Rebirth: Leading Families to Survive in the Apocalypse

Meanwhile, Su Xiangzhe, Nie Qing, and Lu Guanhai roamed around the bookstore. The bookstore was empty, and the young girl at the counter barely lifted her eyelids when people came in, not even bothering to greet them.

The bookstore was small, but it held a multitude of books ranging from astronomy and geography to agriculture and livestock, including several shelves filled with DVD discs. Su Xiangzhe told Nie Qing that discs were outdated, and that people now just download and watch directly online, no longer buying them.

“This tiny disc can actually play a whole TV series?” Nie Qing seemed shocked by what he had just learned, desperately wanting it as he was a drama series addict.

“It still requires a machine to play it, and by then we won’t have electricity to use,” Su Xiangzhe whispered.

“How can there be no electricity, Xiao Jin, she…” Lu Guanhai almost let it slip that his son’s and daughter-in-law’s ‘Space’ had everything, even a generator. Seeing the curious looks from the two, he simply mumbled an ambiguous excuse, luckily without raising any suspicion. That was close, Lu Guanhai silently cursed at himself.

Although Nie Qing knew that Su Jin had ‘Space’ to store things, he didn’t know about the generator. He felt incredibly disappointed; so many TV shows would be unwatchable later on. It looked like he was in for a few all-nighters catching up on his shows.

Ultimately, Su Xiangzhe and his group just inspected the stores and returned home. After all, bookstores and pharmacies weren’t exactly urgently needed, and the grain and oil stores were considered but were all located far from home, so they decided to go back and discuss further.

After returning home, they calculated the day’s expenses and were immediately overwhelmed; they still had 5 million unspent.

Lin Xiuyuan rolled his eyes and lamented, “I can’t take it anymore, I never want to spend money again. Why is my family so wealthy?”

“Dad, Mom, what did you think of the stores you saw today?” Su Jin asked.

“They were all quite good, mostly small stores, especially a bookstore. The rent of the store is low, but there are a lot of books and discs inside. It’s just that we may not really need these things,” Su Xiangzhe explained to his daughter.

Hearing about the bookstore and pharmacy, an idea struck Su Jin. She decided to check out these stores herself when she had some free time. If possible, she was prepared to buy them on the spot.

There were many rooms in the Lu Residence, and she previously had no idea how to plan them. Now, she thought about using the time to stock up to sort out rooms for a library, a pharmacy, a grain storage, etc., which would help in organizing and managing them.

These days, she felt it was time to lay everything out to her family. She planned to have her family enter the ‘Space’ to hide before the Apocalypse. In her past life, she didn’t know whether her family was okay or if anyone was infected by the Zombie Virus, whether they died from zombies or were killed by other people.

Even if staying outside might affect her family’s awakening of Special Abilities, she was not willing to take the risk. Besides, there were Marrow Cleansing Pills in her ‘Space’, which could be used by her family, and the possibility of them awakening Special Abilities was still very high.

After work, Lu Hao didn’t head straight home but had arranged to meet Guo Yang in his office. Hearing that Lu Hao was coming, Guo Yang immediately brought out his cherished tea leaves. Since his grandfather passed away, only Lu Hao would join him for tea and chats now. He didn’t have many friends, mostly business partners, so he truly cherished his friendship with Lu Hao.

“What? You mean Xue Wanyi is back?” Guo Yang was surprised by the news Lu Hao brought.

“Yes, but he is in jail,”

“He got into trouble?” That shouldn’t be right, as Xue Wanyi was a very upright person; others might get into trouble, but he should not be in trouble.

“No, there just isn’t any evidence yet; he is still being detained, which is why I came to see you,” Lu Hao took a sip of tea and set down the teacup as he spoke.

“Are you saying, ask me to get him out on bail first?” Guo Yang guessed Lu Hao’s intentions and immediately agreed. Not to mention bail money, for Xue Wanyi who had once saved his life, he would not refuse even if he had to break him out of jail.

Lu Hao knew Guo Yang would agree and did not stay any longer, as he was in a hurry to get back to his wife.

As for what happened to Xue Wanyi, he would let him discuss it with Guo Yang when they met.

When Lu Hao arrived home, his whole family was waiting for him to start dinner. It felt so good to come home to people waiting for him after work.

Over dinner, the family still chatted while they ate. Lu Hao asked what they had accomplished that day, and Lin Xiuyuan eagerly replied.

“So we still have over 5 million left?” Looking at his dismayed family, Lu Hao found it somewhat funny, not many people were troubled by having too much money to spend.

Father Lu had been talking less these past few days, trying not to spill any secrets, and was stuffing his mouth full of food desperately.

Tianzhen had spent the whole day at home with Mao Qiqi and her parents. Recently, her anxiety had been escalating. She was unsure how terrifying the Apocalypse could be, but she was deeply worried about little Qiqi and her elderly parents. Should anything happen in the future, she wondered how devastated their family would be and if they could still experience joy as they did now.

Lin Yunguo hadn’t been sleeping well these past few nights. The closer it got to the date Su Jin had mentioned, the more nervous he became. He couldn’t fathom how his spouse, Li Xiuying, managed to remain so composed. Both well into their years, neither could run nor fight, and would only be a burden when the time came.

That night, everyone went to bed, some uneasy, some anxious, and others happy. Su Jin and Lu Hao chose their moment and stealthily came down from the second floor. The living room was dark, illuminated only by the television, which Nie Qing was watching alone. Su Jin gestured for silence by putting her finger to her lips as she looked at him.

He instantly understood that the pair was up to something secretive again.

He was currently following “Eternal Love,” which he heard had its share of tormenting scenes, but since he had just started watching, he hadn’t been seen crying over the episodes yet.

Nie Qing waved them off, signaling them to hurry as he wanted to get back to his show.

Lu Hao shook his head. Did his master really intend to catch up on all the television he had missed in his lifetime?

Using the cover of night, the duo sneaked out of the front door and headed towards the warehouse.

Once inside, they locked the door from the inside and looked around the vast warehouse, filled to the brim. They exchanged a smile.

The next day, Lu Hao was still early for work. Seeing him, his fellow colleagues felt weak in the knees. Ever since Captain Lu had returned, he had been inexplicably driving them hard in their training.

Even before his leave, Captain Lu had mandated daily self-directed training routines, which included running 50 laps on the training ground, doing 100 squats, and 100 push-ups, with strict dietary rules.

It felt like they were being prepped for some major operation!

Yet, the previous day, Captain Lu intensified their torture, increasing the laps from 50 to 100!

Despite this, none of them dared to complain, calmly accepting the sympathetic glances from other team members.

“Do you think the captain found out we slacked off the other day?” Yin Chengtian whispered nervously to Shi Jin.

“How could he? We only skipped five laps,” Shi Jin’s voice was a bit loud. Yin Chengtian nearly died of fright as he clearly saw Captain Lu glance their way.

“Do you want to get kicked out, man? Keep it down,” Yin Chengtian hissed, panicking at the thought that the captain might have heard.

The other team members also cast contemptuous glances at them. Weren’t they supposed to keep this a secret?

Consequently, their task for the day increased from 100 laps to 120.

After issuing the order, Lu Hao went to see Liao Yifan. Guo Yang was coming to bail out Xue Wanyi soon, and he hoped everything would go smoothly.

After Lu Hao left, Yin Chengtian and Shi Jin cowered in a corner, trembling as they watched five of their fellow teammates approach with cracking knuckles.

No, wasn’t it promised that they would stick together through thick and thin…

As if hearing two screams, Lu Hao rubbed his ears, looking at the exuberant Liao Yifan bouncing in front of him. Liao Yifan excitedly said, “Captain Lu, Captain Lu, are you here to spar, oh no, to compete with me?”

It was rare for Captain Lu to come to their team on his own.

“Later on, you’ll help me receive someone. And also, don’t give him a hard time,” Lu Hao spoke about Guo Yang. As he couldn’t interfere with another team’s matters, he had no choice but to ask Liao Yifan for a favor.

“No problem, Captain. If you agree to a match with me, I’ll help you out. How’s that?” Liao Yifan said excitedly.

“Alright, I’ll compete with you when I have some free time,” Lu Hao agreed readily, carefully adding that he’d do so when he was free, absolving himself of any obligation otherwise.

Thus, an elated Liao Yifan went off to wait at the door.