Seen what?
Su Nian had no time to think. She slammed her foot on the accelerator, forcing herself to remain calm as she drove forward. As long as they didn’t catch up to her, she would be safe for the moment.
There was a small town not far ahead.
“Xingxing, hold on tight.”
Before she could speed up, the black sedan shot past them and swerved sideways, blocking the road.
“Ah…”
Xingxing slipped off his seat.
“Xingxing!”
Su Nian’s heart lurched. Before she could reach back to help him, the three men had already walked up to the car.
“Open the door!”
The scar faced man pounded violently on the window.
“What do you want?”
Su Nian remained still, stealing a glance toward the back seat. Xingxing had already climbed back up on his own. He wasn’t hurt, and he wasn’t crying.
Half the weight lifted from her heart.
“Nothing much. We just want to borrow a little money.”
The scar faced man pressed his entire face against the window, glaring viciously inside.
“Why waste time talking?”
The tall man had somehow produced a wrench. With just a few swings, he shattered the driver’s side window.
Glass shards flew everywhere. Several slices opened across Su Nian’s face, and blood immediately streamed down. She didn’t flinch. One hand reached back, pressing Xingxing firmly into his seat.
“Now it’s much easier to talk.”
The tall man pointed the wrench at her.
“We don’t want much. Six hundred thousand yuan.”
“Two lives for six hundred thousand. That’s a bargain.”
Su Nian’s mind exploded.
Six hundred thousand?
That look Liu Wei had given her this morning…
It was him.
Again! He had ruined her in her previous life, and now he was back to do it again.
But Su Nian also let out a quiet breath of relief.
They hadn’t discovered the storage space.
“Don’t hurt us. I’ll take you to get the money.”
“Smart woman. Get out of the car!”
The tall man yanked her out of the driver’s seat.
“President Liu sent you, didn’t he?”
“Enough talking! Move!”
The scar faced man turned toward the back door.
“The child is innocent…” Su Nian grabbed his arm. “I’ll give you the money!”
The scar faced man turned back. His gaze slowly traveled down from her face before stopping on her chest.
The three men closed in around her.
“We can leave the kid alone… but first, why don’t you entertain the three of us?”
Through the shattered window, Su Nian saw Xingxing lying against the seat. His little face was deathly pale, and his lips were trembling.
She bit down hard on her lower lip.
She couldn’t panic.
Blood from the cuts on her face flowed into her eyes. She wiped it away casually.
Then she noticed the ancient pattern on the middle finger of her left hand.
Right.
“Gentlemen, my child is still here. Could we go somewhere else?”
“Hahaha… Sure!”
The scar faced man grabbed her butt, making goosebumps erupt across her skin.
The three men dragged her farther down the road.
Su Nian silently estimated the distance.
Far enough, Xingxing could no longer see them.
She suddenly wrenched her hand free and sprinted forward.
“You bitch! How dare you run… Aaagh!!!”
Dozens of bags of rice came crashing down from above like a small mountain.
Su Nian didn’t stop.
She summoned several more bags on top of them.
Only after all three men had fallen completely silent did she cautiously approach.
The scar faced man’s face was covered in blood as he lay unconscious.
The other two were equally motionless.
Su Nian’s legs gave way beneath her, and she nearly collapsed to the ground.
But she had no time to tremble.
Staggering back to the car, she climbed inside.
Xingxing was curled up in his seat.
The moment he saw his mother return, tears finally spilled down his cheeks.
“Mommy… your face…”
His tiny hand reached toward her, but he was too afraid to touch the wounds.
Su Nian pulled him tightly into her arms.
“It’s okay now. Mommy’s here.”
She didn’t tell him, “You didn’t cry,” or anything like that.
Instead, Xingxing buried his face against her neck and hugged her as tightly as he could.
Soon, Su Nian felt her neck become soaked with his tears.
She returned the extra rice and flour to the storage space before driving away.
After reaching the city, the cuts on her face throbbed painfully.
She carefully checked Xingxing over once more to make sure he wasn’t injured, then took him to a clinic to have her wounds treated.
Su Nian didn’t dare return home.
Everything important was already inside her storage space, so she checked into a hotel in the city center instead.
One o’clock in the morning.
Xingxing was asleep, but one little hand still clutched tightly at the corner of her shirt.
Su Nian gazed at her sleeping son’s peaceful face, then gently touched the burning wounds on her own cheek.
It wasn’t enough.
She had to become even more ruthless than those Zombies.
The next day, Su Nian continued stockpiling supplies.
She didn’t dare return to yesterday’s market. Instead, she went to the eastern side of the city and rented another warehouse without surveillance cameras, located at the very back of a warehouse district.
She had already gathered most of the staple foods, but she bought more anyway.
Twenty large bags each of glutinous rice, millet, black rice, and oats.
Su Nian’s arms ached from carrying everything, while Xingxing stood nearby helping her count.
“Mommy, that’s twenty bags!”
“Good! Next shop.”
Frozen dumplings, steamed buns, siu mai, tangyuan, and every other frozen food available. She bought huge quantities of everything they liked.
The cold storage owner helped load everything into her vehicle, giving her several curious looks.
Su Nian pretended not to notice.
Eighty cases each of electrolyte drinks, sports drinks, cola, lemon lime soda, and fresh milk.
The beverage wholesaler asked whether she owned a convenience store.
She simply replied that her company was holding an event.
Fifty cases each of children’s milk powder and adult milk powder.
Fifty jin each of cured pork, Chinese sausage, ham sausage, dried seaweed, vermicelli, and various dried foods.
One hundred jin each of potatoes, pumpkins, onions, leafy greens, cucumbers, corn, eggplants, tomatoes, radishes, and every other vegetable she could find.
The kind woman at the vegetable market helped pack everything and even threw in a bunch of scallions for free.
Fifty jin each of scallions, ginger, garlic, and cilantro.
Since ginger had so many uses, she bought another fifty jin afterward.
Twenty cases each of every kind of hot pot soup base and hot pot ingredients.
Everything was purchased from dozens of different shops.
After yesterday’s lesson, Su Nian would rather go through extra trouble than attract attention.
She also bought every type of seed she could find.
Whether she knew how to grow them or not was another matter.
Before nightfall, all the supplies had been delivered to the warehouse.
Xingxing sat quietly nearby, eating washed fruit as he patiently waited.
After making sure no one else was around, Su Nian focused her thoughts.
Collect!
The mountain of supplies instantly disappeared, reappearing inside the storage space in perfectly neat rows.
“Mommy, you’re amazing!”
Xingxing jumped excitedly off his stool.
“Shh… This is our secret. If other people find out, Mommy will disappear.”
“I don’t want Mommy to disappear!”
He immediately covered his own mouth tightly with both little hands.
On the third day, she focused on medicine.
Buying from one pharmacy after another was too slow and too conspicuous.
A few days earlier, Su Nian had already contacted the purchasing manager of a regional pharmacy chain and slipped him tens of thousands of yuan to smooth things over.
Cold medicine, fever reducers, painkillers, anti inflammatory drugs, antibiotics, anti diarrhea medicine, allergy medicine, vitamins, and children’s medicine specifically for Xingxing.
She bought the maximum amount they were legally willing to sell.
Any more than that, and they refused.
She also restocked iodine solution, alcohol, cotton swabs, gauze, and face masks.
After hastily eating a few bites at noon, she headed to a wholesale market for daily necessities.
Fifty cases each of toilet paper, sanitary pads, and every variety of wet wipes.
Ten cases each of toothpaste, toothbrushes, and soap.
Twenty cases each of shampoo, body wash, and skincare products.
Thirty cases each of garbage bags and disposable gloves.
Supplies arrived at the warehouse one after another.
It took Su Nian nearly two full hours just to move everything into the storage space.
That evening, she rented a small delivery truck and drove to the food street.
“I’ll take twenty servings of everything.”
She slapped a stack of cash onto the vendor’s counter.
Fried rice noodles, spicy hot pot, barbecue skewers, takoyaki, braised snacks, clay pot rice noodles, spicy mixed vegetables, ice jelly dessert, and every other dish available.
She and Xingxing sat inside the truck, eating while they waited.
Just as they were eating, a breaking news broadcast suddenly interrupted the radio playing in the car beside them.
“Multiple Centers for Disease Control have reported cases of an unexplained high fever. Infected individuals have displayed violent behavior and have bitten others. Police advise citizens to avoid unnecessary travel…”
The lunch box in Su Nian’s hand slipped from her grasp and hit the floor with a loud clang.
Something was wrong.
In her previous life, this news report had appeared two days before the Apocalypse began.
Today was only April 16.
There were still six days left until the original date.
Why had the news appeared already?
“Ah! Help!”
A terrified scream came from across the street.
Su Nian jerked her head up.
At the entrance of the supermarket opposite them, a man suddenly collapsed stiffly to the ground.
His body convulsed several times.
Then he stopped moving.
She lowered her eyes to her phone.
April 16!
Had the Zombies appeared ahead of schedule?