CHAPTER 1: Those Few Months Were Like They’d Killed Each Other’s Entire Families

Su Jiasui was born in the third year of the New Era.

Although by then most of the world had already been destroyed and many countries had turned into wastelands, the powerful still managed to carve out safe zones with militarized weapons and heaven-given supernatural abilities—otherwise known as apocalypse bases.

Over the course of three long years, humanity had wiped out most of the zombies, developed vaccines for the virus, and even bred a new type of rice that could survive the wastelands. But even with all that, there was still no sign of returning to normal life.

Because beyond the safety zones, there were mutated beasts that bred and evolved faster than humans. Even large-scale firepower couldn’t keep them down for long—they’d come back, again and again, relentlessly disturbing human peace.

To prevent resource depletion and further environmental damage, the New United Nations issued a global “ceasefire” treaty, banning the use of hot weapons to hunt mutated beasts. And so, the responsibility of protecting humanity and the bases fell to the ability users, whose status quickly rose to new heights.

That was why Su Jiasui, who had been found to possess an S-rank space-type ability at birth, became a top-priority candidate for training within the base.

People like Su Jiasui were the luckiest in the apocalypse. She hadn’t suffered a single hardship, yet by virtue of her innate advantage, she enjoyed the highest-grade resources and the most privileged treatment. No matter where she went, she was the center of attention, able to command wind and rain. And because she was particularly smart and quick-witted, she was highly valued by those above her. At just twelve years old, she was promoted, and her very first mission was already as a commander.

A commander’s rank, if placed in peacetime, would at least be equivalent to a regimental leader. As the youngest commander in New Era history, Su Jiasui couldn’t have been more smug—dressed in a brand-new blast-proof suit, wearing shiny combat boots, and sporting a high-level officer’s communicator on her wrist that looked like a watch. When she arrived at the mission site, she simply stood at the back of the squad and issued orders. The whole day passed like a stroll in the park—honestly, it was enough to make anyone watching green with envy.

Even so, ability users preferred doing missions with her. After all, her space-type ability was a rare form of “Absolute Domain.” Within her domain, she was the absolute ruler—even the most powerful mutated beasts had no choice but to submit to her will.

Unfortunately, the promising young Su Jiasui chose the wrong side in the base’s political struggle. She was framed and killed by a piece of hazelnut-filled chocolate laced with poison.

The poisoned chocolate was extremely bitter. But Su Jiasui had heard people say chocolate was supposed to be a bit bitter. She’d never had any before, so she forced herself to swallow it. It was, admittedly, quite smooth. And her death was just as smooth. By the time the healing-type ability user arrived in a hurry, she was already stone cold.

The base’s citizens mourned the young commander, convinced that if she had lived, she would have become a new-generation leader within ten years.

But Su Jiasui herself thought her death was great—absolutely wonderful.

Commander? Leader? She still had to eat rock-hard rice and drink nutrient solutions that tasted like vomit! If she’d known dying would let her transmigrate to an era of peace, she would’ve strangled herself with her umbilical cord in the womb!

The peaceful era was amazing. Sunshine, fresh air, endless delicious food, and breathtaking scenery—Su Jiasui had been in this world for eight full years, and she was still fascinated by everything around her.

Of course, not everything was perfect.

“Ji Jing.” Su Jiasui stood under the blazing August sun, gritting her teeth as she forced down her anger, speaking almost word by word. “You have one minute. You’d better spit it out.”

The call was still connected. After about thirty seconds, Ji Jing slowly walked out from behind the European-style iron gate.

Despite the sweltering heat, he was wearing long sleeves and long pants, with a medical mask covering his face. His black bangs obscured half of it, leaving only a pair of narrow, upturned eyes visible.

“What happened?”

“Caught a cold…”

Ji Jing’s voice was a little hoarse—it did sound like a cold. But Su Jiasui had known him not for a day or two, but for two whole years. “You got into a fight? Or did he hit you again?”

“…”

“What was it about this time?”

“No idea. He just didn’t like the sight of me.”

“Ji Jing, the rule of law saved your dad. Otherwise, I swear I’d twist his head off and use it as a football.”

Ji Jing was certain that if it weren’t for the legal system, his girlfriend would absolutely follow through. With how fierce she looked, you’d think she had eighty prior convictions. “I’m hungry, Sister Sui. Treat me to a meal?”

His girlfriend finally lost it. “You can’t even get a meal at home anymore?! That bastard! He’s gone too far!”

Ji Jing quickly hugged her. Last time, Su Jiasui had stormed into his house to confront Ji Hanhua and almost smashed his head open with a bottle of red wine. Ji Jing still had nightmares just thinking about it. He didn’t want his girlfriend to actually end up with a criminal record. “Forget it, forget it. Look, I’m fine, aren’t I?”

“Put me down!”

Su Jiasui’s feet were dangling in the air. As she was carried further and further from the iron gate, she got so mad she bit Ji Jing—hard.

Already injured, Ji Jing didn’t dare cry out. He just quietly set her down.

“Why are you such a pushover! Can’t you hit back?! Do you have to stay with that family?!”

“That old man just wants an excuse to kick me out. If I leave, it’ll be exactly what he wants. Sister Sui, just hold on a little longer. When I graduate and get my hands on the inheritance Grandpa and Song Shanqing left me, I’ll buy you a Patek Philippe Nautilus. No—two. One for each wrist.”

They’d argued about this no less than a hundred times.

Ji Jing was the son of Ji Hanhua and his ex-wife Song Shanqing. A year after giving birth to Ji Jing, Song Shanqing cheated during their marriage. Ji Hanhua caught her in the act, divorced her, and she fled abroad, leaving Ji Jing behind. Ji Hanhua, enraged at being cuckolded, took his anger out on Ji Jing. He dumped the boy with his aging father, remarried his young, pretty secretary Ma Hui, and had a second son, Ji Li. From then on, Ji Jing was completely cast aside.

Ji Jing had always lived with his grandfather. Only after the old man passed away three years ago did he move into this European-style villa, which had originally belonged to his mother—but now belonged to another woman.

“Sister Sui can earn her own money and buy it herself! Useless! Always thinking of getting something for nothing!”

To be honest, Ji Jing felt pretty lousy right then. But seeing Su Jiasui puff up and call herself “Sister Sui” made him want to laugh. Thank god for the mask—otherwise she’d explode for sure.

“I—I just don’t want to take this lying down…” Ji Jing lowered his head and acted pitiful. It worked on Su Jiasui every single time.

“Alright, alright. Let’s go to my place to eat, and I’ll help you put some ointment on.”

“Is your mom home?”

“What’s wrong with your brain?! Didn’t I tell you on the phone that my mom made dumplings and asked you to come over?! You forgot already?! Did he beat the sense out of you?!”

Ji Jing followed her obediently, expression calm, heart unmoved.

Two years had trained him well—everything went in one ear and out the other.

Flashback to two years ago, the start of their first year of high school. Ji Jing, just to spite Ji Hanhua, deliberately showed up at school with a head full of brown curls. Xinghai High was extremely strict about student appearance, and Ji Hanhua was the school’s biggest board member. As the board member’s son, Ji Jing blatantly violating school rules was enough to make Ji Hanhua lose face.

But on the first day of school, before any teacher or principal could even notice his hair, Su Jiasui already had.

She was passionate, full of leadership, and had a strong sense of justice. When the homeroom teacher asked the boys to carry chairs to the sports field for the opening ceremony and saw Ji Jing not moving, she immediately gave him a nickname.

“Hey, Curly. What are you spacing out for? Go move some chairs.”

That “Curly” went in Ji Jing’s left ear but didn’t come out the right. “Say that again?”

At sixteen, Ji Jing was already 1.8 meters tall. He wasn’t scrawny like other boys his age. Under his loose black long-sleeve shirt, you could faintly see his physique. Just standing there gave off an intimidating vibe—he practically radiated “don’t mess with me.”

Su Jiasui said, “Curly, what are you staring at? You look like a damn poodle.”

Though Ji Jing shaved his head the next day, “Curly” stuck in Su Jiasui’s mouth for months. For those few months, they acted like the other had slaughtered their entire family. Even in a two-meter-wide hallway, if they crossed paths, they’d stomp on each other’s feet like mortal enemies.

Each had their own followers, forming cliques based on test scores. At Ji Jing’s direction, the underachievers in the back of the class would often stir up trouble. Su Jiasui hated that the most, and every time she snapped, they’d gleefully shout her nickname—“Busybody.”

Su Jiasui wasn’t one to take it lying down. She had the backing of the top students and the full support of their teachers. The faculty loved following her lead and used every means possible to make the underachievers cry for their moms.

This dragon-versus-tiger battle lasted for months with no clear winner—until Christmas break.

That day, the pool hall near Xinghai High hosted an event. Two underachievers, A and B, snuck out to join. Xinghai was in a multi-school area, surrounded by a regular high school, a vocational school, and a nursing school. One of the vocational school’s top players lost to Student A. Already annoyed, the guy saw his girlfriend flirting with Student A and blew up. He called in his boys and beat Student A bloody.

Student A wasn’t the type to take it lying down. He immediately called Ji Jing for backup.

As the boss, Ji Jing couldn’t ignore the call. But the vocational school kid had ties to someone on the outside, and Ji Jing ended up losing out too.

That afternoon, all the underachievers at the back of the classroom came in bruised and swollen.

Su Jiasui was not pleased.

She’d grown up in the military. Unity and camaraderie were core values. Normally, a little internal bickering was no big deal—but being bullied by outsiders? Absolutely not.

After school, Su Jiasui rallied the remnants, counted the wounded, regrouped, and led the underachievers back into battle. Her tactics were ruthless—isolating and ambushing enemies one by one, striking from behind. The opponents didn’t stand a chance.

The street thug was pissed and made a call, bringing in two vans of his buddies from the underworld. Su Jiasui wasn’t about to back down either—she made a call and brought in a dozen police cars.

Even now, as Ji Jing sat in the Su family’s living room, looking at the banner on the wall that read “Bravery in the Face of Evil”, he still couldn’t help but feel emotional.

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Author’s Note:

New story launched! First three chapters released! 10k daily updates after VIP unlock (though not sure how long I can keep it up)! Red envelopes for this chapter’s comments! (But not too many 😅) Main couple has a high school romance setup (but just nominal, their relationship is basically like close friends). Female lead transmigrated from the apocalypse setting (but that part’s mostly covered in the beginning). Lots of drafts saved! Feel free to dive in—no “buts” this time! Let’s go!