Chapter 251

Chapter 251

With Yang Kai absent, Cheng Jing was quite busy. On a daily basis, Jiang Nian and Tang Ji teamed up with Gao Xuyang, which was the safest arrangement and also convenient for performing Purify on Gao Xuyang whenever needed.

During this period, Gao Xuyang’s endurance of Purify had exceeded one hour, and his overall recovery made him appear more "human":

He reduced his consumption of crystal cores and began eating ordinary food with Jiang Nian and the others.

His heartbeat and blood flow accelerated, while other bodily organs and physiological systems gradually normalized.

His complexion remained pale, but his eyes were no longer cloudy, and even his facial expressions were less stiff.

The symptoms of zombification were slowly fading, and the zombie toxin was decreasing, yet the abilities of the Zombie King remained undiminished.

Gao Xuyang still regularly ventured to the outskirts of the base to sense the brainwave signals of his "kind," promptly detecting any anomalies.

Yang Kai called him every day. Sometimes, Jiang Nian and Tang Ji were nearby, and admittedly, watching Gao Xuyang say affectionate things with a cold expression was quite amusing.

Though he didn’t blush or show shyness, his nervous habits—fidgeting with his fingers or twisting his clothes—revealed his inner thoughts.

If Yang Kai teased him too much, he would respond in a cold yet softened tone, "Yang Kai, knock it off," before walking away to calm down.

One kept pushing boundaries, while the other kept playing along.

During their afternoon patrol ride, as they watched Gao Xuyang take a break to take his call by the wall, Tang Ji couldn’t help but ask Jiang Nian:

"By the way, how much older is Gao than Kai?"

Jiang Nian thought carefully before shaking his head:

"I’m not really sure either. I only know Kai is about two or three years older than Brother Jing… When he was in college, Gao Xuyang was already a legendary figure. Gao Xuyang should be around 30 now, who knows… There’s definitely a four or five-year gap between them."

At a certain age, a man’s appearance tends to "freeze" for a relatively long period, so you can't tell just by looking.

Before the apocalypse, both men’s public records were fake. After the apocalypse, unless they said otherwise, even fewer people knew, and the fakes became facts.

"Oh."

Tang Ji nodded thoughtfully.

Jiang Nian chuckled:

"I’ve gotta hand it to Kai. He actually managed to land someone like Gao."

As Gao Xuyang gradually regained normalcy, his composed, decisive, and even kind of cold personality became more apparent. Yet, when facing Yang Kai, he still got all flustered.

"I think you and Kai are both smooth operators."

Tang Ji remarked, he said enviously. If he had even half their skills, he wouldn’t worry about striking out with someone. Suddenly inspired, he asked earnestly:

"Brother Nian, could you give me some pointers for pursuing someone?"

Though he had joined the team later, Tang Ji hadn’t missed any of the gossip about Brother Nian’s chasing after Cheng. He truly admired and respected him for it.

Seeing Tang Ji’s earnest expression, Jiang Nian held back his jokes and answered seriously after some thought:

"Different people like different approaches. The methods I used might not work for you, and it's different for guys and girls."

Tang Ji replied frankly:

"I like men too."

Jiang Nian glanced at him: "Ahem, there’s also the question of *positions*."

"..."

The word 'positions' had a suggestive edge to it. Tang Ji froze for a moment before realizing what it meant, his ears burning as he muttered,

"The guy I like is a lot like Brother Cheng... That's why I'm asking you for advice, Brother Nian..."

Even now, when everyone was already familiar with each other, as long as Brother Nian wasn't around, Brother Cheng kept them at arm’s length.

He had this natural chill, as cold and unapproachable as his appearance. Newbies in the Superpower Corps all steered clear of him.

Chu Yi was quite similar to Brother Cheng in that regard, so *positions* probably wouldn’t be his call.

"Ah, the Brother Jing type..."

Jiang Nian rubbed his chin and answered honestly:

"Be relentless, go all in—the sluttier, the better."

Tang Ji was stunned: "This..."

Jiang Nian patted his shoulder:

"I'm not lying. With that type, if you don't take the initiative, it's really hard. Don't be fooled by how I can’t keep up with Sister Qian’s raunchy banter—when I was chasing Brother Jing, I was *wild*. No, scratch that, I still am, I just tone it down around you."

"I can't be that shameless..."

Tang Ji was a little flustered. His personality was worlds apart from Jiang Nian's, and he wasn't confident enough. Just imagining himself making suggestive remarks or acting bold in front of Chu Yi...

That’d be a death wish.

"..."

After a moment of thought, Jiang Nian added:

"If you can't be shameless, then just shoot your shot. Just tell him you like him and want to sleep with him—saves the hassle. If it doesn't work out, you can bail early."

Tang Ji lowered his head:

"That makes sense... But I don’t think I can do that either."

Facing Chu Yi, he just couldn’t!

"If you can't do this or that, how dare you like that type?"

Jiang Nian rolled his eyes slightly, but seeing Tang Ji's pitiful expression, he continued offering advice:

"If you can't shoot your shot, then play the coy card—pull the sick-and-needy act, get wasted and act a fool. Best if you make a drunk scene right by his bed. If none of that works, just move on to someone else."

"Get drunk... near his bed... That... could actually work..."

Tang Ji murmured to himself. This method seemed worth trying. If it backfires while drunk, he could always play it off as the booze, making it less awkward afterward. Brother Nian wasn’t messing around with his advice.

Jiang Nian smirked:

"If you think it might work, full send! Do or die—better than rotting in this purgatory, worse off than dead."

He couldn't handle pining in secret, so when the first signs appeared with Brother Jing back then, he made his move right away.

Tang Ji nodded, "Yeah."

Having said what needed to be said, Jiang Nian finally asked with a shit-eating grin,

"Who's caught your eye? I’ll help give you a push."

As he asked, he mentally ran through the possible candidates:

Their corps had recently recruited many badass Supers—lookers with skills and six-packs—plenty of whom interacted often with Tang Ji. As for those resembling Brother Jing’s type, well...

"Chu Yi."

Tang Ji came clean. At this point, he was about to burst keeping it in—no need to hide it anymore.

"Wait, what?"

Jiang Nian, who had been mentally eliminating options, froze:

"Who’d you say? Chu Yi?"

Tang Ji’s ears turned red as he nodded. "Yeah."

Probably no one expected him to be so 'bold.'

"..."

It had been a while since Jiang Nian last saw Chu Yi. After a moment of recollection, he took a deep breath and patted Tang Ji’s shoulder:

"Hot damn, you've got taste. Don't let that catch get away—go get him! But, I can’t help you with Brother Chu. At most, I’ll keep this secret for you until you succeed."

Bagging Chu Yi would be like winning half the South City base! Anyone would back this play.

But given Chu Yi’s status and their group dynamics, he couldn’t play wingman. If it didn’t work out, it'd be way too awkward.

"Do you think I have a chance?"

Tang Ji asked cautiously. They often texted, called, and chatted these days. Occasionally, he’d deliberately throw out some flirty lines, only for Chu Yi to shut them down smooth with perfectly reasonable excuses.

He felt the other man probably understood—yet acted completely oblivious.

Or was he acting clueless? Sigh.

Jiang Nian chuckled:

"With love, you gotta make your own hope. As long as you believe there’s a chance, then there is. Just follow your true feelings—go for it, just this once. No shame whether it works out or not."

"Yeah, I understand. Thanks, Brother Nian."

Tang Ji bit his lip and spotted Gao Xuyang coming back from his call. He put on his helmet, gearing up to work.

Armed with his 'guru's' tips, he had already decided what to do.