Omen of a Nightmare

"..."

Jiang Nian instinctively wanted to say he was doing okay, but then an idea struck him, and he shook his head.

"Not good. I'm still having dreams, and they're getting more and more real and frightening. Sometimes when I wake up, I can barely tell reality from the dreams..."

He had already stocked the safe house with plenty of things, so there was no way to hide it once Cheng Jing came back. He had to prepare him as much as possible.

Cheng Jing frowned.

"Can you tell me exactly what nightmares you've been having?"

It seemed things really were serious.

"Of course. I've wanted to tell you for a while, but I was afraid you wouldn't listen..."

Jiang Nian immediately put down his crayfish, took off his gloves, and wiped his mouth. He sat up straight with a solemn expression and even adjusted the angle of his phone camera.

Cheng Jing nodded with concern.

"I've been neglectful. Go ahead, I'll listen to everything."

"Brother Jing."

Jiang Nian considered his words before speaking.

"Maybe what I'm about to say will sound a little ridiculous, even crazy, but I hope you can believe, at least a little, that I'm not sick. If what I say doesn't happen when the time comes, then I'll go see a doctor afterward, okay?"

Cheng Jing nodded seriously as well.

"Okay. Go ahead, I believe you."

Jiang Nian took a deep breath, organized the information, and told him a selection of what he had experienced in his previous life.

"Ever since my mom died, I've been having recurring nightmares about the end of the world. They're a lot like what you see in movies and TV shows: natural disasters, viruses, zombies... And these dreams follow on from one another, with fairly specific dates."

"I dreamed that this drought would end at the end of the month. After that, a terrible poisonous rain would fall. People caught in it would be infected with an unknown virus, die, and come back to life as zombies."

"Zombies act on their instinct to hunt for food and attack the living. Anyone wounded in an attack will also become infected and mutate. Then, under the crushing pressure of this catastrophic disaster, some people awaken supernatural abilities... Anyway, it's chaotic and terrifying. I'm scared... and I don't dare tell just anyone."

After he finished, Jiang Nian took a deep breath and watched Cheng Jing's reaction, afraid he might burst out laughing or say Jiang Nian was delusional. It certainly did sound that way.

But Cheng Jing did neither. He simply watched Jiang Nian with a serious expression. He had clearly taken it in, or perhaps he was acting out of trust and respect for the person he loved. Either way, that was enough.

After a long while, Cheng Jing asked:

"The drought will end at the end of the month?"

So it wasn't that some bad person or organization had targeted him; he really was having nightmares. But a nightmare with a specific date was too realistic, and rare as well.

Still, Cheng Jing had heard related reports. Before some major events, certain sensitive people really did experience omens.

Jiang Nian nodded.

"Yes. Around the twenty-seventh, there'll be a poisonous rain carrying a deadly virus. After the rain, zombies will appear, and the apocalypse will begin. That's about it. I think there are omens before any major disaster, so as the dreams became more and more real, I wanted to make some preparations."

Cheng Jing's expression shifted slightly.

"What kind of preparations? Buying things and stockpiling supplies?"

A safe house and stockpiled supplies-it really was just like those guides for dealing with an apocalyptic disaster. It was too ridiculous.

"Yes."

Jiang Nian answered. After thinking for a moment, he decided to come clean.

"I also converted the rental into a safe house and put everything I've bought these past few days inside. I didn't dare tell you the truth because I wanted to do it first and tell you afterward. By the time you got back, I'd have bought pretty much everything anyway. At worst, if nothing happens, we can donate it to impoverished mountain areas or somewhere like that. It won't go to waste."

"Smart."

Cheng Jing praised him. It was a very good solution; either way, Jiang Nian had made perfectly clear arrangements for his money.

Jiang Nian continued:

"If a major disaster really does happen, we won't have to worry about supplies while we wait for rescue... In my dream, I saw myself run out of supplies and get bitten to death by zombies in the end. You were okay, but you didn't make it in time to save me..."

Seeing Cheng Jing's expression turn grim, he added:

"Brother Jing, I'm not lying. It's also why I shamelessly insisted on coming to find you before... If the end of the world really does come, how much of a regret would it be if we hadn't made up?"

A tragedy like the one in his previous life wouldn't happen again, but remembering it still made him sad.

Cheng Jing rubbed his face with both hands, took a deep breath, and said:

"It won't happen. No matter what happens, we'll be together. There won't be any question of not making it in time. I promise!"

If the end of the world really came, he would stay by Jiang Nian's side and nowhere else.

"I believe you, Brother Jing."

Jiang Nian smiled, then asked:

"Then do you believe me, Brother Jing?"

Cheng Jing smiled.

"We'll soon be able to tell whether they're just nightmares or omens of a disaster. I believe you. If nothing happens when the time comes, we'll donate the supplies you bought, then take you to the best hospital for a checkup. But you mustn't say any of this to anyone else!"

Jiang Nian nodded vigorously.

"Of course. I know. You're the only one I trust, Brother Jing."

If only he really were sick, and everything he knew of his previous life had just been a nightmare.

After hanging up, Jiang Nian continued shopping online while eating his late-night snack. Cheng Jing had told him to buy whatever he wanted; there was more than enough money on the card.

Of course he wasn't going to hold back!

Now that he had Cheng Jing's support, he would buy more. By the time Cheng Jing returned, the weather forecast should be about ready to come out, and they could discuss what to do next.

On the night of August 24, Cheng Jing returned to Qingyun City. By the time he had gone to the company and dealt with some work, it was almost midnight.

Jiang Nian drove over to pick him up. Rather than disturb him in the office, he ordered a late-night snack and waited in the visitor area on the first floor of the building. He even invited the security guard on duty to eat with him.

The apocalypse would arrive before long, so he had to make the most of his time eating and drinking. He also needed to buy more packaged ready-to-eat foods like crayfish to stockpile, so he could satisfy his cravings once in a while.

Huang Qian had been forced to work overtime. As she came out of the elevator with Cheng Jing and saw Jiang Nian, she couldn't help teasing:

"Your hamster's turned the visitor area into a late-night food stall. If he's not buying, buying, buying, he's eating, eating, eating. He's really something."

For the past few days, she had watched Jiang Nian stock up and buy things during the day, then order takeout like crazy at night. She really thought he was a hamster spirit reincarnated.

Yet Cheng Jing indulged him, even when it came to stockpiling supplies. Not only did he not stop him, he joined in. Ah, sure enough, no matter how smart a man was, once love took over his brain, he was capable of all kinds of baffling behavior.

"A good appetite is a blessing. Besides, he's not worried about his figure."

Cheng Jing's voice was full of indulgence. Jiang Nian loved stockpiling and eating, and Cheng Jing thought he was just fine that way.

The two walked over, and the security guard left with a cup of milk tea and a few barbecue skewers he had taken.

Cheng Jing took the opportunity to introduce Jiang Nian and Huang Qian to each other.

"Hello, Sister Qian. Here, I ordered this for you."

Sweet-tongued and well behaved, Jiang Nian had specially ordered a low-sugar beauty flower tea when he learned that Cheng Jing was working overtime with his beautiful assistant. He smilingly handed it to Huang Qian, and her face immediately lit up.

"Thank you, that's thoughtful of you... Mm, it's good."

"Brother Jing, this one's yours."

Having taken care of the lady, Jiang Nian handed Cheng Jing a cup of herbal tea to reduce internal heat and said a few words of concern about how hard they had been working.

The beautiful office lady watched him between sips of flower tea and bites of barbecue, thinking to herself that this hamster was sweet-tongued, tactful, and polite, and surprisingly good at handling people. Cheng Jing, a closet romantic, had no one to blame but himself for being wrapped around his finger.