Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

”Young Master Gu—no. I mean, Captain Gu.” Zhang Defan’s face paled as he hurried after them, explaining in a hushed voice, ”This is all a huge misunderstanding. It was all Wang Ao’s own doing.”

”Please, rest assured, you two. Wang Ao’s career is over. I’ll fire him the moment I get back.”

”Miss Xie, you’re a local here in West City, aren’t you? You’re used to living here, right? Besides, you have two elderly family members in their early seventies at home. Making a long, arduous journey to the Capital... that’s not a good decision.”

”As for supplies, don’t you worry. In the next two days, I’ll have the base gather a million points’ worth of supplies and send them over to you. You won’t be short a single point.”

”But please, reconsider leaving the base. After all, your grandparents are getting on in years. They’ve always lived at the Song Family Pavilion, haven’t they? If they go to the Capital, they’ll inevitably have trouble adjusting. The elderly can’t withstand such an ordeal.”

Gu Chen bit his lip, a ghost of a smile playing on his face as he looked at Zhang Defan. ”The Base Chief certainly has a way with words.”

’And every word hits right where it hurts!’

’The young woman is so devoted to her grandparents; she’ll definitely have to consider this carefully.’

’Originally, all he had to do was get her to the Capital while she was still angry, and the matter would have been settled!’

’Damn that Zhang Defan!’

’People from Zhang’s Faction are truly detestable!’

And so, completely unbeknownst to him, Base Chief Zhang had earned the loathing of the vengeful young Gu Chen!

”Ningning, a new big cafeteria just opened nearby. Let’s take Aunt Song and the others to eat before we head back.” Gu Chen picked up the few bottles of soda from the small table, tossed one to Lu Wei, and stuffed the rest into the pouting young woman’s arms.

Xie Ning nodded in reluctant agreement.

Song Kexin let out a long sigh of relief. She couldn’t help but smile as she glanced at her aunt and younger aunt, who were both scared silent.

’To be honest, when her sister gets angry, there’s a bizarre glint in her calmness that’s genuinely terrifying.’

’She never rants or raises her voice at people, not even when she’s cussing someone out.’

’She uses an utterly calm tone to deliver the sharpest, most blade-like words.’

’And the terrifying energy pressing down from her was so intense it was almost impossible to even lift your head.’

”Let’s go, Aunt, Younger Aunt.” ’The Base Chief has personally come out and laid his cards on the table. Now, the decision is up to Sis.’

Seeing the two of them leave with their relatives as if she wasn’t even there, Zhang Biyun was so furious her fingers began to tremble.

’They... those people... they just ignored her like that?’

Meanwhile, Ren Dabao and He Xiaobao, who had been eyeing the cold drinks like hungry tigers, saw Gu Chen take them away. They immediately flew into a rage, pushing and shoving their grandmother as they began to wail and throw a tantrum.

But what could Mrs. He do?

’She had just made a huge scene and gotten absolutely nothing out of it.’

’Now, even the Base Chief was speaking so cautiously in front of that damn brat Xie Ning. How could she dare to push her luck any further?’

She was worried that if Xie Ning got angry, she would persuade the Base Chief to kick their entire family out of the base.

’If that happened, there would truly be no way for them to survive!’

”You’re a good person, sister.” Mrs. He, hugging her two grandsons, walked over to the middle-aged woman who had spoken up for her earlier. ”Could you spare a sip of water for my grandsons?”

”Go on, get away from me.” The middle-aged woman’s previously righteous and helpful expression vanished, replaced by a furious glare as she berated her, ”You damned old hag, you’re filthy. Don’t come near me. You reek of sourness, don’t you have any self-awareness?”

Mrs. He stumbled back a few steps, her old face flushing crimson with fury.

All the while, Song You’ai was consoling a pale-faced He Shuping, repeatedly telling her she did the right thing today.

”It’s natural for children to support their parents, but there’s no reason you should have to support your immature brother’s entire family along with them, right?”

He Shuping gave a bitter smile. ”I know my mom’s temper. She won’t let this go.”

’The old woman was only scared off today. She’ll probably be back in a couple of days to cause a scene at their door.’

”It’s fine, she can’t get into the villa area, so don’t worry.” Song You’ai patted her hand. ”Security won’t let her in.”

The two of them followed a skipping and bouncing Song Kexin into the large cafeteria.

It was just mealtime, and the cafeteria was quite crowded.

Gu Chen and Lu Wei queued up for food, and in no time, they returned, each carrying a large tray.

”I heard Yu Tianfeng went to Zhang Defan to submit his resignation and gave him a good scare.” Gu Chen sat down next to Xie Ning, handing out a stack of small stainless steel bowls to everyone.

”Dr. Yu is currently in charge of the base’s agricultural research, as well as the daily properties of mutated plants.” Lu Wei pulled out a pair of chopsticks and handed them to Xie Ning, then passed more to Song You’ai and the others. ”Under the current circumstances, Base Chief Zhang wouldn’t let him go even if it killed him.”

”That guy Yu Tianfeng has low EQ, but his brain works well enough.” Gu Chen casually moved the pork ribs from his plate to Xie Ning’s, asking as if it were an afterthought, ”Why did he give you his points card?”

”That wasn’t a points card,” Xie Ning replied, her face devoid of expression.

Lu Wei and Gu Chen both looked up at her.

The young woman took a bite of her food and said flatly, ”It’s a meal-mooching card.”

Song Kexin nearly spat out her food laughing.

Song You’ai, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, gave her daughter a light slap. ”Don’t be ridiculous.”

She looked up and saw a familiar figure drifting toward their table. She quickly waved. ”Xiao Yu, you’re here too! Quick, sit down and eat.”

Yu Tianfeng’s eyes lit up. He hurried over to their table, dragged a stool over, and sat down next to Lu Wei. ”Auntie, what are we having for dinner tonight?”

Song You’ai said with a smile, ”We’re having fish with pickled greens tonight. We exchanged points for a lot of frozen black fish fillets today.”

Yu Tianfeng’s eyes shone like stars as he nodded repeatedly. ”Great, great!”

Xie Ning had a feeling that he would think anything her mom suggested was great.

”Do you like carrot fried rice?”

”I love it.”

”Then we’ll have carrot fried rice tonight! Let me tell you, Auntie’s fried rice is amazing. We’ll dice up some sausage in it, mix it all together, drizzle a little oil...”

Everyone silently glanced at the plain food on their trays and suddenly felt that what they were currently eating wasn’t so appetizing anymore.

Gu Chen felt an inexplicable sense of crisis and quickly spoke up, ”Aunt Song, we’ll come over tonight too.”

”Of course, of course.” The ever-welcoming Song You’ai turned no one away.

”We’ll give our points cards to Ningning, too.”

”No, no, that’s not necessary. There’s not much food to buy in the store anyway. Besides, aren’t you two heading back to the Capital in a couple of days?”

But Gu Chen just stuffed his points card into Xie Ning’s hand, then swiped his good buddy Lu Wei’s card as well and handed them both over.

Xie Ning looked completely baffled.

She had the strange feeling that the Base Chief would probably want to run for his life if he saw her now.

’Were they trying to empty out the entire base?’

”Please, just take them, Auntie. We’re leaving soon anyway, and there’s no way we’ll have time to spend all these points,” Lu Wei persuaded with a grin. ”It’d be a waste not to use them, right? Just help us spend some.”

As soon as Song You’ai heard it was a matter of ”helping,” she quickly nodded and agreed.

Xie Ning was too exasperated to even comment on her gullible mother, who’d been duped into joining their scheme with just a few words.

”Brother Gu Chen, what are you doing here?”