4: Chapter 4 Decisive Move

A hurried ringing sound echoed in the room.

Ye Nanxing frowned, her gaze falling on the caller ID, her expression suddenly turning cold.

Zhou Yixuan.

The name on the mobile phone screen was so glaring it made one sick to the stomach.

Her chest felt as if it had been set on fire; anger erupted in an instant, her fingers clenched tight, knuckles turning white.

Memories of her past life surged wildly—

Amidst snow and wind, she knelt on the ground, pleading with a hoarse voice.

"Zhou Yixuan, I beg you, don't do this! If you kick me out, I will die!"

The man stood inside the door, his eyes cold and indifferent, as if she were merely an insignificant stranger.

Zhao Yuanyuan leaned in his arms, whispering tearfully, "Nanxing, please don't make things difficult for us..."

Her heart felt as if it were being fiercely squeezed, a suffocating sensation pressing against her chest.

Ye Nanxing's fingertips paused for a few seconds between "Decline" and "Answer."

Then, she slowly swiped to "Answer."

Avoiding it was useless.

Ye Nanxing knew that Zhou Yixuan was calling to ask her for money.

If she didn't answer, Zhou Yixuan would come directly to her workplace.

Ye Nanxing had no doubt about this person's shamelessness.

As soon as the call connected, Zhou Yixuan's voice came through, his tone familiar, carrying a hint of deliberately lowered tenderness.

"Nanxing, why did it take you so long to answer my call?"

Ye Nanxing sneered, her tone indifferent.

"Something up?"

The person on the other end was clearly stunned for a moment, then sounded a bit helpless.

"What? You're not even willing to talk to me anymore?"

Ye Nanxing did not respond, waiting quietly for his next move.

After a moment of silence, Zhou Yixuan seemed to sigh, his tone becoming somewhat low.

"Nanxing, yesterday... I drank too much, and maybe I said some things that weren't very nice. Don't take it to heart."

"Oh?"

Ye Nanxing raised an eyebrow, the corners of her mouth curling slightly, coldness spreading from the depths of her eyes.

"Which words are you referring to?"

Zhou Yixuan's voice paused for a moment, then he chuckled, his tone returning to his habitual tenderness.

"You know, I've been under a lot of pressure lately. The company project is stuck, the investor suddenly withdrew their funding, and I'm a bit tight on cash. I was in a bad mood yesterday, so..."

The conversation took a turn, carrying a hint of ingratiation.

"You remember, right? The thing I mentioned before about starting a business? Now is a critical time, and I'm having trouble with cash flow, so I was thinking—"

"You want me to help you?"

Ye Nanxing interrupted directly, her tone sarcastic.

Zhou Yixuan coughed, seemingly laughing in embarrassment.

"Nanxing, we've known each other for so many years. I know you're not a stingy person. I'm just looking for a bridge loan. Once my project is up and running and I've made money, I'll pay you back immediately."

"How much?"

Ye Nanxing no longer wanted to dance around the issue with him and asked directly.

"It's not much, how about 500,000?"

Zhou Yixuan's tone was exceptionally natural, as if this sum of money were merely a trivial favor for Ye Nanxing.

Ye Nanxing wanted to laugh upon hearing this.

500,000?

In her past life, she had almost emptied her savings for him, even giving him the last of the life-saving money her parents had left her, just to support his so-called entrepreneurial dream.

And what was the result?

The project definitely didn't succeed.

All the money went into Zhao Yuanyuan's account.

In the end, she was kicked out by both of them working together and thrown into the wind and snow to wait for death.

This time, no one would ever get another cent from her!

On the other end of the line, Zhou Yixuan was still gently persuading her.

"Nanxing, you're not still angry about what happened before, are you? You've always been the most sensible one, and you've always understood me best..."

Ye Nanxing couldn't help but laugh.

Understood best?

In her past life, it was precisely this gentle facade that had deceived her completely!

In this life, it would never happen again.

"Of course I understand you."

Ye Nanxing said slowly, her tone indifferent.

"But 500,000... is a bit low."

Zhou Yixuan was stunned.

"What do you mean?"

"How about I give you one million?"

The breathing on the other end became noticeably more rapid, and there was even a hint of excitement in his tone.

"Nanxing, are you serious?"

Ye Nanxing scoffed lightly.

"Of course. After all, you were once my boyfriend; how could I not help you?"

Zhou Yixuan breathed a sigh of relief, his voice carrying a barely perceptible tremor, completely failing to notice the word "once" in Ye Nanxing's sentence.

"Nanxing, I knew you understood me best."

Ye Nanxing looked indifferently at the ceiling, her voice soft.

"But..."

"Why on earth should I help you?"

Ye Nanxing's tone suddenly turned cold, carrying sharp sarcasm.

The breathing on the other end of the line suddenly hitched, as if he hadn't expected her to flip on him so suddenly.

"Zhou Yixuan, do you really think so highly of yourself?"

Ye Nanxing sneered.

"Do you know? Just now, I originally wanted to hang up the phone, but then I thought, I still wanted to see just how shameless you could get."

Zhou Yixuan's voice was a bit stiff.

"Nanxing, what do you mean?"

"What do I mean?"

Ye Nanxing narrowed her eyes, her tone cold and thin.

"You can ask for money, but why should I give it to you? Who are you?"

"..."

"Oh, I forgot to remind you."

Ye Nanxing's tone was slow and relaxed at this moment.

"Don't contact me again in the future."

"Nanxing—"

Beep—

The call was hung up without hesitation, and she then immediately blocked the number.

The phone was tossed onto the coffee table, and Ye Nanxing leaned back on the sofa, the sneer at the corner of her mouth not yet fully faded.

Zhou Yixuan, Zhao Yuanyuan, everyone who had ever hurt her would never have a chance to turn things around again.

In this life, she would not be that foolish sucker again, nor would she soften her heart toward anyone.

Everything they owed her in her past life would have to be paid back!

Ye Nanxing closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and forced herself to calm down.

Although she had just blocked Zhou Yixuan, based on her understanding of him, he would not give up so easily.

If she continued to live here, Zhou Yixuan would definitely show up at her door. By then, Zhao Yuanyuan would play the victim, the Zhou family would hypocritically plead for him, and even if she didn't soften her heart, she would be annoyed to death by their pestering.

She wasn't afraid of refusing them, but she was afraid of wasting time.

Six months—not long, not short—every single day had to be firmly seized!

She must change residences!

In her past life, Ye Nanxing had only lived until the third year. She had seen the darkness of the human heart and the collapse of order, but she wasn't sure if the world could ever return to normal.

In this life, she could only make as many preparations as possible to secure the greatest survival capital for the unknown future!

Ye Nanxing mentally tallied all her assets.

Currently, she had 400,000 in bank savings. That wasn't a small amount, but for the Apocalypse, it was insignificant.

There was an old house waiting for demolition; selling it could secure a sum of funds.

Aside from that, she had no other additional assets or sources of income.

But she knew that half a year after the Apocalypse, the city would enter the period of Polar Night. With months of no sunlight, temperatures plummeting, energy shortages, and food prices skyrocketing, this amount of money wouldn't last long at all.

And the real chaos would begin after the arrival of the Polar Night!

In the second year, national grain reserves would hit rock bottom, the authorities would lose control over most regions, and riots, looting, and extreme survivalist organizations would appear one after another as order completely collapsed.

By that time, a house would just be a decoration; only what one could hold onto would truly be one's own.

Instead of spending a large sum of money to buy a house, it would be better to rent a place far from the crowds, hidden and safe, and use more money to hoard supplies!

Having made up her mind, Ye Nanxing dialed the number of a real estate agent.