Chapter 48—Finally

by Bocchan13

Song Yu blubbered and hid in Lan Zhou’s chest, hearing that pounding heartbeat. Lan Zhou wasn’t shy as he lifted Song Yu up and walked back into the villa.

“Lan Zhou? Are we going back in? Hey!” Lu Jingxiu, Xiao Zi, Yu Ci and Wang Cheng watched in disbelief as the gate automatically closed in front of them, while Lan Zhou and Song Yu were going back in.

With a bang, the large gate closed.

Everyone :…

They stayed that way for over five minutes before Squinty transported in front of them and barked happily. Wang Cheng rubbed his head happily.

“Squinty! Can you let us in?”

Cocking his head, Squinty’s tongue escaped to the side as he smiled.

“Squinty?”

Squinty pawed the gate. The gate sensors identified Squinty and opened the gate.

Everyone:…

“A dog has more authority than you.”

“Hurry! The gates gonna close again!” Everyone scurried inside and watched the gate close. Sighing in relief, the gang all looked at each other.

“Should we…?”

“Let’s give them some time. I think they’re gonna—“

“Nonononono! Don’t want to hear it!” Wang Cheng covered his ears.

Yu Ci looked in the direction of the villa and couldn’t help but smile sadly. He also didn’t want to leave and was glad that Song Yu changed his mind…but he was also sad that he would see Song Yu with Lan Zhou every day.

Wang Cheng stretched his arms wide, “It’s close to 10, and we should finish up Song Yu’s bit at the garden. We have to show that we won’t take advantage of him! Let’s go!”

Lu Jingxiu nodded and followed Wang Cheng to the toolshed. Xiao Zi wanted to see the garden and followed them. Yu Ci took another glance at the villa before following his friends.

…

Song Yu had his arms wrapped around Lan Zhou, hiding his head nuzzled in his neck and his entire body clinging to Lan Zhou. Lan Zhou limped into the villa and couldn’t hide his overwhelming smile. Bypassing the first floor, Lan Zhou went directly to Song Yu’s room, gently hugging him as they lay down.

“You really mean it?” Lan Zhou whispered gently, entwining their fingers together. “You won’t change your mind?”

Song Yu nodded his head and pecked his lips, “I’m sure. I’m sorry it took so long for me to realize it. There are still some things I can’t say, but are you willing to spend your life with me?”

“Yes. I won’t make you regret this,” Lan Zhou smiled tenderly at him while nodding.

Lan Zhou kissed his forehead, a large sigh of relief escaping. The euphoric feeling of having Song Yu in his arms was prevalent. It encompassed all the hardships, strife and sadness he felt, yet the gentle tenderness and passion their relationship was built on.

“I vow to love you forever, Song Yu. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for letting me love you.”

Song Yu could only laugh.

“Another article?”

“Nope. Not this one. This one came directly from my heart.”

Slapping his arm, Song Yu blushed. “That should be my line. Thank you for letting me love you.”

Lan Zhou could not contain his everlasting joy and fervently peppered kisses all over Song Yu, his arms surrounding him in a tight embrace.

“I’m happy. I’m so so happy.” Song Yu sighed and let Lan Zhou hold him, tenderly rubbing his back. Staying in each other’s embrace, they talked a bit more and decided to have another meeting for ground rules. Lan Zhou didn’t rush it, and spent the rest of the day holding and talking to Song Yu.

When dinner rolled around, Song Yu decided to make it. Holding onto Lan Zhou’s hand, he dragged him downstairs. Looking around, there weren’t anyone in the house.

“Where’d they all go?”

Right then, the front door opened and all four of them dragged their tired bodies inside. Song Yu watched flabbergasted as the dirt stained quartet just moaned as they passed by them and headed to their respective rooms.

“What…happened to them?” Watching their retreating backs, Song Yu opened the door puzzled. The fields…looks to have been tampered with, the garden had been weeded, the animals had been fed and led back into their pens, even the pathway leading to the house had been hosed down…

“Hahahah, they want to pay you back for letting them stay. It’s not too much…after all, this will be our new home together.”

Our home.

I won’t have to be lonely anymore.

Song Yu’s heart filled up to the brim. His paradise was still his paradise. Just an additional amount of people to share it with. Song Yu smiled brightly, turned and embraced Lan Zhou, his lips meeting its partners.

The kiss was one of hope, of love and care.

Song Yu and Lan Zhou separated and decided to go down to the cellar to bring back food. This was the first time Lan Zhou was entering this part of the house, so when he saw the aisles of food, he was stunned.

“Song Yu…this is..?”

Blushing, he led Lan Zhou around.

“Um…the food can last for several decades if we ration it well, and my space can keep them fresh. I have a list of everything used in an account book, so whenever we use something, it’s recorded there. If you need anything or use anything, just record it into the book.”

Leading Lan Zhou throughout the aisles he pointed out the system and maintenance, as well as where everything should be accurately stored.

“Overall, the cellar has the most food, but since I’m growing independently from the cellar, we should be sustained for longer. The vegetables I make contain the lake water so they have a 100% chance of no zombie infection. The lake is also streamed throughout the property so that’s why everything is green.”

Lan Zhou nodded his head, “Is there something about the lake water that’s special? It has purity properties, but how?”

Song Yu absently ignored this question and continued explaining. Lan Zhou let out a small sigh but didn’t raise the subject again.

He knew Song Yu was most likely the Pure ability user. The lake was a fact, since it also resembled Paradise Bases. Song Yu conveniently moved to A Country before the apocalypse and accidentally met a psycho doomsayer? Not a chance. He was 99% sure of Song Yu’s identity.

The other 1% was what Song Yu was willing to part with. Now that Song Yu has let them in, it won’t be long before he is comfortable to tell his story.

“Tonight we can do a celebration. I have some frozen steaks and oysters. We can have a barbeque on the veranda and go swimming! The summer heat will start soon, so it’s the perfect time for a dip.”

Lan Zhou leaned in closer, his hot breath tickling his ear.

“That will be a problem.”

“?”

“None of us have swimming shorts.”

Song Yu burst out laughing.

“Hahaha, I forgot. I don’t have any clothes for you guys and cotton is too difficult to make right now. Um…what should we do?”

“We can postpone the swimming for now, and when we get more settled we will go out and find some clothes or cloth. You’re good at making them, so I’ll rely on you. Is that okay?”

“Mmn! I didn’t expect to have people with me here, so I didn’t think to have different sizes. In about two weeks, we can go out. But, it’s going to be difficult since I know you guys don’t want to stay in Wang Cheng’s space for the entire duration.”

“Do you have a car?”

“Yeah, an off-road vehicle. But the gas is almost finished and I don’t know where to get more.”

“How long can it go for?”

“A few more hours, then the gas will finish.”

“Let’s plan this later. For now, we can have the steak barbeque. Let’s take out the coal and ingredients first.”

“Okay.”

Lan Zhou surveyed the large underground supermarket and shook his head; Song Yu was indeed a genius. He surmised that Song Yu had already been reborn when they met in this timeline, so he had ample time to prepare. Looking at the backups of everything, he had to applaud how meticulous Song Yu’s planning ha gone.

Taking everything they needed for dinner, they set up on the 2^nd floor veranda, using Lan Zhou’s room as the door opening. By the time they got set up, everyone had finished taking a shower and wore clean clothes.

Wang Cheng and Squinty were like two peas in a pod as they stared at the defrosting steaks.

“Master, we’re going to have steak?” Wang Cheng rubbed his hands together, mouth watering.

“…Master?”

“Huh? It’s what Yu Ci called you before. And since you’re the boss around here, I thought it was fitting. Not good?” Wang Cheng looked at him worriedly, his eyes shifting to Lan Zhou to see if he had messed up.

Song Yu tilted his head in thought. Master sounded perverse in his mind, as if these people were beneath him. He wanted equal grounds with everyone here.

“Ummm…Master is too much. If you want, you can just call me by my name. I don’t mind.”

“Ahh, okay.” Wang Cheng rubbed the back of his head in awkwardness before shrugging his shoulders.

Song Yu took the chance and bonked his shoulders.

“No need to feel so awkward with me. I let you guys stay because I wanted to. If you treat this place well, it will treat you well back.”

Wang Cheng took this to heart and forgot about it, going around the veranda with Squinty. The pair was a match made in heaven as Wang Cheng and Squinty gallivanted around.

The coals were just the right temperature in the grill, so Song Yu took it upon himself to start.

“Rare, medium rare or well done?”

“MEDIUM RARE!” Everyone shouted in unison. Song Yu laughed and got started. Yu Ci and Lu Jingxiu got permission to turn on the hot tub, so they took off the top and stared as the hot water jets blossomed in the 8 person Jacuzzi.

“We don’t have swim wear, but we can definitely soak our feet in. We worked the entire day today.” Lu Jingxiu brought Xiao Zi, rubbing his sore legs. Xiao Zi didn’t say anything and felt extremely pampered.

Song Yu saw this and whistled. Squinty came to him followed by Wang Cheng.

“I still have several crates of beer. Can you bring them up for us?”

“Sure!”

“Squinty has the key on his collar, so he can let you into the cellar.”

“The cellar? The magical place where chocolate roams?”

“Uhh…yes?”

“Can I…can I have one piece?” Wang Cheng looked at Song Yu with puppy eyes. Song Yu swears that Wang Cheng and Squinty switched souls or something. He gave a small laugh and nodded.

“Yes!” Fist pumping the air, Wang Cheng and Squinty left.

“Do you need any help with anything else?”

Lan Zhu had been patiently applying olive oil on the steaks being grilled.

Song Yu flipped a steak over, the heat intensifying. Sweat surfaced on his brow.

“No. Everything is good right now. I would love to play music, but I don’t want to attract anything strange here.”

“Is there usually strange things in the night?”

“No. Every month, I would do a check of the surroundings. It usually takes me a week on the trail.”

“You mean the zombie fire pits?”

“You know?”

“Yeah, we saw some while we were on the run. You made them right?”

“Yeah. Since this place is completely off the grid with little to no people, I figured that the zombies that migrated this way would be fewer. So I made them in the hopes that zombies would coagulate in those areas only and burn the bodies when I made my rounds.”

“That’s a very good idea. We can discuss about the monthly checks as well. I don’t want you to handle everything yourself. Since you have five extra mouths to feed, we will do all we can to help you. Anything you need, we will do it for you now.”

Song Yu kissed Lan Zhou’s nose, smiling in content.

“I’m looking forward to it.”