Surviving the apocalypse with a wife and a system! [GL]

Bai Li did not stop to listen. She simply walked past them with the others, her expression light but alert. Yan Cijin followed her and felt the pressure of leaving the apartment behind becoming more real with every step.

A bit of wind brushed through the entrance when they reached the outside path. The air carried the dry smell of dust and concrete. It was not pleasant, but it was normal enough that people would still keep pretending nothing major had changed. Bai Li looked at the path leading to her place and then at the bags in Yan Cijin’s hands. She offered to take one more, but Yan Cijin shook her head and said she could handle it. Bai Li did not insist. They started walking together, and the little girl kept looking from one side to the other as though she was being taken to somewhere very important. In her mind, this probably was an important trip. She was moving to Auntie’s house, after all. That sounded huge enough to make her chest puff out with pride.

Yan Cijin noticed that the child was getting a little sleepy after all the excitement, so she adjusted the backpack strap and made sure LiLi was still comfortable. Bai Li saw that too and slowed her pace a little without saying anything. It was one of those quiet, natural adjustments that did not need to be discussed. The road ahead was not long, but every little detail mattered when carrying a child and several bags at once. Bai Li thought that after they settled in, they really should give the child a proper room, even if only temporarily. A child needed some kind of comfort to keep her stable. The world was already too rough. There was no need to add more stress to her small shoulders.

Halfway there, Yan Cijin finally let out a breath she had been holding for a while. The quiet outside made her more aware of Bai Li’s presence beside her. It was odd how just walking together like this could feel so different from standing in a room and talking. Maybe it was because now they were literally moving forward together. The world around them was still normal enough to look ordinary, but their direction had already changed. Yan Cijin glanced at Bai Li from the corner of her eye and saw that she was watching the child and the road ahead at the same time. That focused, steady profile made Yan Cijin’s own pace slow for half a second. She quickly corrected herself and looked ahead again.

Bai Li noticed that tiny pause anyway, though she did not say anything. She only thought Yan Cijin was probably tired. The move was happening faster than expected, and there were still so many details to handle. Bai Li decided that once they reached the house, she would let the others rest first before starting the cleaning properly. There was no need to rush every single thing all at once. The important part was that they got there safely. The rest could be organized step by step. She had enough supplies and enough space to make it work, and that was already much better than what most people had now.

When they got closer to Bai Li’s building, the little girl stirred a little in her arms and looked up with heavy eyes. Bai Li lowered her voice and asked if she was sleepy. LiLi answered by rubbing her face against the dinosaur plush and mumbling that she wanted to see the new house first. Bai Li laughed quietly and said they were almost there. Yan Cijin looked at her daughter and felt that soft, familiar ache in her chest again, the one that always came when she saw LiLi trying so hard to stay awake for something she was excited about. She reached out and brushed the child’s hair back from her forehead, then whispered that they could sleep once they got inside. The little girl nodded without opening her eyes too much.

By the time they reached the door, Bai Li was already thinking about what needed to be done first. Water, bedding, a place to put the bags, a safe corner for the child’s toys, and a quick check of the room layout. She also needed to move a few things out of the room she had chosen so Yan Cijin would not feel cramped. Yan Cijin did not know all of that yet, but she could already tell Bai Li had a clear plan from the way she moved. That helped her heart settle a little. It was easier to trust someone who always had the next step ready.

The little girl, completely unaware of the adults’ strange internal chaos, hugged her dinosaur plush and asked whether Auntie’s house had a big window. Bai Li answered yes, it did. Then the child asked whether they could eat snacks there, and Bai Li said of course they could. Yan Laojin smiled and started guiding the child toward the door. The whole room had a moving-out feeling now, not sad exactly, but full of expectation. Bai Li took a deep breath, adjusted the bag on her shoulder, and glanced at Yan Cijin one more time. "Let’s go," she said.

Yan Cijin’s ears turned even redder when she heard the simple, calm way Bai Li said it. In the pocket of her denim shorts were the finger cots she had taken from the small supermarket last time.

Bai Li and Yan Cijin went out together. Bai Li opened the door in front, while Yan Cijin followed behind, watching Bai Li’s back as she opened the door. The corridor outside was still quiet, but the air carried that heavy, stale feeling that always came after a long day of moving supplies around. Bai Li had one hand on the door and the other holding a pile of things she had just taken out, while Yan Cijin stepped in carefully behind her, her eyes still fixed on Bai Li for a second longer than necessary.

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TO BE CONTINUED.

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