Edge of the Apocalypse

Chapter 141: Chapter 133: Zhao Youcai’s Past...

"If we can’t persuade them, then we won’t. We’ll just take them tomorrow."

Yu Dong swung by the Shangri-La Hotel. Using the excuse of looking for someone, he got their three room numbers from the front desk and then left.

Besides these three, there was one other important person. Yu Dong had to confirm if he could make it back in time.

"Hey, Zhou? Are you planning to die in that lab? We’ve got a mission tonight!"

"I’ve already hired a car and I’m on my way back. You won’t believe what I’ve discovered. You really did come back from the future! Experiment 9 is the key!"

"Good. Now that you’re back, I have something to ask you... By the way, Mei didn’t come with you, did she?"

"I already believe you’re a Reincarnator. So when you said she’d turn into a zombie, I left her behind. I’d rather not watch and feel awful about it. I’ve already said my goodbyes."

"Okay."

Yu Dong still couldn’t figure out the background of that suspected spy who had been following him. ’Perhaps the key lies in whatever experiment Zhou was working on...’

Yu Dong returned to Huangyang Port and found Xufeng, Huang Zhiqiang, and Zhao Youcai setting up their ’detention warehouse’.

"How are the preparations coming along?"

"No problem. It’ll be fine for temporarily holding some people. It’s just that if the apocalypse doesn’t actually happen, we’re going to be some serious outlaws."

Xufeng gave a wry smile at the thought.

Huang Zhiqiang was still reeling from Yu Dong’s 1-vs-12 fight. He now pretty much believed Yu Dong was a Reincarnator.

"Dongzi, you’ve got me involved in something this huge, but you still haven’t delivered on your promise."

"Huh? What promise?"

"A gentle, young married woman..."

"Don’t be hasty. It’s coming. She’ll be here tomorrow."

"But Youcai is eating so well... I want someone that good too! Can you swap mine out for another one? Pretty please? Younger is fine too. I’m not that picky about mature women, as long as she doesn’t have kids."

"Let’s talk about it after tomorrow... After we get all this done, we can discuss it at length."

"Okay, but remember, you owe me a non-pregnant young woman or a beautiful girl!"

"Damn, Huang. You’re really down bad," Zhao Youcai said with a laugh.

"Easy for you to say! Youcai, you’re the one who deserves to die!"

Huang Zhiqiang had been perfectly content being in the same miserable boat as Zhao Youcai, but then suddenly, Zhao Youcai... struck gold.

He’d been set up with a pregnant woman... Huang Zhiqiang felt the disparity was just too great.

Especially since he now truly believed in the coming apocalypse, he naturally wanted to get some inside information about the future from Yu Dong and get a piece of the pie.

"Alright, let’s get back to work. As for the future... we’ll talk about it in the future. Let’s focus on the task at hand."

’I don’t even know how many more people will be joining the team, or whether they’ll be friend or foe... This is hardly the time for romance.’

’The apocalypse is just the beginning. The chaos that follows... that’s the real challenge.’

"Right, I just wanted to remind you not to forget about your brother... Dongzi, you know me. I’ll definitely do everything I can to support you," Huang Zhiqiang said, patting his chest.

"By the way, Huang, have your mom and dad arrived?"

"They’re already on their way. I lied and told them I was sick, so they’re coming to see me right away, hehe~"

In his past life, Huang Zhiqiang’s father hadn’t turned into a zombie either. He had hidden out in their old village home. After communications went down, they lost contact. Huang had always been worried about his father.

This life, Yu Dong had Huang bring his father over directly so he could also join their settlement.

As for Huang’s mother... Yu Dong didn’t know if she had turned in the last life or not. When the zombie outbreak happened, she had gone to play mahjong, and Huang was never able to get through to her. Anything was possible.

Since she was Huang’s mother, Yu Dong would at least try to save her.

"Huang, you have two choices right now. One is to have your mother stay here in the detention warehouse and wait to see if she turns into a zombie. The other is to have her go with Xufeng and the others to the lab to try and isolate her from the virus. But if they fail... the lab will be extremely dangerous. It’s your choice."

Huang hesitated for a moment, then looked at Xufeng and said, "Let my mom go with Xufeng. I’ll trust in modern science!"

"Okay."

After settling things with Huang Zhiqiang’s family, Yu Dong turned to Zhao Youcai.

"Youcai, I never actually told you the details... In the last life, your father didn’t turn into a zombie, but your mother and younger brother did. What do you think? Should we bring your father over, or... should we let things play out like they did last time?"

Zhao Youcai stopped what he was doing, his whole body falling silent.

Huang Zhiqiang said, "Youcai, how big of a grudge can you hold against your family? What could have happened to make it this bad? My dad and I fight too, but after a while, we get over it... What’s there for a father and son to not get over?"

"You can’t judge a man until you’ve walked a mile in his shoes... Youcai, think about whether you can let it go, whether it’s worth ending things with death. Because you actually have the power to save your dad. That’s something even I can’t do."

Xufeng didn’t know if his own father would die, but he had already arranged for his father, mother, and sister to take shelter in a safe place tomorrow.

There was a high probability that his whole family would survive together.

Xufeng was also very confident in his own survival. The more he learned about the plan Yu Dong had prepared for him, the more he believed.

The three of them turned their gazes to Zhao Youcai, waiting for his decision.

To this day, none of his roommates knew what Zhao Youcai had actually been through to make him want his own father, mother, and brother dead.

’It’s probably a story of a biological father, a wicked stepmother, and a younger son seizing the family assets,’ Yu Dong guessed.

"Heh... How big of a grudge? Does the fact that their family killed my grandmother count?"

The three of them: "!!!"

Zhao Youcai: "Do you guys know what a ’left-behind child’ is? That was me... As far back as I can remember, I lived with my grandma. Those two worked in the city and only came back once a year for the New Year."

Huang Zhiqiang slapped his forehead. "Sigh... It can’t be helped. To make a living, it’s like that in a lot of places. Everyone’s just struggling to get by."

"Not easy? The two of them were working in the city, eating, drinking, and having fun after work. They didn’t even have to raise a kid—how free is that! They’d occasionally send a little money to Grandma. Then for New Year’s, they’d bring home a few bags of cheap junk, buy me a couple of outfits, and that’s what they called ’giving me a good life.’ They’d hang around eating and drinking for a few days, post on their social media on the fifth day of the New Year about ’the pressures of life,’ and then go right back to their carefree city lives. I barely even knew them... All I knew was that my grandma was old, and she had to farm the land and raise me all by herself. And I was a mischievous kid, always making my grandma cry out of frustration."

"Gradually, they realized I wasn’t close to them, that we had no bond. Grandma’s care was rough. My skin was coarse and sallow, I was skinny as a rail, and I was always filthy—not at all the kind of child they’d imagined... So, after thinking it over, they had another one. They were better off by then, so they chose to keep the second child with them. They just sent my grandma a bit of money each month, fulfilling only the barest child support obligation to me."

"Occasionally, during holidays, they’d pretend to invite me over. In reality, it was easier for them if I didn’t go. It even gave them an excuse to tell outsiders that the ’eldest son didn’t want to come to the city,’ that I was ’naturally cold-hearted,’ ’treated them poorly,’ and ’bullied my younger brother.’ Meanwhile, the younger brother was raised by their side, pampered and coddled until his skin was soft and smooth, and he was so obedient."

"My grandma was old. She was in the countryside, farming and raising a child all by herself. One day, she couldn’t take it anymore. She fell down and never got back up. She was literally worked to death. I dragged the only person who ever loved me to her death!!!"

"They had no choice then but to bring me to the city. By that time, I was already in high school, so they just found a boarding school for me. Gradually... I became more and more withdrawn and unsociable. The two days a month I went home, I had to endure their passive-aggressive comments about how I wasn’t as smart or obedient as my younger brother. If I got upset, they’d say I’d ’gone wild’ living in the countryside... They even raised my brother to look down on me, to see me as an outsider."

"Two selfish people like that, who would rather let my grandma work herself to death raising a child alone than take care of me—do they really deserve to be her children? Do they deserve to be parents? Don’t they deserve to die? Huh?"

"If you can’t afford to raise a kid, then don’t have one! FUCK!!!"

When Zhao Youcai finished, his eyes were red. It was the first time he had told anyone what he had been holding in his heart for so many years.

He didn’t know why, but lately, he felt... like he was alive again.

Yu Dong had not only given him the chance to become a major player in the future, but also a girl who could be his salvation.

Xia Yao... She never thought he was strange. Instead, she thought he was amazing, a strong person.

Zhao Youcai felt that he could finally say it all, that he could finally face the sorrows of his past.

He had strength now.

After listening, his three roommates took a deep breath. Not one of them could say a single word telling Zhao Youcai to be magnanimous.

Yu Dong patted Zhao Youcai’s shoulder. "Youcai, this time, I’ve got your back."

’Some people don’t deserve to be parents.’

The other two also placed their hands on Zhao Youcai’s shoulders. In that moment, the four of them felt a little closer.

Zhao Youcai looked up, took a deep breath, and wiped the corners of his eyes.

"Alright, enough with the drama. Let’s get to work. We still have a lot to do today."

"Right!"

At noon, Ding Ming arrived at Huangyang Port with a large cargo truck. After the products cleared customs at A Port, they were stored in a designated location by the staff. Yu Dong noted the location and didn’t bother with it further.

The crossbows and arrows were in place!

Yu Dong and Ding Ming shared a hug.

"My good brother, thanks. You were a huge help this time!"

"Brother Dong, I’ve made up my mind... From now on, I’m following you. As long as it makes me rich, I’ll do anything! Even go abroad."

This time, Ding Ming had gotten a taste of what it felt like to have money, and it felt damn good.

After going home, there was his parents’ relief, his younger brother’s admiration, his neighbors’ compliments, and the respect he got from the factory.

These were all wonderful feelings he had never experienced before.

’All I need is money, and I can be like this every time I go home!’

He wasn’t stupid. He could see that Yu Dong was planning something big... He wanted to be Yu Dong’s right-hand man during this initial phase. He was confident Yu Dong wouldn’t treat him poorly.

Yu Dong gripped Ding Ming’s hand tightly. "Good. If we succeed... we’re going to build a great enterprise. I guarantee it!"

"Yeah!"

Ding Ming had never felt so much purpose and hope in his life.

That afternoon, Zhou, who was crucial to the entire team, finally returned to Yanhai City with a truck full of chemicals.

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