The Ger's Contract Marriage [BL]
Chapter 528: Ling Ling’s Man Pt.2

Chapter 528: Ling Ling’s Man Pt.2

It wasn’t until Xu Feng mentioned ’many mouths to feed’ that Ling Ling’s grip really slackened. Whatever fantasy she had, of Xu Zeng—or even Xu Feng in his place—taking care of her, was clearly misguided. Xu Feng wasn’t going to play along.

"I’m sorry, but you must be mistaken," Xu Feng said, finally freeing his hand. "I don’t know what you think my cousin owes you, but he’s not here."

Ling Ling hesitated, her eyes narrowing as if trying to figure out her next move. The men behind her shifted, clearly unhappy with how things were playing out. The scowling woman beside Ling Ling muttered something under her breath, "Trying to hop beds again..." too low for Ling Ling to catch, but he and Yujie had clearly heard.

Yujie stepped forward slightly, her posture relaxed but ready. "It sounds like a misunderstanding. We’re just passing through." She didn’t want to be involved in whatever this was either.

Xu Feng could feel the tension thickening around them. He kept his face neutral, but inside, his mind was racing. If these women and their men wanted to make trouble, they could, but Xu Feng had other things to do.

.

.

.

The van barreled down the damaged road, bumping and jostling with every crater and crack in the asphalt. Xu Feng clung to his seat for dear life, eyes wide as Feng Yujie navigated the terrain like she was competing in a street race.

Her driving was reckless—too fast for the road conditions, swerving around debris and holes as though she were on the set of "Zaging and Zooming," that old street racing movie series.

Compared to this, Xu Feng’s drive to Aran Base with Zhang Wei and Li Hao had been a leisurely cruise.

"Haah," Xu Feng sighed loudly, his stomach lurching with every sudden dip or sharp turn. He rubbed his belly, feeling queasy. There was no way he could maintain his usual healthy appearance living like this.

Since leaving Aran Base nearly a week ago, he’d been mostly trapped in a roller coaster on wheels. He wasn’t even sure how the two boys, Mingjun and Mingyue, managed to sleep through it all, strapped into their car seats in the front while their mother zoomed ahead.

After the first day, Xu Feng had moved to the back of the van, finding it impossible to sleep or keep food down while sitting up front, watching his life flash before his eyes with every reckless swerve.

Now he was stuck in the rear in one of the two seats with seat belts, clutching the strap as the van bounced and rattled over the battered road.

Yujie was a daredevil, no doubt about it. Even with her chaotic driving, the trek had been long, and Xu Feng had no idea how much longer they would be on the road. His idea to head to Xu Zeng’s base had seemed simple enough at the time, but he now realized how wrong he’d been.

It was a miracle they hadn’t been stranded—or worse—on this trip. It was difficult to get anywhere even with how few zombies there were roaming before a zombie tide.

"Are you finally getting used to my driving?" Yujie teased, glancing at Xu Feng through the rearview mirror, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Keep your eyes on the road!" Xu Feng shot back, his grip tightening on the seatbelt as the van hit another bump that sent his heart jumping into his throat.

Yujie laughed, her laughter louder this time, carefree in the face of her "skilled driving." She threw a quick glance toward her sleeping sons. They looked like perfect little angels, completely unbothered by their mother’s wild turns.

"Are you sure you don’t want me to drive?" Xu Feng asked, his voice tinged with guilt. He was freeloading, after all—riding in her van, eating her food, even using her water supply. Not to mention, none of them had had a proper bath in days.

There wasn’t enough water for two adults and two children, and all they’d been able to manage were quick wipe-downs with wet cloths in bathroom stops along the way. At least they had warm water, thanks to Mingjun.

Yujie grinned and shook her head, her hands still firmly gripping the steering wheel. "I’ve got this. You relax back there."

Relax? That wasn’t happening. Xu Feng was anything but relaxed. Since they had left Aran Base six or seven days ago, the only time he’d felt remotely at peace was when they stopped for supplies or when they camped out for the night. At least then, he wasn’t trapped in this speeding death trap.

They would deal with the occasional zombie lurking in corners—which should have been more terrifying, but he and the boys had a good sense for zombies, even the sneakier ones not entranced by whatever was commanding the zombie tide.

He sighed again, louder this time, as the van hit yet another dip in the road, his stomach flipping. There was no way he could keep living like this.

Xu Feng had been mooching off the prepared food Yujie had for herself and her sons, grateful for their generosity, but it was becoming harder to keep anything down.

Whenever they stopped to camp, Xu Feng would take the opportunity to cook something more substantial. He would make easy-to-eat meals, filled with vegetables and fruits—fresh items her could germinate almost on command.

He tried to contribute where he could, using his supplies to make foods that were portable and healthy. The boys, however, had developed a particular fondness for the jars of jam Xu Feng had stored.

Their eyes would light up whenever he brought a jar out for them, their little hands reaching eagerly. That thought alone made him smile. It seemed they were sleeping more than usual according to Yujie, but sleep was good for growing boys.

Another bone-rattling bump sent a jolt through the van, and Xu Feng had to grip the armrest to keep himself from being tossed out of his seat. He glanced down at his hands, wondering how long it would take before his knuckles turned permanently white from holding on so tightly.

"Are you sure you don’t want me to take over?" he called up to Yujie again, though he already knew her answer.

She caught his eye in the rearview mirror again, a smirk playing on her lips. "You don’t like my driving, do you?" she teased, though she never really answered him.

Xu Feng chuckled weakly, "I just like having a choice about how I die," he replied.

Yujie burst into laughter, the sound filling the van as she navigated another sharp turn. "Don’t worry, you’re safe with me. I’ve been doing this for a long time."

Safe...

That was one very foreign way of putting it. Xu Feng glanced out the front window at the cracked and broken road ahead of them. If this was safety, he wasn’t sure he wanted to know what danger looked like.

It wasn’t just the wild driving that weighed on Xu Feng’s mind, though. He felt guilty. He was tall and broad-shouldered, and that meant more water, more food, more resources. And now, instead of heading back to their own base, Yujie and her boys were giving him a ride to Xu Zeng’s base—a place he wasn’t even sure he could have reached on his own.