Chapter 201: Family Portrait

He was holding a family photo in his hand.

In the family photo, everyone was smiling happily. Zhang Yibao was held by his parents, and beside them was a man in a white casual outfit.

The man’s upper body had been cut off with scissors.

If you look closely, the photo posted at the entrance of the safe base is an enlarged version of the part that was cut off.

"Be good, Xiaobao. When we go home, we’ll take another family photo; there are more at home!"

Li Yinrong carefully wiped his tears with tissue paper, looking affectionate and kind.

"Mom is lying!" Zhang Yibao turned around crying, gasping for breath, "You said we wouldn’t go back anymore and didn’t let me take too many photos, only one with brother in it, and you cut brother’s photo! Wuwuwu..."

Zhang Yibao wiped his tears, crying uncontrollably.

When they escaped from home, Zhang Yibao brought a full box of things, all of which were his brother’s clothes and personal items.

He also brought many, many photos.

But his parents said the album was too big and there was no place to keep it, so they left the photos behind.

The only family photo he managed to keep was after crying and pleading.

Even the box of clothes he packed for his brother was "accidentally" thrown away by his parents.

In his memory, his brother was the kindest brother in the world.

Other people’s brothers were bad, taking away little kids’ snacks, but his brother would play with him and bring him treats every time he came back home.

He didn’t understand why his parents didn’t like such a good brother.

"Xiaobao, be good, don’t cry!" Li Yinrong patiently coaxed Zhang Yibao, "It’s just a photo, it’s not a big deal!"

"Wuwu...I don’t care, I just want brother!" Zhang Yibao wailed, "I even saw brother today, let’s go take another family photo, why didn’t you stop? Brother saw us too!"

Zhang Chenglin held a box of tissues, occasionally taking one to wipe his son’s tears, showing no intention of agreeing to his son’s requests.

In their eyes, the eldest son was already dead.

They did feel a little regretful about abandoning him.

But they didn’t have just one son. Zhang Yiming was already a walking dead, so how could they not protect this only son?

Zhang Chenglin and his wife gave all their best patience to their younger son.

There was a reason for this.

Back then, the couple had been married for many years without a child.

At that time, they were quite well off, so they didn’t mind spending money.

Through IVF, Zhang Yiming was born ten months later.

The couple valued the child they had so much.

When Zhang Yiming was in high school, the couple unexpectedly became pregnant and gave birth to Zhang Yibao.

One was a child born through technology, and the other was born naturally.

Though both were born after Li Yinrong’s ten-month pregnancy, they were ultimately treated differently.

After Zhang Yibao was born, Zhang Yiming’s presence grew weaker and weaker.

This resulted in their first reaction upon seeing their son who had come back to life being not joy, but disgust and fear.

Zhang Yibao was still a child and didn’t understand why his parents suddenly didn’t want his brother anymore.

He could only resist with loud crying.

The tactics that used to work didn’t work anymore.

Zhang Chenglin and his wife had hardened their hearts to not recognize Zhang Yiming as their son anymore.

They even took the initiative to expose Zhang Yiming’s identity to the higher-ups of the safe base and actively provided photos.

...

As evening approached.

The bus was filled with a rich fragrance.

Mr. Bai, Bai Zhengxuan, Bai Yifan, and Leng Yebai were all in the kitchen, preparing a big meal together.

Bai Zhengxuan and Mr. Bai were in charge of cooking, while Bai Yifan and Leng Yebai were busy washing and chopping vegetables.

Dish after dish was brought to the table, all complete with color, aroma, and taste.

This was the last supper, and Bai Family had to make a run after this meal.

Bai Yifan took out a prized luxury item from the baby formula given by Zhang Yiming.

It was an unopened can of baby formula.

Bai Yifan knew Zhao Zhen was quite introverted and too shy to eat much in front of people.

So, while cooking, Bai Yifan packed several large lunch boxes with every dish, put them in an opaque bag along with a can of baby formula.

They didn’t know when they would meet again after this farewell.

Before the meal started, Bai Yifan carried the bag and walked toward Zhao Zhen.

Before reaching Zhao Zhen’s nook, he heard Zhao Zhen’s voice.

"Xiao Fan!"

Zhao Zhen waved to Bai Yifan with a smile and jogged up to him.

His forehead was covered in sweat.

"We are leaving tomorrow, I came to say goodbye to you."

Bai Yifan shoved the bag into Zhao Zhen’s hands without explanation.

"Leaving? Where to? Isn’t this the safest place? Why leave?" Zhao Zhen was puzzled.

"The world is big; we shouldn’t be confined here." Bai Yifan patted Zhao Zhen’s shoulder with a profound look.

Inside: I also didn’t want to run around fighting zombies; it’s just that my voice doesn’t count in the family.

He could only go with the flow.

Zhao Zhen was taken aback, recalling the days when he was chased by zombies.

Those days were indeed terrifying, but they also taught him many survival skills.

Now, staying in the safe base made them somewhat sluggish.

He got tired and out of breath from just a little running.

"Xiao Fan, you’re right, but I’m not capable, so I have to practice nearby." Zhao Zhen scratched his head in embarrassment.

Since the apocalypse, the zombies he had killed could be counted on one hand.

"Alright, take care in the future." Bai Yifan spoke solemnly, "If we get the chance, I hope we can meet again."

"Yes, I hope we can return to school, and I’ll let you copy the English test." Zhao Zhen grinned.

"Sure!"

Bai Yifan nodded seriously.

The English test must be copied.

Any opportunity to trade with a top student must not be missed.

His English teacher once told him that if he scored full marks in English, the teacher would wash her hair upside down in women’s clothing!

For this reason, the whole class naturally helped Bai Yifan cheat...

Whether she cross-dressed or washed her hair was unimportant; Zhao Zhen just wanted the infant formula!

"By the way, there’s something else I need to tell you." Zhao Zhen whispered mysteriously into Bai Yifan’s ear, "This morning, I saw Captain Zhu leaving the safe base with a kid, but only Captain Zhu came back."

"Really?" Bai Yifan blinked.

So, what did this mean?

Captain Zhu’s issue, Bai Xiqin hadn’t explained clearly to Bai Yifan, and he didn’t quite make the connection at that moment.

"I could smell the blood on him!" Zhao Zhen lowered his voice. "Better safe than sorry, I wanted to warn you to be cautious of Captain Zhu, I noticed you’re close to them."

Zhao Zhen had roamed outside for a while and knew the value of resources out there.

People eat anything when starving.

Thanks to his nose, his family had avoided danger time and time again.