The moment Yang Ke'er left the room, Su Qian immediately knelt by Zhang Xiao Qiang's feet and began massaging his legs like yesterday. He didn't mind her, as the weak had their ways of survival if he was going to be fake and treat her fairly, where was her food going to come from? The skies?
He sat down and soaked in the pleasurable feeling, as he cast a glance over at Yuan Yi, who was obviously not at ease.
"Do you know? I really dislike you!" He opened his mouth, looking at her. His face was wearing a smile, but his smile was cold, so cold that Yuan Yi felt her scalp go numb.
"Do you know why I stood up at that time? I didn't want to go out, I really wanted to return you! As to how Brother Long would have dealt with you, it wasn't really my concern!" He looked at Yuan Yi who was turning paler by the second and said slowly.
Yuan Yi's face was pale, in contrast with her lush, red lips, and she couldn't take the pressure anymore, kneeling down and kowtowed continuously.
Once, twice, three times she knocked her forehead at his shoes, and she raised her head to look at him, her eyes filled with tears.
"It's not that I care about you, I'm just worried that you'll dirty the floor!" He thought back to how the father had kowtowed profusely for his son.
Yuan Yi's eyes were filled with despair, and she was very afraid, her body trembling. She thought back to the time when the twins were fed to the zombies, and remembered in clear detail how they were torn apart bit by bit. She had almost gone crazy then, her fear of Brother Long reaching an intense level. Yet, she lacked the courage to kill herself, instead, letting her pride go, and stooped to doing even the most shameful of things, as she'd hate to be fed to the zombies even more than committing suicide.
"Will I really be fed to those monsters?" Yuan Yi felt even more desolate, her eyes were not numb at this point, but a truly soulless expression. She could not understand why it would come to this. She had even gone to service his feet with her mouth. This was the lowest of the low that she could think of, and not even the shameless of call girls would do something like that. She had gone to such lengths just so she would not be sent to the zombies, yet she was still going to meet such an end?
She knew that Zhang Xiao Qiang was being honest, when they had woken up, he was extremely cold to her. She could feel his loathing, and she didn't know what she did wrong. She had done her best, and she was angry at him, hating him for not warming up to her. She hated Su Qian, hating that bitch that didn't seem to possess any redeeming qualities. She wasn't as beautiful, or as young, or as educated, nor was her background exceptional.
She felt that Zhang Xiao Qiang was like a cat, while she was the mouse under his paws. The cat was toying with the mouse, enjoying the process of watching the mouse sink into despair.
Su Qian didn't lift her head, she just continued to massage Zhang Xiao Qiang's legs. Zhang Xiao Qiang looked at Yuan Yi coldly, noting that her expression would change from hurt to anger, to an anguished look of hopelessness. She lowered her head, awaiting his decision.
Zhang Xiao Qiang watched her expressions, and reminded himself from time to time: "Look, look, Zhang Xiao Qiang, this is the fate of a weak person. You want to be like her and beg for your life?"
Earlier, the scene of the young man being beaten severely had branded itself thoroughly in Zhang Xiao Qiang's mind. The apocalyptic world had its rules now, in the past, it had just been the 2 of them running for their lives. Although they had come across a few survivors, they hadn't truly experienced the cruelty of society now. Until they saw Su Qian and Yuan Yi, and even the pair of father and son who were subjected to such treatment.
He had known, the world now wasn't so complicated anymore. As long as you were capable, and had the ability, you would get by. If you didn't have the strength, and you were afraid of everything, then you're only fit for chicken feed and would be beaten with barely a breath of life left, just over an egg.
"Where are you from? What were you doing before?" Zhang Xiao Qiang looked at Yuan Yi waiting like a lamb for slaughter and felt some sense of conquest. He was suddenly interested in her background. Such a weakling, and yet so much self-serving pride. Her past must not have been simple.
Yuan Yi lifted her head slightly, and looked at him, this time, she did not hesitate and began narrating her life. Her bright and melodic voice, coupled with the meticulous massage of Su Qian, Zhang Xiao Qiang sat and engrossed in her storytelling.
Yuan Yi was from SH, and her family was well to do. Her father was a businessman as well! After she finished high school, she had immediately flown to England to study abroad, returning only in June 2012. After she returned, she had immediately gone on to help her dad with his business, in preparation to take over.
Then, J City had discovered a huge copper mine, and the mining company was procuring some mass orders to begin some work. As the vice-president of her father's company, she had personally come over to J City to discuss the deal. As the mine was far from the city, the party had reached J City two days before the virus broke out and left early the next morning.
When it was about 10, the virus had started, and she managed to run and hide with her manager inside some warehouse. Within the warehouse, there were plenty of celebratory goodies and apples, as well as wine and cooking oil. There was even mineral water in bottles.
After they relied on the apples for an entire week, upon seeing that there was no more help, the 40-year-old manager, who had mush for brains, began to harbor designs and wanted to rape her.
Yuan Yi had long since been wary of him, and when he was pretending to engage in small talk, she had reached behind and used her stockings to strangle him. After another week of staring at the corpse, she couldn't handle it anymore and opened up the window, using the red wine to soak the clothes of the corpse. She then used the clothes as ropes to latch around the metal railings of the window, using a chair and tightening the ropes until the metal railings bent. When the railings were large enough to fit a person, she risked being eaten and escaped.
After a few scares and tense incidents, she managed to procure a small rental car, and as she drove towards J City, she was picked up by Brother Long and had been living with him till she was given to Zhang Xiao Qiang.
"Shit, no wonder the pride's so deep set. So she's a wealthy princess!" Zhang Xiao Qiang felt that it was funny. Even after becoming a toy, she still wanted to maintain that aloof nature, she should be thanking her ancestors that she could still live till today!
"Do you know why I didn't send you back?" Zhang Xiao Qiang felt like he had to make things clear, as he was now in charge of her, and while he wasn't a douche, he wasn't a saint either. He would not keep her for free.
"????" She shook her head in confusion.
"Su Qian was looking to me, pleading with me, that was why I didn't return you! I dislike you but not Su Qian! Do you know why?"
"Thank you, Master!" Su Qian lifted her head to smile sweetly at Zhang Xiao Qiang, expressing her thanks before continuing to massage him.
Yuan Yi looked towards Su Qian in gratitude, her hate disappearing. She still shook her head, and her heart became even more agitated. Why was it that Zhang Xiao Qiang just disliked her? Was it just because she wanted him to kill her?"
"I can't get used to it, no matter how, I don't understand all you rich folks, having been forced to such circumstances, and you still act like you're all high and mighty. You must remember your status now! Now, it's the law of the jungle! It doesn't matter what your background is, how good-looking you are, or what you've studied! You're just a dog now! A dog that has to wag its tail just to eat. And please don't think that you're some pedigree, you're just the lowest of mutts."
Zhang Xiao Qiang had lashed out in one breath, that his mouth went dry. He saw that Yuan Yi was still stunned, as though she was still trying to comprehend what he had just said. He sighed, thinking to himself, "So what if you studied in England?!"
"What are you spacing out for? Can't you see that I'm thirsty? Go get me a cup of water!" He was getting used to the number of times she was getting on his nerves. Such characters would get eliminated sooner or later in the natural selection of things.
"Oh!" She seemed to have snapped out of her daydream and ran towards the living room.
"What about you? What's your story?" Zhang Xiao Qiang looked at Su Qian and asked, he had to know his people thoroughly, after all, they were relying on him.
"I, I'm from a family that's not so well-to-do…." She began to narrate as she continued her massage.