"You can’t just leave this princess behind!" The little girl in the cupcake dress ran in front of Zhu Yong and the others, spreading her arms and shouting furiously.
"This princess commands you now! Take this princess with you!"
The group exchanged glances.
Finally, Zhu Yong cleared his throat and offered Annelina’s father a small smile. "Um, Annelina’s dad... if a child is sick, it’s best to get them treated early."
Song Shijun couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter.
Annelina’s parents’ faces flushed red, and they quickly reached out to pull back their incessantly noisy daughter.
Paying them no mind, Xie Ning took two chocolate bars from her bag and handed them to the two children, patting their heads. "Have a little something to tide you over. When we get home later, I’ll have Grandma make you some century egg and pork congee."
"Thank you, Big Sister," Zhu Nanxing and Su Xiyue said obediently, accepting the chocolate bars with happy faces.
It was like poking a hornet’s nest. The "Princess" Annelina next to them started wailing relentlessly. "WAAAH! Chocolate bars! They actually have chocolate bars!"
"Annelina, stop screaming!" the girl’s mother snapped, pushing her irritably.
They had originally wanted to get on Zhu Yong’s good side, thinking they could move into the garage with him.
But now, with their daughter’s tantrum, their heads were splitting, and they couldn’t even get a word in with Zhu Yong.
"Didn’t you say I was the princess?" the little girl sobbed, heartbroken. She pointed at Zhu Nanxing and Su Xiyue, who had shrunk back and turned around to secretly eat their treats. "Why do they get to eat chocolate bars, but the princess doesn’t?"
Song Youxuan swiftly packed all their personal clothes into a large travel bag, then hurried over to help the clumsy Zhu Yong with his things.
In reality, they didn’t have much stuff to begin with. A quick pack-up would only take a few minutes.
But hearing Annelina acting up again, they just wanted to leave faster—as fast as possible!
"Annelina, shut your mouth!" The girl’s mother, her face burning with shame, shoved the little girl forcefully. "You’re not allowed to cry! Stop crying!"
But Annelina only howled even louder.
Zhu Yong gave the girl’s parents a dry laugh. "Annelina’s mom and dad, well, we’ll be going now. You two carry on. Yes, carry on."
With that, the group grabbed their things and scrambled out of the tent.
"Hey, hey, Master Zhu!" Annelina’s mother grew frantic, rushing out of the tent and shouting, "Master Zhu! Yu Yue’s mother! You can’t do this! Isn’t this going too far?"
"We’ve all spent ten days together, after all! How can you just wash your hands of us and leave like this?"
"Master Zhu! Zhu..."
The louder Annelina’s mother shouted, the faster Zhu Yong pulled his son along, his pace becoming brisk and powerful.
Song Youxuan, both amused and exasperated, hurried to catch up. She said to Xie Ning and Song Shijun beside her, "Over the past ten days, that family of three has nearly driven Master Zhu crazy with their noise. Every time he comes back from the night shift, he can’t get a wink of proper sleep. That little girl, Annelina, cries way too much. At the drop of a hat, she’ll start wailing loud enough to shake the heavens, blaming everyone and everything."
Song Youxuan shook her head and sighed. "That girl is even a few months older than Yueyue. To be raised like that... it’s vexing just to watch."
"Even her name sounds ridiculous. A perfectly fine person from Country C being called Annelina... isn’t that a mouthful?" Song Shijun was speechless.
Over there, seeing that her calls only made Zhu Yong’s group walk away faster, Annelina’s mother stomped her foot in frustration and turned to complain to her husband. "Couldn’t you have said a few nice, sweet words just now?"
"Before, we could at least shamelessly beg a sip of water from Zhu Yong and the others. Now that they’re gone, what are we going to do?"
Annelina ran out of the tent, crying. "Where are they going? Are they being taken back to a castle by the prince? I’m the real princess! It’s Su Xiyue and the others who have usurped my identity as a princess!"
Her daughter’s screams gave Annelina’s mother a splitting headache. She spun around and roared, "What princess? Are you done with your princess dreams yet? Our family of three can’t even afford to eat anymore! We might have to beg on the streets in the future! Princess, princess, princess—you are not a princess anymore!"
"WAAAAH!!" Annelina burst into loud sobs.
Xie Ning’s group was already far away, but they could still hear the girl’s piercing wails. They couldn’t help but shake their heads.
’With a personality like that in the apocalypse, I wonder if she’ll even survive two months.’
The group passed by many tents, sweeping past numerous malicious gazes.
These people, sitting or squatting at the entrances of their own tents, had dry, peeling lips and faces covered in black ash and grime. They stared lifelessly at the group, their eyes filled with an indescribable hatred.
Just then, a series of wails came from up ahead.
"You heartless bastards! You robbed us and beat my wife to death! Who did this?"
"Mom! Mom!!"
Song Youxuan stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening in shock.
The woman lying beside the tent—wasn’t that Song Kuang’s wife, Ma Guilan, who just moments ago had been so arrogant, threatening to go around and ruin her parents’ reputation?
How was Ma Guilan already dead?
Xie Ning glanced over, a cold sneer tugging at the corner of her mouth.
’Hmph, I knew it. Ma Guilan had the nerve to take those things, but not the fate to enjoy them.’
’How many pairs of eyes were staring at our tent back then?’
’Ma Guilan took the goods and left smugly. Who wouldn’t have noticed?’
’Over three hundred grams of sandwich cookies aren’t so easy to take. They were death cookies, cursed by vengeful spirits!’
Xie Ning lowered her gaze and continued forward.
The sound of Song Jiabao’s hoarse cries of "Mom! Mom!" reached her ears. But alas, the joys and sorrows of human beings are not always shared.
...
「Top Floor of the Government Affairs Building」
Zhang Zhennong’s thick knuckles tapped rhythmically against the glass tabletop.
"Is it because of Yu Tianfeng? The base is being constrained by that girl, Xie Ning?"
"What’s their relationship?"
"They shouldn’t have any particular relationship," his subordinate reported with a confused look. "However, Dr. Yu is on very good terms with Xie Ning’s family. It’s said he goes over to freeload meals every now and then."
"Then provide some chefs for Yu Tianfeng. Have them cook for him daily, rotating dishes according to his tastes."
"If it’s just a friendship built on freeloading meals, then have them sever this pointless connection as soon as possible."
"Yes, Young Master." The subordinate nodded with a smile. "This way, the Base Commander will no longer be constrained by this Xie Ning."
"But speaking of which, that girl has been far too arrogant lately."
"She just went to the shantytown area and caused another huge commotion."
Zhang Zhennong’s lips curled into a cold sneer. "Let her be arrogant for now."
"One day, I will make her pay for everything. She dared to humiliate Yun’er back then. I, Zhang Zhennong, will make her pay the price."
"But of course." A smile flickered across the subordinate’s face. "Young Master is now a Third Rank Enhanced Superpower user. Throughout the entire base, there is no one with a superpower greater than yours."
"A mere Xie Ning is nothing. Sooner or later, she will be in the palm of your hand."
Zhang Zhennong sneered coldly, his mind already conjuring a thousand ways to humiliate Xie Ning.
The best method would be to marry her and bring her home to torture slowly, making her wish for death but unable to find it.
By the time Gu Chen found out, it would already be a done deal.