The rain that had continued for six days showed no sign of stopping, while the thick, gray-black clouds still blanketed the sky.
Residents whose food supplies had run out rushed into major supermarkets and shopping centers through the torrential rain, frantically buying rice, vegetables, cooking oil, and other necessities.
In some shopping centers, people even got into physical fights over a single bag of rice.
Some went even further, slapping others just to snatch a single green onion.
Scenes like these were unfolding all over the world, and the relentless rain was making most citizens increasingly irritable and anxious.
After an entire week of rain, landslides, flooding, and blocked roads had become common, causing shortages of rice, vegetables, cooking oil, and other necessities in many places.
The situation left countless people feeling uncertain and helpless, especially those with children, whose anxiety was even greater.
Just as the situation grew increasingly tense, on the seventh day, major natural disasters such as tsunamis and earthquakes began occurring in several places one after another.
The sudden tsunami swept across several countries overnight, leaving no part of the world untouched.
This was nature’s test for all of humanity, as well as its punishment for failing to protect the environment.
A crew member aboard a ship from a certain country noticed a strange phenomenon. Huge deep-sea fish were scrambling to surface, their long legs carrying them onto the beaches and into coastal cities, where they began eating people alive.
The mutated marine creatures left the crew horrified. They immediately took photographs and sent them to the relevant authorities. By the time the incident was exposed to the public, half a month had already passed since the apocalypse began.
For now, however, the people of Earth were still fighting one another over food.
Qiao Anran, who had not stepped outside since the first day of rain, was finally carried downstairs to the living room on the evening of the seventh day.
She lazily leaned against the sofa, turned on the television, and checked the latest news to understand the current situation and see whether anything differed from what had happened in her previous life.
When an international news report began covering the disasters occurring around the world, she noticed that a neighboring country had suffered the worst fate. Not only had seawater flooded inland, but a magnitude-seven earthquake had also struck.
Just how powerful was a magnitude-seven earthquake?
Earthquakes above magnitude five already possessed destructive power. A magnitude-seven earthquake was considered a major earthquake, powerful enough to make houses shake and collapse and leave people so weak-kneed that they could barely walk.
For densely populated cities, earthquakes above magnitude seven were almost a devastating blow.
Especially when one struck in the middle of the night, people who were sound asleep had almost no chance of escaping. R Country had suffered tremendous losses this time.
With the torrential rain still pouring down, rescue efforts became even more difficult. According to conservative estimates, nearly one-third of the people in R Country had lost signs of life.
Once the news was broadcast, people in different countries reacted in various ways, and their feelings were difficult to put into words.
An anonymous netizen posted only one sentence about the incident: 【Those who bring disaster upon themselves cannot escape it.】
The post received as many as one hundred million likes.
Someone replied beneath it: 【Good deeds are rewarded, and evil deeds are punished. It is not that there is no retribution, but that the time has not yet come.】
People remembered the atrocities R Country had committed in the past, the killings and plundering, and the way human lives had been treated like toys. Coupled with the recent actions of R Country’s leadership, which had deliberately damaged the ecological environment, they simply could not bring themselves to feel sympathy.
However, the vast majority of kind-hearted people in the country would not take advantage of the situation to kick others while they were down. They could only sigh inwardly, thinking that evil people would eventually bring their own downfall upon themselves.
Qiao Anran did not express any opinion about the news. She merely thought to herself, There is always a cause behind every consequence.
In fact, several countries around the world had recorded acid rain repeatedly as far back as several decades ago.
The reason it was so severe this time was not only that countries around the world had neglected environmental protection, but also because a certain country had deliberately dumped a massive amount of radioactive wastewater into the sea.
Those radioactive substances would not only damage the environment but also cause genetic mutations and deformities. This was precisely one of the major reasons the birth rate of newborns would plummet after the apocalypse began.
One nation’s actions had made all of humanity pay the price.
After roughly browsing through several pieces of current news, Qiao Anran switched the channel to a local television station to watch a drama.
It was eight in the evening, which happened to be prime time for idol dramas.
Perhaps because she had spent so much time looking at Li Cangchen’s cold, jade-like face, she now found the male leads in dramas incredibly awkward to look at.
The male lead’s overly slick makeup and greasy mannerisms instantly turned her stomach, leaving her with no desire to continue watching.
She had just reached for the remote to turn off the television when a hot, scorching breath brushed against her ear.
“Little Jiu’er likes watching this kind of pretty boy?”
“!”
The moment she thought of him, he appeared. Was this merely a coincidence, or were they truly connected by heart?
Qiao Anran held the television remote in her little hand, blinked her bright, limpid eyes, and turned her head to look at her newlywed husband, who was bending over behind her.
If they were talking about pretty boys, she actually wanted to say that he was even more qualified for the title, at least when it came to his charm.
His face was simply too captivating. One glance from a woman was enough to make her develop the crazy desire to go through fire and water for him without hesitation.
Perhaps if he merely crooked his finger, a whole swarm of infatuated women would immediately throw themselves at him.
She pressed the power button on the remote and switched off the television before turning around and looking up at him with a bright smile.
“Are you… jealous?”
A flicker of emotion passed through Li Cangchen’s eyes. He lowered his head and placed a light kiss on her moist red lips before looking at her.
“Mm. I don’t like you looking at other men.”
Her gaze should belong only to him. Those thin, weak men who looked like plucked chickens were not worthy of even one glance from her.
If this had been a thousand years ago, he would have already covered her eyes and told her that men and women were different, and that aside from her husband, she was not allowed to look at other men indiscriminately.
In modern society, men and women were free and equal. She had grown up in such an environment, where even striptease would not necessarily be considered scandalous.
In order to make her fall in love with him again and remain by his side for a long time, he could not reveal his overwhelming possessiveness all at once and frighten her away. He could only guide her gradually.
Hearing him openly express his feelings without the slightest attempt to hide them, the smile on Qiao Anran’s face grew even brighter. She raised her little hand and draped it around his shoulder and neck, laughing softly.
“After seeing a man as gorgeous as you, how could those little flowers and weeds possibly catch my eye? I only like looking at you.”
She paused after saying this, then restrained her smile slightly and raised a brow.
“Where did you go just now? You disappeared right after dinner.”
She had only turned on the television to pass the time because she was so bored.
She had not expected to see him jealous, and she found it rather fascinating.
Watching his emotions change according to hers filled her heart with another layer of sweetness. Did this mean that he truly cared about her?
Her eyes were too pure, and everything she was thinking appeared plainly on her little face.
Li Cangchen placed one hand against the armrest of the sofa, his upper body suspended above her. Their faces were only inches apart, their breaths mingling as an ambiguous atmosphere spread between them.
Their gazes met, creating sparks of intense heat.
Countless emotions churned within the depths of his eyes, making them appear even darker and deeper, like a bottomless black hole. The moment she met his gaze, she felt a strange sense of panic, as though she might be swallowed whole.
Qiao Anran secretly swallowed the saliva gathering in her throat. She had noticed that whenever he looked at her, his gaze was always filled with such deep affection that her heart repeatedly began pounding faster.
“Thump, thump.”
She seriously wondered whether her heart might eventually develop a problem if it kept beating this wildly.