Surviving the Apocalypse with the Young Miss - Chapter 24

Chapter 24: The Map

Tong Xiangyu finally regained her composure, her face flushing slightly with indignation. “I clearly meant that it was ‘going too far’ for you to say I have bad sleeping habits.”

“Oh, so telling the truth is going too far now,” Song Ge quipped, humoring the Young Mistress as she finished moving the sofa. Before the light faded completely, she dug the candles out of her backpack along with a pack of compressed biscuits.

When it was bright out, Tong Xiangyu was practically “blind”; now that it was dark, she could see even less. Squinting did nothing, so she had to rely on her hearing to orient herself. The sound of a biscuit wrapper being torn was a familiar one.

Tong Xiangyu asked, “Song Ge, didn’t you get enough to eat at dinner?”

Song Ge pulled out the biscuit, her tone neutral. “I’m full, but seeing the wrapper made me instinctively open it. You want some?”

“No, no, I’m not eating that.”

“It’ll get stale by tomorrow.”

“You can eat it yourself. It’s just a biscuit; it won’t take up much room in your stomach.”

“Good point.”

Song Ge ate the compressed biscuit, placed the candle on the table, and flicked her lighter. It didn’t catch the first time.

Listening to the clicking sound, Tong Xiangyu said, “I can’t even see the light from the candle.”

“I haven’t lit it yet.”

Song Ge lit the candle. “It’s lit now.”

Tong Xiangyu seized the opportunity. “I still can’t see it.”

Song Ge: “What do you want me to say? ‘Good job’?”

Tong Xiangyu choked on her words, not knowing how to respond. The room soon fell into silence.

One slept on the bed, the other on the sofa.

Tong Xiangyu spoke softly into the darkness. “Song Ge, will we stay here for a long time? Until the rescue team comes?”

“I don’t know.” Song Ge turned the question back to her. “Do you like it here? There’s hot food and many people.”

“I don’t know either.” Tong Xiangyu’s eyes were wide open in the dark. “But you said you would take me to find my parents.”

Song Ge said, “I did.”

Seeing the conversation end as usual with Song Ge’s short answers, Tong Xiangyu rolled over on the bed and continued, “Song Ge, out of all those people, I’ve only met Granny Tian. What are the others like? Are they easy to get along with?”

Song Ge said, “On the rooftop, there’s a family of four—a couple with two daughters. Then there’s a man with glasses who brought his mistress. Of the six students, four are girls and two are boys.”

“How do you know she’s a mistress?”

“The man with glasses has a tan line on his middle finger where a wedding ring used to be; the woman doesn’t have one.” Song Ge anticipated the next question and continued, “If they were a married couple, the woman would wear a ring, or the man wouldn’t have needed to take his off.”

“Wow! You observe things so closely!”

“People with corrupt morals aren’t good people at their core,” Song Ge said flatly. “Stay away from him if you see him later.”

“Mhm!”

Song Ge suddenly pursed her lips. she wanted to mention that Fan Mingyuan was among the students, but she thought Tong Xiangyu might be more pleasantly surprised to see him for herself once her eyes recovered. So, she closed her eyes and went to sleep without mentioning it.

When Song Ge woke up the next morning, it was just dawn. She glanced at the clock on the wall: 6:00 AM.

Song Ge got up to blow out the flickering candle and then turned to look at the bed. The “perfect sleeper” was currently tangled in the quilt, her head tilted slightly back, exposing the elegant, jade-like curve of her neck.

Seeing this scene here felt very different from seeing it in the basement.

Observing that she was sleeping soundly, Song Ge walked back to the window. The first rays of morning light were appearing. The main gate nearby was pushed open, and Song Ge saw the landlady.

Granny Tian carried a trash bag to the gate, placed it in a large bin, and began tidying up the fallen branches and dead leaves in the courtyard. Song Ge stepped out of the bedroom.

Granny Tian was a bit surprised to see Song Ge and offered her usual kind smile. “Little student, you’re up so early?” She then looked at what she was doing and felt a bit embarrassed. “Oh, the yard hasn’t been tidied in a while.”

Song Ge picked up a large withered branch.

Granny Tian said, “I’ll do it, I’ll do it.”

Song Ge: “Where do I put it?”

“Over there. Just pile them there for now.”

Song Ge helped Granny Tian tidy up until it was fully light. She was still looking for the right moment to speak when she heard someone call her name. Song Ge turned and saw Tong Xiangyu standing at the window. The window was half-open, and the bright light illuminated the Young Mistress’s beautiful face.

“Song Ge~~”

Song Ge didn’t know why, but the way she said her name actually sounded quite nice. She asked, “Can you see now?”

“Yes, much better.” Tong Xiangyu smiled and stretched, then said, “What are you and Granny Tian doing? Tidying the yard? I’m coming too!”

Song Ge said, “We’re already finished.”

Tong Xiangyu: “Oh…” Then she added enthusiastically, “Then I want to come out anyway!”

Seeing that the Young Mistress was a woman of immediate action, already running toward the bedroom door, Song Ge had nothing left to say.

With Tong Xiangyu’s arrival, the “team” instantly became lively. The girl was sweet-talked Granny constantly and had a strong aesthetic sense, insisting on rearranging the withered flower pots.

Seeing the atmosphere was warm, Song Ge took the chance to ask Granny Tian, “Do you have a map of the area?”

Granny Tian asked, “How big of an ‘area’ do you mean?”

“The neighborhood, or the streets around Kecheng.”

Granny Tian said, “I know Kecheng like the back of my hand. I know every shop and every traffic light from here to there. Are you not a local, little student?”

Song Ge said, “No, I only come here for school.”

Tong Xiangyu immediately looked at Song Ge with a bit of surprise. Not a local, parents also… yet she came to school in Kecheng? And it’s the best key high school in the city. Song Ge didn’t look like someone who got in based on grades. Tong Xiangyu felt she had detected something unusual.

Granny Tian said, “I see. Then I’ll tell you about it in a bit.”

“Good,” Song Ge said. “I’ll draw it down.”

Tong Xiangyu was even more surprised. She looked at Song Ge. “You know how to draw maps?”

The window in Fan Mingyuan’s second-floor room wasn’t closed. Sleeping in a half-awake state, he heard the chattering voices downstairs. Feeling irritable, he got up to lock the window.

But just as he raised his hand, he heard a familiar voice from below—”Song Ge, you know how to draw maps?”

Tong Xiangyu?

Fan Mingyuan snapped wide awake. He opened the window and leaned out to look, but he couldn’t see anyone, and the voices were fading into the distance.

Even though it was just a possibility, Fan Mingyuan immediately changed his clothes and ran out. Halfway there, he ran back to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash up.

In the first-floor room, Song Ge had already asked for a pen and paper and started sketching a route map based on the grandmother’s descriptions.

Seeing Song Ge’s professional-looking stance, only for her to start scribbling randomly on the paper, Tong Xiangyu was baffled. She asked, “Song Ge, are you serious?” Even a rough draft shouldn’t look like that.

Song Ge: “Hm?”

Tong Xiangyu asked tentatively, “Do you remember the basic elements of map drawing from our geography class?”

Song Ge looked at her without speaking, but her eyes clearly said: What the hell? You need ‘elements’ to draw a map?

“…” Tong Xiangyu had already guessed as much. She took the pen from Song Ge, flipped the paper over, and marked the directions and simple legend symbols in the top left corner. “The three elements of a map: scale, legend, and orientation. Granny, do you have a ruler?”

Song Ge: “How would she have a ru—”

Before she could finish, Granny Tian replied, “Yes, I do. My granddaughter left one here. I’ll go find it for you.”

Song Ge watched Granny Tian walk out and felt a bit speechless. She said to Tong Xiangyu, “Even if you want precision, can an old person’s memory really give you that?”

Tong Xiangyu said, “But these things are very important. Even a vague outline is better with some structure. If you only draw adjacent shops or streets, shops have different sizes and streets have different lengths—there’s a huge difference. That’s the importance of map scale.”

Song Ge: “Are you giving me a lecture, Little Milk Tea?”

In the past, Tong Xiangyu would have felt a bit awkward hearing this, worrying about protecting Song Ge’s self-esteem. but now, she shot back, “You haven’t paid me any tuition, why would I give you a lecture? This is a free lesson.”

Song Ge said, “Then thank you very much.”

Tong Xiangyu said triumphantly, “You’re welcome~”

As they were talking, voices drifted through the slightly ajar door. Granny Tian was greeting someone: “Oh, Little Fan, why are you up so early today?” He usually didn’t show his face until noon.

Fan Mingyuan said he was just up, then immediately asked, “Granny, who were you talking to just now?”

“The two little students from yesterday.”

“Oh, it was too rushed last night to say hello.” Fan Mingyuan laughed heartily. “Granny, why don’t you take me to meet the new friends?”

In the room, Tong Xiangyu clearly recognized Fan Mingyuan’s voice instantly. Her face turned deathly pale. She gripped Song Ge’s hand tightly, her voice trembling. “Is that Fan Mingyuan? Why is he here too?”

Song Ge saw the look on her face and was about to speak, but the voices outside were getting closer. Tong Xiangyu panicked and ran into the bathroom to hide, double-locking the door.

Granny Tian and Fan Mingyuan knocked on the door. It wasn’t closed properly.

Song Ge stood up to open it fully, her eyes fixed on Granny Tian.

Granny Tian smiled kindly and introduced them. “This is Little Fan, also a student. You saw him at dinner last night, but you left so quickly he said he didn’t get a chance to greet you properly.”

“Hello, my name is Fan Mingyuan. Kecheng High School.” Fan Mingyuan stood in the doorway like a wall. He greeted Song Ge with his mouth, but his eyes searched the room behind her.

“Mhm.” Song Ge looked at him coldly, with no intention of inviting him in.

Unable to find the figure he was looking for, Fan Mingyuan suppressed his anxiety and asked Song Ge, “I heard you had a companion last night? Are you guys from Kecheng High too?”

Song Ge: “Mhm.”

Fan Mingyuan pressed further, “What’s her name?”

“Little Milk Tea.”

“What?”

Song Ge turned her head and raised her voice: “Little Milk Tea.”

After a long pause, a response came from the bathroom in a voice that sounded like the speaker was pinching their nose—”Yeah?”

Song Ge raised an eyebrow at Fan Mingyuan, her meaning obvious.

“That must be a nickname.” Fan Mingyuan thought the voice didn’t sound quite right, but he remained suspicious. “What’s her real name?”

“Don’t know.” Song Ge put her hands in her pockets. Even facing a boy taller and stronger than her, she remained steady. “Found her on the road the day of the outbreak. Maybe you want to wait for her to finish so you can meet? She has diarrhea. Been in there all morning.”

Hearing this, Fan Mingyuan seemed to catch a phantom whiff of an unspeakable scent and immediately backed down. “Forget it. If it’s inconvenient, I’ll wait until lunch. See you at lunch then. Granny, I’m heading back up.”

Fan Mingyuan left.

As Song Ge was closing the door, Granny Tian asked concernedly, “Why does Little Tong have diarrhea? Did she catch a cold last night?”

Song Ge didn’t answer but walked over to knock on the bathroom door. She knocked five times and said, “Come out. He’s gone.”

Tong Xiangyu opened the door a crack. Song Ge wanted to ask why she had reacted that way to Fan Mingyuan’s voice, but with the landlady there, it wasn’t the right time. Song Ge only asked, “Can you still draw the map?”

Tong Xiangyu nodded, her small face still pale.

Song Ge said, “Maybe you should rest first. No rush.”

“It’s okay.” Tong Xiangyu shook her head and steadied her emotions. “I’m fine now.”

Support