Chapter 119: A Woman’s Heart
The entire group began to run their rounds, the initial group of 4 turned into 5. Zhang Xiao Qiang did not deny Shangguan Qiao Yun from joining and didn’t say anything about her running at the back. He continued to run in front, with Yang Ke’er slightly behind. Yuan Yi followed them tightly, while both Su Qian and Shangguan Qiao Yun were the last.
After 4 rounds, Zhang Xiao Qiang felt his body warming up, and his forehead perspiring. Yang Ke’er continued onwards, her load thrice of his. Yuan Yi prepared to follow after her, and it was of her own volition for the first time.
Zhang Xiao Qiang stopped her, as she came up to him with a confused look. He had seen her running posture to be slightly unnatural, although it wasn’t her first-time last night, it wasn’t too far off. Zhang Xiao Qiang would usually treat his own people better than others, and of course wanted her to take a slight break.
“There’s no need for you to continue running today, practice some combat with me, teach me some moves too.” Zhang Xiao Qiang badly wanted to pick up some close-quarter combat skills. Only today, he had finally managed to find an excuse. Yuan Yi did not suspect anything and just nodded her agreement. After that, she began to guide him in the different movements.
Chinese martial arts focused on the fundamentals. Yuan Yi made sure to go through the basic motions with him, but since he had no time to even go through motions like the ‘Horse Stance’, and his body was above average, they decided to spar.
Su Qian was still running, and Shangguan Qiao Yun was running beside her. Su Qian did not like her particular, and she knew that Shangguan Qiao Yun had been rejected by Zhang Xiao Qiang. She despised those who made use of their own bodies to make a living, even though she had been a call-girl before, however, she didn’t force herself into that life, instead, climbing up from the bottom again. In her heart, it was for a righteous reason, and she would never accept that she was worse off than anyone.
Even so, she knew how to get into character in front of Chen Yi and Zhang Xiao Qiang. At the beginning, she had been of the same status as Yuan Yi, but she looked down on her inwardly. She had always felt that Zhang Xiao Qiang had allowed Yuan Yi to stay because she, Su Qian, had asked him to. Until Yuan Yi had surpassed her, she began to envy her, someone who she despised had actually gotten ahead of her. Therefore, she took the initiative to make the request to kill some zombies, but by the time she started, Yuan Yi had gone far ahead.
Su Qian was prideful, even if she had been a call-girl once, she had the pride in her bones. She looked down on those colleagues that spent their days lifelessly. Although she had been part of the most frowned-upon profession, her spirit was still held high. She had gritted her teeth and bear with the ridicule from her neighbors, only shedding tears inwardly, believing that she would succeed. It was all because of her own pride and confidence. Those who were due to make it big would never hold it against the chatterings of these lowly sparrows. How could they hope to soar like the eagle?
From the time she worked as a lowly worker all the way to a manager, she had believed that she had earned it all through her hard work and wits. She had that belief in her noble spirit, and it was destined to be a lonely path, hence she didn’t need friends, she just wanted to live well, and to make her parents proud.
Those who had that ego usually did not take others into account, it was the same for Su Qian. She disliked Yuan Yi sitting on equal terms with Zhang Xiao Qiang, and it made her uncomfortable. She hated and envied her, and when Yuan Yi had spent last night in Zhang Xiao Qiang’s room, her hatred and jealousy had grown. She knew both Yuan Yi and herself were like vines around Zhang Xiao Qiang, and whoever managed to wrap tighter around him would get more benefits. It was not like she had not entertained the thought of climbing into his bed herself, but there was no chance to in the past, and when Zhang Xiao Qiang had sent even the great beauty Shangguan Qiao Yun back, she had lost confidence in herself. However, Yuan Yi had done it!
She was afraid of being abandoned by Zhang Xiao Qiang and knew that he followed an interest-based doctrine. He would not abandon those of use to him. How can an abandoned woman survive in this cruel world? Especially since she had witnessed the cannibalism case, she been tormented by nightmares ever since.
In her nightmares, she would be the one lying naked on that simple wooden bed, her limbs had all been hacked off, and fresh blood continued to flow across the bed. As the blood dripped onto the floor, the sounds of the droplets were constant. Her wounds hurt so much that she wanted to scream, but whenever she tried to, she would realize her tongue was chopped off. Her face would then contort in fear, but the men surrounding her just stood quietly by the bedside. She even recognized some of them. There was the taxi driver who knocked her father down, there was the old man who bought her virginity, there was the insane Dr. Yu who had eaten flesh, and finally, Chen Yi. Each of them was holding a limb of hers and digging into them, their mouths making satiated groans.
It was not just once. Sometimes, Su Qian wished that she didn’t have to fall asleep. When she saw that Zhang Xiao Qiang had allowed Yuan Yi to stop, she could feel her sore legs. Her heart felt extremely sour, so much that she wanted to scream out loud. However, she dared not. She shot Yuan Yi a hateful gaze again, as she gritted her teeth to continue her rounds.
“So tiring, I really want to rest. When was the last time I was this tired?” Shangguan Qiao Yun continued to run as she thought. Zhang Xiao Qiang’s rejection had caused her to despair, her entire world turning dark without any light or hope. She had almost grabbed the chance of freedom, who would be willing to be a dog if given a chance to be human?
However, when she had felt extremely confident in her abilities to seduce him, he had rejected her. He had actually turned down her amazing body. She felt full of hurt, as she hated to go back to Brother Long and to live that sort of life. She wanted to die so badly, and when she pulled out Zhang Xiao Qiang’s knife, she had not hesitated to try and drive it into her heart. She had even felt a sense of relief.
She hadn’t felt like that for a long time. The previous time was when she became top in school. She had run excitedly to tell her mother then, and seeing her mother’s proud smile, she had felt great.
When she made the decision to sell herself to the highest bidder in life, she had changed then. For the sake of reaching her goals, she had given up on everything else, her dreams, her life, her happiness. There was no more of the emotions that came with a first love. She could remember the times she fell while walking with a dictionary on her head, the first time she had doused herself in cold winter water. Yet she had not screamed then, for fear of worrying her mother. She just bit the bullet and braved through it all.
In the end, she succeeded, she had married that lecherous playboy, and in order to secure his heart, she spent every day thinking of ways to deal with her husband’s past flings. When she came in front of her mother, the look of disappointment caused her to be unable to relax. Her mother had hoped for her to amount to something more, not too big, but at the very least, something that she could be proud of. However, since her daughter had chosen this path, she could not say anything, and just kept her words in her heart. All these only served to carve deeper scars in Shangguan Qiao Yun’s heart. She was exhausted, extremely so. When she had the chance to end her life, she had felt so much relief for the first time, and was prepared to drop everything and just die.
He had grabbed her right hand that held the knife then until he had retrieved it. He had foiled her plans. So what? She had already given up, it was just death.
Then, he gave her the chance, that chance that everyone sought to have. She had to grab hold of it and had to make sure that she had better well be deserving of it. She mustered her strength and continued to run.
As for Zhang Xiao Qiang, he was being tormented badly. He laid on the ground, his body sore, looking up at the sky and clouds, as his breathing came in ragged pants. Yuan Yi had truly not gone easy on him, short of breaking his bones, she had allowed him to truly experience the profoundness of Chinese martial arts. He had always felt that he was strong, and could handle an S2, but he was faring so badly against the weaker Yuan Yi.
He was not one to give up either. In the past, maybe, but ever since the apocalypse began, he had thoroughly transformed. He shrugged off the pain, regulated his breathing, and stood up once more to face Yuan Yi. She didn’t move, until the very last moment, sweeping him off his feet. Looking at him and his sorry state, she couldn’t help but chuckle. It was not the type that was mocking, it was a natural and happy laugh, that she was enjoying herself, but of course, this was only for him.
With his body full of pain, he brought Yang Ke’er and Yuan Yi towards the dining area. As for Su Qian? She was still lacking. Over the meal, Brother Long began to ask in earnest about the granary and the preparations required.