“Two kilometers is very close, just a few minutes to the entrance of the residential complex.”

Jiang Ning handed over 2,000 yuan to thank him for saving someone and for his brave act of violating the traffic rules.

The man’s voice was cold and stern. “No need. It was on my way.”

Seeing that he wouldn’t accept it, Jiang Ning didn’t insist. As she got out of the car, she reminded him, “The typhoon might cause power and water outages. While there’s still time, you should stock up on rice, flour, oil, and other staples.”

She opened the car door and ran into the complex against the wind, holding her parcel.

Raindrops the size of beans crashed down with thunder. Jiang Ning stumbled out of the elevator, wiping the rain off her face, only to see Yang Weicong and Su Mengyao standing in front of her apartment door.

They must have been waiting for a long time. Yang Weicong looked annoyed, while campus belle Su Mengyao stood smiling sweetly in a pure white dress, giving off an innocent and refined aura.

“Why are you only just getting back?” Yang Weicong said impatiently. “We’ve been waiting for you a long time.”

Seeing the two of them, Jiang Ning couldn’t help but recall how they had bullied her in the apocalypse and watched coldly as she was slaughtered by demons. Her mood instantly soured and turned irritable.

In her past life, she had been foolish and had only herself to blame. But if they wanted to leech off her and steal her golden finger in this life—let them try.

What she had suffered before, they would suffer tenfold.

Jiang Ning’s expression was cold. “What do you want?”

She had always been warm to him before. Now, faced with her indifference, Yang Weicong was taken aback and instinctively questioned, “Why didn’t you come to my birthday?”

“We’re not close. Why would I go?”

“You…” She had clearly been pursuing him and had even said she wanted to give him a gift he would like.

Of course, he wasn’t interested in the gift—Mengyao was interested in Jiang Ning and wanted to get to know her.

Su Mengyao looked Jiang Ning up and down with a smile. “Junior.”

Jiang Ning replied coldly, “I don’t know you. Don’t call me that.”

Su Mengyao looked a bit awkward but kept her sweet tone. “Today is senior’s birthday. We’re all schoolmates; we just wanted to gather and celebrate.”

His birthday was already over by noon. They just wanted to lure her to the eighth floor to steal her golden finger.

“Are you deaf?” Jiang Ning sneered. “Didn’t you hear me say we’re not close? What the hell does his birthday have to do with me?”

Her rudeness stunned them. Yang Weicong, losing face, snapped, “Jiang Ning, what’s your problem?”

“You’re wearing couple rings with her, yet you keep inviting me to your place. Trying to two-time us?”

“Don’t flatter yourself. I never saw you that way!” Yang Weicong was furious and ashamed. “Mengyao, let’s go.”

But Su Mengyao didn’t want to leave. “Ah Ning, actually, it’s like this—we came to celebrate his birthday, but the typhoon hit and we can’t go back. Can I crash at your place tonight?”

“Are you insane? I already said we’re not close!”

Yang Weicong warned with a dark face, “Ah Ning, watch your mouth.”

“That’s just how I talk. If you can’t handle it, stay away.”

Yang Weicong tried to drag Su Mengyao away, but she refused to budge, forcing a smile through gritted teeth. “Ah Ning, your pendant is really pretty. May I ask where you got it?”

Jiang Ning took the pendant off. “You want it?”

Su Mengyao’s eyes lit up. “Can I buy it from you? I really like it.”

Jiang Ning let go. The pendant fell to the ground.

Then she stomped on it, hard—again and again—until it shattered into pieces.

After the spatial binding, the pendant had lost its original luster and become dull. It was completely useless now.

People could be wicked. If she didn’t destroy it right then and there, who knew what Su Mengyao might do?

“Your so-called ‘liking’ makes me sick.”

Watching the pendant get destroyed, Su Mengyao was shocked and horrified, letting out a startled cry.

Her boyfriend enraged by this, Yang Weicong hurled insults at Jiang Ning.

Jiang Ning’s eyes flashed with menace. “Get lost. Don’t come around again unless you want trouble.”

Yang Weicong looked like he had just eaten ashes. Dragging Su Mengyao along, he stormed off in fury.

Only then did Jiang Ning open the steel door and eagerly begin unpacking her deliveries.

The extreme cold-weather gear was thick, soft, and warm. The mummy sleeping bag was stitched with multiple layers of down and of top quality. She would rely on these to survive the extreme cold.

Outside, the wind howled and the sky was dark and heavy.

After securing the windows and doors, Jiang Ning brought out large white plastic barrels to store water. Once filled, she stashed a few barrels in the bathroom inside her space.

With the typhoon and storm hitting, the complex would soon lose power and water.

No matter the chaos outside, Jiang Ning stayed busy in the kitchen—rinsing rice and cooking, washing and stir-frying vegetables.

Braised pork, mushrooms stewed with chicken, poached fish, radish and beef brisket stew—each dish was cooked in large batches, placed steaming hot into pre-prepared stainless steel containers, and then stored in her space.

Since the typhoon had just started and every household still had supplies, she needed to cook these strong-smelling dishes quickly. Later, she wouldn’t dare light fires casually, or it might attract attention.

She steamed buns, dumplings, flower rolls, and shumai, working with both the gas stove and electric cooker at full power until dawn.

Finally, she changed out of her greasy clothes, took a hot shower, and collapsed into bed.

She was fast asleep when a drilling sound woke her.

Jiang Ning pulled open the curtains. Outside, the sky was dark, with the typhoon and storm raging.

She thought it was still early, but her phone showed it was already after 9 a.m.

Her WeChat was exploding. Her residential and class group chats both had 99+ unread messages. Many were celebrating the arrival of the typhoon “Cai Dao”—workers didn’t have to do 996 anymore, and students could go home.

Many people had posted disaster photos and videos—uprooted trees, luxury cars smashed, tornadoes slicing metal-roofed factories in half…

Some were starting to realize something was wrong. They cried about not having stocked up on food, saying they’d rushed to the supermarket after work only to find empty shelves—only some old sour vegetable-flavored instant noodles left.

The drilling sound kept going. It seemed to be coming from next door.

Jiang Ning was confused. This floor only had three units, and the other two had always been empty.

In her past life, the flood had reached the second floor. The displaced residents, after failing to receive help, had broken into the vacant apartments and moved in.

At first, they lived peacefully. But as food became scarce, their eyes grew dark and calculating. They had tried many times to break into Jiang Ning’s apartment at night.

This time, she had bought a fire axe. If anyone dared try again, she wouldn’t hesitate to swing it.

And it wasn’t just the sound of drilling—there were children’s voices too.

Jiang Ning opened her door and stepped out, only to see that the door to 1801 was wide open. A brand-new steel door leaned against the wall. A young man in light casual clothes was drilling into the wall.

When he heard the sound of her door opening, he turned to look.

Jiang Ning was stunned. “It’s you?”