Surviving the Apocalypse with the Young Miss - Chapter 46

Chapter 46: You Are Beautiful

If you use a knife to cut a small slit on the side of a chestnut and toss it into the fire to roast, it won’t explode.

Roasted chestnuts are sweet, fragrant, and powdery; their flavor lingers on the lips and teeth long after eating.

However, peeling the shell is a bit of a hassle.

Tong Xiangyu had just finished one and was seriously peeling a second when she suddenly saw Song Ge stand up and walk toward her. Tong Xiangyu stopped her movements and looked at her with some confusion.

Song Ge walked up to Tong Xiangyu and carefully picked something off from the end of her eyebrow.

Tong Xiangyu looked at it; it was a small, dark speck. Wasn’t that exactly the black scab from the rash?! Tong Xiangyu froze for a moment, then immediately retreated several steps once she realized, turning around and running down the field embankment.

Song Ge hadn’t quite understood what happened to Tong Xiangyu yet; she had originally wanted to say that it was healing really fast, but in the next moment, she heard a scream from Tong Xiangyu.

Song Ge’s heart skipped a beat. She hurried to the edge of the field and asked what happened, only to see the young lady slumped on the rocky beach. She was physically fine, but the cloth covering her face had been removed. She looked up, and the scabs on her face were clearly almost all gone.

“Let me see your legs.”

With eyes full of tears, Tong Xiangyu lifted her pant legs. The scabs on her calves were just like those on her face—almost all had fallen off. It was the kind of situation where if she shook her legs, a dozen scabs would fall out of her pant tubes.

Song Ge said, “Come, take off your shirt and pants.”

Tong Xiangyu sobbed softly in grievance as she followed Song Ge’s instructions and took off her shirt and trousers.

Rounded shoulders, a slender waist. Even out of the sunlight, her fair skin seemed to glow. The rashes were no longer raised or oozing, and the thick black scabs had all fallen away; her skin was smooth once again.

Song Ge didn’t know if this recovery speed was normal—perhaps the Tougu grass was just very effective—but regardless, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. If the young lady remained immobile, itchy, and miserable, or if the situation worsened out here in the middle of nowhere, it would have been truly difficult to handle.

Hearing Tong Xiangyu still sobbing in hitches, Song Ge said, “You’re all better now, so why are you still crying?”

“So ugly.” Tong Xiangyu raised her hand to rub her tears away, heartbroken and aggrieved. Between sobs, she said, “It’s all spots. It’s too, too ugly.”

“Sika deer have spots too, and they’re very cute.”

“But, but it’s wh-white…”

“Then a leopard?”

“Leopards are so ugly, boo-hoo-hoo-waa…” Tong Xiangyu began to wail in sadness.

Song Ge realized she had said the wrong thing and shut her mouth. She focused on patting the scabs off the shirt and pants and handed them back to Tong Xiangyu to put on. Then she said, “Truly, it’s not ugly. You are the most beautiful girl in Ke Middle School; how could a few marks make you ugly?”

“It’s not just a few, it’s like… like pockmarks…” Tong Xiangyu remembered her reflection in the puddle, her cherry lips pouted, and she was on the verge of collapsing into tears again.

But Song Ge asked, “What happened to your foot?”

Tong Xiangyu didn’t have time to cry. With tears still in her eyes, she looked down; her right ankle had already swollen up. She said, “Oh, I accidentally twisted it when I fell just now.”

“…” Song Ge was speechless. “You don’t mention something like that and cry about being ugly first?”

Tong Xiangyu choked out a sob. “But I’m just u-ugly!”

Song Ge sighed and squatted down to lightly squeeze Tong Xiangyu’s ankle. Just as she was about to ask if it hurt, she heard her pull her foot back and cry out in pain.

Song Ge said, “You can’t walk like this. You need to rest for another two days.”

“No.” With piteous tears clinging to her eyelashes, Tong Xiangyu said stubbornly, “I can do it. Just give me a branch to use as a crutch.”

Song Ge: “Give it a rest.”

Tong Xiangyu cried again, her voice muffled by sobs. “I don’t want to stay here anymore. Sob… I want to go into the city to find ointment…”

“Fine, fine. We’ll go into the city to find ointment.”

The final solution was for Song Ge to carry Tong Xiangyu. The mountain paths nearby were fairly easy to traverse; it was better to push forward a bit first. They couldn’t play “wild humans” in this place forever. Conditions were harsh, and with the heat and sweat, their clothes were starting to smell. If it hadn’t been for Tong Xiangyu’s allergy making it impossible to move, Song Ge would have led them through this collapsed section of the provincial road two days ago.

The heavy rain had lasted for half a month, so there were surely floods and disasters all over the country. Disaster relief efforts would cause rescue forces to be more spread out. They had to reach the next city early and rejoin the main group. If the people of Taiyun City had been evacuated, their situation would be even more difficult.

Tong Xiangyu still used the cloth to mask her face, revealing only her forehead and a pair of watery, slightly red apricot eyes. She leaned on Song Ge’s back and whispered, “I really can walk on my own. My foot doesn’t hurt anymore.”

Song Ge couldn’t be bothered to argue.

Tong Xiangyu asked again, “Song Ge, am I very heavy?”

Song Ge parted her lips and said, “No, you aren’t heavy at all.”

Tong Xiangyu pouted slightly, but it eventually turned into a secret smile. She wrapped her arms around Song Ge’s shoulders and rested her cheek against Song Ge’s shoulder. The jagged green mountains receded slowly and steadily in her field of vision. Tong Xiangyu felt very grounded and safe.

The paths along the mountains weren’t always clear; there were often sections that were submerged or collapsed. During those times, Tong Xiangyu would walk on her own, trying not to put weight on her sprained right foot. Song Ge would support her. Once past the collapsed point, Song Ge would pick her up again.

Leaving the mountain path, they walked along the “creek” bed filled with sand, stones, and branches left by the flood.

Tong Xiangyu suddenly noticed Yue Yao, who had been very quiet and had low presence the whole way. She watched her secretly and found that Yue Yao had phoenix eyes, a very straight nose, lips that were neither thin nor thick, and very healthy skin. When she smiled, she was very sincere and friendly…

Tong Xiangyu withdrew her gaze sulkily. “Song Ge…”

“Speak.”

Tong Xiangyu whispered into Song Ge’s ear, “Do you think Yue Yao is good-looking?”

Song Ge: “?”

Song Ge answered perfunctorily, “I don’t know.”

“How can you not know? She’s quite pretty, isn’t she…”

“Whether she’s pretty or not, what does it have to do with me?”

Tong Xiangyu pouted; she felt Song Ge’s words were an admission that Yue Yao was good-looking. She whispered again, “Then… then do you think she’s more beautiful, or am I?”

Song Ge: “…”

Hearing Song Ge’s silence, Tong Xiangyu felt a bit unhappy deep down. She asked, “Is that so hard to answer?”

“Of course you are beautiful.” Song Ge was looking at the path and countered casually, “Who could be more beautiful than you?”

Tong Xiangyu pouted. “But my face is so ugly right now…”

Song Ge: “It’ll be fine once we apply ointment.”

Tong Xiangyu was persistent: “What if it doesn’t get better even with ointment? Am I still more beautiful then?”

Song Ge: “Mhm.”

Tong Xiangyu: “You’re lying!”

Song Ge eventually chose a route with more shady areas. Although the path wasn’t very level and was a longer detour, it avoided the heat. Avoiding the heat was the most important thing. Otherwise, in this blazing sun, being exposed for a whole afternoon would definitely result in heatstroke. She wasn’t talking about herself. She was talking about the delicate and precious young lady on her back.

Not hearing an answer from Song Ge, Tong Xiangyu asked again, “Song Ge, Song Ge.”

Song Ge wasn’t impatient. “Mhm?”

Tong Xiangyu: “You haven’t said yet. If I apply ointment and these marks don’t disappear, am I still beautiful?”

Although Song Ge had responded casually before, it didn’t mean she had amnesia. “Didn’t I say you were?”

“Really?”

“Mhm.”

“Do you think I’m more beautiful, or Yue Yao?”

“You’ve asked this one already.”

“Answer again, answer again.”

“You’re beautiful.”

“Hehe…”

“Happy now?” Song Ge couldn’t help but smile. “Is this stuff really that important?”

Tong Xiangyu’s eyes curved like crescent moons, and her hidden cherry lips tilted up, but she only gave a light huff and didn’t answer Song Ge.

The shaded route was on the side of the mountain, deep in the “creek” channel, which was now uniformly filled with mountain rocks and dead branches. The ground was uneven and difficult to walk on.

Seeing that Song Ge was drenched in sweat, Tong Xiangyu said, “Song Ge, let’s take a rest.”

Song Ge thought she was feeling unwell somewhere, so she stopped where she was and squatted slightly to let her down. “Watch your foot, don’t twist it again.”

“I won’t, I won’t.” Tong Xiangyu stood firm. Seeing Song Ge’s face flushed from the sun and her T-shirt soaked with sweat, she bit her lip hard, reached back to take off the backpack, and took out the wild fruits they hadn’t finished.

Once picked from the tree, the fruits were hard to preserve, especially in such a hot summer. More had rotted than had been eaten; not many were left. Tong Xiangyu took out the last few, carefully peeled them, and called out, “Song Ge.”

Song Ge turned her head and said, “You eat them.”

“I’m not thirsty; you’re the tired one.” Tong Xiangyu pressed one hand against Song Ge’s back and reached around her other shoulder with the other hand to stuff a wild fruit into her mouth. Then she felt a bit thirsty too, and said, “It would be great if there was some creek water.”

Song Ge said, “There’s water over there.”

“How do you know?!”

“I heard it.” Song Ge actually couldn’t be sure; after all, this was originally a creek, but it was buried under rocks. If the water was too deep to dig out, it would just be a hollow hope. She said, “I’ll go check first.”

From a distance, Song Ge saw what was indeed a pool of water. Because it was at a corner of the mountain flood path, it had actually “escaped the disaster.” Song Ge came back to carry Tong Xiangyu.

Tong Xiangyu said her foot didn’t hurt that much anymore and she could walk on her own. She turned back to look at Yue Yao and shouted, “Yaoyao! There’s water here~”

Yue Yao was following far behind. She was already struggling to walk. Clearly, the pot and basin didn’t compare to the weight of a person, but she didn’t know why Song Ge could still walk so fast while carrying Tong Xiangyu. Moreover, the sun was so hot; Yue Yao felt thirsty and dizzy. She was almost at her limit.

But with Tong Xiangyu’s sudden shout, Yue Yao felt a surge of energy and quickened her pace.

The pool wasn’t large and was a dark green color. Tong Xiangyu sat down and reached out to lightly touch the surface of the water. Because the water was in a dark spot where the sun didn’t reach, it was cool and very comfortable.

Tong Xiangyu cupped a handful of water in both hands, but then she saw something. She looked closely, then screamed and fell backward!

Song Ge hurriedly supported her and frowned as she looked toward the pool. At the bottom of the pool lay a corpse that had been crushed to pieces.

Support