It was the fourth day of the apocalypse countdown.
After several days of nonstop rushing around and constant tension, the family of four had all lost weight. Dark fatigue hung under their eyes, impossible to hide. Yet their gazes had become as sharp and determined as blades tempered by fire.
The reinforcement work on the new home had basically been completed, and the stockpiling of supplies was almost finished as well. For now, things had finally come to a temporary halt.
Money, just as they had predicted, had completely run out.
The last three hundred thousand yuan had been exchanged for ten inflatable boats, diving suits, and several hundred boxes of various brands of liquor, beer, and red wine. In addition, they had bought dozens of large barrels of industrial alcohol and a pile of scrap metal that Lin Jianguo believed “might be useful someday.”
“Tonight… let’s go back to the old house.”
That afternoon, Lin Jianguo swallowed a mouthful of dry compressed biscuits and announced hoarsely.
“There are still some small things left there that we didn’t take. Kitchenware, furniture… They may not be worth much money, but they carry memories. And even if the extreme cold comes, some of them can still be used. If they really become useless later, we can split them for firewood. It’ll help at least a little.”
Li Shulan froze for a moment. A strong trace of reluctance flashed across her face.
Every item in that house, no matter how old, carried decades of memories of their family.
“We’ve been busy stocking supplies here these past few days. It’s about time we went back and packed things up… and emptied the house.” Her voice was slightly choked.
“Mom,” Lin Wan said calmly as she set down her water cup, her tone steady but firm. “Yangyang and I will go back and pack things up. You stay here and organize the supplies.”
Li Shulan nodded vigorously.
“Alright, you two go. Don’t leave anything behind. Bring everything here. Then give the keys to the housekeeping agency downstairs—the boss surnamed Chen. Just tell him the house has been vacated.”
Lin Yang spoke in a muffled voice.
“Okay, Mom. I’ll go with Sis. I’ll handle the heavy work. You just organize the stuff here at home. Don’t worry about anything else.”
He then turned to Lin Wan.
“Sis, did you study your Space Dimension last night? Didn’t you say you were going to test the Planting Area with those seeds?”
Lin Wan nodded.
“I already experimented last night. I planted one mu each of sweet potatoes, corn, wheat, and peanuts. Later we’ll see how they’ve grown.”
“Mom, do you have anything else to tell us before we go?” Lin Wan asked.
“No, that’s all,” Li Shulan replied.
Lin Jianguo glanced at his daughter but did not object.
“Alright, then let’s go together. Shulan, you stay here. I’ll go take a look with them.”
When the three of them returned to their familiar old residential community again, they all felt slightly dazed.
Only a few days had passed, yet it felt as if an entire century separated them from this place.
Neighbors were walking their dogs, buying groceries, living leisurely lives, completely unaware that the apocalypse was approaching.
“Hurry up and pack. Load everything and leave. Don’t linger,” Lin Jianguo reminded them in a low voice as he headed upstairs first.
When they opened the door, a stale and stuffy smell rushed out to greet them.
The house was already mostly empty. Only some bulky furniture, old appliances, and scattered odds and ends remained, making the place feel especially desolate and worn down.
“Dad, Yangyang, take down the curtains and pack the furniture. Bundle up the thick quilts and blankets. I’ll deal with the small stuff first. Later I’ll store everything in the Space Dimension,” Lin Wan quickly assigned the tasks before heading straight into her room.
Her gaze swept across the bookshelf filled with old books, the posters on the wall, and the small trinkets inside the drawers…
In the apocalypse, these things were completely worthless.
Yet once, they had been her entire youth.
Without hesitation, she waved her hand and stored everything in her room into the Space Dimension.
These were memories that had accompanied her for more than twenty years. How could she possibly abandon them?
In the living room, Lin Jianguo and Lin Yang were already working up a sweat.
They dismantled the curtains and the chandelier, then carried the solid wood dining table, bookcases, and bed boards into the living room, producing harsh scraping noises as they stacked them up for Lin Wan to store later.
The commotion was quite loud, and it inevitably attracted the neighbors.
The door across the hallway creaked open slightly, and a head peeked out.
It was Zhou Qing.
Hearing the racket that sounded like the Lin family was tearing their house apart, her pretty face filled with curiosity and surprise.
“Wanwan? Aunt Li? Uncle Lin? Are you home?”
Zhou Qing’s voice was soft and gentle, filled with just the right amount of concern as she walked to the doorway.
She was wearing a delicate dress with flawless makeup. She knocked lightly on the door and leaned closer, trying to listen to the movement inside.
Lin Wan happened to be walking out carrying a cardboard box.
Hearing the voice, she paused.
Another two knocks sounded.
Impatiently, Lin Wan walked over and opened the door halfway, deliberately blocking the entrance so Zhou Qing could not see inside.
Their eyes met.
In that instant, Lin Wan felt as if her blood had frozen.
The smiling, charming face in front of her overlapped violently with the memory buried deep in her mind—the same hypocritical and vicious smile Zhou Qing had worn when she handed over that bottle of “life-saving water.”
That bottle of water!
After drinking it, her parents and younger brother had curled up in agony… accelerating the death of their entire family.
And it was this very person who, in her previous life, had tricked them out of half their supplies.
Hatred!
Like boiling magma, it surged up and instantly shattered Lin Wan’s rationality.
Her eyes turned red in an instant.
The fingers gripping the edge of the cardboard box tightened until the knuckles turned white, trembling slightly.
Zhou Qing was startled by the undisguised hatred in Lin Wan’s eyes. She subconsciously took half a step back, forcing a smile.
“Wanwan… what’s wrong with you? Your face looks terrible. Are you feeling unwell?”
At that moment, Lin Jianguo and Lin Yang also came out carrying a cabinet. Hearing the voices, they walked toward the doorway.
Seeing that Lin Wan did not respond and only stared at her coldly, Zhou Qing felt uneasy. She turned to Lin Jianguo and raised her voice.
“Uncle Lin, what are you doing? Do you need help?”
Lin Jianguo responded vaguely.
“It’s nothing. Yangyang said his bed was too small. We’re changing it for a bigger one.”
“Dad, it’s fine here. I’ll handle it. Go help Yangyang,” Lin Wan said in a low voice.
“Alright, you two talk,” Lin Jianguo replied before turning back inside.
Zhou Qing’s eyes flickered.
She leaned closer to Lin Wan and lowered her voice, speaking in a tone that sounded familiar but was clearly probing.
“Wanwan, what exactly has been going on with you lately? I heard the director already approved your resignation request. That was such a good job—how could you just quit like that? Did you run into some kind of trouble? Tell me about it. Maybe I can help.”
Her voice was like the hiss of a snake’s tongue, trying to slither into Lin Wan’s ears and pry into her secrets.
Lin Wan suddenly closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
When she opened them again, the manic hatred had been forcibly suppressed, replaced by extreme coldness and ridicule.
“Trouble?” Lin Wan’s voice sounded as if it had been dipped in ice. “What trouble do I have that I need to report to you?”
Zhou Qing choked on her words, her expression turning awkward.
“Wanwan, how can you talk like that? I’m just concerned about you…”
“Concerned about me?”
Lin Wan let out a mocking laugh and cut her off.
“Zhou Qing, put away that fake, hypocritical act. Whether I quit my job or do anything else, what does it have to do with you? Not even a single cent’s worth of connection. Mind your own business instead of sticking your neck into other people’s affairs all day!”
Zhou Qing froze completely.
She had never expected Lin Wan to tear off the mask so directly and ruthlessly.
Her face turned red, then pale, as if she had suffered a great injustice.
“Lin Wan! You… you really don’t appreciate kindness! I saw that your complexion looked terrible and just wanted to care about you. I asked you out of goodwill, and yet you… Are you perhaps…” She raised a finger and pointed at her own temple with obvious implication. “…having some kind of problem here? I know a very famous psychiatrist—”
Slap!
A loud, crisp sound rang out.
The slap landed fiercely across Zhou Qing’s face, cutting off her unfinished sentence.
Zhou Qing’s head snapped to the side. Her carefully styled hair became disheveled, and a clear handprint quickly appeared on her cheek.
She clutched her face and stared at Lin Wan in disbelief, as if seeing her for the first time.
“You… why did you hit me?!”