Chapter 2
At 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, at the old bus stop of the No. 101 bus route in the suburbs, Su Jing stood by the bench with a black hiking backpack on her back, her fingertips unconsciously rubbing the hiking rope in the hidden pocket on the side of the bag.
She picked up the package at the courier collection point last night. The nylon material was as thick as a thumb. She specifically tested it at home with a mineral water bucket, wrapping the rope around the bucket three times and pulling hard, but the rope barely deformed.
"Xiao Jing! Over here!"
Chen Feng's voice came from afar. Su Jing looked up and saw the man wearing a brand-new windbreaker, carrying a slightly worn backpack, and holding two cups of hot soy milk. He walked quickly toward her.
As she approached, Su Jing noticed that his windbreaker was zipped up, revealing the cotton sweatshirt she had given him for his birthday last year. She sneered inwardly—this man is always like this, taking advantage of others' kindness but refusing to give them even a little sincerity in return.
"Have you been waiting long?" Chen Feng handed over one of the cups of soy milk, his tone deliberately gentle. "I specially went to the shop you usually drink from this morning to buy it. It's unsweetened with oats, right?"
Su Jing took the soy milk, her fingertips touching the cup's surface, but finding no warmth whatsoever. She simply nodded faintly: "I just arrived. Why are you wearing this hoodie? It's windy up here today; you'll easily catch a cold."
“I was thinking of wearing the one you gave me,” Chen Feng said, pulling at the collar of his hoodie and glancing at Su Jing’s backpack. “You’re only carrying this much? Is there enough water and snacks? I have a lot in my bag, I’ll share it with you later.”
“That’s enough,” Su Jing avoided his gaze and turned to walk towards the path leading to the wild mountains. “I just want to climb the mountain and relax. I don’t need to bring too much stuff.”
Chen Feng quickly followed, nagging beside her: "You said last week that you were tired from work, and I was worried that you didn't want to come out. Actually, I think you shouldn't work too hard. Girls don't need to earn so much. After we get married, I'll support you."
Su Jing paused, turning her head to look at him—Chen Feng had a hopeful smile on his face, but his gaze drifted to her wrist, where she wore a silver bracelet left by her mother. It was handmade by an old silversmith, and although it wasn't worth much, it was something Chen Feng had always wanted her to sell for money in her previous life.
She suppressed the hatred in her heart and forced a smile: "Marriage is still a long way off. Let's focus on living well in the present first."
"How can it be so early?" Chen Feng caught up with her and reached out to put his arm around her shoulder, but Su Jing dodged it without batting an eye. He wasn't embarrassed and continued, "My mom asked about you last week and said she wanted us to meet at the end of the year."
By the way, has anyone inquired about the price of that old house your parents left behind? I think we could sell it and use the money to make a down payment on a new house. Wouldn't it be great to live in a new house then?
Su Jing's heart tightened—sure enough, he still had his eye on that house. It was the same in her past life; before the apocalypse, Chen Feng kept telling her to sell the house, saying he wanted to buy a new one closer to the city center. She didn't agree, so he secretly contacted a real estate agent when she wasn't looking and almost sold the house at a low price.
"Let's talk about the house later," Su Jing quickened her pace, her voice turning colder. "It was left to me by my parents, and I don't want to sell it for now."
Chen Feng's expression stiffened for a moment, and he didn't continue talking about the house. Instead, he changed the subject: "By the way, you mentioned last time that your colleague has a novel about spatial abilities. It says that the space can store a lot of things. You said it would be great if such a thing really existed, so you wouldn't need to carry a bag when you go out."
Su Jing's heart skipped a beat—why did he suddenly bring up the space? Could it be that he discovered her testing the space yesterday? She forced herself to remain calm and smiled, "Novels are all made up. Where would such a magical thing come from? If it were really that powerful, who would still need to go to work?"
“Yeah, right,” Chen Feng scratched his head, but his eyes flickered. “I just thought it was funny, so I just said it casually. We’re almost at the mountaintop platform, shall we go over there and rest for a bit?”
Su Jing looked in the direction he pointed. A few dozen meters ahead was a flat stone platform surrounded by waist-high bushes. At the edge of the platform stood an old locust tree with dense foliage, which could block the view from below the mountain—this was the place she had chosen to take action.
“Okay,” she nodded and took the lead in walking towards the platform. The climbing rope in her backpack seemed to have gained weight, reminding her with every step that the moment of revenge was approaching.
Once on the platform, Chen Feng put down his backpack, took out some bread and sausages, and handed them to Su Jing: "Eat something to tide you over, then we'll climb to the top of the mountain later."
Su Jing took the bread but didn't open it. She simply sat on the rock, gazing at the scenery below. Chen Feng didn't think much of it, tearing open a sausage and eating it as he ate. "By the way," he said, "Xiao Jing," he continued, "I saw on the news yesterday that there have been heavy rains and earthquakes in many places recently. Do you think there might be some kind of natural disaster?"
Su Jing's heart skipped a beat—had he seen these news reports too? Did he also have a premonition? But she quickly dismissed the thought—Chen Feng only cared about his own interests; even if he knew about a natural disaster, he would only think about how to profit from others. She deliberately asked, "So what do you think we should do if there's a natural disaster?"
"What else can we do?" Chen Feng said nonchalantly, chewing on a sausage. "If there's a real natural disaster, the government will definitely take care of it. We just need to stock up on food and drink and find a safe place to hide. By the way, how much savings do you have? If something really happens, we should withdraw all the money and exchange it for supplies."
Su Jing tightened her grip on the bread, her fingertips turning white—sure enough, his biggest concern was still money. She looked up into Chen Feng's eyes and asked, word by word, "Chen Feng, do you think that no matter what happens, I'll give you everything I own?"
Chen Feng was taken aback, not understanding why she suddenly asked that question. He subconsciously wanted to nod, but then realized it was wrong and quickly laughed, "Xiao Jing, what are you saying? We're boyfriend and girlfriend. What's mine is yours, and what's yours is mine. Why are you being so particular?"
"Whether you can tell the difference or not is not up to you," Su Jing stood up and slowly walked behind Chen Feng, her hand secretly reaching for the climbing rope in the side pocket of his backpack. "In your past life, when you pushed me to the Corpse Wolf, why didn't you say we were boyfriend and girlfriend? When you stole my supplies, why didn't you say why we had to be so clear about it?"
Chen Feng turned around abruptly, his expression instantly changing: "Xiao Jing, what... what are you saying? What past life? Are you too tired from work and confused?"
“I’m not confused,” Su Jing’s voice was as cold as ice, and she had already pulled out the climbing rope in her hand. “I remember clearly that in the fifth year of the apocalypse, behind the abandoned shopping mall, you pushed me to the Bone Wolf in order to survive; I also remember that in the ‘Giant World’ dungeon, you stole my giant mushroom, pushed me to the giant mantis, and ran away!”
Chen Feng's expression shifted from surprise to panic. He abruptly stood up, trying to run, but Su Jing grabbed his arm. He struggled violently, shouting, "Su Jing! You're crazy! What kind of nonsense are you spouting! Let go of me!"
“I’m not crazy,” Su Jing said, gripping his arm tightly and wrapping the climbing rope around his neck with her other hand. “I’m just taking back the life you owe me!”
"Su Jing! Don't do anything rash! Murder is a crime that lands you in jail!" Chen Feng's voice began to tremble as he pulled at the climbing rope around his neck. "Let's talk this out. I'll give you whatever you want. I won't pressure you to sell the house, and I don't want the money anymore. Just let me go!"
“It’s too late to say all this now,” Su Jing gritted her teeth and pulled the climbing rope tighter with both hands. “I gave you a chance in my past life, but you didn’t cherish it!”
Chen Feng's struggles grew more violent; he kicked wildly at the rocks, knocking his backpack over and spilling the bread and water inside. Su Jing could feel his body trembling, his breathing becoming increasingly rapid, and his face turning from flushed to bluish-purple.
She didn't let go, her eyes fixed on his face. The excruciating pain of being torn apart by the bone-rotting wolf in her past life, the despair of having her supplies stolen, and the hatred before her death flashed through her mind, supporting her to use all her strength.
A few minutes later, Chen Feng's body went limp, his hands hanging at his sides, and he no longer had the strength to struggle. Su Jing let go, and the climbing rope slipped from his neck. She squatted down and checked his breath—he wasn't breathing.
She did not immediately dispose of the body, but first walked to the edge of the platform to make sure no one was down the mountain before returning to Chen Feng's body.
She put on the fingerprint-free gloves she had prepared beforehand, and carefully put the bread, water and Chen Feng's backpack that were scattered on the ground into her space. She then used a wet wipe to carefully wipe the footprints on the rocks and the marks on the climbing ropes.
After doing all this, she took a deep breath and focused her mind—"Put Chen Feng's body into my spatial storage."
The next second, Chen Feng's body vanished into thin air. Su Jing closed her eyes and used her mind to sense the space—Chen Feng's body lay quietly in the corner of the space, a distance away from the desk lamp and pen holder that had been put away earlier, his body still in the posture before he died, without any change.
She breathed a sigh of relief; the space had indeed preserved the body perfectly without leaving any trace.
She checked the platform again to make sure nothing was missing—the climbing rope was put back in her backpack, Chen Feng's belongings were stored in her spatial storage, there were no fingerprints on the rocks, and no footprints on the ground, as if no one had ever been there before.
After finishing all this, Su Jing slung her backpack over her shoulder and headed down the mountain along the path she had come from. She encountered several elderly people doing their morning exercise, but she kept her head down and walked quickly past them without speaking to anyone.
When she returned to the bus stop, the first bus had just arrived. She boarded, found a window seat, and sat down, watching the scenery rushing past outside. Her heart was completely calm—this was only the first step in her revenge; she still had a lot to do next.
When Su Jing got home, it was already past 10 a.m. She first cleaned the hiking backpack and the hiking rope inside, and hung them on the balcony to dry. Then she opened Chen Feng's backpack in the room. Inside, in addition to bread and water, there was his mobile phone, wallet and a set of keys.
She took out her phone and wallet; the phone was dead. The wallet contained several hundred yuan in cash and a bank card. She took out the cash and tossed the bank card and phone into a corner of the room—she didn't need these things for the time being, but she couldn't leave them out to avoid leaving a trace.
After finishing these tasks, she went to her desk, took out the contact information for the real estate agent she had found earlier, and dialed the number again.
"Hello, is this Agent Zhang?" Su Jing's voice was colder than before, carrying an undeniable determination. "I'm the owner of that apartment in XX neighborhood. I told you yesterday that the deal must be completed within a week, full payment, and the price must be 100,000 yuan lower than the market price. Are there any suitable buyers today?"
The real estate agent, Zhang, paused for a moment on the other end of the phone, probably not expecting her to be in such a hurry: "Ms. Su, please don't worry. I introduced you to a few buyers yesterday. One of them has already viewed the house and thinks the price is acceptable, but he wants to negotiate down another 20,000 yuan and wants to pay in two installments. I'm still communicating with him..."
“No,” Su Jing interrupted him, “The price can’t be lowered any further. It has to be full payment, all at once. If this buyer can’t do that, you can look for others. I only have 7 days. If it doesn’t sell within 7 days, I’ll find another agent.”
The agent, Zhang, was silent for a few seconds, probably thinking her demands were too harsh, but he still compromised: "Okay, Ms. Su, I'll talk to the buyer again and ask him to try to raise the full amount."
Also, I'd like to recommend two new buyers to you today. They both want to buy the house in full, but I'm not sure if they'll like the layout of your apartment.
"As soon as possible," Su Jing said. "Contact me immediately if you have any news, whether it's morning or evening, anytime."
After hanging up the phone, Su Jing turned on her computer, logged into her online banking, and began to check her savings. There was 32,000 yuan in the bank card left by her parents, and 26,000 yuan in her own salary card, totaling 58,000 yuan.
She transferred all the money in her salary card to her parents' bank card. Looking at the "Balance: 58000.00" displayed on the screen, she felt a heavy weight in her heart—this amount of money was far from enough in the apocalypse, and she had to sell the house as soon as possible to get more money to stock up on supplies.
She opened her online shopping app and started searching for compressed biscuits, bottled water, and vacuum-packed cooked food—these are the most needed supplies in the apocalypse. She needed to make a list as soon as possible so she could start purchasing them as soon as she got the money from selling the house.
Sunlight streamed through the window, falling on the desk and making the numbers on the bank card stand out clearly. Su Jing stared at the numbers with a determined look—58,000 yuan was a small sum, but if she acted quickly and sold the house as soon as possible, she could stockpile enough supplies.
In this life, she will never again be like she was in her previous life, constantly being controlled by others because of a lack of money and resources.
(Note: Because Su Jing was truly filled with hatred after being reborn, she revealed her past life to make Chen Feng understand why he killed her. This isn't a plot hole, my darlings.)
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