“Want some more water?”
Xu Wanning blinked her beautiful peach-blossom eyes.
“Yes.”
Lu Chengyue walked over, picked up her cup, and absentmindedly rubbed a thumb along the rim before refilling it.
As he handed it back, Xu Wanning reached out with both hands.
Her fingertips brushed against his.
Cool.
The pads of her fingers slid lightly across the rough calluses at the base of his thumb.
She didn’t pull away.
Neither did he.
The contact lasted about three seconds.
Then Lu Chengyue released the cup and returned to his seat.
This time, he didn’t touch the oxygen mask again.
Instead, he leaned back against the chair, crossing his arms over his chest—a very obvious defensive posture.
Xu Wanning sighed inwardly.
So he’d already realized she had ulterior motives?
Did he really need to be this guarded?
Then again, he’d noticed her intentions, yet he hadn’t withdrawn when she’d touched him.
That made things interesting.
It was time to leave.
Turning to Lu Zhiyu, she said, “Zhiyu, let’s go. We shouldn’t disturb your brother’s rest.”
The word you was spoken softly.
The word brother was emphasized.
At their distance, Lu Chengyue could hear the word brother clearly but not the rest.
The word struck his heart unexpectedly hard.
His brows furrowed.
He couldn’t figure out what she meant.
The three roommates, however, noticed nothing unusual and began gathering their belongings.
Lu Zhiyu tightened her grip on her handbag.
“Bro, we’re heading out. By the way, how much money do you have available? Can you lend me some?”
Lu Chengyue set down what he was holding and stood up.
“What for?”
He had very few expenses.
After four years as a firefighter, he’d saved most of his earnings.
About five hundred thousand yuan.
That money was supposed to be for his future marriage.
His eyes flickered briefly toward Xu Wanning before quickly looking away.
He didn’t really want to lend it out.
“I… I want to buy some things.”
Lu Zhiyu didn’t know how to explain.
She’d considered telling her brother about the coming apocalypse.
But what if it never happened?
He would definitely report it to his superiors.
If the authorities got involved and the apocalypse failed to arrive, everyone who knew—including her brother—could end up in serious trouble.
Better to quietly stockpile supplies first.
Once Wanning’s storage space was full, then they could decide what to do.
“What things?”
Lu Chengyue didn’t budge.
Wen Shuyao and Song Yunqing silently shrank into the background.
Neither dared say a word.
The loan seemed hopeless.
Xu Wanning stared at Lu Chengyue for a long moment before speaking.
“Brother Chengyue, I’m actually the one borrowing the money. I’ll pay you back in three months. If I can’t… how about I pay you back with myself?”
All three roommates whipped their heads toward her in shock.
They had not expected Xu Wanning to say that just to get a loan.
Lu Chengyue looked at her too.
His emotions were complicated.
He couldn’t tell whether she was serious, joking, or simply teasing him.
And then there was that form of address.
Brother Chengyue.
No one had ever called him that before.
For some reason, he found it unexpectedly pleasant.
When he remained silent, Xu Wanning lowered her head slightly.
A trace of disappointment appeared on her face.
“Not okay? Then forget—”
“Okay.”
Lu Chengyue interrupted decisively.
Lu Zhiyu and the others were dumbfounded.
That worked?!
No one was more shocked than Lu Zhiyu.
After leaving the room, Lu Chengyue headed to the dormitory.
A few minutes later, he returned with a bank card and handed it to Xu Wanning.
“Password is 667788. No rush on paying it back. And you don’t need to repay me with yourself.”
On the walk to the dormitory, he’d figured it out.
The girl was probably joking.
She likely found it amusing to tease an old-fashioned, rigid man like him.
A girl as beautiful as her undoubtedly had plenty of admirers.
She probably just found him novel.
Interesting to play with.
There wasn’t much sincerity behind it.
Xu Wanning accepted the card.
“Thank you, Brother Chengyue.”
Then she added, “Let’s add each other on WeChat. When I have the money, I’ll contact you.”
Lu Chengyue pulled out his phone and opened his QR code.
“We don’t check our phones very often. You can just give the card to Zhiyu.”
“Mm.”
Whether that was agreement or not, nobody could tell.
She simply sent the friend request.
After leaving the fire station, the four girls stood outside waiting for their ride.
Suddenly, Lu Zhiyu spoke up.
“My brother was really weird today.”
Xu Wanning secretly smiled.
“How so?”
“He usually doesn’t talk much, but today he talked even less than normal. And he lent you money. And he added your WeChat.”
She shook her head in disbelief.
“Before, a girl asked for his contact information, and he actually told her he didn’t own a phone.”
Xu Wanning pinched Lu Zhiyu’s cheek.
“He only lent me the money because you’re his sister. I don’t even know him.”
Wen Shuyao raised her hand.
“Could it be because he likes you? Maybe he really wants you as his wife.”
“Exactly!” Song Yunqing agreed enthusiastically.
Before Xu Wanning could respond, Lu Zhiyu burst out laughing.
She nearly doubled over.
“Impossible! My brother is a complete blockhead when it comes to women. He has zero romantic instincts.”
She wiped tears from her eyes.
“My mom says the fire truck is his real wife.”
With that, Wen Shuyao and Song Yunqing abandoned the idea.
Xu Wanning lightly rubbed her fingers together.
Not necessarily.
The Lu Chengyue from her previous life had definitely not been like that.
When their ride-share arrived, the four quickly climbed in.
A vibration came from Xu Wanning’s phone.
A WeChat notification.
Lu Chengyue had accepted her friend request.
She stared at the screen for three seconds.
Then she flipped the phone face-down onto her lap.
It had taken him this long to accept.
During those few minutes, he’d probably gone through an entire mental battle.
The corners of her lips lifted by exactly two pixels.
Accepted was good.
Accepted meant she could start bothering him.
The ride-share dropped them off downtown.
While in the car, Lu Zhiyu had located a shop that sold cold weapons.
It didn’t matter that the blades weren’t sharpened.
They could buy sharpening tools and do it themselves later.
The important thing was having them.
Standing outside the imposing storefront, Wen Shuyao pouted.
“Wanning, don’t we get powers after the apocalypse? Aren’t supernatural abilities supposed to be amazing in novels?”
She didn’t know the first thing about using swords or knives.
If she tried, she might end up killing herself before she killed any zombies.
“We do.”
Xu Wanning stared at the solemn entrance.
“Zhiyu awakens a water ability. Shuyao gets a wood ability. Yunqing becomes a healer. And I’m a spatial ability user.”
In her previous life, she had also possessed an ice ability.
A dual-element user.
Extremely rare.
But she hadn’t sensed that power yet in this life.
Since she wasn’t sure whether it would awaken again, she kept it to herself.
“Oh my God!”
Wen Shuyao covered her mouth.
“Aren’t we completely overpowered then?”
She began counting on her fingers.
“Wood can grow crops. Water provides water. Healing heals injuries. Space stores supplies.”
“If we have enough seeds, I can just keep growing food forever. We wouldn’t even need to stockpile that much.”
Lu Zhiyu and Song Yunqing were equally excited.
The four of them sounded like destiny’s chosen daughters.
Xu Wanning flicked each of them lightly on the forehead.
“If only it were that simple.”
“Have you forgotten that our combat ability is terrible?”
“Zhiyu and Shuyao can at least fight a little. But if they use their powers for combat, they won’t be able to support daily survival.”
“Besides, abilities have ranks.”
“When you first awaken, you’re only F-rank. You can maintain your power for about thirty minutes.”
“E-rank lasts one hour.”
“D-rank lasts two hours.”
“C-rank lasts three hours.”
“B-rank lasts four hours.”
“A-rank lasts five hours.”
“S-rank lasts six hours.”
“SS-rank lasts seven hours.”
“SSS-rank lasts eight hours.”
She paused.
“By the time we died in our previous life, the highest-ranked ability users had only reached C-rank.”
“The durations beyond that were merely projections made by researchers based on earlier growth patterns.”