Chapter Fifteen: No Rights for the Flat-Chested (2/4)

“Brother Mengchao, please… please… calm down.”
As soon as Liu Mengchao made to get off the bus, Xu Zhengdong grew so nervous that he started to stutter.

Hearing Xu Zhengdong’s voice from behind, Liu Mengchao couldn’t help but let a smile play at the corners of his mouth.

So, you’re afraid now?

Liu Mengchao stopped and looked at Xu Zhengdong. In Liu Mengchao’s eyes, nothing stirred a person’s heart more than giving someone hope and then shattering it with your own hands.

“Brother Mengchao, please don’t be rash.” Xu Zhengdong adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, his tone solemn and earnest. “The situation outside is unclear. If we abandon the vehicle and rely on walking alone, the moment we’re discovered by zombies, death will be all that awaits us!”

“He’s right, Liu Mengchao.” Before Liu Mengchao could reply, Qi Xiaoxiao, still in his arms, spoke up in agreement. “I can’t move well right now. Where could you possibly take me?”

“The hospital.”

Liu Mengchao frowned, his gaze resolute.

“The hospital…” The absent-minded school nurse, Shizuka, completely oblivious to the gravity of the situation, turned around from the driver’s seat and said, “If Qi Xiaoxiao is really sick, she should definitely be taken to a hospital.”

“That’s impossible.” Saya Takagi, with her orchid-like fingers, adjusted her glasses as well. “When we came down from the school road just now, we saw the city was filled with smoke and dust. The whole city is crawling with zombies now. A hospital, with its many patients—once a single zombie gets in, those bedridden patients will quickly join their ranks.”

“So—!” Saya Takagi stood, her eyes fixed on Liu Mengchao. “Even if you take her to the hospital, there won’t be any doctors waiting there for you.”

“Yes, yes!” Xu Zhengdong nodded vigorously, casting a pleading look at the others in the bus. He desperately needed more people to support his idea. If Liu Mengchao left the bus, the three new Reincarnators he’d been suppressing would certainly seize the chance to kill him!

After all, it seemed his plot against the special forces soldier had already been exposed.

“Liu Mengchao,” Xu Zhengdong’s eyes brimmed with entreaty, “I beg you, even if you don’t think of yourself, think of Qi Xiaoxiao. In her condition, she won’t survive the trip to the hospital.”

Think of Qi Xiaoxiao?

Liu Mengchao looked at Xu Zhengdong’s expression and felt an almost irresistible urge to laugh.

The real reason wasn’t concern for Qi Xiaoxiao at all—it was the fear that the three new Reincarnators, working together, would discover his involvement in Chen Mo’s death. If someone as senior as himself stayed, they could continue to push the blame as if he’d hinted at it. But if he left—what then?

Liu Mengchao didn’t reply. He simply glanced back at his original seat.

Jackpot: 160,000.

Did I ever say I was going back to my seat? Was it really necessary to panic this much, Xu Zhengdong?

He looked at Xu Zhengdong, who was panting with excitement.

“Saeko, do the hospitals here have traditional medicine?”

“Traditional medicine?”

“Liu Mengchao, even if there is, do you know how to prepare it?” Xu Zhengdong was so anxious his eyes were bloodshot. He knew perfectly well that once Liu Mengchao left, death would be close behind—after all, the main system never punished anyone for killing their teammates!

“I don’t.”

As soon as Liu Mengchao finished speaking, wrinkles gathered at the corner of Xu Zhengdong’s eyes, pulling the edges of his mouth into a smile that was painfully forced.

Jackpot: 161,000.

I genuinely didn’t mean to mislead you, teacher.

Liu Mengchao glanced at Xu Zhengdong with a trace of pity, seeing hope rekindled in his eyes, and then shook his head.

“I don’t know medicine, but Qi Xiaoxiao does.”

Jackpot: 165,000.

As soon as he said “does,” Liu Mengchao paused, watching Xu Zhengdong’s face with great interest.

“This—this…”

“I’m not toying with you.” Liu Mengchao’s gaze passed right over Xu Zhengdong’s head and landed on Li Xin, who was sneaking glances at him.

“I hate people who drag us down, but compared to that…”

With a sharp sound, Liu Mengchao’s wrist, armed with a sleeve blade, punched a hole in the side of the bus, sending shards of glass scattering.

“I hate traitors even more!”

With that, Liu Mengchao kicked the door open and jumped out.

“You’re up to no good again.” In his arms, Qi Xiaoxiao saw the smile still lingering on Liu Mengchao’s face. She reached out, trembling, to touch his cheek. “Come back. Don’t take risks for me.”

“Qi Xiaoxiao…” The smile faded from Liu Mengchao’s face, replaced by an expression of utmost gravity. “Your chest is still so flat—you’d better wait until you’ve grown up before you scold me.”

“It’s confusing when what you say and what you show on your face are so different.” Qi Xiaoxiao closed her eyes as she spoke.

With only two days left to live, she realized she’d never, until now, felt this grateful—to have responded to the message in the drifting bottle that had appeared on her computer.

It really, truly brought me to my beloved little brother’s side.

“Liu Mengchao…” Eyes closed, Qi Xiaoxiao whispered his name, “I have a few things to say to you.”

“Having a small chest doesn’t mean you have no rights—I don’t agree.”

“Three teams. The system will only let three teams survive. I was thinking about it just now in the bus. Later, you must go with the school nurse to her friend’s place.”

“I don’t need a gun.”

“But you need a car. A vehicle that can still work after an EMP blast from a nuke. I remember it clearly—it seats six people, just the original six characters from the story!”

Qi Xiaoxiao spoke with such force that blood seeped from her lips, staining Liu Mengchao’s white clothes.

“Flat-chested girls should talk less. Maybe if you hold your breath, your chest will swell from the pressure.”

At that, Qi Xiaoxiao tried to keep a stern face but ended up laughing aloud.

“Alright, we’ve laughed enough. It’s time for us to go.” Liu Mengchao said, moving to carry Qi Xiaoxiao on his back.

“Wait!”

“Women always talk too much, and the amount of trouble they make is perfectly proportional to their cup size.” Liu Mengchao looked at her chest with exaggerated disgust.

“Hug me tighter.”

Liu Mengchao nodded, squeezing her closer.

“Still can’t feel your chest.”

“Go back, Liu Mengchao. I want you to live.”

Qi Xiaoxiao could no longer hold back her tears. As she cried, Liu Mengchao only smiled and shook his head.

“Who was it, back then, in broad daylight, who pulled down my pants? And who always stole my candy?” Liu Mengchao said, looking up to avoid her gaze as he carried her on his back. “When you and your mother moved away, I cried at your door. Do you remember what you said to me then?”

“Mm…”

Lying on his back, Qi Xiaoxiao smiled through her tears.

“You said, when your chest got bigger, you’d come back to be my bride.”

“And do you remember what you said in reply, Liu Mengchao?”

‘A chest that’s always no bigger than a kumquat—stupid sister.’

Liu Mengchao couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer.

Bang!

The bus door was thrown open once more.

Saeko Busujima, wielding her wooden sword, looked at them with an amused expression.

“At first, I thought you were pretty annoying.”

“I never thought so,” Liu Mengchao replied with a laugh, glancing at the people peeking at them from inside the bus. “What are they looking at, a circus act?”

Securing Qi Xiaoxiao on his back, Liu Mengchao started to run.

“Hey, do you even know where the hospital is?” Saeko ran after him, both amused and exasperated, glancing at the smiling Liu Mengchao as they ran.

“I don’t, but you must, Saeko.”

“I take back what I said. You really are still as exasperating as ever, Liu Mengchao.”

——————————————————————————————

This is the second update. The next one will be posted at 4 p.m.… By the way, the afternoon update is scheduled by the auto-poster…

And… I really like the line about flat-chested girls having no rights… Honestly, my favorite female character is Taiga Aisaka… (drools)

Thanks to Lord Meng Shizhengyi, Lord Xingkong’s Story, Lord Mountains and Rivers at Peace, Lord If You’re Serious You Lose, and Lord Moldy Otaku for the rewards~