Chapter 59: He is the man I like, you are not allowed to say that about him

The desert temperature plummeted at night. During the day, you wished you could throw off all your clothes.

By nighttime, you wished you could wear every single piece of clothing you owned.

The newly repaired school bus had all its windows closed tightly, and they'd even used clothes and quilts to seal the window gaps.

In the deep night, temperatures dropping dozens of degrees below zero were enough to freeze a person to death.

Xu Lina didn't know why Xu Jiaojiao had called her out of the vehicle in the middle of the night.

But considering they shared the same surname, Xu Lina still wrapped herself in clothes and descended from the school bus.

Even though Xu Lina was bundled in thick clothing, it couldn't conceal her graceful curves. Several male survivors watched her receding figure with lingering, longing gazes.

In the convoy led by Captain Chu, there was only one iron rule: fairness.

Unless Xu Lina was willing, no one could force her to do anything she didn't want to do.

You have to understand - that was food.

A large bag of it.

If given to other survivors, they would do anything for it.

In the apocalypse, no resource was more precious than food.

This mysterious woman was even more attractive to men than the Zhou Sisters.

Her every movement and gesture was filled with a natural allure.

This kind of allure was called femininity by some people - some women were born with it.

While other women who tried to learn it would only end up as poor imitations.

Some people had been curious about what work Xu Lina did before the apocalypse.

Even the Zhou Sisters were curious about this femme fatale of the convoy.

But no one had managed to find out any information.

She was a mysterious woman who maintained neutral relationships within the convoy - she spoke to everyone with a smiling expression, offending no one, but not getting excessively close to anyone either.

Therefore, Xu Lina didn't live better in the convoy because of her looks - she did her fair share of the convoy's daily work.

Xu Lina tightened her clothes, her breath forming white puffs as she stamped her feet and arrived not far away.

"Jiaojiao, not sleeping in the middle of the night - what did you call me out for?"

Xu Jiaojiao's clothes made her look as bloated as a ball, and combined with her perpetually unwashed hair, she already emitted an unpleasant odor.

But this woman didn't mind because most people in the entire convoy were like this.

Even the Xu Lina before her wasn't much better off.

"Sister Lina, I need to talk to you about something!"

Xu Jiaojiao looked around, her eyes carrying a trace of wariness.

"Jiaojiao, don't keep me in suspense now, say what you need to say quickly! It's too cold!"

"Alright then, Sister Lina, don't you think it's too unfair in our convoy?"

Xu Lina's eyes grew alert: "What do you mean?"

"Sister Lina, our convoy has forty-three people total, with four Sequence Superpowers users - three men and only one woman. Sister Lina, don't you think this is unfair?"

Xu Lina didn't speak, just subtly shifted her feet backward, putting a bit more distance between herself and Xu Jiaojiao.

Xu Jiaojiao was clearly caught up in some kind of excitement: "Sister Lina, we clean the vehicles every day, we cook for the men, and we even let them... violate us!"

"Sister Lina, don't you think this is unfair?"

"Why do those men get to eat well without doing anything, while we clean vehicles and cook every day, yet only get to barely eat our fill?"

"Why? This isn't fair!"

Xu Jiaojiao said through gritted teeth angrily.

Xu Lina showed no emotional change in response to Xu Jiaojiao's arguments - instead, her eyes remained perfectly clear.

In fact, Xu Lina somewhat regretted coming out.

This woman has gone mad.

"What do you want to do?"

Xu Lina still asked out of curiosity.

"Sister Lina, I want to make this convoy fairer!"

"Sister Lina, I want everyone in this convoy to have food to eat, everyone to be well-fed and clothed, everyone to be able to speak up for themselves."

"Sister Lina, I've already investigated thoroughly - Sequence Superpowers aren't actually that amazing."

"You saw it today too - that Chen Ye... he's also a Sequence Superpowers user, but did you see any difference between him and us ordinary people when he was repairing the vehicle today!"

"Sister Lina, have you ever thought that maybe Sequence Superpowers are just a joke?"

"Sister Lina, I've already planned it out - that Chen Ye is the weakest among the Sequence Superpowers users, so we'll start with him."

"Isn't he the Mechanic Sequence? Once we control Chen Ye, we can change the convoy..."

"Then you'll be the deputy captain, I'll be the captain, and we'll establish a new apocalyptic utopia..."

"STOP!!!"

Xu Lina raised her hand to interrupt Xu Jiaojiao.

Xu Jiaojiao looked at Xu Lina's eyes - which were ten thousand times more beautiful than her own - with a stunned expression.

"Jiaojiao, if you think it's unfair, you can go collect supplies yourself next time!"

"The Zhou Sisters also collect supplies themselves - see how they're living quite well?"

Xu Jiaojiao's face stiffened: "I..."

She absolutely didn't dare face those Anomalies herself to collect supplies.

"Don't speak, let me finish. The vehicle space is quite limited anyway, and daily cleaning doesn't involve much work. If you're unwilling, I'll do your work for you from now on!"

"And... about those who willingly degrade themselves - that's their business, it has nothing to do with me, and I don't want to interfere with others' choices."

"One last thing to tell you - you say Chen Ye is the weakest? Hehe..."

"I disagree with you talking about the man I've set my sights on like that!"

"SLAP!"

Xu Lina delivered a fierce slap across Xu Jiaojiao's face, directly stunning Xu Jiaojiao. A red handprint quickly appeared on that round face.

Before Xu Jiaojiao could react, Xu Lina turned and walked away quickly with swaying steps.

Before the apocalypse...

Xu Lina was the golden phoenix nurtured deep in the mountains of Sichuan.

Only Xu Lina herself knew how much effort she had expended to escape those mountains.

That summer, Xu Lina had cried for an entire afternoon while clutching her university admission letter.

After entering university, due to her outstanding qualities, Xu Lina was rated as the campus goddess and became the dream lover of countless male university students.

Even after she left campus, legends about her still remained.

After graduation, through a chance opportunity, Xu Lina came into contact with a certain powerful figure.

From some point on, Xu Lina became that powerful figure's caged golden canary.

Because of this, Xu Lina obtained living conditions and resources far beyond her peers.

At the same time, leveraging this powerful figure's connections, Xu Lina gradually developed her own small business, planning to restart her life once she gained a firm footing.

However, the apocalypse began.

After experiencing the initial panic.

Xu Lina actually felt that her current life was quite acceptable.

The daily work was actually quite simple - just cleaning the vehicles, helping with cooking, or assisting with other tasks.

Trading this work for the daily necessities she needed.

In this convoy, everything emphasized fairness.

If you wanted to obtain something, you had to give something in return.

Fortunately, as long as she was unwilling, no one could force her to do anything she didn't want to do.

Xu Lina knew how rare this was in an apocalyptic environment like this.

Therefore, Xu Lina was quite satisfied.

The only thing that made Xu Lina unhappy was that she simply couldn't eat her fill.

Over time, Xu Lina also wanted to climb higher - otherwise she wouldn't have become a caged canary back then.

At first, Xu Lina had set her sights on Captain Chu Che.

During a few occasional, not-too-inappropriate contacts, Xu Lina discovered that Captain Chu's gaze was strange - when looking at a beautiful girl like her, his eyes showed absolutely no change.

Since she became aware of such things, she had never seen such a gaze again.

Xu Lina sadly realized that Captain Chu seemed to be... well... not quite functional... right!?

As for the big guy Iron Lion...

Better forget about that.

And that Old Zhangtou who kept showering her with attention...

Well, she hadn't reached the point of being that desperate yet.

It wasn't until Chen Ye appeared.

That Xu Lina's attention turned to this young man.

Young, handsome, a Sequence Superpowers user, and now even dual Sequences.

Xu Lina set her target on this man.

Xu Lina had even shamelessly told Xu Jiaojiao that Chen Ye was the man she had set her sights on...

And had even slapped Xu Jiaojiao over it.

Xu Lina very much hoped that today's events, and the words she had spoken today, would reach Chen Ye's ears.

Once Chen Ye took the initiative to approach.

Xu Lina would then act as if nothing had happened.

This was the technique of someone who had once been a caged canary.

"By the way, Xu Jiaojiao wants to deal with Chen Ye."

"Chen Ye probably doesn't know yet."

"Should I tell him?"

"This is also an opportunity to make contact with him!"

"However, it seems he hasn't returned yet!"

"Hmm, I'll wait a bit longer!"

"What tone should I use when speaking to him later?"

Thinking this, Xu Lina began to tidy her messy hair.

She even took out a precious wet wipe from her inner pocket that she had been reluctant to use, tore it open, and wiped her face that hadn't been washed for several days, not even sparing her neck.