Chapter 60 Introduce Her to Our Xiaobao as His Girlfriend

Chapter 60: Setting Her Up with Our Xiao Bao

Hua Diao leaned against the wall, miscellaneous items like rice and dirt scattered at her feet.

The moment she spotted the four, a radiant smile lit up her face. "Of course, I came looking for you. I didn’t see you on Lakeside Avenue, so I tracked you down here."

Then she gestured to the items on the ground. "Take a look—see if I missed anything."

Da Bao, Er Bao, and San Bao immediately put on expressions of exaggerated dismay. "Come on, sis, do you really think we’d doubt you? There’s no need to check!"

With that, the three swiftly gathered the items from the ground, hugging them like prized loot, their faces beaming with satisfaction.

"Hey, the claypot rice is still warm! Never thought we’d get our hands on some. Wonder what’s inside—hopefully brains. That’d save Mom the trouble of making one tonight."

"By the way, sis, you should come over and try our mom’s cooking. Her stewed brains are absolutely divine. She used to run that famous stewed brain shop in Qingcheng—people traveled miles for it. She just stocked up on a fresh batch of brains the other day, but with the apocalypse now, we’re not selling anymore. We’re keeping them for ourselves or treating friends. If you come, Mom would be absolutely thrilled to have you!"

Lin Xiaobao didn’t object. Though food was scarce in the apocalypse, and a meal invitation carried far more weight than before—when every household guarded their supplies like gold—Hua Diao had saved his second brother. Treating her to a meal was the least they could do.

He was also thinking further ahead. Given Hua Diao’s capabilities today, it was clear she was a competent person with good character. Building a friendship with her wasn’t a bad idea.

"No, no, no, that’s alright!" Hua Diao shook her head so vigorously it seemed it might fly off.

Brains? No thanks.

She let out an awkward chuckle. "Uh, my husband’s calling me home for dinner. He’s already cooked and is waiting for me. You guys keep the brains for yourselves. I’ll head out now—let’s chat later if anything comes up!"

Before they could react, she took off like a bat out of hell, leaving Da Bao, Er Bao, and San Bao flailing after her like lost puppies, utterly unable to stop her.

"What’s wrong? Why’d she run off like that? It’s not like we were gonna eat her!"

"Ah, and here I was hoping to introduce her to our Xiao Bao as his girlfriend. Our Xiao Bao is handsome, smart, and talented. And sis here is strong, spirited, and clever—nothing like those clingy girls. I thought they’d make a perfect match!"

"Sigh! Beautiful girls always marry young, don’t they!"

Lin Xiaobao shot them a flat stare. They were all single themselves, yet they wanted to set him up? If anyone was hopeless, it was these three!

---

Hua Diao sped back to Jinxiu Huayuan in her car (somehow spared by the lightning). What she’d said earlier wasn’t a lie—Xie Tingsheng really was at home, waiting with dinner ready.

Huh. Since when could Old Xie cook? Wonder if it’s any good!

She patted her stomach. "Hold on, just a little longer. You’ll be fed soon."

She hadn’t had a proper meal since leaving early that morning—just some sketchy fish jerky from the mermaid in the illusion. Now, she was genuinely starving.

Imagining the delicious feast ahead, Hua Diao stomped on the gas, racing home.

When she arrived at Jinxiu Huayuan, she found the entrance swarming with people. The road was pockmarked with holes, the newsstand demolished, and even the security booth had a massive dent. Bloodstains and chaos were everywhere—the scene was a complete mess.

Several ambulances were parked at the gate, loading injured people who groaned in pain onto stretchers.

Hua Diao pulled her car to the side and stuck her head out the window, puzzled. "What happened here?"

Chen Fei was directing his lackeys to help carry the wounded. Spotting Hua Diao, his eyes lit up, and he hurried over eagerly.

"Big Sister, you’re back! An Elite Werewolf Boss went berserk at our gate earlier, hurting a lot of people. The Special Operations Bureau showed up and took care of it, but now the entrance is a disaster. Ambulances are still here, bodies are everywhere, and families are sobbing over their dead. It’ll be a while before the road clears. Why don’t you park your car in the roadside spots outside? Me and the guys’ll guard it—nobody’ll lay a finger on it!"

"Yeah, alright." Hua Diao nodded.

She then backed the car out a bit and parked it in an outside parking spot before opening the door and stepping out, heading toward the entrance of the neighborhood.

Surrounded by the crowd earlier, she couldn’t clearly see the situation, but once she got out and pushed through the throng, the full extent of the brutal and horrific scene became apparent.

Several people near the entrance had been bludgeoned into grotesque meat paste, their limbs mangled beyond recognition, bones reduced to splinters—like ground meat smeared across the pavement, requiring a shovel to scrape it up. Thankfully, their thick clothing still wrapped their bodies, keeping their guts from spilling—or maybe they already had, blending into the bloody mess.

Others had their arms and legs limp and equally mangled, carefully stabilized by paramedics and loaded onto stretchers; whether they’d make it was anyone’s guess.

Hua Diao went rigid.

The surrounding cries and wails relentlessly assaulted her eardrums, while the coppery stench of blood burned her nostrils. From this gruesome scene, the sheer brutality of the apocalypse hit her full force.

The corpses she had seen earlier in the abandoned park, though corroded by some unknown black substance, were at least intact—not this horrifically mutilated. This was her first real taste of such raw carnage, and her stomach lurched.

If her stomach hadn’t been empty, she might have actually vomited.

Her lips, usually a vivid red, were now pale as she pursed them tight, her face blank.

Suddenly, her vision went black—a pair of hands reached from behind to shield her eyes. A sharp, icy scent radiated from his palms, washing over her nostrils and completely erasing the previous stench of blood and rust.

She tensed up.

Then she felt warmth press against her back, followed by warm breath ghosting over her left ear. A deep, magnetic voice, laced with command, whispered into her ear, "Don’t look."

"Xie Tingsheng?"

"Mhm, it’s me."

Hua Diao’s face fell as she turned and buried herself in his embrace, pressing her cheek against his chest. Her voice was muffled as she asked, "Why are you here?"

Xie Tingsheng adjusted his hold, one arm wrapping around her slender waist to pull her closer while the other gently patted her back. But his eyes were murderous as they fixed on the bloodstained, chaotic ground nearby. Yet his voice remained gentle as he replied, "I figured you’d be back by now, so I came down to meet you. Didn’t expect to be a step too late."