Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Cheng Zhiyu bolted upright, instinctively calling out for Little Iron and Little Er. Little Black was clearly awake too, leaping onto the windowsill in a few quick bounds to peer outside.

Tian Qiao, sleeping next door, was also roused by the commotion and emerged to investigate.

Cheng Zhiyu and Little Black headed out, meeting Tian Qiao in the courtyard.

Tian Qiao yawned and grumbled, "Are these zombies insane? If they’re going to show up, why not during the day? They only cause trouble at night, just because they don’t need to sleep!"

It was clear he was thoroughly annoyed after being woken up.

Cheng Zhiyu patted his shoulder and said, "Let’s make it quick."

Tian Qiao nodded. They cautiously made their way to the source of the noise—one of the village households, where things were crashing and shattering loudly.

When they finally saw what it was, Cheng Zhiyu and Tian Qiao instantly relaxed, exchanging a glance and seeing excitement in each other’s eyes.

It wasn’t a zombie—it was a fat, well-fed pig!

Little Black looked disdainfully at the smelly creature, covering his nose with a paw, utterly baffled by Cheng Zhiyu and Tian Qiao’s delighted expressions.

He nudged Cheng Zhiyu, urging him to explain.

Cheng Zhiyu knew exactly how to explain it to the food-obsessed Little Black: "The Dongpo pork you ate before comes from this kind of meat."

Little Black’s interest immediately perked up. In the next moment, a streak of lightning struck the starving, frantic pig. The pig let out a pained squeal but, due to its considerable size, didn’t die right away. The pain drove it into a frenzy, and it began rampaging around.

Cheng Zhiyu said, "Don’t zap it to death—just stun it."

Little Black, wanting to end things quickly, sent over a dozen lightning bolts crashing down. The pig collapsed with a heavy thud, its legs twitching a few times before falling still.

Cheng Zhiyu, who hadn’t even had a chance to act, twitched his mouth. It seemed Little Black really enjoyed the Dongpo pork he’d made before.

Perhaps finding the pig a bit smelly, Little Black disdainfully used his Water Power to hose the pig down. It was incredibly effective—in the blink of an eye, the pig was squeaky clean.

Cheng Zhiyu quietly gave Little Black a thumbs-up.

Little Black calmly swished his tail and made a request: "I want to eat more... uh, meat tomorrow."

He’d forgotten the name of the dish, but it was meat, and that was all that mattered. After speaking, he sneaked a peek at Cheng Zhiyu’s expression, relieved to see that the other hadn’t noticed his forgetfulness.

"You got it," Cheng Zhiyu said, rubbing his hands together. "Tomorrow, I’ll make ten ways to cook pork."

Tian Qiao swallowed audibly. "Dude, don’t even mention it, Chengzi. I’m already craving it."

Cheng Zhiyu laughed. "No time to drool—let’s hurry and drain the pig’s blood."

Bleeding was a necessary step—not because skipping it would make the meat smell bad, but because unbled pork turns darker and spoils faster.

Since the pig was still stunned from the electrocution, this was the perfect time to bleed it. That was why Cheng Zhiyu had told Little Black not to kill it outright—once dead, bleeding becomes much harder.

"Alright, alright," Tian Qiao said, volunteering. Though he’d never slaughtered a pig before, bleeding it wasn’t difficult. He cut the pig’s throat, placing a clean basin underneath to collect the blood—pig’s blood is actually pretty good.

This pig was clearly a domestic one, probably raised by a farmer. It must have been starving and gone mad searching for food, making all that noise.

After bleeding the pig, Cheng Zhiyu and Tian Qiao carried it back into the house to handle in the morning. The nighttime temperatures were low, so there was no worry about it spoiling.

The pig had likely been starving for a while and didn’t look particularly fat, but as a domestic pig, it still had plenty of meat—enough to last them quite some time.

The two humans and the dog looked at this self-sacrificing (?) pig with great satisfaction, completely forgetting how irritable they’d been when first awakened.

Excitement aside, they were still genuinely tired. But they carefully cleaned up the smell of blood to avoid attracting zombies before returning to the rooms they’d been staying in to sleep.

They had cleaned those two rooms—the others were too dirty and uninhabitable.

Little Black, already exhausted, had snuggled into Cheng Zhiyu’s arms and fallen asleep. In his cub form, he tired easily, much like a real cub.

Cheng Zhiyu held Little Black gently, making sure not to wake him.

Back in the room, he laid Little Black on the bed, took off his jacket, did a quick wash, and got into bed.

Little Black, perhaps sensing his presence, subconsciously snuggled closer, resting his head on Cheng Zhiyu’s hand with steady, even breathing.

Cheng Zhiyu looked at the small, sleeping form and felt a warmth in his heart. With a small smile, he whispered, "Goodnight, Little Black."

Little Black’s ears twitched faintly—maybe answering him.

The next morning, Cheng Zhiyu was woken by sunlight. After finally getting a relatively peaceful night’s sleep, he really didn’t want to get up. He tugged the blanket over his face, intending to go back to sleep.

Little Black burrowed deeper into his embrace.

However, after a while, the temperature rose, making it too hot to sleep. On top of that, Cheng Zhiyu couldn’t stop thinking about the pork from the previous day, worried it might spoil if left unattended. Unable to sleep any longer, he got up, washed quickly, and prepared to head out.

He didn’t wake Little Black, wanting to let him sleep longer, but as soon as he got up, Little Black stirred too, forming a ball of water to wash himself clean.

Seeing him yawn, Cheng Zhiyu said sympathetically, "If you’re still tired, just go back to sleep. I’ll come back after handling the pork."

Little Black resisted the urge to stretch, his eyes wide open, and insisted, "I’m not tired."

Cheng Zhiyu sighed. "Alright."

Little Black jumped into his arms and closed his eyes to continue sleeping.

Cheng Zhiyu: "..." Yeah right, weren’t you just saying you weren’t tired?

Stepping outside, he was surprised to find Tian Qiao already awake. Cheng Zhiyu knew his childhood friend well—this guy used to never get up before noon. Given the lack of such luxury recently, Cheng Zhiyu had assumed he’d sleep in today.

Noticing his surprise, Tian Qiao guessed the reason and yawned helplessly. "I’d love to keep sleeping, but it’s so hot—I can’t take it. Might as well get up."

Cheng Zhiyu frowned at the sweat on Tian Qiao’s forehead. "It feels like the temperature’s been rising lately. Before, it was only really hot around noon."

As they walked and talked, Tian Qiao sighed. "Who knows what’s up with this awful weather? Scorching hot during the day, freezing cold at night. Honestly, without the red cabbage, I don’t know how we’d have made it through the nights."

Thanks to the red cabbage, the nighttime temperatures had been comfortable for them.

Tian Qiao mused wistfully, "If only there were something like ice cabbage."

Cheng Zhiyu wished for it too, but it wasn’t something he could just will into existence.

Tian Qiao used his power to make some ice to cool them both down, providing at least a little relief.

They found the pig from the previous night and set to work. Rested and recovered, they made quick progress.

Soon, the pig was neatly broken down into cuts of meat based on different parts.

Cheng Zhiyu’s storage space had freed up quite a bit—mainly because they’d eaten a lot of the food inside—so there was plenty of room for the pork.

"Wait, if that’s the case, why didn’t I just put the pig in the storage space last night?" Cheng Zhiyu suddenly smacked his forehead in realization.

Tian Qiao also realized: "Right! If we put it in your storage space, we wouldn't have to worry about it spoiling, at least we wouldn’t be in such a rush to deal with it, and we wouldn’t have to make multiple trips either."

The two of them, who had just rushed over under the blazing sun: "..."

All they could say was that they were truly exhausted last night and had completely forgotten about this.

They exchanged a glance and both pretended not to notice their own foolishness, turning back as they quietly discussed what to do next.

"I’ll go check on how the mud is drying later. With such blazing sun, I bet it’ll be bone-dry in two days," Tian Qiao said.

Cheng Zhiyu nodded. Seeing Little Black stick his head out, he couldn’t help but smile: "I know, I know, I’ll start cooking right away. Ten different pork dishes, just like I promised you—I haven’t forgotten."

Little Black’s ears twitched, and he coughed lightly: "There’s no need to make exactly ten."

Cheng Zhiyu cooed: "Aww, buddy, are you worried about me working too hard?"

Little Black’s ears grew warm. His round eyes glared at Cheng Zhiyu before he immediately pulled his head back.

Cheng Zhiyu snorted.

Tian Qiao, watching from the side, felt speechless. He never knew before that Cheng Zhiyu had such a sick sense of humor, and could even say such corny things. Really... gross.

He rubbed the goosebumps on his arms, looking utterly disgusted: "I’m going to get to work."

Cheng Zhiyu, not embarrassed at all, waved him off: "Go ahead."

The two went their separate ways. Cheng Zhiyu entered the kitchen, thought for a moment, then took out the pork and got busy.

Domestic pigs also have long hair that needs to be removed. Cheng Zhiyu found it too slow to burn them off himself, so he summoned Little Er to help.

Little Er wavered slightly and effortlessly burned off all the hair.

Cheng Zhiyu happily praised Little Er a couple of times. Meanwhile, Little Black, sitting nearby, squinted and used water to rinse off the charred skin until it was completely clean.

After rinsing, he sat back down calmly, acting aloof, though he was actually stealing glances at Cheng Zhiyu out of the corner of his eye.

Cheng Zhiyu smirked, pretending not to notice Little Black’s gaze. He rubbed his chin, looking at the pork on the cutting board as he pondered what to make.

Pork tenderloin for sweet and sour pork and boiled pork slices, pork belly for Dongpo pork and "little pig under covers," pig's feet for braised pig’s feet, front rump for stir-fry, hind rump for pork and glass noodles stew—the glass noodles were found at a farmer’s house.

The last three would be cold pig’s ear salad, twice-cooked pork, and finally, a minced pork patty.

Ten dishes would be just right. Maybe also make a soup... yes, pork rib soup.

As Cheng Zhiyu thought it over, he started by braising the pig’s ears and face meat, getting the rib soup going, and stewing the pig's feet before diving into the rest.

Little Black, who had just shown off and was quietly waiting for praise, twitched his ears: What’s going on?

Watching Cheng Zhiyu running around like crazy, he could only resign himself—maybe Cheng Zhiyu was just too busy and forgot. But it didn’t matter; he didn’t care anyway.

Little Black’s tail drooped, its wagging slowing noticeably.

Cheng Zhiyu had been teasing Little Black earlier, but now he’d genuinely forgotten. Preparing ten different dishes was no easy task, especially since some were quite complex. He was swamped, working so hard that his spatula was flying.

As each dish was finished, he stored it in his space to keep it tasting fresh-made. Otherwise, making ten dishes would take far too long.

Little Black wasn’t idle either. He created plates made of water and helped pass things to Cheng Zhiyu.

Too busy to give Little Black pets, Cheng Zhi praised him verbally: "Thank you, Little Black. I’d be completely in over my head without you."

Little Black’s tail wagged again: Well, it was no big deal. He had nothing else to do anyway.

While Cheng Zhiyu was busy, somewhere else, a pair of eyes glowed faintly in the darkness, having caught whiff of the scent again. The stone beside him was crushed to dust.

Cheng Zhiyu was completely unaware. If this were before the apocalypse, he’d probably ached all over from the effort. As he finished the last dish, he let out a sigh: "Food's ready!"

Little Black immediately jumped down from the stool, created a huge water bowl, and wagged his tail: "Put them here. I’ll carry them over."

"Great, thanks, Little Black." Now free, Cheng Zhiyu picked up Little Black and gave him a loud kiss.

Little Black tried to dodge but failed: Whatever... it’s just a kiss, right?

He thought this to himself, but his eyes darted around, avoiding Cheng Zhiyu’s gaze. So strange—why did Cheng Zhiyu seem more and more good-looking?

Cheng Zhiyu didn’t notice Little Black’s odd behavior. Happily, he placed the dishes into Little Black’s water bowl: "Go for it, Little Black! I’m counting on you!"

Little Black calmly waddled out of the kitchen on his short legs.

Cheng Zhiyu smiled to himself. Truthfully, he could have stored the dishes in his space and taken them out later, but who doesn’t love a dog that helps carry food?

"Why isn’t Tian Qiao back yet? Little Black, sit tight. I’ll go check outside." Before Cheng Zhiyu finished speaking, Little Black had already placed all the dishes neatly on the table, scampered over, and leaped into Cheng Zhiyu’s arms: I’m coming too.

In high spirits, Cheng Zhiyu pinched Little Black’s ears and mumbled: "Little Black, you’re such a clingy little thing."

Little Black froze as if he'd been struck by lightning: Was he?

After just a few steps, Cheng Zhiyu spotted Tian Qiao, who had dug up another large pile of mud. Why was he so hard at work today? Standing in the shade, Cheng Zhiyu called out: "Time to eat, Tian Qiao!"

Tian Qiao, with his pants rolled up, was a muddy mess from his feet to his legs, arms, and even his face. He responded immediately, walking over with open arms toward Little Black: "Brother Black!"

Little Black gave him a disdainful look and roughly rinsed him clean with water.

Tian Qiao: "That hits the spot!"

Back in the room, the table was laden with ten dishes and a soup. Tian Qiao hadn’t felt hungry before, but at the sight of the food, his stomach growled. He audibly gulped: "This smells amazing! Cheng Zhiyu, your cooking has improved so much. Even before the apocalypse, I wouldn’t dare eat like this every day."

Moved, he added: "Cheng Zhiyu, I love you to death!"

Before Cheng Zhiyu could respond, Little Black flicked a small water ball at Tian Qiao’s head. Tian Qiao cried out dramatically: "Cheng Zhiyu, look at him!"

It didn’t hurt at all; he just wanted to whine.

Little Black bared his teeth at Tian Qiao.

"You talk too much. Stop chatting and let’s eat," Cheng Zhiyu said, playing favorites.

"Wow, Cheng Zhiyu, how could you? With those honest-looking features, but you’re actually this biased. Am I not your favorite anymore?" Tian Qiao teased, deliberately trying to annoy.

Cheng Zhiyu stroked Little Black’s ruffled fur: "It’s fine, ignore him. He’s just being ridiculous."

Little Black was successfully soothed and even glanced at Tian Qiao with a hint of provocation.

Unfortunately, Tian Qiao was too focused on the meat to notice.

Cheng Zhiyu thought Little Black was hungry because every dish seemed to have a piece or two missing. He assumed Little Black had eaten them and didn’t think much of it.

Sitting down, he took out Little Black’s exclusive bowl. Since Little Black had a bottomless stomach, his small bowl had been replaced with a large one. Cheng Zhiyu immediately served him some food, giving him an affectionate pat: "Eat up."

Little Black, completely unaware he’d been framed: "?"

He sniffed and immediately dug in.

Though all the dishes were made from the same pig, each had its own distinct flavor. Little Black enjoyed the chilled marinated pig ears and cheek meat for their crisp and refreshing taste, while Tian Qiao preferred the pig trotters, chewing on them with great delight—though his messy eating style, with sauce all over his hands and mouth, was rather hard to watch.

As for Cheng Zhiyu, his favorite was the "piglet under the blanket," a dish of tender, stewed pork topped with thin pancakes that had soaked up the rich broth. The pancakes were chewy and held up well, without getting mushy.

After the meal, none of them moved right away. Despite Cheng Zhiyu having prepared smaller portions of each dish, there was still so much food that everyone ended up stuffed.

Tian Qiao let out a sigh, leaned back in his chair, and patted his bulging stomach. "Ugh, I’ve eaten away all my abs."

Cheng Zhiyu, who was holding Little Black and wiping his mouth, raised an eyebrow. "You had abs?"

Tian Qiao replied confidently, "Well, I was planning to work on them! With all this physical activity every day, it’s only a matter of time."

Cheng Zhiyu just smiled without saying anything.

Tian Qiao grew curious. "Cheng Zhiyu, do you have abs?"

Cheng Zhiyu said, "Yeah."

Tian Qiao didn’t believe him. "No way, you never had them before."

Cheng Zhiyu replied, "I’ve only recently developed them."

He had been exercising daily without specifically targeting his abs, yet they had appeared. Even though he ate a lot, his high activity level kept them defined and even more pronounced.

Tian Qiao, however, was dismayed. "How is that possible? You’re lying, aren’t you?"

Cheng Zhiyu shrugged. "Suit yourself if you don’t believe me."

"I don’t, I don’t!" Tian Qiao leaned closer, reaching for Cheng Zhiyu’s shirt. "Unless you show me. Come on, let me see!"

He and Cheng Zhiyu were close—they’d even showered together before—and among guys, such things were no big deal. But Little Black, sitting steadily in Cheng Zhiyu’s arms, fixed his round eyes on Tian Qiao with a piercing glare.

Tian Qiao felt a chill down his spine and instinctively pulled his hand back. A moment later, he felt a bit embarrassed. Really, what was there to fear from Brother Black? They were all on the same side!

So, to cover his embarrassment, Tian Qiao joked, "Haha, Brother Black is just like me—no abs either."

Hearing this, Cheng Zhiyu chuckled and gently patted Little Black’s soft belly.

Little Black froze. Hearing Cheng Zhiyu laugh along, he looked down at his own soft, round stomach and felt a surge of panic. Would he turn into a fatty when he eventually took human form?

Little Black tried to recall—he had never eaten like this in the past.

Cheng Zhiyu’s voice broke through his thoughts. "Little Black, don’t listen to Tian Qiao. It’d be weird for a puppy to have abs. You’re perfect just the way you are—so cute."

Little Black stayed silent, feeling glum. He wasn’t really a dog, after all.

If he ended up becoming a fatty, would Cheng Zhiyu still want to hold him so affectionately? The more he thought about it, the sadder he felt. When Cheng Zhiyu reached out a hand, Little Black gently nipped on his finger.

The puppy’s light bite felt like a playful gesture, and Cheng Zhiyu’s smile widened. "Good boy~"

Little Black: "..."

—

Cheng Zhiyu went to check on the mud they had dug up yesterday. The sun was even stronger now, and what he had expected to take days to dry was nearly ready by that afternoon.

He glanced at the sky, estimating that the sun would set in a little over an hour. He planned to pulverize the dried mud then and use it as fertilizer for Big Strong and the others.

With that in mind, he entered the system space. The vegetables he had planted yesterday were already sprouting, tiny shoots glistening with dew, looking incredibly adorable.

He had planted cucumbers and tomatoes around Little Two, potatoes around Little Iron, and watermelons around Little Yellow.

Cheng Zhiyu paid special attention to the watermelon, curious about any changes. For now, the seedlings seemed normal, but since they had just sprouted, it was hard to tell. He decided to let them grow a bit more.

Big Strong’s vitality was still increasing very slowly, only reaching 12% today. Because its vitality hadn’t stabilized, it hadn’t entered the maturity stage yet. It remained a small, somewhat wilted plant, which was rather heartbreaking.

It was so fragile that Cheng Zhiyu hardly dared to touch it. He whispered softly, "Hang in there, Big Strong. The fertilizer will be ready soon."

Besides using mud as fertilizer, Cheng Zhiyu had also considered using meat compost. There were plenty of small fish in the pond, so materials weren’t an issue.

However, while meat compost is highly fertile, it takes a long time to mature. They couldn’t stay here indefinitely, and if they had to leave, carrying a large bucket of fertilizer would be impractical.

If stored in the inventory space, the fermentation would stop. But if not stored there, how could they transport a large bucket of fertilizer?

After weighing the options, using mud as fertilizer seemed more feasible for now.

As the sun began to set, Cheng Zhiyu and Tian Qiao got to work. Fortunately, they didn’t have to work in complete darkness—solar-powered streetlights lined the rural roads, still functioning even without grid electricity.

Well… the lights were a bit dim, but better than nothing.

The two busied themselves grinding the dried mud. When it was ready, Cheng Zhiyu filled a small bucket with some of the fertilizer and headed into the system space.

Tian Qiao stayed behind to bag up the remaining fertilizer.

Inside the system space, Cheng Zhiyu asked the system, "System, will fertilizing the plants be beneficial?"

Based on his experience, it should be, but he wanted to double-check for peace of mind.

The system remained silent, so Cheng Zhiyu didn’t press further. If there were any issues, the system would likely be more anxious than he was. Its silence probably meant everything was fine.

With that thought, Cheng Zhiyu cautiously applied fertilizer around Big Strong, careful not to let it touch the roots directly to avoid root burn. He waited a moment, but Big Strong showed no reaction.

Not waiting any longer, he fertilized Little Two and the others. Seeing Little Two’s leaves sway happily, he smiled—Little Two seemed to like it.

If Little Two liked it, then maybe Big Strong… Cheng Zhiyu turned to look and was amazed to see that Big Strong’s vitality had increased by 2% in a short time. Surprised at first, he quickly understood—after all, Big Strong was no ordinary plant.

Confirming that the fertilizer was effective, he breathed a sigh of relief. With the boost from the fertilizer, he believed Big Strong would soon enter its maturity stage.

That night, Cheng Zhiyu slept soundly, completely unaware of a shadow moving quickly outside, stopping right at his door.

Inside the room, Little Black opened his eyes.