Shi Wan was tired and annoyed, but she still followed behind Fu Zhe obediently.
When the apocalypse came, Shi Wan had been all alone and constantly suffered the consequences of being a lone woman in times of disaster. So when she was rescued by the strong and authoritative Fu Zhe, Shi Wan held on to him for dear life.
Not because he was nice, but because he was somewhat gullible. Gullible to her cries and pleadings when she called him her hero and promised to give herself to him. So, like any other perverted, egotistical man, he had taken her in, earning her scornful and envious glares from others who disdained her actions.
As Shi Wan groveled to serve him, he groveled to another: Liu Han. She had first met him when Fu Zhe brought her back to the shelter. Back then, their shelter was nothing but a building being used by a small group of people who were all working under Liu Han. Later, as the shelter slowly took in more people, Shi Wan grew curious about the man who was in charge of it all.
She had even asked Fu Zhe how he knew Liu Han. No explanation was given—just a long, silent glare that warned her not to ask again, a silent rule Shi Wan followed to this day.
So when Fu Zhe walked into Liu Han's office—which sat atop the center-most building in the small, neighborhood-sized shelter—she silently stood outside.
Inside the office, a lean, middle-aged man sat behind a massive, dark-colored wooden desk with a scattered mess of papers spread across it. Hearing the door open, he curiously looked up at the timid Fu Zhe, wondering what could have caused him to seek him out.
"What happened?" he asked after putting away the papers he had been going through before his arrival.
"I found a restaurant," Fu Zhe spoke up after carefully considering his words.
Hearing his words, Liu Han cocked his head to the side, wondering why such a small discovery prompted one of his scouts to find him.
"It is a fully functional restaurant with food," Fu Zhe added, realizing he had not passed on the message clearly.
Liu Han finally reacted by sitting up after Fu Zhe's words sank in. Thinking about what his words meant, he had only one question: "How big?"
Thinking back to the small, worn-down restaurant, Fu Zhe quickly explained himself. "Small, but a woman runs it, and she has fresh food."
The mention of fresh food nearly had Liu Han twitching in excitement while fighting hard to school his features. "Fresh food?" he inquired further, wondering if he was perhaps misunderstanding.
"Yes, I went in and saw it myself."
Fresh food was the thing they needed most in the ever-growing shelter. Fu Zhe knew this, which was why he had immediately reported his findings.
"A woman, you said?" Liu Han asked, pondering the information he had received.
"Yes, she was dressed like a waitress, and no one else was around," Fu Zhe quickly added.
"Security?" Liu Han asked.
His question seemed to trigger something, causing Fu Zhe to suddenly shiver at the thought of how they had been forced out of the restaurant. Seeing his usually confident subordinate suddenly shiver and freeze, Liu Han was even more intrigued, wondering what had happened to him.
"Security?" he asked again after a few moments of silence, drawing Fu Zhe out of his thoughts.
Looking up at Liu Han, he remained silent, wondering how to explain what he had experienced. After thinking it through, he quickly narrated how he had found the restaurant while out on a walk and what had happened to them there.
Hearing his ludicrous story, Liu Han was both intrigued and skeptical, staring at Fu Zhe and wondering if maybe he had gone crazy.
"So you are saying you were forced out by something?" he asked for confirmation, trying to hide the skepticism in his voice.
"Yes," Fu Zhe answered honestly, realizing just how crazy he sounded.
Slowly nodding, Liu Han thought about it, trying to come up with a more sensible explanation, until he realized Fu Zhe had no reason to lie before finally accepting his explanation.
"Can you take me there?" he asked afterward.
Meanwhile, outside the restaurant, an anxious Wei Ting remained around the premises, watching the restaurant admit other people. He couldn't help but rub the back of his head at the thought of the rebound he had faced when he tried going into the restaurant a few minutes ago. Even though it had hurt, he still contemplated giving it another try before Liu Han got there.
So, he slowly walked up to the open restaurant door, hoping this time he would be allowed in. His slow, tentative steps almost made him look comical as he slowly stalked up to the door, hoping he would be let in this time.
Wei Ting could feel his heart race faster with each inch he moved closer, when he suddenly felt a hard barrier stop him. One of the passing women frowned at the sight of him grabbing thin air before shaking her head and walking into the restaurant.
Feeling around the invisible barrier, Wei Ting realized what was happening and felt dejected while he stared at the door longingly. Was he really not going to be able to warn her? he wondered, thinking back to the kind woman who had fed him with no questions asked.
As he stood there dejectedly, someone walked up and stared at him for a while before walking on, when he suddenly got an idea.
"Excuse me!" Wei Ting called out to the messily dressed man a few steps ahead of him, causing him to turn in confusion.
"Could you please give this to the waitress inside?" he asked, hoping the stranger would agree.
Staring down at the dirty piece of wrinkled paper, the man frowned. Why does he need me to hand over a paper when he could just walk in? the man asked himself, contemplating whether to help for a moment before taking the paper and walking toward the restaurant.
Behind him, Wei Ting felt elated and relieved watching the man walk in. His body seemed to relax before he turned away from the restaurant—and froze at the sight of a smiling Liu Han watching him.