1: Rebirth

"Jiang Fei, even though Boss Sun is old enough to be your grandfather, he's rich and willing to give you two million as a bride price. All you have to do is marry him, endure a few years, and when he dies, his tens of millions in assets will all be yours!"

"If you don't agree to marry him, how am I going to buy your cousin a new house and find him a wife?"

Hearing the familiar yet sharp female voice, Jiang Fei subconsciously looked up, and her blurry vision became clear.

A middle-aged woman, about forty years old, sat on the sofa with bright red lipstick, her plump body almost occupying half the space.

Li Yanping... her aunt who wanted to devour her!

Beside Li Yanping were her cousin, Jiang Ziming, watching the commotion, and her uncle, Jiang Zhengkang, silently smoking a cigarette.

Didn't she die in the fourth year of the apocalypse? Why was she seeing her uncle's family again?

Jiang Fei suddenly noticed her own hands, clean and fair, without any wounds.

As if realizing something, Jiang Fei hurriedly pulled out her phone from her pocket to check the date—

May 12, 2222.

Two months before the apocalypse struck.

She had been reborn!

Jiang Fei's breathing instantly became rapid. Just as she was processing this fact, Li Yanping's voice rang out again.

"Your mother died early, and your father abandoned you. Your uncle and I raised you. We even agreed when you wanted to change your surname to your mother's. Now that our family is in trouble, shouldn't you help us?"

"Besides, I'm sending you to enjoy a good life. You've already graduated from university, and it's time for you to get married and have children."

Jiang Fei's eyes were filled with sarcasm.

Five years ago, Li Yanping, wanting to get her hands on her mother's inheritance, instigated her uncle to become her guardian.

Including the property, the total value was three million. Over the years, Li Yanping had squandered most of it, not only buying a small villa but also sending her cousin, Jiang Zixuan, to study abroad.

Meanwhile, she hadn't spent a single cent, wearing Jiang Zixuan's discarded old clothes, eating Li Yanping's leftovers, and living in the smallest, most dilapidated storage room in the house. She had to work part-time to pay for her studies, enduring the bullying and abuse from her cousins.

She had finally managed to graduate and could move out to live on her own, only to be forced into marriage.

Jiang Ziming had dropped out of school early and lived at home, freeloading. At thirty, he still had no girlfriend. Li Yanping was anxious about this and, to get Jiang Ziming settled, forced her to marry a rich old man, hoping to use her bride price to buy Jiang Ziming a house and car for blind dates.

In her previous life, she had gone on a hunger strike in protest, almost dying, which made Li Yanping give up her plan. But this time, she wouldn't.

She needed money to hoard supplies to survive the apocalypse.

Boss Sun was not an easy person to cross, so she would let Li Yanping suffer the consequences of defrauding him into marriage.

Jiang Fei concealed the malice in her eyes: "I agree to marry Boss Sun, but I want the property rights to the old house my mother left behind, and half of the bride price."

At this, Li Yanping dropped her pretense of kindness: "Are you out of your mind from studying?! How dare you negotiate with me? I'll tell you the truth! I've already taken Boss Sun's money! The wedding will be held in three months! You'll marry him whether you like it or not!"

"Jiang Fei, don't be ungrateful. It's your good fortune that my mother found such a good family for you!"

Jiang Ziming habitually swung his hand to hit Jiang Fei, but his arm was caught.

Bang—!

"Ah!"

Jiang Fei threw Jiang Ziming over her shoulder with a judo move, then grabbed a fruit knife from the coffee table and held it against his crotch.

After all, she had spent over three years struggling in the apocalypse. Although her current physical strength was somewhat lacking, her speed and reactions were ingrained in her bones.

Jiang Ziming lay on the ground, too terrified to move, fearing that Jiang Fei's hand might slip and "sterilize" him.

Li Yanping also panicked, grabbing Jiang Zhengkang beside her: "Go save our son!"

"Fei Fei, let's talk this over calmly. Put the knife down first..."

"Ah ah ah!!!"

Jiang Ziming's ear-piercing scream interrupted Jiang Zhengkang's words.

The fruit knife in Jiang Fei's hand pierced Jiang Ziming's thigh: "Uncle, if you take another step, I can't guarantee what I might accidentally stab next time."

Jiang Zhengkang immediately froze in place.

Seeing the blood on Jiang Ziming's leg, Li Yanping's face twitched with anger: "You little slut! I'm calling the police right now to have you arrested!"

"Auntie, don't you want Boss Sun's bride price anymore?" Jiang Fei calmly retorted. Seeing Li Yanping fall silent, she smiled faintly: "If something happens to me, who will marry Boss Sun? My cousin?"

"Impossible!" Li Yanping subconsciously retorted.

She couldn't bear to marry her precious daughter to the ugly and old Boss Sun!

"As long as Auntie transfers the money to me now and takes me to transfer the property title, I'll let my cousin go."

"Otherwise, if my cousin loses his manhood, not only will he not find a wife, but the bride price you received will also be reclaimed by Boss Sun, and you might even face retaliation."

"Someone with Boss Sun's reputation probably wouldn't appreciate being played for a fool."

Jiang Fei's blatant threat made Li Yanping choke.

However, what Jiang Fei said was true, so Li Yanping could only pull out her phone and say through gritted teeth: "Your card number!"

First, she would appease this little bitch. After Jiang Fei and Boss Sun were married, she would find an opportunity to deal with her, preferably swindling a large sum from her!

Seeing through Li Yanping's scheme, Jiang Fei didn't expose her and gave her bank card number.

Soon, her phone received a bank text message—one million yuan credited.

Jiang Fei satisfactorily threw away the fruit knife and arranged the next step: "Now we'll take the documents and transfer the property title."

"You damn girl, what's the rush? Can't you see your cousin is injured?!"

Li Yanping grumbled as she helped Jiang Ziming up, then had Jiang Zhengkang take their son to the Hospital, and went back to her room to get the documents.

The old house Jiang's mother left behind was a dilapidated bungalow in the suburbs. It couldn't fetch a good price, and no one was willing to rent it. After Li Yanping had sold off all the valuable items inside, the house had remained empty.

If Jiang Fei hadn't brought it up today, she would have almost forgotten about the old house.

Despite this, Li Yanping was still unhappy, maintaining a sour expression towards Jiang Fei the entire time. They managed to complete the transfer procedures before the property transaction center closed for lunch.

Along with the keys to the old house, they were given to Jiang Fei.

Jiang Fei and Li Yanping walked out of the transaction center building, just as Jiang Zhengkang arrived.

"Yanping, I've sent Ziming home. The doctor said his wound is fine and will heal in a few days."

Assured that her son was fine, Li Yanping started to pick a fight with Jiang Fei again: "Since your uncle is here, let's make things clear."

"You have a house now, so move out starting today. Don't freeload in my house."

"If you want to come back for your junk luggage, return half of the one million as Ziming's medical expenses."

Li Yanping still hadn't given up on Jiang Fei's money.

Jiang Zhengkang frowned deeply: "Aren't you being a bit too much...?"

"Your good niece almost crippled your son! What's wrong with me asking for some money?!"

Li Yanping stood with her hands on her hips, glaring furiously at Jiang Zhengkang.

Jiang Zhengkang's lips mumbled, but he ultimately said nothing more.

Watching Jiang Zhengkang's timid and submissive demeanor, a ripple stirred in Jiang Fei's heart.

In her previous life, Jiang Zhengkang had actually been very kind to her, often secretly buying her delicious food and stopping her cousins from bullying her.

Even when resources were scarce and Li Yanping wanted to eat her flesh to survive, Jiang Zhengkang had let her go.

If it weren't for her later being blind and trusting the wrong person, she wouldn't have ended up buried in a sea of fire... Jiang Fei calmed herself down and spoke coldly:

"I don't want anything from the house. Auntie can throw away whatever she wants."

Ignoring Li Yanping's incessant chatter, Jiang Fei turned to Jiang Zhengkang and repeated:

"I saw online that Country Y has been hiding nuclear leaks for many years, and coupled with Country R secretly discharging nuclear wastewater for years, the ecological environment has already been affected. The weather might become abnormal recently. Uncle, you should buy more food and hoard it at home, just in case."

Jiang Zhengkang was timid and weak, and extremely afraid of his wife. He dared not resist Li Yanping at all. She couldn't fully trust this relative, so she could only offer a single warning.

Whether he believed it or not was entirely up to Jiang Zhengkang.

Not wanting to hear Li Yanping's nagging voice anymore, Jiang Fei put away the property deed and hailed a taxi directly to the suburbs.

The city she was in was called Lincheng. In recent years, it had developed rapidly, and people who once lived in the suburbs had all moved to the city, leaving this area completely deserted.

As far as the eye could see, every bungalow was dilapidated and devoid of life.

After paying the taxi driver, Jiang Fei arrived at an old house at the end of the street that was still relatively well-preserved.

She took out the key and pushed open the courtyard gate, and a faint musty smell wafted towards her.

Jiang Fei put on a mask and headed straight for the main house to search.

In her previous life, she was imprisoned in a cellar by those cannibalistic villagers and encountered Jiang Zixuan.

She initially thought Jiang Zixuan was also a victim, but unexpectedly, the other party left after a few hours and even became a guest of honor.

Jiang Zixuan tortured her along with those demons.

Only before she died did she realize that after Li Yanping's villa area fell, their family had hidden in this old house.

Jiang Zixuan had accidentally found a treasure that could store food, an heirloom left by her mother.

She would forever remember Jiang Zixuan's smug expression as she caressed the bracelet—

"Thanks to the treasure Auntie left for you, otherwise I wouldn't be living so comfortably in the apocalypse."

"Too bad your tongue is about to be cut off. You'll never have the chance to tell anyone else."

One day, she would repay Jiang Zixuan for everything she had done to her, a hundredfold, a thousandfold!

Jiang Fei tried to suppress the rising hatred in her heart and continued to rummage through the wardrobe in front of her, suddenly hitting a box that made a sound.