One moment, Shi Man was dying in agony, disemboweled and unwilling, the next, she opened her dizzy eyes, her head throbbing, as someone shook her body.
A boy's croaking voice, a result of puberty, was screeching close to her ear, harsh and noisy, causing her eardrums and nerves to twitch with pain.
"Why are you playing dead! Get up now!"
"Leech! Good-for-nothing! If you dare to steal my family's house, I'll beat you to death!"
Shi Man immediately slapped the source of the noise hard and then delivered a forceful kick to the person's stomach.
"Ah!!" A chubby boy was kicked backward by Shi Man, clutching his stomach and screaming, "Mom! Dad! Shi Man hit me!"
Shi Man finally saw the chubby boy rolling on the ground in a tantrum. Her heart suddenly tightened, and it felt as if all the blood in her body was flowing backward.
This chubby boy was Shi Tianjie, her younger cousin.
But Shi Tianjie couldn't possibly be this fat; in the apocalypse, food and clothing were scarce, and he had long since become as thin as a bamboo pole. Shi Man still remembered the look in his eyes when he slit his own wrist and gnawed at his own flesh like a mad dog.
Yes, she was already dead.
She died in the fifth year of the apocalypse, disemboweled and eaten by Shi Tianjie and her so-called good relatives!
Shi Man was frozen in place, realizing something, her body trembling uncontrollably.
She instinctively searched herself, found her phone, and saw the date: June 10, 2035.
She had been reborn! Reborn three days before the apocalypse!
She clearly remembered that on this day, she was called to her eldest uncle's house because the house her grandmother left her was going to be demolished. Her eldest uncle's family didn't want to pay a single cent and forced her to transfer the house. She merely said it was her grandmother's house, and Shi Tianjie knocked her unconscious with a vase.
Seeing her son kicked by Shi Man, Zhang Chunxia shrieked and rushed over, ready to slap Shi Man, "You bastard who doesn't even know who your father is, do you have a death wish, daring to hit my son!"
After five years of struggling in the apocalypse, even if Shi Man's combat skills were not as good as before her death, her survival instincts had become second nature. She easily dodged Zhang Chunxia's slap.
Zhang Chunxia was already fat, and when her hand missed, her body leaned forward, causing her to fall directly onto her own chubby son.
"What the hell are you doing, trying to rebel?!" Shi Dashan, who was smoking, threw his cigarette butt and picked up a nearby stool, ready to throw it.
Shi Dashan was Shi Man's eldest uncle. Shi Man had been beaten by him many times before college. Before her death, it was Shi Dashan who cut open her stomach!
"If you dare to lay a hand on me, you can forget about the house Grandma left me!" Shi Man shouted sharply, her eyes red with murderous intent, looking like a wolf cub ready to devour someone.
Shi Man wished she could kill them on the spot, but reason told her that it wasn't the apocalypse yet, murder was illegal, and she had been reborn with great difficulty, so she couldn't act impulsively!
Shi Dashan was used to beating and scolding Shi Man, and it was the first time he had seen her resist. For a moment, he was stunned by her fierce demeanor. He still held the chair, spitting on the ground:
"What did you say? Do you dare to say it again, you little brat."
Shi Man suppressed her hatred, controlling her tone, and said, "Didn't you call me here today for the house Grandma left me? Five Million, and I'll transfer the house to you."
Zhang Chunxia scrambled up from the ground, and upon hearing this, she was about to rush over again, "You still want Five Million? You're dreaming! You bastard with a mother who abandoned you, if it weren't for us, you would have starved to death long ago. That old hag died, and the house should have been left to her son, not to you, her granddaughter!"
Shi Man sneered inwardly.
In her previous life, Zhang Chunxia had daily cursed her as a bastard, saying that if it weren't for their kindness in feeding her, she should have died at birth.
But what was the truth?
Shi Man took her mother's surname. Her mother had her out of wedlock, then ran off after giving birth to her, later marrying a wealthy businessman from Taiwan and becoming a stepmother to his children.
Shi Man was raised by her grandmother.
But her grandmother passed away when she was in high school, leaving a self-built house under her name. In her previous life, Shi Man also felt she didn't deserve that house.
However, before her death, Shi Man learned that when her maternal grandfather passed away years ago, during the family division, that self-built house was given to her mother, while the other three families divided money. In those years, the country was developing rapidly, and self-built houses were looked down upon; everyone aspired to high-rise buildings.
Until the appearance of demolition households later on.
And until just before the apocalypse, her mother had also been sending money home, and a considerable amount too.
Not to mention, half the money for the new large flat that Shi Dashan and his family bought came from her mother.
During her three years of high school, she was the one who did the laundry and cooked every day. Shi Dashan would hit people when he was drunk; he used to hit Zhang Chunxia, but after she arrived, he started hitting her.
Shi Tianjie followed suit, and Shi Man was often beaten by this father-son duo during high school, while Zhang Chunxia would sit by, cracking melon seeds, watching the show, and cheering them on.
Later, when Shi Man took her college entrance exams, even though her scores were enough for a 211 university, when she filled out her application, Shi Dashan's family watched over her, almost coercing her into choosing a mediocre two-year college in the city.
In Shi Dashan's words, what was the use of a high diploma for a girl? She was going to get married anyway, as long as she could have children.
Old grudges and new hatred churned in her mind. The more angry Shi Man became, the calmer she grew.
The former her had been so brainwashed by PUA that she didn't even have the courage to resist and break ties!
She had already died once; if she was still a coward, what was the point of being reborn?!
"When Grandpa passed away and the family divided assets, that self-built house was originally for my mother. Don't think I don't know that my mother has been sending money home all these years."
Shi Man said coldly, "You know very well how you paid the down payment for this house."
"The house Grandma left me has been designated for demolition, and the compensation will be at least Ten Million. I only want Five Million from you, which is already a good deal for you!"
"I'll give you one day to raise the money. If you're unwilling, I'll sell it to my second uncle and third uncle!"
There were only three days left until the natural disaster, and Shi Man didn't have that much time to waste talking to this family.
She ignored Zhang Chunxia's torrent of vulgar curses, stormed out the door, and hurried towards the old house.
As soon as Shi Man exited the building, she felt as if she had walked into a steam oven, the humid heat making her chest feel heavy.
It was one o'clock in the afternoon, and a hazy dark cloud blocked the sun, as if it was about to rain.
A gust of wind, like a scorching slap, swept across her face. It didn't relieve any of the heat but made her feel even more irritable.
Shi Man's heart pounded wildly, and she became more clearly aware that she had indeed been reborn.
She clearly remembered that for three days before the apocalypse, the entire C City felt like a steam oven, with intermittent showers. At that time, no one paid much attention to this abnormal weather.
Until the apocalypse came, and the torrential rain began.
Many people thought it was just an ordinary heavy rain, but this downpour lasted for a whole month. The super heavy rainfall caused flash floods in various places, and urban water levels rose, flooding up to the height of four stories.
And the flood was just the beginning, followed by tornadoes, extreme cold, extreme heat, earthquakes, sandstorms, intermittent acid rain, mutated animals and plants…
Natural disasters descended, and order collapsed.
The gloom of the apocalypse weighed on her heart, making Shi Man dare not waste a single moment!
Now, time was life!
The old house was only one street away from Shi Dashan's community, the asphalt road in between like a long river, clearly dividing the urban village from the modern city.
That's right, the old house Shi Man's grandmother left was in the urban village, surrounded by tall buildings, with a large supermarket nearby, and a villa area on the other side of the urban village.
Shi Man ran across the road back to the urban village. The surrounding buildings seemed to be stuck in the 90s, with self-built houses of varying heights and a narrow, crowded road.
Many people still lived in the urban village; the first floors were mostly grocery stores or restaurants, but many had closed due to the demolition.
Those who remained were either still negotiating their demolition compensation or were tenants who stayed because of cheap rent.
The urban village had only two intersecting long streets, and Shi Man's old house was right at the corner.
Don't let the fact that Shi Man's old house had five stories and a fenced small courtyard fool you; its outer walls were cracked, and large sections of cement had peeled off, revealing the red bricks and rebar underneath, making it a proper dangerous building.
Real estate agents would just shake their heads when they saw this building. For this very reason, the old building had not been rented out.
As Shi Man struggled with the rusty iron gate of the small courtyard, a middle-aged woman ran out from the mahjong parlor next door and immediately grabbed Shi Man's arm:
"I knew it was Shi Man when I heard your voice. My nephew is coming over this afternoon, and this time you finally have time to see him, right!"
"My nephew is the only male heir in our family, you know. If you don't seize this chance, you'll miss out!"
The rusty lock on the iron gate was already hard to open, and Shi Man's temper flared up from being pulled.
She remembered Zhou Dama, the old neighbor next door, who ran a mahjong parlor. Shi Dashan and his wife always loved to play cards there.
In her previous life, Zhou Dama had looked down on her, but after the old house was designated for demolition, Zhou Dama's attitude towards her changed, becoming overly eager to introduce her idle, thirty-something nephew, who still lived off his parents, to her.
"No time! I wouldn't see him even if I had time!" Shi Man pulled her hand free forcefully, and with a strong twist of the hand opening the lock, *click*, the lock opened. "Such a precious only heir, why don't you hide him well and offer him incense three times a day."
After snapping back, Shi Man immediately entered the courtyard and slammed the door shut.
Zhou Dama's face turned ugly, and she began banging on the door, cursing, "No father, no mother, and you dare to be so arrogant!"
"It's an honor for me to introduce my nephew to you! What do you think you are!"
Shi Man sneered.
While taking out the key to open the old house's main door, she made a phone call.
"Hello, is this the police station? I want to report illegal gambling. Yes, the address is…"
Shi Man knew exactly how much money was gambled in Zhou Dama's mahjong parlor; it would be easy to confirm.
She didn't have time to deal with this trouble, but she didn't mind causing some trouble for them!
Shi Man had a clear goal: take the land use certificate to the housing expropriation department to get the demolition compensation, and then quickly stock up on supplies.
But most importantly, Shi Man needed to confirm two things:
This old house her grandmother left her was very strange. Even with frequent natural disasters in the apocalypse—typhoons, floods, blizzards, earthquakes…—the old house remained standing!
Later, Shi Man was disemboweled in the old house, and it was just before her death that she heard Shi Dashan and the others muttering:
They said that food and water would inexplicably appear in the old house, and the doors and windows, though old, were strangely sturdy.
But the food and water weren't abundant, not enough to share, only barely enough for survival. However, not long before her death, the food and water in the old house suddenly stopped appearing.
And then, Shi Man was eaten.
The old house held a secret, a secret that might help Shi Man survive after the apocalypse arrived. And besides that, the second thing was…
Shi Man nervously opened the door of the old house, and upon entering, a white blur suddenly darted out.
The familiar and long-missed meow filled her ears, and Shi Man's eyes welled up with tears.
"Milk!"