bookrandom Chapter 7 Jiang Che, the One Being Watched
Chapter 7 Jiang Che, the One Being Watched
Jiang Che walked over and squatted down.
"Su Qingyuan".
She opened her eyes.
Bloodshot eyes and slightly dilated pupils are symptoms of low blood sugar.
"Here you go." Jiang Che opened the inner bag, took out a piece of compressed food and two disinfectant tablets, and placed them on her lap.
The actions were direct, without any preamble or unnecessary words.
Su Qingyuan looked down at the things for a few seconds. Then she looked up and stared into his eyes. "Where did they come from?"
"It's saved," Jiang Che said.
"You were so hungry yesterday that you couldn't walk."
That was yesterday.
The two stared at each other for three seconds.
Su Qingyuan looked away first.
It's not because of admitting defeat, it's the body's instinctive reaction when it sees food.
Her salivary glands were drooling uncontrollably, and she had to bite her lip to avoid losing control.
She reached out, picked up the compressed food, and wanted to give it to an old man next to her.
"This is for you!" Jiang Che interrupted her.
Su Qingyuan stopped speaking as soon as she spoke, "Don't think that just because you gave me this, I owe you more."
"I didn't think so," Jiang Che said. "It's just too much. We can't finish it."
Su Qingyuan didn't say anything more. She broke the compressed food in half, stuffed one half directly into her mouth, and rewrapped the other half in the packaging paper and put it in her pocket.
She let out a groan as she bit down.
That was the body's most honest reaction when hunger was relieved, something she probably didn't even realize herself.
Jiang Che heard this, and his lower abdomen tightened slightly.
It's not that he's despicable.
It was a sound that sounded too much like something private, something that shouldn't be heard.
He quickly averted his gaze from her mouth, looking at the distant ruins, his ears burning.
Su Qingyuan finished chewing the food in her mouth and pursed her lips.
Then she lowered her head and carefully put away the disinfectant tablets.
She didn't look at Jiang Che at all during the whole process, but Jiang Che noticed that the tips of both her ears were red, so red that they looked like they were about to bleed.
"You... turn around," she said.
"Is it going to be transferred again?" Jiang Che asked subconsciously.
"Turn around."
He turned around.
I heard the sound of a kettle lid being unscrewed behind me, followed by the sound of drinking water—more hurriedly than yesterday, gulping down several mouthfuls.
Then came the sound of swallowing.
Then came a very soft, satisfied sigh.
Then came another swallowing sound—this time it wasn't water, it was saliva.
She was savoring the taste of the food.
Jiang Che stared at the earthen slope in front of him, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.
"Okay," Su Qingyuan said.
He turned back.
Her lips were wet; the moisture and crumbs of compressed food made them look less dry and pale than usual, and instead gave them a touch of color.
She quickly wiped her mouth with her sleeve, the movement rough, as if she were destroying evidence of a crime.
"Thanks," she said. Her voice was a little steadyer than before, but her breathing was still off, as if she had just run 800 meters.
[Su Qingyuan's favorability towards the host increases by 4 x 2. Current favorability value: 32.]
Jiang Che didn't reply.
He tore his gaze away from her lips and forced it onto her eyes.
The eyes are safe. The eyes won't lead people to think anything inappropriate.
But her eyes aren't safe either.
Those deep, dark eyes, like the moonless night sky, became a little moist after receiving the food.
It wasn't crying, but rather a thin glint of tears welling up in the eyes after something soft had been touched.
Jiang Che shifted his gaze to her shoulder.
"Where are you looking?" Su Qingyuan frowned.
"Shoulder," Jiang Che said honestly.
"..."
Su Qingyuan didn't ask any more questions.
She lowered her head and tightened the kettle lid, her movements much slower than usual, as if she were using this action to buy time for the heat on her face to subside.
The two sat in silence.
A distance of -1 centimeter between each other.
No one came any closer, but no one left either.
A rough, hoarse voice suddenly rang out from nearby: "Hey, where did that kid get his food?"
Jiang Che stood up instantly.
He didn't turn around.
But out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the source of the sound—below the roadbed, two burly men were crouching behind the wreckage of a scrapped truck.
The speaker was about thirty years old, with a dark complexion and a hideous scar on his chin that ran from his ear to the corner of his mouth, like a centipede lying there.
The other one was younger, bald, with tattoos on his neck and muscular forearms.
Scarface stopped at his bulging waist.
"Something's not right." The scarred man lowered his voice, but Jiang Che across from him still caught a few words: "Something... I didn't see it yesterday..."
The other burly man didn't speak, but nodded.
Their eyes met briefly in mid-air, then simultaneously looked away, pretending nothing had happened.
Jiang Che's hand unconsciously reached for the steel bars beside him.
Don't look back.
She didn't look at the two burly men, but instead stared at her water bottle, her lips barely moving. "Liu Hu. Wang Man. Zhao Lie's porter. No special abilities, but he's killed three people."
"Who is it?" Jiang Che asked in a very low voice.
"The disobedient ones. The ones who fell behind. And one more person, because he glanced at the half-sack of rice that Liu Hu had hidden."
Jiang Che's breath hitched.
"They're watching you," Su Qingyuan said calmly, as if she were commenting on the weather. "They saw you take your things out."
"What should we do then?"
"Not really."
Su Qingyuan finally raised her eyes and glanced at him.
There was no fear, not even wariness, in that glance. "They're waiting. Waiting for you not to come with me."
Jiang Che understood.
These two people aren't afraid of him.
What I fear is Su Qingyuan.
A C-level ability user and a manipulator of spirit threads, even if injured, killing two strong men without abilities would only take a few seconds.
But as long as Jiang Che is alone, and as long as Su Qingyuan is not by his side, they will make their move.
It wasn't murder.
It's robbery.
Of course, if the resistance is fierce, it doesn't matter if you kill them.
In the end times, a person dying is like a candle being blown out by the wind; no reason is needed.
Jiang Che's hands, gripping the steel bars, were sweating.
He turned to look at Su Qingyuan.
Her profile was almost transparently white in the morning light, her jawline was taut, and the veins below her collarbone were faintly visible.
Her hands were on her knees, and she wasn't looking at him. But suddenly she reached out and patted the back of his hand.
"It hurts." Jiang Che pulled his hand away.
"It's good that you know pain," Su Qingyuan said, her voice returning to normal volume, loud enough for people within a few meters to hear. "You can only feel pain when you're alive. You can't even feel pain when you're dead."
As she said this, her gaze swept in the direction of the two burly men.
It was just a glance, but Liu Hu's neck visibly shrank, and Wang Man turned his head away completely.
Then Su Qingyuan stood up, fastened the water bottle back onto her belt, and patted the dust off her pants.
"Let's go. Let's check how the landslide clearing is going."
Jiang Che used the steel bars to support himself as he stood up. His right knee still hurt, but after eating, he felt a little stronger.
He followed behind Su Qingyuan, an arm's length away, just like before.
But this time, his left hand did not hang down at his side—but rather, tentatively and elusively, rested on Su Qingyuan's waist.
I didn't encounter it.
But the distance is less than two centimeters.
Su Qingyuan's body stiffened for a moment.
Her shoulders tensed up, and the hairs on the back of her neck probably stood on end.
But she didn't dodge, didn't say "Don't touch me," and didn't speed away.
She simply maintained her original pace, walking step by step, like someone pretending to know nothing.
Jiang Che's hand remained suspended in mid-air.
His palms were sweating. He didn't know why he did it. Perhaps it was because the stares of those two burly men made him realize that in this apocalyptic world, he could die at any moment.
If you're going to die tomorrow, what's the point of being reserved today?