How About You Like Me?

Otherwise, you could like me.

The bamboo raft drifted through the storm all night. Xie Li didn't know when she lost consciousness; she only remembered that in the last second before passing out, one of her hands was gripping the raft tightly, and the other arm was wrapped around Jin Zhaoye's waist, holding her close. When she woke up, Xie Li's first feeling was silence. The howling wind was gone, the pattering rain had stopped—the world seemed to have returned to normal. The sky was blue, the clouds white, and sunlight streamed through the gaps in the clouds, spreading golden across the water, making her eyes ache. Xie Li moved; her body was cold and stiff. She looked down at her hands; her fingers were soaked in the murky water, completely numb. Jin Zhaoye, leaning against her, stirred and woke up. She squinted, adjusting to the light for a while, then turned to look at Xie Li. “Jin Zhaoye...” Xie Li pulled at the corners of her mouth and said hoarsely, “We survived again.” Jin Zhaoye's gaze slowly moved down from Xie Li's face, landing on her pale hand. She bent down, grabbed Xie Li's wrist, and helped pull her hand out bit by bit. Xie Li's palm was white and wrinkled from soaking, her five fingers curled into a claw, stiff and immovable. Jin Zhaoye held her hand in her palm and covered it with her own hand, but she too had been soaked in the rain all night; her body temperature was very low, her palm ice-cold. Two equally cold hands stacked together, neither able to warm the other. Jin Zhaoye frowned and slowly unbuttoned a few shirt buttons. The front of her shirt opened, revealing skin pale from the rain. She held Xie Li's wrist and pressed her palm against her own chest. The moment Xie Li's fingertips touched that skin, she felt a trace of warmth. Jin Zhaoye's surface temperature wasn't much higher, but compared to Xie Li's numb, cold hand, it was still a bit warmer. That faint warmth transmitted through their touching skin. Jin Zhaoye took a light breath; Xie Li's hand was so cold it felt like placing an ice cube on her chest. “It's cold for you, isn't it?” Xie Li tried to pull her hand back. “Don't move.” Jin Zhaoye covered it with her own hand and pressed it further against her chest, trying her best to warm Xie Li. Lan Ran had actually woken up a while ago while they were talking. To be precise, she was woken by the sunlight falling on her eyelids. She was about to speak when she saw the two people embracing, their clothes disheveled. Lan Ran thought for less than 0.1 seconds and decisively closed her eyes again—her sister's happiness needed her protection. After lying there with her eyes closed for a while, counting from one to a hundred in her mind, she felt enough time had passed. When she opened her eyes again, the two were still holding each other, and Xie Li's hand had even gone further inside. Lan Ran hesitated whether she should swim in the water for a while to give them space, but as her gaze swept across the water surface not far away, she gasped in shock. “Cough...” Lan Ran cleared her throat and said hoarsely, “I don't want to disturb you, but could you two stop for a moment?” Xie Li and Jin Zhaoye both looked at her. “Don't look at me.” Lan Ran gestured with her chin toward the water. “Look at the water.” Xie Li turned to look. Less than ten meters from the raft, a pale, rotting hand was resting on a piece of rotten wood. The hand looked like soaked dough; rotten flesh fell off at the slightest movement. The hand scratched at the wood, a fingernail fell off into the water, and then a head slowly surfaced. The face was unrecognizable—grayish-white skin, swollen and deformed, as if someone had casually pinched a face out of mud and poked a few holes in it. Its mouth was wide open, revealing blackened gums, baring its teeth at the three on the raft. “Sss...” Xie Li was disgusted by the thing. Jin Zhaoye pressed her hand down and slowly turned her head to look around. Half of the city was submerged in water. The once bustling streets and Plaza were now flooded by murky currents. Half of the high-rise buildings were exposed above the water; most of the glass curtain walls were shattered, and the remaining window frames looked like tombstones for the city. All kinds of garbage floated on the water—uprooted trees, broken billboards, plastic foam... and a half-sunken fishing boat wedged between two tall buildings. There were also many waterlogged Zombies, either lying on the garbage or floating face-down on the water, rising and falling with the waves. Occasionally, dark shadows flashed underwater, moving very fast, probably some mutated aquatic creatures. The air smelled complex—a mix of rot and a salty, fishy scent, like the smell of the sea. Jin Zhaoye's lips moved slightly, and she said in a breathy voice, “Don't make a sound. Let's paddle slowly and find a building to dock at first.” “Okay.” Xie Li and Lan Ran responded at the same time, their voices very low. Jin Zhaoye and Lan Ran used their weapons to paddle in the water, and the bamboo raft began to move slowly forward, so slowly that it barely attracted the attention of the things in the water. The nearest building was only two or three hundred meters away, a distance that would take just a few minutes on land, but they struggled on the water for over an hour. Fortunately, the things underwater weren't as aggressive as the Mutated Flying Fish they had encountered earlier. They didn't seem interested in the raft; they passed by, circled around, occasionally surfaced to show half a fin, and then quickly disappeared. Approaching the building, Xie Li, Lan Ran, and Jin Zhaoye spent some effort turning the raft to align with the broken window of the building and pushed the raft into the window. After successfully landing and securing the raft, the three climbed up two floors along the stairwell. The building was very quiet; not a single Zombie was in sight. Maybe there had been some, but they had been attracted away by the earlier storm. The three found a spacious office and pushed the door open. Lan Ran let out a howl and threw herself onto the carpet, spreading out like a starfish. Xie Li also lay down, not even taking off the backpack on her chest. Only Jin Zhaoye remained somewhat alert, observing the surroundings in case of hidden danger. The office was luxuriously decorated—leather sofas, solid wood desks, a few knives hanging on the wall that might have been decorative, and a restroom inside. Jin Zhaoye checked every corner, then returned to the door and lightly kicked Xie Li: “Don't lie down yet. Check on Xiaobao first.” Xie Li sat up from the carpet, took off her backpack, unzipped it, and looked inside. The backpack was also a bit wet; the waterproof layer hadn't fully blocked the night's rain, and the contents felt damp. Xiaobao was stuffed inside the backpack, surrounded by a few clothes, but the little girl's clothes were also damp, her hair sticking to her forehead in strands. “Lan Ran, see if you can find something to boil water. We need to make some hot water.” Xie Li turned to Lan Ran and said, then lifted Xiaobao out of the backpack. The little girl's body was burning hot, her cheeks flushed red. Pressed against Xie Li's cold body, she was warm—it was fair to say she was like a hand warmer. “Oh dear, she has a fever again. Wait, I'll go.” Lan Ran stood up on legs as soft as noodles, left the office, and her footsteps gradually faded down the corridor. After a while, she came back carrying a metal trash can filled with split wood, which looked like broken table legs and chair backs. She placed the can near the window in the stairwell and used some printer paper to light the wood. Xie Li placed an iron pot on top, filled with mostly water. “Where did the pot come from?” Lan Ran asked casually. “I found it in the office just now.” Xie Li crouched by the pot, warming her hands, and made up a story: “The original owner might have been an outdoor enthusiast. There was a full set of outdoor gear in the office—pots, pans, everything. There are even clean clothes inside. Go in, wipe yourself down, and change into clean clothes.” Lan Ran didn't think much of it, stood up, and went into the office. Sure enough, she saw neatly folded clothes on the sofa—quick-dry T-shirts, waterproof fleece jackets, waterproof softshell pants, and even brand-new shoes and socks. She picked a set that fit, hugged the clothes, and went to a corner to change. Just as Lan Ran finished changing, Jin Zhaoye came out of the inner restroom. The mud stains on her body were washed off, revealing a clean face. She had changed all her clothes and shoes—a dark gray quick-dry shirt with black softshell pants, hiking boots on her feet, and her hair was tied up, showing her slender neck and thin collarbones. “You watch Xiaobao. I'll call Xie Li in to change.” With that, Jin Zhaoye walked toward the stairwell. The fire in the can was burning brightly, and the stairwell was filled with the smell of burning wood and paint—pungent and irritating, but also carrying a rare sense of domesticity that made one nostalgic. Jin Zhaoye walked up to Xie Li and said softly, “Go wash and change clothes. I'll watch the fire.” Xie Li smelled the fragrance emanating from her, and afraid that her own smell would bother her, she quickly stood up and hurried into the office. In the restroom, there was a bathtub and water that Jin Zhaoye had used, along with some toiletries by the tub. Xie Li stripped off her clothes, took a good bath, then cleaned up everything inside, put on clean clothes, and pushed the door open. The hot water was ready. Jin Zhaoye and Lan Ran were feeding medicine to Xiaobao. The little girl was burning with fever and couldn't even open her eyes when woken. They mixed medicine powder with water and poured it in; the bitterness made her whole face scrunch up, and she whimpered like a kitten before falling back into a deep sleep. Lan Ran used a towel dipped in warm water to wipe her face, hands, and feet, then wrapped her in a thin blanket. With the remaining hot water, they soaked three bowls of instant noodles found in the office. The three sat around the fire bucket, slurping noodles, occasionally drinking some hot soup. After being drenched in rain all night, eating something hot now warmed them from the inside out. Xie Li felt she had finally come back to life a little. After eating and drinking their fill, Lan Ran stood up, picked up Xiaobao, and said to the two, “You two stay here. I'll take Xiaobao to the next office.” “Can you manage alone?” Xie Li looked up at her, a bit worried. “What's the problem? It's just one wall away.” Lan Ran said meaningfully, “This place isn't really suitable for a child. Alright, I'm off.” She carried Xiaobao out, leaving only Xie Li and Jin Zhaoye in the office. Xie Li glanced at her. Jin Zhaoye was leaning against the armrest of the sofa, looking tired, her eyelids half-closed, seeming sleepy. “Rinse your mouth and go to sleep?” Xie Li took out a bottle of mouthwash from her Space and handed it over. Jin Zhaoye took it, rinsed her mouth, spat the water into the trash can, stood up, and said, “There's a bed in the inner room. Go in and rest.” Xie Li didn't refuse; she stood up and followed. The inner room had a 1.5-meter bed. The bedside table had some dust, and the sheets were blue-and-white striped, looking relatively clean—at least not moldy. But Xie Li was still uneasy. She quickly walked to the bed, took out a disposable four-piece bedding set from her Space, and said, “Let's spread this. Who knows who slept on this bed.” Jin Zhaoye helped her put on the fitted sheet, duvet cover, and pillowcases. Xie Li said, “You sleep here. I'll sleep on the sofa outside. If Lan Ran needs me, I can hear better from out there.” Jin Zhaoye didn't insist. She lifted a corner of the duvet and sat against the headboard. Xie Li looked down at her, hesitated, and then called out again, “Jin Zhaoye.” “Hmm?” “She abandoned you again. During the Earthquake, she didn't carry you. During the rainstorm, she didn't care about you. What difference does it make whether she's by your side or not?” Jin Zhaoye didn't refute; she softly hummed in agreement. Xie Li bent down, leaning closer. At this distance, she could smell the faint mint scent on her breath. “Even so, do you still like her that much?” Jin Zhaoye closed her eyes, avoiding her gaze, as if evading the question. Xie Li gathered her courage and whispered in her ear, “Otherwise, you could like me.” She paused, then added, “Actually, I'm not worse than her. And I'll get stronger and stronger. Every time we're in danger, I'll be the first to stand by your side. From now on, I'll always stand by your side and never abandon you.” Jin Zhaoye opened her eyes and stared at her for a few seconds. Time seemed to stretch endlessly. Xie Li felt like a prisoner on the guillotine, with the blade hanging above her head. The person in front of her was both the executioner and the monarch; Xie Li's life or death depended entirely on her whim. Jin Zhaoye didn't answer directly, nor did she release this loyal prisoner. She raised her hand, wrapped it around the back of Xie Li's neck, pulled her down a little, parted her lips, and kissed her.