Chapter 57

“Big Daddy, now pick up the clean bowls and chopsticks and put them in the cabinet.”

“Roar?”

“The cabinet’s over here. Follow me.”

“Roar.”

Lin Xiaobao walked ahead and opened the short cabinet door.

Fu Cheng carried the bowls and chopsticks behind him, studying intently.

Lin Xiaobao was already three years old, and Lin Zao and Fu Cheng occasionally had him do simple chores he could manage, like fetching utensils or washing his own plastic kids’ bowl.

The cabinet where they kept the dishes was fairly low to make it easy for Lin Xiaobao, which made it rather inconvenient for the current Fu Cheng.

Fu Cheng held the bowls and chopsticks in one hand, cracked his knee joint with the other, then squatted down to place them inside.

“Success!” Lin Xiaobao cheered loudly.

“Good.” Fu Cheng echoed him.

The father and son duo promptly turned their heads in unison, their gazes landing on Lin Zao.

Lin Zao was holding his insulated mug, leaning against the sliding door of the kitchen with his head lowered, sipping his water intently and completely oblivious to their stares.

Not until both of them called out: “Little Zao/Dad!”

“Huh?” Lin Zao looked up, his face showing some fatigue and his voice a bit hoarse. “What’s up?”

“I and Big Daddy washed the bowls and chopsticks clean and put them away!”

“Awesome.” Lin Zao gave them a thumbs-up, his voice still raspy.

“Dad!” Lin Xiaobao was a little dissatisfied. Why such a simple praise?

Dad hadn’t praised them like that just a moment ago.

Lin Zao clutched his throat, coughing as he said weakly, “Cough cough… I can’t… Dad has no strength left to talk…”

He had just showered them with a ton of sweet words, piling them on like they were free.

Now he had overdone it, and his throat was hoarse.

“Fine.” Lin Xiaobao stepped forward and hugged his dad’s leg. “Then save my share for later. Keep praising me once you’re better.”

Lin Zao smiled and pinched his little cheek. “Little Bao Bao, you sure don’t hold back, do you?”

Fu Cheng straightened up, cracked his joints a couple times, and stood steady.

Lin Zao noticed the motion and tilted his head curiously.

“Brother Cheng, what are you doing?”

He walked over, bent down, and looked at Fu Cheng’s legs.

What was going on? Why did he always have to crack them?

Before Lin Zao could figure it out, a familiar call came from downstairs.

“Little Lin… Little Fu… Little Bao…”

“Coming!”

Lin Zao responded, too distracted to investigate Fu Cheng’s legs any further as he hurriedly took Little Bao downstairs.

“Brother Cheng, review it upstairs on your own. Little Bao and I will go check it out.”

Fu Cheng nodded, turned around, picked up the rag, and wiped down the stove.

He resolved that next time he cracked his joints, he’d do it away from Little Zao and Little Bao so they wouldn’t worry.

The one calling them was Grandpa Zhang.

It was the familiar window. They lifted the cardboard covering, and standing outside were Grandpa Zhang and the two sisters from the hair salon.

The sisters’ salon was at Happiness Street No. 1.

Buildings 2 and 3 were Grandpa Zhang’s convenience store and Lin Zao and Fu Cheng’s place.

The three households were right next to each other, but this was their first time meeting like this since the zombie outbreak.

The two sisters were surnamed Chen, with simple names: Da Mei and Xiao Mei.

One had blue-dyed hair, the other red.

Not the bright, eye-searing colors like The Tri-Colored Trio’, but a soft grayish-blue and a muted maroon.

Sometimes when Lin Xiaobao played outside and passed the salon, he begged them to dye a little streak in his hair too.

But with the world in chaos now, they had no time to maintain their dye jobs, and black roots were growing out.

At the moment, they carried half a bag of baby greens.

Lin Xiaobao climbed onto a stool and greeted politely, “Hello, sisters.”

The two waved at them. “Hi, Little Bao.”

They handed over the greens. “Brother Lin, here. A thank-you gift. Thanks for you and Brother Fu coming out last night to help us.”

Lin Zao waved it off. “No need, no need. We didn’t even go over. You chased them off yourselves.”

“If you hadn’t come out, we wouldn’t have had the guts to get out of the car and fight them head-on. Things would’ve been way worse. We have to thank you, or it’d be rude.”

“Alright then.”

Since they insisted, Lin Zao accepted it.

“Sometime we’ll come over for haircuts and bring you something in return.”

“Sure.”

“What about those The Tri-Colored Trio? You sending them some too?”

“Fat Uncle and Fat Aunt went over.”

Lin Zao nodded and exchanged a few brief pleasantries with them.

Both households had gathered a bunch of supplies recently, and after last night’s scare, they planned to stay home these next few days and rest up.

Once they recovered, they’d head out again.

The two sisters wrapped up: “We’ll head back then. If anything comes up, reach out through Grandpa Zhang.”

“Got it.” Lin Zao nodded.

“Bye, Little Bao.”

“Bye, sisters!”

The two sisters waved and soon left Grandpa Zhang’s place.

Lin Zao smiled and asked, “Grandpa Zhang, everything okay last night?”

“Fine.” Grandpa Zhang nodded. “How about you?”

“Pretty good.”

“That’s good.”

Then Grandpa Zhang deliberately asked, “Where’s Little Fu? Not coming down with you?”

“He’s…” Lin Zao paused. “Upstairs washing dishes.”

Fu Cheng had been washing dishes anyway, so it wasn’t exactly a lie.

“Alright, go watch him then. Don’t let him drop any bowls.”

“Brother Cheng wouldn’t. His hands are steady. We’re off then.”

A quick exchange, just a few minutes, and the three households parted ways.

Lin Zao closed the window, took Lin Xiaobao’s hand in one of his and the bag of greens in the other, then headed upstairs.

Passing the dog bed, the little dog opened its eyes, spotted them, jumped up, and trotted after with legs pumping.

“Yip yip yip—”

Lin Zao had noticed something.

When Fu Cheng was around, it went “roar roar roar.”

When Fu Cheng wasn’t, it barked normally like any other pup.

“Hey! Little dog, come here!”

Lin Zao deliberately lifted his foot to catch its attention, coaxing it to chase.

Sure enough, the little dog circled around Lin Zao and Lin Xiaobao’s feet, yipping and spinning.

Lin Zao wasn’t scared at all and just kept walking.

Lin Xiaobao kept tripping over it and could barely take a step!

“Hey! Don’t get so close to me, or I’ll step on you! Dummy!”

Lin Zao simply scooped up Lin Xiaobao, carried him to the stairs, and stepped up one riser.

The little dog spun at the base of the steps as Lin Zao beckoned with crooked fingers: “Pss pss pss! Come on! Up!”

Lin Xiaobao wasn’t thrilled. “Dad, the little dog’s so small. It’s not even as tall as the stairs. It can’t come up.”

“Dad just wants to train it a bit. You feeling bad for it?”

“Yeah.” Lin Xiaobao nodded solemnly.

“Sorry then. Dad won’t tease it anymore.”

Seeing how serious he was, Lin Zao apologized right away.

“So, do you want to go upstairs and make meat floss with Dad and Big Daddy, or stay down here and play with the little dog?”

“I…”

Tough choice.

He couldn’t decide again.

“Sigh—” Lin Zao sighed dramatically. “Guess Dad will just have to let the little dog come upstairs so you can play with it while watching us make meat floss.”

Lin Xiaobao’s eyes lit up. “Really?”

“Of course.” Lin Zao grinned. “But you have to watch it. Don’t let it run into the kitchen, and no peeing upstairs, got it?”

“Got it!” Lin Xiaobao stomped his foot, raised his hand, and saluted like a character from TV.

For a choice-paralyzed Little Bao Bao, there was always a dad to make it all work out.

“Uh…”

Before Lin Zao could say more, heavy footsteps thudded from upstairs.

Fu Cheng stepped over the second-floor security door and hurried down the stairs toward them.

Who had just gone “pss pss pss”?

Was it his favorite Little Zao?

He was coming! The zombie big dog was coming!

Lin Zao and Lin Xiaobao exchanged a glance, both puzzled.

They scratched their heads but couldn’t figure it out—they hadn’t called Fu Cheng, so why was he suddenly coming down?

Fu Cheng stared at them intently. He had heard the call!

“Whatever, whatever.” Lin Zao picked up the little dog. “Let’s go!”

The family of three, plus one little dog, all went upstairs.

Lin Xiaobao took the little dog around outside the kitchen, introducing every room except that one.

This was the little dog’s second time upstairs. Last time, Fu Cheng had carried it up.

But this was its first proper tour under someone else’s guidance.

Everything felt so novel that it scampered everywhere after Lin Xiaobao.

The tiled floor was slippery, faintly reflecting its shadow.

The reddish wood sofa and coffee table, the blaring TV—all things it had never seen.

“Little dog, this is the living room.”

“This is the dining room. You don’t have a spot here yet ’cause you’re too short. You eat on the floor.”

“You saying I’m short too? When I sit in the special chair Dad and Big Daddy made me, I’m not short!”

“Here’s the bathroom. The squat toilet’s just like the one downstairs. Come here if you need to pee.”

Lin Xiaobao gave the little dog the full tour.

Meanwhile, Lin Zao and Fu Cheng prepped meat floss in the kitchen.

Lin Zao opened the freezer, pulled out a lean hunk of pork leg, placed it on the cutting board, and trimmed off the scant fat and membranes.

He demonstrated for Fu Cheng to try, but Fu Cheng still wasn’t great at fine work, so Lin Zao kept at it himself.

Once the pork leg was prepped, he tossed it in water with some ginger and scallion to remove any gamey smell, then simmered it slowly until it was fully cooked through and fall-apart tender.

When it was nearly done, he fished out the meat, drained it, broke it into chunks, and shredded it into fine strands.

This step was the most time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Lin Zao and Fu Cheng huddled around a big basin in the living room by the coffee table, watching TV while tearing the meat.

At Lin Zao’s insistence, they weren’t watching wedding videos this time but Little Bao’s educational kids’ show!

One that taught toddlers to count to three and recognize colors—fun brain teasers.

Fu Cheng had no interest in the show and didn’t glance at it once, his eyes fixed on Lin Zao.

Lin Zao called to him, but he ignored it.

Getting the strands uniform in size and thickness was tricky.

Fu Cheng had plenty of strength, but when he grabbed the pork and squeezed, it turned to mush.

So they had to tear it bit by bit, strand by strand, slowly.

The finger strain and eye fatigue were secondary—the real issue was—

Lin Xiaobao and the little dog kept circling them, drawn by the meaty aroma!

Lin Zao had already given them a piece each, but they weren’t satisfied, popping over every so often in hopes he’d soften and give more.

After the third time, Lin Zao couldn’t take it. He pinched off a bit of pork and popped it in his own mouth.

“It’s just boiled in plain water—no flavor at all. How can you love it so much?”

“‘Cause we’re hunting!”

Lin Xiaobao stated proudly, and the little dog barked “Woof woof woof” in agreement.

The boy and the dog stood side by side, chests puffed out.

“Food from hunting just tastes better. ‘Cause we earned it with effort.”

“With effort? Fine.” Lin Zao nodded. “Then Dad’s sending out—”

Lin Xiaobao and the little dog sensed trouble and backed up.

Lin Zao flung his hand: “Brother Cheng! Go! Show ’em some color!”

Fu Cheng turned his head, didn’t even need to move, just opened his mouth and let out a deep roar at them: “Roar—”

Lin Xiaobao grabbed the little dog and bolted, one shoe flying off.

“Little dog, run! Wolf’s coming! If you’re slow, he’ll eat you!”

Fu Cheng frowned, his expression complicated.

He didn’t like eating dogs, especially unbathed ones that reeked.

He liked eating Little Zao!

Catching sight of Lin Zao beside him, Fu Cheng perked up instantly, wagging his tail at him.

Lin Zao elbowed him and pursed his lips. “Quit grinning like an idiot. Get back to work. Finish up, and you’ll get a kiss as a reward.”