Chapter 594: Six-Eyed Flying Fish
Rumors are the sort of thing that can leave someone utterly speechless and defenseless.
For example, if you say you deliver food outside, when the news reaches the village someone might claim you were outside... cough cough...
If you say you’re in graduate school, by the time it reaches the village someone will whisper you were giving birth out there.
Or if you dare to go for a morning run in the village, people will say you must have crawled out of some widow’s bed.
This isn’t some internet joke — it really happens.
Anyone who’s lived in the countryside knows this rule.
As soon as you do something even a little out of the ordinary, in places you don’t know about your reputation has already been ruined countless times.
You might not even realize how exciting your life appears to others.
Maybe when someone talks about you, you don’t even recognize that they’re talking about yourself.
Right now, this base is exactly like that.
Everyone gathers together and wanders around with nothing much to do every day.
Once you add a couple of big mouths, one sentence passing from person to person can eventually become a million-character family drama.
There are no phones, no tablets, not even anything to entertain with.
So when something finally appears that can attract attention, of course every imagination runs wild.
People pile on details to build this love story.
It’s also one of the few entertainments that have appeared in the base.
And now, Jiang Rou and Chen Ye are the victims of the base’s Six-Eyed Flying Fish rumor mill.
Of course, Chen Ye doesn’t yet know that in everyone’s mouths he and Jiang Rou already have at least a twenty-episode tragic romance.
The relationship between Jiang Rou and Chen Ye is only a few lines long.
Maybe both Chen Ye and Jiang Rou didn’t take it seriously.
They both know exactly how things stand.
But...
As the gossip spread, it transformed into Jiang Rou and Chen Ye once being lovers.
Some even say there was an epic, tear-inducing love story between them.
Jiang Rou glared at Captain Yang Han.
She grabbed the captain’s collar with one hand.
Normally Jiang Rou would give Captain Yang some face.
But seeing everyone holding back their words made Jiang Rou realize she might already have a whole other life in people’s imaginations.
Furious, the Demoness Jiang no longer cared about the captain’s dignity, her face cold enough to frighten people.
“It wasn’t me saying it, it was them, it was them...”
Captain Yang Han trembled, but faced with Jiang Rou’s angry face he didn’t dare cry, looking extremely aggrieved.
“Say it, say everything you know!”
Jiang Rou’s anger had reached a breaking point.
Yang Han gave Boss Ma and Zhan Lei a pleading look.
But both of them averted their gaze, pretending not to see.
They even slid their chairs slightly back.
Yang Han had no choice but to stammer out everything he knew.
So Jiang Rou listened, her expression growing darker and darker.
Around the camp, the love story between her and that bastard Chen Ye had already spread.
Their romance was described as entangled and heartrending, sure to sadden anyone who heard it.
Amid the gossip, Jiang Rou never imagined she and Chen Ye had such a profound past.
Apparently they were already a couple before the apocalypse, dating for several years, with both families having met.
They grew up together — kindergarten, elementary, middle school, high school, even university.
It was supposed to be a story from school uniforms to wedding gowns.
But their families’ backgrounds were mismatched, and her family looked down on Chen Ye.
Chen Ye staged a “don’t underestimate a poor youth” play, breaking through countless obstacles until their love prevailed.
At the wedding, the apocalypse came.
Lovers were separated by distance.
Years later they met again at the base, but everything had changed.
The person she had waited for all along had found someone new.
That new person was Sun Xixi.
Captain Yang Han explained everything he knew in detail.
The guy with the full beard spoke very specifically, recounting everything he’d heard.
At first Jiang Rou listened with anger.
But alongside that anger was something else.
Of course, this was not because the gossip made her suddenly see Chen Ye differently or fall in love with him.
Love wasn’t important to Jiang Rou.
She wasn’t one of those romance-obsessed people.
She’d never been in love before, and hearing her own love story from other people’s mouths for the first time made her angry but also curious.
Still, anger dominated.
“They said... they said you saw Chen Ye and Sun Xixi together...”
So in that fury she had fought a prolonged battle with Chen Ye’s new love Sun Xixi.
There were multiple versions of the story.
Some said Chen Ye and Sun Xixi already had a child — that child was Little Fish.
Others claimed Chen Ye and Sun Xixi were the real couple, and Jiang Rou was the third party who tried to steal him, hence the fight with Sun Xixi.
Anyway, the center of this gossip was always Jiang Rou, Chen Ye, and Sun Xixi.
Why Sun Xixi got involved was because Jiang Rou publicly fought the pink-haired girl in front of many people at the base.
Jiang Rou clenched her fists until they creaked.
She looked up and saw the neighboring convoy whispering among themselves, stealing glances this way now and then.
When they noticed she was watching, those people instantly shut up and lowered their heads, acting like they knew nothing.
Outside the camp, passersby pretended not to care but glanced over.
When they saw Jiang Rou’s furious face, they shivered and hurried away.
Jiang Rou closed her eyes, exhausted after fighting Sun Xixi, without any desire to continue battling.
At that moment:
“Hey, is Captain Yang here?”
A sharp voice came from outside the camp.
Captain Yang Han heard the voice and felt as if pardoned, quickly freeing himself from Jiang Rou’s stare and running off.
As the Shepherd Convoy captain, many matters in the base still fell to him.
Jiang Rou turned to glare at Zhan Lei and Boss Ma.
Both of them were close to crawling into their trousers.
Yang Han arrived at the camp gate and saw Elder Hou Junji with his bird standing there.
“Elder Hou, what brings you here so late?”
Elder Hou glanced inside, and the bird on his shoulder lowered its voice, “Captain Yang, your team member Jiang Rou and the Fair Convoy’s Chen Ye, is it true that...”
“Shh...”
Captain Yang immediately clapped a hand over the bird’s beak.
Elder Hou looked past Captain Yang and happened to meet Jiang Rou’s furious eyes.
Elder Hou hurriedly fell silent; the bird puffed up in fright.
The bird cleared its throat and then said seriously, “Captain Yang, tomorrow morning there will be a captains’ meeting at the base. We hope your Shepherd Convoy will not be absent!”
Yang Han asked in surprise, “Is it starting then?”
Elder Hou nodded, and the bird continued, “Yes. It’s getting late, but on the first day of the new year we will act promptly!”
“Better to arrange plans in advance and make preparations!”
“Elder Hou, the Sky Whale people and the holder of one of the top ten numbered Wonders still haven’t arrived!”
Many in the base already knew that the Sky Whale and the top-ten-numbered Wonder holder were coming.
That’s also why many felt confident about this Return to the City Plan.
But so far there’s been no news, so everyone was anxious.
“Don’t worry, the Sky Whale people will arrive soon, and the top-ten Wonder holder will come too. You’ll see when the time comes!”
After some courteous words, Elder Hou left.
...
Over with Chen Ye’s group.
Dantai Bie had been visiting other convoys.
While wandering, he overheard a familiar name and an unbelievable love story.
As a chatterbox, Dantai Bie listened with his mouth slightly open, unsure how to react.
Chen Hao, who had been dragged around by Dantai Bie, stammered in surprise, unsure what to say.
Back at the Fair Convoy’s camp, Chen Ye listened to Dantai Bie’s retelling with his mouth agape.
Even Sun Xixi, listening, glanced over with a doubtful look.
Chu Che laughed so hard he nearly leaned back.
Iron Lion scratched his head, not understanding.
As for Ding Dong, she wasn’t interested in this kind of story.
Instead, Xu Lina listened with glittering eyes, seemingly amused.
Little Fish kept calling Chen Ye a “scumbag,” which Chen Ye ignored entirely.
Compared to Jiang Rou’s rage, the Fair Convoy responded calmly.
Such a small rumor didn’t distract Chen Ye.
Right now, his top priority was studying the new blade he had obtained.
For the upcoming Return to the City Plan, he wanted to make sure this blade could become combat-effective.