Chapter 56: The Giant Box

Among this little family of three, Jun Ma was undoubtedly the most masculine.

No surprise there—she was a battle mare through and through, holding her own against any male warhorse. If Su Chen hadn't seen the pet skill book, he might've continued believing Jun Ma was male all along.

Looking back, he realized he'd treated her a bit too roughly. Honestly, if Er Bao and Jun Ma could just swap genders, everything would feel so much more balanced.

Then again, it's 2021—girls being a bit tomboyish and guys having puppy energy wasn't exactly rare anymore. Su Chen wasn't the type to get hung up on such things.

He pulled a piece of meat from the fridge and cooked it up.

After all, Er Bao was the darling of the family.

Er Bao had barely touched the green veggie dinner. He'd nibbled on a few bites, but clearly wasn't into it.

But the moment Su Chen started preparing the meat, Er Bao's eyes locked onto him, the bitterness on his little face slowly melting into joy.

Su Chen himself wasn't a picky eater. Veggies, meat—he was fine with it all.

After Er Bao gobbled down the meat, he seemed to regain all his energy and began excitedly circling around Su Chen.

It was surprising how, in just a few short days, Er Bao had visibly grown. Even his body shape had changed from when they first met.

Of course, a lot of that was thanks to Su Chen's care.

But it worked both ways.

Su Chen had come to appreciate Er Bao's companionship. Without him, the loneliness might've become unbearable.

After wrapping up all his chores, Su Chen could finally relax.

He grabbed a chilled bottle of Coke from the fridge.

"Burp~"

There really was a world of difference between cold Coke and regular Coke.

The refrigerator had honestly upgraded his quality of life.

It was freezing outside—there were even signs of snow coming.

The contrast made the Coke taste even better.

Especially after a long day, with no responsibilities hanging overhead, just enjoying a cold soda—it was pure bliss.

Life wasn't so bad here. Sure, he had to prepare all his food himself, but maybe that wasn't such a bad thing.

Back before this all happened, work had been non-stop. He barely had time to cook and relied on takeout for all three meals.

And it wasn't just him—veteran migrants working in places like Beijing or Shenzhen, far from their hometowns and families, lived on takeout too.

It wasn't healthy.

Now, every meal was homemade, and Su Chen actually enjoyed cooking.

Slowly, he found himself forgetting this was a survival game—it started feeling more like living.

Time to get some sleep.

His Rv truck wasn't exactly a fortress, but night-time beasts weren't as terrifying as before.

All the scary ones—the massive bears and other dangerous creatures that used to trigger his danger detector—were probably in hibernation by now.

That was a huge relief.

Plus, he'd scored a luxury latex mattress. Tonight's sleep was bound to be top-tier.

Nightfall countdown: commencing.

Please return to your RV truck.

3, 2, 1...

The eerie children's song echoed again, instantly setting a creepy tone.

Some people on the global chat, however, were acting recklessly.

["Didn't someone say the monsters are all hibernating now? I can totally camp outside tonight!"

"Hey folks, want to watch me stream a live overnight camp? Smash that like button and I'll share how it goes!"

"Been here a while now. Finally upgraded my campervan today. Feeling invincible."

"Wow, you upgraded your van and now you're acting tough? Don't forget about Big Boss Su!"

"I'm literally outside right now, climbing a tree to steal bird eggs. Haven't seen a single monster. Not scared at all."

"Can we get a new song? I'm so sick of this creepy lullaby. I just fell for this cute girl—play me something romantic!"

"It's been ages since I heard music. Kinda missing my old playlist."

"Requesting 'Love That Never Loses Connection,'!"

"Don't even ask. The only answer is: 'Devotion of Love.'"]

The world chat had completely devolved into chaos. Some people were getting so careless they didn't even bother going back to their RV trucks at night.

Su Chen honestly couldn't understand what they were thinking. These people were practically asking to die.

Life wasn't a game. Being cautious wasn't weakness—it was wisdom.

If Su Chen wasn't the most capable person in the world, he was at least in the top two. And even he chose to stay home and rest, rather than run around outside at night.

People tended to get arrogant once they thought they were strong.

But the reality was, there were always stronger survivors out there—they just didn't flaunt it.

Back to his routine—Er Bao was starting to smell a little funky.

While Su Chen bathed daily, he hadn't been as consistent with Er Bao—usually giving him a wash every three days. Today was bath day.

Thankfully, Er Bao didn't have fleas, though Su Chen had worried about that when he first took him in. Turned out, he'd overthought it.

After the bath, Su Chen feared Er Bao might catch a cold, so he quickly turned on the heater.

Once Er Bao was mostly dry, Su Chen scooped him up to go to bed. It had become a habit—Er Bao got tucked in first, and Su Chen joined him after wrapping up his own tasks.

The creepy lullaby outside kept Su Chen up. He knew from past experience it wouldn't fade until deep into the night.

The mattress was so soft that lying down felt like sinking into a cloud. Pure heaven.

Even Er Bao was rolling back and forth in excitement before finally falling asleep.

Sometimes Su Chen wondered—if only his RV truck had some soundproof panels, his sleep quality would be perfect.

Morning came. Su Chen woke from a rare dream.

He'd dreamt that the senior he used to secretly have a crush on had confessed her love to him. Could it be a sign?

No time to dwell on it.

He quietly got up to avoid waking Er Bao and went about his morning routine.

After a quick tidy-up, it was time to hit the road again.

Today, he had to get serious about gathering supplies. No more slacking.

Just as he started driving, Er Bao climbed into the passenger seat.

After about ten minutes, Er Bao suddenly started barking like mad.

"Woof woof woof!"

"Woof woof woof!"

Su Chen looked ahead—and about fifty meters away, there it was.

A giant box.

He slammed the brakes.

"Screech!"

Absolutely, here's a more human and formal version from a translator's perspective:

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