[edited]

Without a key, Jiang Ning thought on finding a tool to pry open the door lock in 1803. Unexpectedly, Lu Yu pulled out a strangely shaped single hook from his pocket and tinkered the lock for a few minutes—then unexpectedly it opened. 

Startled, Jiang Ning broke out into a cold sweat “…” and she instantly felt that the two doors at her home were not safe anymore! 

With a smile, Zheng Weili remarked, “He’s worried we won’t be able to get in. He’s been tinkering at home for two days.”

In 1803, there were three bedrooms and two living rooms, making it quite spacious. The apartment was all covered with cloth, but once uncovered, it revealed high quality pieces of furniture. The owners likely had money, as they hadn’t rented it out.

Feeling uneasy about illegally entering a private residence, Zheng Weili discussed with Lu Yu, “We’re only staying temporarily, so let’s avoid touching their belongings. We’ll make sure to restore everything before we leave.”

They chose a room with fewer furnishings, the two started cleaning, with Jiang Ning lending a hand. 

The house was quite nice, but the balcony lacked a glass enclosure. It was only surrounded by invisible stainless steel wires, causing the water to scatter everywhere.

Jiang Ning saw that there was still a bag of noodles and a half of rice left. The noodles and rice were barely enough to last until the end of the typhoon, so she abandoned the thought of helping. 

She provide a set of supplies for Lu Yu and Zhang Chao before the typhoon, fearing that it might draw attention and raise suspicion, she only provided them with the basic essentials. They would have to depend on themselves now for determining how far they could proceed next.

After tidying up inside and out and seeing the two exhausted, Jiang Ning left some words and went back to her room. 

Being neighbours meant that visits were unavoidable, so she stored away items that she didn’t want others to see and had a hearty lunch at noon. 

Cordyceps flower chicken soup, braised ribs, stir fried water spinach, and a piece of Kirin watermelon. 

Waking up from her nap, she discovered that the internet was down. 

Once the internet was down, she was completely disconnected from the world, and loneliness surged in her heart. 

Feeling down, Jiang Ning started exercising. 

Her physical fitness was good. She had also joined several clubs in college: Taekwondo, Tai Chi, military boxing self defense, and Sanda, which she learned from Zheng Weili. 

She was a jack of all trades but her ability to understand things well was what made her strong. 

After two hours of repetitive training, sweating profusely and utterly exhausted, she surprisingly finds herself strangely comfortable all over.

If she wants to survive and live better than others, she must continuously improve herself.

Jiang Ning decided to dedicate 2 hours to exercising every day, spend 3 hours studying traditional Chinese medicine, and allocate another 2 hours of studying the basic surgical knowledge.

There are hundreds of books crammed into her space, all of which were taken from the school library through cheating. She can slowly ponder them over the past few years. 

She also got some psychology books and intended to start learning them as soon as possible. 

In the apocalypse, there weren’t many normal people left who survived the various natural disasters. There were suicides, self harm, and acts of revenge against society. 

Even Jiang Ning’s mental state was affected. 

Irritability, anxiety, depression. 

So, this time, she stocked up on a lot of antidepressants but she’s hoping that she won’t need them. 

Although the windows were tightly sealed, the house was still damp inside. 

Jiang Ning bought a lot of large compression bags. She put away her unused clothes and bedding and hung the clothes in the space to dry. There was no sunlight but there’s still a refreshing smell of drying. 

The black soil was very mysterious. Although the time was synchronized with the outside world, the vegetables grew much better. The potatoes in the planting pots had sprouted, and the grapevines showed signs of budding. 

After coming out of the space, Jiang Ning found several thick plastic boards to cover various drains and then placed stones on top of them. 

On rainy days, especially in the later days, there are many cockroaches. The infestation seems endless, as they can easily crawl up from the sewers.

 

When the flood came, it was particularly difficult to flush the toilet. 

The residents on the higher floors were unaffected. Before the internet was cut off, those on the second and third floors were already complaining in the group chat, mentioning that their toilets were splattering feces. They asked those above to have some common decency and to refrain from flushing things down anymore.

Actually, it wasn’t comfortable on the higher floors either. The toilets hardly flushed, and the bad smell kept drifting up, making it really hard to bear.

As a precaution, Jiang Ning prepared many black plastic bags for dealing with physiological problems. 

However, the thought of throwing them downstairs made her hold back. She decided to handle it in the space instead. 

Just as she was about to cook, Zheng Weili knocked on the door outside. 

After sleeping for a day, both of them felt much better. 

Zheng Weili came over with alcohol wipes and was surprised to find Jiang Ning’s supplies were complete. She was growing vegetables and raising rabbits on the balcony. Her jaw almost dropped. “Anning, no wonder Lu Yu said that you could survive even if you were thrown into the desert by yourself.” 

Jiang Ning had always loved hoarding and growing things, so there was nothing to hide about it. However, many things needed to have a source. 

“I was lucky too. A few days before the typhoon, I got an order for Zhang Chao. There’s a rich second generation addicted to apocalyptic games, so he asked me to prepare a lot of medicine for him. When I delivered it, he even gave me a survival kit as a gift.” 

She pointed out several items, including a rubber boat and an earthquake emergency kit. 

Zheng Weili and Lu Yu were extremely shocked. “Now that you mention it, it really feels like the end of the world.” 

It wasn’t just these two who thought so. In fact, during the first few days of the typhoon. The online forums were flooded with posts. 

Having lived for nearly twenty years, they had never experienced such a major disaster. Moreover, the affected areas weren’t just limited to the southern coast. The key was that even now, there was no news of any rescue efforts. Who wouldn’t be afraid? 

Lu Yu suspected whether the rich second generation had received an advance notice; otherwise, how could it be so coincidental? 

In the building where he lived, there was a solitary young man who already had depression. After a few days without food, his mental health deteriorated, and he jumped from the top floor which drown himself in the process. 

In this situation, was there any difference from the apocalypse? 

Suddenly, he asked, “Do you have any contact with Zhang Chao?” 

Jiang Ning shook her head. She converted the commission from buying medicine into supplies, and she anonymously ordered them online, and had them delivered to his door. As for the follow up, he had to rely on himself. 

Zhang Chao was quite loyal and generous when it came to gatherings, but as a friend, there was nothing to criticize. 

But he lacked love too much. He specialized in dating older women, and Jiang Ning had stopped worrying about him. 

“He found a new girlfriend.” Lu Yu’s smile was somewhat forced. “She’s more than ten years older than him, divorced with two children, a ten year old daughter and an eight year old son. That woman looks like a social climber, just looking for a meal ticket from Zhang Chao.” 

Jiang Ning was speechless. “Is he looking for a girlfriend or a mother?” 

“Who knows,” Lu Yu said tiredly, letting out a quiet sigh. “Coming out of an orphanage, who doesn’t have some issues.” 

He was the same, mocked for being a gigolo. 

This wasn’t Zhang Chao’s first fall, yet he never voiced any grievances. It was hard for Jiang Ning to judge. After all, hadn’t she been foolishly infatuated with Yang Weicong before? 

Everyone had their choices; all she could hope for was their happiness. 

She hadn’t seen Zhang Chao in her previous life, she didn’t know if he had survived the cruel apocalypse. 

As they chatted in the living room, Zheng Weili suddenly shouted from the balcony, “Quick, quick, There’s a tornado!” 

When Jiang Ning walked out. She looked shocked and panicked, her eyes were so wide that she even forgot to breathe. 

Following her gaze, they saw an immensely dark sky with a gigantic tornado… 

No, it was twin tornadoes!