Rebirth: Exclusive Love in the End of the World-Chapter 72 - Kerrys Acquaintance

Yan Xiao couldn’t help but visualize along with her words and made a gagging gesture, scampering away dejectedly.

Han Jiaojiao watched his retreating figure and smiled, turning to dig out some packaged marinated eggs and sausages from the box and throwing them into the pot after peeling. There truly were no fresh eggs, but marinated ones were still a good addition.

Someone else came up behind her. Turning around, Han Jiaojiao saw it was Bai Kairui. She smiled and said, “The noodles are ready, but they’re still very hot. We can eat in a bit.”

Bai Kairui looked somewhat strange, different from his usual careless, sunny and cheerful self. He seemed a bit uneasy, and his complexion wasn’t good either.

“Jiaojiao…”

Han Jiaojiao felt there was something odd about him and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Bai Kairui shook his head, then ran his hands through his bright blond hair before taking a deep breath and mustering the courage to say to Han Jiaojiao, “…could you give me some… food, uh… and water…”

“Sure,” Han Jiaojiao was even more puzzled. “It’s all in the car, just grab it yourself. Don’t you like eating instant noodles?”

“It’s not that.” Bai Kairui hung his head, looking somewhat ashamed, “I ran into some old friends, they’re… not doing so well, they’ve run out of food.”

Seeing Han Jiaojiao’s confused expression, he added, “They came here on a road trip with me.”

Han Jiaojiao nodded, showing understanding, “If they’re your friends, then it’s only right for you to help them out with some food. It’s no big deal, you don’t have to be like this.”

Bai Kairui merely smiled sheepishly twice and turned to take some instant noodles and a large jug of purified water from the car.

Han Jiaojiao couldn’t help but say, “Isn’t that too little?” Such a small amount, if it were three or five people, would be gone in a day. Han Jiaojiao wondered if it was because Bai Kairui was embarrassed. She walked closer, whispered to him, “How about I have my brother take some rice and flour from the space? They last longer and we have quite a few cans too… Don’t be a stranger, we have plenty of food, helping out your friends is no problem for us.”

After the apocalyptic world, although food had become extremely precious, Bai Kairui had joined them on several missions and they had developed a life-or-death camaraderie. Han Jiaojiao felt that he really didn’t need to be so polite over such a small matter.

However, after hearing Han Jiaojiao’s words, Bai Kairui’s complexion turned even uglier, and he managed a weak smile, saying, “…no need, actually, they can’t really be considered friends.” He paused, then added in a very low voice, “And this is indeed enough, when they reach the base, they can work for their food.”

After he finished speaking, he picked up those items and left.

Han Jiaojiao stood still watching him until he’d walked a distance, when indeed, several foreigners came up to take the items, two men and a woman. They seemed to have something to say to Bai Kairui and pushed him into a tent.

Han Jiaojiao didn’t concern herself with him any longer and brought her noodles back to her own tent—

“Brother, it’s time to eat noodles.”

Han Yi was sitting on the warming mat, lost in thought. Seeing Han Jiaojiao come in, his lips curled into a smile as he said softly, “How about not eating just yet? Wait until those people are asleep, and I’ll get you something else to eat.”

“No need, these are pretty good. There are many people who want to eat but don’t get to…” Han Jiaojiao sat down next to him, took a bite for herself, then picked up some noodles with her chopsticks to feed to Han Yi, “Does it taste good? I added marinated eggs and ham sausage in it.”

Instant noodles, a food that the pre-apocalyptic world Han Yi wouldn’t even touch, but since his sister was feeding him…

“Mmm, it’s delicious.”

Han Jiaojiao showed him a sweet smile.

The two of them ate the large bowl of noodles together, taking turns with each bite.

Han Jiaojiao said with a beaming smile, “I’ll go wash the bowls.” Then she happily crawled out of the tent.

When she came out, she saw Yan Xiao, Xiao Jian, and Lu Changyuan surrounding the fire eating noodles. Yan Xiao saw Han Jiaojiao and asked her, “Did you see Kerry?”

Han Jiaojiao was about to answer when Bai Kairui came back fuming with anger. Bai Kairui, in many matters, was very nonchalant, but he was particular about certain details. For example, he returned with an angry expression now. When he got close, he probably felt that his face didn’t look good, so he stood there taking several deep breaths to suppress his anger before he forced out a very ugly smile and slowly sat down near everyone, started to eat his bowl of noodles without a word.

His habit of not venting his anger indiscriminately made even Yan Xiao feel bad for him, so she cautiously moved closer and asked, “Hey, what’s wrong with you? Your smile looks worse than crying.”

“It’s nothing, I’m fine,” Bai Kairui muttered as he continued eating his noodles.

Anyone with eyes could see he was troubled. However, since he didn’t want to talk about it, no one insisted.

Just as everyone thought Bai Kairui would continue to stay silent, he seemed unable to hold it in any longer, or perhaps he just couldn’t stand it anymore. Suddenly putting down his bowl and chopsticks, he said, “They wanted to join us, but I refused them!”

Everyone looked up at him, puzzled.

Bai Kairui furrowed his brow, his face clouded with gloom, “They are road trip enthusiasts like me. We had made plans to come here together. We never expected to encounter Alien Species… It all happened so suddenly, one of our group was bitten to death by an Alien Species, and when we were fleeing, Tom and I were left behind. I’m not clear on what exactly happened, but when we got back to the hotel, Tom started to act abnormally, I happened to start having a fever, then the others learned about the virus and left Tom and me behind… They took my car and luggage.”

Han Jiaojiao was shocked, thinking what kind of friends are these? Weren’t these more like enemies?

Bai Kairui went on to say, “Not long after they left, Tom turned into an Alien Species and was killed by the nearby armed police, and I… I, too, was reported by the hotel owner… I was taken half-conscious to a quarantine area, and after recovering, I took the opportunity to escape and that’s how I met you all…”

Having said all this, Bai Kairui seemed to feel much better and started to eat his noodles with big bites again.

Everyone remained quiet, with Xiao Jian giving him a strong pat on the shoulder from the side.

In the corner of her eye, Han Jiaojiao could vaguely see tears in Bai Kairui’s eyes… or perhaps, it was just the mist from the noodles’ soup…