January 28th. The weather was overcast.
Early in the morning, Li Yu dressed, slinging a 1-liter thermos over his shoulder.
Two pistols were in his waist pockets, and he carried a submachine gun and a long knife on his back.
A dagger was strapped to his thigh.
He wore professional cold-weather gear, snow boots, a hat, a mask, and gloves.
His tall, burly frame, clad entirely in black gear, looked incredibly wild.
Walking to Weng City, he ignored the resentful expressions of Li Tie and Li Gang, whose faces seemed to say, "Why aren't you taking us to play?"
Da Pao was quite happy, especially after seeing the resentful looks from Li Tie and the other man; a smile he couldn't suppress spread across his face. They had been stuck in the base all this time, never going out. For him, this trip meant he could work and also get some fresh air, which was great.
Li Yu frowned deeply; his mood was not so pleasant. Yesterday morning had been sunny, but now it was overcast.
After the apocalypse, weather forecasts were impossible, and many old methods of predicting weather by observing celestial phenomena seemed useless.
"White scales in the sky, no need to turn the grain tomorrow."
"Ants moving, snakes crossing the road, big rain will surely come tomorrow."
Similar folk weather rhymes were now completely inaccurate.
Many times, the sky would be clear just a second before, only for a torrential downpour to begin a few seconds later, catching people off guard.
Now the sky was gloomy, and it might even snow heavily, but the inverter issue couldn't be delayed. The weather was unstable, and even on a clear day, it might snow.
It was better to set off now, find the inverter early, and return early.
With a heavy heart, Li Yu led the team out.
This time, seven people drove two vehicles. For safety, both vehicles were converted into snowplows.
In the Unimog, Da Pao drove out of the base.
Over a meter of snow was directly pushed aside by the iron blade in front, the accumulated snow sliding to both sides, leaving a muddy path.
The truck following behind had anti-skid chains installed on its tires; driving on such slippery ground, vehicles could easily skid.
Amidst the white mist rising from the cars, Li Yu and his group were watched by Second Uncle and others from the wall as they drove into the distance.
The sky was dark and gloomy, and Second Uncle murmured, "Hope everything goes smoothly."
As they drove along the path, everyone noticed that the road was mostly covered by accumulated snow, and the usual visible road was now barely discernible.
To avoid overturning, Da Pao didn't dare drive too fast in front, partly because the snow obscured the road, making it hard to see, requiring slow driving.
On the other hand, clearing the snow took time.
Under the combined effect of both, the driving speed dropped to thirty kilometers per hour. On some critical roads, they even had to stop and recall what the road looked like before being buried by heavy snow, and then they could proceed.
Driving at this snail's pace, everyone felt uneasy.
The car windows dared not be rolled down, as the wind outside was very cold. Many of the trees lining both sides of the road had been crushed and fallen onto the road.
Fortunately, the vehicles they drove out this time had high chassis, so they simply drove over the fallen trees.
In the rear vehicle.
Yang Tianlong and Shang Xue'er were driving the truck.
Yang Tianlong had been single his entire life for over twenty years. He was quite outgoing and talkative in front of his brothers, but for some reason, in front of this valiant female police officer, he couldn't utter a single word.
With the car windows closed, the sounds from outside were muffled, making the silence inside the car even more pronounced.
Yang Tianlong stole a glance at Shang Xue'er sitting in the passenger seat. His dark face was slightly flushed, and he felt somewhat flustered.
They drove on.
Fifteen minutes passed in silence.
Occasionally, he would glance at Shang Xue'er sitting next to him, but quickly look away.
He wanted to speak but hesitated, doing so several times. But in the end, he didn't say anything.
The quiet atmosphere was a bit awkward.
Yang Tianlong wanted to say something, but he had no idea how to start or what to say.
This was really bothering him.
Ever since they joined, he had felt a unique connection to Shang Xue'er the moment he saw her.
Especially when they went to fight at He Park, seeing Shang Xue'er act decisively and cleanly, it made his heart pound like several calves crashing into him.
Shang Xue'er wasn't particularly beautiful, but her features were well-defined, and most importantly, she possessed an invisible aura that deeply attracted him.
Yang Tianlong glanced at her again.
Shang Xue'er, sitting beside him, also felt a bit awkward. She couldn't understand why this big, muscular, over-six-foot-tall man kept looking at her.
The car in front paused, seemingly unsure of the road ahead again.
This had happened several times already; because of the heavy snow, they always had to be careful when turning. One wrong move and they could easily drive into a ditch, which would be life-threatening.
"Careful!" Shang Xue'er, sitting in the passenger seat, saw the vehicle not stopping and continuing to drive forward, so she couldn't help but say.
Screech~~~
The truck driven by Yang Tianlong braked suddenly, skidding nearly two meters, but was ultimately stopped by the snow at the roadside, preventing it from sliding into the ditch.
Inside the car, Shang Xue'er and Yang Tianlong broke out in a cold sweat.
That was close.
"Tianlong, what's wrong?" Li Yu, in the car ahead, saw the rear car skid in the rearview mirror and rolled down his window to ask the two in the back.
Yang Tianlong was momentarily embarrassed, annoyed at himself for being so careless and unreliable.
"It's nothing, the road was slippery. It's fine now," Shang Xue'er, in the passenger seat, rolled down her window and shouted.
Li Yu felt a little relieved upon hearing Shang Xue'er's voice.
"It's nothing, don't worry," Yang Tianlong followed up.
"Good, be careful behind me. Don't get lost, but also maintain distance between vehicles," Li Yu said.
"Understood."
After that interruption, Yang Tianlong no longer dared to be distracted.
Shang Xue'er beside him also said nothing, neither complaining nor speaking to Yang Tianlong.
When Li Yu asked just now, Yang Tianlong didn't know how to answer for a moment. After Shang Xue'er answered, Yang Tianlong felt both ashamed and grateful.
He was grateful to Shang Xue'er for helping him out just now.
The vehicle started moving again.
Shang Xue'er suddenly said, "Were you looking at me just now?"
Her tone was like before, neither questioning nor shy, as if she were stating a fact.
It was clearly a question, but her tone made it sound like a statement of fact.
Upon hearing Shang Xue'er's words so abruptly, Yang Tianlong's heart felt like it was hit by a Category 5 typhoon.
Tornado.
Love comes too fast, like a tornado.
Yang Tianlong's face instantly turned crimson; even on his dark skin, the redness was visible, which showed just how red it was.
"Yes," Yang Tianlong replied stiffly and bluntly.
Although he didn't know why, whenever he met Shang Xue'er, he, who was always straightforward and fearless, suddenly became like a timid young wife.
He was especially anxious and nervous, not knowing what to say, afraid of saying the wrong thing.
Ah, this isn't me, Yang Tianlong! his heart roared.
He had never been alone with Shang Xue'er before. Now, being alone in a car made him very flustered.
Upon hearing Yang Tianlong's words, Shang Xue'er was startled, not expecting this man to admit it directly. She glanced at the rigid lines on the man's face, and a ripple stirred in her heart.
