'Unfilial Son'

Cheng Jing had assumed Jiang Nian would behave himself and obediently rest and unwind, then wait until he returned from his business trip to settle both their old and new scores properly.

To his surprise, the next day at noon, while he was attending an online meeting at his residence, he received a message from the hotel:

Jiang Nian had checked out, but had left his luggage at the hotel for safekeeping, saying he would pick it up that evening.

That unfilial son!

Cheng Jing couldn't help gritting his teeth to himself. When the meeting ended, he called Jiang Nian, but the little bastard vaguely said he would contact him once he was settled, then hung up and played dead.

Cheng Jing couldn't swallow his anger or let it out. He slammed a fist on the desk in the study. They had agreed to wait until he got back from his business trip, damn it!

"What's wrong, Brother Cheng?"

The door opened, and Yang Kai stood outside. He wore a white shirt and black dress pants, and was tall, long-legged and handsome. A pair of nonprescription gold-rimmed glasses gave him a refined air. As a professional undercover agent, Yang Kai played his role as Cheng Jing's secretary and boyfriend very well.

"Nothing. Let's go. Once you've handed over the remaining work properly, you can go back tomorrow."

Cheng Jing composed himself, put away his phone and left the study.

He would hurry up and finish his work, then settle the score with that little bastard in the afternoon!

"Actually, I was thinking of putting off my return for a few days."

Yang Kai smiled, his eyes full of suggestive meaning.

Cheng Jing glanced at him and shut him down:

"You might not be busy, but I am. Your being here means my mission isn't complete, and that will hold up my business."

"All right."

Yang Kai shrugged helplessly. Forget it, there was plenty of time ahead. He would come back in a private capacity after returning to North City and making his report.

Cheng Jing suppressed his frustration and went down to the underground garage with Yang Kai. But as soon as they stepped out of the elevator, they saw Jiang Nian and a middle-aged man getting out of a taxi parked not far away.

The two were facing their direction, talking as they walked.

Just as Cheng Jing was wondering how to avoid them, Jiang Nian spotted them. His expression turned blank with surprise for a moment, but he quickly smiled and greeted him:

"Brother Jing, cough, cough, cough... Cheng Jing!"

He had changed the way he addressed him quickly, and his expression and tone were just right, but Cheng Jing was still very unhappy.

When Yang Kai heard the voice, he naturally slipped his arm through Cheng Jing's and quietly asked:

"Someone you know, Brother Cheng?"

"Yeah."

Cheng Jing nodded, forcibly resisting the urge to pull his arm away and doing his best to stay calm.

"What a coincidence. You live here too?"

The middle-aged man waited nearby while Jiang Nian strode over to them and naturally greeted Yang Kai:

"Hello, I'm Jiang Nian. Cheng Jing and I are from the same hometown."

Hearing that, Yang Kai held out his hand too:

"Hello, I'm Yang Kai, Cheng Jing's boyfriend."

"Wow, you kept that well hidden..."

Jiang Nian smiled and patted Cheng Jing on the shoulder. Cheng Jing suppressed his emotions and asked with feigned calm:

"What are you doing here?"

To think they could run into each other here too. Heaven was chasing the two of them at full tilt with a red string.

Jiang Nian pointed back at the waiting man:

"I'm planning to rent a place here. If I'd known you lived here too, I would have asked you."

Look at you. You wouldn't tell me when I asked, and now I've caught you out! This residential complex was where they had rented a place and lived together when they were dating, and that was one reason Jiang Nian had chosen to look for a place here.

Of course, the main reason was that this was an older complex. Most of the homeowners were original residents who had moved away after the new district opened, leaving their homes empty or renting them out. Most of those who remained were elderly people living alone.

The property management staff and security guards were all older residents here, working in a somewhat charitable capacity. They had little to do each day besides opening and closing the gates morning and night and doing some cleaning. When they had nothing else to do, they went to the nearby distance-learning square, so anyone looking for them had to call. There was hardly any service to speak of.

On top of that, rents in this area weren't cheap, so there were few tenants. It was so quiet that he could go half a day without seeing anyone. It was a retirement complex through and through, and any unusual activity would be less likely to attract notice.

Take the building where he had rented a place: it had 22 floors, two elevators and three apartments per floor, and not a single floor was fully occupied. The apartments on the tenth floor, which he had chosen, were all vacant and available for rent. The only neighbors on the floors above and below were elderly people living alone and a few migrant workers renting there. A streetlight and one of the elevator surveillance cameras were broken, and nobody bothered with them.

Still, Jiang Nian thought it was pretty good. The rent wasn't exactly cheap, and the landlord had agreed to let him modify the apartment himself.

With few people around, he wouldn't stand out, and it was close to a main road in the old district. As a shelter for the apocalypse, it was well suited.

Densely populated places were the areas hardest hit by zombies: the new district with its high occupancy rate, schools, hospitals, hotels, large factory dormitories and so on.

He just hadn't expected his successful ex to be here too. Maybe people in security work kept a low profile, or maybe it was for work?

Jiang Nian secretly wondered:

Cheng Jing isn't living with Yang Kai in the apartment we used to rent, is he? Could this be substitute-lover fiction coming to life?

But Yang Kai doesn't look like me in any way...

He played out a whole drama in his head, but Cheng Jing merely gave a cold "Oh" and said nothing more.

"All right, you two carry on. I'm going to look at the apartment. We'll talk later."

Jiang Nian was unhappy too and didn't want to keep up the act, so he used the apartment viewing as an excuse to say goodbye.

Only after watching him enter the elevator with the man did Cheng Jing look away and get into the car. Though he did his utmost to conceal it, Yang Kai noticed something was off, but didn't ask.

Renting the apartment went smoothly. It was a large three-bedroom place of nearly 150 square meters, and it was very clean-so clean it felt a little empty. Apart from the fully equipped kitchen and bathroom, there was only a bed in the master bedroom and the apartment's built-in cabinets. He would have to buy everything else himself.

Others might not have liked it, but it suited Jiang Nian perfectly. There was no clutter in the way, making it easy for him to modify the place and then stockpile supplies.

The apocalypse struck suddenly, compounded by severely cold weather. The chaos of the first few months was utterly uncontrollable, and many people would be infected or die. Everything depended on one's own efforts, basic assistance from the local authorities, and how the rescue plans were implemented.

Places where the local authorities reacted quickly fared a little better. Where the authorities didn't react quickly, they were among the first to die, leaving everyone else to fend for themselves.

Only after the chaotic adjustment period had passed and the extreme cold had ended did rescue teams from apocalyptic rescue bases in different regions follow distress signals to help survivors. After that, humanity entered a long period of displacement and struggling to survive.

After persistent pleading and playing up his plight as a struggling college student, Jiang Nian signed a contract with the landlord for one month's deposit and one month's rent upfront, with payments due monthly thereafter. But that didn't matter anymore. In half a month, money would be useless, and the landlord might be gone too.

The landlord left the keys and departed, and Jiang Nian immediately found a cleaner through the property management office. Once a professional had cleaned the place, it would be much easier for him to handle it himself.

At the same time, he arranged for window and door installers from quite far away to come over. From farther away, even if someone wanted to come after the apocalypse, they wouldn't be able to make it.

All the windows were to be reinforced, and an extra, super-thick modified stainless-steel door was to be installed in the corridor outside the apartment's entrance, strong enough to withstand earthquakes and break-ins.

Because he paid well and spoke sweetly, the workers promised to work overtime and finish within three days, even though his requests made him seem a little unhinged.

However, after paying the rent and a deposit of half the cost of the door and window work, most of Jiang Nian's bank balance was gone. Once he paid the remainder, he would have almost no money left to buy supplies.

The cleaning was done, the cleaning lady had left, and the workers who had measured the doors and windows were gone too. Looking at the completely empty "apocalyptic safe house" before him, Jiang Nian steeled himself and called Cheng Jing.

It was six in the evening, and the sun was still strong. He didn't know whether his ex had finished work, or whether they could discuss a loan.