Chapter 13: Flights of Fancy

Chapter 13: Wild Fantasies

Soon, the group chat fell silent. Many who had previously worn their hearts on their sleeves, moved by Gu Pan’s recent words, selfishly retracted their earlier opinions, feeling embarrassed.

Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng set down their phones and exchanged smiles. This life was different from the last—different from the very beginning.

Half an hour later, message 601 came through: “My name is Feng Zhekai. Thank you for your help. It’s inconvenient to visit you in person at this time, but we will remember this kindness.”

Lu Ruisheng replied, “No need to thank us, Dr. Feng. We did it for our own peace of mind.” After a few polite remarks, the conversation ended.

Lu Ruisheng reached out to stroke Gu Pan’s head. “You really know how to play to people’s hearts.”

Gu Pan looked at her husband. “Those three years of hardship in the past life made us understand human nature and hearts too well. But in the end, it was Zhuang Jie who betrayed us.”

“Unfortunately, only you have the memories. I lost all my experience. Still, as long as I know one thing, it’s that I only trust you.”

“This time, we believe in each other. And Zhuang Jie’s grudge—I must avenge it.”

“We’ll do it together. When order breaks down, that will be their death knell.” Although Lu Ruisheng wasn’t reborn, he’d often woken from nightmares hearing Gu Pan’s cries begging not to be killed. Each time, his hatred for Zhuang Jie grew deeper, and cruel images surfaced in his mind.

As they spoke of Zhuang Jie, his call came through.

Lu Ruisheng muttered about his bad luck and put the call on speaker for Gu Pan to hear.

Without waiting for Lu Ruisheng to speak, Zhuang Jie started, “Brother Lu, are you and sister-in-law alright?”

Lu Ruisheng replied, “Yes.”

Zhuang Jie anxiously said, “Brother Lu, the snow doesn’t seem to be stopping. Our second floor—if it keeps snowing like this, we won’t be able to live there.”

He knew from the past life that their home was buried by snow. But to stay at Lu Ruisheng’s place as before, he hadn’t moved out early, waiting for this chance.

Lu Ruisheng had heard Gu Pan mention this before—this was why Zhuang Jie’s family had sought shelter with them and how he discovered the secret of the pendant.

Now everything had changed. Control was in their hands. Lu Ruisheng said, “No worries. You’re locals. With so many relatives and friends, you’ll find somewhere to stay.”

They maintained contact only to facilitate their revenge later; there was no way they would follow Zhuang Jie’s plans.

As for emptying his warehouse, that couldn’t be revealed now—it would alert him and cause him to hide early, making revenge even harder.

Zhuang Jie was momentarily stunned by Lu Ruisheng’s words. In the past, just a mention was enough for them to invite him to stay. But that was when the snow had indeed buried their home. Maybe he had spoken too soon. Perhaps he shouldn’t have broken the timeline of their past life. But if not to gain the space and supplies earlier, what was the point of rebirth? He was confused.

Stammering, he said, “Brother Lu, have you and sister-in-law argued again? In times like this, you should make up quickly.”

That was the only explanation he could think of—that if they reconciled, his stay would go smoothly.

Lu Ruisheng laughed. “We’re fine. I have something to do. Bye.” He hung up.

Listening to the dial tone, Zhuang Jie’s heart began to race. What was going on? Was he overthinking? Or was there something he didn’t know?

Of course, he was still unaware that everything had changed this time: his supplies were gone, and his life was hanging by a thread.

He still preferred to believe Gu Pan was unfaithful, which explained Lu Ruisheng’s bad mood.

Gu Pan wrapped herself in a cashmere blanket. “In our last life, we took them in. You, skilled as you were, went out with Zhuang Jie to find food. Their entire family shared our resources—and in the end, they nearly cost us our lives. Truly worse than pigs and dogs.”

Lu Ruisheng pulled Gu Pan close. “No one can hurt us this time.” Then he added, “Bring out some gym equipment from the space. I need to make myself stronger.”

“We’ll do it together,” Gu Pan said.

Lu Ruisheng didn’t object. Time inside the space was limited; it was good for Gu Pan to gain more self-defense skills. “Alright.”

Gu Pan fetched the gym equipment and set it up. Lu Ruisheng began to guide her through the exercises.

Outside, the blizzard raged on. The wind howled fiercely. Though the room was well insulated, the oppressive weather was visible through the windows.

By evening, as Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng prepared dinner, the residents’ group chat burst alive again—this time from the first floor, as the snow had nearly covered those windows.

But Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng had little to say or do about it. This natural disaster wasn’t a short-lived event. It would slowly cull some people. No one could survive solely by relying on others; everyone had to find their own way.

After dinner, they watched live news broadcasts on TV. The anchors repeated the usual lines: this snowstorm would pass soon, everyone should hang in there, and hope would come—but no one could say when.

The government couldn’t be blamed—the disaster was global, unpredictable, and unstoppable. On their escape, they met people from other countries. When the glaciers melted during extreme heat, island nations simply vanished, leaving only those who escaped on nuclear submarines. These survivors still clung to their predatory habits, later aligning with the United States to fight over territories. Of course, Gu Pan did not live to see the end times and wasn’t aware of what happened afterward.

Thinking of all this, Gu Pan sighed deeply, hoping this time the world might return to normal.

On the fourth morning of the apocalypse, the blizzard continued. The first floor was completely buried in snow, yet they still stubbornly stayed at home, clinging to the hope that the snow would soon stop, the temperature would rise, and everything would return to how it was.

The various WeChat groups were more active than ever.

The university group shared news from across the country. The South, lacking experience with the cold, had lost many elderly and children. Everyone was heartbroken to hear this.

The North sent advice on how to fight the cold—like filling soda bottles with hot water to keep in bed or soaking feet before sleep.

The high school group discussed how much food was left at home and how many days they could survive, uncertain when the snow would stop, so they dared not eat much.

The neighborhood owners’ group kept silent about their supplies but tried to find out how much others had.

Lu Ruisheng’s client group was lively too, with boasting and complaints.

But the veterans’ group worried about how many brothers would be forced to stay busy without rest after this disaster. Such a massive snowfall would take days for the army to clear, and when it melted, flooding might follow.

Yet most people still believed this would pass quickly. No one thought it was the apocalypse. Those who mentioned it were branded alarmists.

Only Gu Pan knew that many remote areas had lost power and internet, with countless dead unaccounted for. The outside world simply assumed the network was down due to snow.

(End of Chapter)