Chapter 298: My Own Calculation
Chapter 298: My Own Calculation
After instructing Tang Siluo on the next course of action, Lei Jiang glances at Zhao Ru before turning away. Zhao Ru immediately understands his meaning. After chatting briefly with the clueless Tang Siluo, she finds an excuse, opens the car door, and catches up with Lei Jiang.
Today, Zhao Ru is dressed conservatively, looking noticeably clean. But aside from that, she is no different from any other woman struggling to survive in the apocalypse. She catches up with Lei Jiang under the cover of several parked cars, then stands there, lips pursed in a polite smile, waiting for him to speak first.
Lei Jiang turns to face her, standing on a patch of uneven stone, and asks, "I heard you and Tang Siluo have known each other since childhood?"
He doesn’t mention where he heard it. He always has his ways.
Zhao Ru is someone Lei Jiang has recently recruited. She isn’t one of the women who warm his bed, but he sees value in her connection to Tang Siluo. So, he has given her some supplies and small benefits in exchange for doing things he finds inconvenient to handle himself—like whispering suggestions into Tang Siluo’s ear or pushing Anran to have a child.
Zhao Ru nods, admitting it. "We know each other, but only because our families come from the same village. We’d occasionally run into each other when visiting home for the New Year."
"Good. That connection will be useful." Lei Jiang smiles and hands her a bag of crystal cores. "I need you to look into something for me. I heard that Tang Jianjun has a water-type ability user. Find out where he lives."
Zhao Ru’s expression freezes slightly as she accepts the bag. She looks up at Lei Jiang and asks, "Captain Lei, are you interested in that water-type ability user?"
"Who in Tiesi Village isn’t interested in that water-type ability user?"
Lei Jiang wants Anran just as much as he wants that water-type ability user.
Human nature is greedy. It doesn’t matter if water can be purchased with crystal cores—if it isn’t in his hands, then it isn’t good enough.
Zhao Ru lowers her gaze to the bag of crystal cores, thoughts flickering in her eyes. Smiling politely, she says, "If Captain Lei finds me useful, I’ll do my best to help. But from what I’ve seen, Tang Siluo doesn’t seem to care much about that water-type ability user. She’s focused on post-disaster reconstruction right now."
"Post-disaster reconstruction?" Lei Jiang’s tone is laced with sarcasm. He doesn’t like to show his disdain for women in front of them, but sometimes, it slips through.
"I think the real issue is whether Tiesi Village can even survive. Worry about reconstruction after there’s something left to rebuild!"
The world needs people like Tang Siluo. Rebuilding after the apocalypse is important—sooner or later, humans will reclaim their land from the zombies. But Tang Siluo, that naïve fool, is thinking too far ahead. Right now, the only thing that matters is survival.
Zhao Ru notes Lei Jiang’s attitude. He appears to support Tang Siluo on the surface, but in reality, he doesn’t believe in her actions.
The more she interacts with Lei Jiang, the more she feels that he isn’t someone to be trusted. Likewise, his faction isn’t a place suitable for the weak, the elderly, or the pregnant.
Her eyes flicker with calculation, and behind her polite smile, she forms her own plans.
In truth, Tang Siluo has grown up in privilege. Her parents are high-ranking military officers, and her path has always been smooth. When the apocalypse began, she barely spent a month hiding in a secure compound before she met Luo Feifan. From there, Luo Feifan escorted her all the way to her father.
In Tiesi Village, she is untouchable because of her father’s status. No one dares to speak against her.
That means Tang Siluo has no real-life experience to survive in the apocalypse.