Axolotl Translations

What the hell do you mean?! What did I do?!”

“You know exactly what you did! Don’t act like you need me to spell it out!”

“MMP, you little punk, feeling itchy or what? Come here, I’ll scratch that for you!”

“See? Took you two seconds to drop the act! Who were you even fooling?”

……

The argument escalated from Mandarin into the local dialect, the two of them glaring at each other, necks stiff, faces flushed red with anger.

The people working on the street turned to watch like they were listening to juicy gossip. They stretched their necks for a better view, whispering and chuckling among themselves—but not a single person stepped in to intervene.

Not even the two burly men from earlier.

Even if Gu Mengran had been slow to catch on before, by now he knew something wasn’t adding up.

They had only been standing at the parking lot entrance for a few minutes and were already drenched in sweat. The people clearing the streets? They had been working under the scorching sun for much longer.

And yet—not a single complaint.

No resentment, no reluctance. They threw themselves into the work, restoring order in the midst of disaster, dripping with sweat but pressing on with unwavering determination.

There was no sign of coercion.

At the same time, Zheng Yijie wasn’t lying—his attitude toward Brother Gang made that clear enough.

So… where had things gone wrong?

Gu Mengran wracked his brain but couldn’t figure it out.

Lost in their argument, neither of them was addressing the real issue.

Gu Mengran, standing off to the side watching the spectacle, was practically melting in the heat. Sweat dripped down his forehead, stinging his eyes. He rubbed them briefly before fishing out a small packet of tissues from his backpack.

He handed one to Liang Zhao, kept one for himself, and they both wiped their faces.

Glancing at Brother Gang and Zheng Yijie, who were still bickering over nothing, Gu Mengran pulled out two more tissues and passed them over, using the moment to break the tension.

“I think there’s a simple miscommunication between you two,” he said casually. “If you want to solve the problem, maybe try talking things through calmly instead of arguing.”

The second he finished speaking, both men went silent.

Not because his words were particularly profound, but because neither of them actually wanted to keep fighting. They were just looking for a way to stop without losing face.

Brother Gang roughly wiped his face with the tissue, exhaling a hot breath before turning back to Zheng Yijie.

“So what exactly are you accusing me of?” His voice was steady, no longer confrontational—just filled with genuine confusion. “Let’s drop the shouting. Explain it to me properly—what exactly do you think I did?”

He stood there with his arms crossed, brows furrowed, an imposing figure even at rest. But his expression wasn’t angry or hostile—it was just… puzzled.

Zheng Yijie clenched the used tissue in his palm, weighing his words carefully.

He knew better than to push Brother Gang too far, but at the same time, he didn’t want to back down in front of Gu Mengran and the others.

So he lifted his chin slightly, still trying to hold his ground.

“You first,” he challenged. “Tell me—how did you know I was a local?”

You little punk!”

Brother Gang let out a snort of laughter, answering in an almost amused tone, “You’ve been trailing behind us for a while now, haven’t you? You can follow us, but we can’t follow you? Not only do I know you’re a local—I even know you live in Emerald City.”

Zheng Yijie’s pupils shrank sharply, his entire body going stiff as if struck by lightning.

Before he could respond, Brother Gang smirked and continued, “You really think your place is that hidden? In an entire neighborhood, only one building is still standing. You think we’re blind? The only reason no one’s been poking around there is because I told my people to stay away.”

“Why… why would you do that?” Zheng Yijie was completely dumbfounded. Just moments ago, he had been full of righteous indignation—now, his bravado had completely vanished, his voice suddenly weak.

“Why?” Brother Gang frowned. “What kind of question is that?”

“The world’s gone to hell. We gathered in Jiu Street because there’s strength in numbers—sticking together gives us a better shot at surviving. This disaster hit everyone hard. If we don’t help each other, we’ll all be wiped out.

“Of course, not everyone thinks the same way. Some, like you, have the ability to survive on their own. You don’t need to be part of a group, and that’s fine—we respect that. We make sure to leave you space to live. Take your neighborhood, for example—we’ve never touched a single supply from there. Because that is your territory.”

A loud buzz filled Zheng Yijie’s mind, leaving it completely blank.

“Respect? Understanding?” He shook his head wildly, eyes wide with disbelief. His voice suddenly shot up several octaves.

“No way! That’s bullshit! Just the other night, I saw your people force a woman to go with them. She didn’t want to! She was screaming, crying, fighting back—but three or four of your guys just dragged her away!”

Forced… carried away…

Gu Mengran caught onto the key words and instinctively furrowed his brow.

He thought Brother Gang would immediately defend himself. Instead, the man just stood there in stunned silence for a moment—then suddenly burst into laughter.

“Pfft—hahaha! Oh my god, forced! Hahahaha!”

His laughter was so exaggerated that he clutched his stomach, doubling over as he howled with mirth, unable to stop himself.

Zheng Yijie was furious, his face as black as the bottom of a pot.

Brother Gang’s booming laughter went on for nearly two full minutes before he finally forced himself to calm down. He straightened up, still clutching his stomach, and waved his hand repeatedly, trying to suppress his amusement.

“Sorry, sorry, I just—hahaha—I just couldn’t help it. Give me a second, let me catch my breath.”

Then he turned toward the street, took a deep breath, and shouted at the top of his lungs, “Gao Yue! Gao Yue, come here for a sec!”

His voice echoed down the street. Among the busy workers, a young woman wearing a blue T-shirt and her hair tied up in a bun put down her tools and quickly made her way over.

Her arms and neck were smeared with a mix of dust and sweat, making her look like she had just rolled in the dirt. But she didn’t seem to care—she simply wiped the sweat off her face with the back of her arm and walked up to Brother Gang, slightly out of breath.

“What’s up, Brother Gang?”

Brother Gang finally managed to reel in his grin. He rubbed the bridge of his nose awkwardly, then turned to Gao Yue and said, “So, uh… this kid over here saw us bringing you back that night. He thought you didn’t want to come with us—that we were forcing you.”

Following Brother Gang’s gaze, Gao Yue turned to look at Zheng Yijie, her eyes widening in surprise. She quickly waved her hands.

“No, no! No one forced me! You’ve misunderstood.”

But Zheng Yijie wasn’t convinced. His wary gaze darted between Brother Gang and Gao Yue, as if silently asking, Did he threaten you?

Gao Yue let out a small, helpless smile and nodded at Zheng Yijie. “I appreciate your concern, but things really aren’t how they looked that night.”

“Our house collapsed in the earthquake. My dad was buried under the rubble. We searched for days but couldn’t find him. I refused to believe he was gone, so I didn’t want to leave.”

“For days, I stopped eating, stopped drinking, and kept digging through the wreckage. I completely broke down. My sister was the one who went to Brother Gang and begged them to forcefully take me away. These past few days, they’ve been trying to talk me through it, to help me move forward, to pull me out of the grief of losing my father.”

As she spoke, the pain she had worked so hard to bury resurfaced. Her eyes turned red, and her voice wavered. Realizing she was losing control, she quickly wiped her face with the back of her hand, turned her back to them, and said softly, “Please don’t misunderstand. Brother Gang and the others… they really are good people.”

Brother Gang had only meant to clear things up, but instead, he’d ended up making her cry. The burly man stood there awkwardly, stunned for a few seconds before scratching his head and apologizing sincerely, “Ah—Gao Yue, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s fine, Brother Gang. I’ve already made peace with it.” Before he could finish, Gao Yue shrugged, let out a light sigh, and said, “Since the misunderstanding is cleared up, I should get back to work.”

“At least have some water and take a break!”

Without looking back, Gao Yue strode away.

“Ugh!” Brother Gang let out a long sigh as he watched Gao Yue walk away. He turned back to glare at Zheng Yijie, his brows furrowed. “Look what you’ve done! You made the girl cry!”

Under normal circumstances, Zheng Yijie would have snapped back with, Weren’t you the one who called her over? But right now, he was too lost in his own doubts to argue. He stayed silent, letting Brother Gang place the blame on him without protest.

Seeing that, Brother Gang didn’t press further and instead said, “So, just because of that, you thought we were some kind of thugs? Listen, I may be rough around the edges, and I sure as hell ain’t a scholar, but I, Wang Gang, would never do something like that. And I sure as hell wouldn’t allow anyone else to, either.”

Zheng Yijie hesitated for a moment before muttering, “There was another time…” His voice was much smaller now, lacking confidence. “I saw some people trying to leave Jiu Street, but your men dragged them back. You beat them senseless, nearly half to death. How do you explain that?”

Brother Gang shot him a surprised look. “How the hell did you manage to witness everything? Just how long have you been sneaking around us?” He scoffed but didn’t deny it. “Yeah, we caught them. Yeah, we beat them. I won’t deny that. But those punks weren’t exactly innocent.”

“Dammit, just thinking about it pisses me off.” Brother Gang clenched his fists, veins bulging on his neck as his temper flared. “One of them was a guy I personally pulled out of the rubble. And what does he do after he recovers? Starts running with a bunch of lowlifes, stealing supplies, sneaking around at night to harass women!”

“If we hadn’t caught them in time—” Brother Gang exhaled sharply, his fists tightening until his knuckles cracked. “Just because the world’s gone to shit doesn’t mean there aren’t any rules. Trash like that needs to be dealt with, or it’ll just keep happening.”

With that, the misunderstanding was finally cleared up.

Zheng Yijie didn’t ask any more questions, but his flushed cheeks and reddening ears betrayed his embarrassment.

Gu Mengran, however, was still curious—why hadn’t he brought up the issue of resource distribution? Could that have been another misunderstanding?

After chatting briefly about the truck, the three said their goodbyes to Brother Gang and headed back, the small neck fans around their necks whirring as they walked.

Gu Mengran watched as Zheng Yijie trudged forward with his head practically parallel to the ground. In the end, he couldn’t hold back and teased, “You made it sound so convincing yesterday—we all took you seriously. Turns out, it was all just a big mix-up.”

“Hey! How is that my fault?” Zheng Yijie snapped his head up. “You heard him just now—I wasn’t making things up! Anyone would’ve misunderstood!”

Now that the misunderstanding was cleared up and there was no need to hurry back, Gu Mengran was in a great mood.

This landlord had given them quite a surprise—it was only fair to return the favor. So, he deliberately asked, “Didn’t you say they were living like kings in the bunker, hoarding supplies while letting others starve? How come you didn’t bring that up just now?”

It was like catching someone in a lie—Zheng Yijie’s already flushed face deepened to the color of a ripe tomato, the redness spreading all the way to the back of his ears. He was so flustered that he even started walking in sync, moving his left arm and left leg at the same time.

But he didn’t choose to lie. After a brief silence, he hesitated for a moment, then finally admitted, albeit a bit sheepishly, “I… might’ve let my imagination run wild. The fog was still thick back then, and all I really heard were bits and pieces about missions and supplies. I just… filled in the blanks based on what happened afterward and, uh… added a little dramatic flair.”

Dramatic flair? What was this, a novel?

Gu Mengran suddenly chuckled. “Now I’m really curious—what did you do before the disaster?”

Zheng Yijie adjusted his black-framed glasses and replied seriously, “You’ve heard of web novels, right? Well, that’s what I did. I was a full-time web novelist. Bought my house outright with my earnings.”

Gu Mengran nodded knowingly. “Ah, that explains it.”

“Explains what?” Zheng Yijie asked, narrowing his eyes.

“Explains why your imagination is so damn vivid.”

“Gu Mengran! Keep this up, and I swear I’m kicking you all out tonight!”

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