"Um... Captain Zhang, don't listen to my dad's nonsense, I..." Qiao Ruoxi blushed, looking flustered in front of Zhang Lin.

Although Chen Junyu had misunderstood her before, Qiao Ruoxi was certain that she had never considered being with Zhang Lin.

But now she has been forced into a very awkward situation by her father, Qiao Yu.

More importantly, Zhang Lin did not refuse.

She had no idea that Zhang Lin would get benefits from getting married. In Qiao Ruoxi's opinion, since Zhang Lin did not refuse, it meant that he was interested in her.

So she panicked.

“I didn’t expect you to have such a shy side.” Zhang Lin smiled slightly. “But there’s no need for that. We’re not children anymore. Let’s get to know each other first. If it’s a good match, we can be together. If it’s not, then we can leave. It’s that simple.”

Surprisingly, Zhang Lin actually felt like he was going on a blind date.

He had no parents and no one forced him to go on blind dates after he grew up. In addition, he had a girlfriend named Xia Xiaonuan, and they almost got married. He was so old, but he had never been on a blind date.

Zhang Lin found it quite interesting.

"Hmm~" Qiao Ruoxi was speechless. She was so nervous that her whole body was hot, and it seemed that sweat was seeping out of her forehead.

She was genuinely nervous.

In Qiao Ruoxi's mind, Zhang Lin was a much stronger and more assertive person than her father.

She felt a lot of pressure being with Zhang Lin, especially when she thought he was interested in her.

At this moment, the atmosphere was truly awkward, reminiscent of a blind date.

Qiao Ruoxi didn't know what to say, and Zhang Lin wasn't the type to fawn over someone; he didn't like doing things that were met with indifference. For a moment, the living room fell completely silent.

In the end, Qiao Ruoxi couldn't take it anymore and took her leave.

Zhang Lin naturally did not try to persuade him to stay.

My first experience with a blind date ended very awkwardly.

He finally understood why all his friends were so resistant to blind dates.

This is really not a job for a human being.

...

Qiao Ruoxi ran all the way to her father's temporary residence. She wanted to go find him, but when she got to the door, she thought that her father would definitely complain if she went back so early, so she simply wandered around Hope City instead.

She planned to take a walk around before going back, and if her father asked, she would say that she had a good chat with Zhang Lin.

After going around in circles, Qiao Ruoxi arrived at the bustling No. 88 Tavern.

With a few rare days of normal temperatures, people who weren't lacking in supplies were finally able to come out and relax, heading to small taverns to chat and joke around.

Since Qiao Ruoxi had no contribution points, she took out a Ratman's demon core and opened a VIP account at the tavern. For a long time to come, she could spend money freely at the tavern.

Sipping her wine, she listened to the conversations of those around her.

As a prominent figure in Hope City, Zhang Lin was naturally mentioned by many people. Whenever Qiao Ruoxi heard Zhang Lin's name, she would always sneak over to eavesdrop.

A few idle people were taking stock of the number of Zhang Lin's women.

Qiao Ruoxi was a little confused at first.

What the heck is the number of women?

It's just Xia Xiaonuan, isn't it?

But hearing others mention names and details, Qiao Ruoxi had no choice but to believe them.

She was dumbfounded.

Not counting Xia Xiaonuan, there are no fewer than ten women in his family!

"Scumbag!"

Half a day later, Qiao Ruoxi stormed out of the tavern in a huff. Once outside, she couldn't help but spit out her anger, "He already has so many women, and he still dares to make a move on me!"

By this time, it was already late, so Qiao Ruoxi took the opportunity to return to her father's residence.

Just like the father who was concerned about his daughter's blind dates before the apocalypse, Qiao Yu immediately asked as soon as he saw her return, "Xi Xi, how did your chat with Zhang Lin go?"

Qiao Ruoxi was unable to answer this question immediately.

She couldn't very well yell at Zhang Lin in front of her father, could she?

This isn't the pre-apocalyptic world anymore. She can secretly curse Zhang Lin as a scumbag, but she would never dare to curse him openly.

The main problem is that we live in simple wooden houses now, which are not soundproof at all. If the noise is even slightly loud, the neighbors can hear it.

"Uh...it's alright, more or less." That was all she could say in a perfunctory manner.

Qiao Yu didn't notice his daughter's perfunctory attitude. He thought she was just embarrassed to talk about it, so he nodded and said, "Well, then I'm relieved. This time, the situation is different from the past. The early appearance of supernatural beings is a huge crisis for us. I'm relieved that you and Zhang Lin are together."

Both he and Qiao Ruoxi had awakened their memories.

But awakening their memories doesn't mean they can thrive in the apocalypse.

That doesn't mean they can hold on until the very last moment of this cycle.

To this day, no one can say for sure how many times the world has cycled, but some people have summarized some rules.

The longer you live, the greater the chance of your memories being awakened.

Whether it's someone like Xia Xiaonuan who survives to the end through sheer ability, or someone like Ji Yuetong who survives to the end through sheer luck.

Moreover, the number of memories that are awakened is also related to the length of life; the longer one lives, the more memories are awakened.

However, most awakened memories are also fragmented.

If extraordinary beings hadn't appeared earlier than expected in this life, Qiao Yu was confident that he could survive with his daughter until the new era. Even if the world reincarnated again, he would be able to awaken some of his memories, seize the initiative, and create opportunities for the future.

But if one dies before the new era, or at the beginning of the new era...

It's highly likely that the memories won't be awakened after reincarnation.

Without the help of future memories, the reincarnated self would most likely not survive until the new era, and might die during the "Resident Evil" period.

Then they fall into a cycle: dying young, unable to awaken their memories, and without the help of future memories, they die even earlier in the next cycle.

For seasoned veterans like Qiao Yu, their struggle in the apocalypse is all about surviving to the end, accumulating experience for their next reincarnation, and waiting for someone to finally end the apocalypse.

He used to be confident that he could survive until the end with his daughter.

But now, he has lost confidence.

In this cycle, extraordinary beings appeared far too early.

This unprecedented event completely stunned Qiao Yu.

Therefore, he wanted to lead all his people to seek refuge in Hope City.

I hope to rely on a stronger city lord to allow myself to survive as long as possible.

Then he discovered Zhang Lin.

A person I've never heard of before, yet incredibly powerful.

So he placed his hopes on Zhang Lin.

The city lord is very mysterious and never gets close to women.

But Zhang Lin was a young man.

And her own daughter is a beautiful woman.

Therefore, Qiao Yu chose Zhang Lin for his daughter.

Qiao Ruoxi didn't understand her father's good intentions. Seeing that she had fooled him, she secretly smiled with relief and then said, "Dad, I'm going to rest now."

"Go."

A moment later, Qiao Ruoxi disappeared.

Qiao Yu sighed.

"It seems that Xixi still doesn't quite understand my thoughts and isn't very concerned about this matter."

"I have to help her speed things up!"