Bai Yang had never felt so helpless before. No matter how hard she struggled, it seemed completely useless. She felt no pain and could not even sense the existence of her own body. Just as despair was beginning to consume her, she suddenly realized that she could move her eyes.
“Rip!”
Bai Yang abruptly opened her eyes. The lingering fear had yet to fade from her gaze, and she felt as though she had narrowly escaped death. However, the moment she clearly saw the scene before her, her heart was filled with shock.
Above her was the familiar white ceiling, and the light was painfully bright. When she turned her head, she saw her roommate from before the apocalypse lying on her bed and scrolling through her phone. Whatever she was looking at seemed to have given her an extremely strange expression.
Bai Yang stared around in disbelief. Looking at the dormitory that had once been so familiar to her, combined with the terrifying feeling of being unable to control herself earlier, an unbelievable thought suddenly appeared in her mind.
She had been reborn!
After experiencing three years of the apocalypse, she had returned to the time before it began.
Bai Yang picked up the phone beside her bed and checked the date.
May 5, 2122.
There was still one month until the apocalypse arrived.
Bai Yang clearly remembered that the apocalypse had begun on June 12, 2122.
That day, the weather had been unusually hot, so she and her roommate, Leng Jiajia, had planned to buy a watermelon together after class.
However, the moment they left the teaching building, they encountered zombies.
The two of them fled in panic and managed to escape the school. By sheer coincidence, they avoided crowded places such as the dormitories and teaching buildings, allowing them to become two of the relatively few survivors.
Thinking about this, Bai Yang could not help feeling bitter.
There had been more than seven thousand people at the school, including teachers and students, yet fewer than two hundred had survived in the end.
Thinking of her parents, whom she had not seen in three years, Bai Yang hurriedly used her phone to call her father.
The wait for the call to connect felt unbearably long. To Bai Yang, it seemed as though an entire century had passed.
“Is that Yangyang?”
The call connected, and her father Bai Ancheng’s voice came through the phone.
In an instant, Bai Yang could no longer suppress the tears in her eyes. However, she did not dare let herself cry aloud, afraid that Bai Ancheng would hear her and worry.
After quickly calming herself down, Bai Yang finally called out, “Dad.”
Even so, Bai Ancheng immediately noticed that something was wrong.
“Yangyang, are you homesick? Your mother, Suisui, and I can come visit you at school.”
Bai Ancheng did not ask why she was crying. Instead, his words were filled with a father’s concern and worry.
Bai Yang cleared her throat and forced a small smile.
“I stayed up all night watching dramas yesterday. When I woke up this morning, my forehead felt a little hot. Dad, I’m going home this week. Can you make some braised pork for your daughter and satisfy my craving?”
“Of course. When you get home, Dad will make you a huge pot of braised pork.”
“Then please give Mom my regards too. I’m hanging up now. I have class to attend.”
After hanging up, Bai Yang let out a long breath.
She still had one month.
She had to prepare everything before the apocalypse arrived and make sure her family could live as safely and comfortably as possible during the apocalypse.
Seeing that it was almost time, Bai Yang climbed out of bed.
“Jiajia, are you going to class? Let’s grab something to eat first. I’m starving!”
“Come on, let’s go together!”
Leng Jiajia noticed Bai Yang’s reddened eyes but did not ask any questions. Instead, she simply pulled Bai Yang along and headed straight for the cafeteria.
Bai Yang was 168 centimeters tall, while Leng Jiajia was at least half a head taller than her, standing at around 173 centimeters.
Bai Yang still remembered that when they had first started university, Leng Jiajia had kept her hair short. Her cute appearance had seemed completely mismatched with her height.
However, by their second year, her hair had grown longer, and she had unexpectedly developed a faint air of elegance and maturity.
After the apocalypse began in her previous life, Bai Yang had become separated from Leng Jiajia and never saw her again.
She wondered what had happened to Leng Jiajia in her previous life.
Had she become an ability user, or had she turned into a zombie?
The two of them soon arrived at the cafeteria. By then, the breakfast rush had already passed, and there were not many people around.
After buying their breakfast, they found a place to sit.
Leng Jiajia looked at Bai Yang, who had a bowl of wontons in front of her while holding a steamed bun in one hand and a stuffed flatbread in the other, wolfing down her food.
The corner of Leng Jiajia’s mouth twitched uncontrollably.
“Yangyang, have you been possessed by a starving ghost? Why did you buy so much food?”
Bai Yang continued eating the wontons. After quickly finishing the steamed bun and stuffed flatbread in her hands, she finally looked up at Leng Jiajia.
“You don’t understand. Anyway, it’s even scarier than being possessed by a starving ghost!”
Leng Jiajia looked at the empty bowl in front of Bai Yang, then at the soy milk in her own hand and the meat bun she had only taken two bites from.
For a moment, she could not help feeling rather emotional.
Bai Yang rubbed her bloated stomach in satisfaction, tears of emotion nearly spilling from her eyes.
She had struggled through the apocalypse for three years.
At first, she had dared to search supermarkets for food, but later, there was less and less food to be found. At that time, her spatial ability had not even awakened yet.
During her most difficult days, she had survived an entire week on only half a bottle of water.
Thinking about it now, even Bai Yang herself could not help sighing at how difficult those days had been.
After Leng Jiajia finished eating, Bai Yang placed her empty wonton bowl in the designated area.
As she turned around, she suddenly felt an unreadable gaze fall upon her.
Bai Yang immediately turned around, but she did not see anyone suspicious.
Only two men who looked like teachers were sitting in the corner. One had his back to Bai Yang, while the other was facing her.
Bai Yang did not recognize the man with his back to her, but the man facing her looked strangely familiar.
Bai Yang looked away.
Perhaps she had imagined it, or perhaps the other person simply thought she looked familiar and had been trying to get a better look at her.
After all, she had mistaken strangers for acquaintances before when she was not wearing her glasses.
Leng Jiajia noticed that something seemed wrong and looked around.
“What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, I probably imagined it. Come on, we need to hurry. Class is about to start.”
Putting the small incident out of her mind, Bai Yang grabbed Leng Jiajia and rushed out of the cafeteria.
The two of them ran all the way to the classroom and finally arrived five minutes before class began, finding seats just in time.
After Bai Yang pulled Leng Jiajia away from the cafeteria, the person sitting in the corner with his back to Bai Yang finally turned around.
Although Bai Yang was already gone, his gaze remained fixed in the direction she had left.
Meanwhile, the man who had been facing Bai Yang spoke in a somewhat carefree manner, his tone filled with amusement.
“That little girl definitely knew I was looking at her. Her eyes were so wary. And judging by how much she eats, how much does your family give her for living expenses every month? Can she even afford to eat enough? Look how hungry the little girl was.”
After being dragged into a three-minute sprint by Bai Yang, Leng Jiajia finally sat down, panting heavily.
However, she was shocked to discover that her roommate was not even out of breath.
“Yangyang, why aren’t you tired at all? I remember you barely passed the 800-meter fitness test last semester. How come running feels so easy for you now?”
Bai Yang could not help laughing inwardly.
She had already survived the apocalypse. If she did not have a few survival skills, how could she possibly outrun zombies and stay alive?
Although that was what she thought, Bai Yang simply smiled and explained.
“Your breathing is the problem. If you adjust your breathing rhythm properly, running won’t feel as tiring. My dad used to be a soldier, and he taught me how to do it.
“If you run with me more often, maybe it could even save your life someday!”
When Leng Jiajia heard that she would have to keep running in the future, her eyes widened in shock. Her bright black-and-white eyes were filled with complaint.
“More running? Yangyang, please spare me! Wuwuwu~”
Before Bai Yang could say anything else, the bell rang, and the teacher entered the classroom.