Chapter 48: In such a rush? Your little darling's in the Quarantine Zone?

‘In such a rush? Is your little lover in the Quarantine Zone?’

The military jeep drove along the wide main road of the Base. Twilight had deepened, and the streetlights on either side cast a dim, yellowish glow, receding one by one past the car windows.

Jin Zhaoye leaned back in her seat, her gaze fixed outside.

The Base was more crowded than she remembered. Many temporary tents had been set up along the main road, their grey-green canvas billowing in the night wind.

‘How many people has the Base taken in?’ Jin Zhaoye asked casually.

Wang Ma kept her hands on the steering wheel, eyes on the road ahead. ‘At least twenty or thirty thousand, I’d say. People are arriving every day; at the peak, we had one or two thousand in a single day. The Quarantine Zone is almost at capacity.’

‘When did A Yun and the others get back?’

‘The day before yesterday.’

Wang Ma added, ‘Commander Fu came by the house after she returned. My Lady wanted her to send people out to look for you, but Commander Fu said the military personnel were all dispatched to scavenge for supplies. The survivors outside need to eat, and the people in the Base need to eat too—they really couldn’t spare any manpower.’

‘Actually, I don’t think the food issue is that dire. I heard from President Jin that our laboratory is helping produce food, using stem cells from cows or pigs or something. It’s too complicated; I didn’t quite catch it.’

Throughout the journey, Wang Ma chattered on about everything she knew. Jin Zhaoye asked a question or two occasionally, quickly gaining a general understanding of the situation within the Base.

The military jeep turned into a side road. The guard at the intersection checked the license plate, immediately lifting the barrier to let them pass. The sentry stood at attention and saluted, watching the car drive away with respect.

Trees grew thicker on both sides of the side road—tall, ancient plane trees and ginkgoes with canopies that met overhead, forming a deep, secluded tunnel.

There were bases within the Base. The Jin Family estate was located in the deepest part, built right against the mountain—the safest position in the entire Dapan Mountain Base. Further in lay the Research Institute, an area where no outsiders could set foot, save for the researchers themselves.

Passing through this leafy tunnel, the view suddenly opened up. A villa district surrounded by tall trees appeared in sight. Over a dozen small buildings were scattered gracefully across the hillside, each with its own independent courtyard and walls covered in climbing vines. It was clear these houses hadn’t been built recently.

Warm, yellow light filtered out from those houses, so quiet and peaceful that it didn’t feel like the Apocalypse, but rather some high-end, isolated resort.

Wang Ma parked the car in front of the villa at the very end.

The courtyard wasn’t large compared to the Jin Family’s previous residence, but it was just as meticulously maintained.

A stone path wound from the gate to the steps, flanked by neatly trimmed shrubs. In the corner of the yard stood a loquat tree, laden with golden-orange fruit, heavy and drooping from the branches. It looked almost ripe, and the air was filled with a sweet, fruity fragrance.

Wang Ma got out and opened the door for Jin Zhaoye. ‘Eldest Miss, we’ve arrived.’

Jin Zhaoye stepped out, walked up the steps, and followed the path inside.

The villa door was pulled open, and Lin Luo, having heard the commotion, walked out. She stood under the porch light, wearing a light-colored cotton-linen dress, her hair loosely pinned up with a wooden hairpin, a few stray strands falling by her ears.

Her features were lovely, gentle as water, looking no different from any wealthy lady before the Apocalypse.

Jin Zhaoye paused, calling out softly, ‘Mommy.’

Lin Luo’s eyes turned red instantly. She hurried down the steps and pulled her daughter into her arms, holding her tight.

‘Yeye, you’re finally back. Mommy was worried to death. How did you get separated from A Yun? It’s so chaotic out there; it must have been so dangerous for you alone.’

Jin Zhaoye raised her arms to hug her Omega mother back, patting her thin back with her palm and coaxing her gently, ‘It’s quite chaotic out there; it’s normal to get separated.’

Lin Luo pulled back, cupping her daughter’s face in her hands, looking her up and down through tear-blurred eyes.

She wanted to say she looked thin, but the words died on her lips. Looking closely, she didn’t seem thin at all; her cheeks were full, her skin fair and supple, her complexion rosy, and her eyes bright.

What was worse, there was even a faint red mark in the hollow of her collarbone. As someone who had been through it, she knew at a glance what that meant.

Lin Luo had prepared a bellyful of words—about suffering, weight loss, tanning—but facing her daughter’s impossibly healthy complexion, she couldn’t say any of it.

Her daughter had been wandering out there for so long, yet not only did she not look like she had suffered, she seemed to have lived quite well.

‘This... Yeye, did you find someone while you were out?’ Lin Luo whispered in her daughter’s ear.

Jin Zhaoye’s ear tips burned. She turned her head to avoid her mother’s gossiping gaze and coughed lightly to change the subject. ‘Is Mom home?’

Lin Luo watched her daughter’s reddened ears, feeling as if a cat were clawing at her heart; she was dying of curiosity.

She suppressed the urge to gossip and pulled Jin Zhaoye’s hand as they walked inside. ‘She is, she is. She must have heard us, she’s just being stubborn and refusing to come out.’

After a few steps, she stopped and lowered her voice to warn her, ‘Yeye, you and A Yun aren’t married. I don’t have an opinion on you finding someone else out there. But you’d best cover it up; otherwise, if it comes to light, it won’t look good for anyone.’

Jin Zhaoye didn’t reply, acting as if she hadn’t heard a thing.

Lin Luo didn’t mind her daughter’s silence and continued on her own. ‘I heard that when A Yun came back this time, she brought two Omegas, both of them pretty as can be.’

‘I used to worry that you two had no sex life after marriage, both of you being so ascetic. Now, look at this—the world has gone to hell, and yet you’re both playing around more than ever. What is this coming to?’

‘Mommy, let’s talk about these things later, okay?’ Jin Zhaoye couldn’t help but interrupt her mother’s nagging.

‘Fine, fine, Mommy won’t say anything. You’re just like your stubborn mother, always complaining that I’m annoying.’

The mother and daughter entered the house side-by-side, changed into house slippers in the entryway, and Jin Zhaoye walked into the living room, seeing her Alpha mother sitting on the sofa, pretending to read documents while holding a cup of tea.

The woman wore no makeup and looked to be in her forties, dressed in dark grey loungewear, her long hair draped over her shoulders. Her brows and eyes were five or six parts similar to Jin Zhaoye’s, though she appeared more imposing than Jin Zhaoye’s scholarly air.

Hearing footsteps, she looked up, her gaze landing on Jin Zhaoye as if she had only just noticed her return. She nodded slightly and said in a flat tone, ‘You’re back?’

‘Mm,’ Jin Zhaoye replied, standing in the center of the living room, waiting for her mother to ask questions.

Lin Luo walked up, took Jin Zhaoye’s hand, and led her around the sofa toward the dining room, tossing a remark back without looking. ‘Don’t mind your mother, come eat with Mommy.’

Jin Zhaoye was led to the dining room and sat at the table; the servants busy in the kitchen quickly brought the food out.

The meal was naturally not as lavish as before the Apocalypse, but that was only relative. If Jin Zhaoye hadn’t returned, only Lin Luo and Jin Xiting would be eating, yet there were still four dishes and a soup on the table—a luxury in this resource-scarce Apocalypse.

Jin Xiting wasn’t annoyed by her wife’s slight. She put down her documents, walked slowly to the dining table, sat down, picked up her bowl, and placed a chopstick of greens into her mouth, chewing slowly.

‘Since you’re back, get some good rest at home,’ she said in the tone of someone discussing official business. ‘Report to the Research Institute in two days.’

‘Understood, Mom,’ Jin Zhaoye replied expressionlessly, picking up her bowl and taking a bite of rice.

‘The people at the Research Institute have already made some small breakthroughs,’ Jin Xiting said, placing a chopstick of vegetables into her daughter’s bowl. ‘They isolated a previously unrecorded virus from tissue samples of certain mutated organisms, tentatively named the X Virus. The special thing about this virus is that it can bypass the host cell’s normal division control mechanisms, significantly accelerating the cell cycle.’

‘I had similar suspicions. Those organisms mutated suddenly, perhaps because some virus is promoting their cell division and regeneration,’ Jin Zhaoye replied.

‘The people at the Institute are already working on gene sequence analysis. If we can crack its mechanism of action and screen for a controllable vector, perhaps we can modify the X Virus into a targeted induction agent—’

‘Why are you talking about this while eating?’ Lin Luo slapped her wife in annoyance, interrupting their conversation. ‘Our daughter has finally come home; can’t you let her eat a full meal first?’

Jin Xiting looked at her wife helplessly, her gaze full of indulgence and doting.

She stopped talking about the headache-inducing data and viruses from the Institute and changed the subject. ‘The Quarantine Zone has also taken up a lot of our manpower, but since the research results aren’t out yet, we’re still essentially eating under the Fu Family. We have to provide the labor we’re expected to.’

Jin Zhaoye asked, ‘What are our people doing in the Quarantine Zone?’

Jin Xiting put down her bowl, picked up a soup spoon, ladled a bowl of pork rib soup, and handed it to Jin Zhaoye.

‘Going through necessary quarantine procedures: disinfection, blood draws, full-body exams, that sort of thing.’

Jin Zhaoye repeated, ‘Full-body exams?’

Jin Xiting: ‘It means stripping down to check for injuries, to prevent anyone from sneaking in while infected. An infected person got in a while back and killed quite a few people in the Quarantine Zone, which is why the rule was newly established.’

Jin Zhaoye put down her chopsticks and stood up, her chair sliding backward from her sudden movement and nearly tipping over.

The other two at the table looked up at her, wondering why their daughter had stood up so suddenly while eating.

‘Mom, Mommy, you two eat. I’m going out for a bit.’

Lin Luo put down her bowl and trotted a few steps to catch up. ‘It’s already dark; where are you going?’

‘To the Quarantine Zone.’ Jin Zhaoye had already reached the entryway. She called out toward the house while bending down to change her shoes, ‘Wang Ma, get me the car keys.’

‘Coming!’ Wang Ma responded, clutching the keys and trotting over. ‘Eldest Miss, do you want me to drive for you?’

‘No need, I’ll drive myself.’ Jin Zhaoye took the keys, straightened up, and turned to hug Lin Luo. ‘Mommy, don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.’

Before her words had even faded, she pulled away, opened the door, and ran out quickly.

Lin Luo stood at the door, watching her daughter’s back disappear into the light of the courtyard gate, listening to the roar of the car engine fading into the distance.

She couldn’t help but mutter, ‘In such a rush? Is your little lover in the Quarantine Zone?’

......

The military jeep sped through the Base, moving more than twice as fast as it had on the way back.

The light from the streetlamps streaked past the car windows, illuminating Jin Zhaoye’s expressionless face in flashes of light and shadow.

She gripped the steering wheel, her jaw tight, her eyes dark enough to drip ink.

Just thinking about Xie Li being stripped of her clothes and examined like a piece of cargo made her so angry she nearly lost her mind.

She pressed the accelerator harder, the car’s speed increasing again, and the Quarantine Zone soon appeared in Jin Zhaoye’s field of vision.

She slammed on the brakes, and before the car had even come to a full stop, Jin Zhaoye pushed the door open and jumped out, striding into the Quarantine Zone.

The soldiers at the entrance saluted when they saw her, but before they could speak, she had already rushed past like a gust of wind.

Jin Zhaoye walked faster and faster, her pace turning from a walk into a run, sprinting through the corridor that felt absurdly long at this moment.

.......

Examination Room.

Xie Li and Lan Ran had already walked in.

The pale, harsh light fell from overhead, leaving everything with nowhere to hide.

A medical worker in a protective suit sat at a folding table, with blood collection needles, test tubes, and alcohol swabs laid out. She looked up at Xie Li and said expressionlessly, ‘Put your arm up. Blood draw.’

Xie Li placed her hand on the table; her skin was very fair, making the blue veins on the inside of her forearm look exceptionally clear.

The medical worker picked up the blood collection needle, disinfected the area, and inserted it; dark red blood flowed into the test tube through the thin tube.

After drawing the blood, the medical worker handed her an alcohol swab. ‘Press down.’

Xie Li pressed on the needle prick, and after a moment, the staff member’s voice sounded again: ‘Take off your clothes.’

Lan Ran turned her head to look at Xie Li. Xie Li nodded slightly at her, and the two turned around, facing away from each other, grabbing the hems of their T-shirts and pulling them off over their heads.

Xie Li had just removed her top when the medical worker’s voice rang out: ‘Wait a second, where did the scars on your back come from? Why are there so many scratch marks?’

The atmosphere in the examination room turned tense instantly. The soldiers standing against the wall all raised their guns, aiming at Xie Li, as if they would shoot her on the spot if she didn’t provide a reasonable explanation.

Xie Li kept her hands at her sides, her spine straight. She didn’t look at the guns aimed at her, explaining in a low voice, ‘I scratched them myself. It’s not from a Zombie.’

The medical worker approached skeptically, reaching out a gloved finger, just about to touch Xie Li’s lower back.

‘Don’t touch her.’

A cold shout came from the doorway, interrupting the medical worker’s movement.

Everyone turned their heads and saw Jin Zhaoye standing at the entrance of the examination room.

She had run too fast, her hair disheveled and sticking to her cheeks and forehead, a few strands dampened by sweat and clinging to her neck.

The medical workers recognized Jin Zhaoye and called out one after another, ‘Dr. Jin.’

‘Dr. Jin.’ The soldiers also lowered their guns and stood at attention, saluting.

Jin Zhaoye strode into the room, her gaze fixed on Xie Li, not shifting for even a second.

Xie Li was also watching her, clutching her T-shirt in her hands, wearing only a black sports bra on her upper body, exposing her thin shoulder blades and lean waistline.

Her eyes were slightly red, and she looked at Jin Zhaoye with a wet, glistening gaze, like a puppy that had been abandoned for a long time, finally waiting for the person who had come to take her home.

This look made Jin Zhaoye’s heart feel as if it were being squeezed, the pain so sharp she could barely breathe.

She walked over to stand in front of Xie Li, took the T-shirt from her hands, unfolded it, and helped her put it back on.

Once she was dressed, Jin Zhaoye took Xie Li’s hand and scanned the people in the room. ‘I will examine these people myself.’

‘Understood, Dr. Jin. There’s another private examination room next door.’ A perceptive medical worker stepped forward and hurried to lead the way for Jin Zhaoye.

Jin Zhaoye held Xie Li’s hand and walked out.

Xie Li was led by her, her footsteps still feeling a bit floaty, as if she were walking on cotton. Everything around her felt unreal; the only thing that was real was the hand Jin Zhaoye was holding.

Regarding Jin Zhaoye’s sudden appearance, Xie Li couldn’t quite put into words what she was feeling deep down.

She was happy, certainly, but beneath the happiness was an indescribable sense of dejection. Here, she had become much more ordinary, no different from any other common survivor.

Yet Jin Zhaoye remained Jin Zhaoye. The distance between them had become that of an ordinary survivor and the high-and-mighty, status-transcendent Dr. Jin.

The medical worker led them to a separate examination room, pushed the door open, stepped aside, and instructed in a low voice, ‘Dr. Jin, you can examine them here. If there are any injuries, they will need to be quarantined separately and can only leave after forty-eight hours.’

‘I know. You go back; I will examine them properly.’ Jin Zhaoye nodded and dismissed the person.

The medical worker didn’t say anything more, nodded, turned, and hurried away.

Jin Zhaoye led Xie Li into the examination room. The room was very small, with only an examination bed, a chair, and a window.

Lan Ran walked in holding Xiaobao and very consciously turned around, facing the door, with her back to the two people in the room. She turned Xiaobao’s face as well, having her face the wall with her.

‘Sister Ranran, why are we standing facing the door?’ Xiaobao asked in confusion.

‘Because the door looks nice. Don’t talk, I’ll give you candy later,’ Lan Ran coaxed in a whisper against her ear.

Jin Zhaoye ignored the voices of the big and small ones and beckoned to Xie Li.

Xie Li moved closer to her, tucking herself into Jin Zhaoye’s arms, pressing her cheek against her neck and rubbing lightly.

Jin Zhaoye hugged her, one hand around her waist, the other stroking her nape. ‘Do you want to cry?’

‘I don’t want to cry.’

‘I want to cry,’ Jin Zhaoye said, her voice trembling slightly. ‘I almost cried.’

Xie Li looked up at her; Jin Zhaoye’s brows were furrowed, her eyes red, as if she were truly about to cry.

‘Why do you want to cry?’

‘Just thinking about the scene you might have encountered makes me want to cry, and I also want to lash out at someone. Even if my reason tells me they didn’t do anything wrong and were just doing their jobs, I still want to lash out, I’m so angry.’

Xie Li hugged her, comforting her in return, ‘It’s really nothing. Everyone is a girl; looking is just looking, it doesn’t matter.’

Before Jin Zhaoye could speak, Lan Ran’s voice popped up from behind: ‘Yeah, although it’s a bit humiliating, if you think about it, the Base is doing it for safety. So, Goddess, don’t be angry. Besides, you arrived just in time; we hadn’t been stripped yet.’

‘That’s right,’ Xie Li agreed, nodding. ‘Don’t be unhappy. Weren’t you going to examine us? Should I take my clothes off now?’

As she spoke, her fingers already gripped the hem of her T-shirt, making a move to lift it.

Jin Zhaoye glared at her and pressed her hand down. ‘We eat and live together every day; do you think I don’t know if you have any injuries? Just go straight to the Quarantine Zone.’

Xie Li chuckled and let go of her shirt. ‘Wasn’t that just to cooperate with Dr. Jin’s work? For Dr. Jin, even if I were stripped, it wouldn’t matter.’

‘Wait here, I’ll have someone take you to the Quarantine Zone.’ Jin Zhaoye didn’t banter with her anymore, left those words, opened the door, and walked out.

Before long, she returned to the door of the examination room with an armed soldier.

The soldier said to them, ‘Follow me.’

The group followed the soldier toward the Quarantine Zone.

Passing by a certain prefab house, a familiar voice suddenly came from inside: ‘Xie Li, Lan Ran, you guys came to the Base too?’

Xie Li and Lan Ran turned to look at the same time. A square glass pane was embedded in the door of the prefab house. The window wasn’t big, but it was enough for those outside to see the situation inside.

‘It really is you guys! That’s great!’ Liu Zhaoyang pressed against the window, her voice filled with excitement. ‘You really didn’t die.’

Lan Ran waved her fist at her. ‘What kind of bullshit are you saying? You’re all alive and well, so of course, your sister here is fine too.’

The two glared at each other through the glass window and grinned at the same time. In such an unfamiliar environment, seeing familiar faces made them feel a sense of warmth.

The leading soldier stopped, looked back at them, and waited expressionlessly for a while.

Once they finished their greetings, she continued to lead the way.

The soldier brought them to an empty prefab house, took out a key to unlock it, and pushed the door open to let them in.

She briefly explained the rules of the Quarantine Zone: ‘You cannot leave during the quarantine period. Three meals a day will be delivered to your door. If there’s an emergency, you can press the button on the wall.’

‘Okay, thank you,’ Xie Li said, stepping into the room.

The room was indeed small, with two bunk beds against the wall, straw mats and thin quilts on the bed boards, and flat pillows. There was a simple plastic bedpan in the corner; other than that, there was nothing.

There was a smell in the room, mixed with the scent of disinfectant—not particularly pleasant.

Lan Ran followed Xie Li into the room holding Xiaobao. She looked around and grinned. ‘Not bad, better than I imagined. At least it’s quite clean, no blood all over the place.’

Jin Zhaoye stood in the center of the room, examining it.

Her expression didn’t change, but Xie Li still detected a hint of displeasure in her tightly pursed lips.

Xie Li walked over, took her hand, and shook it. ‘Aren’t you going home?’

‘I’ll go back in a bit,’ Jin Zhaoye said. ‘I’ll have someone change your room.’

‘No need, Jin Zhaoye,’ Xie Li refused quickly. ‘We’re just ordinary college students; we can just do whatever everyone else does.’

Xie Li understood one truth: the nail that sticks out gets hammered down. She wasn’t afraid of being that nail, but there was no need to stick out over such a trivial matter.

She didn’t know what the situation in the Base was, how deep the water ran, or how much power Jin Zhaoye had here. She knew nothing of it.

But she could be certain that as a Major General in the military, Fu Yunsheng definitely had more say than Jin Zhaoye, and she didn’t want to put Jin Zhaoye in a difficult position.

Jin Zhaoye thought for a while, didn’t mention changing the room again, walked into the room, and sat down on the bunk bed.

‘Then I’ll keep you company here for a while; I’ll go back after you finish eating.’

‘Okay.’ Xie Li sat down beside her, while Lan Ran and Xiaobao sat opposite them. The four of them stared at each other in the room.

They hadn’t been playing the staring game for long before dinner was delivered.

The meal was very light: rice, stir-fried greens, and boiled winter melon. It didn’t look appetizing, and there wasn’t a shred of meat, but at least there was rice and vegetables to fill their stomachs.

Lan Ran took the tray and looked around; there wasn’t even a table in the room, so they had to eat while holding them.

Jin Zhaoye picked up a tray and said to the two, ‘You guys eat quickly, I’ll feed Xiaobao.’

Xie Li and Lan Ran didn’t stand on ceremony. After the day they’d had, aside from the bowl of noodles in the morning, they’d only eaten some snacks in the car at noon. Being at the age where their metabolism was at its peak, they were already starving.

The two held their trays, buried their heads in their rice, and ate ravenously.

Jin Zhaoye sat on the edge of the bed, chopsticks in hand, feeding Xiaobao one mouthful at a time. Xiaobao was very well-behaved, eating whatever Jin Zhaoye fed her.

By the time they finished eating, it was past eight in the evening.

Xiaobao had curled up on the bed and fallen asleep, snoring softly. Lan Ran was holding her, looking drowsy as well.

Jin Zhaoye was reluctant to leave, but a soldier’s low urging already came from the door: ‘Dr. Jin, the Quarantine Zone is locking up.’

Xie Li let go of the hand she was holding and smiled lightly. ‘Go back quickly, we’re going to sleep too.’

‘Mm. If you need anything, tell the medical staff here; they will relay it to me. These are all my people.’

‘Okay, go back quickly.’ Xie Li stood up with her and saw her to the door.

After Jin Zhaoye walked out, the soldier guarding the door closed it and locked it.

Xie Li, inside the room, listened to their footsteps gradually fade away. She turned back to the bed, placed her hands behind her head, and stared at the upper bunk. The bed board was wood, dark in color; she didn’t know how many survivors had slept here, nor if they were still alive.

She turned over, facing Lan Ran’s direction.

‘Ran’er, do you think we’re like we’re in prison?’

Lan Ran mumbled incoherently, ‘Gift, go to sleep, don’t think so much. It’s the Apocalypse now; it’s good enough that we’re alive. As for the rest...’

She paused for a few seconds, her voice dropping lower: ‘Dignity is something that needs to be maintained with your fists.’

Xie Li repeated in a low voice, ‘Yeah, you have to have hard fists to be heard.’