Chapter 1157 - 1145: New Year’s Eve Joy (6)

Chapter 1157: Chapter 1145: New Year’s Eve Joy (6)

"Oh come on, what’s with all of you? It’s New Year’s, why’s everyone acting so heavy?" Seeing the atmosphere grow thick and oppressive, Old Zhao stood up and called out, "Come on, come on! Everyone pause and listen to me. Out with the old, in with the new! This is the first New Year we’re spending together. Before, we all used to be with our families. I’m sure right now everyone’s thinking of one thing or another. But what I want to say here is: meeting each other is fate. Even though we come from all corners of the country; even though we belong to different families; even though the apocalypse rules the world now; even though this year we lost so many close relatives, coworkers, and friends. What matters is that we’re still alive, and we met each other on the road of survival. In my eyes, all of you sitting here are my family. I’m really glad that in this damned apocalypse I can stay up all night to see in the New Year with you. So I hope everyone can perk up and be a little happier. This cup, I drink in honor of all my family here!"

"Well said! Old Zhao said it well!" Lin Junfu immediately stood up: "Not blood family, but better than family! Everyone’s gotta drink this one!"

"Yeah! Looking to the future, I hope in the new year we can keep supporting and standing by each other! Improve the base, expand the size of our community. Old Zhao even has a toast when he drinks, what about you, got any words?" Old Xu tossed a tough question at Old Zhao, and just as Zhao Yunhai lowered his head, racking his brains, Wen Quanxin stood up with his cup and bellowed heartily, "Then let’s drink to this damned apocalypse!!"

It sounded like a joke, but it carried how much bitterness, sweetness, and pain—only those who have tasted the cruelty of the apocalypse could understand the deeper meaning of Wen Quanxin’s toast.

"Good! Then we’ll go with Little Wen’s suggestion. This first cup is to this damned doomsday!"

Everyone drained their cups! Whether male or female, old or young, whether they could hold their liquor or not, everyone finished that first cup.

Even He Jing gave them face and took a polite sip.

With the first toast done, the banquet officially began!

In no time, cups were clinking and being passed around, the scene lively and full of laughter.

Thinking back on this year, the Survivor Team had skirted death again and again, gone through disaster after disaster; even they themselves couldn’t quite remember how many Zombies they’d slaughtered.

They’d endured the danger of Zombie sieges, the tragedy of being framed by scum, the gruesome deaths of comrades and loved ones, and the desperate scrambles for food and drink that cost them their lives and sweat.

All of it was so perilous, so sigh-inducing.

But as the saying goes, "A great disaster survived brings blessings afterward." The Survivor Team, much like the Tang Monk and his disciples, had gone through countless ordeals, yet they pulled through. In the apocalypse, there’s nothing harder than simply staying alive.

And they not only managed that, they grew from a tiny group of three or five into a large team of around twenty, a fully staffed crew.

Through tireless effort, they even gained a refuge camp of their own, a place where they could put down roots and develop.

This is something most Survivors can only dream of but never attain.

Yet this one team actually pulled it off?

Why? If you boil it down, just four words: never forget your original heart!

A person’s true heart is without doubt their most powerful weapon; it determines their character, and it determines whether they live or die.

If your heart is evil, then yeah, in the apocalypse you can live pretty well.

You can use all kinds of shameless methods to rob others and quickly amass a considerable amount of resources.

You can even rally others and form your own crew.

By contrast, Survivors who keep their true heart intact tend to live more frugally; some can’t even guarantee their own lives.

These two mindsets are basically a microcosm of apocalyptic society, and they’re the two most common ******** in the doomsday world.

But these two ******** are destined not to last long or get very far, because they’re either too kind or too cruel—both are extremes.

Let’s talk about the good guys first, the so?called "Mary Sue," the "Holy Mother"—to put it bluntly, the eternal nice guys.

As the old saying goes, "The kind get bullied, the gentle horse gets ridden." These maxims from our ancestors, honestly, do have some truth to them.

In normal society, if you’re overly nice, people will treat you as weak and push you around. So what do you think happens in an apocalyptic world where the strong rule and the weak are meat for the strong?

Too much kindness is destined to be trampled by vicious people.

The Survivor Squad itself went through such a "super nice guy" phase along the way.

If you can’t be a "saintly nice guy," does that mean being a "big bad guy" lets you live longer?

This is probably what many people think. Young folks always believe that in the apocalypse you have to be ruthless, that you should slaughter entire families and loot their stuff at the slightest disagreement.

But these folks never think about the fact that even killing people requires capital. Forget whether you have the nerve to kill—say you do, can you actually pull it off?

So the first ones to get weeded out in the apocalypse are these self?important, overestimating?themselves idiots.

In all the world, no one’s ever heard of some "shut?in nerd" waving a kitchen knife and managing to establish himself in the apocalypse.

That kind of thing only happens in those brainless wish?fulfillment web novels.

These "trash?talk kings" and "keyboard warriors" basically can’t survive the first round.

Because they don’t have what it takes to be "villains," and they also lack the awareness to be "good people" who cooperate and develop with others.

As for the truly "evil" types, their survival odds in the apocalypse are indeed higher—no doubt about that.

First, these people already possess certain survival qualities.

If they dare to rob others and slaughter whole families, they’ve already adapted to the law of the jungle.

They’ll definitely live more comfortably and more happily than the "super nice guys"; that much is unquestionable.

But unfortunately, these people are equally doomed not to last long.

Why?

Honestly, it needs little explanation. Look back at history: how many great villains ever had a good end?

You think you’re ruthless? There will always be someone more ruthless than you.

You seize other people’s property, and a stronger crew will come to swallow up your turf.

You kill someone’s whole family—why wouldn’t they pick up a blade and come for your head?

The apocalypse is already a lawless world with no moral or legal restraints, but no matter how the times change, there is one supreme law that never changes.

Some readers ask what it is.

Four words: evil can never triumph over good!

You might think that sounds like nonsense, that it’s hollow and vague.

But history is the best proof. Look through the past—how many tyrants and brutal men had a good ending?

Are murderers arrogant? The police come arrest you!

Are the gangsters so badass? The army will wipe you out!

Is the "big tiger" so mighty? The state will bring him down!

As the saying goes, "There’s always a bigger fish." Everything in this world is about mutual generation and restraint.

You’re strong? There will always be someone stronger. So in the apocalypse, what kind of character, or what kind of rule, is truly the right survival path?

On this point, our ancestors also gave us excellent summaries and experience.

They taught us that as people we should follow the Way of the Mean, meaning we should stay balanced in all things—not too kind, because too kind invites bullying, and on that front the Survivors paid dearly in the early days.

Likewise, we mustn’t be too cruel, for "the wicked are taken by heaven."

Besides that, following the "Mean" doesn’t mean turning a blind eye and washing your hands of everything; instead, you must use the Tai Chi Skill!