These words did not come out from the mouths of Room 412âs residents. Instead, someone else had shouted these words in the heat of the moment.
Meanwhile, Ren Nanying couldnât help but look at Jun Zishu with complicated emotions in this situation.
How⦠How cute⦠That was Ren Nanyingâs first thought. Then, she wondered, What in the world is this girl thinking? To play the national anthem at this time⦠She really isâ¦inspirational.
What people were more afraid of was to have no hope. Without the support of hope, a person was essentially doomed.
âEveryone, cheer up! Zombies are afraid of head-pokes! Pop their heads with a fruit knife or a bat! Be careful not to be caught or bitten! If you canât win in a fight, run as fast as you can! If you canât outrun them, climb a tree or something tall! Thereâs no point in being afraid!â Xu Qiu shouted in an attempt to encourage the residents of other rooms. Although she had never fought a zombie before, she had a wealth of theoretical knowledge (and friends who had fought zombies before).
âThatâs right! You can also study if you donât have anything to do in your rooms!â Liu Manman shouted after walking up to the balcony.
âStudy my ass! Itâs already the end of the world! There are zombies outside trying to eat us! To hell with studying!â a girl downstairs shouted, her voice filled with despair.
âThe apocalypse will end sooner or later. Once it ends, we still need to come back to study. May I know if youâve passed your Band 4 yet?â Lin Su asked in an inspirational voice.
âPass! My! Ass!ân/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âStudents from the English Department, have you passed your Band 4 and Band 8 yet?â Lin Su asked again.
âYou must be Lin Su, right? I can tell from your voice!â someone suddenly said.
Lin Su promptly shut up upon hearing this. She didnât wish to get beaten up afterward.
âIâve passed my Band 4, so Iâm not afraid of it,â a girl from upstairs said in a gleeful tone.
âYou must be from the Economics Department since youâre living upstairs, right? May I ask if youâve passed your Advanced Mathematics yet?â Jun Zishu retaliated with a smile.
âWhy must you remind me of such a horrible thing? Iâve already failed it onceâ¦â the girl upstairs whined, expressing her refusal to face such a harsh reality.
âIâm thinking of going out to fight those zombies. I donât want to continue losing hair in the Medical Department,â a girl from downstairs chimed in.
The atmosphere surrounding Block 2 brightened up significantly in no time at all.
âAlright, letâs stop speaking and stay quiet. Otherwise, the zombies outside are going to start banging on our doors. Those living on the lower floors should be careful. There are many zombies outside your floors. Be careful and donât stop struggling. We will all survive this ordeal,â Jun Zishu said, making an inspirational summary. She looked much warmer and more reliable compared to her cheeky behavior just now.
In reality, the zombies downstairs had long since grown agitated. However, they could only look up from downstairs and growl at their prey because of their lack of a functioning brain.
After the residents of Block 2 stopped speaking, the zombies also stopped making a fuss and gradually scattered.
Meanwhile, Jun Zishu returned to the room and closed the glass sliding door. Then she turned around and saw her roommates looking much more spirited than before.
Jun Zishu: What do you think? Feels exciting, right?
Liu Manman: I feel refreshed!
Lin Su: I feel exhilarated!
Xu Qiu: My body is quivering!
Ren Nanying: You people are really sick in the headâ¦
Liu Manman: You overpraise us. Itâs all thanks to our goddessâs teachings.
Jun Zishu nodded her head in satisfaction. Then, after taking a sip of water, she clapped her hands and said, âAlright, time for bed.â
âThereâs no way we can fall asleep right now,â Liu Manman said, shrugging. They had just experienced a feverish moment. How could they fall asleep so quickly with their bodies in such an excited state?
âYou guys are behaving as if youâve just taken a shot of chicken blood after listening to the national anthem. I was thinking of playing Miracleâs Reappearance initially, but I later decided on the national anthem since it could resonate with people more.â[1]
Jun Zishu felt that Miracleâs Reappearance should also be an effective song to instill hope into others.[2]
Xu Qiu: What song is Miracleâs Reappearance?
Ren Nanying: Itâs from Ultraman Tiga.
Liu Manman: Have you never watched it?
Xu Qiu: I did, but I didnât know the theme song was called Miracleâs Reappearanceâ¦
Lin Su: A new storm has emergedâ¦
Xu Qiu: OK, OK, I get it. Donât sing it.
âHow can they be so cheerful,â Ren Nanying asked Jun Zishu as she looked at the interactions between Jun Zishuâs roommates.
âItâs probably because we are all cheerful people,â Jun Zishu said, shrugging.
The compatibility between roommates was highly dependent on fate. In some cases, roommates could hit it off quite well and become close friends quickly. However, there were also cases where roommates shared plastic friendships and constantly went at each otherâs necks, whether openly or secretly.
In Room 412âs case, the situation was incredibly harmonious. The girls living here had good natures, and everyone belonged to different departments. This meant that they wouldnât have any conflicts of interest, which allowed them to share a purer friendship. Moreover, the girls here were rather funny people.
Liu Manman was a nerd who loved to fantasize. She would also occasionally behave like a girl with eighth-grader syndrome.
Xu Qiu was usually a dull and untalkative person. However, she would occasionally become a hardworking girl who was smart and good at counting money.
Lin Su might look like a mature and stable bookworm with an indifferent attitude, but she was the best at making funny responses.
âWhy donât we play a game of landlord, then?â Jun Zishu suggested.
âYou guys even have poker cards here?â Ren Nanying asked in surprise.
âWhatâs so surprising about that? Our next-door neighbor even has a mahjong set. You can often hear them clattering away,â Liu Manman said as she pointed next door. At the same time, she couldnât help but wonder what had happened to those four girls next door and pray that the God of Mahjong blessed them.
Liu Manman: I think this is too crazy. Not only are we studying during the apocalypse, but weâre even playing landlord now? Arenât we disrespecting the apocalypse too much?
Lin Su: We only have one deck, so we can only play with three people. Whoâs going first?
Xu Qiu: Decide with rock-paper-scissors?
Ren Nanying: Weâll switch out the losers of each round, then.
Jun Zishu: How did you adapt to our roomâs atmosphere so quickly?
Ren Nanying: Do I have any other choice? Come on. Rock-paper-scissors, right?
Liu Manman: Ah! Hey! Can you guys respect the apocalypse?!
Lin Su: Move aside, then. You donât have to play if you donât want to.
Liu Manman: Donât even think about it! Thereâs no way you can play landlord without me!
After a round of rock-paper-scissors, it was decided that Jun Zishu, Lin Su, and Liu Manman would go first, while Xu Qiu and Ren Nanying would wait at the side.
After shuffling the deck, Jun Zishu flipped over a card and set it as the landlord card. Then, everyone began drawing cards, and Jun Zishu coincidentally drew the landlord card.
âPair of threes.â
âPair of fives.â
âPair of Kings.â
âPair of Aces.â
âPass.â
âChain.â
âPass.â
âPass.â
âTrio with pair.â
âPass.â
âPass.â
âTrio with pair. I have one card left,â Jun Zishu said.
âFuck. Isnât your hand too good?â Liu Manman cursed as she looked at the last card in Jun Zishuâs hand, a sense of danger filling her heart.
âYou playing any cards or not?â Jun Zishu asked nonchalantly.
âPass. What about you, Susu?â
âPass,â Lin Su said, gnashing her teeth as she looked at Jun Zishuâs last card hatefully.
âA four. I win. Easy-peasy,â Jun Zishu said, crossing her arms in front of her chest in a provocative manner.
âItâs only because you got a good hand!â
Before Liu Manman and Lin Su even got a chance to show off their skills, they had already lost and were replaced by Xu Qiu and Ren Nanying.
âPair of Queens,â Jun Zishu threw out two cards with an aloof expression after the second game began.
Ren Nanying scrutinized Jun Zishuâs face for any potential information. However, after failing to glean anything, she threw out a pair of Kings.
Ren Nanying was evidently the stronger player in this round, and most of the cards Xu Qiu played ended up favoring her.
However, Jun Zishu did not panic. She had a good memory, so she could guess what cards her opponents had. Unless she had received a truly terrible hand, she was confident she could win every game.
Sure enough, Jun Zishu remained planted in her seat for the second game and several games afterward. On the other hand, the two other seats kept changing owners every round.
âZishu! When did you become so good?!â Lin Su complained as she threw her cards on the floor. Everyone in Room 412 had been equally skilled at landlord in the past. Yet, Jun Zishu had been winning non-stop today.
Jun Zishu simply glanced at Lin Su with an aloof expression in response.
Jun Zishu: Itâs sad that not even one of you can put up a fight.
Liu Manman: Sisters! Get her!
Xu Qiu: Beat her up!
Lin Su: Screw her!
Ren Nanying didnât say anything. Meanwhile, noticing the lack of response coming from Ren Nanying, Jun Zishuâs three roommates turned to look at her with burning eyes.
Ren Nanying: I⦠Do I need to state my stance?
Liu Manman:
Ren Nanying: Then⦠Thenâ¦
Ren Nanying: Fuck her?
Xu Qiu: Ehâ¦
Lin Su: Ehâ¦
Liu Manman: Ehâ¦
Jun Zishu: I treat you as my big sister, yet you actually want toâ¦
Ren Nanying: I was just going along with the flow, butâ¦I couldnât think of any better wordsâ¦
Ren Nanying was only a sports student. Even after racking her mind, that was the only word she could come up with.
Afterward, everyone decided to challenge Jun Zishu together. They let Jun Zishu be the landlord every game, while the other two players worked as a group to take down Jun Zishu. Unfortunately, what ended up happening was Jun Zishu giving them a lesson on the harshness of reality.
Ren Nanying: This is too abnormal.
Lin Su: Thatâs right. This is too abnormal.
Liu Manman: I know, right? This is too abnormal.
Xu Qiu: Unbelievable. This is too abnormal.
Jun Zishu: â¦
âI give up, I give up. Iâm dead tired,â Liu Manman said, shaking her head. The consecutive defeats she suffered had thoroughly extinguished her excitement, and she suddenly felt tired and sleepy.
âItâs no fun at all getting beat up every game. How on earth do you manage to always win?â
âIt feels lonely being invincible.â
âSorry for the interruption. Iâm going to sleep.â
âLetâs go to sleep.â
Everyone climbed onto their respective beds, and Jun Zishu gestured for Ren Nanying to get into bed with her.
At this point, Ren Nanying had already changed her opinion about Jun Zishu. This little girl was not only beautiful, but she was also level-headed and capable. She also had many strange ideas in her mind. Although she could be mischievous at times, her cheeky behavior also looked quite cute. Moreover, she was incredibly strong at playing landlord.
How did I end up having a bad relationship with such a cute and interesting girl in the past?
Oh, right, it was because of a boy.
Tsk. Troublesome boys.
Jun Zishu lied beside Jun Zishu with her eyes open. She wanted to say something but didnât know what to say.
âYou are very good at playing cards.â
In the end, these were the only words Ren Nanying could come up with. Meanwhile, after saying so, she heard a soft chuckle coming from Jun Zishu, the laughter causing her ears to burn a little.
â¦
TL Notes:
[1]a chicken-blood shot: This is referring to the chicken-blood therapy. The therapy consisted mainly of simply drawing blood from a rooster and injecting into the patients. Claimed benefits included making the patient highly aggressive and strong.
Wikipedia Link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicken-blood_therapy
[2]Miracleâs Reappearance: This is the theme song thatâs used in the China version of Ultraman Tiga.