Free Web NovelChapter 164: Chapter 164: Ningning is a Hot Commodity
Gu Chen drove, steadily following Lu Wei and the others while glancing at the mother-daughter duo from time to time.
After drinking her milk, Xie Ning lay down on the top bunk and fell asleep the instant her head hit the pillow.
To help her sleep better, Xiao Gu turned on the air conditioning.
Song You’ai draped a sheet over her daughter, climbed down to the lower bunk, and stared blankly out the window for a while.
From her vantage point, she could faintly see the thick, rolling smoke over the Song Family Pavilion.
It felt as if desolation was growing wildly along their path, with no end in sight.
"Auntie, don’t look. Get some sleep," Gu Chen said softly. "If everything goes smoothly, we should reach the safe zone in about an hour and a half."
Song You’ai nodded. After a busy morning, she was indeed unbearably tired, so she obediently lay down to rest.
The rest of the journey was much smoother. The few zombies that ran down from the mountains were taken care of in a couple of shots by Lu Wei and Zhai Ruobai, who led the convoy.
Xie Ning was woken up by the sound of a loudspeaker.
"Dear survivor friends, hello, and welcome to the Lanshan Lake Survivor Base. It has been a long journey for all of you."
"Attention all survivors preparing to enter the safe zone: please queue up at Gate 1 for registration first, then proceed to Gate 2 for a physical examination."
"Anyone who has not registered and attempts to force their way through the checkpoint will be dealt with as an infected person."
She sat up, dazed and confused with a tuft of hair sticking straight up, her sluggish gaze meeting Gu Chen’s as he turned to look at her.
For a moment, Gu Chen felt his heart, usually as still as stagnant water, suddenly flutter wildly.
Song You’ai tilted her head to look, then, amused, took a towel to wipe her daughter’s face. "Ningning, wake up. We’re here."
"Hello, survivor friends. Please form an orderly queue and do not cut in line."
"Private brawls and disrupting order are strictly forbidden."
"The Lanshan Lake Survivor Base welcomes everyone."
"The Lanshan Lake Survivor Base was established on..."
The first thing Xie Ning did was check the flannel pouch hanging at her waist. Seeing the noticeably larger Second-order Spiritual Zombie Crystal Core inside, she breathed a sigh of relief.
’Good thing I was quick enough to retrieve the Crystal Cores from that Spiritual Zombie and those few Speed System mutant zombies from a distance. Otherwise, it would’ve all been for nothing.’
She nimbly climbed down the small ladder and ran to the small bathroom to deal with her messy hair.
By the time she came out, Gu Chen had already shown their pass at Entrance 3 and was driving inside, following Lu Wei and the others.
The dog-holding lady was just getting off a bus and couldn’t help but roar in anger when she saw this. "Why did those two RVs get to go in without registration or inspection?"
"It really pays to have connections in high places!"
"Alright, stop your squawking! That’s the express entrance for military personnel and Superpower Users. Are you military? Are you a Superpower User?"
A few words from someone in the know immediately silenced the dog-holding lady’s loud mouth.
Everyone gave her a few strange looks.
In these times, when it was hard enough to escape with one’s own life, it was the first time they had seen someone fleeing with a dog.
"Superpower Users, please register over here."
Due to the large crowd gathered at the base entrance, a temporary barrier was set up to create an additional lane.
Two researchers in white lab coats, escorted by several heavily armed soldiers, were stationed at Entrance 4.
Uncle Ge Liang, riding his small motorcycle with his daughter, was the first to speed over to that entrance.
Ge Yan took off her helmet, ruffled her messy short hair, and strode forward. "Comrade, my father and I are both Superpower Users."
"Please register your names, abilities, and superpower level."
"Superpower level?" Ge Yan looked confused. "I don’t know."
"If you don’t know, then it’s usually the Initial Stage. When a Superpower User’s level increases, they can feel it themselves," the short researcher in the white coat explained patiently.
"Oh, okay, okay." Ge Yan took the pen and paper and began to fill out the registration form.
"Housing is arranged like this. You can obtain the right to rent a house by paying a certain amount of supplies. You can refer to these documents for the types of supplies and the corresponding rental periods." The researcher handed Ge Yan a few sheets of paper. "If you pay with Crystal Cores, that’s even better. You won’t have to look at these messy supply charts."
The researcher handed her another sheet of paper. Ge Yan gave it a quick glance and immediately felt a headache coming on.
"The safe zone provides a free tent area for temporary residence. Those who are short on supplies can stay there for the time being."
Uncle Ge Liang quickly leaned in. "Uh, how many Crystal Cores do I have to pay to live somewhere near the Old Song Family’s girl, Ningning?"
The Old Song Family’s girl, Ningning? The researcher didn’t immediately register the strange title.
Another group of young men and women came up from behind.
A man and a woman among them immediately blurted out, "Get me a place across from Xie Ning’s house! We want to live across the hall from her!"
Ge Yan turned her head, so exasperated she had to laugh. "Li Dawei, are you insane? It’s first come, first served, you know?"
"What first come, first served? I lived across from her at the Song Family Pavilion. We’ve been neighbors for years! I can’t change that now."
"Right! We can’t!" Li Xiang nodded emphatically.
The dog-holding lady, who was at the very end of the long line for Gate 1, saw this and started yelling again, "Hey! Hey! Over there, at Gate 4! There are so many people! Are they all really Superpower Users? Don’t pretend to be Superpower Users just to cut the line!"
Li Dawei turned his head and shouted arrogantly at the woman, "I’m not a Superpower User! What, you are?!"
"Just put me across the hall from Xie Ning’s place, ’kay?" Li Dawei took a bag of rice from his pack and handed it over. "This should be enough, right?! Huh!"
"Wait, who is this Xie Ning you’re all talking about?" the researcher asked, looking completely speechless.
"You don’t even know who Xie Ning is?" Li Dawei rolled his eyes in annoyance. "The one in the RV that just went in with your big leader’s vehicle. The belle of our village, Xie Ning! A very pretty girl. A university student from East University, a top student!"
Ge Yan’s lips twitched.
’If Ningning heard that, she’d definitely slap him silly...’
’"Belle of the village"? For some reason, that sounds unbearably tacky.’
"Alright, alright, just hurry up and make the arrangements."
The short researcher finally seemed to grasp the situation and quickly shook his head. "The Miss Xie you’re talking about should be with her family, living over in the Lanshan Lake Villa District. This bit of grain you have is nowhere near enough..."
Li Dawei quickly turned to look at Zhong Shichong and the others. "Well?"
Before Zhong Shichong could speak, Mr. Wang was the first to raise his hand and nod. "We’ll take it, we’ll take it! We’ll pool our resources. We’re living across from Xie Ning’s place!"
"Right, right, right, across from her place."
"Just name the price. We’ll chip in. Count my daughter and me in."
"Count me in!"
Everyone turned to look and saw a woman, huffing and puffing, running toward them while dragging large and small suitcases—seven or eight pieces of luggage in total.
Everyone shot her a disdainful look, but their disdain vanished the moment she pulled out a large bag of salted duck eggs.
’Alright then. This lady’s a rich bigshot. Let’s take her with us.’
Wu Qiuyun let out a heavy breath, a feeling of having survived a great catastrophe washing over her.
