Chapter Fifty-Eight: Scheming with Deliberation

After listening to Qin Sheng’s legendary deeds at school, Ah Di seemed utterly bewitched, her eyes sparkling whenever she looked at Qin Sheng.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Qin Sheng said, feeling a bit embarrassed under Ah Di’s intense gaze, her laughter tinged with helplessness.

Ah Di, brimming with excitement, edged closer to Qin Sheng, as if a fangirl meeting her idol—exhilarated yet trying to appear a little reserved. “Qin Sheng, was it really you who dealt with all those zombies? How are you so amazing? Can you teach me?”

Qin Sheng was used to Ah Di’s proud demeanor, but this was the first time she had seen such admiration and shy reverence in her eyes. She wasn’t quite accustomed to it; goosebumps threatened to rise.

“It was me, but I wasn’t alone. Miao Miao and many others helped,” Qin Sheng replied honestly, edging away from Ah Di.

The moment Ah Di heard Miao Miao was involved, her expression grew even more excited. “Damn, you guys are really something! Most people would wet themselves at the sight of a zombie, but you two actually rush to confront them?”

It was already astonishing that someone could handle zombies, but both her roommates had faced them and survived, standing unscathed right beside her—this was practically miraculous.

Miao Miao’s smile never faded from her face as she responded, “If it weren’t for Sheng Sheng, I would never have dared to fight zombies. I couldn’t even imagine it.”

Ah Di moved back to Qin Sheng’s side. Her eager smile made it clear she wasn’t simply curious. She gently shook Qin Sheng’s hand and whispered, “I want to learn to deal with zombies like you. Will you teach me?”

Qin Sheng tilted her head, raising an eyebrow teasingly. “Can you get up at five in the morning to practice horse stance?”

Ah Di hesitated for a moment, then stubbornly replied, “No problem. Four o’clock is fine, too!”

“Oh?” Qin Sheng’s lips curved into a sly smile. “Keep it up for a month, and I’ll train you.”

“At five every morning for a month?” Ah Di stared at Qin Sheng in disbelief, rising to her feet.

Miao Miao nodded, “That’s how I started.”

When Miao Miao first decided to train with Qin Sheng, she was taken to fight zombies the very next day. Most of her training consisted not just of basic rooftop exercises, but of direct combat with zombies—a constant brush with death, where she had to give everything to survive.

Her life was saved by Qin Sheng, and gambled for by herself.

“Should I try it, then?” Ah Di was in awe of Qin Sheng and Miao Miao—people unafraid to battle zombies—but the idea of getting up at five every day to practice was daunting.

Qin Sheng thought, teaching one was no different from teaching two. Having another person who could protect herself would lighten her own burden.

“Alright, I’ll wake you at five tomorrow morning,” Qin Sheng said with a smile, standing up. “I’m going to fetch today’s meal.”

Ah Di groaned at the thought of those rock-hard buns, her face scrunched in complaint. “I remember the food wasn’t this bad before. What’s going on?”

Qin Sheng had no explanation; she had only just arrived and was familiar with this building at best. She realized she needed to explore the layout of this place.

“At least there’s food, and no zombies here…” Zhao Tiantian, who had been listening quietly, spoke softly.

She lacked the courage of Qin Sheng and Miao Miao, or Ah Di’s decisiveness and wit. She was just an ordinary person; as long as she could live safely, she was content with buns and pickles.

Qin Sheng noticed Zhao Tiantian’s downcast expression and offered comfort. “It’s fairly safe here, so don’t worry too much.”

Zhao Tiantian looked up, met Qin Sheng’s gaze, and nodded.

“Why don’t I go down this time?” Miao Miao stood up, unwilling to let Qin Sheng always climb the stairs, volunteering to fetch the meal.

Qin Sheng pondered for a moment, then nodded. “Let’s go together. I have nothing else to do.”

With Qin Sheng’s decision, Miao Miao followed her downstairs.

Yesterday, Qin Sheng had gone late, nearly the last to collect food. Today she was early and saw people coming and going with bowls of rice and vegetables. She was puzzled, since yesterday the distributor had said there were only buns and pickles every day. Had the resources in the safe zone become less scarce?

Miao Miao was equally confused as they arrived downstairs.

“Looks like we won’t have to eat buns today,” Miao Miao said as they walked.

Qin Sheng nodded, but an uneasy feeling lingered.

“Here’s your meal,” the distributor handed her the same hard buns as yesterday.

“But everyone else has rice, and we still have buns?” Miao Miao protested, incredulous. Wasn’t this blatant discrimination?

Qin Sheng didn’t take the buns, her eyes filled with suspicion and vigilance.

“You’re late today. Our safe zone is low on supplies, and you’re newcomers—you should understand, I don’t need to say more,” the distributor repeated yesterday’s excuse, but Qin Sheng and Miao Miao clearly didn’t believe it.

“What’s in the box behind the table, I wonder?” Qin Sheng’s gaze landed on the rice warmer they had hastily hidden. Such obvious discrimination must be orchestrated. They had only been here two days, barely met anyone, so there weren’t many people who would go to such lengths.

Guo Ting and Guo Jun.

They were the first who came to Qin Sheng’s mind.

Seeing Qin Sheng notice the rice box, the distributor stopped pretending, sneering, “You offended Commander Guo. Did you really think you’d get good food? Be glad you have anything at all.”

“How can you be like this?” Miao Miao clenched her fists in anger, furious at such behavior.

Qin Sheng realized, apocalypse or not, there were always class distinctions. A few words from certain people could decide others’ fate.

Unfortunately for them, they were dealing with someone who refused to swallow insults—Qin Sheng.

Guo Ting was the same.

“Miao Miao, there’s some food in my backpack. Go back and share it out,” Qin Sheng’s expression grew grim, her brows knit together, eyes flashing sharp light. The distributor faltered when their gazes met.

Miao Miao didn’t know what Qin Sheng planned to do, but nodded and hurried back upstairs, glancing anxiously at Qin Sheng before entering.

Qin Sheng nodded gently, and Miao Miao ran up, reassured.

“Where is Guo Ting now?” Qin Sheng’s cold gaze locked on the distributor, who couldn’t withstand her presence.

“I don’t know. We’re not authorized to know,” the distributor admitted, defeated.

“Give us some rice. If Guo Ting asks, say I took it by force,” Qin Sheng said, taking a deep breath to calm herself.

The distributor hesitated, caught between Guo Ting, whom she couldn’t afford to offend, and Qin Sheng, whose aura she couldn't withstand. In the end, she complied.

“Alright.”

A few minutes later, the distributor handed Qin Sheng a bowl of rice.

“Commander Guo isn’t someone to trifle with. Watch yourself,” she called out as Qin Sheng entered the building.

Qin Sheng paused but didn’t look back, striding inside.

Sooner or later, she would have to confront Guo Jun and Guo Ting. She hadn’t expected such underhanded tactics; perhaps this safe zone wasn’t as secure as it seemed.

“What? She dared to snatch food?” The distributor reported everything to Guo Ting.

Guo Ting was enjoying a balanced meal when she heard the news from Qin Sheng’s side. Annoyed, she set down her chopsticks, scoffing, “She’s got some nerve. Knowing it was my arrangement, she still dared to oppose me openly.”

“What should we do, Miss Guo?”

Guo Ting curled her lips in mockery. “In that case, they won’t get any buns at all. When they starve, we’ll collect their bodies.”

“But isn’t that a bit much? They’re supposed to be under national protection. Won’t Commander Guo have trouble if you do this?”

Guo Ting couldn’t care less, confident as ever. “Don’t worry, my uncle will handle everything. Just do as I say.”

“Alright…”

Qin Sheng, aren’t you so arrogant? Let’s see how long you can keep it up without even a bun.

“Sheng Sheng, you were right. There’s really nothing left for us,” Miao Miao said the next morning, following Qin Sheng’s advice and going to collect food—only to be told they were late and there was none.

Ah Di couldn’t figure it out. Yesterday there was rice, today not even hard buns. She exclaimed in shock, “They’re trying to starve us to death!”

“Seems so,” Qin Sheng nodded. Her threat yesterday had backfired. Not only had she failed to draw out Guo Ting, but now they had no food.

“What do we do?” Zhao Tiantian asked nervously. They could manage a few days without food, but without water, they wouldn’t last three.

Zhang Meng was equally anxious.

Qin Sheng stood, speaking firmly, “This happened because of me. I won’t let everyone go hungry. Don’t be afraid.”

“You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you? If you starve, you want to drag us down with you.”