Surviving the apocalypse with a wife and a system! [GL]

Chapter 238: coaxing.

Even though she knew that Bai Li was safe but until and unless she saw her with her own eyes, she was still paranoid. It made her feel powerless. The worst part was not even the danger itself. It was waiting and not knowing. If Bai Li had been right there with her, she could have at least seen her and touched her and confirmed she was safe. But Bai Li was outside, where Yan Cijin could not reach her, and that made every second feel longer than it should.

Meanwhile, Bai Li had already safely returned to the tenth floor.

She had moved back up with steady steps, the revolver already stored away and the dagger back in hand. The hallway still carried that stale mix of dust, sweat, old cooking oil, and the faint rotten smell that had settled in the building since the apocalypse started. The air was warmer than it should have been, the kind of thick summer heat that made every movement feel a little stickier than usual. Bai Li walked toward the large white iron gate in the stairwell and reached out to open it, intending to head home and put her things away. She had only just touched the handle when she heard a security door next door open.

The sound made her pause.

Yan Cijin rushed out.

She had moved so quickly that Bai Li blinked once in surprise. Yan Cijin stood there with a tense, anxious expression, staring at her like she was checking whether Bai Li was real or not. Bai Li had not expected her to come out at all, so for a second she looked a little blank. Then she asked, half puzzled, half amused, "I went downstairs a few times. What’s wrong?"

Yan Cijin did not answer immediately.

Her eyes were slightly red, the kind of red that came from worrying too much, blinking too much, and forcing herself not to cry until she had seen the person she was worried about. She stepped forward without hesitation and pulled Bai Li toward her, not in a rough way, just enough to make Bai Li stop moving and face her properly. Yan Cijin’s gaze swept across Bai Li’s face first, then her shoulders, her arms, her sleeves, her waist, and the rest of her body, checking every visible place with a look that was both serious and frightened at once. She was looking for blood, for torn clothes, for any sign that Bai Li had been hurt badly and had not said anything.

When she found no serious wounds, her shoulders loosened just a little.

Then her gaze landed on Bai Li’s right cheek.

There was a small abrasion there, faint but visible, the kind of scratch that looked harmless from a distance but still left a red mark on skin. Yan Cijin’s fingers moved before her thoughts did. She reached out gently and touched the area around the abrasion with careful fingertips, as if she was afraid that any little pressure might hurt Bai Li more. Her voice dropped into something soft and worried when she asked, "Does it hurt?"

Bai Li looked at Yan Cijin and immediately felt a tiny pinch of guilt in her own chest. She could handle zombies. She could handle guns. She could handle blood and broken bodies and danger and all the stupid ugly things this world kept throwing at her. But Yan Cijin standing there with red eyes, looking like she was one more bad piece of news away from crying, made Bai Li feel strangely helpless.

"No, it doesn’t hurt," Bai Li said right away. Her voice was steady, almost casual, like she was trying to talk about something completely ordinary. "Don’t worry. I’m fine."

She knew that was the answer Yan Cijin wanted to hear, so she said it clearly and gently. She did not want her to keep worrying over a scratch this small. It really was just a minor scrape. It would heal on its own if left alone, and Bai Li had already survived much worse.

But hearing her say that did not make Yan Cijin relax.

If anything, Yan Cijin looked even more upset.

Her eyes became redder, and tears started gathering there in a way that made Bai Li’s heart sink a little. Yan Cijin stared at her with the kind of look that said she had been frightened badly and was still trying not to show it too openly. Bai Li opened her mouth, wanting to say something else, maybe to explain, maybe to joke, maybe to do something to make the atmosphere less heavy. But Yan Cijin did not give her the chance.

She did not say anything more.

Instead, she turned around, walked back into her apartment, and closed the security door behind her.

The sound of it shutting was not loud, but to Bai Li it felt strangely loud anyway.

She stood there for a second, a little unsure.

What had she said wrong?

Bai Li frowned slightly, her expression turning awkward. She really did not know what she had done to make Yan Cijin cry again. She had been perfectly honest. She had not lied. She had not tried to hide the wound. The scratch really was nothing serious. So why had Yan Cijin looked like that? Why had she suddenly turned around and gone back inside with tears in her eyes?

Bai Li was not good at coaxing women.

That was the truth.

She was stronger, sharper, more direct than most people around her, but when it came to soft emotions, tears, and the kind of hurt that did not show up on the surface, she often did not know what to do right away. The problem was not that she did not care. She cared a lot. Sometimes too much. She just did not know how to turn that care into the right words at the right time.

She rubbed the side of her nose lightly and let out a tiny sigh.

.

.

.

TO BE CONTINUED.