Chapter 72: Chapter 72 Kerry’s Acquaintance Chapter 72: Chapter 72 Kerry’s Acquaintance Being in a small group has its advantages, as does being in a larger one. Although they had decided to stay the night here, they still parked their car on the outskirts of the service area, maintaining a subtly strategic distance from where the crowd clustered.
Six people, three tents, all neatly lined up beside their SUV.
Owing to the peculiar circumstances this ti, Han Yi didn’t take out any eye-catching food from the space. For dinner, they simply boiled so instant noodles. As Han Jiaojiao was cooking, Yan Xiao deliberately teased her again.
“Jiaojiao, add an egg for , will you?”
Over the past couple of days, everyone knew that Han Jiaojiao had been carrying a few eggs in her bag, treasured unbearably, and she normally couldn’t bear to even show them.
Han Jiaojiao thought that Yan Xiao just couldn’t help but run his mouth, feeling itchy if he didn’t pick on soone each day.
She pretended not to understand and said, “What eggs do I have?”
“The ones in your backpack,” said Yan Xiao, winking and nodding toward the backpack behind her.
This little backpack had also recently been fished out by Han Yi from the space, made of soft, breathable lambskin, specifically for Han Jiaojiao to carry eggs. With baby fat on her face, Han Jiaojiao looked young to begin with. Wearing a small schoolbag made her look even younger.
Han Jiaojiao didn’t get angry when she heard this, but instead shook her backpack proudly and said, “Have you forgotten? These were picked up in that desert area, who knows what kind of eggs they are. Hey, what if they’re scorpion or lizard eggs? I don’t even know what they’ll look like when their shells are cracked open. What if they’re soft, wet, sticky, with feet or tails…”
Yan Xiao couldn’t help but visualize along with her words and made a gagging gesture, scampering away dejectedly.
Han Jiaojiao watched his retreating figure and smiled, turning to dig out so packaged marinated eggs and sausages from the box and throwing them into the pot after peeling. There truly were no fresh eggs, but marinated ones were still a good addition.
Soone else ca up behind her. Turning around, Han Jiaojiao saw it was Bai Kairui. She smiled and said, “The noodles are ready, but they’re still very hot. We can eat in a bit.”
Bai Kairui looked sowhat strange, different from his usual careless, sunny and cheerful self. He seed a bit uneasy, and his complexion wasn’t good either.
“Jiaojiao…”
Han Jiaojiao felt there was sothing odd about him and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Bai Kairui shook his head, then ran his hands through his bright blond hair before taking a deep breath and mustering the courage to say to Han Jiaojiao, “…could you give so… food, uh… and water…”
“Sure,” Han Jiaojiao was even more puzzled. “It’s all in the car, just grab it yourself. Don’t you like eating instant noodles?”
“It’s not that.” Bai Kairui hung his head, looking sowhat ashad, “I ran into so old friends, they’re… not doing so well, they’ve run out of food.”
Seeing Han Jiaojiao’s confused expression, he added, “They ca here on a road trip with .”
Han Jiaojiao nodded, showing understanding, “If they’re your friends, then it’s only right for you to help them out with so food. It’s no big deal, you don’t have to be like this.”
Bai Kairui rely smiled sheepishly twice and turned to take so instant noodles and a large jug of purified water from the car.
Han Jiaojiao couldn’t help but say, “Isn’t that too little?” Such a small amount, if it were three or five people, would be gone in a day. Han Jiaojiao wondered if it was because Bai Kairui was embarrassed. She walked closer, whispered to him, “How about I have my brother take so rice and flour from the space? They last longer and we have quite a few cans too… Don’t be a stranger, we have plenty of food, helping out your friends is no problem for us.”
After the apocalyptic world, although food had beco extrely precious, Bai Kairui had joined them on several missions and they had developed a life-or-death camaraderie. Han Jiaojiao felt that he really didn’t need to be so polite over such a small matter.
However, after hearing Han Jiaojiao’s words, Bai Kairui’s complexion turned even uglier, and he managed a weak smile, saying, “…no need, actually, they can’t really be considered friends.” He paused, then added in a very low voice, “And this is indeed enough, when they reach the base, they can work for their food.”
After he finished speaking, he picked up those items and left.
Han Jiaojiao stood still watching him until he’d walked a distance, when indeed, several foreigners ca up to take the items, two n and a woman. They seed to have sothing to say to Bai Kairui and pushed him into a tent.
Han Jiaojiao didn’t concern herself with him any longer and brought her noodles back to her own tent—
“Brother, it’s ti to eat noodles.”
Han Yi was sitting on the warming mat, lost in thought. Seeing Han Jiaojiao co in, his lips curled into a smile as he said softly, “How about not eating just yet? Wait until those people are asleep, and I’ll get you sothing else to eat.”
“No need, these are pretty good. There are many people who want to eat but don’t get to…” Han Jiaojiao sat down next to him, took a bite for herself, then picked up so noodles with her chopsticks to feed to Han Yi, “Does it taste good? I added marinated eggs and ham sausage in it.”
Instant noodles, a food that the pre-apocalyptic world Han Yi wouldn’t even touch, but since his sister was feeding him…
“Mmm, it’s delicious.”
Han Jiaojiao showed him a sweet smile.
The two of them ate the large bowl of noodles together, taking turns with each bite.
Han Jiaojiao said with a beaming smile, “I’ll go wash the bowls.” Then she happily crawled out of the tent.
When she ca out, she saw Yan Xiao, Xiao Jian, and Lu Changyuan surrounding the fire eating noodles. Yan Xiao saw Han Jiaojiao and asked her, “Did you see Kerry?”
Han Jiaojiao was about to answer when Bai Kairui ca back fuming with anger. Bai Kairui, in many matters, was very nonchalant, but he was particular about certain details. For example, he returned with an angry expression now. When he got close, he probably felt that his face didn’t look good, so he stood there taking several deep breaths to suppress his anger before he forced out a very ugly smile and slowly sat down near everyone, started to eat his bowl of noodles without a word.
His habit of not venting his anger indiscriminately made even Yan Xiao feel bad for him, so she cautiously moved closer and asked, “Hey, what’s wrong with you? Your smile looks worse than crying.”
“It’s nothing, I’m fine,” Bai Kairui muttered as he continued eating his noodles.
Anyone with eyes could see he was troubled. However, since he didn’t want to talk about it, no one insisted.
Just as everyone thought Bai Kairui would continue to stay silent, he seed unable to hold it in any longer, or perhaps he just couldn’t stand it anymore. Suddenly putting down his bowl and chopsticks, he said, “They wanted to join us, but I refused them!”
Everyone looked up at him, puzzled.
Bai Kairui furrowed his brow, his face clouded with gloom, “They are road trip enthusiasts like . We had made plans to co here together. We never expected to encounter Alien Species… It all happened so suddenly, one of our group was bitten to death by an Alien Species, and when we were fleeing, Tom and I were left behind. I’m not clear on what exactly happened, but when we got back to the hotel, Tom started to act abnormally, I happened to start having a fever, then the others learned about the virus and left Tom and behind… They took my car and luggage.”
Han Jiaojiao was shocked, thinking what kind of friends are these? Weren’t these more like enemies?
Bai Kairui went on to say, “Not long after they left, Tom turned into an Alien Species and was killed by the nearby ard police, and I… I, too, was reported by the hotel owner… I was taken half-conscious to a quarantine area, and after recovering, I took the opportunity to escape and that’s how I t you all…”
Having said all this, Bai Kairui seed to feel much better and started to eat his noodles with big bites again.
Everyone remained quiet, with Xiao Jian giving him a strong pat on the shoulder from the side.
In the corner of her eye, Han Jiaojiao could vaguely see tears in Bai Kairui’s eyes… or perhaps, it was just the mist from the noodles’ soup…
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