Chapter 1: Luo Liang Chen and Luo Xiao Nian

  Do modern people find zombies unfamiliar? How many people mention zombies and feel confused?

  But I knew that zombies, such a terrifying thing, were still quite far away from our lives, existing only in movies and TV dramas. So, no matter how scary they were, to us, they were just an entertaining element, until that day when the distance between me and it was less than five meters, and I clearly saw its face with a pair of grayish-white eyeballs like wax balls, devoid of any human aura, I truly felt the chill rising from my toes.

  It appeared suddenly, wearing a nurse's uniform stained with fresh blood, and suddenly appeared in the corridor of the mall, holding a human head that had been gnawed to pieces, with a section of spine attached, looking like a medical model. The bloody person was growling lowly from his mouth, standing there in a daze, as if he himself hadn't figured out the situation yet. I suddenly felt my stomach churning, and I vomited while holding onto the table edge, my head buzzing, eyes starting to see stars. Damn! A curse word burst out of my mouth, "Luo Xiaonian, are we still having a nightmare at home?"

  Luo Xiaonian is my sister, I finally managed to stop vomiting and found that she was also vomiting yellow bile, completely unable to respond. The whole restaurant was filled with people vomiting, ordinary people couldn't bear the stimulation of this scene. Suddenly, a sour and smelly odor rose in the restaurant, all from the delicious food we had just eaten, now it's all returned to the blue ocean.

  The blood-covered person was a woman, her face completely obscured by the blood, making it impossible to discern her features. However, it was clear that her eyes had lost their pupils, leaving only a terrifying greyish-white colour. She stumbled around in place, while the people around her had long since fled in terror. Within a 30-metre radius, we were the only ones left alive, trapped inside the Blue Ocean restaurant. It seemed as though she was momentarily stunned, perhaps due to being collectively vomited on by the crowd. Then, amidst our collective screams, she suddenly dropped the severed head from her hand and charged towards us with outstretched arms, like a cannonball.

  The little girl at the entrance of the restaurant was still leaning on the reception desk, vomiting, and before she could straighten up, she was knocked to the ground by a bloody man. Everyone inside the restaurant suddenly let out an even louder scream. I felt my whole body numb and unable to move, I could only stare blankly as the little girl's throat was torn open by the bloody man, letting out weak gurgling cries, but no one had the courage to go save her, everyone was scared stiff.

  I only felt that all the blood in my body seemed to have rushed into my head, swelling my eyes and making my ears ache. A part of my consciousness was still clear, telling me to call the police quickly! Call 110! But a louder voice in my mind kept echoing: it's a zombie! So zombies really exist! I'm done for, the apocalypse has arrived...

  An hour ago...

  "Sashimi platter for two, cheese baked shrimp ten pieces, French foie gras four portions, beef tongue two portions, tuna salad two portions, raw oysters two portions......" My younger sister Luo Xiaonian was holding the menu and ordering. She's one of the most authentic foodies I know. On December 1st, 2014, Monday at 10 am, there were hardly any customers in the entire Kaidi Mall except for the staff. She dragged me to Blue Ocean Teppanyaki early, planning to have a big feast. However, I soon discovered that we weren't the only ones who knew about the half-price deal on Mondays - the teppanyaki place quickly filled up with two tables of people.

  I'm a lazy person, and the difference between me and my sister has always been that when it comes to instant noodles, I can just swallow them whole without cooking, as long as I'm full. But she, even in elementary school, knew how to cook noodles on the gas stove, and would even cut some sausage into the noodles and make a decent fried egg. Looking at her, I was both impressed and disdainful. To be honest, because of her love for food, from the moment I started working and earning money, I've been very generous towards her. In this city, every new restaurant that opened within my budget, I would take Luo Xiaonian, who was still in college with little pocket money, to try out. I still remember the first time we had sushi, she ran to the bathroom to throw up... But these experiences didn't stop Luo Xiaonian's love for food. She vowed to eat all the delicious food in the world and was enthusiastic about finding new restaurants in the city. She even collected a bunch of discount coupons so that she could enjoy affordable good food at any time.

  "Lu Xiaonian, slow down a bit. Although it's a buffet, wasting food is shameful." I couldn't help but remind her in a low voice as I saw her ordering frantically. After the waitress walked away, she winked at me and said, "I didn't eat breakfast so that I could fully enjoy this meal."

  I glared at her, "Don't make excuses for your terrible lifestyle habits. I've told you over 800 times, not eating breakfast can lead to gallstones, and starving one moment and bingeing the next is the most harmful to your body."

  Luo Xiaonian slyly replied, "There's no need to deliberately change my lifestyle habits. When I get married and have kids, I'll naturally return to a normal track for their sake. Don't worry about it, sis."

  I'm 29 and Luo Xiaonian is 27, we should be married with kids at this age, but unfortunately, we've become two fashionable leftover women in today's society. I graduated from university early and registered a small computer company on my own, then Luo Xiaonian joined after graduation, becoming the second largest shareholder of the company. At that time, there were only two of us in the company, so we were both bosses and employees. With our relatively smart brains, the company gradually developed into a specialized network hardware wholesaler with over 30 people, and it looked bigger in scale, earning some money to buy houses and cars. However, in the past two years, the company's development has entered a bottleneck period, as manufacturers' market flattening has greatly reduced the profits of local distributors, and now we're relying on the customer relationships accumulated over the years to maintain the company's operations.

  Our house is a high-rise in a fully enclosed community very close to the company, on the 14th floor.

  Our car is a black Honda Accord, chosen by Luo Xiaonian. She likes it and has a talent for driving. She drives very well, even better than many men. She loves to drive and I love to sit in the passenger seat. We work together seamlessly like a well-oiled machine.

  "I'll go heat up a pot of fine wine, would you like some?" I took off my outerwear and hung it on the back of the chair. Immediately, a young waiter came over to help me put it away. Luo Xiaonian shook her head, "I still have to drive later, can't drink any alcohol. Help me get a cup of coffee instead."

  "Does sake count as alcohol?" I teased her as I headed to the liquor section, my tolerance is slightly better than Luo Xiaonian's, she's the type who gets drunk after two beers.

  Returned to the seat with two cups of coffee and a jug of clear wine, found that the sashimi platter had already been served, this is what I love, no second words, start eating!

  "Sizzle..." The butter on the iron plate in front of me melted at high temperature, and the first to be pan-fried was beef tongue. The iron plate burning master was a young handsome guy, with skilled movements, neat and efficient, and soon he handed over the slightly charred beef tongue to our plates. I cut a piece and put it in my mouth, fragrant!

  My fighting strength is not good, two pieces of yellow oil fried goose liver eaten, the stomach will feel greasy, for a while nothing can be eaten, so I picked up a cup of watermelon juice, slowly sipping, waiting for Luo Xiaonian to continue eating wildly at the same time, quietly observing the surrounding food friends.

  To my left is a couple, who appear to be around 26 or 27 years old. The girl has long, straight black hair and a calm face with no makeup on her pale skin. What catches the eye most are her long eyelashes, which definitely aren't due to mascara. The boy is slender and tall, with a pair of small but spirited eyes that always seem to be smiling. His temperament looks good at first glance. They're chatting quietly, and occasionally the boy makes cute expressions at the girl, which is quite adorable.

  Next to Luo Xiaonian sat a young woman dining alone, very tall, at least 1.7 meters, with a cold and elegant temperament, a model-like figure, but not eating like one, I heard that models count the grains of rice when they eat, while this tall girl was devouring a large steak and drinking beer in big gulps, completely disregarding the calories she was consuming, her carefree demeanor was no less than ours as pure foodies.

  On the other side of the tall girl sat a couple in their thirties, the husband was a chubby man with short curly hair, and his wife was also plump, with beautiful eyes, her chestnut-colored curly hair set off her fair skin, she must have been very pretty when she was a teenager, and now her round face looks quite comfortable. Her eating habits were lovely, from time to time she would exclaim to her husband how delicious the food was, her husband seemed like a kind-hearted person, nodding constantly as he ate.

  This is the diner for our half-circle teppanyaki, and opposite us are a couple of high school girls on the left, a middle-aged couple in their 40s who look refined and elegant on the right, and a family of three in the middle, with the elderly likely being the grandparents, and the young couple holding a one-year-old boy is the son and daughter-in-law, the father is handsome, the mother is beautiful, and the baby is lovely, a happy family. The chef responsible for cooking teppanyaki for them is another young chef, back to back with our chef, each busy and having fun.

  Luo Xiaonian suddenly furrowed her brow and quietly reached a hand towards her belly, I quickly stopped her, "What are you doing? The hall is full of people, do you want to loosen your belt?"

  Luo Xiaonian frowned and said, "Sister, I applied a weight loss belly sticker yesterday, but my skin is allergic to it. It's so itchy that I can't stand it."

  I was shocked by her, "Can't you just stop messing around all day? If you want to lose weight, just eat less and exercise more. Those things that claim to help you lose weight by sticking them on your belly are all nonsense! Doesn't it make you sick?"

  Lu Xiaonian scratched her stomach secretly through her clothes, "How was I supposed to know that broken thing would be allergic? Ah, will it be because of this seafood dinner..."

  I resentfully look at my sister, who would rather die than exercise, and she secretly buys weight loss stickers. If sleeping could make you lose weight, would there be any fat people in this world?

  Luo Xiaonian got up restlessly, "No way, I have to go to the bathroom." After saying that, she rushed out. The mall's restaurant didn't have a separate bathroom, so she had to use the one in the mall.

  I'm already stuffed, and the chef is diligently handing over a spoonful of beef bone marrow. I hurriedly shake my head, refusing the chef's laborious creation. It's actually a bit unbearable, but what bothers me more is the wasteful behavior.

  Suddenly, someone pounced on me from behind, startling me to turn around, and it was Luo Xiaonian. Just as I was about to scold her, she grabbed onto me, "Sister, something's happened! Something big has happened!"

  "Has your belly gotten bigger?" I teased.

  "It's swollen, bright red, and itchy to death!" Luo Xiaonian's face was very poor, not at all like the ruddy complexion she had just eaten her fill. On the contrary, she looked pale as if she had been starving for a week. "But I'm not talking about that, I think there's a zombie in the women's restroom!"