The current atmosphere within the living room was extremely strange. Brother Long looked at Yang Ke’er with a look of disbelief, while Chen Yi sat one side with a dark face, no one knew what he was thinking. He Wen Bin and the rest were poring over their palms, as though they were trying to read their own fortunes!
The few women had their head bowed low, looking like ostriches. Zhang Xiao Qiang sat with one leg on a chair, the other wrapped in Su Qian’s embrace.
Yang Ke’er was a little anxious, her hands hugging in front of her chest one moment, then releasing to put behind her back, at the end she left them at the side, not knowing what to do.
The atmosphere was extremely solemn, with so many people in the room, but there was only silence. The air felt stifled, with a little hint of Zhang Xiao Qiang’s foot odor!
“Youngest Cousin-Uncle!* You’re here?” Finally, Yang Ke’er broke the silence, greeting Brother Long!
When Zhang Xiao Qiang heard her form of address, his leg almost kicked out at Su Qian’s face, his entire body slipping onto the floor.
He thought of a little childhood rhyme: “I have many relatives!”
Brother Long seemed to have awoken from a dream, walking up to Yang Ke’er and asked: “You’re Brother Cheng’s daughter? Are you Ke’er? s.h.i.+t, how did you grow up so fast?”
Brother Long could not believe his eyes.
“Congratulations Brother Long!” “That’s great, Brother Long found his relative!” He Wen Bin and the rest began to congratulate him.
“Uncle, I’m already turning 15! You’ve been in for 6 years!” Yang Ke’er reminded him!
“Keke! No wonder! The last time I saw you, you were still hanging on to your father’s hands to buy yogurt. When he didn’t allow, you sat on the floor and threw a tantrum! Didn’t you stop when I gave you a hundred bucks!”
As Brother Long reminisce, he sighed!
“Seems like her sulking habit was honed from young?” Zhang Xiao Qiang sort of understood why she liked to sulk now.
“What!! I was still young then!” Yang Ke’er immediately retorted in embarra.s.sment.
“Where’s your dad and mom? And my mom? How are they?” Brother Long became somewhat emotional, after all, even convicts were human, they would still miss their family.
Yang Ke’er was reminded of her own parents when she heard that, her eyes turning red: “I have no idea! That day, I was walking on the streets with friends, before being stuck in a truck for 3 months. I made it out of the city with difficulty, and my friends were all eaten by the monsters! Wuwuwuwu……”
She began crying, only continuing after a while: “Dad, Mum, and Grand Aunt all lived within the city, and that’s where most of the monsters were! If I wasn’t saved by Brother c.o.c.kroach, I would have been eaten! Wuwuwu…..”
Thinking of the unknown circ.u.mstances her family was in, the bitterness in Yang Ke’er’s heart was finally released when she met a relative, and she began to cry her heart out.
Hearing her sobs, Brother Long’s emotions turned heavy, his eyes becoming red as well. He Wen Bin and the rest lowered their head in sadness, also missing and worried about their families!
Even Chen Yi was hugging his own head as he thought about his own family. The expressions of the ladies beside him couldn’t be seen, but tears could be seen dropping from their faces.
Zhang Xiao Qiang also felt his feet turning wet from a few drops of tears and noticed Su Qian had stopped her ma.s.sage, with his stinky feet still in her bosom. Her eyes were dim as she stared straight ahead, her tears flowing freely.
Zhang Xiao Qiang’s parents had left early, and they had not really suffered. He had also believed that his own sister would be fine. Even he, being a shut-in, had begun training himself in order to survive. His sister, who was stronger than him, would definitely be fine! Therefore, Zhang Xiao Qiang observed the heavy expressions of everyone else with a bystander’s point of view.
Brother Long wiped his eyes as he spoke up: “Alright, let’s not dwell on the sad stuff, today is a joyous occasion, a truly joyous occasion!”
As he spoke, he turned to face Zhang Xiao Qiang, who stood up hastily to greet him: “Brother Long, how do you do! Brother Long is also from Y City?”
Zhang Xiao Qiang was standing with one foot bare, after all, this was someone else’s territory. He could not afford to be too comfortable. Furthermore, it was Yang Ke’er’s family.
“Hahaha, it’s where I was from! Sit sit sit, don’t stand on ceremony.”
Brother Long motioned for Zhang Xiao Qiang to sit down, as he sat down on a long sofa in the middle of the living room himself. He dragged his hand across the surface of the sofa as he asked: “How should I address you, little brother?”
Zhang Xiao Qiang’s looks had turned younger after drinking the rainwater twice. He looked about 20+ now. Furthermore, since he had never gone hungry since the apocalypse, plus his constant training, he looked extremely valiant and robust, and caused others to think he was young!
“Ha! Brother Long is too polite, my nickname is called c.o.c.kroach, and it’s fine not to mention my own name!” Zhang Xiao Qiang was truly not at ease with his name!
“Keke, brother! Now, as long as you have the capability, even if you’re called Worm, others would have to call you Grandmaster! Hahaha!” Brother Long didn’t seem to mind Zhang Xiao Qiang’s words, and his demeanor seemed easy-going.
“Since you’ve saved Ke’er, and fed her well, that’s ability. How are your skills?” It seemed like Brother Long still had not heard about his deeds.
“Brother Long! Brother c.o.c.kroach is truly formidable! Even those monsters that took us 7 or 8 guns to kill, Brother c.o.c.kroach took down 6 of them single-handedly! We were all saved by him!”
He Wen Bin helped to hoist Zhang Xiao Qiang’s ‘flag’ so to speak.
“Yea! Brother Long, you may not know this! Screwdriver and I were stuck on a scaffolding with over a thousand of those monsters, Brother c.o.c.kroach had charged into their midst, killing 7 on his way in and another 7 on his way out to rescue me! At first, I thought that it was all over, Screwdriver was also scared witless, he must still be hanging there now!”
Three also began to boast on behalf of Zhang Xiao Qiang.
“Keke! Three is exaggerating, I just set some fire, and caused some chaos before I went down to save them!”
Zhang Xiao Qiang became abashed as he brushed it all aside.
“Brother Long, you weren’t there! I followed Brother c.o.c.kroach closely all the way, there were at least a thousand of them all around. We killed our way in! I saw Brother c.o.c.kroach taking down at least a 100 all by himself! To be honest, my pants still have not dried from me wetting myself earlier!”
He Wen Bin began to blow up the events, at most, Zhang Xiao Qiang had killed a dozen by accident as he was stumbling about!
“Yes Brother Long, I saw clearly from the roof, it was Brother Bin who hollered at me to come down!” Three did not dare slack off with his part of the tale.
Even Old Frank who had remained silent wanted to chip in, but he truly did not know how to express himself, only standing aside and nodding profusely.
Brother Long looked at the events, with a pleased and amused expression: “Hahaha! A valiant general, you truly are a hero! Today, it truly is a double joyous occasion! Bin!”
Brother Long was happy, and by referring to Zhang Xiao Qiang as a general, he was basically calling himself the commander-in-chief.
“Brother Long, I will follow your instructions!” He Wen Bin was like a docile lamb as he awaited Brother Long’s words.
“Go, go get 2 chickens from the coop. Today, let’s have a good celebration. Also, make sure Old Drunk watches the chickens carefully. Should they be missing a single feather, I’ll skin him!”
“Yes!” He Wen Bin quickly turned around and hurried to the coop.
“Haha, I’ve allowed little brother to witness a joke! From the beginning, at least half of the chicken had died from hunger, and those hooligans had just eaten mindlessly. By the time Three said it was fine for the chickens to lay eggs, there were only a hundred left! I was afraid of them all dying out, hence I got someone to look after them!”
Brother Long was afraid that Zhang Xiao Qiang might find him miserly, or petty, and began to explain.
Su Qian began to dress Zhang Xiao Qiang’s foot, putting on his socks and shoes, before working on his other leg. Yang Ke’er continued to glare at him, pouting as she watched.
Watching Su Qian take off the socks of his other leg, Zhang Xiao Qiang quickly did the math in his head. Chen Yi had 4 women, Brother Long should also have the same, together that would make 10. He and Yang Ke’er were 2 and adding on He Wen Bin and the rest, that would be about 20 people. 20 sharing 2 chickens was indeed a little thrifty.
“Brother Long, this little one had not gained much on my journeys, but I would like to offer a few 100 jins of rice and dried food, I hope that Brother Long doesn’t take offense!”
Zhang Xiao Qiang made the decision to stay here temporarily, and he prepared to hand over part of his stock. Having dried meat everyday was getting nauseating, and Yang Ke’er didn’t eat any fatty meat, why not give it away as a gift?
“Haha, little bro, you’re really straightforward! Not to mention meat, even rice would truly satiate all our palettes here. Even the food in prison cannot compare to it!”
Brother Long was very appreciative and immediately got Old Frank and Three to help collect the goods. Yang Ke’er followed them out, keeping watch and ensuring that they didn’t touch her secret stash.
TN:
*Father’s Younger Cousin-Brother (Male Cousin)
**I Have Many Relatives: actual direct translation from the Chinese, The Uncles From My Family, Too Many to Count!
Youtube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P-s7x7xD_4
I must admit that as I translated the line about the rest of the people in the house becoming sad, I had tears in my eyes as well. I can only imagine if I was in such a situation, and there was no way of finding out any information. There would be that burden. And hearing someone else revealing what was on everyone else’s mind, it truly is heartbreaking.
I love how the author has balanced the light-heartedness and the severity of the situation at times. Hoping to see more vivid descriptions!
