Why Do You Keep Looking at My Feet?

"Thirty-two yuan and eighty cents? Exact change and all—what is this measly pocket change supposed to buy?" Su Jin grumbled in displeasure. "Enough to buy hanging ropes, I suppose. One for each of us." Fu Qingdai wore a look of utter helplessness. "Cousin, that's all I could find. When I asked my mom for money, she chewed me out. She told me whatever I want, she'll buy it for me, and since I stay home all day, I have no reason to spend money anyway." "Cry! Throw a fit! Do I really need to teach you something so basic?" Su Jin scolded mildly. "Besides, letting your mom buy things works just as well. Just have her buy practical supplies. How are you this grown and your brain still can't pivot?" A flicker of embarrassed irritation showed on Fu Qingdai's face as she retorted, "I did! I told her to buy food and rice, and she yelled that I'd lost my mind! When I asked for biscuits, she bought me just one single box... What good is one box?" "Anyway, I'm not stealing money again. If they catch me, I'm terrified they'll haul me off to a psychiatric hospital." "Qingdai, money is about to become scrap paper! And I'm staying right here in your home—what is there left to hesitate over?" Su Jin clapped his hands, chiding her. "Are you making me, an alien, work a day job in your world? If you don't steal, how am I supposed to provide for you? I came all the way from the Orion constellation on a spaceship, and you..." Midway through his scolding, Su Jin felt a sudden weight on his heart, and his voice cut off abruptly. Fu Qingdai sat by the edge of the bed, her head bowed low as fat tears streamed down her cheeks. Then she curled up her fair, slender legs, buried her face between her knees, and remained utterly silent, only her shoulders shaking continuously. After holding it in for a moment, she finally couldn't help sobbing aloud. Outside the door, a pair of sneaky figures pressed close, eavesdropping. "She's crying... Lao Fu, sounds to me like our daughter is crying. How about I slice up a fruit plate and take it in to check on her?" "That's detoxification, she's purging toxins! Stop eavesdropping here—you'll disrupt the director's treatment." Soon, Fu Qingdai's sobs died down, and the room lapsed into silence. "All right, it's good to let it out," Su Jin comforted softly. "Just steal one more time. I believe you'll definitely succeed." Hearing that, Fu Qingdai lifted her head to look at Su Jin, tear tracks still lining her face. "Bro... after tonight, there are only two days left... Is this really all we can do? Is there really no other way?" Su Jin felt a sharp pang in his chest. Keeping his face taut, he slowly shook his head. "My grandpa, my grandma... and my friends... what about them..." Fu Qingdai's expression was agonized and helpless. "I know disaster is coming, but no one believes me! If only I were a bit older... maybe then people wouldn't just brush off my warnings..." "It wouldn't matter, Qingdai. Even if you became the richest person in the world, your parents would still think they're smarter than you." Su Jin reached over to pull a tissue from the desk and handed it to her. "Wipe your nose. It's about to run into your mouth—don't choke on it." The girl's face flushed crimson as she took the tissue and haphazardly wiped away her tears. "Now, if you became a high official, your parents might actually listen to you." "Why?" Fu Qingdai asked with a slight sniffle. "Money and power aren't the same. Once you hold official rank, your parents would know who holds the trump card." With this deliberate diversion, Fu Qingdai's distress eased somewhat. Her voice slightly hoarse, she asked, "Cousin... what are the plans after that? Where do we go? Do we just stay here and hold out?" Su Jin fell into deep thought. He had indeed considered what to do after the zombies appeared. In truth, there were no fantastic options; waiting in place was the best course of action. Nothing concrete was known yet about the zombies, and it was hard to tell whether the infection was caused by a virus or some other mysterious power. Still, zombies were biological organisms... theoretically, without food, they shouldn't survive for very long. Perhaps after holing up indoors for ten days to a couple of weeks, the zombies would simply starve to death. With bellies full of rotting entrails in this sweltering heat, they might even burst on their own while wandering around before they could starve. Although zombies in movies never died, that was just the movies. Even if some supernatural force prevented them from dying of starvation, that wouldn't be a catastrophic problem either. Judging by Fu Qingdai's diary, a zombie's physical capabilities were not much different from a normal human's; from her descriptions, they even seemed rather stiff. Such useless trash could only run rampant in movies. Dropped into an industrialized modern society, they were little more than live target practice. As long as the state apparatus swung into gear, wiping out these flesh targets would be trivial. Although this world was not as developed as Earth, it had entered industrialization early on. Based on references from bookstores and movies, it had no shortage of tanks, artillery, or missiles. There was also a strategic weather-control weapon comparable to nuclear weapons that had only ever been rumored on Earth: the Cold Canopy missile system. Logically, this world's technology lagged behind Earth's, but perhaps due to differences in the atmospheric environment or elemental composition, they had been able to develop a weapon capable of altering weather on a massive scale. In world history, that weapon had only been deployed once, racking up a casualty record of two hundred thousand people and maintaining extreme regional sub-zero temperatures for nearly an entire month. Based on a comprehensive analysis of this world's military power, suppressing the zombie crisis ought to be an easy feat; the only question was how long one needed to hold out before rescue arrived. Thinking to this point, Su Jin said, "Our top priority right now is surviving that rain. We'll deal with what comes after when the time comes; I have my own plans... Qingdai, if you're feeling too stressed, just get plenty of rest tomorrow and don't worry about anything. On the final day, I'll need your help with something." "What is it?" Su Jin pulled a medicine bottle from his pocket and said solemnly, "These are sleeping pills. That evening, grind them into powder in advance and slip them to your parents. Once they're sound asleep, come out at eleven o'clock. You can give me a hand then—I need to set up some security measures." "I understand, Cousin," Fu Qingdai nodded earnestly. Su Jin smiled and retrieved a smartphone and earphones from his pocket. "I love how sensible you are. Here, you can play with this to unwind." Curious, Fu Qingdai took the phone, put on the earphones according to Su Jin's instructions, and soon found herself listening to alien tunes. The lyrics sounded like complete gibberish, not a single word intelligible, but the melody was undeniably novel. With the music and phone diverting her attention, Fu Qingdai's expression gradually relaxed. Curled up at the edge of the bed, her slender arches curved slightly, tautening into a soft, alluring arc. Her delicate, porcelain-white toes pressed unconsciously against the bedsheet, quivering faintly. A few minutes later, the phone screen locked. Fu Qingdai glanced up at Su Jin, and a deep blush instantly rushed across both cheeks. Taking off the earphones, she asked self-consciously, "Bro... why do you keep looking at my feet...?" "Checking to see if you're built for running." Su Jin slowly redirected his gaze and casually slid open a desk drawer. "Oh! Stationery!" Fu Qingdai narrowed her eyes slightly, eyeing him with suspicion. Keeping a straight face, Su Jin opened another drawer. Seeing it filled to the brim with assorted candies, he was genuinely surprised this time. "Candy? You've stashed quite a lot." "Ah... I asked my mom to buy extra candy. I figured it might come in handy." Su Jin looked down, grabbed a bar of 'chocolate' from the drawer, unwrapped it, and gave it a sniff. The wrapper said chocolate, and it smelled like chocolate too. It should be safe to eat; since arriving in this world, he hadn't experienced any food allergies or poisoning. He hadn't had the chance to buy sweets yet, and fast-acting carbs were definitely essential. He hadn't expected Fu Qingdai to patch up this oversight. The girl wasn't half bad. After observing it for a moment, Su Jin leaned down and took a tiny bite off one corner of the chocolate. This had become his habit since arriving in this world: when encountering unfamiliar food, always ingest only a minute amount first. A rich chocolate flavor bloomed across his palate, and Su Jin nodded in satisfaction. "The candy here tastes pretty—" Midway through his sentence, Su Jin's eyes flew wide! A flush of violent redness rushed at visible speed from his chest and abdomen up to his neck, until red veins crept across the whites of his eyes, turning his entire face bright crimson!