Chapter 33: What Xiao Guang Did Not Know

Minju likes to hide things, and occasionally, she deliberately conceals Bae Joohyun’s small ball. Whether out of mischief or some other reason, the two seem to find strange excuses to bicker lately. However, the outcome is usually the same as it is now: Bae Joohyun gets irritated, and Minju squats on the floor, looking as pitiful and obedient as a little quail.

Xiao Guang has already seen through Minju’s little tricks. He first checks the spot where the glass shattered, then walks over to pat Bae Joohyun on the head, picks her up, and places her on the sofa. Finally, he drags Minju in front of him.

"What trouble did you cause this time?"

"Ah~!"

Minju doesn't make her usual cooing sound. Instead, she opens her mouth and lets out an "ah" at Xiao Guang. Xiao Guang looks at the small ball in her mouth, then thinks about the object that flew across the room, and he is a bit puzzled. He had specifically gone out to find two new balls; surely three balls between two people should be enough.

Minju realizes Xiao Guang doesn't understand her intent. She lets out two more "ah" sounds and simply pulls Xiao Guang over to Bae Joohyun. With a flick of her small hand, another ball appears in her palm, and she tentatively tries to stuff it into Bae Joohyun’s mouth.

"No."

That is Bae Joohyun’s response. Xiao Guang looks at Bae Joohyun’s expression, then at the ball in Minju’s palm, and feels he has realized something. He pinches Minju’s chin, turns her head toward him, and squeezes her cheeks until she opens her mouth. Xiao Guang retrieves the ball from Minju’s mouth and hands it to Bae Joohyun.

Bae Joohyun takes it this time, rubs it against herself, and pops it into her mouth.

Bae Joohyun is satisfied, but Minju is unhappy. She hugs Xiao Guang’s arm tightly and stares at Bae Joohyun, making soft cooing sounds. Xiao Guang is familiar with this gesture; in the past, whenever Bae Joohyun wouldn't let Minju play with the ball, Minju would do exactly this, and Xiao Guang would usually negotiate with Bae Joohyun to lend it to her.

But the problem now is that he brought back new balls. It’s not like there isn't anything to play with. Xiao Guang takes Minju’s small hand, picks up the ball from her palm, and stuffs it into her mouth.

"Pfft~~"

The wasteful Minju spits the ball out and tugs at Xiao Guang’s arm again, gesturing toward Bae Joohyun. This leaves Xiao Guang feeling helpless. You want me to pull teeth from a tiger’s mouth? Can't you see Bae Joohyun’s expression doesn't look too good? Not to mention asking to borrow a ball, weren't you just trying to pull a fast one by stuffing a new ball into her mouth?

That is the gist of the situation. Minju tried to fish in troubled waters, but was caught by Bae Joohyun. In her annoyance, Bae Joohyun threw the ball away, lost control of her strength, shattered the glass, and the ball disappeared somewhere. Honestly, they can even cause a conflict over this; it’s just a small ball, why be so particular?

Xiao Guang walks over to Bae Joohyun and, under her wary gaze, takes the ball out. Instead of handing it to Minju, he holds it in his palm to examine it. It’s rubber, elastic—a ball he has carried with him for a long time. Back when he was in the apartment, he would knead it while playing at night or throw it against the wall; it was just a boring little game. He would leave it wherever he felt like when he got tired, and sometimes he would even be poked awake by it in the middle of the night.

It doesn’t look special in any way. What on earth are you two fighting over?

If Bae Joohyun knew Xiao Guang’s thoughts and could speak fluently, she would surely tell him indignantly: "If you usually had a piece of candy in your mouth, would you be happy if someone suddenly shoved a piece of wood in there?"

Unfortunately, Xiao Guang doesn’t understand her perspective. He is just an ordinary person and lacks the sensory perception of Bae Joohyun and Kim Minju. No matter how he looks at it, it’s just an ordinary ball, and he will never grasp that, in their eyes, this is a fragrant piece of candy. Xiao Guang also doesn’t know that the reason Bae Joohyun didn’t make a fuss when she was tied to the chair was simply because she liked this little ball.

There is no solution to this situation. He pulls Minju over to sit by Bae Joohyun, then bends down to negotiate with her: "You play for a while, then let her play for a while. I have to farm; it’s very hard work, so don't cause trouble."

Watching the two girls sit quietly, Xiao Guang frets over the broken glass. There is a large expanse of glass wall between the living room and the backyard, about three or four doors wide. This broken piece is about a meter square; where is he supposed to get glass now?

He starts by cleaning up the broken glass scattered on the floor. This is a tedious job that requires patience; the two girls in the house often walk barefoot, and stepping on a shard would be a real problem. Many ordinary things become a genuine headache in the apocalypse. In the past, a quick search or a phone call would have someone come to fix the glass, but now, for Xiao Guang, it is nearly an unsolvable problem.

After patiently cleaning up all the visible shards, Xiao Guang drags a water hose over to wash away the microscopic fragments. As he rinses, he cannot help but think of another problem: what if the water pipe stops flowing one day? Does the water come from a tower, or a water company? Is this automatic, or does it require human operation? Xiao Guang suddenly realizes he knows nothing. Could the water be cut off because he hasn't paid the bill? He assumes it must be automatic and prays that it is so, ensuring there will still be water even if no one is in control. He looks back at Bae Joohyun and Minju sitting on the sofa; they are staring at each other, and he has no idea what they are doing.

The morning is spent in exhaustion. The sun beating down is a minor issue; Xiao Guang rubs his lower back. The muscles on both sides of his waist have definitely been awakened. Farming every day is truly a rigorous workout. Looking at the expanding scale of the garden in the backyard, Xiao Guang pummels his waist while fantasizing about the day the crops finally bear fruit.

Turning over on the living room floor, Xiao Guang spots the bag by the door. After a moment of thought, he gets up and rummages through it, soon finding two walkie-talkies. He had originally intended to look for a radio, but those are a bit outdated, and the small shop near the apartment didn't have any. These two walkie-talkies were packed together, and he had tossed them into the bag on a whim. Now that he has taken them out, he isn't sure what use they have.

He picks one up, fiddles with a few buttons on the small screen, and selects a channel. Xiao Guang discovers a "Monitor" button, clicks it, and hears a crackling, hissing sound.

What is this? Is it connected? Xiao Guang listens to the static, carefully brings it to his mouth, and says, "Hello, hello, who is this?"

No response, just more static. Xiao Guang thinks for a moment, his eyes lighting up, and he brings it to his mouth again: "Hello, hello, who is this? Over."

He hadn't said "over" the first time; it wasn't professional at all. Xiao Guang smiles, recalling how these are used in TV dramas. He puts the walkie-talkie on his shoulder, tilts his head, and speaks again: "Zero-nine, zero-nine, this is Black Eagle, this is Black Eagle, over."

Does he look cool? Oh, he would look even cooler in a suit. Xiao Guang chuckles to himself, failing to notice that Bae Joohyun and Kim Minju, sitting behind him on the sofa, are both looking at him. To be precise, they aren't looking at Xiao Guang, but at the radio in his hand.

Xiao Guang doesn't know that walkie-talkies can actually receive broadcasts; he assumes they are just for two people to talk to each other. After fiddling with it in his hands for a while, he puts it down in frustration, only to immediately see two pairs of feet in front of him. He looks up and sees Bae Joohyun and Kim Minju staring at his walkie-talkie. Xiao Guang simply hands it over: "Want to play with this?"

Two small hands reach out together. Xiao Guang looks, retrieves the other walkie-talkie, and turns it on. The device needs to be on the same frequency to talk, right? He tunes both to the third channel, gives one to each, and this time there is no need to fight.

Having worked too hard all morning, he is genuinely hungry by noon. Eating snacks won't cut it, so Xiao Guang gets up to go to the kitchen and make some noodles.

Bae Joohyun and Kim Minju each have a walkie-talkie in their hands. Minju just fiddles with hers, but Bae Joohyun stares at hers, motionless. Looking at her expression, she seems to be deep in thought. After a long while, she uses her finger to turn the monitor button, hears the hissing sound from the device, and immediately turns it off again. She even glances toward the kitchen.

Bae Joohyun seems terrified that Xiao Guang might hear this sound.