Surviving the Apocalypse with the Young Miss - Chapter 44

Chapter 44: Is It Fun?

Song Ge gathered some dry branches and started a fire. She turned her head and saw Tong Xiangyu still dabbing herbal juice on the rashes on her legs with her fingers—tap here, tap there. Looking at her expression, her lips were pouted so high you could hang an oil bottle on them.

Song Ge clapped the dust off her hands and walked over. “Let me help you.”

“I don’t need you!”

“Can you see your own back?”

“The ones on my back will get better even if I don’t rub them.”

“Who upset you now?”

“You.”

“Me?”

“Yes!!”

“How did I upset you?” Song Ge picked up the bottle, poured some herbal juice into her hand, and used the other hand to lift the hem of Tong Xiangyu’s shirt. Looking at the dark red scabs on her slender white waist, she applied it as carefully as possible, bit by bit.

Tong Xiangyu gave a loud “hmpf,” said nothing, but never let down her pout.

Song Ge truly didn’t know how she had offended this young lady again. After finishing her back and neck, she said, “It’s much better; the scabs have darkened.”

Pouting, Tong Xiangyu turned to face her.

Song Ge continued to apply the medicine to the rashes on Tong Xiangyu’s face. Tong Xiangyu peeked at Song Ge through her eyelashes; seeing her focused on the medicine without any other reaction, she withdrew her gaze. Her heart was still sulky. After holding it in for a while, she finally asked, “Is it fun?”

Song Ge: “Is what fun?”

Tong Xiangyu fidgeted a bit and whispered, “Catching snails…”

Song Ge finally knew why the young lady was angry. It turned out she was blaming her for not letting her come down to pick snails earlier. She said, “Snails aren’t ‘caught’; their meat is suctioned onto the stones. You just pull them off.”

“Oh…” Tong Xiangyu asked persistently, “So, is it fun?”

Song Ge: “How could it be fun? The sun was so hot, the stones were burning and heavy, and there weren’t many. Next time it’s cloudy, I can take you to find some.”

Tong Xiangyu huffed, “I don’t even want to.”

“Oh, then that saves me some trouble.”

“…!” Tong Xiangyu’s ears turned red with annoyance, and she glared at her. “Song Ge, you did that on purpose!!”

Song Ge smiled. “All done. Go sit back down.”

Yue Yao watched Song Ge and Tong Xiangyu talk from the side, envying their good relationship. Her fingers unconsciously stirred the snails kept in the stainless steel basin. Suddenly thinking of something, Yue Yao immediately picked up the basin and walked over. “Yuyu, look, the snails are like this.”

Tong Xiangyu took a look and then quickly took the entire basin into her hands. She frowned and lowered her head, leaning very close to the surface of the water.

Yue Yao wanted to remind Tong Xiangyu not to get so close because snails have a fishy smell, but in the next moment, she saw something go pitter-patter into the basin. Yue Yao was startled and immediately looked at Tong Xiangyu.

Tong Xiangyu’s tears were falling in clusters. She gave a heartbroken, sorrowful sob, but didn’t cry out loud; she simply handed the basin back to Yue Yao.

Yue Yao panicked. “Yuyu, what’s wrong? Why are you suddenly crying?”

Song Ge had just brought up two stones. Hearing this, she froze and looked at Tong Xiangyu. “What’s wrong?”

Tong Xiangyu curled her fingers to scrape the tears from her eyes and shook her head, but at that moment, she felt even more wronged. She looked up at Song Ge with a sob, then at Yue Yao, and then burst out crying with a loud “waa.”

Song Ge questioned Yue Yao with an unfriendly tone: “What did you do?!”

Yue Yao was completely frantic. “I—I didn’t! I just… I just brought the snails over for Yuyu to see…”

Song Ge looked at the dozen or so snails kept in the half-basin of water and frowned. “Take them away.”

Yue Yao felt extremely wronged for a moment but couldn’t defend herself. Gripping the basin tightly, she said “sorry” a couple of times and hurried to a spot on the embankment closer to the fire.

Song Ge squatted down to look at Tong Xiangyu. Tong Xiangyu immediately turned her face away, covering most of it with her hand while wiping tears, sobbing with grief. Song Ge saw she didn’t want to talk, so she didn’t ask further.

It was best not to try and guess the young lady’s thoughts. What if she was just heartbroken at the thought of “cruelly killing” the snails to eat them? It was ridiculous, but then again, not that ridiculous.

Song Ge moved a few more stones, making sure there were enough to build a hearth for the pot that evening. Wiping away her sweat, she turned and climbed up the mountain.

There was a bamboo forest on the mountain. Song Ge picked an old bamboo that wasn’t too thick, used her combat knife to cut notches above and below, stood on a high point to snap the bamboo at the notch with a crack, and then dragged the ten-meter-long bamboo all the way down the mountain. On the way, she also plucked a bunch of pretty wild flowers.

Tong Xiangyu had finished crying. She slightly covered her face with her hands, watching Song Ge return dragging the bamboo, wondering what she was going to do.

Song Ge glanced at the young lady, placed the weeds and wild flowers beside her, and then snapped off some thin twigs from the bamboo for her. Tong Xiangyu looked puzzled and tilted her head up at Song Ge.

Song Ge said, “Why are you looking at me? Don’t tell me you don’t know how to make a flower crown?”

Tong Xiangyu shook her head.

Song Ge: “Wait, I’ll make it for you.”

Song Ge twisted two thin bamboo twigs together like hemp rope, coiled them into a circle, and then inserted the flowers and grass into the gaps. During the process, she looked up at the young lady; her eyes were red, but she was watching intently.

“There.” Song Ge finished and placed the crown on Tong Xiangyu’s head. “Beautiful.”

However, Song Ge’s attempt at coaxing failed this time. Upon hearing the word “beautiful,” Tong Xiangyu remembered something, her eyes reddened again, and she took the crown off, saying she didn’t want to wear it.

Song Ge saw her like this and was out of options. She simply dragged the bamboo further away. If you can’t do anything, do nothing; the more you say, the more mistakes you make.

Earlier, Song Ge had said that if she saw bamboo, she would carve a bamboo hairpin for Tong Xiangyu. Bamboo was more durable than wood. Furthermore, Tong Xiangyu’s hair was beautiful and soft; it wasn’t right to use a wooden skewer that had been used for grilled fish as a hairpin for weeks.

The timing was perfect now. No monsters were chasing them, the sun wasn’t overhead, they hadn’t reached the next city yet, there was a bamboo forest, and Tong Xiangyu couldn’t travel due to her allergies. If she didn’t carve it now, when would she?

When the sun was at its peak, even the shadow of the mountain couldn’t fully protect them. Song Ge could only find a shady corner for Tong Xiangyu to hide in, while staying alert for insects and ants. When they were hungry, they ate compressed biscuits and wild fruits.

Yue Yao cooked the chili and snail soup by herself. Because she had accidentally made Tong Xiangyu cry, Yue Yao clearly felt her relationship with Song Ge had hit rock bottom again.

After struggling for a long time, Yue Yao finally plucked up the courage. Using a cleaned bamboo tube to hold the soup and a few snails, she walked toward Song Ge. “Song Ge…”

Song Ge looked at her. Yue Yao handed her the snail soup. “Would you like to taste it? I think it tastes okay.”

Tong Xiangyu watched Yue Yao diligently bring the soup to Song Ge first after cooking it. She lowered her eyes and forcefully pulled up a clump of weeds rooted in the field.

Song Ge used a bamboo skewer to pick out the snail meat and took a bite. It was only spicy; the taste was indescribable. Seeing Song Ge frown, Yue Yao felt apprehensive. “Is—is it not good?”

Song Ge didn’t answer. She called out to Tong Xiangyu sitting not far away, “Little Milk Tea, come here.”

Tong Xiangyu curled her lip. ” I don’t want to go over there.”

So Song Ge stood up, bringing the bamboo tube and carved bamboo chopsticks to Tong Xiangyu. “Do you know how to eat snails?”

Tong Xiangyu looked at the floating red chili pieces and the snails sunk at the bottom; her expression was quite complex and conflicted. “I think I’ve only eaten snail meat that’s already been removed…”

Song Ge thought to herself, as expected of a wealthy young lady. She picked out a piece of meat and pointed it out to Tong Xiangyu. “Bite it off here and leave this part; the front part is edible. Try it.”

Tong Xiangyu gave an “mhm” and cautiously leaned in for a bite. In the next moment, Song Ge saw her entire face scrunch up. She quickly turned her head and spat out the snail, then kept her mouth open, frantically fanning it with her hand. “Ah—so spicy, so spicy, so spicy!”

Song Ge immediately handed her a handful of wild fruits. Tong Xiangyu took them and instantly peeled one, stuffing it into her mouth to neutralize the spice.

Beside them, Yue Yao was panicked and at a loss. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you couldn’t eat spicy food at all…”

Seeing her like this, Tong Xiangyu stopped eating the fruit and hurriedly comforted her against her better judgment. “It’s fine, it’s fine. It’s actually quite delicious, just a tiny bit spicy, and it’s just missing some seasonings.”

Yue Yao: “Seasonings? I’ll go back home and look for some!”

Seeing she was about to leave, Tong Xiangyu quickly stopped her. “No need, no need, Yaoyao! The sun is so strong right now, and it’s so far. Besides, didn’t you say everything at home was washed away? It’s even less likely that these things are left. Let’s wait until we reach the next city; there will definitely be good food then~”

Yue Yao’s mood brightened slightly, and she nodded. “Mhm!”

Seeing the two of them become so close again, Song Ge truly couldn’t understand female friendships. She went back to carving the bamboo hairpin.

In the afternoon, Yue Yao dug up many mushrooms from the leaf litter at the foot of the mountain. Since it was just at the foot of the mountain and didn’t involve much movement, Tong Xiangyu actively participated.

The sun set in the west. The fire roared high. Because they were near the mountain, the low and high chirping of insects was constant. The mushroom soup was ready.

Song Ge took the bamboo tube and deliberately asked Tong Xiangyu, “Little Milk Tea, the mushrooms you picked aren’t in here, right?”

When the young lady had picked her first mushroom in the afternoon, she was so happy and excited that she ran over to show it off immediately. Song Ge had looked at it; that mushroom was big and beautiful—the kind where if you ate this meal, there definitely wouldn’t be a next one.

Tong Xiangyu was instantly fuming. Yue Yao, however, didn’t know Song Ge was joking with Tong Xiangyu and hurriedly explained, “Yuyu later picked many edible mushrooms too. I picked out all the poisonous ones and threw them away. Don’t worry.”

Tong Xiangyu: “Exactly! I just didn’t know at first~!”

Song Ge saw her smug expression and couldn’t help but smile.

After eating, Song Ge applied medicine to Tong Xiangyu. It must be said that it was healing very fast. The day before, Song Ge felt they couldn’t do without medicine, but after just one night and one day, even the scabs had become firm. That night, Tong Xiangyu didn’t complain about itching and closed her eyes to sleep early.

Song Ge sat by the fire, using her combat knife to carve a pattern on the head of the bamboo hairpin. Whether it was her lack of dexterity or poor drawing skills, the carved design was unrecognizable. Finally, Song Ge simply shaved the pattern flat.

While Tong Xiangyu was fast asleep, she suddenly felt something cool land on the back of her hand. She slowly opened her eyes and, in a daze, saw a small, dull gray frog. She immediately sat up in shock!

Hearing the noise, Song Ge looked over instantly. “What’s wrong?”

Tong Xiangyu was quite shaken, looking around. The sky was just beginning to brighten. The fire was burning, but it was no longer as large.

“It’s fine, it’s fine.” Tong Xiangyu felt the slimy disgust lingering, so she hurriedly slapped the back of her hand. However, she used a bit too much force and knocked off a scab from a red rash on her hand.

It hurt a little. Tong Xiangyu touched it gently; the skin was smooth, and the wound beneath the scab had clearly healed well. But Tong Xiangyu frowned and leaned in for a closer look, realizing her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her. Although the scab was gone, a dark mark was left behind, like a birthmark. It was pigmentation residue.

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