Chapter 127: The Good Days Are Ahead
Lily Hart was waiting for him to spill the beans. She looked at Frost Shaw in confusion and glared at him. "Why are you covering his mouth?"
"He’s drunk. He talks nonsense when he’s drunk," Frost Shaw explained, his hand still clamped tightly over the man’s mouth.
Lily Hart nodded, her face alight with excitement. "I know." ’That’s exactly why I want to hear what he’s going to say!’
"Mmmph, mmmph..." Roman Rowe shook his head and struggled, his flushed face burning hot as he shot a resentful glare at Frost Shaw.
Frost Shaw knew exactly what Roman Rowe wanted to say, and there was no way he was going to let him say it.
So he discreetly struck one of his pressure points. Roman Rowe’s head lolled to the side, and he collapsed right into Frost Shaw’s arms.
"He’s drunk. I’ll take him back to sleep it off." Frost Shaw hastily helped Roman Rowe to his feet, terrified he would wake up in the next moment.
Seeing that he was truly wasted, Lily Hart had no choice but to wave them off. "Alright then, be careful!"
Then she grumbled under her breath, "Honestly. Can’t hold his liquor but drinks so much anyway. Only says half of what he means... what a tease! Hmph!"
Leo Colby, sitting beside her, listened to her nonstop muttering, and the corners of his lips slowly curved upward.
With those two annoying guys, Frost Shaw and Roman Rowe, gone, his mood had improved considerably.
"Leo Colby, can you get me a pan-fried bun?"
Just as he was enjoying the moment, Lily Hart’s gentle voice sounded by his ear. At the same time, she handed him her personal little bowl.
Her voice was always like that—very gentle, like a soft spring breeze, making one unconsciously quiet down to listen to what she had to say.
Leo Colby used the serving chopsticks to pick up the largest pan-fried bun and place it in her little bowl.
He picked one up for himself, and by the time he turned back to her, she had already taken a bite. The hot juice inside scalded her, and she was hissing and panting to cool it down.
She juggled the hot bun in her mouth while fanning her face with her hand in a futile attempt to cool down.
Coming from her, such an over-the-top reaction was somehow incredibly cute and playful.
"Pfft..." Leo Colby nearly died laughing. He chuckled softly as he poured her a glass of iced drink.
Lily Hart took it with practiced ease and took a small sip. The cooling was instantaneous. She let out a long sigh. "Aaah, perfect!"
Leo Colby stifled a laugh, his shoulders shaking. A single thought flashed through his mind: ’She’s so cute...’
He was learning that the more time you spent with Boss Hart, the more you realized she was a woman of many faces.
With customers, she was warm, generous, gentle, and kind. With enemies, she was ruthless, yet always left them an out.
With people like Minister Holland, she was polite and talkative, but with a touch of professional distance.
And with her friends, she was cute, childish, genuine—a genuinely funny woman.
As that thought flashed through his mind, Leo Colby froze. He recalled a line from a show he’d been watching recently:
’If you think someone is beautiful, that’s normal. But if you think someone is cute, you’re done for...’
The twenty-eight-year-old Leo Colby wondered, ’In what way, exactly, am I done for?’
His thoughts were quickly interrupted by Lily Hart. She nudged his arm with her glass and said matter-of-factly, "A little more."
The pitcher was right next to him. Leo Colby took her glass and filled it to the brim.
As Frost Shaw approached the RV, the sight of the two of them laughing and talking so freely met his eyes. His first, surprising thought was, ’They actually look good together from behind.’
That was followed by a wave of pure, unadulterated jealousy. He looked down at his own, somewhat slender frame.
Then he looked at Leo Colby’s solid, reassuringly broad shoulders and thought, ’This won’t do. I have to start working out!’
He used to be too thin from a lack of food, but killing zombies every day had at least given him a lean layer of muscle.
’Now! I have to get ripped! Boss Hart likes guys who are in shape!’ Frost Shaw was filled with a new, burning ambition.
He stomped aggressively into the RV and plopped down right across from the two of them.
They both gave him a strange look but paid him no mind, immediately resuming their one-on-one conversation.
Frost Shaw sulked on the side, drinking alone and straining his ears to listen. ’Oh, so Leo Colby is talking about his past.’
’Hmph, what’s so great about that? So he was number one on the leaderboards for a few years? Is that really something to be so proud of?!’
’He still can’t even beat an Eighth-ranked Zombie, hmph!’
The originally reserved and quiet Leo Colby had been here for ten days and was already being led astray. Drinking made him even more talkative, though it never showed on his face.
Lily Hart had also drunk quite a bit, but she wasn’t the least bit tipsy, nor did her face flush. She just smiled as she listened to him speak, even clapping when he got to the exciting parts of his story.
Frost Shaw was incredibly jealous. He wracked his brain, trying to think of some impressive story of his own to tell, but came up with nothing.
His own story was rather simple, not epic and sweeping like Leo Colby’s, who had traveled to nearly every corner of Cathaya and had truly earned his Eighth Rank through sheer effort.
He was different. He had relied on raw talent, barely training at all as he shot up to the Seventh Rank.
With that thought, Frost Shaw felt a little better. He listened quietly to the other man’s "bragging," but his eyes never left Lily Hart.
She was gentle when quiet, but radiant and dazzling when she smiled, making it impossible to look away.
The little night market party broke up with Leo Colby drunk and Frost Shaw helping him back. The kids had long since given up and gone to bed.
Lily Hart cleared away the leftovers on her table. The RV now had a one-touch cleaning function, so dust and trash were no problem at all.
She didn’t bother with the two tables outside, simply closing up the RV’s side walls before heading upstairs to collapse on her bed.
Logan Holland and his family had eaten their fill, returning to their hotel shortly before the party ended. Tanya couldn’t stop hiccuping; she was well and truly stuffed.
Back in their room, Tanya delightedly carried the little succulent she had won that evening out to the balcony. Inside, Cherie Lowell touched her stomach, which hadn’t felt this full in a long time, and couldn’t help but start to cry.
Logan Holland sighed. He knew why she was crying. His heart ached for her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "What are you crying for?" he comforted. "The good days are just getting started. You and our daughter can finally relax and enjoy life!"
They had suffered so much over the past few years, stumbling and falling countless times to get to where they were today.
Lily Hart disliked putting on a false front for too many strangers, and Logan Holland was the only person in Central Command who could contact her directly. Because of this, his own status had risen accordingly.
Cherie Lowell nodded, but in her heart, she was already making plans. As soon as she had a free moment, she would go hunt zombies to earn enough to buy more nutritious food for her daughter.
The two of them huddled together, watching with warm, smiling eyes as Tanya chatted with her succulent on the balcony. Their hearts felt full. Life was getting better and better, and the future was looking brighter and brighter...
Meanwhile, on the second floor of the RV, Lily Hart stepped out of the shower. She glanced at the curtains, which had been drawn without leaving the slightest gap, and for some reason, she felt a little creeped out.
She quickly scurried into bed and pulled her small blanket over herself. She knew that without the RV’s Protective Shield, an Eighth-ranked Zombie could crush her with a single finger.
"System, you won’t leave me, right...?" Lily Hart asked drowsily as she drifted off to sleep.
"..." The system remained silent. A string of garbled code flashed across its interface, but it never answered.
The next day, Lily Hart woke up early. After washing up and coming down to the first floor, she stretched from side to side and chanted, "Woke up this morning to greet the sun, feeling full of positive energy!"
The moment she finished stretching, dark clouds covered the sun, making it look like it was about to rain. Lily Hart covered her mouth and muttered a few curses to ward off the jinx.
WHOOSH—the deluge began.