C80 On the Way Back, They Were Lucky Enough to Have a Big Car, so They Asked about It When They Retu

"Alrighty!" Zhao Dagang sprang into action. "Bing, you've got my respect! How do you manage to escape from hordes of zombies every time? I just can't pull that off!"

Naturally! If you had my system, perhaps you could! Tang Bing mused silently as he checked the rice cabinet. A few bags of rice and flour had been knocked over by zombies, their contents contaminated with undead gore—definitely inedible. The rest, still sealed, were fine. He swiftly stashed these into his virtual backpack, taking half to load into the car.

Zhao Dagang was also busy, gathering up the intact, packaged snacks scattered on the floor and filling a shopping cart, which he then wheeled out.

Working in tandem, the two quickly amassed a significant haul of supplies.

As the light outside began to fade and the absence of zombies persisted—most likely drawn off by the earlier blast—they knew better than to overstay their welcome.

"Let's get moving! Time to pull out!" They ceased their scavenging and signaled for Zhao Dagang to follow.

"I'm on door duty!" With the factory a stone's throw from the supermarket and the streets nearly zombie-free, Zhao Dagang dashed back to fetch the keys and unlock the door.

Tang Bing drove right behind him, speeding into the factory as soon as the iron gate was open.

The car was too large for the garage, so he parked it right at the building's first-floor entrance, blocking it.

The noise from the car had drawn the attention of the four women upstairs, who now stood at the door to greet them.

"The door's locked up tight!" Zhao Dagang announced, beaming with excitement. "The zombies have vanished! Looks like you led them all away, Bing! Where did you take them?"

"Just a few miles out," Tang Bing replied. "But don't let your guard down. Our location is precarious, and we could be swamped with zombies at any moment! We might wake up to find the streets crawling with them again."

"I doubt that'll happen," Zhao Dagang countered, shaking his head. "Everything's so quiet now. But I'm curious, how do you do it, Bing? Teach me, will you? I might need to use that trick someday!"

Tang Bing mused that it would be quite the feat if Zhao could pull it off. To start, he'd need my kind of speed, life-saving meds, a hefty dose of luck, and guts to boot! And without a bomb, it's all for naught—the zombies around here were drawn off by the blast!

"Brother Zhao, even if I shared the trick, it'd be no use to you!" Sun Meng piped up, "You just can't match Bing's moves."

"How do you figure I can't?" Zhao Dagang bristled at the challenge.

"Can you sprint along walls and leap across rooftops like Bing?" Sun Meng shot back.

Deflated, Zhao Dagang scratched his head and shook it.

"There you have it," Sun Meng said with a light laugh, turning to Tang Bing, "Bing, you hauled in a ton of supplies from the supermarket? Need a hand moving it all inside?"

Move it inside? Tang Bing gave Sun Meng a look of disbelief, thinking, Is she kidding?

Qin Mengli stepped forward and tugged at Sun Meng's sleeve, whispering, "Tang Bing's got us packing to leave. Why would we shift the stuff from the car into the house?"

Embarrassed, Sun Meng chuckled, "Ah, slipped my mind! So, we're transferring the goods from the house to the car? Bing, you're a machine—cleared the area of zombies in just one afternoon and snagged a huge vehicle to boot! Are we setting out tomorrow?"

At her words, the other women turned to Tang Bing, anxiety etched on their faces. They felt safe here; the thought of confronting hordes of zombies out there brought back harrowing TV drama scenes where many survivors perished on the move.

Tang Bing understood their fears and shook his head, "Though the car's arrival was sooner than expected, we mustn't skimp on our departure prep! We'll keep gathering supplies until the car's full. Meanwhile, you all need to train—get a bit of fight in you! Each of you has a set of scrap iron gear I crafted, offering some safety against the zombies solo. And with teamwork, we should manage fine. I've managed to draw off most of the nearby zombies, reducing our moving risks considerably. Let's aim for full readiness—I'm not about to gamble with our lives!"

Upon receiving Tang Bing's assurance, the women's faces lightened up a bit.

"Wait a minute!" Qin Mengli suddenly remembered something, eyeing Tang Bing with curiosity. "Earlier, we heard something that sounded like firecrackers, coming from the direction you took with the zombies. Could that have been a distress signal from other survivors? Did you check it out?"

At her question, everyone else turned their attention to Tang Bing.

My bomb? Firecrackers? Tang Bing was momentarily at a loss for words, then he explained, "I did encounter a survivor, but it was too late to save him. And that 'firecracker' noise you heard was actually from gasoline barrels I detonated. The blast was loud enough to draw all the nearby zombies away. What did you think made them all leave?"

"Oh!" The women had an 'aha' moment, fully accepting Tang Bing's explanation.

"Bing, you're so clever!" Sun Meng exclaimed, gripping his hand with delight. "We never would've come up with such a great plan! And even if we had, we're not as brave as you. We'd probably have been zombie food the moment we stepped outside!"

"Enough of that," Tang Bing said, unfazed by Sun Meng holding his hand, not giving it a second thought. "Let's not waste time with compliments. Go get dinner started. I've been at it all day and I'm famished!"

"Got it! I'll go make dinner with Teacher Lin right away," Sun Meng agreed eagerly. "Bing, what are you in the mood for?"

"Whatever's fine," Tang Bing replied casually. "Right now, I just want to rest. Just call me when dinner's ready."

"Okay!" Sun Meng released his hand. "Rest up. I'll come get you when it's time."

"Thanks," Tang Bing acknowledged, truly spent. Everyone else might have thought he was downplaying his fatigue, but he had been pushing himself to the limit.

"I'm gonna head up and catch some Z's too!" Zhao Dagang announced, trailing after Tang Bing up the stairs.

As Tang Bing vanished at the top of the stairs, Sun Meng turned to Lin Leyan with an eager grin. "Teacher Lin, let's get cooking! What should we whip up today?"

"Let's go with some of our best dishes," Lin Leyan suggested.

"Perfect! Let's get to it!" Sun Meng couldn't wait, grabbing Lin Leyan's hand and dashing toward the cafeteria, both of them laughing.

Watching her mother and Sun Meng head to the cafeteria together, Liang Hui touched her slender belly and mused, "I'm getting a bit hungry too. Would it be okay to snack on something before dinner? I hope Bing won't get upset."

Qin Mengli stood at a distance, silent, lost in her thoughts.

"Mengli? Mengli!" Liang Hui, noticing her distraction, gave her a gentle nudge.

Qin Mengli snapped back to reality and turned to her, "Oh? What is it?"

"Mengli, you were zoning out," Liang Hui remarked with curiosity. "You didn't hear a word I said."

"Sorry!" Qin Mengli said with an apologetic smile. "I was preoccupied with some thoughts. What were you saying?"

"What's on your mind?" Liang Hui probed.

Qin Mengli shook her head dismissively. "Nothing important! What did you say earlier? Could you repeat it?"

"Well, I was saying I'm feeling peckish and was thinking about having some snacks. I'm just not sure if Bing would be annoyed, you know, since he's the one in charge," Liang Hui explained, feeling a bit uneasy.

Qin Mengli gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "You're overthinking it! Tang Bing is the captain, not some overbearing boss. He's not the type to sweat the small stuff. As long as we follow his lead and don't hold the team back, he won't fuss over a trivial thing like snacks. Since you've been here, have you ever seen him micromanaging our supplies?"

"You're right!" Liang Hui chuckled, feeling relieved. "Bing is pretty magnanimous. It's different with capable people. Now I won't have to worry about going hungry. Honestly, I have trouble sleeping if I don't eat something at night."

"Uh-huh..." Qin Mengli responded absently, her mind seemingly elsewhere again. After a moment, she blurted out, "Speaking of which, I just realized how essential it is to keep track of our supplies! Even if Tang Bing isn't concerned, he risks a lot to procure our food. We can't afford to be wasteful. I'm going to do an inventory check. From now on, everyone should request items before taking them. That sounds better, doesn't it?"

"Ah?!" Liang Hui was taken aback, speechless at Qin Mengli's sudden declaration.