154: Rarely sensible

She blinked, and tears immediately filled her watery eyes: “Brother Lei, believe me, Sister Bai really misunderstood me. When I saw that snake, I was scared out of my wits… Wuwu, you know how afraid of snakes I am.”

“I really had no ill intentions!” she declared, as if making an oath, but internally, she was cursing Bai Wanning a thousand times.

She hadn’t expected Bai Wanning to be so vicious, cutting off all her retreat with just one sentence.

The reason she didn’t dare to confess was because she knew that Lei Qian would never agree to her idea.

She had always felt that as long as she stuck close to Lei Qian and drove away those annoying women around him, she would eventually win his heart.

She was still young; although she developed late, as long as she ate well and had enough nutrition, she would eventually become a charming beauty that men couldn’t resist.

But just as she reached this point, Bai Wanning stood in front of her like a wall, making all her efforts go to waste.

She had originally pretended to be gentle and considerate in front of Lei Qian, hoping that he would see her softer side and be moved by her.

Now, Bai Wanning’s single sentence had shattered the image she had meticulously cultivated.

How would Lei Qian see her?

Bai Wanning had ruined everything for her.

Lei Qian remained silent for a long time, looking at the sobbing girl in front of him, and finally spoke: “Lu Yin, don’t misunderstand, I’ve always treated you like a younger sister, and I’ve never had any other thoughts.”

“As for what happened tonight, I will explain it clearly to your brother.”

“Ayu is very capable; from now on, you can be in charge of procurement with him.”

The words weren’t explicit, but the meaning was clear: he no longer wanted to take her hunting.

Lei Qian didn’t give Lu Yin a chance to speak, turning and walking away.

“Brother!” Lu Yin looked at his retreating back, her face a mix of green and white, her eyes full of unwillingness and humiliation, finally stomping her foot heavily and striding towards the small truck nearby.

And all of this was seen by Da Cheng, who had just returned from outside with a basket of vegetables and frozen meat.

He looked at Lu Yin’s defeated appearance and clicked his tongue.

If he had known this woman was so useless, he might as well have flattered Bai Wanning more at the beginning; perhaps the situation would be completely different now.

He rolled his eyes and turned to look at Bai Wanning, who was eating cherries in the car.

She was eating with relish, a little juice on the corner of her mouth, her expression calm and composed.

At this moment, Da Cheng actually felt a little envious of her, and also a little wronged.

Although Bai Wanning was not an original member of the team, she could easily enter the core, not by means, but by genuine ability.

She didn’t need to flatter anyone, didn’t need to curry favor with anyone; she won the trust of Lei Qian and the entire team solely on her strength.

If he were as useful as her, Da Cheng believed, the team would have accepted him long ago.

After all, someone like Lei Qian was too difficult to approach.

Even a “connected” person like Lu Yin, Lei Qian could push away without mercy.

Let alone him; apart from Yang Chunhua, everyone else in the team was polite but not close to him.

Every interaction felt like wearing a mask; he even wondered if they had experienced something in the past that made them so cold and guarded.

Only Yang Chunhua was good to him, but that was far from enough.

He didn’t want to depend on anyone, much less rely on a woman to gain the team’s recognition.

He wanted to rely on himself, truly, to be treated as one of them.

Da Cheng originally thought that by staying with Yang Chunhua, he would quickly win the team’s trust.

After all, although they had only known each other for a few days and hadn’t spoken more than ten sentences, they had gone through life-and-death situations together.

Logically, this kind of bond should be enough for him to smoothly become a team member.

But Da Cheng knew very well that the team remained cold towards him.

At most, they would say a few polite words, but they never allowed him to participate in any team meetings.

They were cold to him, but completely different towards Bai Wanning.

Because the team respected Lei Qian, they naturally respected Bai Wanning, who had once saved Lei Qian’s life.

It was ironic to think about; he had gone through thick and thin with the team, only to receive aloofness and perfunctoriness, while Bai Wanning, merely by saving Lei Qian once, could easily gain the team’s acceptance and respect.

She could joke with whomever she wanted; even if she kicked Lei Qian out of the car, no one thought she was arrogant, but rather felt that what she said made sense.

Even the usually rational Yang Chunhua agreed: “If a man wants to pursue a new life, he should first let go of old burdens.”

Lei Qian was also exceptionally lenient towards Bai Wanning, which was utterly perplexing.

What kind of woman couldn’t someone like Lei Qian get? Forget any woman; if he wanted to, he could have a different one every night.

But for some reason, he favored Bai Wanning.

If it were Da Cheng, he would have kicked Bai Wanning out of the team long ago, making her suffer and beg on her knees until she understood her place.

She was a woman, and no matter how strong a woman was, she still had to rely on a man, didn’t she?

What was she so proud of? It was just one night!

Da Cheng couldn’t see through Bai Wanning’s tricks.

But no matter how dissatisfied he was, he didn’t dare utter a single malicious word.

He understood in his heart that Lei Qian respected Bai Wanning, and the entire team followed suit in respecting her.

If he really said anything offensive, he feared that Lei Qian would deal with him before Bai Wanning even had a chance to speak.

Thinking of this, Da Cheng silently withdrew his gaze, returned to his truck, and started the engine.

As the engine roared, everyone quickly rushed out of the half-collapsed building and drove towards the City Hospital.

Supplies were important, but at this moment, Director Wang’s wife’s life was more critical.

【Ding——】

【Special crystal core detected.】

【First-level Zombie detected. Host, would you like to exchange crystal cores with the system?】

Bai Wanning was stunned when she heard the system prompt, a hint of surprise appearing in her eyes.

She subconsciously turned to look at the street ahead and asked in a low voice: “System, can you give me a rare crystal core collection map?”

【Request accepted——】

【Map generation complete.】

A small map appeared before her, red dots flashing, marking the locations of the First-level Zombies.

However, she didn’t want to bring the entire team along; there was no need for everyone to risk their lives with her.

She turned to look at the team members who were loading goods and calmly asked: “Do you want to continue collecting supplies, or should we head to the City Hospital now?”

The City Hospital was in the city center, and there were still many shops in the city center that hadn’t been cleared.

Supplies were piled up like mountains; it would be a pity to give them up just like that.

Even if she personally didn’t need them, those medicines, food, and daily necessities were life-saving resources for the team members.

“We’ll continue collecting.” Before anyone else could speak, Director Wang had already said it.

Seeing everyone look at him with puzzled expressions, he raised an eyebrow and said calmly: “Why are you looking at me? I’m part of this team; how can I selfishly ask you to give up these important supplies just to save my wife?”

“My wife has been waiting for me for over a month; if she’s still alive, waiting a few more hours won’t matter.”

Bai Wanning nodded when she heard these words, thinking to herself: Fortunately, there are still a few reasonable people in this world.