Chapter 26

Chapter 26

The daily life of two people living together tends to be very regular, so even the slightest abnormality can be noticed without a word being spoken.

Jiang Nian was making soup when, after more than ten minutes, he realized the bathroom had gone quiet and Cheng Jing still hadn’t come out. He lowered the flame and walked over to knock on the bathroom door:

“Brother Jing, are you done? Dinner’s almost ready.”

“Yeah, almost.”

Cheng Jing’s voice sounded subdued, which Jiang Nian found unusual, but he didn’t ask. Rescue work wasn’t exactly uplifting—confronting mortality and human darkness often meant dealing with messy, depressing stuff, so it was normal for moods to be affected.

Another ten minutes passed before Cheng Jing finally stepped out of the bathroom, wearing mid-thigh shorts and nothing else. He walked over and wrapped his arms around Jiang Nian from behind as he worked at the stove:

“Cooking can wait. Let me kiss you first.”

With that, he turned Jiang Nian around with a hint of force and devoured his mouth.

“Hngh~”

Jiang Nian started, then melted into it, his hands roaming over Cheng Jing’s chest and abs—they felt incredible under his hands!

When the kiss ended, Cheng Jing took a deep breath and pulled him closer.

“Nian Nian…” (affectionate diminutive of Jiang Nian’s name)

“Brother Jing… what’s gotten into you all of a sudden?”

Like a fish gasping for water, Jiang Nian rested his chin on Cheng Jing’s shoulder, panting heavily. This sudden intensity was a bit overwhelming.

Instead of answering directly, Cheng Jing kissed the side of his face again, his voice low and rough:

“I worry you might ignore me at home and recklessly open the door to help others.”

After witnessing so much of humanity’s darker side since the apocalypse, even though he knew Jiang Nian wouldn’t go around playing the bleeding heart, certain scenes still filled him with anxiety.

Jiang Nian chuckled at this and patted him reassuringly.

“Don’t worry, I won’t. I’m very well-behaved. If you told me not to leave the room, I wouldn’t even step into the living room.”

He guessed Cheng Jing must have encountered another case of “no good deed goes unpunished” today. *Sigh.*

Cheng Jing didn’t respond, his scorching breath fanning over Jiang Nian’s ear and neck, sending tingles through his skin. Jiang Nian instinctively tilted his head away, only for the other man to seize the chance to nip at him.

“Ow!”

Jiang Nian gave him a mock snarl. After holding on for a little longer, he finally pushed the overgrown puppy away:

“You’ve been working all day. Let’s eat first.”

If this kept up, they’d skip dinner altogether and go straight to devouring each other. Who could resist a rugged guy acting this clingy?

“Mm.”

Only then did Cheng Jing release him and go set out bowls and chopsticks.

Jiang Nian’s face was flushed as he turned off the stove and plated the dishes, feeling just a smidge put-out:

*Seriously, doing this before we’ve even eaten… Doesn’t he know I can’t take his flirting like this? Ugh! Men!*

If it weren’t for his hunger, he would have definitely given his boyfriend a lesson in the kitchen—there was barely enough space to move around, and that kind of tight spot was perfect for honing his skills.

Jiang Nian had been about to clean up after dinner when Cheng Jing took over. He gave up and went to take a shower instead.

When he came out, Cheng Jing had already cleaned the place and taken the trash out into the hallway. With a fresh towel in hand, he stood by the sofa and casually pulled Jiang Nian over to dry his hair.

Jiang Nian sat cross-legged on the sofa, facing Cheng Jing’s smooth, well-defined abs, and tilted his head slightly as he asked:

“We’ve kissed, we’ve eaten. Now tell me why you were in a bad mood?”

As he spoke, his restless hands naturally wandered over the tempting flesh right in front of him. *Damn, it's all flesh. So why does Brother Jing’s feel so good to touch?*

Cheng Jing was used to being groped by him. After drying his hair for a bit, he stopped, sat down beside him, and said:

“There’s a building in the eastern part of the new city with three units per elevator. One family bought two opposite units, then lied to trick their newlywed neighbors into opening the door. They killed them and stole their supplies. The woman was pregnant—killing two lives… all because they knew the couple had plenty of eggs and cured meat.”

“In another neighborhood, there’s a man whose wife and three kids were alive just days ago. He killed them all and threw them off the building. But he kept collecting rations for five people. We didn’t find out until someone reported him. He wouldn’t admit it—he claimed his wife took the kids and left to die on her own!”

“…”

By now, Cheng Jing was seething. Even though they worked with official personnel, they could do nothing. Some people, utterly without conscience, even said they’d rather be arrested—choosing guaranteed food and safety from zombies over freedom. It was fucking absurd!

He wanted to kick those bastards straight into a horde of zombies, but rescue teams couldn’t harm civilians. Fighting fire with fire without proper judicial procedures would only make things worse in the long run.

And worst of all, there was no way to punish these murderers at all—it made his blood boil.

Jiang Nian sighed helplessly and shook his head.

“When survival is at stake, human nature knows no bottom line. This shit will only get worse.”

He’d lived through it himself—betrayed and tortured to death by his own family. He felt nothing anymore.

With order collapsed and morality gone, the whole world was testing human nature. And human nature had never been able to stand that test.

All they could do was pray that scum like that got wiped out by zombies sooner rather than later.

“I know. It just doesn’t sit right with me.”

Cheng Jing rubbed his face in frustration. In this apocalypse, death had become normal. Most people could accept zombies killing and eating humans—but not other humans doing it. That was the real problem.

To him, it should’ve been an instinct wired into humanity’s evolution. Even lower animals didn’t turn on their own kind.

“No one feels okay about it. But this chaos can’t be stopped now. Order will only gradually return once we reach the shelter bases. For now, we can only rely on ourselves.”

As he spoke, Jiang Nian recalled how the bases in his past life punished offenders:

They were shackled and forced to work on infrastructure at the far edges of the base, with limited food and no pay. Minor offenses meant set time spans, but major crimes like murder meant life sentences—working until death, which ended with their bodies dumped outside the base. No one pitied them.

*Ding-dong—*

A message popped up on Cheng Jing’s phone from the command center announcing new measures against family members scamming for rations.

The rule: From now on, rations must be delivered directly to the individual—no family members allowed to collect on their behalf. If they couldn’t be found, the supplies would be reclaimed immediately.

It was the one way to stop such fraud.

After confirming the message, Cheng Jing turned off his phone, tossed it aside, and picked up Jiang Nian—who was lost in thought—into his arms, carrying him back to the bedroom.

“Time for sleep.”

He wouldn't bring that bad mood home anymore.

Cheng Jing read his mind, tapping a finger against his chest:

"Calling it a night already?"

"After taking care of you, it'll be about time."

With that, Cheng placed him on the bed and pinned him down.

"Even when Brother Jing plays dirty, he's still handsome~"

Jiang Nian beamed—initiative was sexy.

Cheng caught his hand and kissed it:

"Of course. You should trust your taste—you worked hard to win me over."

The guy had been into his looks from the start, so he felt thankful for his own good looks.

Jiang chuckled softly, his laughter melting into a long, husky moan as Cheng kissed him.