Chapter 1: Reborn
"The Central Meteorological Observatory predicts that a new wave of strong cold air will strike starting tomorrow. This will also be the strongest cold air since the second half of this year..."
The television was broadcasting a temperature drop forecast.
Yu Miaomiao gazed absentmindedly out the window, seeing only layers upon layers of vast white.
Mist enveloped the entire city, and the 17th floor where Miaomiao was located happened to be right above the thick fog.
Before long, sunlight slowly pushed aside the mist through the clouds, and the vitality and bustle of the morning rush hour leapt before her eyes.
The girl grew a bit tired of watching. She stretched, got up, and paced into the bathroom.
She cupped a handful of water and splashed it on her face, instantly waking up. She looked up at her bloodshot eyes in the mirror; it was as if everything that happened yesterday was a nightmare.
Everything felt like it happened yesterday as memories flooded back.
During a battle against mutated plants outside the base, she was originally standing in the rear as a team doctor. While trying to save an injured teammate, she was pushed off a cliff by another teammate...
"Go to hell. Once you're dead, no one will fight me for him..."
Yu Miaomiao's body fell rapidly, the following words dissipating into the air.
Coming at her were mutated creatures' barbed vines, waving like octopuses, coiling one after another around the woman's broken body.
The pain made her lose consciousness, but soon new pain woke her up again. Under repeated torture, she finally closed her eyes forever...
"So tired, I can finally rest."
Before dying, her thoughts were a chaotic mess, but she was also unwilling. Those sinful people could live well... this world was too unfair.
...
Just as she was staring blankly into the mirror, she heard "Meow~ Meow-ow~ Ow-ow~ Meow."
The cries of two cats came from beside her feet, one after another.
Yu Miaomiao squatted down and stroked the heads of her two little kittens as they vied to get close—Round Thing and Dumpling.
Round Thing was a fat British Shorthair, and Dumpling was a fat Siamese. In short, they were both round and plump.
"I know, I know. I'll go prepare breakfast for you right now!"
She poured cat food into the bowls and opened a can for each of the two cats.
After the disaster, Yu Miaomiao went out to find supplies. When she returned, the two little cubs were gone. Later, she found some of their remains downstairs... they had been cooked and eaten.
The culprits were a father and son from Unit 502. In her previous life, after the floors below the 8th were flooded, the hallways were filled with people.
The two people from the 5th floor lived in the 15th-floor hallway. While she was out looking for supplies, they pried open her door, stole her meager supplies, and killed her cats.
She had gone to argue with them, but she was alone and weak. That man even said to her face that they tasted really good... Remembering all this, hatred instantly welled up in her heart.
Yu Miaomiao squatted in front of the two little ones, who were focused on devouring their food and completely unaware.
"I made you suffer. It won't happen again."
"Meow~ Ow?"
Fine, whatever you say. The little kittens' hearts were completely unperturbed.
This time, she would definitely take revenge for them and would definitely protect them well.
Since it was now certain she had been reborn, she should start preparing for the Great Disaster that would occur in half a year.
Goal: Live well! Be grateful, but also take revenge.
Sitting on the sofa, the girl took her phone and first ordered some takeout for herself.
She hadn't eaten anything since recovering from the disbelief of being reborn. The three-plus years of living from hand to mouth were too painful to look back on.
Looking at the dazzling array of options, saliva secreted in her mouth.
In the end, she placed orders from three breakfast shops simultaneously: soup Dumplings, soy milk, fried dough sticks, preserved egg and lean meat porridge, shredded pancakes, savory crepes... she ordered everything she could think of.
After ordering breakfast, she opened Taobaoand online banking. She calculated that her total balance was 6.032 million. The savings were all accumulated from her years as a food influencer doing live-stream sales, and of course, what her parents gave her. Yu Miaomiao was a minor second-generation rich girl whose family owned a company.
"If no natural or man-made disasters occurred, I would be a proper young rich woman."
Yu Miaomiao looked at the balance and muttered to herself, "Unfortunately, this bit of money is completely insufficient now."
The natural disasters made her beautiful dreams vanish. Before she could enjoy life, it ended abruptly. This hard-won chance to start over must be planned carefully.
First, get money!
She had two pieces of real estate.
One was the large flat she currently lived in, a 360-square-meter unit with its own elevator and no neighbors. The other was a house her parents left her, a villa in the center of the old city district.
After the disaster, the sea level rose, and all houses below the 8th floor were flooded.
So Yu Miaomiao decided to sell the house her parents left her. She quickly contacted an agent, requesting a one-time full payment and selling it below market price for a total of 13 million.
The agent replied quickly. Because it was a rare property in the heart of the old city with exquisite decoration and the best school district, the agent promised to complete the transaction within a week after evaluation.
As for the large flat, she went to the bank to apply for a mortgage. Bank staff came to inspect the house, and finally, the mortgage limit obtained was 9 million.
OK, process the mortgage loan.
Taking advantage of this time, Yu Miaomiaocontacted a decoration company, requesting to renovate and reinforce her large flat.
Replace all security doors with sturdier bulletproof doors, and upgrade the locks to the latest fingerprint and password locks. Install facial recognition and hallway surveillance everywhere.
Replace all glass with one-way visible bulletproof glass, and install tempered security bars on most of them, while leaving two escape windows just in case.
Include anti-gas and fire prevention facilities. Ensure the entire house has proper soundproofing, heat insulation, and thermal preservation. Upgrade the whole-house air purification. The house originally had floor heating and central air conditioning, but after the apocalypse, water, electricity, and gas would all be cut off. So she also requested the installation of solar panels; it would be enough to centrally supply one or two occupied rooms by then.
The reason given was that she planned to open a cattery at home, so feline safety and comfort were very important.
Renovate one bedroom into a storage room for cat supplies, requiring the installation of shelving units and storage cabinets.
Raising cats is truly a universal excuse! (｡ì _ í｡)
The house renovation alone would cost 2 million. Money really doesn't last long.
After contacting the renovation company, the delivery call came. Yu Miaomiao asked the delivery person to leave it in the elevator. Since the elevator required a card, outsiders couldn't come up at all.
She carried seven or eight takeout bags from the elevator into her home, tore open the packaging, and stuffed the food into her mouth.
The savory aroma of the soup Dumplings exploded on the tip of her tongue. The crispy shell and soft core of the fried dough sticks made it impossible for Yu Miaomiao to stop. She seemed not to know the feeling of being full, eating continuously until she had difficulty swallowing or even felt like vomiting.
The fullness of her stomach calmed Yu Miaomiao down, and her swallowing slowed. She took a few more bites and finally stopped when she truly couldn't eat anymore.
After briefly tidying up the takeout boxes, Yu Miaomiao took the trash and went out. She drove her little Mini toward the studio. Though called a studio, there was actually only one employee named Lu An, Yu Miaomiao's college alumna and best friend—a straightforward girl with short hair.
Yu Miaomiao and Lu An had completely different majors and personalities, but they were unexpectedly compatible.
Yu Miaomiao majored in clinical medicine. She was a girl who looked weak but had a very determined heart, more resilient than she appeared. Combined with the shortage of medical personnel, this allowed her to survive for three long years in her previous life.
As for Lu An, her parents had an accident at a construction site in their early years, so she grew up in an orphanage. Consequently, she had a somewhat withdrawn personality and didn't like to talk.
She had a handsome appearance—yes, very handsome, the kind that looked more handsome than most boys.
The carefree short hair suited her elegant features perfectly. Combined with a small mole at the end of her eyebrow, a casual smile could charm many girls.
Her major was finance, and her grades were among the best. Therefore, Lu An was responsible for all the financial management of the studio. Furthermore, Lu An was versatile in sports, excelling in karate, swimming, diving, and ice skating.
The two had a friendship spanning from being classmates in junior high to being in the same college. Especially after Yu Miaomiao's parents passed away, the two could be said to depend on each other for survival.
When the apocalypse occurred, Lu An was still at the studio arranging for packages to be packed and shipped. During the buffer period after the flood ended, Lu An packed all the studio's supplies and moved to Yu Miaomiao's house. They spent the difficult first year of the disaster together.
Six months after the disaster began, Lu Anawakened a Water-type Supernatural Ability, making her a talent urgently needed by the base.
Their survival journey in the apocalypse took a turn for the better. The two packed their supplies and set out on the journey to the base.
They were ambushed by a group of outlaws outside the base. Lu An was seriously injured while protecting the supplies and Yu Miaomiao.
Rescued by a passing army, Yu Miaomiaoperformed temporary wound disinfection and treatment for Lu An. But Lu An's injuries were too severe. They had no antibiotics and no way to get them. They sought help from the base, but Lu An couldn't wait for the medicine to arrive...
Arriving at the studio door, Yu Miaomiaostraightened her clothes, feeling even a bit timid to face the friend who had risked everything for her in her previous life.
This emotion was hard to describe, both tense and anxious, until she saw that back busy packing and shipping.
All her emotions became uncontrollable. Tears welled up in her eyes as she ran over and hugged Lu An from behind, burying her head in her neck. They hadn't seen each other for over two years...
Lu An was a bit stunned, but then she seemed to understand something. "What's wrong? Did that bastard uncle and sister of yours cause you trouble again?"
Yu Miaomiao shook her head in silence.
"Anan, I missed you so much."
"Sister, don't be so fake. Have you set your eyes on another bag?"
...
"I'm not that kind of person."
"Yes, you are."
Lu An sat on a chair and took a sip of water, suddenly saying, "Miaomiao, what exactly happened to you? If that family of bastards really bullied you, let's spend some money to find a lawyer. I'll pay for it."
Yu Miaomiao took a deep breath.
"Lu An, what I'm about to say might be hard to believe, but I believe you will definitely believe me."
Lu An looked at the usually giggling and carefree Yu Miaomiao. Seeing her somewhat exhausted but very serious gaze, she sensed the gravity of the situation. "Mm, go ahead, I'm listening."
Yu Miaomiao described the post-apocalyptic natural disasters that would occur in half a year and all her experiences over the following three years.
Extreme cold and heat, polar nights and days, tsunamis and earthquakes, mutations in animals and plants, volcanic eruptions, plate movements, and so on.
Lu An's brow furrowed deeper and deeper, and her fists clenched tightly.
To prove the authenticity, Yu Miaomiao also mentioned that at 7 PM tonight, a certain top celebrity would be exposed for being secretly married and having a child.
After hearing everything, Lu An only said three words: "I believe you."