Chapter 37: So Lingling Was So Fierce as a Child…
“Come on, I’ll take you to see Auntie Man~”
The little zombie skipped to the main door, with a sense of relaxation and freedom that came from being back on his own turf.
But Shi Changyuan stood where he was, as if he had some concerns.
“What’s wrong?”
Lin Ling turned his head to look at Shi Changyuan, his eyes full of confusion.
“It’s rude to visit an elder for the first time empty-handed. I’m thinking of what to bring, but I’m not sure what Auntie likes as a zombie.”
When Shi Changyuan said this, his expression was serious and solemn. He seemed to have thought for a long time and, as if he had made a decision, said to the little zombie, “Lingling, wait for me here. I’ll go to the car and get…”
“That’s not necessary.”
Lin Ling jumped in front of Shi Changyuan in two steps, pulled him into the house, and said as they walked, “That’s a human custom. Now she’s a zombie, and I’m in charge.”
With that, Lin Ling led Shi Changyuan to the entryway to change into slippers and walked in.
The layout of the entire house was very warm, almost all in warm tones. The furniture looked a bit old but was well-maintained, clean, and tidy, and everything was stored in an orderly manner.
There was a vase on the dining table in the living room with flowers in it, but because no one had taken care of them, the flowers had withered. By the south-facing window hung a string of wind chimes made of bottles, with shells inside.
At a glance, you could tell that the owner of this house was very gentle and loved life.
No wonder she could raise Lin Ling so well.
“Auntie Man, why are you here?”
The little zombie saw the curtain by the wind chimes swaying slightly, went over and pulled it open a little, but Auntie Man let out a low “ho ho” and took two steps back.
“She’s probably afraid of scaring you.”
The little zombie turned his head and explained to Shi Changyuan.
“Auntie Man, Shi Changyuan has made a nutritional supplement for zombies. I’ve saved one for you. You should try it.”
With that, he poured the nutritional supplement in his hand into a cup with a straw and handed it over.
The moment the curtain was lifted, Shi Changyuan saw Auntie Man’s true face behind the curtain. She was a woman whose features showed great gentleness.
Her hair was neatly tied up, her body was almost clean, and her limbs were very flexible. Besides her gray-white, lifeless eyes and stiff facial muscles, there were almost no traces of a zombie.
She saw Shi Changyuan and seemed to be stunned for a moment. She made a soft sound from her throat, trying to say something, but she couldn’t control her vocal cords finely yet and could only reach out and touch the wind chimes a couple of times.
“That’s Auntie Man saying hello to you!”
The little zombie was very happy, his eyes curved. “Auntie Man has been evolving faster these days.”
“By the time the heavy snow falls, Auntie Man will be completely back.”
Looking at this zombie, who was not particularly strong but had a slight self-awareness and could control her aggression, Shi Changyuan seemed to think of something and was a bit lost in thought, but he quickly adjusted.
“Hello, Auntie Man. My name is Shi Changyuan. I’m Lingling’s suitor.”
Shi Changyuan gave Auntie Man a smile that could be described as decent, and said the word “suitor” as if it were “boyfriend,” with great righteousness.
Auntie Man: “…?”
Auntie Man looked at Shi Changyuan with a blank expression, then at Lin Ling, as if she couldn’t process this information.
“It’s a bit rude to come empty-handed on my first visit. If you need, I can help develop a potion to accelerate zombie evolution.”
“Alright, don’t say anymore. Auntie Man can’t understand yet.”
The little zombie led Auntie Man to the sofa and sat her down, then went to the yard to replace the withered flowers with fresh ones.
Auntie Man sat in front of the fresh flowers, motionless, in a zombie’s standby state, like a silent sculpture.
“Zombies are like this most of the time. It’ll be fine when she fully recovers.” The little zombie was not surprised. He pulled Shi Changyuan to the stairs at the corner.
“Come on, I’ll show you my room!”
Lin Ling was a bit excited, like a child bringing a classmate home to play. After greeting the parents, he went straight to his room.
Shi Changyuan could roughly guess what the young man’s room would be like, but he still wanted to see the place where Lin Ling grew up.
He pushed open the door. Perhaps it had not been taken care of for too long, but the air was filled with the smell of dust. The little zombie skillfully opened the window to air it out.
“It’s exactly the same as when I left!”
The little zombie looked around his room, then excitedly introduced each doll on his bed to Shi Changyuan. The names of the dolls were embroidered on their backs.
Shi Changyuan smiled and looked around the entire room. His gaze finally landed on the desk by the window, where a photo was placed.
The young man in the photo was about ten years old, sitting obediently on a park bench, dressed very cutely, and holding a large smiling sunflower in his arms. But he himself had a small, straight face, a complete contrast.
“Is this a photo of Lingling as a child?” Shi Changyuan’s tone was laced with amusement. He picked up the photo on the desk and looked at it carefully, even deliberately holding it next to the little zombie for comparison, and teased, “So Lingling was so fierce as a child.”
“O-Of course not!”
Lin Ling snatched the photo, the tips of his ears a bit red.
“I just didn’t like to smile.”
“Alright, didn’t like to smile.”
Shi Changyuan quickly smoothed the little zombie’s fur, but the smile on his lips never faded. “Does Lingling have any other photos?”
“…I do.” The little zombie was inexplicably a bit shy. He hesitantly opened a drawer, took out a photo album from the very back, and then held it tightly in his arms.
“First of all, you can only praise me for being cute. You’re not allowed to laugh at me! You hear me!”
The little zombie threatened fiercely.
“Alright.”
Then Shi Changyuan saw all of Lin Ling’s photos from the age of eight to high school.
In these photos, he saw how Lin Ling had grown from a little turnip to this tall and big; he also saw how Lin Ling had gone from a child who didn’t like to smile, with wary, resistant, and bared teeth in his eyes, to the chatty and spoiled person he was now.
There was a photo of the little zombie hiding in the corner of a wardrobe when he first came home.
There was also a photo of the little zombie baring his teeth, with Auntie Man stuffing a lollipop into his mouth, his eyes wide.
There was a photo of the little zombie wearing a big hat, his head lowered, but obediently holding onto Auntie Man’s skirt and queuing up.
And every year, there was a photo of the little zombie eating cake on his birthday.
From the resistant little turnip at the beginning, to the wooden-faced acceptance, and finally to the smiling young man.
Of course, in this photo album, there were also many photos of the little zombie’s test papers, from 0 points, to passing, to 80 points.
In this incredibly thoughtful photo album, Shi Changyuan saw the time he had missed.
“Can I make a copy of these photos?”
“Of course not!!!”
The little zombie immediately pounced on the photos, covering them with his body. “Don’t even think about spreading my dark history! I begged Auntie Man for a long time before she let me keep this photo album.”
“Otherwise, every time her good friends and besties came over, she would take it out and show it to everyone.”
“Don’t I, the great Zombie Emperor, have a face to maintain?!”
Hearing these stories, Shi Changyuan could almost imagine what Lin Ling was like as a child.
“It’s because Lingling is too cute.”
Shi Changyuan said with a smile.
“Everyone says that, but you’re all! Laughing!”
The little zombie grumbled and put all the photos away, one by one, back into the photo album, then back into the very back of the drawer, looking as if he were guarding it with his life.
“It’s one thing to look, but you even want to copy them. You humans are so bad.”
“Then I won’t copy them.”
Shi Changyuan’s tone was filled with regret. He said again, “Then can I go and see the school where Lingling used to go?”
“That’s fine.”
Then the little zombie led Shi Changyuan on the route he used to take to elementary and middle school. They first walked to the end of the bluestone path, then down a flight of stairs, and then through various houses, backyards, and alleys.
“This road only takes ten minutes to get home, but when I was little, I thought it was so far.”
The little zombie held Shi Changyuan’s hand with one hand and pointed at the houses on the side of the road with the other, saying what this place used to be, what kind of small shop this used to be, and what kind of food cart used to be parked over there.
And the former hustle and bustle was now desolate, the yards overgrown with weeds, and the houses empty.
The school was even more dilapidated, a gathering place for zombie hordes, with debris everywhere.
The little zombie thought for a moment and felt that this was not a suitable place for a human to visit, so he pulled Shi Changyuan and turned back.
“Does Lingling find it too quiet?”
The sudden silence made Shi Changyuan ask, but he was clearly not referring to the current atmosphere, but to the entire environment of City B.
“It was a bit at first, but I got used to it.”
The little zombie recalled the beginning of the apocalypse. City B was not like other cities, with long periods of turmoil and panic. It was almost just one night, just one night.
The rising and falling screams became weaker with the rising of the sun, until they disappeared, and it became completely quiet.
Lin Ling closed the doors and windows, locked Auntie Man up, and guarded his yard from being invaded by looters. By morning, the entire City B was full of wandering zombies.
This was the epicenter of the outbreak.
Then, the whole world fell into chaos.
At that time, the little zombie sat in the yard and thought, so this is what the zombie virus outbreak is like. It’s a bit scary, and also a bit… sad.
The two of them walked on the road, watching the sky gradually darken, but not a single light came on in the city.
Shi Changyuan didn’t know how long this “getting used to it” would take for the little zombie, but he remembered the first day he brought him back to the human base, how chatty he was, how used to talking to himself he was…
So much so that when he left and reappeared, the first thing he said was—
Where did you go? And why did you turn off the lights?
“Without lights, will Lingling be scared?”
Shi Changyuan asked.
The little zombie thought for a moment and shook his head. “I used to be, but not anymore.”
“I see.”
And so, the next day, when Lin Ling woke up from a nap, he heard the “rumbling” sound of a generator from outside the window.
The lights in the entire house, which had been off for a long time, came on.
