Not a word all night.

The next day, when Lu Xi'an woke up, he found Yao Wei had already opened her eyes and was lying still, staring blankly at the car roof.

"What's up?"

Lu Xi'an asked.

Yao Wei didn't turn to look at Lu Xi'an, continuing to stare at the car roof, and replied, "I was thinking... I was too indulgent yesterday; clearly, I said I wouldn't be like that, but I still let myself get out of control."

Lu Xi'an: "..."

He wondered if he should understand this as Yao Wei's moment of clarity?

Reflecting after indulgence is apparently not just a thing for men?

He thought for a moment, and then comforted Yao Wei, "It's okay, we have to get used to it. Didn't you say before? We'll have kids when it's safe. Are you planning to go back on your word?"

Yao Wei shook her head and naturally said, "I keep my word, two people liking each other and caring for each other should be like this, shouldn't it?

"That's how you put it to me before, and it's the same in the movies.

"But we're not safe now, and there are other things to do."

Lu Xi'an could only say, "Then we'll restrain ourselves a bit in the future."

Yao Wei nodded, saying, "Mm."

But Lu Xi'an felt that it would be hard for the two of them to restrain themselves in the future.

Such things have only the first time and the countless times afterward, Pandora's box has been opened, is it so easy to close?

The ideas of clarity have never dominated one's brain and instincts.

However, Lu Xi'an still planned to respect Yao Wei's opinion a bit; after all, it was Yao Wei's long-held idea. In the future, he shouldn't let himself be driven by impulse, guiding Yao Wei so she'd passively fall into instinctive control.

—In short, just one phrase, four words: don't take the initiative.

"Oh, I almost forgot about this."

Lu Xi'an said as he got up, retrieved something from the bag, handed it to Yao Wei, "Here, you'll use this from now on.

"I said I'd give you this when we first met, but then I forgot, and you never mentioned it."

It was the snowflake cream in his hand.

Back when they were at the villa in Yu Bei City, he used this snowflake cream to strike up a conversation with Yao Wei, using it as a bargaining chip to hitch a ride with her.

But for some reason, after getting in the car, continuously hitching from Yu Bei City to Mengxin City, then to Jianshan City, and onto Pingchuan City, Yao Wei never mentioned the snowflake cream.

If he hadn't suddenly remembered while touching Yao Wei's cheek yesterday, Lu Xi'an feared he'd always forget about it.

"Is this... that cream?"

Yao Wei blinked, staring at the snowflake cream jar for a while, recalling something.

Lu Xi'an nodded and said, "Yes."

He stuffed the snowflake cream jar into Yao Wei's hand and asked, "I forgot about it after getting in the car, why didn't you mention it either?"

Yao Wei said, "I forgot too..."

Lu Xi'an said, "Open it and apply a bit on your face, maybe your skin will gradually get better if you apply it after washing your face every day."

Yao Wei opened the lid and looked; the cream inside was neat, clearly still new, never used.

She couldn't help but ask, "Didn't you say you use this for your good skin? How is it full inside?"

Lu Xi'an laughed, "I was lying to you back then. How else could I charm you with talk about its goodness?"

Yao Wei also laughed, "You're such a liar!"

She didn't feel anything was wrong with Lu Xi'an's lie at the time; instead, she found him pretty clever.

Like on top of the research area near Institute 923, saying nonsense to distract those two Neo-Humans; she couldn't do that.

Anyway, Lu Xi'an hasn't lied to her since.

Lu Xi'an laughed again, "You can learn well with me, and we can fool others together."

Yao Wei shook her head, "I can't, but you can, and I'll follow you."

While speaking, she replaced the lid onto the snowflake cream jar.

Lu Xi'an asked, "Why don't you apply some?"

Yao Wei said, "I feel it's better to keep it for the future in case of special conditions, like frostbite on my hands or feet, rather than using it on my face now."

Lu Xi'an, however, took the snowflake cream from Yao Wei's hand, opened it, dug out quite a bit with his finger, and applied it on Yao Wei's face.

Yao Wei was startled for a moment, but didn't dodge, letting Lu Xi'an dot the snowflake cream on her face with his fingers.

A spot on each cheek, one on the forehead, and one on the chin, then he extended both hands, spreading the cream evenly across her face.

"We have a car now, and with a specially designed heating air conditioner, under what conditions could one get frostbite? Take care of your face, make it fair and smooth; I like to look at it."

Lu Xi'an talked while gently rubbing Yao Wei's cheeks, as if he were giving a massage.

Yao Wei stayed still, seemingly enjoying being pressed like this by Lu Xi'an, though for reasons unclear.

Until Lu Xi'an wiped off the snow cream from her forehead and then her nose, only to slightly tilt her head back, avoiding him, and said: "I'll do it myself."

"Thump thump thump thump——"

Her heart began to beat violently again, but she didn't want to refuse Lu Xi'an's kindness. So, she mimicked Lu Xi'an's actions, applied the snow cream, and started massaging her face.

Lu Xi'an put the snow cream down on the small shelf by the bed and said: "I'll leave it here. You should apply some every day."

"Okay."

Yao Wei finally didn't refuse, agreeing lightly while rubbing her face.

Lu Xi'an quietly watched Yao Wei finish applying the cream, finding it quite amusing.

This woman was always serious and cold, her actions were swift and decisive, carrying a sort of gallant air, yet applying snow cream to her face added a hint of a young girl's cuteness.

Other times, Lu Xi'an couldn't see this side of Yao Wei, so now that he had the chance, how could he not watch a bit longer?

After Yao Wei finished, the two drove to the riverbank to refill the nearly empty water tank and continued heading north.

After a stretch of mountainous road, the road gradually leveled out. After another half day of travel, they reached a county town, Du County, which lay south of Fengcheng County.

With no worries about gasoline and enough food in the car, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei simply bypassed Du County, not even going in.

——Even though Luo Ping had mentioned before they set out that there were not many people in Du County.

Now, a few months had passed. Whether there were still no people or not, who could tell if anyone was there now?

After bypassing Du County and traveling for another half day, they entered Fengcheng County and reached the familiar road.

——The county road outside the Fengcheng County Highway, where they had met Luo Ping before and gone their separate ways.

"Do you still remember that time?"

Driving on the road, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei started chatting.

Yao Wei nodded: "I remember."

Lu Xi'an smiled: "We were driving your car at that time, Luo Ping was behind us, driving that sedan, trying to sell us a 'Playboy' magazine, and then was scared off by our gun.

"I was kind of regretful at the time, I was quite curious about that magazine."

"Hmm."

Yao Wei made a sound and then fell silent.

Glancing at the passenger seat while driving, Lu Xi'an suddenly felt alert and quickly added: "But thinking about it, there's nothing much to see in that magazine. The women in it aren't as pretty as you."

Yao Wei shook her head: "No way, I only took one glance at that book, but I saw them clearly. They were so fair, with such smooth skin, prettier than me."

Lu Xi'an gave Yao Wei a glance: "What are you seeing? How could they compare to you? You're overthinking it."

Yao Wei turned her head to look out of the car window, leaving the back of her head to Lu Xi'an: "You're lying again..." Her tone seemed calm, but Lu Xi'an definitely couldn't take it as calm.

Lu Xi'an hurriedly said: "What lie? I've always said I only lie to others, never to you.

"There's a saying that lovers see each other as beautiful, no matter how flashy others are, I only find you beautiful.

"Besides, I truly mean it, they're really not as pretty as you."

"Okay."

Yao Wei "hmm"-ed again, not saying more, just as silent as before.

But this time's silence, Lu Xi'an felt a little relieved.

He could tell the difference in mood and atmosphere between the two silences.

It was unexpected that a woman like Yao Wei could also get jealous and throw a little tantrum, which was quite adorable.

He unintentionally chuckled and changed the subject, continuing to chat with Yao Wei about the past.

They talked as they drove, and after turning a corner, they soon saw the car by the roadside.

Because it had been unattended, the abandoned car was already in tatters, enveloped by vegetation, as if it had merged with the surrounding trees.

When they first saw it, Lu Xi'an and Yao Wei even had the illusion that grass was growing on the car.

"I wonder if there are still people in the county town of Fengcheng County now?"

Lu Xi'an said casually.

The situation in Fengcheng County seemed rather chaotic back then. There was a force on the west side of the county town, one within the town, and another in Gaojiazhuang to the east.

However, the ones in the county town and Gaojiazhuang were later in cahoots, all got worn down by Luo Ping eventually, quite miserably.

This showed the north-south disparity in this world. The north was desolate and barren, Neo-Humans rarely came, so people here had little fear of them.

The south was different. When Yao Wei and I passed through Pingchuan City, what we saw and heard there was quite different from here.

The sky darkened, and after turning a corner, they soon left the highway, found a hidden spot to stop and rest, and didn't continue traveling.

They planned to reach Tan Village's shelter tomorrow.

They intended to gather supplies from there and then leave, now that the car had plenty of space, with air conditioning and a bed, and even a hot shower, much more comfortable than the shelter, rendering it no longer worthwhile to live there.

Hmm...

If it weren't cold, they might stay for one night, just to reminisce the past.

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