Apocalypse Escape: Day One of Survival

The RV hadn’t driven far into the base when Song Zhaodi whispered, ”Auntie, you can just let me out by the side of the road. It won’t take me long to walk to the tent area myself.”

Song You’ai’s heart ached for the thin, dark-skinned little girl. ”Zhaodi.”

”I’m fine, Auntie. You and Ningning can head back.” She clutched the water bladder to her chest. ”Thank you for these two bags of water.”

”You should drink some more. I saw you barely took a couple of sips.”

”I’m fine, Auntie. I feel much better now.” Song Zhaodi hunched over as she got up and carefully climbed out of the RV.

Song You’ai watched as she stood by the road, waved to them with a smile, then turned and ran off. She heaved a deep sigh.

”Such a good kid. How did she get stuck with such unreliable parents?”

”Zhaodi is only a few months older than you. Sigh... she’s had such a hard life. She dropped out of school as early as the fifth grade to go home.”

”Why?” Xie Ning asked, astonished. ”That’s not allowed, is it? Isn’t education compulsory?”

”They don’t bother with so many rules in the countryside. She dropped out of school early to go home, helping with farm chores every day, raising pigs and ducks, all to support that good-for-nothing younger brother’s education.”

”Surely not.” Xie Ning couldn’t help but roll her eyes. ”The Song Family Pavilion is famous far and wide; every family was well-off. Besides, they later developed the farm-stay tourism business. Paying for two kids’ education should have been no problem, right?”

”It was all Song Kuang’s wife. She was always going on about how girls don’t need that much education because they’ll get married off sooner or later. It’s like she’s still living in the old days. It’s just... ugh.” The angrier Song You’ai got, the more she spoke, finally just waving her hand in frustration. There were no words for it.

The Great Qing dynasty fell over a hundred years ago, but some people insist on shackling themselves with its worst vestiges, clinging to those old feudal ways of thinking.

Song You’ai suddenly leaned her head out and waved energetically. ”Xiao Lu! Xiao Lu!”

Xie Ning almost laughed. Her mom’s eyes were like radar, locking onto Captain Gu’s teammates, snagging every single one she saw.

Hearing his name, Lu Wei hurried over, offering a polite smile. ”Auntie, were you out?”

”Yes, yes. Xiao Lu, where’s your big brother? I haven’t seen him all day.”

Lu Wei glanced around. ”He was just here a moment ago. Did you need him for something, Auntie?”

”Oh, no, it’s nothing. Just, come over to our place for dinner when you’re all done with work.” Song You’ai took a chilled drink from her daughter’s hands and passed it to him. ”We’ll be heading back now.”

”Alright. Thank you, Auntie.”

Lu Wei took a sip of iced plum juice, then turned his head to see Zhai Ruobai bouncing over from across the way.

”Where are you off to?”

”Nature calls! Do you have to micromanage everything, right down to when a guy takes a leak?” Zhai Ruobai shot back, just as his big brother seemed to appear out of nowhere. Gu Chen’s eyes fell on the unopened bottle of iced oolong tea in Zhai Ruobai’s hand.

”Where’d you get that?” Gu Chen asked, raising an eyebrow.

Zhai Ruobai flashed a brilliant, sunny smile. ”Ningning gave it to me. It’s nice and cold.”

Gu Chen’s gaze then shifted to the bottle in Lu Wei’s hand.

Lu Wei hurriedly twisted the cap off and took two more big gulps, signaling to his captain that he had already drunk from this bottle.

”Weren’t you going to the bathroom?” Gu Chen’s gaze settled darkly on Zhai Ruobai.

”Yeah.” Zhai Ruobai nodded.

”I’ll hold it for you.” Gu Chen stepped forward and smoothly took the oolong tea from Zhai Ruobai’s hand. ”Go on.”

Zhai Ruobai sensed something wasn’t quite right. He looked down at his now-empty hand. ”Actually, I...”

Gu Chen was already turning to walk away.

Zhai Ruobai stood there, dumbfounded. He watched his captain turn and walk away without a single glance back. Just like that, he was gone... gone... gone...

The young man stomped his foot in frustration. ”Why did the Captain snatch my drink?”

Lu Wei downed another mouthful of his iced plum drink and nodded sagely. ”Because he’s shameless.”

”Exactly! He’s shameless!” Zhai Ruobai fumed, hopping on the spot.

’My brain must have short-circuited! I never should have run over to say hi to them!’

Xie Ning drove the RV into the private garage and immediately stored the vehicle in her spatial container. Then, holding a bucket of iced drinks, she stepped out through the side door.

”Xie Ning.”

The Li siblings, Li Dawei and his sister, were like a pair of ghouls. Just as expected, less than three seconds after she appeared, there they were, trailing her like shadows.

”What do you want?” Xie Ning said, clutching the ice bucket and giving them a sharp look.

”Are you nuts?” Li Xiang immediately started yelling. ”It cost us five jin of rice to patch our tire because of you! Pay up!”

”Yeah, pay up!” Li Dawei held out his hand toward Xie Ning.

The young woman clutched her bucket and took off running. The Li siblings were stunned for a second before chasing after her, absolutely fuming.

Clutching the ice bucket, Xie Ning zipped over to the entrance of Bamboo Orchid Garden in a flash.

Li Dawei closed the distance in a few long strides. ”Xie Ning! You damaged our car, and you think you can just run away?”

Xie Ning set the ice bucket down by the villa’s entrance and turned around, her face a mask of impatience. ”I’ve had enough of you two. You follow me around every single day like a pair of annoying flies. You’re asking for a beating!”

The word ”beating” was barely out of her mouth before she shot in front of Li Xiang, felling the girl with a swift punch and kick.

Li Dawei howled in fury. ”How dare you attack us inside the base? You’re violating the rules! You’ll be kicked out!”

Xie Ning rushed forward and smashed her fist into his left cheek. ”Who saw it? Are there any surveillance cameras here?”

”OW!” Li Dawei cried out. He felt like the girl’s fist was as hard as a sledgehammer; a single punch made his entire face throb with searing pain.

Giving the siblings no chance to argue, Xie Ning yanked a handful of muddy grass from the lawn and stuffed it into Li Dawei’s howling mouth.

Her fists fell like a sudden storm, beating Li Dawei until all he could do was whimper.

Li Xiang, standing to the side, was completely dumbstruck. She tried to rush forward to intervene but was sent flying to the edge of a flowerbed with a single kick from Xie Ning.

Xie Ning grabbed Li Dawei and beat him relentlessly until his face was black and blue and his mouth was too swollen to open.

”Stop hitting him! Stop it, stop it!” Li Xiang burst into tears, scared half to death by Xie Ning.

Xie Ning flexed her small, metal-clad fists and kicked Li Dawei over to Li Xiang’s side. ”Li Xiang, if you ever dare to stare at me like that again, I’ll gouge out your eyeballs and pickle them in wine.”

Li Xiang shuddered from head to toe, retreating in terror behind her older brother.

Xie Ning brandished her small fist. ”Now you know what I’m capable of, don’t you? Now hurry up and get lost.”

Li Xiang frantically helped her brother up, and the two of them limped away toward the neighboring house.

Li Dawei spent the whole way spitting out mouthfuls of mud, cutting a truly miserable and pathetic figure.

”I suggest you take the long way around next time you see me!” Xie Ning shouted, shaking her fist at their retreating backs.

’Those two siblings are seriously sick in the head, staring at Ningning all day long as if they have nothing better to do.’

’With all this free time, wouldn’t it be better to form a team and go out to gather some supplies?’

Xie Ning watched the Li siblings scurry away like dogs with their tails between their legs and couldn’t help but snort.

’They just had to wait for Ningning to beat them to a pulp before they learned how to behave.’

’She didn’t even want to fight. She was already running away to avoid them, but no, they had to chase Ningning down and get their asses kicked!’

Xie Ning bent down to pick up the ice bucket. Just as she was about to use her Gold Ability to open the villa door, she saw Gu Chen striding quickly toward her from the garage across the way.

’Did he see me hit them?’