Even Wang Che hadn’t expected her to pull off such a difficult move. She hooked her arm around his neck, causing him to lose balance, and both of them fell onto the bed—with him on top and her underneath.
Fortunately, at the critical moment, Wang Che managed to turn his face away, avoiding the cliché drama scene of lips accidentally meeting. But it wasn’t much better—his face ended up buried in the side of her neck and shoulder, their bodies tightly pressed together from head to toe. He could clearly feel each other’s muscles and curves.
Gu Cheng felt her entire face burning. Instinctively, Wang Che pushed himself up slightly, which only made their lower bodies press even closer. He immediately rolled off to the side.
Gu Cheng also scrambled up in panic, rushed out of the door, and flung herself back into her room, where she collapsed face-first onto the bed.
On the other side, Wang Che remained lying on his back.
Neither of them could calm down for a long time. It was too awkward—too ambiguous.
Both deliberately avoided acknowledging the emotional ripple they had felt.
That night, Gu Cheng barely slept. For the first time, she suffered insomnia. Every time she closed her eyes, she saw their bodies pressed together. She could still feel the warmth of Wang Che’s breath brushing against her neck, sending goosebumps across her skin and stirring waves in her heart.
She realized she might have started liking Wang Che.
She had been trying, intentionally or unintentionally, to get closer to him, but he had always avoided her.
Since he had no intention, there was no need for her to cling on either.
The next day, the two of them avoided each other completely. Even at dinner, when Wang Che cooked, Gu Cheng refused, claiming she was dieting and had no appetite, then returned to her room.
Seeing her leave, Wei Jiawen glanced at Wang Che.
“Did you upset her?”
Wang Che didn’t even look up as he ate.
“No.”
Wang Xin also felt uneasy during the meal. Fu Zhe placed a piece of sweet and sour pork ribs—her favorite—into her bowl.
“Focus on eating. You can worry after you’re done.”
Wang Xin could only calm herself and eat properly. Since childhood, she had always felt that Fu Zhe was even scarier than her own older brother. Whatever he said, she never dared to refuse.
Seeing the girl behave obediently, Fu Zhe also added some vegetables.
“Balanced diet.”
While chewing her sweet and sour pork ribs, Wang Xin sighed quietly.
“Chengcheng also loves sweet and sour pork ribs. She usually can’t walk past them without eating them. But today she didn’t even touch them… something serious must be going on.”
Fu Zhe didn’t know what had happened inside, but upon hearing “something serious,” he couldn’t help but worry.
“Did she see something heavy again in her prophetic dream?”
Wang Che didn’t want to put too much pressure on Gu Cheng. A prophetic dream wasn’t omniscient.
“Don’t rely too much on her prophetic dream. We’ve already done what we can. No matter what happens, we’ll have to face it. Skipping one meal isn’t a big deal.”
Wei Jiawen shook his head in disagreement.
“Girls still need more care. You can’t treat her like that.”
Even Shi Qiao, who rarely spoke, couldn’t help but add:
“Yeah. We’re all in a group together—it’s like a family. We should care for each other. You’re too cold.”
Even Wang Xin defended her best friend.
“If Gu Cheng didn’t trust me and tell me all this, would we even be eating and living well right now? And you’re still so cold. No wonder Mom says you’ll end up alone forever.”
Wang Che hadn’t expected that in just a few days, everyone would start criticizing him on Gu Cheng’s behalf.
Wang Xin slammed her bowl down, no longer wanting to deal with her brother, who “deserved to be single,” and went upstairs to check on Gu Cheng.
She knocked on the door.
After a few seconds, the door opened, and she walked in.
“What’s wrong? Did my brother bully you? We already scolded him. He won’t do it again.”
Gu Cheng sat weakly on the bed and shook her head.
“It’s nothing. I’m just a bit tired recently. I didn’t sleep well last night, and I don’t have much appetite. I just want to sleep early.”
“Are you really okay? If anything happens, you must tell us. Don’t carry it alone.”
Gu Cheng hugged her.
“I’m really fine, my best friend.”
Wang Xin let her hold on and gently patted her back. After Gu Cheng let go, she still worriedly reminded her:
“If you’re tired, sleep early. Whatever it is, think about it after you wake up. Nothing can’t be solved by sleeping.”
“Mm. Good night.”
Gu Cheng really was tired and soon fell into a deep sleep.
Wang Xin went downstairs.
Faced with everyone’s questioning looks, she said:
“She’s fine. Just too tired. She’s sleeping.”
The four men continued training self-defense in the gym. Wang Che felt somewhat irritated and returned to his room early.
When he didn’t fall for someone, everything was fine—so why did he have to meet someone he liked right before the apocalypse?
After sleeping, Gu Cheng came to a realization.
It must have been that she had become too dependent on Wang Che, creating an illusion. In the apocalypse, relying on others was worse than relying on yourself. She needed to strengthen her own abilities.
After washing up, she went downstairs and only saw Wang Xin and Fu Zhe eating breakfast.
Seeing her come down, Wang Xin immediately waved her over.
“Chengcheng, come eat. Breakfast is century egg lean pork congee and char siu buns.”
Gu Cheng served herself a bowl of congee and sat opposite Wang Xin with a bun in hand. There was no other choice—Fu Zhe was sitting right next to her, practically inseparable from Wang Xin.
She took a few spoonfuls of congee.
“By the way, Brother Zhe, I want to start training with you guys from today. Can I join?”
Fu Zhe nodded.
“Of course. Do you usually exercise? How’s your fitness level?”
“My biggest exercise recently has been stocking up on supplies.”
Fu Zhe glanced at Wang Xin.
“I heard your stockpiling was all online shopping. Too lazy to go to wholesale markets.”
Wang Xin quickly defended herself.
“We have classes during the day! We need to act normal so we don’t cause panic. We don’t have time to go to wholesale markets.”
“Oh. Very thorough planning. Very strategic.”
To Gu Cheng, the two of them were nauseating to watch. Even words like that could be praised so sincerely—and Wang Xin actually enjoyed it.
A perfect match.
At that moment, their phones suddenly exploded with messages in the school group chat.
Student 1: The school finally fixed the internet. Why is it getting hotter and hotter?
Student 2: Classes were suspended this morning. Something feels wrong.
Student 3: I also think something’s off. Apocalypse novels always describe this—extreme heat, then extreme cold.
Student 4: What do we do? Is the apocalypse really coming? I’m scared. I want to go home. I don’t want to stay here and die.
Student 5: It’s just high temperature. We’re university students—believe in science.
Student 6: It’s already 50°C outside. It feels like you’ll get cooked just walking out. I don’t even dare leave the dorm. We don’t have much food left.
Student 7: Same here. If I’d known, I would’ve stocked up at the supermarket two days ago.
Then the school released an official notice:
Notice to all students:
Due to emergency heatwave instructions issued by the government, all work and classes outside have been suspended. The cafeteria is closed. Students must remain in their dormitories and avoid going out to prevent accidents. Starting around 9 PM each night, after sunset and temperature drops, supplies will be distributed.
Distribution will take place at the school playground. Please bring your student ID and line up in an orderly manner to collect supplies on time.
After seeing the notice, most local students had already returned home to escape the heat. Those remaining were mostly out-of-town students who couldn’t leave. The announcement brought a sense of relief to many who saw the supplies as reassurance.