Chapter 42: She Suddenly Became Like a Zombie
After parting ways with Ruansui, it was 2:15 PM.
Where should I go next?
“My long-awaited date ended in just half a day. I don’t know what to do with the rest of my time.”
“Should I really go home and rest, as Ruansui suggested?”
“Speaking of which, it’s been a long time since I’ve been alone like this.”
“Come to think of it, there’s still a pile of things I haven’t done. For instance, studying.”
“I’ve completely fallen behind. Although my previous grades weren’t great, I could still manage. However, if I were to take an exam now…”
“Our Qianshui High School has a summer remedial class system. If my grades are too low in the final exam, I might receive a summer of despair remedial classes filled with Teacher Zhen’s love and education.”
“Having experienced it once, I never want to go through that again in this lifetime.”
“The more I think about it, the more anxious I get. I’ll go home and study.”
Just then, my phone suddenly rang.
I received a text message.
“At first, I thought it was Lanhua again. After all, 99% of the texts I receive are from her, and the remaining 1% are spam.”
“Ah, what a hassle. She’s not going to send me those photos of her wearing weird clothes and striking weird poses again, would she? The kind that look like they were stolen from a porn site?”
But it wasn’t.
It was a text message from Ai.
[“Juncheng, I’m sending this message on behalf of Miss Akiko. She said she wants to see you and Li Nai.”]
“Miss Akiko wants to see us? She must need us for something related to the mission. We haven’t made any progress so far.”
“She’ll definitely question us.”
“I just said I was free, and now trouble is coming to my door. I guess I have to go to Black Street.”
“It’s really not that I don’t want to study!”
“Miss Akiko said to come after dinner, after the twilight hour. Ai’s kind reminder: Twilight hour refers to PM 6:00.”
“Why choose such a time specifically?”
“Oh, I understand. By the way, why didn’t you send it all at once?”
I was about to send a text like this to ask, but when I was still editing it, I received a reply.
[“Because I’m relaying the message synchronously!”]
“The text message actually answered my question!”
“Oh, right. Ai is a robot. She doesn’t even need to operate a phone; she has a built-in text messaging function, right?”
[“I’m not a robot! I’m a home appliance! A HOME APPLIANCE!”]
“She can read my mind! Your emotional circuits are too rich!”
“Um, although I sent the same message to Li Nai, I haven’t received a reply. She might not have her phone with her. Can I trouble you to relay the message?”
“Hmm? What is Li Nai doing?”
After replying with ‘I understand,’ I called Li Nai.
No one answered. As expected, she didn’t have her phone with her.
“This is troublesome. Where am I supposed to find her? Do I have to ask Lanhua to find her?”
“I owe Lanhua even more favors. If this continues, I’ll owe her more and more. Maybe in the end, I’ll have to…”
“I’d rather not!”
“Oh, right. I remember Xiangyue Hei is good friends with Li Nai, so I’ll call her first.”
The call was quickly connected.
“Hmm? Juncheng? Is there something you need?”
“Um, ah, I wanted to ask if you and Li Nai are together…”
“Nana? We ate lunch together around noon, but we’ve already parted ways.”
“Is that so? Do you know where she went?”
“I’m not too sure, but she was walking in the direction of the park. If she didn’t go too far, she should be near Number Eleven Middle School by now.”
“Number Eleven Middle School? I see. Thank you, Xunxun.”
“It’s nothing. You don’t have to call me by my full name, just my given name is fine.”
I could tell from her voice that she sounded a little displeased. Did she get upset because I didn’t call her by her name?
“Uh, I’m used to calling you…”
“My name!”
“I know. I’ll call you by your name from now on, Hei’er. Is that okay?”
“Heh heh, that’s more like it. Then, it’s settled. Contact me if anything comes up.”
“Number Eleven Middle School is quite far from here. I hope I can find her when I get there.”
After hanging up the phone and putting it in my pocket, I quickened my pace towards Number Eleven Middle School.
About halfway there, I suddenly saw a suspicious figure squatting by the roadside. People around were pointing and whispering. The person, however, seemed unaffected, staring intently at something in a display window, their face practically pressed against it.
If that wasn’t Li Nai, then who else could it be?
“What in the world is this guy doing?”
I sighed. Although I really didn’t want to tell the people around me that I was related to her, I had no choice but to approach her for the sake of the mission.
“Hey, what are you up to now?”
“Eek! Isn’t this my Juncheng! This is truly fate!”
“Fate my foot! I’m here specifically to find you. A fated encounter!”
“Eh?! You came specifically to find me! Wow, Juncheng, you’re not falling in love with me, are you? Although I’m very happy, we… we can’t have a future! After all, there’s an insurmountable chasm between us, that is, the distance between life and death. Ah, it’s just…”
“Stop being ridiculous!”
“What is all this nonsense!”
“This is so troublesome. It feels like for every second I spend with this guy, my lifespan shortens by the same amount. It’s too deadly!”
“No, I can’t let her lead me around by the nose, or who knows where the conversation will go. I must firmly grasp the right to speak.”
“Never mind that. What are you doing here? And why does your face look like a dead person’s?”
“The Li Nai from before could almost be considered a bizarre zombie; she was so lively that you couldn’t tell she was dead. But now, her eyes are hollow and her expression is much duller. She seems more like a zombie now.”
After I said that, Li Nai immediately looked at the reflection in the window and said,
“What? Is this my face! How could it be! There’s no trace of youth, only an ethereal presence. It’s like a zombie!”
“You’re inherently a…”
“Juncheng, even partners need care, you know? I mean emotional support.”
“What? I…”
“What? I’m not neglecting you. I’m reminding you, isn’t that considerate enough?”
“Why has my face become like this! No, this glass isn’t clear enough. I need to take out my phone and look closely!”
“You ask me… Ah, wait! You have your phone with you?!”
“Then why didn’t you answer your damn phone just now?!”
“Hmm? Why are you so surprised? Young people these days don’t leave home without their phones, it’s common sense.”
“You dare to say that! Ai just sent a text to notify us to go to the department, but I didn’t receive your reply, so I came to find you. So why didn’t you answer your phone just now? Where did you put it?”
“Mhm, because the phone is very important, I put it in my head.”
“In your head?”
Seeing my stunned expression, Li Nai puffed out her chest proudly, as if her nose had grown longer.
“That’s right! You see, phones are just machines for receiving information, so I put it directly into my head. That way, I can directly…”
“Do you think you’re Ai! You plug a hard drive into your brain and use it! Besides, a phone isn’t a hard drive! So you didn’t receive the text message just now, did you?!”
“Ah, no wonder I felt a vibration in my head just now. I thought my virus and immune system were fighting again.”
“Mhm.”
“Then maybe I should take the phone out.”
After ranting for so long, I couldn’t help but gasp for air.
“It feels like it’s been a long time since I’ve critiqued so intensely. No, it’s mainly because this guy is full of flaws, and I can’t stop critiquing him.”
And this is surely not the end.
As if to confirm my thoughts, Li Nai suddenly made an extremely strange expression. Her facial features twisted together and then relaxed, repeating the process.
She suddenly spat out, and her phone came out of her mouth.
After repeating this several times, the phone, covered in her saliva and some unknown liquid, was caught in her hands. The signal light flickered faintly, looking a bit…
“I really pity you, phone. Having a stupid owner like Li Nai must be difficult.”
But Li Nai’s focus was not here.
“Ah, it’s waterlogged.”
“Are you sure it’s water?!”
“Couldn’t it be brain fluid! No, it really could be water. After all, your head looks like it’s been waterlogged!”
“It’s okay, it’s okay. It seems to still work. Ah, I worked hard to get the money from Mom to buy this phone. It would be bad if it’s unusable.”
“Alright, next time I won’t put it in my head. I’ll put it here.”
Li Nai looked up and pondered for a moment, then nodded as if she had made up her mind. She bent over and shoved the hand holding the phone into her…
“Where are you planning to put it?!”
I directly grabbed her hand, stopping her from performing an act of putting her phone into her ‘beep’ in the middle of the street.
But she suddenly showed a teasing expression, covered her mouth, and chuckled, “Oh? Juncheng, do you think I would put my phone in a private place? Juncheng, you’re so lustful~”
“Damn it, I really want to pull out her thought process right now.”
“Speaking of which, it won’t go in anyway. Because ah! I accidentally brought something into the tomb…”
“Who wants to know about that kind of thing!”
“Damn it! This guy!”
“But since I’m already dead, has that membrane rotted yet? Let’s test it!”
“Huh? Test what?”
“Heh, do I need to say? From this angle, I can’t see my own hymen, so I’ll have to trouble you to…”
“Don’t ask me for something like that! You brainless zombie!”
“If it’s rotten, maybe there won’t be any pain when I break it! So come on!”
“Come on my ass! What do you want me to do?!”
“Eh? I thought as long as there’s an opportunity to show my lower body, Juncheng, you would never miss it. You’d even take on a zombie.”
“What kind of person do you think I am?”
“Hmm? Of course, you’re a scum who builds a harem.”
“Don’t say things that would make people doubt my character!”
“But isn’t it the truth?”
“I give up. I’m speechless.”
This guy seems to have no idea what decency is. Her thoughts are too scattered. Although I’ve managed to keep up with her pace, it’s too exhausting.
“Speaking of which, didn’t I decide at the beginning to take control of the conversation?”
“Why did it go off track again!”
“Never mind that, I’m so hungry.”
“Didn’t you just…”
“I’m so hungry.”
“I’m so hungry.”
“Something seems… wrong?”
“From the moment we met, Li Nai was already a bit like a zombie. Now she’s even more…”
“More like a zombie!”
“Ugh, ugh, ugh, I’m so hungry, ah, ah!!”
“This is bad! She’s completely turned into a zombie!”
