After sending off the cleaning team, Jiang Sui immediately drove into the city to buy furniture and daily necessities. She even ordered a small electric three-wheeled vehicle.
Busy nonstop, by the time she finished arranging her bedroom and lay down on a bare mattress covered with sheets, it was already midnight.
She unlocked her phone and checked WeChat.
Both her father Jiang and Jiang Lingling had sent messages, mainly scolding her for emptying the villa’s storage of expensive ingredients. Jiang Sui didn’t want to deal with them at first, but then she changed her mind and replied:
“I couldn’t help it, I’m really short on money. Can you send me some more?”
The two of them were so angry they almost blocked her.
After exiting WeChat, Jiang Sui searched as usual for keywords like “apocalypse,” “mutation,” and “monsters.” But this time, without much searching, she came across a video.
It was from a fishing enthusiast.
He was fishing deep in a remote, uninhabited mountain area when he caught something terrifying and bizarre. In the video, the fish hooked on the line didn’t struggle at all—it just stared blankly with lifeless eyes.
Its upper body looked normal, but near the tail, it was covered densely with abnormal tumor-like growths. The grotesque flesh lumps were horrifying, pushing apart the scales as thick red-white pus oozed out. Worm-like parasites—unclear whether larvae or maggots—crawled all over the growths, making one’s scalp tingle.
In the background, the fisherman said excitedly yet fearfully:
“This fish is fucking terrifying. Does anyone know what’s going on? This is deep in the mountains, no factories nearby, no pollution… damn, the more I look at it, the scarier it gets. It’s like it mutated or something. So creepy.”
The comments section didn’t take it seriously. Some were joking, others explained seriously that the fish was just diseased and rotting while still alive.
But Jiang Sui felt a surge of tension.
She needed to prepare faster.
The next day, the door-and-window contractor arrived—a thin, dark-skinned middle-aged man with his son in his early twenties. Both were quiet and hardworking.
After observing them for a while and confirming they were honest and straightforward, Jiang Sui placed an order with them for various weapons—handmade spiked clubs, bats, sharpened arrows, and spike nets for traps.
The man was surprised but didn’t ask questions and accepted the order, saying he would deliver once finished.
After the weapons were completed, Jiang Sui asked him to help renovate the warehouse. She planned to turn that small space into a makeshift greenhouse.
Over the next few days, she was constantly busy—renovating the house, rebuilding storage areas, collecting scattered deliveries, and purchasing supplies.
A few days later—
As night fell, Jiang Sui closed the warehouse cellar door and covered it with plastic sheeting.
She had just moved several sacks of rice into the cellar. Worried about humidity, she installed many sealed storage boxes. Inside them were neatly stacked rice, flour, cured meats, sausages, pickled chicken and duck. She also placed plenty of desiccant packs to prevent moisture.
Nearby were boxes of compressed biscuits and canned food. Next to those were sacks of potatoes, sweet potatoes, onions, yam, winter melon, and pumpkin.
Just the food in this cellar alone was enough for her to live on for a year.
In addition to the cellar, the underground room in the house was also filled with supplies. To prevent future robberies, she even buried sealed supply boxes in various spots in the forest.
She strictly followed the principle of “don’t put all eggs in one basket.”
Leaving the cellar, she entered the newly rebuilt greenhouse made of aluminum alloy and glass.
On the ground were piles of smokeless coal, charcoal, firewood, black soil for farming, fertilizer, and vegetable planting boxes.
After closing the greenhouse door, she looked up at the large anti-theft mesh covering the glass and felt very satisfied.
Back in the house, everything had completely changed. Furniture and appliances were all in place, the decor was warm and pretty, with printed wall paintings and cute ornaments.
The second floor had three rooms: a bedroom, a study/workout room, a storage room, and a bathroom.
Jiang Sui first practiced archery for a while with a compound bow. Since she couldn’t get a gun, this would serve as both weapon and deterrent. Whenever she had time, she trained.
She felt she had some talent—her accuracy was decent, usually hitting the second ring near the center.
After showering, she lay down comfortably. On her bedside table were several second-hand phones and tablets all downloading movies and shows. After the apocalypse, without electricity, this would be more convenient than hard drives and computers.
She checked the download progress, then lay down and began her nightly news search routine.
From that fish incident onward, she had intermittently seen more videos of mutated animals—especially wild animals suddenly going berserk and attacking humans in cities.
Most of them had some degree of deformity, and the topic had sparked minor online discussion.
However, most comments blamed industrial pollution. Jiang Sui also left comments about the apocalypse, but she was either mocked or dismissed as joking.
But she was increasingly certain—pollution was quietly building up, waiting to erupt. The apocalypse was getting closer.
Her feelings shifted from initial anticipation and tension to growing anxiety.
But what was coming would come. All she could do was prepare and keep a calm mindset.
That night, Jiang Sui had trouble sleeping.
The orchard was too remote; everything around was silent except for insects. The nearest neighbors were two elderly people in their seventies living down the mountain.
Although she had been busy every day, she still felt lonely sometimes.
At times, she missed her original world. Even though she had no loving family there anymore, she still had friends she got along with.
When would she make friends in this world?
Suddenly, she thought of Xie Yanhan. In a way, he was the person she had interacted with the most here.
Without the vicious fiancée, his fate should be different now. She wondered if they would ever meet again…
Just as she was finally drifting off to sleep, her phone vibrated violently, startling her awake.
It was a call from Luo Dongxiang.
Jiang Sui declined it, but the call came again immediately. Curious, she answered.
“Why aren’t you picking up?” Luo Dongxiang said unhappily. “Now that you’ve moved out, you’re cutting ties with the family?”
“I accidentally hung up,” Jiang Sui replied casually. “What is it?”
Her indifferent tone irritated Luo Dongxiang.
This bastard really thinks she has wings now—listen to that tone. “What is it?” Who does she think she is?
Although annoyed, Luo Dongxiang still had business to say.
“Come back in two days for a meal. Your grandfather has been diagnosed with cancer and will go abroad for treatment. Before leaving, he wants to see all the younger generation.”
Jiang Sui was about to refuse, but Luo Dongxiang added:
“Your sister Jiang Shuangxue will be there too. No one is allowed to be absent.”
This made Jiang Sui hesitate.
The apocalypse was about to arrive. Traveling now could mean encountering a sudden outbreak and getting stranded.
But Jiang Shuangxue was the female protagonist of this world. If Jiang Sui could meet her before the apocalypse, get familiar, and rebuild a somewhat decent sisterly relationship, she could lay the groundwork for future ties.
If she wanted to survive long-term in this world, she needed to cling to the protagonist’s support. Only the protagonist’s “golden finger” was the strongest and most stable.
Very quickly, she made her decision.
“Alright, I understand.”
Taking a risk for the protagonist’s favor—it was worth it.