2: Parents visit

Feeling refreshed, I walked out of the hotel, threw all their clothes into the trash can, clapped my hands, and drove away.

Passing by a restaurant, Ai Yue instantly stopped in her tracks, captivated by the enticing aroma wafting out.

For ten years since the Apocalypse, Ai Yue had not eaten a decent meal. In that precarious environment, bugs and maggots were commonplace. People only sought to fill their stomachs, never daring to hope for taste.

Ai Yue's eyes lit up. She licked her lips, got out of the car, and walked into a small restaurant without hesitation. She ordered three large bowls of rice, a plate of braised fish, a plate of sweet and sour pork ribs, a plate of Guo Bao Rou, a plate of Kung Pao Chicken, and a plate of fish-flavored eggplant.

When she tried to order more, the owner stopped her, saying that a young woman like her couldn't possibly finish so many dishes and it would be too wasteful. Hearing about waste, Ai Yue reluctantly gave up, still wanting more.

All the dishes were served, and Ai Yue ate heartily without any regard for her image, even crying as she ate. The owner and other customers were stunned by her disheveled eating.

How many days had she not eaten? Look how hungry the child was, what a state she was in. The owner, fearing she might choke, quickly gave her a bottle of water and told her to eat slowly.

They had no idea that these were tears of happiness. Anyone who hadn't eaten such delicious food in ten years would be overcome with joyful tears!

Before ordering, Ai Yue thought she could eat an entire cow, but the reality was she only ate one-third of the entire table. She forgot that her current appetite wasn't what it was during the Apocalypse; she couldn't eat that much anymore.

While eating, Ai Yue was constantly subjected to the stares of other customers, but having returned from the Apocalypse, she didn't care at all.

It wasn't until this moment, with a table full of unfinished dishes and people staring, that she felt a little embarrassed.

Ai Yue felt a bit awkward and wanted to run away, but she couldn't bear to leave the dishes. She shamelessly asked the owner to pack up the leftovers and fled in a hurry with the meal boxes.

Ai Yue drove straight home from the restaurant. When she arrived at her doorstep, she saw the people she had longed for day and night, standing there with large and small bags.

"Dad, Mom? Is it really you?" The meal boxes in Ai Yue's hands fell to the ground. Before Ai Yue could run over to hug her parents, her mother rushed forward and embraced Ai Yue, sobbing uncontrollably.

Fortunately, her apartment building had one unit per floor, otherwise the neighbors would have been drawn out to watch the commotion.

Ai Yue's emotions, which were about to burst forth, were abruptly stopped by her mother's actions. Fearing something might have happened to her parents, she quickly held back her tears and comforted her mother.

At this moment, Ai Yue's father walked over and patted her mother: "My dear, please stop crying. You're scaring Yueyue."

Hearing Ai Guosheng's words, Li Shilan immediately released Ai Yue: "Oh, Yueyue, Mama was just too excited to see you."

"Mom, what's wrong? What happened?" Ai Yue asked anxiously.

"Good Yueyue, let's talk inside."

The three of them entered the house. Ai Yue tightly held her mother's hand, looking at her parents with a worried expression.

Li Shilan stammered, "Yueyue, what Mama is about to tell you is all true. You must believe us."

Ai Yue instantly had a strange premonition, feeling that what her parents were about to say was exactly what she was thinking.

Sure enough, what Ai Yue had been thinking came out of Li Shilan's mouth sentence by sentence: "Yueyue, your father and I are Reborn, and the Apocalypse will arrive in two months. Also, your boyfriend is not a good person, you must stay far away from him..."

Before Li Shilan could finish, Ai Yue was already in tears.

Ai Guosheng was greatly alarmed: "Yueyue, don't cry! Don't think your mother is crazy, everything she said is true. We really are Reborn Ones, you have to believe us."

"I believe you, I believe you, boohoo... Dad, Mom, I also came back from the Apocalypse."

"Ah?" Ai Yue's parents exclaimed in unison, surprised.

"Yueyue, you, you were also killed and came back from the Apocalypse?"

"Mm, mm." Ai Yue nodded heavily, choked with emotion.

"Oh, my Yueyue..." The family of three embraced, crying bitterly.

Ai Yue was happy in her heart.

In the Apocalypse, the three of them were driven out of their home by Han Xiao, caught by the villains waiting outside, and seeing Ai Yue's delicate beauty, they intended to humiliate her on the spot.

It was Ai Yue's parents who fought to the death to save Ai Yue from the men. To allow their daughter to escape successfully, her parents used their own flesh and blood to block those villains.

Ai Yue watched helplessly as her parents were beaten to death. She would never forget her mother's dying words, her mouth full of blood, shouting at Ai Yue, who was unwilling to escape alone: "Do you want us to die for nothing? Run! Live, you must live."

So, with their family being reborn, Ai Yue's guilt could be somewhat alleviated, allowing her to properly make amends to them in this life.

"Dad, Mom, don't worry, I won't do those stupid things from my previous life again. I just went and broke up with that beast, and I also gave Han Xiao and that woman a good beating," Ai Yue said, wiping away her parents' tears.

She didn't mention catching them in bed; there was no need to tell the elderly couple about such sordid matters.

"Hmph, just a beating? That's too easy for them!" Ai Guosheng said angrily, recalling the actions of that wretched pair in their previous life.

"Dad, don't worry, social order is still intact now. When the Apocalypse comes, that will be our time for revenge." Ai Yue's lips curved slightly, and with cold eyes, she made a throat-slitting gesture.

"That's more like it!" Ai Father saw that Ai Yue's expression didn't seem fake, and only then did he feel relieved. After all, she used to be so infatuated with Han Xiao that she lost herself, and would have been happy even if he sold her.

Li Shilan wiped away her tears, took out a jade pendant from her bag, and solemnly placed it in Ai Yue's palm: "Yueyue, this is the Ai family's heirloom passed down to the eldest daughter-in-law. In our generation, there was only your dad, so this jade pendant was passed to me."

"In your generation, you're the only descendant in our family, so it can only be passed to you. In the previous life, it was snatched by that woman Han Xiao brought. This life, you must keep it safe."

Ai Yue caressed the jade pendant carved with a phoenix, deep in thought. In her previous life, Han Xiao's white moonlight Liu Shuang had always worn this jade pendant, cherishing it greatly, not even allowing others to touch it. Could there be some secret to it?

As if remembering something, Ai Yue picked up a fruit knife from the table and deftly cut her finger, dripping blood onto the jade pendant. The elderly Ai Guosheng and his wife watched Ai Yue's actions with confusion, but said nothing.

A miraculous thing happened: the blood bead slowly seeped into the jade pendant, the phoenix's eyes flashed, and Ai Yue felt a sharp pain in her chest, instantly disappearing.

The elderly couple were startled and hastily stood up, calling out for Ai Yue.

Suddenly, Ai Yue reappeared.

"My heavens, Yueyue, what just happened? Why did you suddenly disappear?" Li Shilan asked, patting her chest with lingering fear.

Ai Yue, however, had a joyous expression. She reached out and pulled her parents, and with a thought, Ai Yue disappeared again. The elderly couple looked at each other, bewildered.

Then Ai Yue reappeared, and only then did she understand that the space, less than thirty square meters, could only be entered by herself; others could not enter.

Ai Yue felt a bit regretful. She had hoped that in times of danger, the family of three could stay inside to weather the crisis.

"Yueyue..." Ai Yue's father, Ai Guosheng, spoke hesitantly, his expression somewhat uncertain.

Ai Yue quickly told her parents about her disappearing secret, and also informed them that there was a super mini house, the size of a dog kennel, in the space.

Though small, it had all the essential amenities: a two-bedroom, one-living room layout with a kitchen and bathroom.

Her parents were instantly overjoyed: "Good, this is great! We have a place to store supplies, and we don't have to worry about them being stolen by others."

Ai Yue was also excited. She knew too well that having a portable space in the Apocalypse would greatly increase their chances of survival, and they could live with dignity.

Like a child, Ai Yue put items she could reach into the space and took them out again, playing with them gleefully.

Li Shilan, seeing her playing happily, casually slipped off a jade bracelet from her wrist and handed it to Ai Yue to play with. Unexpectedly, when the jade bracelet was thrown into the space, it was instantly swallowed by the space, and the space's area expanded by one square meter.

Ai Yue was startled, her eyes shining.

She quickly pulled a gold necklace from her neck and placed it in the space. To her surprise, the space expanded a little again.

Ai Yue was thrilled. The space could actually expand! As long as she gave it enough jade ornaments and gold, it could become very, very large, and she could hoard many, many supplies and weapons.

This way, when social chaos erupted, she could largely protect herself and her family.

Ai Yue, as if discovering a new continent, continuously experimented with the space's functions. Finally, she discovered that the space also had a permanent freshness-locking feature, and from her observations, the mini house also had the potential to upgrade and become larger.