At this point, Ouyang Jing’s attention was entirely focused on the information Quan Xiaoyu had brought back, so he didn’t notice their little movements.
“So, in that case, this information isn’t actually bad news for us?” Ouyang Jing said.
“Mm.” Chu Tian nodded. “Considering our grudge with the Yuan family’s eldest young master, that new person in charge, the one surnamed Cai, should actually be very happy to welcome us.”
He analyzed the situation.
“If we get involved in their conflict, could it cause us some trouble?” Ouyang Jing voiced his concern.
Chu Tian gave him a meaningful glance and smiled.
“There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world. Captain Ouyang, are you thinking of getting the benefits without giving anything in return?”
Ouyang Jing looked somewhat embarrassed at those words. He really had been planning to let the two sides fight it out and profit as the third party.
“Anyone who can sit in a leadership position isn’t a fool. If we want to cooperate, everyone has to show some sincerity. But as for what that ‘sincerity’ is, we just need to keep it in our own hands.”
Chu Tian continued.
Ouyang Jing considered himself a soldier and was indeed not good at schemes involving people’s hearts and political maneuvering. He understood Chu Tian’s words only vaguely. But seeing how confident Chu Tian was, he didn’t say anything more.
It was only belatedly that Ouyang Jing noticed the ambiguous atmosphere between the two people opposite him, their hands still joined together. Only then did he feel somewhat awkward.
So after immediately making it clear that he would leave everything to Chu Tian’s decision, he tactfully slipped away, leaving the two of them some relatively private space.
Only after Ouyang Jing left did Quan Xiaoyu come back to his senses. He then realized that half of his body had already been pulled into Chu Tian’s arms, and the tips of his ears began to burn slightly.
He furtively glanced around like a thief. When he saw that the space here was relatively secluded and no one was watching them, he finally let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Quan Xiaoyu’s sneaky behavior displeased Chu Tian. Without another word, he reached out, lifted Quan Xiaoyu’s chin, and pressed a kiss to his lips.
At times like this, Chu Tian always seemed exceptionally domineering.
The kiss was hot and full of aggression, completely different from the gentle and refined impression he usually gave people.
Quan Xiaoyu was startled at first. Chu Tian occasionally kissed and hugged him normally, but he always stopped after just a little. This was the first time he had been this uninhibited and domineering.
He instinctively tried to push Chu Tian away, but Chu Tian turned him around and pressed him against the car door, deepening the kiss.
Quan Xiaoyu only felt a loud “boom” in his head, as though a string had snapped, and then he completely lost the ability to think, letting Chu Tian do whatever he wanted.
He didn’t know how long it lasted. It was so long that Quan Xiaoyu felt he was about to suffocate before Chu Tian finally let him go.
Once he came back to his senses, Quan Xiaoyu realized that he had already gone limp in Chu Tian’s arms, his hands still tightly wrapped around Chu Tian’s back.
It had been a completely instinctive reaction. He immediately felt mortified. After thinking about it, he simply buried his face against Chu Tian’s chest, playing ostrich and pretending nothing had happened.
Chu Tian’s muffled laughter came from above Quan Xiaoyu’s head, making him so embarrassed that he didn’t know what to do.
Chu Tian forcibly turned his face back toward him, placed a light kiss on his flushed cheek, and then asked, “Do you like it?”
The redness that had just begun to fade surged back into Quan Xiaoyu’s face because of those words.
He thought to himself that this man was practically being an outright pervert in broad daylight!
Quan Xiaoyu’s reaction made Chu Tian laugh again. But he still leaned close to Quan Xiaoyu’s ear and whispered, “You’d better get used to it quickly. There are even more intimate things we’ll have to do in the future!”
In an instant, even the tips of Quan Xiaoyu’s ears turned bright red. He wished he could immediately find a crack in the ground and crawl into it.
Seeing that he had teased him enough, Chu Tian stopped while he was ahead and deliberately changed the subject. He still had no intention of letting go of the person in his arms, though. He really did need Quan Xiaoyu to get used to their increasing intimacy as soon as possible.
“What were you thinking about when you were spacing out just now?”
Quan Xiaoyu was also eager to shift his attention elsewhere. Since Chu Tian had asked, he took the opportunity to tell him about the problem he had been worrying over for quite a while.
After listening, Chu Tian thought for a moment.
“I see. I understand. Let me think about it. I’ll figure out your problem for you. You can keep your brain free and spend more time thinking about me, understand?”
Quan Xiaoyu gave a soft “Mm.”
He had already completely lost to Chu Tian.
By now, he had figured it out: when it came to relationships, Chu Tian had an extremely strong desire for control. He was very domineering. If you dared to say no, he could always find a way to make you have no choice but to say yes.
Since there was no need to resist him, it was better to simply go along with him.
Sure enough, Chu Tian was in an excellent mood after hearing his response, and finally released Quan Xiaoyu from his embrace.
At that moment, Bai Mingxi, who had been hiding behind the vehicle for a long time, finally gathered his courage and called out from there,
“That Mu Jiu guy is back!”
The two of them walked around the vehicle and sure enough saw Mu Jiu approaching from a distance, a bright smile on his face.
The moment Chu Tian saw Mu Jiu’s smile, he knew that their trip to J City would have a very good beginning.
Half an hour later, Chu Tian and the others arrived at the Cai family residence and met Cai Yuanhan, the current top authority in J City.
Cai Yuanhan received Chu Tian and the others with an extremely humble and enthusiastic attitude.
Of course, it was impossible for everyone to come and meet this J City big shot. After the doctor had fallen asleep, Chu Tian had no choice but to leave him in the care of Old Wu and the others. He himself brought Quan Xiaoyu, Bai Mingxi, and Ouyang Jing into the Cai residence.
The Cai residence was a relatively old-fashioned building, with a distinct air of an old, sprawling family compound. Even in the decaying world of the apocalypse, it still retained its former grandeur, showing just how deep the family’s foundations were.
Cai Yuanhan was somewhat younger than everyone had imagined, looking to be just over thirty—the age when ambition was at its peak and one was full of confidence and vigor.
Although he welcomed everyone with a smile, there was no way to conceal the sharp, aggressive drive for advancement that surrounded him.
“You’ve come a long way. It must have been hard on you!” Cai Yuanhan’s eyes were extremely sharp. After sweeping his gaze over everyone, he was the first to extend his hand toward Chu Tian.
From his words, Chu Tian could still hear the bearing of someone in a position of power. But Chu Tian didn’t mind. After all, when you were under someone else’s roof, you had to bow your head.
“Officer Cai, you’re too kind. We’re honored that you took time out of your extremely busy schedule to meet with us.”
Polite words cost nothing, and Chu Tian didn’t mind flattering him a little.
Pleased with Chu Tian’s tact, Cai Yuanhan looked quite happy. Mu Jiu quickly ushered everyone into their seats, and only then did the conversation get down to business.
“I heard that all of you came from S City. I wonder what the situation in S City is like now?”
Cai Yuanhan seemed very concerned about this.
After the apocalypse, all communication with the outside world had completely disappeared, and some information could only be passed along by word of mouth.
Although many people who had previously come from S City had already reported the situation there, Chu Tian and his group were the latest batch to leave S City so far. They might have brought the most up-to-date information.
Before the apocalypse, S City had been the country’s largest economic center, so many people still remained concerned about what was happening there.
Thus, Chu Tian gave a general account of the situation in S City before they left. He also shared some information they had gathered along the way, including the mutations they had observed among the zombies, the mutations among plants and animals, their patterns of activity, and so on.
He only omitted Quan Xiaoyu’s previous prediction that a major disaster was coming.
Cai Yuanhan listened attentively, clearly showing how concerned he really was about S City.
After Chu Tian finished, Cai Yuanhan tactfully brought up Yuan Shaohua.
Chu Tian was no ordinary person. The moment Cai Yuanhan mentioned the name, he understood.
He then recounted everything they had encountered involving Yuan Shaohua along the way. He concealed the part involving Yu Ning, but deliberately emphasized the conflict and hatred between their group and Yuan Shaohua.
He also subtly conveyed that he was not actually the leader of the team. The real leader had been severely weakened during the fight with Yuan Shaohua’s people and was currently resting, which was why Chu Tian had temporarily taken over management of the team.
“Oh, my. I never expected your side to have such a history with that boy from the Yuan family. I’m truly sorry. That child from the Yuan family has been somewhat spoiled. I’ll apologize to all of you on his behalf.”
As Cai Yuanhan spoke, his apology was of course insincere, but the appropriate words still had to be said publicly.
It was impossible to make the other side trust him in such a short time, so Chu Tian exchanged a few more polite words before putting forward their request to enter the city.
There were regulations governing the admission of teams into the city, and Chu Tian’s group met the requirements. It was nothing more than some procedural matters, so Cai Yuanhan readily handed them over to Mu Jiu to handle.
After talking for quite a while, Cai Yuanhan finally got to the main reason he had invited them here.
“I just heard from Mu Jiu that when you were outside the city, our Defense Force members accidentally offended you. However, he was also taught a lesson by an expert. It was all a misunderstanding. I hope the expert won’t take it to heart.”
This Cai Yuanhan really liked to beat around the bush.
It was nothing more than the fact that he had become extremely interested in the mental-type ability user among them, yet he insisted on probing them through all these twists and turns.
With someone who wasn’t quick-witted, this conversation would definitely end up going nowhere.
Ouyang Jing hated this kind of way of speaking the most. He simply shut himself off from the outside world and honestly slacked off.
Wasn’t the doctor absent? There was still Chu Tian.
Ever since getting to know the doctor and Chu Tian, he had also begun to enjoy the feeling of going out without having to use his brain.
Bai Mingxi and Quan Xiaoyu were very obedient listeners, simply listening without speaking.
After all, Cai Yuanhan treated them as though they were invisible. There was only Chu Tian in his eyes.
This alone showed that Cai Yuanhan was actually an arrogant person who thought highly of himself and looked down on others.
If he weren’t extremely interested in the mental-type ability user among them, he probably wouldn’t have lowered himself to receive them personally like this.
Author’s Note: My friend said it was time to feed everyone some dog food, so here you go!