Sunday, February 10th, 2013.
Today was the Spring Festival, Zhang Xiaoqiang's first Spring Festival in the apocalypse, a Spring Festival for himself.
He remembered that when he was young, his family would prepare the New Year's goods early in the morning. Zhang Xiaoqiang would take a hot bath and change into new clothes, watching his parents prepare for the New Year's Eve dinner.
The rooster, whose blood had been drained, was lying on the ground, "flopping" weakly, its scattered feathers floating in the air.
His mother was holding a bucket of hot water, preparing to scald the rooster's feathers. Zhang Xiaoqiang and his sister watched from the side while eating melon seeds. His mother was holding the two legs of the rooster upside down, the head of the rooster drooped down lightly. Blood dripped from its beak onto the ground, drawing a red line. The rooster, which was about to die, used its last bit of strength to flap its wings in the bucket. The boiling water was lifted out of the bucket and splashed everywhere. Zhang Xiaoqiang and his sister screamed as they tried to avoid it.
His mother scolded him, loudly reminding him not to dirty his new clothes.
His father, who was usually serious, did not have a stern face.
He was holding a plate of spring rolls that he had wrapped the day before, standing beside the oil pot and watching the heat. He was humming a tuneless tune, allowing Zhang Xiaoqiang and his sister to play around.
The pedestrians on the street were all rushing home, hoping to be able to return home earlier to celebrate the New Year with their families.
At night, his father took out a big red whip and hung it under the eaves. Zhang Xiaoqiang was like a little tail following behind his father's butt. His sister hid behind the door, covering her ears as she looked outside.
"Crackle!"
The sound of firecrackers rang out. The family of four sat together, the table was filled with sumptuous dishes. His father poured a glass of white wine and slowly tasted it.
His mother held the bowl and muttered that they had to wake up early tomorrow to visit their grandmother in the countryside.
Zhang Xiaoqiang and his sister buried their heads in the food, but their eyes were glancing at the dishes on the table.
After New Year's Eve dinner, his mother cleared the table. Zhang Xiaoqiang and his sister sat by the white charcoal brazier, eating sunflower seeds and peanuts as they watched the Spring Festival Gala.
His father held a teacup and sat in the middle, occasionally taking a sip of the strong tea. When Baldy Chen's bald head appeared on the screen, Zhang Xiaoqiang was already laughing with his sister. His parents' faces were also full of smiles.
Thinking of the past and the current situation, a sense of sorrow filled his heart.
The Spring Festival of the apocalypse made Zhang Xiaoqiang feel exceptionally lonely. Looking at the counterfeit phone beside his pillow, he prayed that someone would send him a greeting text for the Spring Festival. Even if it was a 1008 telecom advertisement, that would be good enough!
The phone was still silent, and despair was evolving in his heart. The feeling of loneliness was driving him crazy. He picked up the phone and slammed it on the floor.
Crack … The phone was smashed into three pieces on the ground. The body, the battery, and the rear case intertwined as they bounced off the ground, fell, and rolled to the side.
Zhang Xiaoqiang hugged his head and sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the broken phone on the floor in a daze!
After an unknown amount of time, his mood slowly calmed down. He picked up the plastic bottle beside the computer and shook it. Looking at the cockroaches crawling happily inside, Zhang Xiaoqiang's mood started to improve again.
At least he was still alive. At least he could still stand here and leisurely play with the cockroaches. At least he was luckier than 90% of the people in the world. He could still breathe the air that was not considered fresh.
"Hehe!"
Zhang Xiaoqiang laughed at himself. He was a dignified otaku and had always been carefree. Why did he become so emotional during the apocalypse?
Today was the Spring Festival, the most important holiday for China. Why couldn't he celebrate the Spring Festival alone?
Thinking of this, Zhang Xiaoqiang looked at the watch on his wrist. It was almost noon. He started to get busy. He used a bucket of water to boil a pot of water on the induction cooker and took a luxurious bath. It was also the first bath he took after the apocalypse. He felt refreshed and changed into a clean set of clothes. He poured away the black and muddy bathwater and went to the kitchen.
A bowl of boiled fish, a plate of braised pork, a bowl of steamed eggs, and a big bowl of cabbage soup.
This was a simple but luxurious meal during the apocalypse. On the table, there were three sets of bowls and chopsticks, one for his parents and one for his sister. Beside his father's chopsticks was a wine glass filled with white wine. Zhang Xiaoqiang poured himself a glass of "Great Wall Cabernet Red" and slowly drank it.
He unconsciously finished the bottle of red wine. The depression in his heart made him want to drink more. He picked up the bottle of white wine and poured it into his mouth. After drinking half the bottle, he seemed to have returned to the past. His family sat around him. His mother talked about family matters. His father didn't care about anything. He just held the wine glass and slowly sipped it. From time to time, he would pick up some food and drink it. His sister was asking for a new pair of leather shoes.
An intense headache woke Zhang Xiaoqiang up. He lifted the quilt and stiffly got off the bed. The cold air made him feel a chill. He picked up the bottle of water and drank it in one gulp. Only then did his mouth feel dry.
He used an induction cooker to heat up the leftovers from yesterday. He ate it as breakfast. He drank too much wine last night. His mouth was full of bitterness. He didn't even know what breakfast tasted like in his mouth.
As usual, he practiced his spear. After the morning mission was completed, Zhang Xiaoqiang started to rest. He took the MP9 military sniper crossbow and stood on the windowsill to practice aiming at the zombies downstairs. He squandered half of the 80 steel balls in the name of practice. He didn't want to use the six crossbow bolts. If he shot them out, it would be hard to get them back. After dozens of shooting practice, his accuracy had greatly improved. At least he wouldn't be shooting east and shooting west anymore.
Through the crosshairs of the MP9 sniper crossbow, he aimed at an agility type evolved zombie. The zombie was wandering, and his MP9 slowly moved along with the zombie's movement. The zombie in the crosshair also became restless, and rushed towards one direction.
"Is there a situation?"
Zhang Xiaoqiang put down the sniper crossbow. He picked up the 10x binoculars and stared at it. In his line of sight, the zombie rushed towards another agile zombie. The surrounding ordinary zombies also began to move towards them.
"The zombies are having internal strife?" Zhang Xiaoqiang held the binoculars in a daze.
He used the binoculars to observe the zombie that was being attacked.
This was an Agility-type variant zombie. It looked stronger and more agile than the average Agility-type zombie. It was about 1.4 meters tall, shorter than the average zombie. It moved quickly with a hunched back. Other zombies couldn't reach it no matter how hard they tried. Its two hands were grabbing something and putting it in its mouth.
At first, Zhang Xiao Qiang didn't see clearly what it was grabbing, but when it turned to face him, he saw that it was a rat's tail.
The mouse wasn't big, so the disturbance didn't last long. After the mouse was eaten, the zombies also calmed down.
Looking at the slightly stronger agile evolved zombie, it returned to the opposite side of the street. There was a row of old tiled houses. The corner of the house was connected to a sewer. The mouse should have come out from the sewer.
"Could it be that the D virus only works on humans?"
Zhang Xiaoqiang thought. He saw the agile evolved zombie quietly in the sewer. He thought about the strength evolved zombie he killed the day before yesterday.
"D virus + flesh + rain = zombie evolution?" Zhang Xiaoqiang somewhat understood the reason for zombie evolution.