The renovation team leader carefully noted down all her requirements and agreed to begin work three days later. After seeing them off, Yu Xia used going to the bathroom as an excuse. Sitting on the toilet, she looked into the space with her mind and watched the little creatures happily running around in their new environment. She finally let out a sigh of relief.
“We’ve finally gotten the first stage sorted out…” She wiped the sweat from her forehead. Next, she had to figure out how to prepare her parents for the apocalypse without frightening them.
Yu Xia was washing her hands in the bathroom when a thought suddenly flashed through her mind. The courtyard had to be completely enclosed! She abruptly turned off the faucet without even having time to dry the water from her hands and rushed outside.
“Master Zhang! Wait!” She had not even put her shoes on properly and hurried after them in her slippers, nearly tripping over the steps at the entrance.
The three members of the renovation team had just reached the courtyard gate when they heard her and turned around in surprise, staring at the girl rushing toward them in a panic. Yu Xia grabbed Master Zhang by the arm and said breathlessly, “There’s… there’s another important change!”
Master Zhang was startled by her frantic appearance. “Ms. Yu, take your time and tell me slowly…”
Yu Xia had no time to explain and simply dragged him back inside. “Come with me!” She rushed into the courtyard and gestured toward the surroundings. “The entire courtyard, all four walls from the ground to the roof, needs to be completely enclosed with bulletproof glass!”
Yu Xia’s parents, who had been gathering the design drawings in the living room, came out at the sound of her voice. They stared blankly at their daughter as she waved her arms around the courtyard like a cat with its fur standing on end.
“Like… like the kind used at bank counters!” Yu Xia stamped her foot anxiously. “It needs to be bulletproof and explosion-proof! The joints need special treatment, and ideally, it should even be able to withstand grenades!”
The moment those words left her mouth, the entire courtyard fell silent. Master Zhang and the two workers exchanged bewildered looks, while Yu Jianguo’s glasses had slipped all the way down to the bridge of his nose.
“Xia Xia!” Lin Fengxia was the first to react. “What nonsense are you talking about?”
Only then did Yu Xia realize that she had let too much slip. She hurriedly changed her explanation. “I mean… protection against hail! Didn’t the news say recently that some places had hailstones as big as eggs?” She pulled out her phone and randomly swiped through it, trying to find a related news report to support her claim.
Master Zhang wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Ms. Yu, enclosing the entire courtyard with bulletproof glass as a sunroom isn’t impossible, but the cost…”
“Money isn’t a problem!” Yu Xia said decisively, completely failing to notice her father’s face instantly turning grim. “Use the highest-grade materials available. The faster, the better!”
She pulled Master Zhang back inside. “Come, come, let’s redraw the plans!”
As they passed her parents, she lowered her voice. “Dad, Mom, I’ll explain everything tonight. This is really important…”
Yu Jianguo looked as though he wanted to say something, but ultimately sighed as he watched his daughter enthusiastically drag the renovation team back inside. Lin Fengxia whispered worriedly, “Old Yu, do you think something happened to this child? Did she suffer some kind of shock?”
By then, Yu Xia was already leaning over the coffee table with Master Zhang, enthusiastically modifying the blueprints. Every now and then, she would point at a particular detail and emphasize, “We need to add a ventilation and filtration system here… Leave an inspection hatch in this corner… Oh, right, the glass on top needs to withstand an impact of at least 500 kilograms…”
Master Zhang took notes while wiping away sweat. In his twenty years in the industry, this was the first time he had ever received such a strange and urgent order. Yu Xia’s eyes, however, were astonishingly bright. She knew that once this “glass fortress” was built, her family would have another layer of protection.
After the renovation team left, Yu Xia closed the front door and turned around, only to find her parents sitting upright on the sofa, staring directly at her. The atmosphere seemed frozen, and she could even hear the second hand of the clock on the wall ticking.
“Dad, Mom…” Yu Xia swallowed and slowly moved to the single sofa opposite them. “There’s something I need to tell you…”
Yu Jianguo adjusted his glasses. “We’re listening.”
Yu Xia took a deep breath, her fingers unconsciously twisting the edge of her clothes. “Actually… The world is about to undergo a tremendous change. Three months from now, a global disaster will break out…”
“Stop, stop!” Lin Fengxia interrupted her immediately. “Xia Xia, have you been watching too many horror movies lately? Or did you have another nightmare?”
“It wasn’t a dream!” Yu Xia stamped her feet anxiously. “I… I was reborn! I’ve already experienced the apocalypse once!”
The living room fell into an eerie silence. Yu Jianguo and Lin Fengxia exchanged a worried glance, their expressions clearly saying, “Is our daughter losing her mind?”
Yu Xia gritted her teeth and decided to bring out her strongest proof. “I know you don’t believe me, but if I wasn’t reborn, how could I possibly know that today’s 5D lottery would draw 55555? I bought five tickets, and I won 50 million!” She pulled out her phone and brought up the bank notification. “Look! The money has already been deposited!”
Yu Jianguo took the phone, his eyes widening. “This… this…”
“How much?!” Lin Fengxia suddenly sprang up from the sofa, her voice cracking. “50 million?!”
Yu Jianguo’s hand trembled, and the phone slipped onto the carpet with a soft thud. He mechanically bent down to pick it up, his glasses sliding to the tip of his nose without him even noticing. “Xia Xia, you can’t joke about something like this…”
“I’m not joking!” Yu Xia rushed over and sat between her parents, linking an arm around each of them. “Dad, you have a secret stash hidden in the ceiling of our bathroom. Mom, there’s a photo of Grandma when she was young hidden at the very bottom of your wardrobe, and even Dad doesn’t know about it.”
She had discovered these things by accident after the apocalypse when she had been so hungry that she resorted to eating insects.
Lin Fengxia sucked in a sharp breath, while Yu Jianguo was completely stunned. How could anyone have discovered his secret stash? It made no sense!
Lin Fengxia and Yu Jianguo exchanged glances. After a long silence, he let out a deep sigh. “So… you really were… reborn?”
Yu Xia nodded vigorously, her eyes shining. “And we’re very lucky! This time, we have time to prepare, and I also have my space system…” She briefly explained the situation with Peach Blossom Paradise.
Unexpectedly, Yu Jianguo and Lin Fengxia adapted quite well. At least neither of them fainted.
Lin Fengxia quickly got into action. “Then we need to stockpile supplies immediately! Rice, flour, cooking oil, salt…”
“Wait!” Yu Jianguo suddenly seized on the most important point. “Did you just say… 50 million?!”
Yu Xia could not help laughing. “Yes, I already have 50 million in starting capital. But the most important thing now is…” She took out the list she had prepared earlier. “We need to split up and work separately. Dad will be responsible for reinforcing the house and installing the security system. Mom will handle purchasing daily necessities, and I’ll prepare everything for planting and breeding…”
Watching her parents go from shock to acceptance and then to actively making plans, Yu Xia finally relaxed. She had originally worried that she would frighten them into having a heart attack, but the psychological resilience of her parents was much stronger than she had imagined.
Lin Fengxia suddenly slapped her thigh. “Oh, right! We need to withdraw all our fixed-term savings immediately!”
Yu Jianguo had already begun checking the prices of bulletproof glass on his phone. Watching her parents busily get to work, Yu Xia’s eyes grew warm. In this lifetime, she would definitely protect them.
Once they decided to act, they acted immediately. The fiery personalities of Yu Jianguo and Lin Fengxia, combined with Yu Xia’s energetic nature, made them an unstoppable team.
Yu Jianguo drove a small truck straight to the building materials market. Following the list he had just made, he purchased in one go:
“Boss, can all of these be delivered today?” Yu Jianguo asked, wiping the sweat from his forehead.
The shop owner looked at this middle-aged man who was spending money so generously and nodded repeatedly. “We’ll arrange it right away!”
Meanwhile, Yu Xia drove to a breeding farm on the outskirts of the city. Wearing a mask and baseball cap, she bargained with the owner.
“100 chicks, 100 ducklings, and 100 goslings.”
“I also want twenty piglets, ten lambs, and ten calves. Make sure the males and females are properly paired.”
The owner looked at the petite young woman in surprise. “Miss, are you planning to start a farm?”
Yu Xia smiled without answering. After paying the deposit, she watched the workers load the chirping little creatures into specially designed transport cages.
Around noon, Lin Fengxia pushed three shopping carts through the supermarket. Like an experienced purchaser, she quickly piled them with:
The cashier stared at the astonishing amount of goods. “Ma’am, are you…”
“For the company cafeteria,” Lin Fengxia replied without changing her expression as she pulled out her bank card.
At three in the afternoon, all the supplies were gradually delivered to the villa. Taking advantage of the delivery workers’ distraction, Yu Xia quietly transferred the live poultry and livestock into the space. The moment the little animals entered the spiritual farmland environment, they immediately began frolicking happily.
“Dad, put the solar equipment in the garage for now. I’ll move it inside tonight,” Yu Xia said quietly.
Yu Jianguo nodded and turned around to receive the second batch of goods. This time, they were supplies Lin Fengxia had ordered:
By evening, the family of three gathered in the kitchen to count everything they had acquired that day. Lin Fengxia rubbed her aching waist. “The people at the supermarket were looking at me strangely.”
Yu Jianguo laughed as he massaged her shoulders. “Tomorrow I’ll go buy weapons and medicine. For now, let’s eat.”
“How about hot pot?” Yu Xia suggested.
The three of them enjoyed a warm and cozy dinner together in their home.
Late that night, Yu Xia had just checked the results of that day’s purchases in the space once more and was preparing to sleep when someone gently knocked on her bedroom door.
“Xia Xia, are you asleep?” Lin Fengxia’s voice came from outside, carrying a hint of hesitation.
Yu Xia hurried over to open the door and found her mother standing outside with a pillow in her arms, her eyes slightly red.
“Mom…?”
“Mom wants to talk to you.” Lin Fengxia walked inside and sat down on the edge of the bed. Her fingers unconsciously rubbed the edge of the pillow. “What you said earlier today… about your previous life…”
Yu Xia’s heart sank. During the day, she had deliberately avoided talking about the details of her previous life because she did not want to make her parents sad.
“Mom, it’s all in the past. This lifetime is different…” She tried to change the subject.
But Lin Fengxia stubbornly held onto her hand. “Tell Mom. In your previous life… What happened to us? What happened to me and your father?”
The atmosphere in the room seemed to freeze. Yu Xia lowered her head and looked at the familiar wrinkles on her mother’s hand as the memories she had deliberately buried came rushing back like a tide.
“After you went on your business trip, you never came back…” Her voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible. “Before the apocalypse, Uncle Yu’s family forced me to have 600 ml of blood drawn. After I got home, I tried to contact you, but I couldn’t reach you.”
Lin Fengxia’s hand began trembling violently, and large tears fell onto their clasped hands.
“Then the apocalypse came, and Grandma Yu took Uncle Yu’s entire family and stole the food I had left…” Yu Xia’s fingernails unconsciously dug into her palm. “They said… They said I was still young, so I should give my food to the adults… Uncle Yu’s wife even took the Jade Pendant Grandpa had left for me.”
“What?!” Lin Fengxia suddenly raised her head, her face turning deathly pale.
Yu Xia mechanically told her the general details of what happened afterward.
Lin Fengxia suddenly let out a heartbroken sob and pulled her daughter tightly into her arms, her entire body trembling. “My child… my poor child…”
Yu Xia felt her mother’s tears soaking through her pajamas. The memories she had deliberately tried to dull now became painfully vivid, including the vicious expression on Uncle Yu’s face as he held her down to have her blood drawn and Grandma Yu’s mocking smile as she took away her flour.
“The third year, during the extreme-cold apocalypse…” Yu Xia leaned against her mother’s shoulder, her voice distant. “I had nowhere to go and no warm clothes to wear. I squeezed into the Refugee District with a group of people, and we pressed ourselves together to keep warm… I remember that in the end… it was so, so cold…”
Lin Fengxia’s crying suddenly turned into a nearly unbearable wail. She held her daughter tightly as though she wanted to merge her into her very bones and blood. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry… Mom didn’t know… I shouldn’t have gone on that business trip…”
Hearing the cries, Yu Jianguo rushed into the room. When he saw his wife and daughter crying in each other’s arms, he immediately understood what had happened. This usually stern man knelt beside the bed, wrapped his arms around them both, and silently shed tears.
“It won’t happen this time…” Yu Xia sobbed in her parents’ embrace. “We’re prepared… We have the space… Our family will be okay…”
Lin Fengxia suddenly straightened, wiped away her tears, and her expression became exceptionally resolute. “Tomorrow, I’m going to quit my job!” She turned to her husband. “Old Yu, your older brother and his family are never setting foot in our home again!”
Yu Jianguo nodded heavily, a cold glint appearing in his eyes that Yu Xia had never seen before. “I’ll make them pay the price.” He gently stroked his daughter’s hair. “This time, Dad will protect you.”
It was deep into the night, yet none of the three could sleep. They held each other close, reaffirming one another’s existence through their tears. Outside the window, moonlight quietly spilled into the room, illuminating a night filled with sorrow yet overflowing with warmth.