As the temperature gradually returned to normal, Xu An also progressively removed the air conditioners and fans.
The camisole and shorts she had been wearing were gradually replaced with short-sleeved shirts and long pants.
Gou Dan also perked up considerably, no longer looking listless and panting with its tongue hanging out on the ground.
It also started to run around the house with abandon.
To prevent Gou Dan from wrecking the house, Xu An prepared plenty of toys and chew sticks for it, which came in handy at this time.
Otherwise, her custom-made rosewood furniture would be in jeopardy.
Gou Dan had recently been peeking through the curtains, appearing eager to play with the little zombies outside, and Xu An had lectured it thoroughly.
Since their conversation that day, Xu Yan began to join Xu An. Whenever they had free time, they would both keep an eye on the radio, afraid of missing any piece of news.
Upon waking up in the morning, Xu An told her mother not to cook.
She took out four cages of crab roe soup dumplings from her space. The dumplings still retained the heat they had when they just came out of the steamer.
She also took out two bowls of large wontons with thin skins, served with a pot of floral fruit tea, which was refreshing and cut through richness.
Xu An discovered that ever since her space absorbed the glowing mushroom, even her appetite had decreased significantly.
This made her even more suspicious that her sudden surge in appetite before was due to that mysterious tree branch.
The wontons were springy and the broth was fresh and sweet. She held her bowl and sipped the soup little by little, paired with the savory soup dumplings, it was incredibly satisfying.
After eating her fill, she had a cup of fruit tea, sweet and sour, which made her squint with comfort.
Xu An suddenly remembered that when she was stocking up, she had bought a lot of good tea.
She then began to search her space and found Duyun Maojian stacked in a corner.
"Buying this tea back then cost quite a lot of money."
When she was young and ignorant, she found the teas collected by Xu Yan and used them to make tea eggs. She originally wanted to give her mother a surprise, but she found her mother gritting her teeth, and not looking happy at all.
It was only later, when the two of them had a heart-to-heart.
Xu Yan then told her that the tea she used to make tea eggs cost 666,000 yuan per kilogram.
Xu An was stunned when she heard this. It wasn't like boiling tea eggs, it was clearly boiling gold.
This made it understandable why her mother had looked like she dared not speak her mind back then.
Afterwards, the thought of the tea eggs she had given away would send waves of heartache through her.
Unexpectedly, the mother and daughter had the free time amidst the chaos of the apocalypse to enjoy tea.
It was quite an artistic sentiment.
Xu An idly flipped through the map and discovered a large shopping mall nearby, deciding to go and check it out.
She should have gone earlier, but it was delayed due to the zombie tide. Now that the zombie tide had stabilized, Xu An thought it was a good time to go.
To see what else could be used, otherwise, when the heavy rain arrived, everything would be soaked and wasted.
"Mom, I'm going out for a bit to check the situation outside. You be careful at home."
"Got it, got it, go ahead~"
Since Xu Yan had gone out for some hands-on experience, she now looked down on the little couch potatoes outside. Hearing that Xu An was going out, she just casually reminded her a few times.
As they were talking, Gou Dan directly charged and pounced Xu An onto the sofa, wagging its tail non-stop.
Its expression was fawning, its tongue sticking out, panting.
As if saying to Xu An, "Take me out to play, take me out to play with you~"
Xu An originally didn't want to bring Gou Dan. It wasn't for any other reason than fearing that Gou Dan would go out and bite zombie heads again.
She didn't want to experience that horrific stench again.
So she made a pact with Gou Dan, regardless of whether Gou Dan could understand.
"First, you can go out with me, but you're not allowed to bite zombie heads anymore, no, no zombie heads at all!"
Xu An remembered that not only humans, but many animals would also mutate. It was better to agree in advance!
"Also, don't run around, you must stay by my side, or you won't get canned food for a month!"
Gou Dan's inner monologue: "I might really be a dog, but you're definitely not human."
Under Xu An's oppressive power, Gou Dan eventually compromised.
After leaving the house, Xu An thought for a moment and took out her Wuling Hongguang from her space.
Other cars were too flashy. To act low-key, driving this car was the safest.
She opened the car door to let Gou Dan in, and then got into the car herself.
Sitting in the car, Xu An took out the map again and studied it carefully.
As an ultimate directionally challenged person, she felt that this map was more difficult than a linear function!
Leaving the neighborhood, Xu An looked at the map and drove north along Lin'an Road.
There were zombies all along the way. The Wuling Hongguang was too small. A regular SUV could smash and crush zombies, but clearly her little Hongguang couldn't.
Densely packed zombies blocked the front of the car. If she had any sort of trypophobia, she would probably go crazy on the spot.
However, this also caused the small car to drive slowly. Xu An didn't care. As her mother said, the current zombies were all little couch potatoes, unable to even smash a car window. As long as she stayed in the car, there wouldn't be any problems.
She treated it like a leisurely drive, holding the steering wheel while looking at the map.
Gou Dan, on the other hand, kept barking excitedly at the continuous stream of zombies, its doggy face displaying four characters:
"Eager to try!"
Xu An looked speechless, but was also curious why Gou Dan hadn't mutated after swallowing zombie blood.
Or had Gou Dan already mutated?
This thought sparked an idea. She remembered Gou Dan's changes since her rebirth, and its increasing human-like intelligence.
All of this made Xu An more convinced of this possibility.
That's right, the end of the world had arrived, and all sorts of plants and animals were mutating, so why couldn't her Gou Dan mutate?
Preferably into a large direwolf that could be ridden.
Xu An felt excited just thinking about it, her eyes shining as she stared at Gou Dan, wondering when this little idiot would transform.
The thought of her riding Gou Dan, its mane flowing majestically as she galloped across the icy plains, made Xu An want to kiss Gou Dan.
As if sensing Xu An's naked gaze, Gou Dan shrunk its head and cautiously looked back.
Seeing the look in its mother's eyes, it felt that she wasn't plotting anything good.
With a whimper, it obediently lay down on the seat.
Only then did Xu An snap back to reality, remembering her timid little dog, and abandoned her unrealistic fantasies.
She focused on the map, not noticing a black G-wagon following far behind.