Chapter Summaries

After returning five years to the past, Li Yu began preparing for the coming apocalypse and decided to get home to his family. He boarded a train with a plan to use remembered lottery numbers to fund a secure base.

• Li Yu realized he had returned to a time before the apocalypse and resolved to make up for his past regrets.
• Li Yu cooked and ate a feast, then called his family and told them he would arrive the next morning.
• Li Yu quit his job, arranged to recover part of his rent, and began planning his preparations with his limited funds.
• Li Yu memorized that day's Double Color Ball winning numbers and settled in to sleep on the train.

After returning to his home before the apocalypse, Li Yu reunited with his mother and decided to build a future in his hometown by starting an eco-tourism farm. He checked his lottery ticket, collected his 10,000-yuan prize, and left without donating any of it.

• Li Yu bought lottery tickets, returned home in the rain, and hugged his mother when she came out of the kitchen.
• Li Yu resolved to build a future at home but kept his knowledge of the apocalypse secret from his family and neighbors.
• Li Yu visited his grandmother and told her he planned to start an eco-tourism farm in his hometown.
• Li Yu checked the lottery results and found that his numbers had won 10,000 yuan.
• Li Yu collected the prize in the provincial capital and refused to donate any of his winnings.

Li Yu told his parents he planned to build a rural tourism park and secure a base, then used his lottery winnings to fund the project. Construction began on the family’s land and nearby leased acres, leaving Li Yu planning a self-sufficient sanctuary designed to withstand an apocalypse.

• Li Yu revealed his plan to his parents and showed them his lottery ticket and prize-collection photos to prove he could afford it.
• Li Yu and his father obtained approval from the village Party secretary and leased additional land beside the family property.
• Li Yu gave his father professional design drawings and instructed him not to change the plans without consulting him.
• Li Hongyuan began organizing construction and warned that completing the project within three months might be difficult.
• Li Yu inspected the hillside pond and planned walls, solar-powered defenses, a lookout tower, crops, fish farming, fruit trees, and a garden for the base.

Li Yu prepared supplies and secured a rural entrepreneurship loan to build a secluded compound for surviving the coming apocalypse. After inspecting the construction site, he recruited his younger brother Li Hang to help and told Li Yuan to come home for National Day.

• Li Yu reviewed construction plans and drew up a list of food, tools, medicine, and other survival supplies.
• Li Yu applied for a rural entrepreneurship loan and showed bank staff the land and construction site; the funds were expected within two weeks.
• Li Yu checked the progress of the perimeter wall and asked Lai Dongsheng to keep an eye on the work.
• Li Yu called Li Hang and asked him to return home to help, and Li Hang agreed to buy a ticket.
• Li Yu told Li Yuan, who was still at university, to come home for National Day.

Li Yu rushed to finish stocking and improving his secluded base, buying supplies, vehicles, weapons, books, and entertainment for the coming apocalypse. He left the base secured and continued arranging deliveries, while his father objected to the money he was spending.

• Li Yu inspected the base’s completed water pipes and electrical wiring, bought extra sets, and organized storage areas for different supplies.
• Li Yu bought an SUV for Li Hang and brought vehicles into the base, then purchased arrows and protective armor with his younger brother’s help.
• Li Yu stocked cooking supplies and other goods, downloaded thousands of videos and movies, and bought music CDs and three truckloads of books.
• Li Yu arranged deliveries from other provinces and paid movers to bring supplies to the base.
• Li Yu upgraded one villa’s safety, structural strength, and recreational spaces, while Li Hongyuan scolded him for wasting money.
• Li Yu secured the base with a large padlock and kept the key with him.

Li Yu showed his parents the rural tourism base and discussed whether the family could help with the business, while keeping his real reason for building it secret. The base was nearly complete, and the National Day holiday arrived.

• Li Yu built a secluded mountain base with fields, fruit trees, livestock, a pond, and a finished single-story house.
• Li Hongyuan and Liu Fanghua toured the base and began to think it might attract many visitors.
• Li Yu considered involving his extended family but decided not to reveal that the apocalypse was approaching.
• Li Yu talked with his parents about the tourism business, and they worried about how long it would take to recover the investment.
• The National Day holiday arrived.

Li Yu urged his relatives to return home and stock up on supplies because he sensed a disaster was coming. As the weather changed violently, he learned that his eldest aunt and the others had turned into zombies and headed to the scene.

• Li Yu felt miserable when several relatives could not return home, but he enjoyed time with the family members who came to visit.
• Li Yu told his family he would stay and build things up at home, and he warned his distant younger maternal uncle and aunt to return and stock up on supplies.
• The weather shifted from extreme heat to a sudden, severe temperature drop, and Li Yu advised his relatives to avoid going outside.
• Li Yu invited his younger maternal uncle and aunt to stay with Grandpa and Grandma, and they agreed to have him pick them up the next day.
• Someone told Li Yu that his eldest aunt and the others had turned into zombies, and Li Yu set off for the scene.

After learning that zombies had appeared in the county, Li Yu rushed with Li Hang to bring his aunt and Xiao Lue to safety. They witnessed zombies attack people on the way, and the chapter ended with Li Yu handing Li Hang a knife before they set off.

• Li Yu received a warning from his eldest uncle about a strange virus and set out with Li Hang to collect their aunt and Xiao Lue.
• Li Yu took two machetes from the warehouse, then told Li Hang that infected people were acting like zombies.
• Near the county town, Li Yu and Li Hang saw two corpses rise and attack a crowd, biting an elderly man and charging at three officers.
• Li Yu tried to call his aunt, but the call cut off as the phone signal disappeared, so he hurried toward her home.
• Li Yu found his aunt and Xiao Lue waiting with their bags, loaded them into the cars, and gave Li Hang a knife before they left.

Li Yu took Li Hang out to confront zombies and tried to teach him how to fight. After Li Hang killed one zombie, they found a stronger one in the supermarket storage room, and Li Yu shoved him aside as it attacked.

• Li Yu drove Li Hang and Xiao Lue toward the outskirts and warned them not to leave the car.
• Li Hang got out to help, and Li Yu killed two approaching police zombies before striking Li Hang to snap him out of shock.
• Li Yu had Li Hang practice on a zombie, and Li Hang killed it with a slash that left his blade stuck in its skull.
• Li Yu and Li Hang found another police zombie in the supermarket storage room, where it charged at them.
• Li Yu flung Li Hang aside as the zombie attacked.

Li Yu returned to his base and found Lai Dongsheng there with his wife and daughters after zombies attacked their village. As more than a dozen zombies approached the gate, Li Yu used the car’s headlights to reveal them.

• Li Hang fell, and the two men killed a fast, strong zombie before retreating as more zombies approached.
• Li Yu drove back through streets where zombies still wandered and spotted Lai Dongsheng waiting at the base gate with his family.
• Lai Dongsheng explained that people in the village had gone mad and that a man was biting everyone he saw; he had come to check on Li Yu and had killed two zombies near the gate.
• Li Yu honked the car horn and aimed the headlights away from the gate, revealing more than a dozen zombies following behind.

Li Yu and his relatives faced a horde of zombies outside the vehicle and fought their way toward the gate. After the danger passed, Li Yu explained to the family that the dead had turned into zombies, while the arrival of distant relatives left everyone worried.

• Li Yu urged Uncle Lai's family to get into the vehicle, then joined Xiao Lue and Li Hang outside to face the zombies.
• Li Yu charged into the horde and cut down several zombies as Li Hongyuan and Li Hang watched in shock.
• Li Hongyuan, Li Hongda, and Fourth Uncle opened the gate while Li Yu and the others fought off the approaching zombies.
• Li Yu and his relatives finished off the remaining zombies, including one that crawled toward them.
• Li Yu's family came out to see the bodies, and he told Li Hongyuan that the people they recognized had turned into zombies.
• Li Yu's relatives and distant family members gathered, crying and worrying as the family took in what had happened.

Li Yu brought his extended family into the villa after they witnessed zombies outside and asked them to keep quiet about what was coming. As the family discussed their situation, the two elderly men took charge of decisions, while Li Yu wondered how his eldest uncle was doing.

• Li Yu reminded his relatives to keep quiet about the major events he had warned them would happen soon.
• Li Yu teased Li Suxin about washing off the blood and grime, easing the tense atmosphere.
• Li Yu used the watchtower floodlight to spot zombies outside and thought about checking on his eldest uncle.
• Li Yu's family gathered in the central villa, praised his foresight, and discussed their food and shelter.
• Li Yu's grandfather said he and Li Yu's maternal grandfather would make the decisions, and the family agreed.

Li Yu revealed the supplies and weapons he had prepared for his family, then organized their defenses and assigned watches. As darkness continued, his relatives settled into their roles while the coming disaster remained hidden from the public.

• Li Yu led his family to an underground passage containing dozens of tons of supplies and gave Liu Fanghua a key.
• Li Yu gave his father and Li Hang guns, explained how to use them, and assigned his father responsibility for a stock of bows, crossbows, swords, and knives.
• Li Yu gathered the family and assigned relatives shifts in the lookout tower, surveillance room, and other defensive duties.
• Li Yu's aunt reassured him and urged him not to put too much pressure on himself.
• Li Yu's relatives thanked him as the darkness continued, while the public remained unaware of the impending disaster.

Li Yu took Li Hang and his second uncle to check on the village after the late-season rice harvest. At the base, a group of armed neighbors confronted them, and Li Yu prepared to respond to the threat.

• Li Yu and his family harvested the late-season rice and spread it on the concrete road to dry before the torrential rain.
• Li Yu drove Li Hang and his second uncle around the village, where they saw few people and several wandering zombies.
• Li Yu sensed danger when his aunt's husband opened the base door and spotted armed men hiding in the woods.
• A balding middle-aged man and the village Party secretary's son emerged with the others and demanded that Li Yu cooperate.
• Li Yu refused their demands and faced the group as they threatened him.

After Li Yu killed the blond punk, he strengthened the compound’s defenses and organized its residents for the long rainstorm. As the rain continued into its fifth day, the group stayed supplied and occupied indoors, while Li Yu thought about his childhood friendship with Lai Xiyue.

• Li Yu killed the blond punk with an arrow, and Li Hang retrieved the arrow and took valuables from the body.
• Li Yu closed the gate, set up watch shifts, and told everyone to harvest and preserve the vegetables.
• The torrential rain continued for five days, cutting off internet access while the family stayed safe indoors with their supplies and electricity.
• Li Yu resumed lessons for the children, including a class on understanding zombies, and the group held meetings to share updates.
• Li Yu remembered his childhood closeness with Lai Xiyue and how she had once given him silkworms to show his classmates.

After the rain eased, Li Yu led a group to Old House Village to search for Xiao Lue’s father, who had gone there on a police call. They found the village submerged and fled when their cries drew zombies, then continued toward the county seat.

• As the rain let up, Li Yu decided to search for his uncle and look for firearms at the county police station.
• Li Yu set out with Li Hang, Fourth Uncle, Uncle Lai, and Xiao Lue in two vehicles, after warning his family not to open the base gate.
• At flooded Old House Village, Xiao Lue called for his father, and Li Yu warned him to stop when zombies began responding.
• Zombies swarmed the village entrance and chased the vehicles, but Li Yu’s group escaped.
• Li Yu and Uncle Lai cleared debris and dealt with zombies along the muddy highway until the group reached the county seat.

Li Hongyuan and his second uncle, Li Hongqian, waited at the entrance as the village Party secretary and a group of battered survivors arrived, including a little girl whose family had been wiped out. Li Hongda resisted pressure to help them, leaving the survivors’ fate uncertain.

• Li Hongyuan and Li Hongqian worried about someone carrying too much pressure while they waited at the entrance.
• The village Party secretary led bedraggled villagers out of the woods and said they had nowhere left to go.
• The village Party secretary explained that the little girl was the sole survivor of Da Zhuang’s family, and Li Hongyuan felt pity for her.
• The village Party secretary reminded Li Hongyuan that he had approved the paperwork for the base, but Li Hongyuan stayed silent and remained wary.
• Li Hongda tugged hard at a woman as his expression soured.

Li Yu and the others raided the police station armory and loaded its guns and ammunition into their vehicles. A huge zombie horde surrounded them as they fled, and they escaped through a path they carved through the crowd, leaving the zombies alive behind them.

• Li Yu and the others reached the deserted county seat and fought off zombies near the police station.
• Li Yu led the group into the station and found the armory behind a massive silver door.
• The group searched the police zombies, found the key, and collected rifles, machine guns, handguns, and ammunition.
• They loaded the weapons into their vehicles, but a large horde surrounded the police station.
• Li Yu and the others drove toward the rear exit and cut through the zombies blocking their escape.
• They broke out of the horde and exchanged a knowing look, having left the zombies alive behind them.

Li Yu rescued Xiao Lue’s father and his companions from a zombie attack, then fled with them as a horde closed in. On the road, he learned about the losses at the government offices and met Liu Huamei, while Liu Jianwen tried to hint at a match between them.

• Li Yu and Uncle Lai attacked the zombies surrounding the building where Xiao Lue’s father and two others were trapped.
• After the group killed the zombies and reunited, Li Yu had them bring the riot-control vehicle and escape from a horde of more than a thousand zombies.
• In the car, Xiao Lue’s father told Li Yu that they had found Xiao Lue, but he had been bitten, and that the government offices had been overrun.
• Liu Jianwen introduced his longtime partner Liu Huamei and hinted that she would make a good match for Li Yu.
• Li Yu said a relationship would slow down his draw, leaving Liu Huamei looking at him with shining eyes.

Li Yu and his family encountered villagers pleading to be let inside, while the village Party secretary and others faced them in a standoff. The chapter ended with the stranded girl accusing Li Yu of refusing to help, despite his having saved three people.

• Li Yu focused on protecting his family amid a world overrun by zombies and flooded cities.
• Li Hongyuan struggled with his conscience as the village Party secretary and villagers waited below the gatehouse.
• A girl stood at the front of the crowd and pleaded for the group to let them in.
• A police riot-control vehicle arrived, followed by Li Yu and the others, drawing everyone’s attention.
• The girl told Li Yu what had happened and begged him to save them, but he did not answer.
• The girl looked at Li Yu with disappointment, unaware that he had already saved three people.