78: Always a little girl

At the same time, the atmosphere in the penthouse where the Lei Family resided was so gloomy it felt solidified.

Mother Lei stood by the window, watching the shambling zombies on the street below, her face pale, anxiously shaking her head: "What should we do? What on earth should we do?"

She repeated herself over and over, as if saying it enough times would somehow reveal the answer.

She suddenly turned to her husband, who had been silent, and asked agitatedly: "What do we do now? The world is in such chaos, how are we supposed to live through this?"

Father Lei remained silent, looking through the window at the hordes of zombies struggling through puddles, not saying a word.

Seeing her husband's lack of response, Mother Lei grew even more flustered. She reached out and tugged at him, her voice trembling: "Say something, won't you?"

"Hm? What?" Father Lei seemed to just snap back to reality.

"I'm asking you, how are we supposed to survive?" Mother Lei pressed again, "The supplies we've hoarded won't last more than a few days. Do you really think the army will come to rescue us?"

Father Lei pursed his lips, neither answering nor denying. Both of them knew the answer was no.

When they were trapped in Y City, the higher-ups didn't offer help. Now the situation was even more chaotic, and even the army could only guard the borders, not allowing anyone in or out.

The current situation clearly showed that even the country was at a loss.

"...So are we just waiting to die?" Mother Lei's voice was low, asking the most despairing question, plunging the entire room into silence.

After a long while, Father Lei finally said in a low voice: "For now, let's try to get close to Bai Wanning. That girl seems to know more about this situation than we do. Although I don't know how she knows, it's better than us sitting around waiting to die."

"She's smart, and she's good at fighting," he said with conviction, "Everyone in the building knows her family has supplies, but no one dares to provoke her."

"If we can get on good terms with her, when she eats meat, we might at least get some soup."

Mother Lei listened to her husband's words, and after a moment of silence, she softly agreed: "Okay."

But no sooner had she agreed than she couldn't help but sigh: "If Ah Qian were awake, it would be so much better... Our worries would surely be halved."

At this moment, the door opened.

As Lei Yan stepped out of her room, she heard her parents' low voices. Her eyes welled up, and she turned to look at her Older Brother, who was still lying unconscious in bed.

"Brother, did you hear that? Please wake up quickly, or our family is really finished..."

In truth, it wasn't just the Lei Family in a panic; the Bai Family wasn't doing much better.

After hearing her children's "good words," Mother Bai angrily slapped Bai Jixuan's back twice, glared fiercely at them, and a barrage of scolding rained down.

"Did you ever consider your old mother? Rushing into such a dangerous place, aren't you afraid I'll be sending off a child with white hair?"

"Mom, it's all my fault," Bai Wanning said softly, her eyes filled with guilt.

She had deliberately rushed downstairs, intending to start with her Older Brother, awaken his ability, and make him face reality.

The world was already in such chaos; still hoping someone would come to rescue them? That could only be a pipe dream.

Even if someone came, how many times could they save them? They couldn't save them for a lifetime.

Instead of relying on others, it was better to be self-reliant.

But when she saw the deep-seated fear and heartache in her mother's eyes, the expressions that had long been bent over by Bai Qingshi, Bai Wanning suddenly realized that perhaps she had been too hasty.

While she had awakened her Older Brother, she had also worried her mother to death.

She pursed her lips and said, "Blame me if you must. The fault is mine."

"Bai Wanning, you—"

Mother Bai wanted to scold Bai Wanning for being impulsive, but then she sighed, all her strength depleted, and she slumped onto the sofa.

"Mom!"

"Mom, are you okay?"

"Mom?"

The three Sister Bai and her Older Brothers rushed to Mother Bai. Mother Bai waved her hand helplessly.

"I'm fine," Mother Bai was still trembling all over. Bai Wanning quickly sat beside her and hugged her tightly.

Seeing her mother's state, Bai Wanning felt even more guilty and mumbled, "Mom, I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize," Mother Bai said helplessly. "You're right, we can't just stay home hoping someone will rescue us anymore. Who knows when the army will come to save us? We still need to learn to defend ourselves and take care of our family."

"No, Mom—" Bai Wanning wanted to tell her mother not to worry.

After all, looking at her trembling mother, Bai Wanning suddenly felt useless. If she were strong enough, her family wouldn't have to bear this burden.

But her mother shook her head and patted her hand. Although her body was trembling, the expression on her face was very firm.

"Second child, are you feeling better? Then you and I should go out and find some supplies. Otherwise, who knows how long the government will wait to rescue us? We still need to find a way to survive."

"Mom..."

Bai Wanning still wanted to say something, but Bai Zhan had already stood up from the sofa.

He raised his hand, patted Bai Wanning's head, and said, "Mom is right. If fighting zombies can awaken us, then we must fight. We can't stay home and leave everything to you and Older Brother."

"You're right, second child," Mother Bai wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes and cupped Bai Wanning's cheeks.

Her eyes were full of maternal love as she said to her daughter, "Wanning, don't be afraid, okay? You just stay home and wait for Mom to find water and food, and I'll bring your Older Brothers back. You haven't looked well these past few days, so just stay home and don't run around."

"Take good care of your nephews. They're sleeping, and if they wake up and find no one home, they'll be scared."

Who could understand the sadness in Mother Bai's heart?

She was just a small farm woman who wielded a hoe, planted crops, and raised livestock.

Now, with the world changing, she had no choice but to step forward. She couldn't just watch her children starve to death, could she?

She was old. In this life, even if she died fighting zombies, she would have lived well, as long as Bai Zhan could awaken, it would be worth it!

Her children were still young. Even the eldest, Bai Jixuan, wasn't yet thirty. And Bai Wanning was only eighteen. No matter what, she had to let her children survive.

So, she had no choice but to go with her second son. If anything happened, she would become his shield!

Her life could be lost, but her children could not die!

Bai Wanning knew her mother's thoughts. In her previous life, her mother had also done similar things, sacrificing her life to protect Bai Jixuan.

Thinking of how her mother so lightly regarded her own life to protect her children, Bai Wanning wanted to cry.

She was truly a fool, to have admired that selfish Bai Qingshi, yet neglected her mother. Bai Wanning knew that even if she used everything to love her mother, it couldn't make up for the mistakes she made in her previous life.

Her love for her mother would never compare to her mother's love for her.

In her mother's eyes, she was still a little girl.