at the question, then smiled and touched her daughter’s nose. "Maybe later, if it is safe." Lili thought about that for a second and then nodded very seriously. "Then I want to tell her she should not listen to the bad people." Yan Cijin laughed softly at that. "That is a very good thing to say." Lili beamed as if she had been praised for a great achievement. Yan Laojin, who had heard the conversation while putting away a bowl, shook her head with a smile. "This family is getting more and more into that poor girl’s business," she said. "I do not see that as a bad thing," Yan Cijin answered. "Bai Li is a good person." She said it simply and with complete confidence. There was no hesitation in her voice. Her mother heard that and smiled with a little knowing look. The more she watched her daughter, the more obvious it became that Bai Li had already taken a place in her heart. Maybe it was not just concern. Maybe it was more than that already, even if neither of them was saying it too loudly yet. Yan Laojin did not push. She just gave a small hum and went back to her dishes, letting the young ones work out their own feelings in their own time.

Meanwhile, Bai Li kept reading the news and the GL posts in between checking survival updates. It was a strange mix, but she liked that contrast. On one side, she had the soft, warm fan posts about women loving women, couples teasing each other, domestic sweetness, and all those little fictional comforts people escaped into. On the other side, she had the hard truth of a collapsing world, zombies, unstable governments, and the need to draw cards just to keep up. The contrast made the whole day feel sharper in a way that she found useful. She knew exactly why she kept returning to those posts. They reminded her that love and softness still existed even in dangerous times. They reminded her that there were still people out there imagining women being happy together, soft together, strong together, and silly together. That mattered more than most people would admit. It made the world feel less cold. Bai Li looked at one final thread where people were discussing "wife energy" and "the perfect soft but strong girlfriend," and she let herself smile a little, just for a second. Then she closed that tab and returned to the news. The apocalypse was not something she could romance away. It was something she had to survive through skill and preparation. Still, a little softness on the side did not hurt.

She checked the international updates again and saw another set of reports about rising infection numbers, broken supply routes, and cities going dark. The pace was bad. Worse than bad. The monsters were spreading too fast, and the people still trying to control the story were already losing ground. Bai Li knew that the official line would keep trying to reassure the public for as long as possible, but reassurance was useless against claws and teeth. She needed to focus on the parts that mattered. How fast were the zombies changing? How quickly were human awakenings beginning? What kind of weapon upgrades or survival tools could she get from the card system? How much time did she have before the building itself became too dangerous to stay in? These were the questions that mattered. Not the complaints in the group chat. Not the fake outrage. Not the people who wanted to turn her preparation into a moral failure because they had nothing better to do. Bai Li clicked into another article and read a small line about unusual cases of people surviving bites longer than expected. Her brow moved slightly. That meant mutation could be happening on the biological level too. Good to know. Terrible for everyone else. Useful for her.

Yan Cijin, after putting Lili in a cleaner shirt and helping Yan Laojin with the last dishes, finally sat down with her phone again. Bai Li’s name was still in her chat list, and she stared at it for a second before deciding to wait a little longer before sending another message. She did not want to crowd Bai Li if Bai Li was already busy. At the same time, she knew that Bai Li probably already understood why she was worrying. It was a little funny. Bai Li always looked so strong, but sometimes the smallest sign of distance made Yan Cijin want to reach out right away. She could still remember the way Bai Li had looked when she let Yan Cijin clean her hands earlier, how quietly she had stood there, how obedient she had been when asked to lift her head, how calm her breathing had been even with the wound. That memory made Yan Cijin’s heart soften every time she thought of it. She smiled a little, shook her head at herself, and went back to Lili, who was now sitting on the carpet with a toy in her hand. The little girl looked up at her and held out a small stuffed cat. "Mommy, play with me." Yan Cijin took the toy and laughed. "Alright, one more round of kitten time." Lili immediately made a tiny purring sound and leaned into her again, which made Yan Laojin laugh from the kitchen doorway. It was exactly the sort of ordinary noise that made the apartment feel alive.

Bai Li, on the other hand, had now moved from the news pages back to her own notes and survival thoughts. She was making a rough mental list of what the building might need, what the likely movement patterns of the zombies would be, and how the new card draw options might help her get through the next few days. She was not worried about the group chat anymore. She had already decided those people would not survive long enough to matter much.

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. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

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TO BE CONTINUED.