The Last 299 Days of Humanity

Chapter 38 A Thousand People, One Face

Chang'e and her companions dared not obey Yu Qing's order to capture people. From the moment they were designed, they were immune to proactive attacks on humans.

Unexpectedly, Yu Qing suddenly burst into tears, which startled Chang'e and Yao Dan so much that they picked him up and ran to the room on the tenth floor.

After lying in bed, Yu Qing realized he had lost his composure. But he understood that he was suffering from unrequited love.

However, he was still unconsciously concealing his true feelings from Chang'e and the others. He pretended to be relaxed and said, "It's nothing, I'm fine. I just suddenly remembered something from the past."

Chang'e asked cautiously, "My lord, on which floor did you meet that person when you were in the elevator? I think she should be on that floor."

"It should be the 4th floor."

"Then I'll go look on the 4th floor."

Yu Qing thought for a moment and said, "If she stays in her room, you won't be able to find her. How about you do this..."

He whispered a few words in Chang'e's ear.

Chang'e nodded and left. At this moment, Yao Dan said unhappily, "Husband, what you and Chang'e discussed—can't even I know?"

Yu Qing laughed and said, "I told her to go to the fourth floor to find you."

Yao Dan said, puzzled, "Isn't that right here? Have you lost your mind, husband?"

“I know you’re here, but others don’t. I’ll have Chang’e go to the fourth floor and knock on each door to find you. Surely she’ll answer one of them, right?”

"I understand. My husband, you are so cunning."

"The word 'cunning' is inappropriate; you should say that I, your husband, am clever."

"What if they ignore you and refuse to open the door no matter what?"

"That's easy to solve. I'll have Chang'e curse you while cutting the door down..."

"No wonder they'll cause you trouble!"

"I'm afraid she won't contact me."

However, things weren't so complicated in the end. Chang'e returned to her room and said, "My lord, she's staying in room 414."

"She opened the door fairly quickly, didn't she?"

"She was very decisive; I knocked lightly twice, and she opened the door. But her reply made me very embarrassed."

What could make you feel embarrassed?

She laughed and said, "Go tell that idiot behind you not to overthink things."

Yu Qing said embarrassedly, "She saw through my intentions. I just don't believe in that nonsense!"

Chang'e and Yao Dan looked at each other and whispered to each other, "Our master is possessed by an evil spirit. Don't upset him any further."

So they diligently massaged his shoulders and back, coaxing him to lie down and rest, so that he could catch her at the pool the next day once he was well-rested.

Yu Qing thought about it and realized he had no other choice. She lived here, so she must be here to swim; there was a good chance he'd run into her there.

That night, Yu Qing tossed and turned in bed, remaining in a state of half-sleep and half-awake.

The next morning, he went to the fourth floor alone in his pajamas. The pool was empty. He took off his pajamas, jumped into the pool, and splashed around absentmindedly for a couple of minutes.

He waited for three or four hours, but didn't see a single person besides himself. His skin was raw from being soaked in water, and his stomach was growling loudly. Chang'e and the others did come by during this time, but he scolded them away.

Later, he couldn't take it anymore and tried to get up to lie down, but he found that he couldn't stand up anymore and fell into the water again with a splash.

At this point, his hands were also weak, and he choked on some bathwater, frantically struggling in the water. He was terribly worried that he would drown there, pathetically.

He managed to float on his back, coughing incessantly. Luckily, he felt Yao Dan rush over to save him, gently lifting his back. He quickly stretched out his hands and hung himself around her neck.

He was about to say, "Why did you take so long to come?" when he opened his eyes and found himself holding the beautiful woman he had been dreaming about. So he went with the flow and fainted in her arms.

He was still somewhat sober at this moment, but he longed to be intoxicated by that gentle body temperature and fragrant breath. He had never experienced anything like it before.

He felt himself being lifted onto the pool and placed somewhere, and then his hands were being pried open. He was not about to let go; he absolutely could not let go of this golden opportunity, so he used all his strength to grip the other person's neck tightly.

Perhaps due to exhaustion, he soon fell fast asleep in the other person's arms. When he woke up, he found himself still clinging to their neck. Not knowing how to continue, he could only stammer, "I...I...I'm sorry...how...how..."

The beautiful woman pushed him aside and sat down, scolding him angrily, "You're such a scoundrel! You've wasted my whole afternoon!"

Yu Qing stammered, "Yes, yes, I...I...I..."

The beautiful woman said aggressively, "Hey, is it really necessary for your heart to beat so fast? Be careful it doesn't explode. Who are you? It's been years since we've seen such a low-class... guy in Fuping."

Yu Qing said humbly, "My name is Yu Qing, I come from the First Paradise, and I was just passing by. Yesterday... I saw... it was so captivating..."

"What? Who was so charming yesterday?"

"Seeing...you..."

"Saw me? Are you seeing things? I just got here today, where did you see me? Can't you even chat?"

Yu Qing asked in confusion, "Isn't it you? Could it be your... sister?"

The beautiful woman listened, then suddenly understood, and laughed, "Interesting. You must have released a lot of dopamine yesterday, right? Hey, can you tell me why the people in your First Paradise are so old-fashioned... primitive..."

"I don't understand what you mean. May I ask your name?"

"Just call me Gushe. My meaning is very clear: you should keep up with the times and not cling to outdated ideas. What's the point of those fleeting, primitive forms of affection among humans?"

Yu Qing gradually grew bolder and argued, "It definitely has meaning... Anyway, I really want to... talk to you..."

Gu She teased, "Do you still want to grab my hand and then act like a monkey...?"

Yu Qing grabbed Gu She's hand excitedly and said, "That's exactly what I want! I don't care what kind of monkey it is!"

Gu She blinked and said, "Interesting! My hand works better than any switch. Look at your dopamine faucet, it's running like water!"

She touched his face with her hand and laughed, "Doesn't this make you even more excited?"

Seeing that Gu She only wanted to mock him, Yu Qing mustered his courage, pulled her head close, and kissed her hard.

Gu She flew into a rage and slapped him. Yu Qing flinched, but his ear was still hit hard.

Gu She glared at Yu Qing and said, "Disgusting! Even monkeys don't know what filth is!"

After saying that, Gu She got up and left, leaving Yu Qing there feeling extremely frustrated.

Just now, while he was talking with Gu She, Chang'e and Yao Dan, noticing he hadn't returned for so long, came to the pool to look for him. Seeing that he was already talking to his sweetheart, they went off to play on their own, relieved. At that moment, they naturally had no idea of ​​his current situation. Yu Qing mechanically put on his pajamas and went to the fourth floor to find Gu She, partly to apologize for his rashness, and partly so he could have a proper chat with her.

As luck would have it, the beautiful woman on the fourth floor had just come out and was about to leave. Of course, she wasn't Gu She. Seeing a boy in pajamas suddenly appear in the corridor, she was both surprised and disgusted, so she stepped aside to let Yu Qing pass quickly.

Yu Qing, however, mistook her for Gu She, and stepped forward to grab her hand, saying, "I was wrong just now, please don't leave like this, okay?"

The beautiful woman, unaware of the reason, pushed him away and said, "Since when did Fuping let all these lunatics in? Get out of my way!"

Yu Qing wasn't about to let her go, and without thinking, he reached behind her to grab her clothes. This caused a huge problem, as he pulled her skirt down in one fell swoop.

The beautiful woman got angry, slapped him twice, picked him up, dragged him to the stairwell, and threw him down.

Yu Qing fell and got a bruised and swollen face; he was lucky he didn't break any arms or legs. He climbed up the stairs and finally reached the elevator door, straightened his arm, and pressed the up button.

A moment later, the elevator doors opened, revealing yet another Gu She standing inside. Yu Qing instinctively covered his head and said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you..."

To everyone's surprise, this young lady was quite helpful. Stepping out of the elevator, she asked, "What's going on? Which floor are you going to? Do you need my help?"

However, the moment Yu Qing looked up, she paused for a moment, then blurted out, "Why is there something cumbersome here..."

But she quickly calmed down and asked, "Did you fall?"

Yu Qing gave an irrelevant answer, saying, "Gushe, I really didn't mean to..."

The beautiful woman shook her head and said, "I think you've mistaken me for someone else. I'm not Gu She, I'm Qian Nu..."

"Why do they all look the same?!"

The beautiful woman named Qiannu nodded and smiled, "I understand, you may have mistaken me for someone else. To the average person, the residents of Fuping all look exactly the same, and you can't tell the slight differences between us. Which floor do you live on? Judging from your appearance, you're probably badly injured."

"I live in room 4A on the tenth floor..."

"Then I'll take you back. May I ask, if I may ask, I just scanned you and you're a 100% native human. Where did you come from?"

"The first pristine paradise for humankind."

"I see, that's remarkable. However, I must tell you that the world is completely different now than it was a hundred years ago, and you may not be able to adapt to the current environment..."

“That Gushe…”

“I really don’t know Gu She. You’re looking for her, right? That’s strange. What kind of entanglement could you have? We, the people who help you, never get involved with anything that’s a burden, or a man.”

"I... kissed her on impulse..."

The beautiful woman laughed and said, "So that's how it is. No wonder she beat you up like a pig's head. Who told you to be so lusting after a beautiful woman? Boys are considered the dirtiest trash here, and everyone calls them a burden. How dare you be so bold!"

Yu Qing said angrily, "Absurd! If you had no burdens, were you born from cracks in rocks?"

Qiannu said, "We didn't grow out of a crack in a rock, but we definitely grew out of a glass bottle!"

"How can this be?"

"Why not? All the people we've helped are clones of Yao Ji, the girl who was hailed as the most beautiful girl in a thousand years. There are nearly ten thousand of them now."

"The most beautiful girl is a clone? She still shouldn't be without boys..."

Qiannu said seriously, "I advise you to quickly give up those low-class ideas! We girls don't need boys at all."

Yu Qing muttered, "Is there not a single normal person among them?"

Qiannu shook her head and said, "It's you who's abnormal. In order to live longer, we don't have some extra organs, and some are replaced with precision-manufactured ones... Do you understand?"

Yu Qing exclaimed in surprise, "Not...a real woman?"

"You're talking nonsense! You deserve to be beaten, you piece of trash!"

After saying that, Qiannu angrily took the elevator and left alone. Yu Qing pressed the elevator's ascending button again, and this time he managed to stand up.

When he returned to his room dejectedly, Chang'e and Yao Dan were shocked to see him covered in wounds.

They looked at each other, not daring to ask him how he got injured.

Yao Dan telegraphed Chang'e and asked, "Did my husband do something too outrageous and get beaten up by that beautiful woman?"

Chang'e telegraphed, "My lord, weren't you having a pleasant chat with that person just now? He shouldn't do anything out of line, right?"

Yao Dan: "It's hard to say. I think my husband is bewitched by that beauty..."

Chang'e: "He might not go to the Second Paradise again. Fuping is truly a haven for beauties."

Seeing them whispering amongst themselves, Yu Qing unleashed all his pent-up anger on them, yelling, "What are you muttering about? You're all a burden! I think we should cut your mouths off too. You're just superfluous organs, keeping you around is pointless!"

Yao Dan asked mischievously, "Do they cut out the tongue too?"

Yu Qing said, "What's the point of keeping it? You can roast a pig's tongue and eat it, but yours can only be used as a brush."

Chang'e laughed and said, "My lord, you should keep mine. Otherwise, I won't be able to pronounce it properly and will only be able to call you 'foreigner' instead of 'my lord'."

Yu Qing gestured for Chang'e and Yao Dan to come over, put his left arm around Chang'e and his right arm around Yao Dan, and said, "You two should comfort my broken heart."

"My lord, things aren't going well, are they?"

"Husband, how did you get this injury?"

Yu Qing said, "Let's not talk about it. I want to leave now. You go and talk to Daji and the others."

Chang'e said, "It might take a while. Furong just came over and said she'd go out and buy you some more food and stuff..."

Yao Dan said, "Daji went along too."

Yu Qing said, "I'm not buying anymore. I'll find them right away!"

Chang'e asked cautiously, "What's wrong, my lord? Can't we wait a little longer? We can't go without food on the road, right?"

Yao Dan said, "Why don't we clean your wounds first? You can't just set off in your pajamas; it might get hot on the road."

Yu Qing sighed, "What you say makes sense. Let's leave first thing tomorrow morning. I don't want to stay in this place, all show and no substance, for another minute!"

Chang'e and Yaodan couldn't help but exchange messages in private again, guessing that Yu Qing might have been hurt too deeply by that beautiful woman.

Yao Dan was even worried that Yu Qing would regret it halfway there and run back.
Chang'e, however, thought the opposite: Yu Qing was probably rushing like a madman, wishing he could be 108,000 miles away from here in a single day.

(End of this chapter)