Chapter 250: Not Helping
Before I could decide whether to bite Yuche to show him just how much of a dog I was NOT, Commander Li stepped into the room, followed by Zhenlan and Chenghai.
Several of his teammates remained near the entryway, wisely pretending not to hear anything while outside, Meilan’s voice had gone hoarse.
Lingyun’s, on the other hand, had not. That was unsurprising. Lingyun probably had excellent stamina when committing emotionally motivated crimes.
I leaned back against the couch and looked around the damaged room.
This was not the cozy fortress I had built in my head. It was not the safe little island I had imagined when I stocked my space, locked doors, and told the rest of the world to go be tragic somewhere else.
It was cracked, burned, bloodied, and full of people who kept telling me uncomfortable truths.
But it was still mine.
And that mattered more than anything else.
"It just needs a bit of..." I paused, searching for the right word.
Everyone looked at me with immediate suspicion.
I smiled as I snapped my fingers. "Shaping."
Zhenlan closed his eyes for one second as Chenghai just stared at me.
Commander Li, on the other hand, looked as if he regretted every decision that had brought him into my living room.
Yuche folded his arms. "What does shaping even mean?"
I waved one hand vaguely toward the broken foyer, the cracked ceiling, the damaged walls, the burned yard, the plants, the bodies outside, and the general state of my life. "You know. Shaping. Improving. Encouraging the house to stop being pathetic."
"That is not a plan," Zhenlan said.
"It is the emotional foundation of a plan."
"The physical foundation is also cracked."
I glared at him. "You just had to say that."
"Yes."
Chenghai looked toward the front of the house again. "We need materials."
"Exactly." I pointed at him, pleased that someone was finally catching up. "Materials. House things. Wall things. Ceiling things. Door things. Whatever keeps foundations from having opinions."
"Concrete," Chenghai said, but I could hear the laughter in his voice that he was trying to hide.
"Sure. That," I agrees, letting out a long breath. This was familiar... this was what I needed right now. Well... that and a completely intact house that wasn’t one step away from a haunted house.
"We would also need lumber, steel brackets, reinforced locks, plywood, screws, tools, wire, batteries, sealant, and we can’t forget the tarps until permanent repairs are done."
I stared at him.
He stared back.
I slowly turned toward Zhenlan. "Of course, we can’t forget the tarps.... Is he always like this?"
"Yes," Zhenlan answered, nodding his head. I appreciated the fact that he could feel my pain.
"Is he at least useful?"
"Unfortunately. It makes him harder to kill when he is like this."
Chenghai’s mouth tightened, but the look he gave me was not offended.
If anything, he seemed faintly amused, which was dangerous because I did not need another man in my house becoming comfortable with my nonsense. The first two were already a problem. The third and fourth were still under evaluation.
Commander Li exhaled. "Even if you gather materials, this kind of work requires people who know what they are doing."
"If you don’t have anything useful to add, please feel free to keep your mouth shut," I replied with a sneer. Seriously?! Didn’t his mom teach him that if he didn’t have anything nice to say to keep his mouth shut?
"It is useful... it is also accurate."
"I know how to use a hammer."
Yuche looked at me.
I looked back at him. "Do not."
"You are not using a hammer."
"I did not say I was using it today."
"You are not using it tomorrow either."
I turned to Commander Li. "See what I live with?"
Commander Li did not answer. Again, 10/10 with the whole survival instincts thing.
Zhenlan opened his eyes and looked toward the cracked ceiling visible through the doorway. "Commander Li is right about one thing. We need skilled workers. Builders. Electricians. Plumbers. People who understand solar systems, foundations, welding, roofing, and fortification."
I frowned. "That sounds like a lot of people."
"It is."
"I hate people."
"We know."
The answer came from all four men at almost the same time.
I stared at them.
Yuche looked unapologetic. Zhenlan looked calm. Chenghai looked away as if pretending he had not participated. Outside, Lingyun shouted, "I also know!"
I picked up the nearest cushion and threw it toward the doorway.
It did not make it far.
My arm was tired, and the cushion landed sadly on the floor.
The baby vine patted it.
I sighed. "I am surrounded by traitors."
Commander Li cleared his throat, probably because he had realized this conversation could continue forever if no one dragged it back toward disaster. "There may be people at the base with those skills."
The room shifted as Zhenlan looked at him.
Chenghai’s posture sharpened and Yuche’s expression changed in a way I did not like.
The base was not a neutral word. Not anymore. The base meant soldiers, refugees, rules, rationing, desperation, and far too many people who might think my house was an excellent solution to their problems.
I did not like where this was going.
"No," I said, all humor gone from my face. "We aren’t doing that."
Commander Li looked at me. "You do not know what I am going to suggest."
"You said base. I know enough."
"We may be able to recruit workers."
"I heard people."
"Skilled people," Zhenlan corrected.
"Still people."
"People who can keep your ceiling from falling on you."
I looked toward the foyer again.
A second tiny crumble of plaster fell somewhere out of sight.
I hated everything.
The baby vine patted my knee, which did not help because it made me feel like the plant was also voting against me.
I took a slow breath and looked at Commander Li. "You are suggesting that we go to your base, find strangers, bring them back here, and let them touch my house."
"Not you," Yuche said immediately.
I turned my head. "Excuse me?"
"You are not going."
"I did not say I was going."
"You were thinking it."
"I was thinking many things."
"Most of them are bad."
I narrowed my eyes. "Keep talking, Dragon Head. See where that gets you."
His gaze dropped to my mouth for half a second, and my brain immediately betrayed me by forgetting the rest of my threat.
Zhenlan, because he was evil, chose that moment to speak. "Yuche is right. You are injured. You stay here. He stays with you."
I looked at him. "That sounded too organized."
"It was."
"I dislike that."
"I know."
Chenghai glanced toward Commander Li. "You need to report what happened to Jiang Meilan."
Commander Li’s expression tightened. "Yes... probably... or I could keep my head in the sand and say that I have no idea what happened to her."
"And your people will listen if you bring in outsiders?"
"Not all of them," Commander Li replied. "But enough will listen long enough for me to explain. It’s not like you are staying... if anything, you are doing us a favor by taking some of the refugees from us."
Zhenlan nodded slowly. "Then we go with you."
I sat up straighter, which immediately made Yuche put one hand against my shoulder to stop me from doing anything heroic or stupid. I slapped his hand. He did not move it. "Who is we?"
"Commander Li, Lingyun, Chenghai, and me," Zhenlan answered.
"Absolutely not."
"You said that about moving."
"I can say it about multiple things."
"You need workers. The base may have workers. Commander Li and his team needs to return. Lingyun should not be left unsupervised with Meilan’s corpse. Chenghai can assess threats and recruit fighters if needed. I can determine which skilled people are worth the risk of bringing back."
I stared at him.
It was a horrible plan.
It was also a good plan.
It was a horribly good plan.
And that made it worse.
Outside, Lingyun appeared in the doorway with blood on one cheek and the kind of smile that suggested he had thoroughly enjoyed the last several minutes. "Are we going somewhere?"
"Apparently," I said.
His smile brightened. "Is it dangerous?"
"Probably."
"Wonderful."
"No one asked you to be happy about it."
"I am supporting the plan."
"You do not know the plan."
"I heard dangerous."
Chenghai looked at him. "You are definitely not helping."
