Edge of the Apocalypse

Chapter 48: Chapter 44: Let’s Get Reacquainted

’Life isn’t a performance for an audience... how is this a livestream?!’

Zhou Jian Country was floored.

He and his doctoral student, Mei, had found some time to get away to Yanhai City, where no one knew them, for a trip. But before they could even check in, someone had started recording them.

Talk about going from bad to worse. This was the absolute rock bottom.

But Zhou didn’t panic. He forced a bit of bravado, puffed out his chest, and said:

"Delete that video right now, or I’ll..."

Yu Dong rolled up his sleeves, revealing large, lean muscles. Zhou’s bravado faltered.

"...Or I’ll have my lawyer speak with you."

"Teacher Zhou, this is your school’s forum. One click, and the video is uploaded..."

"It hasn’t come to that, brother! It really hasn’t. What do you want? Just tell me. Don’t do this..."

This time, Zhou really panicked.

The woman in the yoga pants beside him looked at Yu Dong with a face full of confusion, which quickly turned to anger.

"Are you trying to ruin Teacher Zhou?! Who are you? Do we know you?"

Yu Dong had no interest in getting tangled up with a zombie.

"Teacher Zhou, can we talk alone?"

Zhou wiped the sweat from his forehead and said to the woman in yoga pants:

"Mei, take the luggage and go on up... I’m going to talk with this young man. I don’t think he’s a bad guy."

"But he..."

"Do as I say."

The woman in yoga pants went upstairs by herself.

On the 14th floor, watching the two men head to the Luckin Coffee at the complex entrance, the woman in yoga pants frowned and made a call.

"The plan has changed... We have an intruder."

...

At a quiet table in Luckin Coffee, two small stools were pulled up to a small round table.

Yu Dong and Zhou each had a Rice Scented Latte.

Yu Dong watched Zhou with a faint smile, making Zhou’s hair stand on end. He felt as if this person could see right through him.

"Zhou, you’re a straightforward guy... just like you said you were."

"Huh? What did I say? Do we know each other?"

"That’s not important. What’s important is... I need your help, Zhou. I truly had no other choice but to resort to this."

This cautious love affair, which Zhou had mentioned to him in a casual chat in his past life, had instead become Yu Dong’s trump card in this life for quickly getting Zhou’s help.

The more Zhou Jian Country listened, the more confused he became. He felt like this young college student before him, who kept calling him "Zhou," seemed to really know him, and know him well at that.

"What kind of help do you want from me? Just tell me. If I can help, I certainly will. There’s no need for this... What I’m doing is wrong, but love is like that. It’s irrational. I missed my chance once when I was young for the sake of my research... I don’t want to miss it a second time."

Zhou had actually mentioned this to him a few times before. He’d said that when he was young, a crucial project needed him, so he chose the project instead of leaving with his girlfriend. In the end, the results of his project were stolen, and he lost his girlfriend too. It was a regret that haunted him all the way to the apocalypse.

But Yu Dong didn’t dwell on these old stories. Who doesn’t make a few mistakes when they’re young?

’He was still young and had already died twice. Who was he supposed to complain to?’

"Zhou, first, I need you to lend me some money. I have a time-sensitive project and urgently need cash for operating expenses."

"What kind of project are you working on? How much do you need? Tell me."

"You’ll find out about my project in seven days. As for the money... the more, the better. Lend me however much you can spare. No matter the amount... I’ll pay it all back in seven days. I can write you an IOU, or we can do a bank transfer with a note in the memo."

’Paid back in just seven days?’

Now Zhou really couldn’t figure out the man in front of him. He felt like the guy knew something... but not everything. At the very least, he didn’t seem to know much about the project he was currently researching.

After some negotiation, Yu Dong got 250,000 from Zhou.

This amount was already at Zhou’s psychological limit. Any more and he would have just thrown in the towel.

"Now, you can delete the video, right?"

"One week. In one week, I’ll pay you back and delete the video. Until then... please enjoy this final vacation with your Mei."

"To be honest, I’m very curious about what you’re planning to do."

"I’ll give you an answer next week." Yu Dong said, turning his head as he walked out of the coffee shop. "By the way, let’s reintroduce ourselves. My name is Yu Dong. You can call me Dongzi."

"Dongzi..."

Zhou Jian Country scratched his head. He still couldn’t remember anyone by that name.

On the morning of the second day after his rebirth, Yu Dong had rented an apartment and successfully secured 250,000 in startup capital from Zhou Jian Country.

Counting the 100,000 left over from their previous food purchases, and after subtracting the 11,000 for prepaid rent, he had about 340,000 in disposable cash.

’Fundraising Plan #1: Success!’

’Zhou, your money will become the cornerstone for our team’s survival in the apocalypse.’

’This time, I’ll procure the things you need in advance...’

「Three days before his death in his past life.」

Zhou had set up a simple workbench on the fifth floor and was messing around with a bunch of different powders.

At the time, Yu Dong was curious about what he was up to, and Zhou had said:

"This is a homemade detonator I made from a steel pipe. Seal one end, pack it with explosives, insert a fuse, then seal the other end with some clay... and you have a small detonator. A close-range explosion is enough to blow those three guys to bits."

"How did you get explosives? We don’t have the materials for that here..."

"I noticed the old man on the first floor grows a lot of flowers, and growing flowers requires fertilizer. Sure enough... I found a lot of fertilizer in his storage room. It contains potassium nitrate. Once extracted and separated, it’s the perfect oxidizer. Mix it with charcoal, and grind up some white sugar and aluminum powder to substitute for sulfur, and you can make a simple explosive."

Last time, Zhou used the few materials available in Building 1 to make three homemade detonators, which ultimately helped him take out Lin Xiaojun and his two cronies.

This time, Yu Dong wouldn’t let Zhou be so constrained by a lack of resources.

Besides getting money from Zhou, Yu Dong had another channel for funds.

’She can afford Häagen-Dazs, plays with high-end drones, has a guzheng at home, and loves to bake... If that’s not a rich girl, I don’t know what is.’

’Since she’s a team member, she has to pull her weight!’

But Liu Ye’ye was different from Zhou. He had no leverage over Liu Ye’ye, so he had to change his strategy.

’What is Liu Ye’ye’s weakness?’

In fact, Yu Dong had been thinking about this question since last night.

He replayed every conversation the two of them had in his past life and was surprised to find that Liu Ye’ye had almost never talked to him about her life before the apocalypse!

This left him with no clear place to start.

After a long moment, Yu Dong gritted his teeth.

’Forget it. I’ll just have to use my "grand prophecy" technique again!’

’First, I’ll shock her with what I know about her. Then, I’ll try to persuade her with my meticulous logic. And finally, I’ll seal the deal with a precise prediction about her!’

’If Liu Ye’ye can join the team early like Huang Zhiqiang and Zhao Youcai, then I’ll have that much more time before the apocalypse.’

’I just hope this prediction doesn’t go wrong...’

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