked out of the front gate, cautiously stepping out with Xiao Bai, following Liu Qi, and Ye Xiang even brought a few bombs!

Ye Xiang reached a pond and saw some fish, itching to catch them. The fish were big, so it looked like we could improve our meal again today. Although we hadn’t finished the pork, fresh fish was even better!

Liu Qi looked at the pond and said, “Those fish are from my family’s pond. If you want to eat, go ahead.”

But it’s better to catch them on our way back; if we catch them now, they’ll smell by the time we get home.

“What do you want to eat, fish or lychees?” Liu Yin asked.

Of course, I wanted both, but as the saying goes, you can’t have your cake and eat it too. So we decided to pick some lychees first, as I’d never seen a lychee tree before!

Is it the right time to pick lychees? I think this is the season to eat them.

I’m not sure how far we walked; it was a bit hot, but no one complained because we were all used to it. Xueqi’s fair skin was almost getting tanned.

No need to mention Qimeng; Sun Jing was born here, so she was doing a bit better without any issues.

As for Xiao Bai, who knows where it ran off to. But it would come back soon, covered in all sorts of grasses.

After Shen Wei helped remove the grass from Xiao Bai, she kept holding it to prevent it from running away again, but the little rascal still wanted to play.

Ye Xiang was trying to shoot some birds nearby, but he wasn’t very good at it. Liu Qi managed to shoot three, Liu Feng got one, and I also hit two.

After an hour of walking, we finally arrived at the orchard under Liu Qi’s guidance. Seeing how big and beautiful this orchard is, I almost wanted to stay here. There was so much to eat, so why leave? But then I remembered all the things we left in the yard, including the pigs!

There was a narrow path here where the armored vehicle couldn’t pass through. It would have been nice if it could.

I asked, “Liu Qi, is there only one path here?”

“There isn’t…” Liu Qi responded but then seemed to realize something and added, “Oh! How could I be so silly! We could have driven the armored vehicle here.”

“Haha, you didn’t say that earlier! I only got to drive that vehicle once. I’d love another go, but there’s no chance now,” Liu Yonglin said.

“You made us walk for an hour! Boo hoo!!” Qimeng groaned.

“And got us all tanned!” Xueqi complained with a pout.

“Alright, let’s pick some fruit. After that, we’ll drive back to get the vehicle and come pick you up,” Liu Qi suggested.

Since it was Liu Qi who forgot, he, Liu Yonglin, and Liu Feng headed out with their guns. The yard had just one house, but it was completely empty, likely used for storing fruit.

They closed the iron gate, grabbed a few rice bags from the yard, one for each person, and spread out to pick fruit. Ye Xiang, Liu Yin, Qian Jing, and I all climbed the trees to pick fruit, while the girls gathered them from the ground. There were lychees, peaches, and more-so much had fallen, and the little birds had eaten quite a lot.

I tasted a lychee; wow, it was incredibly delicious. It was my first time eating freshly picked lychees, and they were truly different-so sweet.

“Tian, I want that big lychee! That really big one!” Xueqi exclaimed, pointing to a slightly larger lychee.

Even though the lychees were mostly the same size, Xueqi had her eye on that one slightly larger lychee.

I carefully picked the lychee she wanted and gently tossed it to her. Xueqi caught it and held it carefully in her hands, reluctant to eat the big lychee.

The lychees, peaches, and other food filled several rice bags.

Liu Yonglin, Liu Qi, and Liu Feng drove the armored vehicle over, and we loaded the bags onto it.

Xiao Bai had disappeared for a while, but just as we were about to leave, it suddenly dashed out, bringing along another little dog, a black one.

The new dog was about the same size as Xiao Bai. Who would have thought Xiao Bai had a friend? Now we had both Xiao Bai and Xiao Hei².

We took both of them into the vehicle, but Xiao Hei was a bit shy. With Xiao Bai leading, they both sat upfront with me.

Xiao Bai was already attached to me, and now Xiao Hei seemed to be too. Xiao Hei was quite well-behaved along the way. Xiao Bai didn’t like me holding just Xiao Hei and kept barking. But I believe in fairness, so I held both of them, ensuring neither felt left out.

Liu Yonglin, seeing the bond I had with the two dogs, quipped with a hint of jealousy, “Why do those dogs like you so much? And they’re not so friendly with us. Yesterday, Xiao Bai ran off when it saw me, and when I tried to pet it, it looked like it wanted to bite. Did you give it some sort of love potion?”

“Come on, Xiao Bai even plays with Liu Qi, so why not with you?”

“Forget it! Liu Qi must have gone above and beyond today.”

I glanced at Liu Qi. “What did you use to lure it?”

“Heh, I specifically brought some meat for it to eat! Otherwise, it wouldn’t be this friendly with me,” Liu Qi said with a wry smile.

But when I’m around, Xiao Bai listens only to me.

Xiao Bai was weaving through my legs, refusing to let Liu Qi hold it.

“You ungrateful little thing! What’s so bad about letting me hold you?” Liu Qi scolded Xiao Bai with a finger wag.

“Haha!” Liu Yonglin and I both laughed.

Xiao Bai got along well with Qimeng and Xueqi too, but if I was around, no one else could get its attention. It always cheerfully followed me around.

“Liu Yonglin, keep your eyes on the road! Why are you staring at me?” I said, noticing Liu Yonglin watching me.

“Oh, come on! It’s getting late, the sun’s almost down. Keep an eye out for any survivors or anything else!”

“Zombies shouldn’t appear now, right? I feel things are getting a bit dangerous,” Liu Qi remarked.

“Who cares! If they come, we’ll just shoot them down. These clueless zombies don’t realize this is an armored vehicle!” Liu Yonglin declared.

If zombies really did come, they wouldn’t care whether you were in an armored vehicle. They wouldn’t know it meant their doom.

Still, it’s a bit scary; maybe zombies come out looking for food at times like this.

Liu Yonglin stepped on the gas, heading quickly towards home, but he maintained a safe speed because safety always comes first.

As he started to slow down for a turn, we spotted two zombies by the roadside. They weren’t moving; instead, they were eating something alongside another zombie.

Liu Yonglin stopped the vehicle and asked, “Should we shoot them? These two zombies are just like the usual ones, nothing special, so a machine gun should take care of them.”

I glanced at Liu Qi, who nodded in agreement. From the back, Ye Xiang shouted, “What’s going on?”

I replied, “Zombies! Just two of them, no big deal. Get ready; we can handle them with guns.”

“Do we even need everyone for this? It’s just a hassle,” Liu Yonglin said confidently. “Watch this!”

Liu Yonglin opened the window and tossed a bomb in front of the zombies. Boom! The two zombies were blown away.

“Holy cow!” I exclaimed as I noticed a lot more zombies on the hillside by the road. I quickly shut the window.

Liu Yonglin saw them too and yelled, “Let’s get out of here!”

Ahhh!!

“Ye Xiang, throw a bomb!” I heard Liu Feng shout.

Zombies were pursuing us, and we certainly couldn’t lead them back home. We needed to get rid of them on the road.

Ye Xiang fumbled with a bomb in the back, almost blowing up the armored vehicle, making it feel like it might flip over.

“Ye Xiang, are you done yet?”

“There’s still one more left!”

Come on, why is it taking so long for one zombie? We’re almost home!

“Haha! Liu Feng and I were having a contest to see who has better aim!”

“Hurry up, stop fooling around!”

“Alright! It’s done!”

We made it back safely. As we drove the vehicle into the yard, Xiao Bai proudly led Xiao Hei around, exploring the place. After a bit of play, they both fell asleep, probably exhausted from all the running earlier in the afternoon.

I chuckled at how tired and scruffy Xiao Bai and Xiao Hei looked.

“Qimeng, come have a peach,” I said, washing the peaches and handing them out.

“Ye Xiang, go check upstairs, and don’t mess around here. What if zombies show up later?”

“Got it. Xiao Bai, Xiao Hei, wake up!” Ye Xiang tried to call the dogs.

“Don’t disturb their nap! You don’t know how far Xiao Bai ran today. Forget it, let’s go,” I said as I took Ye Xiang upstairs.

Adorable Xiao Bai and Xiao Hei, they really are blessed.

They’re quite a pair; Xiao Bai came first, and then Xiao Hei joined us.

“Xiao Bai went to find Xiao Hei today and ran quite a distance. They came back just in time, and you can see Xiao Bai is very diligent,” I said seriously.

“Really?” Ye Xiang obviously had his doubts.

“Xiao Bai didn’t return until the afternoon. Isn’t that quite a distance? And they ran back! Xiao Bai even got a scratch near its eye,” I said, feeling a pang of sympathy.

“It seems so! Even animals understand, sharing good times and bad,” Ye Xiang remarked.

“Hahaha! I know why you get along so well with them!” Ye Xiang laughed.

“Why’s that?”

“Because you understand them well!”

I really didn’t know why.

Liu Qi brought up some peaches and lychees. Too many lychees can cause a heat rash, and too many peaches can make you bloated! Seriously!!

We watched from upstairs for a long time and didn’t see any zombies. To be safe, we kept patrolling until evening, when Qimeng came up with Xiao Bai and Xiao Hei to call us for dinner, and that’s when I went down.

After resting, Xiao Bai and Xiao Hei were back to their lively selves. Watching their cheerful antics, I felt a hint of envy for their happiness!

“Xiao Bai, Xiao Hei, what are you two up to?” I asked, but they just wagged their tails, unable to understand me.

I shook my head and jokingly said, “If I sold you two, you’d probably help me count the money!”

“Xueqi, why aren’t you eating yet? What are you waiting for?” I noticed Xueqi sitting there without touching her food.

“What’s going on?” Qimeng went over to ask.

Xueqi and Qimeng pointed at her stomach, and I assumed it was a stomachache. “Got a stomachache? Did you eat something bad?”

“Oh, go away,” Qimeng said, pushing me into the kitchen and not letting me out.

They kept watching me, and I was completely puzzled. What was going on, and why were they staring at me?

Forget it, I’ll just eat by myself. After feeding Xiao Bai and Xiao Hei a few bowls of rice, I finally started eating slowly.

I noticed Xiao Hei was eating a lot, but Xiao Bai wasn’t eating and was just sitting next to Xiao Hei, watching it eat. I pointed at Xiao Bai and said, “See? I told you!”

“Yeah, look how considerate Xiao Bai is, letting its husband eat first!” Ye Xiang said, shaking his head.

I tossed a bone to Xiao Bai, but it took it and put it in front of Xiao Hei. Xiao Hei didn’t eat it but barked a couple of times before continuing with its meal.

I got another bowl, filled it, and placed it in front of Xiao Bai, encouraging it to eat, which it finally did.

“Eat up! We’ve got enough rice here to last us for years!” I told Xiao Bai and Xiao Hei.

They wagged their tails as if to say thank you.

“Hehe, that’s great!”

After dinner, Ye Xiang built a fire in the yard and continued grilling meat. Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai went to play with Xueqi.

For some reason, Xueqi wasn’t herself today. She wasn’t eating anything, but she still seemed to enjoy playing with Xiao Bai and Xiao Hei. I thought of asking her, but Qimeng stayed by her side, not letting me get too close.

I asked Liu Yonglin, and all he said was, “Go ask her yourself!” as if he was afraid Xueqi would bite his head off!

I called Xiao Hei and Xiao Bai back. They obediently came over, deciding not to head over to Qimeng, but then they went over to Shen Wei when she invited them.

“Liu Qi, teach me how to grill meat,” I asked as I approached him.

“Forget it. Just wait and eat what I make. Don’t waste food!” Liu Qi replied, continuing to grill meat. On the way home, he had caught a lot of fish from the pond, and grilled fish tasted amazing.

As soon as Xiao Bai and Xiao Hei smelled the delicious aroma, they came trotting over excitedly.

The fish wasn’t even fully cooked yet, but Xiao Bai and Xiao Hei were already trying to snatch it from Liu Qi’s hands. Xiao Bai almost tumbled into the fire, so for their safety, Liu Qi ended up giving the fish to them.

However, Xiao Hei didn’t eat this time, probably because it was already full, and there was still plenty of food in the dish. Xiao Bai seemed full too.

Soon, Xiao Bai finished off the fish, with Xiao Hei not touching it.

After eating the fish, Xiao Bai circled around Liu Qi, who refused to give them any more food. Spotting Liu Feng grilling nearby, they decided to surround him.

Seeing how their bellies were already full, I told Liu Feng not to give them any more food. Only then did Xiao Bai and Xiao Hei finally return to my side.

Watching the two pups lying beside me, their eyes still fixed on the grilled fish in Liu Qi’s hands, I laughed and asked, “Still want more?”

Xiao Bai and Xiao Hei wagged their tails, but I didn’t indulge them.

Their eyes were big and sparkling, utterly adorable.

I felt an urge to give them a kiss!

Footnote: