Chapter 22: Can I Call You Brother? p2
“Oh.”
Although he didn’t understand what the human in front of him was angry about, the little zombie still obediently agreed.
He was a Zombie Emperor with principles!
Even if he found out that his former little friend had become very powerful, he would definitely not team up and do something like a two-on-one.
Hmph, humans are so cunning and black-hearted themselves, they see everything as black!
Seeing Lin Ling, who had completely disregarded this matter and his words, Shi Changyuan had the urge to break his promise and just lock up this heartless little zombie so he couldn’t go anywhere.
In the apocalypse, it wasn’t a difficult thing to completely cut a person off from their past people or things.
“Alright, hurry up and drive back. I’m hungry.”
Lin Ling sat in the passenger seat, pulling himself up from his slumped position to avoid disturbing Shi Changyuan’s driving.
“I want to eat braised pork and chicken legs today.”
After the little zombie had ordered his meal, he found that the driver hadn’t moved. He turned his head, about to say something, when the engine started.
“Mm, sit tight.”
The driver’s tone was the same as usual, with no change.
As soon as they got home, while Shi Changyuan was ordering food, the little zombie began to pack his luggage.
Because he wanted to bring too many things, most of them were things he couldn’t find in the city ruins, or were consumables.
After two years of the apocalypse, the little zombie’s home had long run out of supplies. Being captured and brought to a human base this time was like a resupply run.
“Body wash… shampoo… soap…”
Lin Ling, wearing fluffy slippers and holding a small notebook, pattered around the living room, looking as if he were about to empty the entire house.
“Eat first.”
The little robot soon brought the prepared meal.
Following Lin Ling’s habit, Shi Changyuan placed his chicken leg on a pretty little orange, chicken-leg-shaped plate, and his braised pork in another newly bought small bowl with a scalloped edge.
“Alright!”
The little zombie casually put down the things in his hands and decided to eat while it was hot.
“Oh my, how did you know I bought a new little bowl?”
Shi Changyuan supervised the little zombie as he washed his hands, handed him a towel, and smiled, his tone unreadable.
“Besides Lingling’s Brother Song Jing.”
“Is there anything I don’t know?”
The little zombie: O.o?
Lin Ling didn’t know what this had to do with Song Jing, but he thought for a moment, patted Shi Changyuan’s shoulder, and said with certainty, “Well, you know now.”
Shi Changyuan: …
Shi Changyuan was so angry he laughed. Once the floodgates of his frustration were opened, there was no stopping them.
The braised pork and chicken legs on the table were pushed in front of him. The little zombie had just taken his first bite when he heard the human sitting opposite him start to speak.
“Does Lingling’s Brother Song Jing know what Lingling likes to eat the most?”
This human’s tone was so strange, something was not right.
The little zombie didn’t answer him and silently moved his bowl and plate a little to the side.
Then he moved his seat a little to the side as well.
After dinner, when Lingling was preparing for some entertainment, before the little zombie could choose between watching a movie or playing a game, he heard Shi Changyuan beside him speak again.
“Has Lingling’s Brother Song Jing ever watched a movie with Lingling?”
“Does he know that Lingling will be scared and unable to sleep?”
The little zombie didn’t know why the human was suddenly bringing up his shortcomings. He speared a piece of fruit from the coffee table, stuffed it into the other’s mouth, and decided not to play games and to continue packing instead.
But Lin Ling was always losing things. He soon found that his little checklist notebook was missing.
“Huh, where did I put it?”
The little zombie wandered around the rooms in a daze, trying hard to remember where he had been before dinner.
Just as he was about to call out for Shi Changyuan to help him look, he saw Shi Changyuan walk past him, reach over the other armrest of the sofa, and pull out his little checklist notebook.
Shi Changyuan handed the little notebook to the little zombie. Before he could say “thank you,” he heard the human say again, “Does Lingling’s Brother Song Jing pay this much attention to Lingling?”
Lin Ling: “.”
What is with today?
The little zombie was really tired. He took a shower, came out with wet hair, and collapsed on the sofa, naturally waiting for Shi Changyuan to come and dry his hair.
In the warm air and familiar temperature, the little zombie curled up on the sofa, his eyes squinted, almost asleep. The moment the “whirring” sound of the hairdryer stopped and fingertips brushed past his ear, the little zombie woke up instantly and learned to answer quickly.
“No.”
“He has never dried my hair.”
“He doesn’t know what I like to eat, has never watched a movie with me, and doesn’t pay any attention to my existence.”
The little zombie nuzzled into Shi Changyuan’s embrace and complained with a huff.
“You’re so annoying. I already told you I’m not familiar with him.”
Shi Changyuan hadn’t expected Lin Ling to actually answer these questions and let out a muffled laugh.
“I know.”
Actually, he didn’t know what he was fighting for. No one knew those answers better than he did.
If someone had been with the young man as he grew up, he wouldn’t have been the aloof child in the school files.
“Actually, I hope someone knows what Little Lingling likes to eat, pays attention to what Little Lingling is doing at all times, watches movies with Little Lingling, and grows up with Little Lingling.”
“Of course, what I hope for even more is that that person is me.”
He was just a bit… displeased.
Displeased that someone could do nothing and, just by virtue of the previous generation’s kinship and the human society’s adoption relationship, get such an intimate title from the young man.
A natural relational hub.
Even if the young man was really his pet, firmly under his control, belonging only to him, this hub could not be severed.
Because compared to “pet,” the word “family” was a closer, more intimate relationship in human society.
“I was the one who met Lingling first.”
Shi Changyuan lowered his gaze, fiddling with the thin metal ring around Lin Ling’s neck, desperately suppressing the suddenly rising dissatisfaction.
He felt it wasn’t enough.
He wanted more.
I was here first, so why?
The little zombie didn’t see the emotions swirling in Shi Changyuan’s eyes, but Shi Changyuan’s last sentence suddenly made Lin Ling seem to understand something.
He asked again for confirmation, “Did you know me before I knew Brother Song Jing?”
“Mm.”
The little zombie let out a “wow,” then scratched his head, a bit embarrassed. “I was too young then. I don’t remember many things.”
“So we met a long time ago. You still remember?”
He nuzzled into Shi Changyuan’s embrace again, changed his position, and rested his head on Shi Changyuan’s lap, looking up at him.
When Shi Changyuan lowered his head, their eyes met. Lin Ling’s eyes curved, and he suggested, “You’re also older than me. Should I call you brother too?”
Calling them both brother, that should be fine, right?
The little zombie blinked, putting the human’s method of treating everyone equally to good use.
“No.”
To Lin Ling’s surprise, Shi Changyuan refused without even thinking.
“I don’t want what others have used.”
A title that others had used, he didn’t want.
An identity and position that others had occupied, he didn’t care for either.
However, just because he didn’t want it didn’t mean he could just hand it over to someone else.
“Lingling doesn’t have to call me that, and you’re not allowed to call him that either, okay?”
The little zombie’s brain was starting to shut down from sleepiness. He thought for a moment and felt that this also seemed to be a way of treating everyone equally, so he nodded his head randomly in agreement.
“So good.”
Shi Changyuan looked at the young man, who was so intimate and full of trust, and the emotions in his heart were soothed a little.
But he still felt dissatisfied.
He had won a round in terms of titles, but in certain relationships, he was still lagging behind. When it came to the young man before him, he was no longer satisfied with the superficial relationship of possession and being possessed.
Even if he were to devour him now, to become one with him completely, he would still feel it wasn’t enough.
Shi Changyuan’s gaze fell on the young man on his lap, a rare confusion in his eyes.
What else could he do?
