Early the next morning.
Sunlight slanted through the glass window of the study.
Zhou Wangye strode in with long steps and pushed the door open.
Lin Ran realized that this man was very tall.
Definitely no shorter than 185 cm.
Yesterday he had been lying on the bed, so she hadn’t really noticed.
His figure was straight like a pine tree, wrapped in a sharply tailored dark suit.
Just walking closer brought an invisible but powerful sense of pressure.
He clearly hadn’t rested well. His pale face carried a trace of fatigue, with faint dark circles under his eyes.
Yet this didn’t diminish his natural noble bearing at all—if anything, it made him seem even colder and more distant.
His gaze swept over, and when it landed on Lin Ran’s face, there was no warmth whatsoever—only undisguised indifference and annoyance.
The look made Lin Ran’s heart tighten.
Almost instinctively, she took half a step back.
She quickly hid behind Aunt Lan, unconsciously grabbing the corner of her clothes.
The male lead was terrifying.
Aunt Lan patted her hand comfortingly.
Then she looked at Zhou Wangye and spoke gently.
“Wangye, Ranran already told me about what happened last night. She also realizes her mistake.”
“Our Ranran is a little princess—she’s most afraid of zombies. From now on, you’re not allowed to scare her with zombies anymore.”
Zhou Wangye stood there silently, no emotion visible on his face.
He was already far too familiar with scenes like this.
Ever since childhood, every time Lin Ran caused trouble, the same play of apology and pleading would be performed.
But the next time, she would still recklessly continue courting disaster.
He was truly fed up to the extreme.
Xie Jilan sighed and continued.
“Your Aunt Meng was a genius jewelry designer who won many international awards. If she hadn’t sacrificed herself to save me, she wouldn’t have died so early. Poor Ranran grew up without her mother…”
“If I don’t treat Ranran well, I won’t even have the face to meet your Aunt Meng after I die…”
As she spoke, tears welled in her eyes.
Zhou Wangye felt heartache for his mother. His gaze turned icy as he looked at Lin Ran and said coldly:
“Don’t let there be a next time.”
Lin Ran knew that when the male lead said this, it meant the matter from yesterday was considered settled.
She quickly raised her hand and swore:
“From now on, I’ll never foolishly cling to you again or make you angry!”
Zhou Wangye frowned.
What trick was this troublemaker playing now?
Lin Ran continued:
“I was immature before. I mistook not wanting to be separated from Big Brother as romantic feelings. But when I drugged you yesterday, I felt like I had defiled you…”
“In short, from now on I’ll just be your little sister. I’ll never do something like that again!”
Zhou Wangye looked at her deeply.
“You’d better mean what you say.”
When Lin Ran was young, she had been very cute, always following him around calling him “Big Brother.”
Especially before the age of five, when she couldn’t pronounce it properly.
“Big bwo… bwo-bwo…”
It had been incredibly endearing.
But after growing up, she became obsessed with him and wouldn’t allow any woman near him—even the company’s nearly fifty-year-old finance director.
She caused him endless trouble.
Every time she called him “Brother Wangye,” it made him feel sick.
Lin Ran nodded vigorously.
Zhou Wangye added coldly:
“From now on, don’t come within two meters of me. Otherwise…”
Lin Ran understood.
Otherwise he would throw her into a zombie pile.
Waaah… he was threatening her with that again!
After the man’s figure disappeared from the study, Xie Jilan immediately dropped the sorrowful expression she had just worn.
“Ranran, next time give the drug to Aunt Lan. I’ll help you slip it in.”
“That way your Brother Wangye won’t have any evidence.”
She sincerely hoped Lin Ran could become her daughter-in-law. Only then could she protect her for life and repay the debt she owed to Aunt Meng.
Otherwise, when she adopted Lin Ran, she would have simply changed her surname to Zhou.
She hadn’t done so precisely to make it easier for Lin Ran to marry into the family later.
But Lin Ran quickly shook her head.
“Aunt Lan, I truly regret it now. Big Brother is pure and noble like the bright moon—I wouldn’t dare touch him again.”
Xie Jilan studied Lin Ran’s frightened face and assumed her eldest son must have scared her badly.
She silently blamed him in her heart.
The two of them walked downstairs from the second-floor study and found the living room already full of people.
Besides Zhou Wangye, there were his secretary, assistant, bodyguards, and the resort manager.
Lin Ran deliberately looked toward Gu Xiangwan.
As expected—she had the gentle, delicate appearance of an innocent heroine.
After helping Xie Jilan sit down, Lin Ran suddenly saw Secretary Wang produce a vine from his hand.
“Whoa—is that a wood-type ability?!”
Secretary Wang, in his thirties and wearing glasses, smiled politely.
“I had a fever last night. When I woke up, I realized I had awakened an ability.”
Everyone was envious.
The apocalypse had arrived and zombies filled the outside world. Having abilities meant a greater chance of survival.
Moreover, abilities could keep leveling up, eventually putting them on a completely different level from ordinary people.
At that moment, Gu Xiangwan shyly stepped forward.
She raised her hand—and the single armchair instantly disappeared.
“Secretary Gu awakened a spatial ability!”
“How big is the space? That’s amazing!”
Gu Xiangwan answered proudly:
“Two hundred cubic meters.”
While everyone else was shocked, Lin Ran was even more surprised.
The heroine truly was the author’s favorite child.
Last night Lin Ran had just bound the ring space to herself, and today the heroine awakened a spatial ability.
The author really couldn’t bear to let the heroine suffer even a little.
If only she had an ability too.
Unfortunately, in the original novel the female supporting character never awakened any abilities before dying.
Just then—
The cup in Lin Ran’s hand suddenly disappeared.
“Ah!”
She screamed in shock.
Damn it! She had accidentally exposed her space.
Originally she had planned to secretly store supplies, but now she could only pretend she had awakened a spatial ability.
But when she checked the ring space, her cup wasn’t there.
Could it be…
She calmed her mind and felt her mental power.
The cup was floating in a separate empty space.
She had actually awakened a spatial ability as well!
Although it overlapped with the ring space, she didn’t mind at all.
When spatial abilities reached level three, they could use spatial blades.
Later there would be powerful skills like spatial cutting, spatial barriers, and spatial domain.
She jumped to her feet in excitement, almost wanting to run laps around the living room.
Everyone noticed her strange reaction.
Xie Jilan beamed with pride.
“Ranran is amazing! She awakened an ability! Auntie is so proud of you!”
Out of respect for Mrs. Zhou, everyone offered congratulations.
Seeing Lin Ran grinning ear to ear, Zhou Wangye snorted inwardly.
Making a fuss over nothing.
No one noticed the flash of disappointment in Gu Xiangwan’s eyes—she had thought she was special.
Then the bodyguard He Sheng stepped forward.
With a wave of his hand, the fruit knife and car keys on the coffee table floated into the air.
“Fever last night. Metal-type ability.”
He Sheng was a retired soldier with a sturdy build and few words.
The room again filled with envy and congratulations.
Lin Ran, however, was completely numb.
Because she discovered—
She also had a metal-type ability.
She secretly moved a refrigerator magnet where no one could see it.
What was going on?
Was she really that amazing?
She had awakened dual abilities!
In the original novel, only three people possessed dual abilities—the male lead being one of them.
Hehe… maybe she didn’t need to rely on the male lead after all.
She could quietly grow stronger behind these people, gather enough supplies, and once she had survival ability—
She could go solo!
No more watching the male lead’s mood.
No more worrying about being pushed into a zombie pile.
While she was secretly rejoicing like a happy hamster, Zhou Wangye assumed she was still obsessed with her spatial ability and ignored everything else.
Idiot, he thought.
Gu Xiangwan asked,
“President Zhou, what ability did you awaken?”
Everyone looked at Zhou Wangye expectantly.
The man gathered mental energy in his hand, forming a lightning arrow, then threw it toward a plant in the living room.
Crack!
The plant snapped and fell.
The broken section was blackened and smoking.
“Lightning ability!”
“President Zhou is incredible!”
Lin Ran already knew this from the novel.
Before long, the male lead would awaken a second ability as well.
But she still stared with her mouth open—
Because she realized something shocking.
She also had a lightning ability.
What was going on?
In the book, no one had ever awakened three abilities.
She stood there stunned.
To confirm it, she walked to Secretary Wang and dropped her bracelet on the floor.
“Secretary Wang, could you use your vine to pick up the bracelet for me?”
Secretary Wang had seen Lin Ran’s spoiled antics before, so even more outrageous requests wouldn’t surprise him.
He released a vine and picked up the bracelet, placing it back in Lin Ran’s hand.
“Thank you, Secretary Wang.”
He was slightly surprised—he hadn’t expected the young lady to thank him.
Gu Xiangwan looked resentful, thinking Lin Ran was bullying someone again.
But Lin Ran was already numb.
Because she had gained another ability—
Secretary Wang’s wood ability.
If she had awakened two abilities, she would have been ecstatic.
But with four abilities, the only thing she could think of was the pseudo spiritual roots from cultivation novels.
Could it be…
Her abilities couldn’t level up?
If that was the case, maybe she still needed to rely on the male lead after all.
Then someone asked:
“Lin Ran, how big is your space?”