Surviving the Apocalypse with the Young Miss - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Bathing

Song Ge stood up abruptly. “Give me the phone.”

Tong Xiangyu handed it back. Seeing Song Ge’s expression tighten slightly, she couldn’t help but feel nervous. “Did something happen?”

Song Ge didn’t answer. She went straight to the trending topics, but the screen displayed a “Network connection failed” message. She restarted the data connection, but it was the same. She tried switching to other apps; none had internet access.

Without looking up, Song Ge asked, “Under what circumstances would it be impossible to connect to the internet?”

Tong Xiangyu replied, “If the phone bill isn’t paid, or if the signal is bad?”

“Bad signal…” Song Ge pursed her lips. She already had a guess in her mind. Realizing that further attempts were futile, she put the phone away.

Tong Xiangyu pressed for an explanation, but Song Ge remained silent. There was no point in telling her. This Young Mistress couldn’t do anything about it, and neither could she. This was no longer a situation an individual or a group could handle; it had to be left to the state.

“It’s nothing. Go back to sleep.”

Tong Xiangyu watched her, thinking, How am I supposed to sleep after you stop halfway? She bit her lip and asked uneasily, “You won’t go out alone while I’m sleeping, will you?”

Song Ge said she wouldn’t.

Tong Xiangyu studied her expression and decided she wasn’t lying, so she lay back down to try and sleep again.

However, she had broken into a cold sweat during her nightmare, and now her skin felt sticky. She had been wearing this school skirt since yesterday; the more she thought about it, the more uncomfortable she felt. Unable to get past her inner hurdle, she sat up again. “Song Ge.”

Song Ge raised an eyelid to look at her.

“I want to take a bath.” Tong Xiangyu threw caution to the wind. “Can you lend me a set of clean clothes and, and…”

“Underwear,” Song Ge finished for her, not finding it embarrassing at all.

Tong Xiangyu watched her walk calmly toward the cabinet by the door. Struggling with herself, she added in a small voice, “Is there anything… new?”

Song Ge didn’t say anything. She took out a set of her own clean clothes and a pack of underwear she had grabbed from the supermarket that morning.

Tong Xiangyu was surprised to see the underwear. Even through the packaging, she could tell the fabric was high quality, and the price on the label was quite expensive. It didn’t look like something a person like Song Ge—who wore ordinary clothes worth thirty or fifty yuan—would buy.

But she couldn’t ask questions about things given to her. Perhaps Song Ge just liked wearing high-quality underwear! After all, it was more important than outer clothing.

Tong Xiangyu went to bathe.

Song Ge walked to the window and peeled back a corner of the tape to observe the situation outside. The glass was smeared with blood, and severed limbs were scattered nearby. Monsters were wandering, making vague, huffing sounds. It was impossible to leave under these conditions.

Inside the bathroom, Tong Xiangyu spent a long time studying the shower but couldn’t get hot water to come out. She had already undressed and had to put her clothes back on, poked her head out piteously, and asked Song Ge how to adjust the temperature.

“I didn’t buy a heater for the summer,” Song Ge said. “It’s not cold. Just take a cold shower.”

A look of helplessness appeared on Tong Xiangyu’s beautiful face. “Ah? Al… alright…” She hesitated, about to close the door.

“Wait,” Song Ge said. “You won’t catch a cold from a cold shower, will you? I don’t have medicine here.”

“I… probably won’t…”

“Don’t say ‘probably,'” Song Ge said. “If you’re not sure, don’t wash.”

Tong Xiangyu’s eyes turned red. “But I feel so smelly.”

Song Ge got up, walked over to her, and leaned in to sniff.

Tong Xiangyu never expected such a blunt action. She was startled; if the bathroom hadn’t been too small to move in, she would have jumped.

“I don’t smell anything,” Song Ge said flatly. She looked at Tong Xiangyu and added, “High standards depend on the situation. I don’t have the facilities for that here.”

“I… I won’t catch a cold.”

Song Ge saw her eyes flickering and heard the lack of confidence in her voice. After a moment of thought, she said, “Your constitution really does need some work. While we wait for rescue, you’ll train with me.”

“Train? Train for what?”

“Physical fitness,” Song Ge said. “I’ll arrange the exercises and the intensity.”

“Why do we need to do that? Won’t rescue workers be coming?”

“Who knows,” Song Ge said casually. “In this world, no one is reliable except yourself. The people you need won’t always be by your side at critical moments. It’s more effective to master some escape skills yourself. It’s best if you never need them, but if you do, they’ll save your life.”

Tong Xiangyu understood. “It’s better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish.”

Song Ge snapped her fingers and pointed at her. “Exactly. You’re quite the scholar.”

Tong Xiangyu thought the finger-snapping was a bit cool. She felt strangely shy, looked away, and said softly, “I… I still want to bathe. I’ll try my best not to get sick, so please don’t worry.”

“Suit yourself,” Song Ge said. “Either way, if you get sick, I have no way to get you medicine.”

Tong Xiangyu braved the cold water for a while. It was bone-chilling. Even though it was summer, the basement felt cool, even being only half-underground.

Shivering, she remembered to ask, “Where is the body wash?”

“There’s only bar soap,” Song Ge said. “In the shelf under the sink.”

Tong Xiangyu bent down and saw the used bar of soap. Her germaphobia flared up, making her feel quite distressed. But if she didn’t use soap, wouldn’t she still be smelly? Recalling Song Ge’s words about “depending on the situation,” she gritted her teeth and picked up the pale yellow bar.

The soap was smooth and rounded, its small size indicating it had been used many times. Tong Xiangyu felt awkward, inevitably imagining Song Ge using this same soap on her body.

After agonizing back and forth, she still couldn’t cross her internal barrier. She set the soap down and glanced at the two towels hanging on the wall. She didn’t want to use someone else’s towel either.

Her nose prickled; she really wanted to have a good cry over her terrible situation.

But she didn’t cry, and she didn’t use the towel. She simply hopped around in the bathroom a few times to shake off as much water as possible, then pulled on the clothes Song Ge had provided.

Under the room light, Song Ge stood by the desk, bent over as she inventoried the food and water to see how long they could last. She didn’t look up when the bathroom door opened.

Tong Xiangyu fidgeted with the hem of the short-sleeved shirt. She had expected Song Ge’s cheap clothes to be uncomfortable, but the faded shirt was old and soft against her skin. However, the bra Song Ge had given her was impossible to fasten, so she had left it off.

She let her long hair, which was damp at the ends, fall over her chest to cover herself and avoid embarrassment. Nevertheless, her curvaceous figure was still evident under the simple attire.

Song Ge, who was poor at math, calculated for a while before finally writing a number in the bottom right corner.

Twelve days.

Just under two weeks. If they rationed, they could stretch it to half a month. This was for two people. She needed to get the Young Mistress’s delicate stomach used to her stockpiled food soon.

Today she had been lucky to only encounter monsters after leaving the supermarket. If she had been greedier or slower, something major would have happened. But as time went on, the factors Song Ge had to consider weren’t just the monsters, but another issue: in a city-wide outbreak, they weren’t the only survivors.

Other people would surely try to find supplies once they ran out. She only hoped the situation hadn’t reached its worst yet. Hopefully, they could wait for rescue soon. Otherwise, people who wanted to survive wouldn’t be much kinder than the monsters.

Song Ge closed her notebook and turned to say something to Tong Xiangyu, only to find the Young Mistress had already fallen asleep on the bed. She was lying on her side, the oversized shirt and mid-length pants fitting her poorly. Her straight, delicate legs under the pant legs were so white they seemed to glow. The soft shirt clung to her overly slender waist, and the wide neckline revealed a glimpse of a beautiful curve.

Song Ge looked for a second, then stood up to pull the quilt over her.

Don’t go catching a cold and causing me trouble.

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