This was the true entrance to the Safe House.
Xie Yuanchuan had shamelessly pestered his eldest daughter for days before finally getting a piece of meteorite from her.
It emitted only a slight amount of radiation—harmless to the human body—but its hardness surpassed even that of diamonds. It could withstand most conventional firearms available on the market.
To turn it into a door, Xie Yuanchuan had specifically hired an Ability User with an Enhancement Talent. Using reinforced meteorite fragments, they painstakingly cut and processed the slab. The entire project had taken a tremendous amount of effort.
“In a moment, all of you will register your iris scans. This door will be our home’s first line of defense.”
Cen Wu nodded vigorously.
So the dilapidated appearance outside had only been a disguise.
If they ever truly needed a place to hide, no one would think to search a crumbling abandoned factory like this.
As the saying went, the most dangerous place was often the safest.
Beyond the meteorite door lay an open area.
Their rugged off-road vehicle was parked there, serving as a temporary parking lot.
Farther in was a curved tunnel.
Only after walking nearly a hundred meters did they stop before another door.
Luke’s lips twitched.
“Dad, do we have to go through all this every time we come home?”
Xie Yuanchuan narrowed his eyes with a kindly smile.
“If it’s too troublesome, you don’t have to live here.”
Luke wasn’t intimidated at all.
Instead, he seriously began calculating the feasibility—and chances of success—of asking Big Sister to find him a place to stay outside.
“Little Wu, want to live with me?”
Cen Wu rejected him without hesitation.
“No. If I live with you, there’d only be two people. If I stay with Mom and Dad, there’d be three. A home is wherever the most family members are.”
The moment she finished speaking, both Xie Yuanchuan and Cen Yi looked at her.
After their children had grown up, they had all left home, whether willingly or not.
Eventually, the house had become empty.
Cen Yi knew children would always grow up and leave their parents.
She never said it aloud, but she missed them deeply.
Only her little doll would stay by her side forever.
But this time…
She would never lose her again.
While Cen Wu was still bickering with her older brother, she suddenly felt someone gently take her finger.
Warmth spread from the palm holding hers, dry and comforting.
Cen Wu squeezed her mother’s hand in return and stuck her tongue out at Luke.
“You can live by yourself.”
In this lifetime, she was determined to remain her mother’s little padded jacket forever.
When they entered the living room, the interior looked exactly the same as the villa’s.
It gave Cen Wu the illusion that they had never moved at all.
The sofa, the carpet, even the dining table—
They looked as though they had come from the exact same mold.
Old Man was amazing.
Their luggage had already been transported by conveyor belt into the warehouse’s secure passageway, which served as another movable route besides the tunnel.
Only when she saw a marble roll backward after falling did Cen Wu suddenly realize—
The Safe House had been built underground.
Under normal circumstances, it should stay warm in winter and cool in summer.
She wondered if it would also withstand an extreme heat season.
Cen Wu yawned.
“There aren’t that many rooms here. Little Wu, you’ll share one with your big sister.”
Xie Yuanchuan looked at her with a half-smile.
He deliberately watched her face, hoping to catch even a trace of panic or awkwardness.
Cen Wu remained fairly calm.
“Will Big Sister come back to stay?”
She remembered Luke saying that Base No. 18 was Big Sister’s territory.
That meant she probably wouldn’t live here.
Besides, Big Sister didn’t like children.
She definitely wouldn’t want to share a room with someone else.
Xie Yuanchuan put away his smile and pretended not to hear the question.
Technically, the two of them were supposed to share a room.
In reality, his eldest daughter had her own house.
Although it was within the same base, seeing her even once was difficult, let alone convincing the busy woman to come home for dinner or spend the night.
Thinking about the disdainful looks he received every time he visited Base No. 18, Xie Yuanchuan couldn’t help sighing several times.
After they finished unpacking, Cen Yi suggested taking a walk around the base.
Cen Wu immediately pulled out a map and pointed at the marketplace that would become lively after dark, enthusiastically recommending that everyone visit it.
Cen Yi raised both hands in agreement.
Xie Yuanchuan lay sprawled across the sofa, looking as though he were about to melt into it.
“I’m tired. Don’t want to move.”
Luke was busy concentrating on controlling his mental power.
He had completely shut out everything around him and ignored the outside world entirely.
Cen Wu talked until her mouth went dry.
It was useless.
She felt that every man had actually awakened an Innate Ability called:
Refusing to Go Shopping.
Tell them to do something they liked, and they could remain boys forever.
Mention accompanying their wives and children shopping, and they’d immediately act as though their kidneys had been drained dry.
Just looking at them was infuriating.
Cen Wu silently erupted in impotent rage that only she herself could see.
Cen Yi had long grown accustomed to it.
“The old and the young men in this family are all like this.” She smiled helplessly. “Baby, don’t mind them. Mom will take you and your big sister out for dinner instead.”
Cen Wu’s attention was instantly diverted.
“Really? Then I’ll go change my clothes first. Wait for me, Mom!”
She rummaged through the wardrobe.
Among several gray outfits, she carefully picked out a T-shirt that was a little less gray—but not quite white either—and pulled it over her head.
She felt completely refreshed.
Luke spared her a glance and let out a snort.
“What’s the difference?”
Cen Wu smiled blandly like an emotionless robot.
“It’s perfectly normal for a low-intelligence primate lifeform not to notice.”
Luke blinked.
“…?”
Cen Wu ignored him completely.
Holding her mother’s hand, she skipped along like a cheerful little bird.
…
The marketplace.
It was essentially one long night market stretching in a straight line.
Colorful light bulbs hung from the stalls on both sides.
Their dazzling glow nearly illuminated the entire base.
It also dispelled a little of the unease brought on by the apocalypse.
Before leaving home, Cen Yi had fastened a Base No. 18 wristband onto her daughter’s wrist.
She had also loaded it with 200 points, making it convenient for Cen Wu to buy things herself.
Since Cen Wu had never visited a marketplace before, she first wandered from one end to the other, simply taking everything in.
Only on the way back did she begin seriously considering what she wanted to buy.
As they passed a fruit stall, she couldn’t help swallowing.
It was the fragrance of mangoes.
Sweet and enticing, it drifted relentlessly into her nose.
In her previous life, her scumbag father had once brought Lu You a fruit basket.
He had casually taken out a mango from it and handed it to her.
The mango had smelled wonderful.
But she couldn’t bear to eat it.
Instead, she had kept it in her room like a priceless treasure.
Only after its skin had gradually dried out, wrinkled, and become covered in dark spots had Cen Wu finally feared it would spoil and eaten it.
The rich, intoxicating aroma of that mango…
She had never forgotten it, not in either lifetime.
“How much are the mangoes?”
The stall owner glanced at the little girl, disappointment flashing across his eyes.
“Thirty points each.”
Meat cost only fifty points per jin.
A single piece of fruit for thirty points wasn’t cheap, nor could it fill anyone’s stomach.
Ordinary people only bought them occasionally as a treat.
The stall owner hadn’t expected to sell any mangoes at all.
If he could turn back time, he definitely wouldn’t have headed toward the mango trees while gathering supplies today.
If he had gathered wild vegetables, corn, sweet potatoes, or any staple food instead, everything would have sold out long ago.
Cen Wu picked out two large mangoes.
“Can I have both for fifty points?”
The stall owner froze.
Then overwhelming joy surged through him.
Someone was actually buying them!
Pinduoduo had said he was the luckiest person.
It really was true.
“Yes! I’ll wrap them up for you!”