"Miss Wei, this isn't a hospital, you're safe here, no need to be afraid. Breathe deeply with me, let's relax slowly, OK?"

Slowly raising his right hand, Tang Xiaoquan tried to ease the girl's gradually losing control emotions by patting her gently, but who would have thought that the instant his hand barely touched her back, she let out a bird-shot scream, then shivered all over.

Goodness, this series of stimulating actions directly startled the unprepared Tang Xiaoquan, nearly causing him to fall off the edge of the sofa.

Wei Yang's gaze was wandering as if searching for something. However, if you listened closely, you could faintly hear some muttered self-talk from her moving lips: "Safe? No~ it's not safe at all! During those days, I could hear wails every day from inside the car! Crying! And those footsteps dragging with a 'swoosh' sound. They were right outside the car, everywhere!"

"Hmm, it was indeed very difficult. But how did you and your father manage to get through those tough days? For example, how did you deal with the food issue?" Unexpectedly, Hu Xiaodong asked the girl a question.

Tang Xiaoquan looked at the senior brother with confusion, obviously not understanding his approach.

After all, in his view, they should avoid discussing past bad memories with Wei Yang as much as possible at this critical moment, because those harsh experiences could easily trigger her emotional outbursts.

However, for Hu Xiaodong, who had similar experiences, he had a completely different opinion.

As it is said, you must break it before you can rebuild it. Without breaking, rebuilding is out of the question.

So, since the girl was willing to open up her sealed memories, it meant she hoped to achieve emotional release through this, and as spectators, they should dutifully cooperate to help her fully release the things oppressed in her heart.

Sure enough, once Hu Xiaodong finished his inquiry, Wei Yang's wandering eyes found focus. She stared intently at Hu Xiaodong, and her previously incoherent words became organized.

"There were too many zombies outside, my father and I were trapped in the car and couldn't get out. However, we found glucose and saline inside the car, which helped my father and me replenish some nutrition and water. But for food, there was only a half-eaten fast-food meal left by a rescue worker. We were able to endure for so long in the hospital thanks to this meal."

Listening to the girl's words, the other survivors could relate deeply. They all had experienced the pain of hunger and thus could very well understand the significance of food for a survivor.

"I don't quite remember how long we stayed in the hospital. In short, my father and my condition were getting worse. My father hardly ate for my sake, just relied on some glucose to replenish nutrition, and he was responsible for the lookout most of the time. I was really scared then, and I now truly regret not being able to share some of his burden. He bore everything alone, while I..."

Realizing the girl was about to fall into painful self-blame again, Hu Xiaodong hurriedly changed the topic: "So what happened next? How did you leave the hospital?"

With Hu Xiaodong's timely guidance, Wei Yang's thoughts were immediately redirected. She continued unhurriedly, "Later, my father, seeing that there was no hope for rescue, began to contemplate self-rescue. He discovered a bunch of keys on a paramedic who had been eaten by the monsters, then risked going out to retrieve them."

"There were 5 keys in total, but we were lucky, the first key started the car successfully."

Saying this, a rare smile floated on Wei Yang's face, even her tightly clenched fists unconsciously relaxed a bit.

"Once we left the hospital, we realized the situation was far worse than we expected, the entire street, we didn't see a single living person, oh~ except for those monsters."

"So, my father decided to leave the city, he thought maybe our hometown might still be safe."

"All the way, my father drove stably, and due to the sudden relief, I soon fell asleep until..."

"Ugh~" Tears welled up uncontrollably again, Wei Yang's hands holding the cup slowly lifted, and then she wrapped them around her chest, embracing herself tightly.

Cold, icy cold like falling into an ice cellar! That ice-cold feeling was full of despair, suffocating!

Tang Xiaoquan picked up the teacup from the girl's lap indifferently. He knew that people at this time were extremely vulnerable and urgently needed care and comfort, so...

"I know that no amount of words can relieve the pain in your heart right now, but you have a long road ahead, and the days to come will still be difficult. You must pull yourself together, not just for yourself, but also for your deceased father. Do not let him worry about you in heaven! Believe me, he sees everything you do, so, do you want him to be sad for you now?"

"No~ ugh!" Extending her arms, Wei Yang grabbed Tang Xiaoquan's shoulder and then lay down on it, sobbing loudly.

The sudden change left Tang Xiaoquan at a loss, his half-raised arm was stuck in mid-air, not knowing where to place it.

Left with no choice, Tang Xiaoquan could only cast his gaze to Hu Xiaodong seated at the opposite diagonal, hoping the latter could provide some help.

Solemnly nodding, Hu Xiaodong made an embracing gesture, whose meaning could not have been clearer, but when it came to Tang Xiaoquan's action, it seemed extraordinarily hesitant.

Frankly speaking, Tang Xiaoquan was not the kind of person who exploits others' misfortune with improper thoughts, his wavering reaction mainly stemmed from a tinge of shyness deep inside.

After all, at the end of the day, he was just a young man who had just graduated from college. Although he often joked with girls during college, when it came to such close interactions, it was really his first time.

So, feeling some instinctual shyness was understandable.

However, staring at the girl's trembling body, Tang Xiaoquan suddenly felt something in the depths of his heart fluttering for a moment.

And that fluttering had nothing to do with the romance between man and woman, it was merely an impulse out of a desire to protect.

The hovering right arm once again tried to descend a few inches, finally wrapping fully around the girl's shoulders.

"Cry, cry as much as you want, don't keep it in your heart. Whatever feels painful, sad, or oppressive, just cry it out loud, and after today, we will regroup and set off anew!"

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