When Ye Xin arrived in front of her parents with her son, her parents were still working in the vegetable garden, pulling weeds.
The weather was scorching. Even though it was only a little after nine in the morning, the earth already felt like a steamer!
Ye Xin’s parents had faces flushed red from the heat. Wiping the sweat from their brows, they stood up.
“Oh my, my precious grandson is back! Hahaha!”
Ye Jianhua’s booming voice carried far into the distance. He immediately picked up Xuanxuan and carried him into the house.
Ye Xin’s mother linked her arm through her daughter’s.
“I say, sweetheart, when did you buy a car? Why are you in such a hurry to take us to the city?”
Ye Xin thought about how she should explain everything to her parents.
Should she tell them the truth? She was afraid it would frighten the two elderly people.
Should she make up a lie? Heh! It would probably be impossible to fool her father’s sharp eyes.
“Mom, I have something very important to take care of right now. Come with me first. I’ll explain everything to you slowly later.”
Ye Jianhua had been a reconnaissance soldier. How could he possibly fail to see through his daughter’s little scheme?
He frowned, placed Xuanxuan on the sofa, and scolded his daughter.
“Xin Xin, tell me the truth. What exactly is going on?”
“You haven’t worked for ten years. How did you suddenly become so busy that you don’t even have time to take your child to and from school?”
“And today is Wednesday. Xuanxuan’s kindergarten doesn’t have summer vacation. Why isn’t he in school today?”
Ye Xin lowered her head.
She knew she couldn’t hide anything from her father’s sharp eyes!
She sighed.
“Dad, Mom, Gu Nan and I got divorced. It’s a little complicated, but I’ve already taken care of everything. You don’t need to worry.”
Her mother sighed as well.
“I knew this would be the outcome sooner or later!”
“I disagreed when you wanted to quit your job and stay home to take care of your mother-in-law. How can a woman live without a job?”
“Sweetheart, is that Gu Nan boy trying to take custody of the child from you? Is that why you need us to go and support you?”
Before Ye Xin could say anything, her mother continued complaining.
“If Gu Nan hadn’t begged you so desperately back then, you wouldn’t have quit your job to take care of his mother for four or five years!”
“She was bedridden, and you managed to nurse her all the way back to full health. Just for that alone, he had no right to betray you! That man has no conscience!”
Ye Xin quickly interrupted.
“Mom, it’s all in the past now. Let’s not talk about it anymore. The most important thing right now is for you two to come with me!”
After thinking it over, Ye Xin decided to tell them the truth after all.
“Dad, how much money do you and Mom have saved? Go into town right now and buy whatever you can—seeds, grain, vegetables, daily necessities. Buy as much as possible and spend all the money!”
Her mother was startled.
“What are you doing? Do you know how hard it was for your father and me to save that money?”
“Ah…”
Ye Xin sighed.
She placed her hand on the coffee table.
In an instant, the coffee table disappeared before their eyes.
Both her parents stared at the empty space in shock.
“This… this… What happened?”
Ye Xin walked outside, locked the courtyard gate, then closed the house door. She returned to the sofa and sat down.
“Dad, Mom, do you believe that people can be reborn?”
Her father shot her an annoyed look.
“Stop talking nonsense!”
Her mother, however, fell into thought for a moment before slowly speaking.
“I studied medicine. I believe the human body is as incredibly complex as the universe itself. Even modern science has yet to fully understand it.”
“It just depends on what level of ‘rebirth’ you’re talking about.”
Ye Xin breathed a sigh of relief.
Her mother was a doctor at the town hospital. As long as she could convince her mother, she wouldn’t have to worry much about convincing her father.
Ye Xin raised her hand.
The coffee table instantly reappeared, completely intact.
Ye Xin gave a bitter smile.
“To be honest with you, Mom and Dad… Xuanxuan and I have both come back from the future.”
After listening to Ye Xin’s explanation and seeing Xuanxuan repeatedly nodding in agreement, her parents fell into deep thought.
Ye Jianhua was the first to accept the truth.
“If that’s really the case, then we need to hurry and tell the villagers! We have to find a way to help everyone!”
Ye Xin shook her head.
“That’s exactly why I didn’t want to tell anyone at first. If everyone finds out about this, it will inevitably cause widespread panic.”
“When that happens, not only will they be unable to escape, but we could also be arrested for spreading rumors. Then we wouldn’t even have a chance to survive.”
Ye Xin once again stored the coffee table inside her space.
She then said to her mother, “This space came from the bracelet Grandma left me. If you don’t believe me, you can go inside and see for yourself. I’ve already stocked it with a huge amount of supplies.”
Her mother exchanged a glance with her husband before firmly saying:
“We believe you! Hua-ge, hurry and go buy the supplies. Your daughter and I will organize the house and take as much as we can with us.”
Ye Jianhua gave Ye Xin a long, serious look.
“Okay! I’ll go right now! But first, tell me what you’ve already bought and what you’re still missing.”
Ye Xin took out her list and handed it to her father.
Ye Jianhua studied the shopping list for a long time. Then he suddenly frowned.
“Sweetheart, a radio! Batteries! You forgot the most important things!”
Only then did Ye Xin suddenly realize it!
After the power and internet went out, televisions and phones would become useless. A radio would be the best way to receive news from the outside world.
“There are also weapons to protect the family, water purification tablets to purify drinking water, medicine…”
Ye Xin’s father rattled off another long list of things.
“You two stay home and start packing. I’m going out to buy everything.”
Her father had always been decisive and efficient. He immediately got up and headed for the door.
Ye Xin quickly grabbed his arm.
“You can’t tell anyone a single word! Not even Uncle and his family!”
Her father pressed his lips together.
“Your uncle and aunt aren’t home anyway. They’re staying in a hospital in the city. Don’t worry. I won’t say a word.”
Her mother, however, thought for a moment before asking, “Sweetheart, what happened to your brother in your previous life?”
Ye Xin froze.
In her previous life, she had never seen her older brother again after he left to serve in the military—not even before she died.
But she couldn’t tell her parents that. She couldn’t make them worry.
So she quickly made up a story.
“I remember someone mentioning that he found a place at an apocalypse base. He was responsible for maintaining security there.”
Only then did her mother breathe a sigh of relief.
“Then hurry! Hurry and start packing!”
Ye Xin first gathered all the grain and food stored in the house. Then she pulled up all the vegetables her parents had planted and stored them in her space.
Her mother also had eight old hens, and Ye Xin put all of them into the space as well.
Suddenly, an idea struck her.
“Mom, who in the village has roosters? Let’s go buy two.”
Her mother immediately understood what her daughter meant.
They already had hens. If they got some roosters, the hens could lay fertilized eggs and hatch chicks!
“Li Min raises chickens. Because the weather is so hot, the hens have stopped laying eggs, so they’re getting rid of some of them. Hurry and go!”
Ye Xin didn’t even have time to finish pulling up the vegetables. She rushed toward the eastern end of the village under the scorching sun.
A large truck had just hauled away more than a thousand hens.
Ye Xin sighed.
“If only I had come earlier!”
Fortunately, a few chickens had been left behind for the family to eat.
Ye Xin bought two large roosters.
The two roosters were plump, with glossy feathers and bright red combs standing proudly atop their heads. Their alert eyes darted around, giving them a majestic, almost heroic appearance.
Ye Xin was very pleased with them.
She carried the two roosters home and only then put them into her space.
With that, the space now had exactly ten animals.
The wind was growing stronger.
The sky in the distance had turned dark and gloomy, looking as though rain was about to fall.
The villagers all came out of their homes. Seeing the dark clouds gathering in the distance, they cheered.
“Wonderful! Thank goodness the heavens are finally going to give us some rain! If it doesn’t rain soon, the crops in the fields are going to be scorched to death!”
They had no idea that this brief moment of coolness was actually the prelude to the beginning of the apocalypse.