Chapter 63

Chapter 63

The water pattered down overhead, quickly turning the white shirt semi-transparent as it clung to his body. Jiang Nian pushed his damp hair back and relaxed against the wall, closing his eyes slightly.

Cheng Jing placed one hand on the side of his neck while the other toyed lazily with his buttons, lowering his head to press their foreheads together.

"Tired?"

The weather was scorching, and after a whole day outside, he was bound to shed some pounds soon.

Jiang Nian gazed at him with hazy eyes.

"How could I be? We haven’t even started yet."

Well, well, teasing him in the bathroom—looked like tonight’s business talk was off the table again.

Oh well. Nothing was more important than soothing a possessive boyfriend. If there was, it could wait until later.

Jiang Nian was content with their second chance at love, but Jing still seemed insecure at times. Given his own checkered past, he didn’t know how to reassure him—only to give in to his whims.

Cheng Jing nipped his shoulder through the fabric.

"You’ve been running around nonstop for days. Stay home and rest tomorrow, okay?"

Words phrased as a request, but his tone brooked no argument.

"Okay, whatever Brother Jing says."

Jiang Nian agreed cheerfully.

Warmth pressed against his neck—insistent and bold.

The restless air heated up quickly, soon dissolving the petty resentment and jealousy.

By the time they wrapped things up, it was past midnight.

Jiang Nian stared blankly at the ceiling, exhausted but not yet ready to sleep.

Logically, this was the perfect moment for an afterglow cigarette. Too bad the first inkling of him picking up the habit in college had been swiftly nipped in the bud by Brother Jing.

...

Over the next few days, Jiang Nian rarely went out. Aside from checking on the shop’s renovation progress, he only called or messaged Jiang Wenwen about farm-related matters.

Meanwhile, Cheng Jing’s grueling dawn-to-dusk preliminary training finally wrapped up, allowing him to clock out at five like normal.

He’d wanted to give someone a welcome-home surprise, but the reaction was merely mild surprise—no particular enthusiasm.

Jiang Nian sat intently on the sofa, studying the farm blueprints. He wouldn’t even shower with him, remaining indifferent when Cheng Jing walked out naked.

Something fishy was going on. Drying his hair, Cheng Jing approached and asked,

"What are you looking at?"

The scent of cool mint shower gel drifted closer. Without lifting his eyes from the plans, Jiang Nian unerringly found his boyfriend’s abs with his left hand.

"Farm layout. Planning to sign the contract tomorrow."

"Already?"

Cheng Jing let him touch for a while before sitting down, wrapping an arm around him sideways and resting his chin on Jiang Nian's shoulder to look at the planning map:

"Nothing but wasteland? How much is the rent?"

Jiang Nian flicked the blueprint lightly with his fingers:

"100 credits per acre monthly. Don’t look at it as wasteland now—it won’t be long before it becomes in high demand. So we should get ahead of the game for better choices."

Cheng Jing raised an eyebrow:

"Go on."

"Hmm..."

Jiang Nian recalled knowledge from his past life and told him:

"More and more people are entering the base, and soon there will be various methods to improve soil quality, especially by Superpowered individuals. After the extreme heat, each base's research labs will successively develop the first generation of soil-enhancement solutions, and rents will start skyrocketing."

In the Z base where he lived in his past life—a minor base that would bolt at the first zombie horde—farmland rents averaged 1,000 credits monthly per acre. In larger bases, it even went as high as 5,000 credits.

Cheng Jing nodded:

"Then we really should act first. The base is much livelier now than when we first arrived..."

"Exactly."

Jiang Nian’s hands, still fondling him, continued:

"With each improved generation of soil enhancers, more and more people will want farmland..."

In the early days of the apocalypse, people could still scavenge existing supplies for food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. But as time passed and those resources dwindled, rebuilding production became the only option.

The prerequisite for production was survival, and farming to address hunger was a survival fundamental.

However, the apocalypse wasn’t just about zombies—there were also various unknown disasters. So the scope each base could manage was limited.

Even soil decontamination agents were scarce.

Before the virus serum was developed, no base would risk reckless expansion. Thus, safe farmland within the base became the most sought-after basic resource.

"..."

"Go for it, Nian. You call the shots."

Cheng Jing said seriously. He hadn't found time to properly discuss the land rental with Jiang Nian lately.

Originally, he thought there was no rush—starting with a general store first would've sufficed, to spare Jiang Nian from running himself ragged.

But now, hearing Jiang Nian’s explanation, he understood:

Ordinary people saw wasteland as worthless and didn’t want to waste credits, while those with ample resources didn’t care, thinking they could wait until soil-enhancement solutions were available.

The outcome?

Most of the valuable farmland would end up in the hands of a powerful minority—the rich getting richer, the poor staying poor.

A brutal truth.

Given the opportunity, they should rent it first. No need to overreach—just proceed steadily.

After a moment’s thought, he asked again:

"Do we have enough credits?"

While asking, he scanned the leasing guidelines for the planned farmland.

According to the regulations on land leasing qualifications in the South City Base:

Appointed officials and individuals or groups with long-term employment contracts with the base authorities are not allowed to rent this section of cheap wasteland.

For example, once they become part of the base rescue team, they can no longer rent land—only Jiang Nian, as an independent contractor, is eligible.

Moreover, the lessee must be between 18 and 60 years old, which is a tightly controlled cutoff.

"Enough, and we even have some extra. Heh, if you need any, just let me know, and I’ll share them with you."

Jiang Nian answered with a smile, then pointed to the plot he intended to rent on the blueprint:

"I want this one. Jiang Wenwen gave a lot of useful advice. She’s currently the Water Room Administrator at the planned farmland—her job is easy and offers a lot of freedom. Working with her is the most convenient option for us."

Cheng Jing rubbed his face against him:

"Working together is fine, but keep your distance. If there are other options, I’d prefer you not to work with her."

Jiang Nian raised a hand to smooth his hair:

"So far, we don’t have a better choice. Don’t worry, Jiang Wenwen’s mouth is about the same as Sister Qian’s—she’s shrewd and only wants to cooperate with us. Besides, I made it very clear to her—women aren’t my type."

Unless she was crazy, no girl would want a gay guy as a boyfriend.

Cheng Jing let out a low laugh, smug but still pushing:

"You should say that besides me, you’re not into anyone—whether man or woman."

Jiang Nian: "..."

Honestly, he thought that was overkill. Really, way too far!

Strange—no expert ever said a boyfriend’s lovesick brain could evolve!

Even if it did evolve, he couldn’t shake the feeling that Brother Jing was getting more twisted with each evolution.