11: Framed

Ai Yue specifically visited a shop selling water tanks. Because she wanted so many, they didn't have stock on hand, so she ordered 500 ten-ton water tanks and 500 nine-hundred-liter buckets from the owner, agreeing to pick them up in a day.

She then realized she had nowhere to store gasoline and diesel, so she didn't stop until she had bought some well-sealed iron drums.

By then, it was time to go to the school cafeteria to pick up the meals.

When the two arrived, the cafeteria manager told them to find something to put the food in. Ai Yue was dumbfounded; she had to provide her own containers?

Ai Yue couldn't help but rub her forehead in frustration. Looking at the line of buckets and basins of food, she felt troubled, but suddenly her eyes lit up.

Ai Yue and the cafeteria chef loaded the last bucket of food onto the truck. She waved goodbye to the cafeteria manager and happily drove away.

The cafeteria manager watched the small truck drive off helplessly, sighed, and turned to tell his staff to purchase a large number of buckets and basins identical to the cafeteria's standard for future use.

On the truck, Ai Yue thought about how she had told the manager she wanted to buy all the cafeteria's current buckets and basins and that all future meals should be provided in containers supplied by the cafeteria. His constipated expression had been absolutely hilarious.

Although the cafeteria manager was completely unwilling at first, his final bit of stubbornness crumbled before the power of money.

The father and daughter didn't have time for lunch, so they sat in the truck eating the cafeteria's sweet and sour pork ribs and spicy shredded potatoes mixed with rice, looking completely satisfied.

“Dad, isn't it delicious? Even though it's mass-produced cafeteria food, it doesn't take away from its flavor at all,” Ai Yue said, looking for praise.

“Mm, it's indeed not bad, but it's still not as good as your mother's cooking.”

“In your eyes, everything Mom makes is delicious. You'd probably say a pile of poop smells good if she made it.” Ai Yue made a face. Her parents had been showing off their affection in front of her since she was a child, without any regard for their daughter's feelings.

“You brat, am I wrong?” Ai Guosheng raised his hand, pretending to hit her.

Ai Yue giggled and begged for mercy.

She cherished every day she spent with her parents.

She hadn't felt the warmth of family for too long, and she hadn't opened her heart for just as long. Only in front of her parents could she lower all her defenses.

During the ten years of the Apocalypse after her parents died, she never felt familial love again. Even the hard-won friendships she found would turn into betrayal in an instant; there was no true sincerity to speak of.

Fortunately, in this life, her parents had been reborn with her. Otherwise, returning so suddenly to a time of peace, she might have broken down.

Passing a bakery, Ai Yue quickly told Ai Guosheng to stop. She wanted to stock up on pastries to improve their quality of life during the Apocalypse.

She packed all the freshly baked bread, cakes, puffs, dirty bread, cookies, egg yolk pastries, egg tarts, osmanthus cakes, mung bean cakes, and various other snacks onto the small truck she had just emptied.

There were also milk tea shops, fried chicken shops, and skewer shops on this street; she paid for and cleared them all out.

The staff in every snack shop Ai Yue visited watched her leave in stunned silence.

She swept through the snack street like a swarm of locusts.

Ai Yue felt both excited and pained by her spending. She was excited because clearing out every shop she set her eyes on gave her a sense of being a 'domineering CEO'—nothing was beyond her reach, and with a wave of her hand, it was all hers.

The pain came from her thinning wallet; that stingy emotion was rising up again.

Switching back and forth between excitement and heartache, Ai Yue felt physically and mentally exhausted by the end of it—mostly mentally. This trip had drained several million more from her account.

Fortunately, it was dark by now. Ai Yue put everything into her space. Looking at the dazzling array of supplies, her heart felt slightly better.

Early that morning, Ai Yue had moved everything from the apartment into her space. The villa's renovations were also finished, so they could officially move in today.

Back at the villa, Ai Yue brought out a large table of delicious food as a housewarming meal. Looking at the rock-solid 'fortress' and feeling the supplies in her space, Ai Yue felt completely relaxed. Even if they couldn't buy escape pods or armored vehicles, they could still survive in the Apocalypse.

After eating, Ai Yue went to her bedroom and opened her phone to see if there were any signs of the Apocalypse in the news.

To her surprise, many people in her university group chat were @ing her. She opened it in confusion and was so angry she laughed.

It turned out that the scumbag Han Xiao had taken photos of the injuries she gave him and posted them in the group.

He accused her of having mental problems and violent tendencies.

Not only that, he slandered her, saying she was gentle and considerate on the surface but was actually a loose woman who had slept with countless men behind his back.

He claimed he had accidentally caught her at a hotel with someone, cornering her in bed. He said Ai Yue had then flown into a rage out of shame and beat him up on the spot.

Logically, after four years of university, everyone should have known what kind of person Ai Yue was. But now, everyone believed Han Xiao's one-sided story and began to criticize and curse her.

After all, Han Xiao had been a 'school hunk' figure in university. His face fooled many people into thinking he was handsome and charming. Many girls had been infatuated with him back at school.

Consequently, as soon as he posted his accusations against Ai Yue in the group, everyone began to condemn her without distinguishing right from wrong.

【Ai Yue, I didn't expect you to be this kind of person. I was wondering how someone could be so gentle and considerate; turns out it was all an act. You're truly shameless!】

【Exactly! Back then, I thought you and Han Xiao were a perfect match. I didn't expect you to be this kind of person. I must have been blind!】

【I thought she was a gentle 'understanding flower,' but turns out she's a social butterfly, haha...】

【Stinking bitch, shameless! How could I be in the same class as you? Heavens, I feel tainted...】

【Poor Han Xiao, being with this kind of woman for two years. He must have been cheated on so many times...】

【Han Xiao, I told you years ago she wasn't a good person, but you didn't believe me. Now, look. Heh.】

【Back in school, she always acted like a pitiful little white flower, who knows how many people she deluded. Now that her true colors are out, I wonder how all those guys who liked her are feeling now... haha】

Ai Yue's fingers involuntarily tightened around her phone. Looking at the false statements, she felt confused. Everyone had been on good terms in university, yet now they blindly believed one person's side of the story and were so eager to trample her into the mud without even asking for clarification.

Han Xiao hadn't said anything else since posting the photos and the slanderous words.

Ai Yue stared at Han Xiao's photo, incensed: “Han Xiao, you're asking for death!”

She felt a bit of regret. When she caught him and his white moonlight in bed, she should have taken a photo. If she posted it in the group now, everyone would see who was truly shameless.

Ai Yue pondered for a moment. The Apocalypse was coming soon, and she considered ignoring it, but she still posted in the group: “I don't deny that I hit Han Xiao, but everything he said is a lie! He was the one caught red-handed in bed! He's the shameless, lowly one! The innocent need no excuses!!”

After saying that, she left the group. She didn't need university classmates who couldn't distinguish right from wrong anyway!

Han Xiao's bottomless behavior had truly enraged Ai Yue.

Ai Yue got dressed, deciding to go find Han Xiao and teach him a lesson on how to be a proper human being.