Chapter 145: Chapter 145: New Life
Qi Jiayou had no idea where his casual remark had sent Zhou Huaijin’s thoughts wandering.
After hearing Zhou Huaijin firmly deny that Chi Wan’s boyfriend was Xiahou Yu, he remained half-convinced. "Alright, but listen, I’ve been hearing that the higher-ups are making some big moves lately, huh?"
Hearing that it was about serious business, Zhou Huaijin stopped dwelling on the other matter and said thoughtfully, "My father has been very busy lately, too. I vaguely heard him mention that on one hand, they need to collect more evidence, but on the other, there seems to be some hesitation."
Qi Jiayou scoffed. "To put it bluntly, they’re afraid the other side will get desperate and lash out. After all, their ties with Myanmar North run deep after all these years. If things go south, it could lead to a major conflict..."
But Zhou Huaijin shook his head. "It’s not just that. My guess is there are still many hostages over there. Unless it’s an extreme situation, the higher-ups don’t want to cause unnecessary casualties."
Qi Jiayou sighed. "No wonder they’ve been held back. The He Family can still maneuver because they probably think they won’t be easily abandoned by that other side. But this stalemate has been going on for a while. Who knows how it’ll end."
"Or maybe this is all just a smokescreen. Who knows? Even my older brother... I don’t know what he’s been up to lately. He suddenly ran off to Hong Kong."
Qi Jiayou was taken aback. "Brother Huai’an went to Hong Kong? Could it be that your father..."
A flicker of confusion crossed Zhou Huaijin’s face. "Maybe. You know how I used to be, buried in my research, not really paying attention to these things. So my father rarely talked to me about his work."
If it weren’t for He Lingfeng’s threat against Chi Wan, he never would have taken the initiative to look into the He Family. When his father heard him subtly asking around about them, he looked surprised, as if he thought his son had a complete change of character.
Qi Jiayou was in a similar situation to Zhou Huaijin. He was the youngest in his family, and with his older brother set to inherit the family business, the pressure was off him, allowing him to do things he was actually interested in.
His current interest in the He Family’s affairs was purely because of its significant impact, and also because his own father seemed to be under a lot of stress about it lately.
The two men, who usually kept their heads buried in research, looked at each other and saw a hint of helplessness in the other’s eyes.
*
After seeing Zhou Huaijin off, Chi Wan immediately went to find Li Xingye.
Li Xingye hugged her, taking a deep breath against the side of her neck as if to make up for all the days he’d missed her.
Chi Wan found it a little funny and ruffled his hair. "What’s wrong? Are you really jealous?"
Hearing this, Li Xingye lifted his head, gently poking her cheek as he sighed. "How could I dare? My Wanwan is so popular. What would I do if I made you unhappy and you decided to ignore me?"
Chi Wan grabbed Li Xingye’s finger and gave it a light bite. "For my beloved consort to be so magnanimous, it truly makes this Emperor’s heart ache with affection."
Li Xingye finally couldn’t help but laugh, pulling her out of the base’s central building.
Chi Wan was pleasantly surprised to discover that the base seemed to change significantly every time she visited.
The streets, which used to become deserted as soon as night fell, were now bustling with activity.
Because Duan Qianyu and her team were continuously repairing and improving the infrastructure, they could broadcast more and more signals over ever-increasing distances.
With Li Xingye providing protection, Duan Qianyu and Lin Wei had even begun expanding their work of rebuilding signal towers beyond Rong City.
People seeking refuge began to arrive, from lone survivors to entire small and medium-sized bases. They had been at the end of their rope, simply waiting for the day their lives would end.
But then, a new hope appeared. They received the message that Dawn Base was willing to take in survivors.
Although they inevitably encountered zombies along the way, more and more people managed to make it to the base.
When they saw the rendezvous points Li Xingye had set up outside Rong City, when they saw the road leading to the base was completely clear of zombies, when they saw the giant wall of vines that gave them an immense sense of security, they finally, slowly, realized: they might have actually found paradise.
With the constantly growing population, the entire base became more and more vibrant.
Aside from essential supplies, stalls selling snacks, late-night food, and even handmade accessories—things considered "useless" in the apocalypse—started to appear.
On the streets, where power had been restored, colorful lights began to twinkle. Under the lights, the cautious and wary expressions on people’s faces slowly faded, replaced by a new hope for the future.
What surprised Chi Wan the most was that, thanks to the existence of Healing Capsules, the hospital had also begun to operate normally.
When Li Xingye led her into the hospital, he headed straight for a patient room on a specific floor.
Before they even walked in, they heard a baby’s cry from inside.
It was rare to see such overflowing emotion on Li Xingye’s face, but at this moment, he gently held Chi Wan, his voice slightly unsteady. "Wanwan, this is the first new life born in our base."
Chi Wan finally understood why he had brought her here.
Li Xingye explained that the young woman had sought refuge at the base later on. Because she was so thin when she arrived, she hadn’t even realized she was pregnant.
Later, she fainted one day while out on a supply run. They had the base’s X-ray superpower user examine her, and that’s when they discovered she was nearly six months pregnant.
Since the apocalypse began, everyone’s bodies had undergone various degrees of change, especially superpower users. Five or six years into the apocalypse, it had become difficult for even ordinary people to conceive, let alone superpower users.
In fact, for most women surviving in the apocalypse, this was actually a good thing.
After all, in the bleakness of the apocalypse, everything was uncertain. The only certainty was that childbirth carried immense risk. Who would be willing to gamble their own life to bring a new soul, one with no guaranteed future, into this world to suffer?
The young woman herself found it hard to believe, and she had no idea who the child’s father was. After all, when faced with a future of certain death, many people didn’t mind seeking a moment of physical pleasure.
So, upon learning she was carrying a new life, the young woman was silent for a long time.
But here, in a base named Dawn, where everything from its name to its residents was filled with hope, she made a decision that surprised everyone—she wanted to have the baby.
After his initial surprise, Li Xingye quickly established a welfare policy for pregnant women. No one objected; in fact, everyone eagerly awaited the birth of this little life.
But the mother’s body was ultimately too weak, and the baby was born prematurely.
When she went into labor, nearly everyone in the base was praying for her. Xiao Liu stayed by her side the entire time, ready to provide aid at a moment’s notice.
Fortunately, the baby wasn’t large, and with Xiao Liu’s protection, the birth was relatively smooth.
But as they looked at the little one in the incubator—red, wrinkled, and crying its lungs out to announce its existence—everyone couldn’t help but get teary-eyed.
In that moment, the word "hope" seemed to take a physical form as never before.
And the little girl, whom her mother named "Hope," eventually cried herself tired. After being fed, she snuggled against her mother and drifted sweetly into dreamland.
