Chapter 1: 180 Days Until Doomsday
On a distant planet, stars shimmered as a shooting star fell.
Li Yu awoke with a start, instinctively grasping for the dagger he usually kept on his chest.
But he found himself holding an iPad instead, playing a movie.
A loud "Bang!" made Li Yu jump off the sofa, nervously scanning his surroundings for the source of the gunshot.
Another gunshot drew his attention to the iPad that had slipped onto the carpet when he stood up. The sound was coming from the device.
"Where am I?" Li Yu felt confused. He clearly remembered being in the basement of an abandoned house.
Looking around, he saw a bright room with wood-toned decor, clean and tidy. Li Yu felt disoriented.
Isn't this the apartment I rented in M City before?
Li Yu excitedly picked up the iPad, seeing that it still showed May 2022.
He quickly calculated that there were about 6 months left until doomsday.
????
Did I... Did I just travel back in time? From 2027 to 5 years ago?
In the post-apocalyptic world, Li Yu had fantasized more than once about getting another chance. He would definitely not choose to stay in M City again.
Whenever he thought about how he missed seeing his family one last time due to a momentary lapse in judgment, not choosing to return home in time, he had blamed himself countless times, crying in the depths of night.
Without his family to anchor him, Li Yu had spent every day in the apocalypse like a walking corpse, muddling through life.
Thinking of this, Li Yu's eyes reddened. He clenched his fists, silently vowing: This time, I must make up for my regrets.
Back then, for various reasons, he hadn't gone home in time before the apocalypse hit.
The apocalypse had shown him just how terrifying that era was,
An era where many could truly starve to death,
An era of complete chaos and disorder,
An era where a piece of bread could be exchanged for a human life.
When the true apocalypse came, order hadn't completely broken down in the first few months. But with the continuous expansion of zombies and the constant depletion of resources, it finally descended into utter chaos.
Li Yu looked at the time on the iPad. It was still early, but he needed to buy a ticket home as soon as possible.
Realizing this, Li Yu shook his head and immediately opened a ticket booking app, only to find that getting a ticket was still very difficult.
Through a scalper, at triple the price, he finally managed to get a train ticket for 11 PM tonight.
Not wasting any time, Li Yu started packing. Having only graduated a year ago, he didn't have much stuff.
Li Yu quickly packed his things.
Seeing the food stocked in the refrigerator, Li Yu swallowed hard.
Five years... Do you know how Li Yu had survived these five years?
He spent an hour and a half luxuriously turning all the ingredients in the fridge into various dishes.
Looking at the 7 dishes on the table: braised pork, scrambled eggs with chives, stir-fried garlic shoots with meat, braised chicken with brown sauce, stir-fried spinach, braised eggplant, and spicy shredded potatoes.
Gazing at the array of delicious food before him, Li Yu smiled bitterly. He considered himself a decent cook, but he hadn't had a chance to use those skills since the apocalypse.
Like a whirlwind, Li Yu quickly devoured the food before him.
Patting his stomach, he pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, savoring its scent before taking a deep drag.
This is what living is all about!
In all these years, this was the best meal he had eaten.
It was too blissful.
He checked the time: 18:00.
Time was running short; he had to leave early, Li Yu thought.
Better call home first to let them know.
With this in mind, Li Yu opened his contacts.
Seeing the familiar numbers in his contact list, his throat suddenly felt dry. Five years...
His hand trembled slightly as he dialed the number.
"Hello, Mom," Li Yu said, his voice a bit choked.
Seeming to hear the choke in her son's voice, Liu Fanghua said, "Yu'er, how are you doing over there? Are you short on money? I heard things are much better where you are now."
"It's nothing. I just miss you all. I want to come back," Li Yu said.
After a moment of silence.
Liu Fanghua sighed, sounding both happy and worried as she said, "I told you before not to go so far away, for college and work. Your dad and I don't expect you to earn much money, we just want you to be happy!"
"We're all very worried about you. Come back soon, okay?"
"And remember to bring everything you need when you come back, don't forget anything. Check your ID card, charger, and everything before you leave. Have you settled your rent and all that?"
Hearing his mother's familiar yet strange nagging, Li Yu didn't feel impatient or annoyed like he had in his previous life. Instead, he listened quietly, feeling a sense of deep contentment in his heart.
After talking for a while, Liu Fanghua noticed that Li Yu hadn't hung up impatiently like he used to.
She asked curiously, "Yu'er, are you still listening?"
"Yes, I'm listening. I got it all. I have a train at 11 PM tonight, I should arrive early tomorrow morning," Li Yu said.
"Be careful and stay safe..."
After hanging up, he checked his remaining balance. Apart from the 1,200 spent on the train ticket, he had less than 40,000 left.
Li Yu immediately called his company leader. The company he worked for was small, just a few people, and his leader was the company owner.
Li Yu was brief, directly stating his intention to resign.
The company leader was a menopausal woman, always causing trouble at work.
Upon hearing about Li Yu's resignation, she immediately lashed out at him: "Quitting? Don't want your salary? Have you finished the work I asked you to do this morning?"
After a barrage of attacks, Li Yu remained very calm internally. The salary was supposed to be paid on the 20th of each month, and the smaller the company, the more nauseating it was.
Li Yu ignored this menopausal woman, but when she started spewing some unsavory words,
He hit her weak spot and said, "I know you're involved with Little Han from the company. If you don't give me my salary, I'll tell Mr. Sun."
Mr. Sun was this menopausal woman's husband. They had started this company together, but little did they know, small temple big troubles, and the relationships within the company were even more complicated.
The menopausal woman froze instantly, like a duck caught by the throat, unable to speak.
After a while, the menopausal woman said in a gentle tone, "Uh, Little Li. Don't be rash. You're saying you want to resign, right? What are your plans?"
"No need to probe. I'm thinking of going back to my hometown to develop. Don't worry, you give me my salary, I'll leave cleanly, and my mouth is sealed tight," Li Yu said directly, unveiling her mask.
"Mm, alright, good. Then you have to keep your word," the menopausal woman said, her tone uncertain but with a hint of relief.
"Don't worry, transfer the money! Hurry up. Also, I think I have 40,000 yuan in reimbursements! You haven't given me the thirteenth month salary you promised before! And you haven't paid my social insurance and housing fund for several months, convert all of that into cash for me this time!" Li Yu said in one breath.
Although he couldn't remember clearly how much he had in reimbursements in his memory, it definitely wasn't this much, but he remembered quite clearly that the social insurance and housing fund indeed hadn't been paid for several months.
"Alright! I'll transfer 100,000 yuan to you. We have a deal, okay?"
Li Yu saw the 100,000 yuan credited to his bank account on his phone, feeling not the least bit nervous.
Although his salary was originally less than 10,000, and there was a slight hint of fraud in this situation. Who told him he needed money now?
But Li Yu wasn't afraid at all. Even if the menopausal woman reported him, he could counter-sue the company for not paying social insurance and housing fund on time. Moreover, she was the one who suggested the 100,000 yuan amount. Besides, doomsday was coming soon.
Who's afraid of whom?
The 100,000 yuan was also roughly what he had expected internally. After all, the company was small, and their income during this period wasn't much. To avoid a lose-lose situation and a bunch of troubles later that might affect his pre-apocalypse preparations,
100,000 was just right.
Li Yu then called the landlord. The landlord was a nice person. According to the contract, there was still a month left, but leaving early meant breaking the contract. Still, the landlord refunded half a month's rent to Li Yu.
So he added one more sentence, warning the landlord to stock up on supplies at home. If anything happened, having supplies at home would be more stable.
He said it, but whether the landlord listened or not was up to them.
In the five years of the apocalypse, Li Yu's heart had become as cold as if he had been killing fish in a hypermarket for ten years.
His softness in this life was reserved only for his family. Other than that, he was unwilling to trust anyone again.
Embarking on his journey home, Li Yu gazed out the window at the scenery, starting to plan in his mind.
If he wanted to protect his family before the apocalypse, he needed to establish a solid base.
Money!
Although money would be useless in the apocalypse, it was useful now, very useful.
Building a base, purchasing supplies, everything required money. The less than 140,000 yuan he had on hand was definitely not enough, even if his family would give him some, but what reason could he give them?
Trouble!
He definitely couldn't tell them. If he did, he'd have to explain, which would be too troublesome. And if it leaked out, he'd be in constant trouble.
Having made up his mind, he opened his Hammer Notes app.
He skillfully entered a series of numbers: 12 15 20 26 30 33 16.
Yes, this was a set of double color ball lottery numbers, the winning numbers for the double color ball lottery on May 28, 202 in the cosmic calendar.
In the apocalypse, Li Yu had dreamed more than once about returning to the time before the apocalypse, and had fantasized about what preparations he would make if he could go back to the starting point.
In those dark days, what sustained him was immersing himself in these fantasies.
So for him, being reborn meant he was already fully prepared mentally.
He had even thought about what items to buy,
Where to build the base,
How to quickly obtain money to fund the base construction.
So, in his previous life during the apocalypse, he had memorized this string of numbers.
After thinking about various random things, his head started to feel heavy. Li Yu placed his bag on his chest, facing the aisle. Leaning against the sleeper bed headboard, he began to sleep.
Years of habit allowed Li Yu to quickly enter a light sleep state. He was accustomed to sleeping in this position because it allowed him to quickly rise and respond to various emergencies.
The protagonist is a cold man, not a saint, has no system, no upgrades. Dear readers, please be a bit harsh on me~
(End of Chapter)