17: If you dare to mess with me again, I won't hesitate to twist your heads off.

Si Nan laughed. She had specifically requested a small fireplace. In the later stages, there would be power and water outages. Summer would be manageable, but without electricity in winter, there would be no way to provide heating, and a generator wouldn't be able to solve the fireplace issue.

Smokeless coal was good, but it was expensive. Her parents' cars had already been sold anyway, so the garage was empty—perfect for stacking wood.

“Several truckloads? Child, are you making fun of this old man?” The old man simply didn't believe her; he stood up in shock before squatting back down.

Si Nan squatted opposite him and said, “Grandpa, I'm not lying to you. It's not for my personal use; it's for my company. Our company does wood-fired meals, and buying from others is way too expensive. I'm just asking if you can give me a discount.”

This time, the old man believed her completely. “Cheaper, cheaper! These trees are from this old man's own mountain land; there are no middlemen involved.”

“Child, I'm not lying to you. My wood burns very well. I still have three truckloads stacked at home. If your company can take it all, I'll give you a rock-bottom price. Hurry and call to ask.”

Seeing the old man was honest, Si Nan immediately made a show of calling someone. “The boss agreed. He's just asking what price you're giving, Grandpa?”

“That's easy to discuss. Since this is my own production, I sell it to others for 4.8 per catty. I'll go all out—if you take it all, I'll give it to you for a flat 3 per catty. What do you think?” The old man held up three dark, weathered fingers.

Si Nan was satisfied. “So 1,000 catties is only 3,000 yuan. Deal!”

“Then, child, lead the way. I'll haul it over for you and learn the route.” The old man happily tucked away his large Tobacco pipe.

“Alright, let's go.” Si Nan was even happier than him.

Over the next three days, the old man delivered a truckload of wood on time every day. A total of four truckloads, weighing 6,000 catties, cost less than 20,000 yuan—saving much more than buying Smokeless coal.

However, on the second day, Si Nan still went to other lumber mills to buy 10,000 catties of wood. She also gritted her teeth and bought 10 tons of Smokeless coal and 2,000 catties of Solid alcohol, fearing it wouldn't be enough later.

That night, Si Nan lay in bed checking her card balance. She was startled by what she saw. “After setting aside the 5 million yuan remaining for Luo Sen's villa renovation, there's only 1.2 million left?”

She regretted leaving Luo Sen's card along with the message. With only 1.2 million remaining, she had to plan carefully.

Meanwhile, Gao Ming, who hadn't been able to find Si Nan lately, felt like his soul was missing. Even work felt dull as he inquired everywhere about her whereabouts.

Li Na had used the excuse of taking care of Han Jiajia to avoid going to work.

The next day, hearing Li Na's exaggerated claim that Si Nan had actually bought a sofa set worth over 200,000 yuan and two expensive, comfortable lounge chairs, Gao Ming was furious:

“bitch! She must have served that old man very well to get so much pocket money that she can buy a sofa for over 200,000.”

“Why doesn't she just quit? She might as well just be a mistress in the shadows!”

Li Na's eyes immediately lit up. “Are you saying Si Nan became the mistress of some old man with one foot in the grave? Are you sure?”

“Hmph!” Gao Ming snorted coldly. “I'm more than sure; I even know which villa she's living in now. I was really blind back then, failing to see Si Nan was that kind of woman. Truly disgusting.”

Consequently, Si Nan became famous. The whole company knew that she had become an old man's mistress, and that her month-long leave was to go 'enjoy her fortune.'

By the next day, the story had changed again: Si Nan's month-long leave was to get an abortion. She had lost weight, and the old man had given her 300,000 yuan as compensation.

The company fired Si Nan directly and transferred her remaining salary to her card.

On the third day, Si Nan found out about this because Han Jiajia, who hated her, posted a status on her social feed. She bluntly called Si Nan shameless, saying she was so lowly and depraved that she was willing to be a secret mistress for an old man near death, even questioning online if a geezer with one foot in the grave could satisfy her.

Li Na was the first to like the post, followed by many other sycophants.

Si Nan checked her messages and saw she had been fired, receiving a few thousand yuan in salary. She was so angry she wanted to grab an M-style rifle to blow Han Jiajia away and then cut out her tongue.

She didn't care about being fired, but she couldn't tolerate the destruction of her reputation, which also affected her parents' honor.

Knowing that Gao Ming was definitely involved, she posted a photo she had accidentally taken that night of Gao Ming and Li Na's sweet interaction.

There was also a photo of Han Jiajia holding the arm of a man in his 70s, intentionally pressing her chest against the old man's arm while smiling charmingly as they browsed a supermarket.

The caption read: 'Mmm, smells great. A bitch for a bastard dog, a match made in hell.'

“Tsk tsk tsk, that old man is older than her grandfather, isn't he? Can he satisfy her?”

“I never thought Han Jiajia was this kind of person. She's depraved enough to be a sugar baby for some old geezer, yet she turns around and slanders our Si Nan. She's truly the ultimate bitch, unmatched under heaven. It's blinding my little eyes.”

“That makes sense. She's always had that look of being desperate to cling to any rich man regardless of age. I was wondering why her relationship with her 'Boyfriend' was so good that he uses her as a Strawberry test field every day—turns out she's just growing 'hickies' for some old man. Hahaha~”

“So disgusting. Yesterday Han Jiajia was even showing off a 30,000 yuan necklace to me. She even let me touch the pendant. Ugh, I have to wash my hands a hundred times later.”

“Why wash them? Just chop them off for being so meddlesome, hahaha—”

With a 'boom,' Si Nan's social feed exploded. She suddenly received over 100 likes from colleagues, and the comments below were as numerous as hair on an ox, all asking for details.

It showed just how terrifying office workers could be—unambitious and spiritually empty, yet obsessed with such gossip.

Li Na's image was instantly ruined as well. However, her situation was different from Han Jiajia's; after all, she had a father who was a CEO. Many people didn't dare to mock her openly, and only a few who had been bullied by Li Na dared to speak up.

Si Nan sat in her car watching the drama for a while, her lips curling in satisfaction. “Hmph, did you think I was still the same easy-to-bully Si Nan? This is just a small lesson. If you dare provoke me again, I won't mind twisting your heads off.”

There were only ten days left until the apocalypse. Although she could empty that massive underground warehouse, Si Nan still didn't dare slack off on hoarding. 1.2 million could still buy a lot of things.

The top priority today was seasonings. One must know that even with mountains of ingredients, it's all for nothing without seasonings. Especially oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. In the later stages, everyone would be hiding from zombies for a long time, trying every way to collect supplies just to survive. How could they possibly produce these things?

If people don't eat salt, they have no strength, and then they'll have even less power to fight zombies.

When she was listing her shopping list last night, she had already ordered a lot of Haidilao tomato hotpot bases online, as well as various pre-packaged seasonings for braised ribs, braised pork, Mapo tofu, and so on.

She would sweep up another batch today. Combined with what she'd get from emptying the warehouse, it would be enough for her to eat whatever she wanted.

Having made up her mind, Si Nan started the car. Just then, a person suddenly stood in front of the car.