Chapter 31: The Relatives Are Coming—Time to Put On a Good Show

This fruit shop was clearly high-end. You could tell from the brand-new storefront, gleaming floor tiles, and neatly arranged shelves. Places like this usually stocked premium fruits.

Unfortunately, it hadn’t escaped being looted. Fruit was scattered everywhere, some crushed underfoot into a pulpy mess. The air reeked of rot and a faint, boozy fermentation.

Bian Changxi felt a pang of regret. In the apocalypse, fruit was a rare luxury—almost aristocratic food.

Still, even rotten fruit was precious to her. As long as there were seeds, it meant that before long, delicious, juicy fruit would be growing on her own farm.

She scanned the mess: common varieties like apples, fragrant pears, cherry tomatoes, bananas, oranges, and jujubes, as well as more upscale imports like cherries, durians, mangosteens, loquats, kiwis, nectarines, and red grapes. Most of them were imported.

She picked out a few of the least damaged ones from each type. She had no idea how to grow things like bananas or durians, but she took some anyway—maybe burying them in the ground would work. Who knew, maybe she’d get lucky.

After this round of scavenging, her mood soared. Fruit was sorted; now she just needed to worry about vegetables, grains, poultry, livestock, and river fish. Oh, and it’d be best to get some nuts too.

Wait—she did a quick calculation. The mutation of plants and animals was about to happen. She had to hurry; she definitely didn’t want to eat mutated food.

Since she needed to keep her farm a secret, Bian Changxi couldn’t make any big moves. She browsed a few more shops, picked up some rolling suitcases and backpacks from a luggage store and stashed them in her jade bracelet, then swapped out her own bags for two larger ones—one for food, one for clothes and daily necessities. It was a hassle, but if she wanted to pass as someone without a spatial ability, she had to act the part.

Next, she slipped into a home goods store and quietly stashed away a bunch of quilts, blankets, and bedding sets. She had her eye on a big black-and-white bed tucked in the back. After a moment’s hesitation and a furtive glance outside, she snuck it into her storage too.

She sighed. Traveling with others was such a pain.

When she came out, Lin Rongrong was dragging herself along like a dying dog. Her spatial ability was a power, and overusing it left her drained, dizzy, and nauseous. Bian Changxi quickly told her, “Rest up. If you push too hard, it’ll affect your mobility.”

The two of them sat on the steps, basking in the last warmth of the sun. Bian Changxi pulled out some pure milk and bread from her bag and started eating. The nourishing liquid sliding down her throat was pure bliss. She loved this feeling—resting and eating after hard work, balancing effort and relaxation. It made her feel alive, not just numb and mechanical.

If the sun were a little warmer, she’d probably have dozed off.

Lin Rongrong’s eyes lit up at the sight of her food. “Changxi, you have so much to eat! Can I trade you something for some?”

Bian Changxi was surprised. “You don’t have any food?”

Lin Rongrong gave a bitter smile. “I escaped from my group before dawn and have been hiding ever since. I was lucky to find a place without zombies. I finished my one piece of bread ages ago—now I just have two bottles of water left.”

Bian Changxi pushed her bag over. “Take what you want, don’t be shy. The person I was talking to earlier is in the nearby LeGou supermarket. It’s huge—there’s bound to be food there.”

Lin Rongrong’s face lit up with joy. She grinned sheepishly and started rummaging through the bag.

Bian Changxi asked, “Why did you leave your group?”

Lin Rongrong paused, opened a can of eight-treasure porridge, and gulped down half of it, cheeks bulging. After wiping her mouth, she said quietly, “You know I have a spatial ability, right? Actually, there was already a girl in our group with a space power. She was highly valued. When I discovered I had one too, I wanted to tell everyone and celebrate together. But…” She lowered her eyes, stirring her porridge gloomily. “I went to find the team leader and overheard them talking about how to keep that girl tied to the group. Someone even suggested the leader should, you know, sleep with her—make her his woman so she’d be loyal. Others said she was too full of herself, and her space wasn’t that big. If they found someone better, they’d just kick her out.”

“Disgusting!” Lin Rongrong said angrily. “That girl was my classmate, you know? I went to warn her, but she seemed quite pleased with herself. I asked her what she’d do if someone else with a space power showed up, and she…” Lin Rongrong shuddered, unable to imagine the cold, vicious look she’d seen on her usually gentle, quiet classmate’s face.

Bian Changxi nodded in understanding. “So that’s why you left?”

Lin Rongrong nodded. “I’d been thinking about leaving anyway. They were ruthless—if anyone in the group was weak, they’d bully them and use them as bait for zombies. If someone was strong, they’d suck up to them, but you could see the jealousy and resentment in their eyes, always scheming. The world’s changed, and so have people’s hearts, but how did it happen so fast? All I have is a space ability—I can’t do anything else. What choice did I have but to run?”

Actually, with enough effort, spatial abilities could be developed into other skills—like teleportation for escape, or spatial folding for deadly attacks—but the odds were slim. Still, Bian Changxi wasn’t about to share that with someone she’d just met.

She opened a pack of country-style chicken drumsticks and handed one to Lin Rongrong. “Eat this—it’s filling.” She gnawed on a chicken wing herself, then suddenly said, “Pretend you don’t have a space ability. The person coming soon is named Gu Xu. I don’t know him well. You can act like you don’t have powers and decide later if you want to reveal it.”

“Is that okay?”

“It’s your call. And it’s not just about hiding it from them—there are bound to be other people in that supermarket too.”

Just then, her communicator beeped. Bian Changxi answered, and Gu Xu’s voice came through: “We’re here.”

“Okay.” Bian Changxi finished her bread and milk, dusted off her hands, and stood up. Lin Rongrong gritted her teeth and said, “Alright, I’ll pretend!”

Bian Changxi handed her the bag with the clothes. “No time to get another one—use this for now.” Lin Rongrong had just taken it when two figures appeared at the corner of the pedestrian street.

The man in front was tall and lean, moving with steady confidence. His features were strikingly handsome, his sun-bronzed skin exuding masculinity. His gaze was upright but carried a hint of coldness, making him seem formidable and hard to approach.

Lin Rongrong whispered in awe, “What a presence… All those so-called campus heartthrobs at our school are nothing compared to him.”

Bian Changxi squinted at the newcomers.

In her previous life, aside from one or two visits to the Tengyang Base each year, she’d never seen this man. Even when she did, it was usually just a glimpse of his profile, surrounded by admirers—cold, powerful, and solitary, as if he stood apart from the world.

Suppressing the surge of emotion in her heart, Bian Changxi’s lips curled slightly. Right now, Gu Xu hadn’t made his mark yet, while she had powers, space, and experience. And at this moment, he was the one seeking her help. Was this what they called the wheel of fortune turning? She’d never have imagined that their next meeting would be under these circumstances. Life’s twists and turns were truly unpredictable.

Steadying herself, she looked up. Gu Xu had already walked up, put away his gun, and met her gaze. His dark eyes weren’t cold and distant, but instead held a faint smile, carefully masking his urgency and making him appear friendly and modest. “Miss Bian, thank you so much for waiting here. I’m Gu Xu. Let me introduce my comrade, Qiu Yun.”

Qiu Yun—the mastermind behind that betrayal all those years ago?

Bian Changxi’s gaze shifted to the handsome young man behind him. He’d reined in his usual roguish demeanor; in front of someone who might have saved his comrade’s life, even his curiosity was kept in check. He greeted her politely and with excitement.

“Bian Changxi, this is my classmate, Lin Rongrong. No time to waste—let’s go.” One look at their faces told her how anxious they were. Otherwise, they’d never be so polite and eager to please, which was both novel and a little overwhelming for her.

Well, just for that, she’d make sure to put on a good show."