Holding Their Own Space, the Family Returns to the Apocalypse

9: Shameless Han XiaoThe two of them continued browsing, dressed light and traveling simple. On the second floor, people were waiting at the entrances of a row of shops to welcome their ’Gods of Wealth.’

Ai Yue only chose clothes that were comfortable to wear and didn’t hinder running or working efficiently. As for expensive dresses and suits that restricted movement, the two of them didn’t even give them a second glance.

After buying more sneakers and comfortable clothes and pants, the two of them were a bit tired and felt there wasn’t much left to buy.

It seemed they had hoarded enough supplies for now. Seeing that it was still early, they decided to take a stroll through the supermarket before heading back.

Arriving at the supermarket on the first basement floor, Ai Yue suddenly felt there were still many things to stock up on: cigarettes, alcohol, snacks, cooked food, cakes, pickles, cold dishes, and so on.

Mother and daughter glanced at each other, both looking a bit weary. But why hesitate? Since they were already here, they might as well buy.

Picking things off the shelves was too inefficient, so Ai Yue went straight to the supermarket manager and slapped a list down in front of him.

On it, she specified that she only wanted affordable cigarettes and alcohol. After all, in the Apocalypse, there were no grades for such things; as long as it was tobacco or liquor, it was a scarce resource and very useful for bartering.

One thousand cartons of cigarettes, two thousand bottles of high-proof liquor, one thousand cases of beer, three thousand bags of bread, ten large crates of compressed biscuits, and daily deliveries of prepared cold dishes and pickles to the villa for ten days.

She also needed to buy various snacks to satisfy cravings occasionally, such as potato chips, dried sweet potatoes, chocolate, Snickers, various dried fruits, candies, beef jerky, spicy strips, crispy instant noodles, and so on.

The amount she bought was enough to open a small supermarket on the spot.

The supermarket manager double-checked several times to see if she really wanted that much. In response to his skeptical gaze, Ai Yue directly paid a ten-thousand-yuan deposit.

Seeing that Ai Yue was serious, the manager immediately ordered staff to prepare the goods. Meanwhile, he picked up a calculator and tapped away with a flourish. In less than five minutes, he had calculated the total.

Ai Yue looked at the calculator the manager held up to her eyes. The seven-digit number displayed made her eyes ache; supermarket items were indeed expensive.

This was a large supermarket, and everything Ai Yue wanted was in stock. They were loaded directly onto trucks to be hauled to her warehouse.

With no one guarding the warehouse, Ai Yue and her mother resignedly dragged their exhausted bodies to follow the supermarket trucks and unload the goods.

By the time everything was finished and they returned home, they collapsed onto the sofa the moment they walked in. Their bodies felt like they were falling apart, and their arms and legs were too weak to move.

Seeing the two of them exhausted, Ai Guosheng felt a pang of sympathy and brought water for them to soak their feet.

”Mom, Dad, our physical fitness is really too weak. Starting tomorrow, we must exercise. The weak won’t survive long in the Apocalypse.” The foot soak refreshed Ai Yue slightly, and she forced herself to speak to her parents.

”Yueyue is right. The villa’s renovation will be mostly finished tomorrow. The buyer for this house is also coming to take possession the day after, so we’ll move then.”

”There’s a fitness gym near the villa. We can go there to train. It’s too late to learn martial arts from scratch, but improving our physical stamina shouldn’t be a problem.”

”Alright, we’ll do as you say, Old Ai.” Li Shilan nodded in agreement.

By the end of the day, another three million was gone from Ai Yue’s account. So far, her parents didn’t feel much about it, believing the money was spent where it mattered most and was worth it.

But Ai Yue felt a bit of heartache and anxiety. Thinking about the six million she’d have to pay when construction finished tomorrow, her heart felt even worse. This feeling of distress constantly tormented her.

”Spend it, just spend it. Once I’m a pauper again, this habit will surely disappear,” Ai Yue thought, scratching her head in frustration.

The night passed in silence.

Early the next morning, before Ai Yue had even gotten out of bed, she heard a loud ”thump, thump, thump” pounding on the door, accompanied by Han Xiao’s shouting: ”Ai Yue, Ai Yue, I know you’re home! Open up! Why haven’t you looked for me in so many days? Don’t you miss me?”

Hearing the voice from outside while preparing breakfast in the kitchen, Ai Guosheng’s face filled with rage. He grabbed a kitchen knife and was about to go to the door.

Li Shilan firmly held back the charging Ai Guosheng. ”Old Ai, Old Ai, don’t be impulsive. We can’t touch him yet. Put the knife down.”

”Dad, don’t get worked up. I’ll go deal with him,” said Ai Yue calmly, having been woken up.

However, if one looked closely at her eyes, they would find suppressed fury in their depths.

”Yueyue, you’re not still mad at me, are you? I told you, that day was a misunderstanding. It was my junior sister who seduced me. I just made the mistake that every man in the world makes.”

”You’re not so petty that you’re still angry, right? Besides, it’s been so many days; your anger should have cooled off by now. I didn’t even hold it against you when you beat me up for no reason that day, so what more do you want? Ai Yue, open up...”

The man outside continued pounding on the door, spewing PUA nonsense at her.

Ai Yue pulled the door open and stared at Han Xiao with icy eyes. The words he was about to say were swallowed back when he saw her terrifying gaze; he was momentarily stunned.

After a moment, Han Xiao snapped out of it and chuckled. ”Yueyue, you’re finally out. Where have you been these past few days? Why haven’t you called me?”

Han Xiao had some nerve, acting as if nothing had happened as he spoke to Ai Yue with a thick-skinned grin.

”Han Xiao, I believe I told you that we no longer have any relationship.”

”Yueyue, I know you’re just speaking out of anger. How could you possibly break up with me? You love me so much! Don’t say such things, or I’ll really get angry.” Han Xiao acted as if she should be obedient and stop making a scene.

Ai Yue was speechless. She was now particularly puzzled: how could she have loved such a shameless person to the point of no return in her previous life? How could she have been so blind!

”Han Xiao, didn’t I warn you last time to stay far away from me, or else I’d hit you every time I saw you?”

With that, Ai Yue flexed her wrists. Before he could speak, she suddenly punched Han Xiao in the eye socket.

Han Xiao let out a miserable ”Ah!” and clutched his eye, unable to believe Ai Yue would strike without warning. Seeing not a shred of affection in her beautiful peach blossom eyes, he was dazed. What was going on?

Not long ago, she had been hopelessly in love with him. How long had it been, and now she dared to hit him? Could it be that love had turned to hate?

The pain in Han Xiao’s eye took over, and he shouted like he’d lost his mind: ”Ai Yue, you actually dare to hit me? You low-life piece of trash born of a bastard! Do you think I’d want you if you hadn’t thrown yourself at me? Have you forgotten how humble you were before me just to get me to love you...”

”Shut your filthy mouth that’s been dipped in a cesspool.”

Ai Yue turned and pulled a Baseball Bat from behind the door—though she actually took it out of her space—and prepared to bash his head.

”You stinking bitch, you heartless low-life! Just you wait, see how I deal with you...” Seeing Ai Yue about to strike again, Han Xiao clutched his injured eye, spat out some hateful words, and bolted.

Ai Yue gripped the Baseball Bat and threw it at Han Xiao, who was running faster than a rabbit. Unexpectedly, even with one eye out of commission, Han Xiao was quite fast, quickly ducking into the fire escape and heading downstairs.

Ai Yue didn’t chase him; she had her own plans!