Forget it. The young lady had always done as she pleased.
Pei Ye stepped forward and said, “Come on, it’s time to eat.”
“Then let’s eat together.”
They lingered a bit on the way back, and after returning, each took a shower and tidied up. By now, it was already past six o’clock.
When they reached the dining room, Wen Yu saw a table full of seafood and instinctively asked, “I thought we weren’t collecting seafood?”
“It’s from home,” Pei Ye explained. “Power might go out, and seafood is hard to store in that case.”
Wen Yu nodded and sat down, digging in.
Bluefin tuna sashimi, steamed wild yellow croaker, lobster baked in superior soup, steamed king crab, and assorted seafood platters—her eyes lit up with delight.
It wasn’t just that the ingredients were top-tier; it was also Pei Ye’s cooking skill.
Even the pre-packaged meals from her space, if he gave them a second round of processing, would taste amazing!
A sudden idea struck Wen Yu—she assigned Pei Ye a new task.
As the saying goes, “With great power comes great responsibility.”
His cooking skills were so good, so besides being her bodyguard, adding chef duties wouldn’t be unreasonable.
Of course, she would increase his pay a bit—she wasn’t some old landlord who only exploited the lower class…
After a hearty meal, Pei Ye said, “I want to bring some friends over.”
“Sure.” Wen Yu agreed immediately.
She remembered that in the original story, Pei Ye stood out early in the apocalypse, not just because of his own strength, but also thanks to a five-member superpowered squad.
Each member’s ability was strong and complementary. As long as Pei Ye could control them, Wen Yu could control Pei Ye, which meant she effectively gained four extra bodyguards. She saw no reason to disagree.
Pei Ye, however, was surprised.
He had prepared a long speech, expecting to persuade her carefully, but she had agreed outright.
After a pause, he said, “Alright, I’ll find a time to pick them up.”
“Mm, you handle the arrangements.”
Wen Yu tried to leave the room, but unwilling, she twisted back, threw herself into Pei Ye’s arms, and pressed against his chest a few times.
At the same time, she called the system with her thoughts.
[Maoqiu, what about now? Did the intimacy points increase?]
Maoqiu was speechless, eventually conceding.
[Fine, consider it 1 intimacy point.]
[How many points are needed to create a group?]
[Minimum 60.]
So that meant 59 more hugs. And judging by novel logic, rules with a bit of a “guiding” nature usually give more points the first time, then almost none later. To quickly create the group, she’d really need to… sleep with him…
Wen Yu pulled back, shaking her head as she walked away.
She couldn’t sell her charm just for a few intimacy points. Besides, Pei Ye was wealthy—this villainess character couldn’t handle it…
Pei Ye watched Wen Yu leave, the memory of her head buried in his chest, then sighed, ruffling his hair even though there was no wind.
After the apocalypse, Wen Yu seemed more communicative, but her behavior was becoming increasingly strange.
Pei Ye frowned in thought and finally sighed as he left.
She wasn’t trying to harm anyone, just snuggling—what’s the big deal?
Perhaps she just wanted comfort. No need to be paranoid—he should focus on contacting friends while communications were still working.
After returning to her room, Wen Yu idled for a while on the bed before getting up to explore the original owner’s room.
It was an ordinary princess-style room, just slightly pink—nothing remarkable.
But adjacent to it was an enormous walk-in closet.
As a rich heiress, the original owner’s closet was impressive.
One wall was filled with unopened handbags, another with haute couture dresses behind glass, another with dazzling jewelry, and the final wall was a giant mirror with a small round platform in front.
Standing on it felt like becoming a beautifully dressed figurine.
Wen Yu marveled. Some of the original owner’s style choices actually suited her.
She immersed herself in outfit changes, posing on the platform, taking selfies, and recording videos.
After all, she had been an unloved, unsophisticated girl in her past life—she never had access to these things.
Moreover, after the apocalypse, haute couture dresses and jewelry would become worthless, mere pretty junk—later, they wouldn’t even match the value of a single bun.
She busied herself until midnight, then changed into comfortable pajamas and collapsed on the bed, falling into deep sleep almost immediately.
The next morning, she washed up and went out, wondering why Pei Ye hadn’t woken her. In the living room, she found a man tied to a chair with his hands bound behind him.
She gasped and rushed forward. “Pei Ye! Who tied you up here?!”
Just as she reached to untie him, Pei Ye’s hoarse voice interrupted her, like sandpaper scraping a hundred times.
“No one. The villa is safe for now.”
Wen Yu belatedly broke out in a cold sweat.
Right—if someone had entered the villa and tied Pei Ye up, it would’ve been dangerous for her.
But Pei Ye tying himself was strange. As soon as she touched his skin, she guessed the reason, pressing the back of her hand to his forehead.
Her hand nearly got burned.
“You have a fever.” Wen Yu knew this was a normal reaction during superpower awakening—the higher and longer the fever, the stronger the powers.
But she didn’t want to show she knew. She went to fetch fever medicine.
The household medicine box, regularly checked by the housekeeper, had common items like fever and hemostatic medicine.
Wen Yu took a fever tablet, poured some water in the kitchen, and before giving it to him, added a strengthening pill. She handed it to Pei Ye.
Pei Ye’s mind was already hazy, but the moment he took the medicine, he tried to hold onto the last shred of clarity and instructed Wen Yu:
“I’m not acting normally. If I turn into a zombie, don’t hesitate—cut off my head.”
“After I die, you stay in the villa and wait for Gu Feng. Once you find him, follow him. If something happens to him, hide in the villa and wait for official rescue.”
“Last night, I went out and gathered supplies for you. They’re in the basement. Eat sparingly, according to expiration dates—it should last six months.”
Pei Ye’s remaining clarity was slowly overtaken by the red veins in his eyes.
But in his final moment, he still clenched his fists, veins bulging, whispering:
“Don’t let me hurt you, Wen Yu. Protect yourself…”
Wen Yu thought: male protagonist, how could you possibly die?
But Pei Ye didn’t know he was the male lead. When he sensed something was wrong, he gathered six months’ worth of supplies for her and tied himself to the chair, waiting for the moment of transformation to be killed by her.
How could that not move her?
Sniffling through the sourness in her nose, she hugged Pei Ye, whispering reassurance:
“It’s okay. You won’t die.”
What was meant as comfort suddenly triggered some switch in the man.
In an instant, the ropes binding him snapped like reeds. He lifted her, laid her on the sofa, and pressed her down.
Wen Yu froze, suddenly recalling an apocalypse novel she had read.
When the protagonist’s powers awakened, it seemed…
No—Wen Yu felt like the sky was falling.
Pei Ye was so strong—and still in his awakening phase. She might actually die!