Apocalyptic Calamity: My Proficiency Panel-Chapter 23 - 22 Trade_1
Chapter 23: Chapter 22 Trade_1
Chapter 23: Chapter 22 Trade_1
Li Ming put down his water cup, adjusted the safety guard on his sword, smiled, and left his home. He pocketed the key and casually closed the front door as he left.
Across from him in the hallway stood a woman dressed in a black blouse, silently watching him. It was solely the two of them in the corridor. She just so happened to be living across from the house Li Ming was renting.
As Li Ming walked close to her, she advanced halfway to meet him, though once close, she suddenly averted her gaze to the floor, a touch of nerves evident.
Li Ming could clearly see the woman’s figure. Even in everyday pink trousers, her exquisite figure was still noticeable. He was tempted to peer inside the trousers to glimpse the pair of attractive legs that he had seen many times before but never touched.
“My name is Chen Li. We’ve met before, I remember you. Thank you… for the food you gave me just now,” she said.
Her face colored slightly, she seemed to have taken a quick bath, and her body exuded vitality from having eaten. Apparently, she had quickly prepared and eaten a meal, then bathed before coming out.
“That’s alright, as a neighbor it’s the least I could do.”
Li Ming smiled and patiently waited for her to continue, sensing her sentences were left unfinished.
“I…I don’t know how to phrase this, but I’m willing to be ‘yours’ if you give me and my mother and daughter food and care for us,” she finally said with an effort, her face burning with embarrassment.
‘To be his’… as long as he provided food…
The woman’s proposition sounded sudden and startling. The sudden change in their relationship unnerved her. She saw Li Ming gaze at her intently, and she hurriedly averted her eyes in panic.
She knew her proposition was somewhat abrupt, but after her family had gone hungry for so many days, she was doing well to keep on her feet. She could only imagine how many people had starved to death in the same period. She had a daughter and a mother to care for. Having gone hungry for so long, she saw Li Ming as their one ray of hope. Missing this opportunity could mean they might never get another chance to eat. Of course, she would do everything she could to grab this opportunity.
Furthermore, feeling secure is fragile, especially in such circumstances. Her instinct were to find a provider, especially a strong man, to seek security from.
Li Ming had everything she was looking for under these circumstances. Why wouldn’t she be willing to be with him?
Li Ming gazed at the woman in front of him, sighing internally. What a pitiful person she was, her husband absent, a woman who had to look after her mother and child in the absence of food.
The external crisis made it impossible to find food. Without someone’s care, wouldn’t they just die?
What should he do, reject her?
Li Ming glanced at the woman’s voluptuous body before him and firmly shook his head.
I, Li Ming, am not a callous and unfeeling person!
“Ah, there’s nothing I can do, I am kind-hearted, and I can’t stand seeing such things. Don’t worry; I’ll take care of everything for you,” Li Ming sighed, running his left hand up her chin and gazing into her astonished eyes.
Pale and lovely.
Her small, red, cherry-like lips were very tempting.
His breath echoed for a long time in the deserted corridor. Li Ming released the woman from his embrace, looked at her blushing, shapely figure, and his gaze landed on her pink trousers.
These trousers on her legs didn’t seem suitable, he had to examine them closely.
…
…
…
Afterwards.
“During the day, I have to accompany my daughter. I can be with you, at night when my daughter is asleep. However, I must leave by morning or my daughter will become upset if she doesn’t see me,” Chen Li softly said as she sat in Li Ming’s arms looking into his eyes.
“That’s fine. Just remember to come and stay with me every night, and tell me if you need anything. I will make sure you get it,” Li Ming replied, his eyes sparkling. He didn’t lack supplies, so he certainly wouldn’t be stingy. He savored the woman’s scent, different from Zhang Yuan’s.
Zhang Yuan’s beauty was in her brightness, but Chen Li was voluptuous and mature.
He liked both.
Yesterday, he was wishing he had a woman to hold at night, and now he did. Life was indeed unpredictable.
Comfortable.
“Alright, I’ll come look for you tonight,” Chen Li replied, nodding slightly, glancing worriedly at her front door.
Li Ming saw the worry in her eyes, gave an understanding nod, and kindly helped her adjust her trousers before watching her walk home.
“Whew, this apocalypse might not be so terrible after all,” Li Ming murmured, savoring the afterglow in his arms, a gleam in his eyes.
The apocalypse was a cycle of destruction and rebirth. As long as one had power, their heart’s desires could be endlessly fulfilled.
Before the end of days, it was the wealthy who could satisfy such desires.
But now, it’s him!
And those with power!
Li Ming had only ever had one relationship in college, and because he had no money, he was dumped when she graduated.
His cohabiting housemate, Zhang Yuan, was very pretty and very much in line with his desires, but she was another man’s wife. The same was true of Chen Li, who stood before him now. He could only look but not touch.
And now, it all could fall into his hands. Isn’t this a kind of opportunity?
“The Apocalypse~”
Li Ming narrowed his eyes, tightening his grip on the hilt of his sword, and calmly returned to his room.
The paradise of the strong!
……
When he returned home, he was greeted by the smell of something delicious. He went into the kitchen and saw that Zhang Yuan had fried chicken legs with potato chunks. It smelled wonderful. Satisfied, Li Ming gave Zhang Yuan a pat on her bottom in encouragement.
He then returned to his room, picked up the Red Cherry Spear, got a rag, and began to wipe it down quietly.
After wiping off the stains left by the zombies, he washed the Red Cherry with the rice water that Zhang Yuan had left behind. Then, he drained the dirty water down the sewer.
He carefully inspected the spear blade, and once he saw that there was no damage, he was satisfied. However, he began thinking about finding a backup weapon.
His weapons, whether it was the Red Cherry Spear or the sword, were all bought online. While they were robust thanks to modern crafting techniques, they were bound to break eventually.
Now that his skills with the spear and sword were mature, and given that both weapons were very useful in different scenarios, Li Ming had no intention of discarding them easily.
So, he began thinking about how he would replace the spearhead, or the shaft if they were to break.
If the sword were to break, how would he replace it?
Moreover… how much fighting power would he have if he lost all his weapons?
“There’s a hardware store on Changfeng Road. Perhaps there will be something inside that could surprise me.”
Li Ming mulled over this quietly, looked at his hands, and felt that perhaps he should consider expanding his combat capabilities.
With that thought in mind, he took out his phone, exited the super power-saving mode, and started looking through his downloaded content. He then stopped his gaze on four videos he had saved earlier.
Martial Arts Basics; Detailed Tutorial for Form-and-Intent Five Elements Fist; Eight-Section Brocade (with breathing technique version); Detailed Tutorial for Tai Chi.
Martial Arts Basics, which included techniques like leg stretches, horse stance, and horse stance punch, were exercises he performed regularly. The Form-and-Intent Five Elements Fist was the basic form of Form-and-Intent. The Eight-Section Brocade and Tai Chi were both Qi Gong exercises for health. He had practiced the Eight-Section Brocade multiple times and had it memorized. Tai Chi, on the other hand, he had forgotten, and he confectedly knew nothing about the Form-and-Intent Five Elements Fist.
He had saved the videos impulsively and never got around to learning or practicing them.
Li Ming took a moment to think, and then clicked on the tutorial for the Form-and-Intent Five Elements Fist.
He had seen the Eight-Section Brocade and Tai Chi before. Although there might be some secret and powerful variants of Tai Chi, all he could learn were the health-promoting versions. He thought they were not very useful. But now, he figured that Form-and-Intent might be of some use.
While considering this, Li Ming watched a tutorial video for a while. Shortly after he finished watching the chopping fists tutorial, he heard the sound of the gas being turned off in the kitchen.
The Five Elements Fist consists of chopping fists, drilling fists, crashing fists, canon fists, and horizontal fists. Li Ming wasn’t in a rush to practice, so he turned off the video. As he was tidying up the table and chairs, Zhang Yuan brought in the fried chicken legs with potato chunks.
“Dinner’s ready.”
Zhang Yuan put a serving dish on the table, her skirt swaying. She then served two bowls of rice. She placed one bowl in front of Li Ming and the other in front of herself and sat down next to Li Ming.
“Not serving your husband?”
With one hand on Zhang Yuan’s leg and the other picking up food with chopsticks, Li Ming casually asked.
“We’ll eat first, then we’ll serve him the leftovers.”
Zhang Yuan shook her head and answered softly, to which Li Ming responded with an amused chuckle. He didn’t mind and enjoyed his meal heartily.
Li Ming ate quickly, while Zhang Yuan ate slowly. He had finished two bowls of rice by the time she had finished one. However, as soon as Li Ming was done, Zhang Yuan served him more. She took care of him throughout the meal.
She was really capable.
After the meal, Zhang Yuan poured Li Ming a glass of water, then with her fair, slender legs in flip-flops, she took the leftover food and rice to her room.
After drinking the water, Li Ming didn’t continue watching the Form-and-Intent Five Elements Fist tutorial. Instead, he went to the living room to study the generator.
Following the instructions, Li Ming poured a drum of oil into the generator, attempted to connect the wires, adjusted the settings, and then started it up.
“Buzz…”
The generator emitted a hum. Li Ming’s heart skipped a beat initially but then relaxed. The sound of the generator wasn’t very loud, just around the level of a large fan, which relieved him.
If the noise were too loud, he figured it would be problematic—should he use it or not? After all, no one knew whether only these ordinary zombies roamed the streets during the apocalypse, or whether there were other monsters.
If there were other monsters, the noise would likely attract unnecessary danger.
Now seeing that it was not very loud, he was relieved, thinking it served its purpose as a latest version. He then went back to his room, plugged in the power strip connected to the generator, and to his delight, the fridge started running normally!
Although the generator couldn’t run continuously, it was okay to stop occasionally. As long as it could maintain the cold inside the fridge, it was all good.
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