RUHIP Chapter 007

The next morning, Yun Jiu got up early.

He sat on the bed in a daze, because he discovered that he had no clothes to wear. If he hadn’t firmly remembered that he shouldn’t let down Lin Ye who had saved him, Yun Jiu probably would have gone out just like that.

At that moment, Lin Ye was busy with a few people at the door, so he didn’t have time to check on Yun Jiu for the time being.

Today was the third day since Yun Jiu had been sent to Lin Ye’s house, and those few little ge’ers finally couldn’t hold back their curiosity and came over early in the morning to inquire about the situation. They all knew that Lin Ye would go out to chop firewood in the morning, so they had been squatting outside Lin Ye’s house waiting.

When Lin Ye opened the door, he was startled by the sudden appearance of a few heads.

Although Lin Ye had powers, after coming to this world, unless it was necessary, he wouldn’t use them all the time.
So most of the time, Lin Ye was just a bit more physically fit than the average person here, but otherwise not much different.

Yun Xiaohua looked at Lin Ye with a grin. “Brother Lin Ye, where are you going?”

Lin Ye couldn’t even be bothered to respond, thinking: Aren’t you just asking what you already know? You’ve all been waiting at the door, and you don’t know where I’m going?

Seeing that Lin Ye turned around and left, Yun Xiaohua suddenly got anxious. “Brother Lin Ye, why are you ignoring me?”

Yinling tugged at Yun Xiaohua, hinting for him not to forget their real purpose. Only then did Yun Xiaohua remember why they came. He quickly caught up with Lin Ye and said, “Brother Lin Ye, how is Yun Jiu doing now?”

Lin Ye looked back at Yun Xiaohua, then at the people behind him. “Are you truly concerned about him, or do you have some other purpose?”

Yun Xiaohua was stunned for a moment, not understanding why Lin Ye was suddenly angry. In his memory, Lin Ye was supposed to be someone with a rare good temper, wasn’t he?

“Of course we care about him. If he’s fine now, it’s better if he moves out. After all, he’s a ge’er who was once married. It’s not convenient for him to keep living in Brother Lin Ye’s house. If this goes on too long, people will inevitably gossip.”

Lin Ye frowned slightly, then turned and walked in the direction of the mountain.

Yun Xiaohua’s words reminded Lin Ye of his previous life.

In the third month after the apocalypse broke out, mutant beasts began to appear. When someone discovered that mutant beasts could be eaten, people started forming teams to hunt them for food. While hunting a mutant beast for the sake of his relatives, Lin Ye was accidentally injured. Having not had a proper rest for a long time, he finally took the opportunity to return to the temporary base to recover. But he hadn’t rested for long before he was woken up by his cousin’s son, Xiao Hao.

Even now, he could clearly remember how Xiao Hao, with an innocent and naive expression, said cruel and greedy words to him:  “Uncle, uncle, how are you feeling now? Xiao Hao wants to eat meat. Last time, the meat from that mutant dog was really delicious. Uncle, uncle, can you stop sleeping and go catch a mutant dog for Xiao Hao?
Xiao Hao hasn’t had meat for days now.”

As he spoke, Xiao Hao even rubbed his chubby belly. At a time like the apocalypse, which child would still look like him—rather than becoming thin, he’d gained weight?

Lin Ye frowned uncomfortably and replied in a hoarse voice, “Wait a few days. Your uncle’s leg is injured and needs a few days of rest.”

Hearing that Lin Ye was unwilling, the once innocent and adorable child immediately turned cold-faced, then ran crying to his father. “Dad, Dad! Look how mean Uncle is. He’s clearly fine but is being lazy. Xiao Hao wants to eat meat! Xiao Hao wants to eat meat!”

Xiao Hao’s father, who was Lin Ye’s cousin, was an honest and upright man. He glanced at Lin Ye’s pale face and lowered his voice to scold, “Xiao Hao, do you even know what time it is now? All you think about is eating meat.
Can’t you see your uncle is injured?”

Hearing his usually doting father scold him, Xiao Hao immediately burst into tears, and the others who were resting nearby were all woken up by the noise.

Xiao Hao’s mother, Chen Lin, came over, grabbed Xiao Hao, and began to beat him hard. While hitting him, she cursed: “All you know is eat, eat, eat. Even pigs are better than you. All you do is eat and sleep. A grown man with no shame, really useless!”

Although it seemed like she was scolding Xiao Hao, everyone knew who she was really cursing.

Lin Ye’s cousin’s face turned red with anger. He pointed at Chen Lin and said, “That’s enough! Stop arguing! Everyone is exhausted. Let them get some rest!”

Chen Lin stiffened her neck and shouted, “Rest? Rest what? You’re a bunch of grown men and yet a child can’t even eat some meat. What rest? Might as well all die together!”

Lin Ye’s cousin furiously stood up and raised his hand, about to slap Chen Lin. Chen Lin immediately dragged Xiao Hao and prepared to run out of the temporary base.

“Lin Yue, aren’t you impressive now? Now that the apocalypse has come, your true colors are showing, huh? Fine, I’ll take Xiao Hao and go die, okay?!”

Lin Ye’s cousin couldn’t bear to let them go, and hurriedly stopped them. “Alright, alright, I’ll go get some meat for Xiao Hao. Stop making a scene, what kind of behavior is this?”

“You? A normal person, going to look for meat? If you die, who knows what your relatives will do to me and my son?
There’s a perfectly good ability user here, such a powerful person, so why should he just sit around acting like a master?”

In the end, it all came down to wanting Lin Ye to go out.

Chen Lin kept making a fuss like this, and Xiao Hao kept yelling too.

Lin Ye’s grandmother couldn’t bear to watch anymore and walked up to him. “Xiao Ye, how are you feeling?”

How am I feeling? How am I feeling?

Lin Ye’s grandfather was no longer around—he had turned into a zombie during the apocalypse. Now there was only an old, lonely grandmother left. In the end, Lin Ye still couldn’t refuse his grandmother’s request and dragged his injured body out to hunt mutant beasts. It was from that moment on that Lin Ye’s mental state started to deteriorate.

As a psychologist, he knew it was dangerous for him to continue like that. But a doctor cannot cure himself. He kept trying to talk himself through it, yet he kept sliding deeper into depression.

As his family became more and more greedy, everyone was pressuring him. Ethics and morals bound him so tightly he couldn’t breathe, as if countless hands were pressing him underwater so he couldn’t come up for air.

Lin Ye was an exceptionally capable and good-natured person. But someone like him was not suited to survive in the apocalypse. He had too many feelings, too many responsibilities. Things that others could easily throw away, he always guarded carefully.

But in the end, it was these very things that made him despair, that suffocated him.

The face of his weak, tearful mother, his overly kind father, and his aged grandmother all kept swirling in Lin Ye’s mind. Like they were behind a layer of water, their faces became twisted and cruel, ferocious, unfamiliar, terrifying smiles flashing one by one before his eyes.

It was the so-called family affection and greed of these people that slowly, cruelly, killed him…

“Isn’t that Lin Ye from the Lin family?”

Sanzi and Yun Mengyang saw someone lying on the ground from afar and quickly ran over.

Yun Xiaohua and the others hadn’t expected that after they left, Lin Ye would collapse outside. When they rushed to the old doctor’s house, there was already a huge crowd gathered at the door, even Yun Xiaoshu—who had been punished—was among them.

Yun Xiaohua squeezed through the crowd, feeling extremely regretful. If only he had followed, maybe Lin Ye wouldn’t have fainted outside.

When the old doctor came out from inside and saw so many people, especially a bunch of unmarried ge’ers, he couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s fine, it’s fine. This boy is in good health. Right now he’s sleeping soundly. Once he sleeps enough, he’ll wake up.”

Everyone let out a breath of relief upon hearing that. Just as the old doctor was speaking, two little ge’ers crouched low and darted into the inner room.

The old doctor noticed but it was too late, and he couldn’t help but say: “Sigh, ge’ers these days really lack restraint.
Back in my day when I courted my husband, he didn’t even look at me. If I hadn’t persistently pestered him for years, he probably wouldn’t have spared me a glance. Do you know, I…”

As the old doctor was reminiscing, he glanced toward the doorway. The crowd that had been standing there had already made a hasty escape the moment he started with his “back in the day” stories.

The old doctor was good in every way, except for his love of grabbing people and rambling on about his past. Now the entire Yunjia village knew exactly how he had pursued his husband back then.

The two who slipped into the inner room were Yun Xiaohua and another ge’er named Dong Suisui. This ge’er was small and delicate, with a pair of grape-like eyes that were very cute.

Dong Suisui and Yun Xiaohua didn’t get along at all, and both snorted at each other before heading toward Lin Ye lying on the bed. The two even shoved at each other, afraid of being one step too late.

But once they reached Lin Ye’s bedside, both of them very tacitly stopped moving, each looking at Lin Ye with faces full of heartache.

Even in his sleep, Lin Ye’s brows were furrowed, as if he were trapped in some unpleasant dream.

Yun Xiaohua pulled out a small handkerchief and carefully wiped the dirt off Lin Ye’s forehead. Then he leaned on the bed and stared at Lin Ye with a silly smile.

At the side, Dong Suisui quietly curled his lips in disdain. Though he was also an outsider, his family background was much better than most in Yunjia village.

What he looked down on most were people like Yun Xiaohua, who clung to Lin Ye all day. In Dong Suisui’s eyes, such behavior was utterly undignified.

Originally, Dong Suisui had planned to take care of Lin Ye while he was ill, so that Lin Ye would fall for him. But who would’ve expected Yun Xiaohua to come barging in and ruin everything? Looks like he’d have to wait for another chance. Thinking this, Dong Suisui snorted coldly and left.

Seeing Dong Suisui leave, Yun Xiaohua was overjoyed. Now it was finally time for him and Brother Lin Ye to be alone—just thinking about it made him happy.

Just as Yun Xiaohua was about to reach out and secretly touch Lin Ye’s hand, the door suddenly swung open.

Yun Xiaohua was so startled he nearly fell over backward. Looking back, he saw it was the old doctor who had come in.

The old doctor, seeing Yun Xiaohua reaching out like that, immediately frowned and disapproved: “Ge’ers should act like ge’ers. Back in the day, my husband was one of the most well-educated and proper ge’ers in the entire Yunjia village. When I courted him…”