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On the stove, the simmering soup hissed and sputtered, filling the two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment with a delicious aroma.
Wearing an apron, Su Shu stood in front of the kitchen counter chopping vegetables, her kitchen was open-plan, and she could see Xiao'ai sitting on the living room carpet, performing a silent play with "Little Dinosaur".
Tang Zelin was right, Xiao'ai picked the pickled plums just for the toy that came with them.
As soon as she entered the door, she lured away her "Little Dinosaur" and, as always, tossed the snack bag she looked down on to her.
Su Shu: Sigh...
Just after chopping the cucumber, she looked up at Xiao'ai, warmth swelling in her heart. Why did such a small figure make her feel that her usually cold and empty apartment was now filled with warmth?
Since she was thirteen, when her parents both died in a car accident, she'd been left with just this apartment. She studied, worked, and lived here alone, eating alone, sleeping alone. It had always been just her. In front of others, she never easily revealed her inner loneliness, but when she returned home, loneliness would hit her like a wave, truly making her feel sorrow from the bottom of her heart.
Through the steam of the kitchen, she watched Xiao'ai playing, and she suddenly understood why, in her previous life, she was so crazily fond of that person, even after being abandoned, refusing to let go. She was so stubborn that she would not turn back even if she hit a wall.
Had it not been for meeting Tang Zelin later, she might have thrown her whole life away into that wild love nurtured during her youth.
Because, she feared loneliness.
Because, she too yearned to have someone she could worry about and care for, just like everybody else.
Unexpectedly, after being reborn, a "sister" she had never known in her life left Xiao'ai to her. Maybe heaven had heard her wish and fulfilled it.
The regret was that the half-sister she had never met had already left this world. How wonderful it would have been if she were still here: she, her sister, and Xiao'ai, living together as a family. Even if the Apocalypse arrived, it wouldn't matter—she was confident that this time, she could protect her loved ones.
Xiao'ai seemed very absorbed in her play, and the corner of her lips curled into a slight smile.
Half an hour later, they finished dinner.
Xiao'ai sat on the sofa watching cartoons, and not even an hour later, she was so sleepy that she fell asleep, her soft little body collapsing into Su Shu's arms, melting her heart.
After placing Xiao'ai in the bedroom, she tiptoed out, closed the door gently, then returned to her own room and opened her notebook.
She recorded solemnly in her planner:
59 days until the Apocalypse.
Since being reborn, she hadn't looked into the current economic situation. All she remembered from her previous life was that she was working on a book at this time. She had already checked; the book was nearing its end. After years of Apocalypse, she had long forgotten what the original ending was, but she had a vague outline in mind. Now, pressed for time, she didn't have the luxury to write anew. She planned to pull a few all-nighters in the coming days and finish the ending based on her memory from her previous life.
Her first plan: Finish the serial novel.
With her job sorted, the next issue was how to truly prepare for life after the Apocalypse.
In her previous life, she had no "space", so she had to scavenger most of the supplies bit by bit. Sometimes she traded with others for what she needed. Although she survived the cannibalistic Apocalypse, looking back on that way of life was unbearable.
Even though she had Tang Zelin's assistance and her life was much better than many others', a chaotic world remains chaotic, a far cry from the current life filled with abundant resources and peacefulness.
Before, she was lonely, one person satisfied would mean the whole household wouldn't starve, and if there was no food, enduring the hunger might just see her through.
Now it was different, she had Xiao'ai, and she didn't want Xiao'ai to suffer like other children.
Thinking it through, she solemnly added to her notebook:
Second, start preparing supplies from tomorrow.
After writing, she reviewed it carefully twice, closed the notebook, and went to bed.
Before turning off the light, she made a silent vow: In this life, she would spare no effort in protecting the ones she loved! And she would never again show a shred of soft-heartedness to those who treated her like trash, who loathed her to the bone, as she had in her previous life.
To those who treated her kindly, she would repay them a hundredfold in this life.
To those who deceived and insulted her, she would pay them back eye for eye, tooth for tooth.
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