Her past life memories were slowly returning to her.
Su Jin was very familiar with this airport. When the zombie apocalypse first broke out back then, she had run here in a hurry, desperate to get onto a plane back home. However, the airport was already packed with people, and everyone wanted to get back to their families. As news of more plane crashes reached them, the airport soon began to stop functioning.
By then, zombies were appearing in the airport itself, and many people were getting infected. Su Jin and a few others had been trapped in a lounge at the airport for more than a week before they were eventually rescued.
Su Jin dragged her luggage behind her, standing silently outside the lounge that had been her prison for a while. She only woke from her reverie when her phone rang.
The caller was Assistant Zhang from the company's local branch, informing her that he was already at the arrivals gate. Su Jin hung up and walked straight toward him, spotting him from a distance away. Since he had not noticed her, she walked behind him and patted him in greeting.
The bespectacled Assistant Zhang jumped in shock, but he soon recovered. "Are you Su Jin?"
"Yes, Assistant Zhang, I am. Nice to meet you."
"Come into the car, then, this way. I parked in the basement," Assistant Zhang said as he took the luggage from her. There was something he could not understand, though. Since they were attending an exhibition, he was not dressed for work, so how did the young woman recognize him at a glance? How very strange.
Su Jin saw that Assistant Zhang's head was still tilted in confusion as he walked ahead of her with her luggage in tow. Giggling secretly to herself, she said, "Don't be so surprised. I saw you in the pictures of the company's annual party, so I immediately recognized you."
Was that it? No wonder. Assistant Zhang said, "Seems like I must have a pretty appealing face, then. Haha."
"..."
Assistant Zhang was over the moon, and Su Jin had no idea what to say to that.
Along the way, Assistant Zhang never stopped chatting with Su Jin. Her impression of him from her past life was quite decent, so Su Jin kindly gave him a word of advice too.
"Your family's already hoarding supplies, you say?" Assistant Zhang asked.
"That's right, because some viruses are going around, and some posts online say that things might get messy in the next month. Apparently we should stay home and hoard as much food as we can," Su Jin said with a straight face.
"Do people really believe the stuff they see online? But you have a point, I'll make sure to fill up my fridge when I get back. Seriously, Lil Su, you have no idea what a waste that giant fridge I bought is. I'm just a single man, and my cooking always sucks. It takes me two hours to cook and ten minutes to eat, and that's not even accounting for the washing…"
Assistant Zhang began ranting again. A month from now, however, he would suddenly find that the huge fridge he was complaining about ended up becoming his life-saving treasure trove.
Su Jin warned Assistant Zhang as a way to repay him for his help in her past life. Back then, she was all alone in G Province, and Assistant Zhang was the only one who kept trying to call her when the zombie outbreak first happened. He had also been the one who led the rescue team to the airport to save her, all because she had sent him her location just minutes before her phone battery died. He had passed the word on to the rescue team and indirectly saved Su Jin as well as the people with her.
They soon arrived at their hotel, and Assistant Zhang left soon after he helped Su Jin check in. She closed her room down and fell face-first into the hotel bed.
It had been such a long time since she had enjoyed the luxuries of a soft bed and clean sheets. Was humanity truly heading for ruin? Su Jin wondered to herself, depressed.
Right, there was her special ability. Su Jin reached out her hand and tried to summon her vines. A small emerald sprout appeared in the middle of her palm. She was thankful that her wood-type special ability had returned with her, and it was at early Level 3, too. Although it was not as strong as it had been at the end of her previous life, when she was peak Level 6, she was still happy enough with this amount of power.
Wood-type ability users were some of the most pathetic in her past life. They could not be used to fight, and all they were good at was growing crops and other plants. Almost everyone who awakened to a wood-type ability would be relegated to the logistics department of their base, where they merely tended to the vegetable garden.
However, Su Jin had always disagreed with that common sentiment. Her wood-type ability was good at both offense and defense, and she was as adept at fighting zombies as any other ability user.
Since the heavens had given humanity one last fighting chance, it was only natural that there would be no useless abilities. Su Jin caressed the sprout on her palm and cheered herself up. As though encouraged by its master's thoughts, the sprout began to sway even more happily.
There was the ring of an incoming video call from her phone. Su Jin used the vines to 'grab' her phone from the table to her bed.
It was pretty convenient. Su Jin was pleased, and the sprout danced proudly again when it saw how satisfied its master was.
…
The call was coming from her father. Su Xiangzhe finally heaved a sigh of relief when he saw that his daughter was safe and sound.
The atmosphere at the other end of the call was warm and comfy. The family had gathered for dinner that day, with her maternal grandparents taking the main seats at the round table. Next to them were her maternal uncle and her mother, her uncle's wife and younger sister, and opposite to them were her younger cousins Lin Xiuyuan and Mao Qiqi.
"What did you cook up this time, Grandpa?" Su Jin said with a laugh.
"What else can he cook? It's the same-old, same-old. Now, the soup I made, that's the good stuff." The phone was snatched away by Su Jin's maternal grandmother, Li Xiuying, who proceeded to turn the camera so she could show off the soup she had brewed to Su Jin.
Su Jin looked at the colorful sweet soup on her screen and found herself at a loss for words. Grandma was great, but her fatal flaw was her lack of talent in cooking. To make things worse, Grandma was creative with her inventions, constantly putting together a collection of oddities and cooking them all at once. It did not matter whether anyone finished the soup in the end; she simply enjoyed the process.
However, Su Jin knew that Grandma's habit was a result of the entire family's love. Every time she brought out a new soup, the younger ones would always make a huge fuss out of it. Lin Xiuyuan was especially good at his elaborate yet meaningless flattery.
Su Jin was no exception, either. "Wow, Grandma, what's this? I've never seen it before. Wish I could try it!"
"Oh, this is my specialty invention, cordyceps goji berry seaweed chicken soup. It's really good for you!" Grandma's face was flushed with excitement.
"That's nice. Well then, enjoy your meal. Lin Xiuyuan, remember to drink enough for my portion too," Su Jin said with a snigger.
"Gah, Sis… F-Fine! I'll drink a whole bowl for you, but don't forget what you promised me!"
Lin Xiuyuan sounded like a soldier marching to his death. Su Jin could not help but burst out laughing.
After that, she greeted her parents and the rest of her family. It was only when she remembered that they still had to have dinner and, uh, finish that soup, that she reluctantly hung up.
Her family was so adorable. Of course she had to do everything in her power to protect them.
Finally, she noticed that she had a few missed WeChat calls from Lu Hao.
To tell the truth, Su Jin and Lu Hao's marriage was not one purely of love.
Lu Hao was her father's comrade's son. The two of them were of the same age, and they stayed in the city, so they naturally had an arranged meeting, followed by their engagement, and finally their wedding.
The whole process took about a year, and Lu Hao was constantly busy with work, so the two of them did not spend too much time together.
In her past life, she had spent the two years after that fighting on her own. She later found out that Lu Hao had immediately set off to G Province in search of her as soon as the apocalypse began, and had even posted rewards for any information of her in all the bases. Eventually, someone took Su Jin to his team, but he just happened to be out on a mission, so they just missed each other by a hair. After that, Chen Xiarong pretended to be his confidante and led her to her death…
At this point in time, Su Jin and Lu Hao had just gotten married. Compared to other newlywed couples in the height of their affections, she figured that she and Lu Hao were being relatively more rational.
Su Jin held her forehead. Geez, he had just somehow stumbled into becoming her husband, huh?
Su Jin called back, and the person on the other end picked up almost instantly. The lighting was dim, so she could only vaguely see his silhouette. If she remembered correctly, it should be Lu Hao himself.
"..."
When he did not say anything, Su Jin had to start the conversation herself. "I was on a video call with my family just now, so I missed your calls."
"Right."
"..."
Would it kill him to say something more? Su Jin resisted the urge to hang up.
"Um, have you eaten?" Lu Hao finally realized that he should say something.
"No. I just reached the hotel, and I'm planning to go eat after a bit."
"I see. I'm out on a mission, so I'm still outside." Su Jin finally knew why it was all dark on Lu Hao's side. When she heard that he was still out on a mission this late at night, she could not help but sigh at how difficult his job was.
"Be careful out there." Su Jin gave him a word of concern eventually.
"I will. Tell me if you need anything on your end. I know people in G Province who can help."
What help would she possibly need? Actually… There was something she could use some assistance with.
"Lu Hao, I don't need your connections, but I might… need you to help me with a small favor." When he heard what she was going to say next, would he think she was going insane?
"Sure, go on."
"..." Why did he sound like her boss giving her orders? All of a sudden, she was a lot more reluctant to ask.
Nevertheless, she was the one asking him for something. Su Jin forced herself to smile, but in Lu Hao's eyes, it looked like she was flirting with him.
"Lu Hao, do you have any money? Um, could you lend me some?"
His adorable little wife looked so cute when she was trying to butter him up like this. Lu Hao felt his throat tighten.
Did she want to borrow money from him? But his money was her money too.
"Of course. I'll transfer the money to you tomorrow," Lu Hao said without hesitation.
"!!!???" That was a little too direct, no? He did not even ask how much she wanted and skipped straight to the transferring part.
"Aren't you going to ask how much I want to borrow?" Su Jin asked despite herself.
"I'll give you all my savings. They're yours to begin with." Lu Hao was starting to feel like a bit of a failure. It was only natural for a husband to give his wife money, yet here he was forcing her to borrow it from him.
The way Lu Hao said he was handing her all his savings as though it was common sense made Su Jin's heart swell all of a sudden. See, that was her husband. Even his love was so straightforward and overwhelming! Still, he was just a captain in the police force, so he probably did not have that much in savings. She never knew how much he actually earned, but her instincts told her that a job in the civil service like that would not pay all that much.
Nevertheless, that did not affect her current good mood. She happily hung up, having bid him goodbye and even blowing a kiss to him across the screen.
"..."
Lu Hao looked at the blank screen, feeling somewhat dazed. His young wife had been all shy after their wedding, but now she was blowing him kisses? How could she be so cute? He wanted nothing more than to hug her tight right now.
Just then, Yin Chengtian, the occupant of the bunk bed above Lu Hao, lowered his head over the side and teased his roommate, "You sure get along well with your wife, eh, Cap'n?"
"Can't sleep, can you?" Lu Hao's voice cut through the darkness, eight degrees colder than before. "If you're having trouble sleeping, come down here and do a hundred push-ups."
"No, Captain, I was going to sleep, honest! I just accidentally overheard you!" Yin Chengtian wanted to slap himself right now. Why did he have to open his big mouth and tease his captain about his wife? The captain clearly worshipped the ground she walked on…
If he completed this mission properly, he might be able to take some time off and stay at home to spend some quality time with Su Jin. When Lu Hao remembered that Su Jin was going to be abroad for a month, he started feeling down again.
While Lu Hao was drawing circles in his own corner, Su Jin rested for a while in the hotel and then headed out to hunt for food.
She had eaten a meal on the plane, but since Su Jin realized that she had revived and traveled back in time, she could not help but feel a painful emptiness in her gut. She was hungry, hungry enough to eat a horse.
There was a food street not far from the hotel. It was crowded, but it still looked like heaven to Su Jin. A month from now, she might never see such peaceful, prosperous times again.
Su Jin bought two sets of stinky tofu and a deep-fried sausage from the tofu stall, eating the sausage as she walked around looking for the next thing to eat. The sausage was delicious, and even if it was not all that nutritious, its tempting aroma and the delightful deep-fried texture were enough to put tears of happiness in her eyes.
She frequented over a dozen other stalls, until she was holding more food than she could hold properly. There were a few sticks of roasted gluten, a box of milk pudding, a braised duck neck, and a carton of cakes. Finally, Su Jin walked into a beef noodle shop to rest for a moment. Of course, she could not skip out on ordering a bowl of beef noodles, a big portion with two extra slices of beef at that.
By the time she returned to the hotel entrance, Su Jin was feeling almost too full to walk. There was no helping it; after all, she had been starving for the past two years! During the apocalypse, it was impossible to find a full meal. Food production came to an abrupt halt, and there was a food shortage everywhere. A bowl of thin porridge was a luxury. Many people would sell anything for some food, be it their friends, family, or even their own bodies. The apocalypse revealed the true nature of humanity, exposing the dirty deals in every corner of the world. Sometimes, Su Jin even felt as though happiness itself was impossible to find in the apocalypse, and that she might be better off just ending it all. Even the man-eating zombies seemed to live better lives than the human survivors.
Once Su Jin returned to her room, she noticed a few unread messages on her phone.
One of them was a bank notification, telling her that she received a transfer of 4.2 million from one Lu Hao. Su Jin's hand shook as she counted the number of zeroes in that figure. She had to confirm that it was not 420 thousand but 4.2 million!
What the flipping heck?! Did police captains really earn that much? Her husband was freaking loaded!
Su Jin made a solemn oath to make the most of Lu Hao's money as she sent him a text.
'Received. Thanks, love you! xo'
In the darkness, Lu Hao read her message and smiled to himself. Why did it feel like Su Jin had become much cuter since she went outstation? Could she be missing him?
Lu Hao never considered for a moment that it was because he had just transferred her a fortune. All he knew was that he was feeling much more confident about the operation at dawn.
After his 'adorable sweetheart' Su Jin finally calmed down, she checked her other unread messages. One of them was a WeChat friend request from Assistant Zhang. As soon as she confirmed it, she received a message from the other side.
'Miss Su, I'll pick you up at eight in the morning tomorrow so you can go pick up your company pass, alright?'
'Got it. Thanks for informing me.' Su Jin quickly sent him a reply.
Assistant Zhang responded with an animated sticker of two characters walking side by side. Su Jin thought that it was truly a perfect representation of what Assistant Zhang was currently thinking.
The other messages were pictures from the family dinner, courtesy of Lin Xiuyuan. He even teased her for being away and missing out on such an elaborate, loving family dinner. Su Jin did not hold back, asking him if he had finished Grandma's soup on her behalf. As expected, Lin Xiuyuan ignored her message and continued to spam her with photos, trying to drown out her 'heartless interrogation'.
Just then, Su Jin saw a four-word reply from her other cousin, Mao Qiqi. 'He didn't drink it.'
Lin Xiuyuan: 'Oops, I forgot to memorize my vocab. Gtg study now, bb.'
Su Jin: '...'
Su Jin really wanted to tell him that he could forget about his vocabulary and the college entrance exam. All he had to do was stick to her from now on. Nevertheless, now was not the time to say that yet. Once she returned to H City, she was going to tell her family the truth, whether they believed her or not. That included Lu Hao, of course. This time, she was going to make sure she did not lose sight of that idiot despite his terrible sense of direction...
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