Even though the human world has undergone trendous changes, for things beyond humanity, this world remains the sa.
The bright sunlight shone through the window onto Luo Le's eyelids, waking him up. He opened his eyes, feeling full of vitality after a night's rest, but there was a fatigue in his eyes, a weariness of the heart, unrelated to the body. He dressed and walked into the living room, seeing Li Yin sitting on the sofa with an ashen face, staring blankly at the ground.
"What's wrong?" Luo Le asked. Li Yi had always been a person full of desires; he liked at and strongly flavored things, his every move filled with a sense of delight. Luo Le had never seen him in such a weakened state, not even during the ti when the pandemic was rampant.
Li Yi glanced up at Luo Le, suddenly displaying a bit of panic, as if eager to cover sothing up.
"N-nothing," he added hastily, "just recalling the past..."
Luo Le nodded and said, "Want to get sothing to eat?"
"Yeah, okay."
"I'll wash my face first."
Luo Le went to the bathroom and quickly freshened up. When he ca out, he found that Li Yi was no longer on the sofa. Thinking Li Yi might be waiting outside, Luo Le headed towards the door. As he passed the spot where Li Yi had been sitting, he glanced at it curiously. It looked no different than usual, but a section of the floor seed to have been deliberately wiped clean.
Opening the door, Luo Le indeed found Li Yi waiting there. He leaned against the hallway wall, looking dispirited.
"Let's go," Luo Le called.
"Okay."
Food was everywhere; the pandemic had taken most people but granted the survivors more material wealth. Luo Le and Li Yi went to their usual supermarket and grabbed so canned food and well-packed biscuits, along with so alcohol, then found a random empty spot to sit down.
"Do you rember what it was like when the pandemic first broke out?" Li Yi suddenly asked.
Luo Le was startled and looked at Li Yi, replying, "Of course, I rember. Why bring it up now?"
"Nothing," Li Yi didn't answer directly, but continued, "Back then, I caught the flu, had a high fever, and my family thought I had caught the plague, so they threw out on the road."
Li Yi paused, shook the beer bottle in his hand, and glanced at Luo Le.
Luo Le didn't know what to say and could only remain silent.
Li Yi lowered his head and continued, "Later, I got better. But when I went to find them, I discovered they all died in their rooms, blood everywhere. I ran away terrified. Not because they were dead, but because I was afraid of being infected."
"Anyone else would have done the sa," Luo Le comforted.
"And you? What would you do?" Li Yi jumped up excitedly, "If your family got infected, would you abandon them?"
Luo Le didn't know how to answer Li Yi's question. He didn't have the courage to confidently say "would" or "wouldn't," nor would he allow himself to deceive Li Yi by saying what he wanted to hear. All Luo Le could do was keep questioning himself internally: "What would I do?"
In the end, he still couldn't co to a conclusion and chose to avoid it, as always.
"I don't know..." Luo Le said, guiltily looking at Li Yi.
Hearing Luo Le's answer, Li Yi seed to lose all his strength at once, collapsed into his seat, and silently stuffed food into his mouth.
After breakfast, to ease the awkwardness just now, Luo Le thought of taking Li Yi to play so basketball.
"How about playing so basketball later?" Seeing Li Yi's disinterest, Luo Le added, "We just ate, let's exercise a bit."
"No, I want to sit for a while. You go play first," Li Yi declined.
"Alright, I'll go then."
Speaking of basketball, Luo Le couldn't actually play; ultimately, he just wanted to escape this oppressive atmosphere sooner. He was full of questions about Li Yi's sudden abnormal behavior, but he absolutely wouldn't ask Li Yi. He would only speculate about what had happened and remain doubtful about the conclusions of those speculations, even if he had already sensed a hint of truth. This was precisely his weakness.
Li Yi indeed did not co. Luo Le spent half the day on the basketball court, and later wandered around for most of the day. It wasn't until the afternoon that he went to the supermarket again to get so food, also bringing a bit back for Li Yi, before returning ho.
Just as Luo Le was about to open the door, a female voice called out to him: "Um, hello. Are you living in here?"
Luo Le turned around in confusion. It was indeed a brilliant woman, causing his heartbeat to quicken and his body temperature to seem to rise as well, encasing him in a strange sensation.
"Yes, I am. Is there sothing you need?"
The woman seed a bit embarrassed and it took her a long while to muster up the courage to say, "Can I ask you to take in?"
As if realizing her words were too shocking, the woman added, "Please, I've had enough of living alone. I like you."
Luo Le was stunned by this sudden confession. She said she liked ? But we've never t before. And she's so beautiful. Luo Le's heart surged with strong emotions, yet his character and shyness towards won kept him filled with doubts.
After hesitating for a long ti, Luo Le finally nodded and said, "Okay."
The woman looked at Luo Le affectionately and said, "My na is Yang Pin."
"Luo Le."
Luo Le and Yang Pin entered the house. He intended to introduce her to Li Yi, but didn't see him. So Luo Le had Yang Pin sit down first, poured her a cup of tea, and said, "I have a friend living with . I'm not sure if he's back. I'll go check his room."
Yang Pin nodded obediently and intentionally asked, "Is it a guy or a girl?"
Luo Le scratched his head and foolishly answered, "A guy." This caused Yang Pin to burst out in laughter.
Luo Le knocked on Li Yi's door, but there was no response. He opened the door to find Li Yi lying in bed, wrapped in a blanket, sweat covering his forehead as he panted heavily. Luo Le hurried over to touch Li Yi's forehead.
"So hot!"
Luo Le quickly nudged Li Yi, "Hey, wake up. You have a high fever, you need to take so dicine."
"What's wrong with him?" Yang Pin asked, standing at the doorway.
"I don't know. His forehead is really hot; he might have a fever. I need to find so dicine," Luo Le said anxiously.
Yin Pin seed affected by Luo Le's emotions and beca a bit flustered as well.
"Where's the dicine? I'll go get it."
"In..." Suddenly, Luo Le rembered they hadn't prepared any dicine at ho. The pandemic had not only tornted them but made them stronger as well. Luo Le and Li Yi almost forgot what being sick felt like, let alone prepared cold dicine.
"I'll check the nearby pharmacy. Pin, please take care of Li Yi."
"Okay."
Luo Le hurriedly left to find dicine, leaving Yang Pin alone to look after Li Yi.
Yang Pin filled a tub with water, wetting a towel to wipe the sweat from Li Yi's forehead. As her hand accidentally touched Li Yi's forehead, a familiar scene suddenly flashed through her mind:
"So hot!"
"Don't touch it with your hands, be careful not to get infected," a middle-aged woman scolded the girl in front of her harshly, "Go fetch so water."
"Cough... cough..." The man was coughing violently while the middle-aged woman constantly wiped his sweat beside him.
"Darling, the doctor is coming soon; you'll be alright."
"Mom, the water is ready." The girl handed over the basin of water.
Suddenly the man started coughing more violently, rising upright while coughing, then began to vomit blood.
With a clang, the basin hit the ground, spilling water everywhere.
"Clang." Yang Pin retreated in fear, knocking over the water basin beside her, spilling water all over the floor. Seeing such a similar scene in front of her, Yang Pin was driven back by fear, but she backed into Luo Le, who had just hurried back.
"What happened?" Luo Le asked concernedly, seeing the situation while rushing back.
"Listen, Xiao Le." Yang Pin firmly gripped Luo Le's shoulders, "This isn't a cold; it's the plague! He's infected with the plague!"
Luo Le shook his head in disbelief, "Impossible, this can't be. The plague is over."
"His condition is just like my father's; there's no mistake. We must leave imdiately."
"No... I can't leave him behind."
Yang Pin glared at Luo Le angrily for a mont, and finally left wordlessly, fuming.
Luo Le chased to the doorway, grabbing Yang Pin.
"This morning, Li Yi told about sothing that happened during the pandemic. He said there was a day he caught the flu and had a high fever. His family thought he was infected with the plague, so they threw him out onto the street."
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