Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

’She had no idea her name had already spread throughout the base?’

Li Mazi, however, was about to be scared to death by Xie Ning. He truly never imagined he would provoke this menace.

Just a few days ago, the base commander had clearly warned them: provoke anyone you want, but don’t provoke Xie Ning.

’Doesn’t Xie Ning live in the Bamboo Orchid Garden villa district?’

’So why on earth would this big shot come running to the tent area!’

Li Mazi wanted to cry but had no tears. Cradling his hand, he quickly bowed and scraped, forcing a smile. ”I didn’t realize it was Miss Xie gracing us with her presence. My apologies, my apologies. I must have been blind.”

Xie Ning smiled at him. ”You recognize me?”

”I do, I do! Of course, I recognize you.” Li Mazi nodded again and again, silently cursing his own blindness. ’How did I end up provoking this little demoness?’

”Good.” Xie Ning nodded, a wry smile on her face. ”I was half-expecting you to try and kick my whole family out of the base again. Tsk. In that case, I’d have to go back and start preparing.”

”I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare!” Li Mazi waved his hands frantically and bowed. ”You must be joking, Miss Xie. How would I dare meddle in your affairs?”

’What kind of joke was that? The base commander himself doesn’t dare to casually provoke her, so how could a mere squad leader from the City Defense Team?’

Seeing that he knew his place, Xie Ning didn’t press him further. She waved a hand, gesturing for him to disperse the crowd of onlookers.

Sang Biao and the short, gunshot underling were also swiftly carried away without a word.

Li Mazi didn’t dare to spare even a single glance for Song Youxuan. Once his task was done, he obediently said his goodbyes to Xie Ning and quickly scrammed.

He had to hurry to the infirmary to get his severed finger bandaged.

Even though Xie Ning had chopped off half his finger, he didn’t dare utter a single word of complaint.

Meanwhile, Song Youxuan was utterly stunned.

’This must be what it means to be crushed by sheer power.’

She had been living in this shantytown for ten days and had been constantly plagued by the lecherous Leader Li.

She never imagined that with just a few simple words and a couple of glances, Ningning could scare Leader Li so badly he practically wet himself.

Stepping back into the tent, Song Youxuan could distinctly feel the envious and fawning gazes of Annelina’s parents.

”Yueyue’s mother, where are you all planning to move?”

Out of politeness, Song Youxuan smiled at them. ”We don’t know for sure yet. We’ll just follow Ningning and the others when the time comes.”

Annelina’s mother glanced at her with envy. ”Yueyue’s mother, are you... just going to split from Master Zhu and his son like that?”

”Oh, but I’ve seen how well Master Zhu usually takes care of you and your daughter.” The implication was clear. Song Youxuan knew Annelina’s mother thought they were being ungrateful, abandoning their benefactors now that they had found a better opportunity.

Annelina’s father also chimed in with a smile. ”We’ve all been living in the same tent, looking out for each other these past ten days. Yueyue’s mother, you can’t just forget about us, your comrades through thick and thin, now that you’re moving on up in the world.”

Song Youxuan gave them an indifferent look. ”Annelina’s father, Annelina’s mother, I don’t think we’re that close, are we? How can you speak of being ’comrades’? As for the kindness Nanxing’s father has shown us, I, Song Youxuan, will remember it for the rest of my life.”

”When my situation improves, I will certainly repay him myself. But that doesn’t mean my family is obligated to pay my debt of gratitude for me. Annelina’s father, Annelina’s mother, don’t you agree?”

The parents’ faces stiffened, and they exchanged an awkward, forced smile.

Just then, the tent flap was thrown open.

A tall man stooped to enter, laughing heartily. ”Youxuan, Nanxing, Yueyue! Quick, come and see what I brought...”

Zhu Yong’s voice trailed off as he stared, stunned, at the young man and woman who had appeared in the tent.

’What a strikingly clean and beautiful young couple.’

”Master Zhu.” Song Youxuan’s face lit up with a smile as she hurried forward to greet him. ”Master Zhu, this is my nephew, Shijun, and my niece, Ningning.”

Zhu Yong smiled and nodded. ”Hello.”

”Uncle Zhu, thank you so much for taking such good care of our aunt and cousin all this time.”

Zhu Yong, flattered, waved his hands in dismissal. ”Don’t mention it. We were just helping each other out. Your aunt has helped me a lot too, haha.”

”Oh, right. The construction team handed out provisions today. Here’s two pounds of rice. You can make some congee for the kid.”

”Hmph.” Annelina’s mother let out a disdainful snort, her words dripping with jealousy. ”Yueyue’s mother is about to go live the good life with her relatives. Why would she care about a measly two pounds of rice?”

”Don’t you worry, Zhu,” Annelina’s father said, putting on a simple, honest smile as he nodded at Zhu Yong. ”When you go to work with the construction team, you can just leave Nanxing with us. We’ll help you look after him.”

”Uncle Zhu, let’s talk,” Xie Ning said with a smile, walking up to Zhu Yong and completely ignoring the family of three as if they were air.

”You, my aunt, and my cousin supported each other on the way to the base, and you’ve spent a good amount of time together since. You could be considered a small team that has been through thick and thin.”

”My aunt and Yueyue will definitely be coming back with us now. If you don’t mind, Uncle Zhu, I can offer you and your son the garage across the hall from our place to live in.”

”That way, when you go to work with the construction team, you can continue to leave Nanxing with my aunt.”

”The garage isn’t exactly luxurious, but it’s about fifteen or sixteen square meters. It should be a little better than this tent. What do you think?”

While Zhu Yong was still processing this, Annelina’s father chimed in again with a smile. ”A garage is great! Fifteen or sixteen square meters isn’t small at all! It’s definitely much better than this tent. Nanxing’s father, if you’re willing, we could all move in together. We can help look after your son, too.”

Song Shijun rolled his eyes and scoffed. ”Why do you have to be in on everything? Can’t you see my sister is talking to Uncle Zhu?”

”Why are you butting in?”

Annelina’s father’s face flushed red as he muttered, ”So rude... We’ve lived together for this long, after all. You’d think there’d be some camaraderie between us.”

Zhu Yong glanced at Song Youxuan. Seeing her gentle smile, he felt a little embarrassed and scratched the back of his head. ”Wouldn’t that be... too much trouble for you all?”

”Not at all,” Song Shijun said with a smile. ”We’re the ones who should be embarrassed. Uncle Zhu, you’ve helped our aunt and Yueyue so much. By rights, we shouldn’t be putting you in a garage, but our house is just too crowded with people, young and old.”

”No, no. The garage is great, really,” Zhu Yong said, waving his hands with a smile. ”My son and I have been a great bother to Yueyue’s mother as well. It’s not about helping, we’ve just been looking out for each other.”

Xie Ning nodded to herself. ’So far, this Uncle Zhu seems polite and knows his place. He might be someone worth getting to know better.’

”Alright,” Song Shijun said with a smile. ”Auntie, Uncle Zhu, hurry up and pack your things. We’re leaving.”

”No, you can’t leave! Where are you going?”