Poison Rain

The rain began at 7:03 p.m. on August 27.

At first, the air was filled with the smell of dust. It gradually turned cool as the rain grew heavier, going from a drizzle to a downpour before settling into a steady, moderate fall.

After the long drought, most people were happy to see rain. News outlets and short-video platforms rushed to report it, and many people even ran out into the rain to cheer.

Watching the drenched people grinning as they livestreamed on their phones, Jiang Nian could already picture them turning into zombies. He sighed softly, switched off his phone, and settled down to eat. The food from the five-star hotel really was amazing!

Cheng Jing said nothing either. According to Jiang Nian, the people who got caught in the rain would develop adverse symptoms in the latter half of the night and go to the hospital, only to die not long afterward. Over the next few days, hospitals would be packed with people and shrouded in the stench of death.

He needed to time things right to scavenge, especially for medicine. He could also stock up on a little more sugar and salt.

Jiang Nian had lived through the apocalypse once before, so he remained calm, eating and sleeping as usual. He silently reminded himself: Heaven cherishes all life, but everyone has their own fate. Take care of myself and don't drag others down.

Cheng Jing watched him but said nothing, continuing to believe his explanation about the nightmare being an omen.

After dinner, Jiang Nian began fully charging every rechargeable device in the house. Although Cheng Jing could use electricity, doing so consumed his physical and mental energy. Charging everything before the power went out would save whatever it could.

With nothing else to do, Cheng Jing also worked on familiarizing himself with his ability as quickly as possible.

After making a fuss during the day, Jiang Nian behaved himself that night, nestling obediently in Cheng Jing's arms.

"Let's get to sleep early, Brother Jing. You'll get used to it soon."

Cheng Jing looked down at him.

"You seem to be used to it already."

"..."

Jiang Nian rubbed against him and offered an excuse that was half true and half false.

"I'm easygoing, and you've awakened an ability too. I'm not worried one bit."

"All right. Go to sleep."

Cheng Jing didn't press him. He smiled and closed his eyes too.

People slept better on rainy days, so even though he was tense, Cheng Jing woke much later than usual.

When he got up, Jiang Nian was already in the living room, eating instant noodles and video chatting with Huang Qian.

They were discussing the news that people who had been caught in the rain the night before had died within hours of being admitted to the hospital.

When Jiang Nian saw him get up, he paused the conversation and made him a bowl too: braised beef flavor, with a hard-boiled egg.

Huang Qian couldn't resist teasing him over the video call.

"Well, Xiao Nianzi, aren't you the dutiful little spouse? He put a ring on you and now he's got you wrapped around his finger..."

Jiang Nian smiled openly.

"Only once in a while. Most of the time, Brother Jing is the one taking care of me."

He held up the ring on his left hand.

"Pretty, isn't it, Sister Qian? I love it~"

Huang Qian gritted her teeth in exasperation.

"Look at you! Where's that attitude you had when you kept him dangling and drove him half to death? Oh..."

Feeling guilty, Jiang Nian glanced toward the bathroom and lowered his voice.

"Sister Qian, don't make things up. I never kept Brother Jing dangling... That was a little misunderstanding."

Breaking up with him unilaterally was the biggest mistake he had made in both his lives!

Huang Qian pursed her lips.

"Yeah, yeah, a little misunderstanding. Enough to make him look like a bitter widower."

"I really didn't..."

Jiang Nian was about to offer a few more restrained excuses when he caught sight of Cheng Jing coming out and abruptly changed the subject.

"What's past is past. From now on, the two of us are definitely going to be happy together. You'll be green with envy!"

Then he turned and gave Cheng Jing a radiant smile.

"Right, Brother Jing~?"

"Mm."

Cheng Jing sat down beside him. Jiang Nian eagerly handed him his chopsticks, then opened a carton of soy milk for him.

Watching from the other end of the call, Huang Qian silently hung up.

Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, Cheng Jing looked at Jiang Nian, who had taken the initiative to clean up the trash, and asked with a smile:

"Are you afraid I'll bring up the past?"

He looked just like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.

Jiang Nian moved closer and linked arms with him.

"But I already apologized..."

He didn't care if he sounded manipulative, as long as it worked.

Of course he was afraid. Although they had sorted things out and reconciled that day, it had gone so smoothly that he was still worried. The old grievance was still there.

"Mm, I've forgiven you, so there's no need to be afraid."

Cheng Jing stroked his face as if soothing a pet. Jiang Nian had taken the initiative to come back to him, so what else could he do but forgive him? He wasn't the type to dredge up old grievances. What was past was past.

Group messages chimed one after another. Cheng Jing let go of him and checked his phone. The others in their small group had tagged him, thanking him for reminding everyone not to go out yesterday.

His parents and family had also sent him messages to say they were safe.

The rain outside was neither heavy nor light, but it fell with a weighty steadiness, looking as though it could go on for days.

Cheng Jing reminded them again to wear protective suits if they absolutely had to go out and to keep an eye on the news at all times.

Afterward, he began checking news from around the country himself. Soon, some of the latest reports popped up:

People who had been caught in the rain had contracted an unknown virus, and deaths had already occurred. More and more people who had been out in the rain were heading to hospitals, and a degree of panic had already begun to spread.

The chaos was about to begin.

Jiang Nian also saw the furious discussions in his school and friends' group chats. Because his mother had been ill, he had spent his university years either working part-time or preparing to go to work, so he wasn't particularly close to his classmates.

After all, if people invited you to activities several times and you never joined them, they wouldn't keep asking only to be rebuffed.

Besides, his sexual orientation was no secret. Some people had approached him hoping to date him or offered to help him, but he had turned them all down.

His first love had been so extraordinary that everyone he met afterward seemed dull by comparison. He wasn't someone who settled when it came to relationships.

As a result, no one he was particularly close to messaged him, and conversations with those he didn't know well ended after an exchange or two.

All day, Cheng Jing kept track of what was happening outside through the news.

Jiang Nian, on the other hand, calmly did whatever he felt like doing, apart from occasionally discussing a few things with him:

He alternated between playing with various offline game consoles and tinkering with some exercise equipment he had bought online, including dumbbells and a small treadmill.

He was far too calm, with none of the panic of someone whose nightmare had come true. It was as if he were used to it, as though he had already been through it.

Several times, Cheng Jing wanted to ask him about it, but each time he held back. Never mind. Jiang Nian would tell him when the time was right.

August 28, their first day staying home out of the rain, passed relatively peacefully.

Since they weren't going out, their ways and range of expending energy were limited. Young and vigorous, they focused their efforts on the bed, and the sounds of their passion didn't die down until late in the quiet night.

Then, in the latter half of the night, Jiang Nian developed a high fever.

Just as in his previous life, Jiang Nian wasn't afraid, but Cheng Jing was terrified, thinking he had overdone it.

Only when Jiang Nian hinted that an unexplained fever like this could be a sign of an ability awakening did Cheng Jing finally relax.

On August 29, more and more people died, and chaos began to break out in hospitals across the country.

The headquarters of Cheng Jing's company and its official contact group both sent notices to teams everywhere, telling them to prepare for possible chaos.

But Cheng Jing had no time to spare for that. He was taking care of Jiang Nian, whose high fever wouldn't break. If these hadn't been such extraordinary times, he would have taken him to the hospital long ago.

Jiang Nian was delirious with fever, his whole body drenched by waves of sweat, and he occasionally muttered nonsense.

Cheng Jing kept giving him fluids, changing his clothes, and using physical methods to bring down his temperature. He comforted him whenever he talked nonsense and didn't dare close his eyes at night. The normally calm man couldn't help letting his thoughts run wild:

What if the fever damages his mind and he forgets me when he wakes up?