Apocalypse Showdown: Carrier Conquest

Chapter 10: The Zhou Family’s Decision

"Your dad's at the slaughterhouse. He won't be back until tonight."

Cheng Yali led Zhou Lin, Ai Bing, and Yang Qiqi into the house, while Hei Zai, the family dog, dutifully took a spot at the doorway.

Zhou Lin’s room was on the second floor. Cheng Yali arranged for Ai Bing and Yang Qiqi to stay in the room next to his.

"Bingbing, your boyfriend’s family is doing pretty well for themselves, huh?" As soon as the door closed, Yang Qiqi let out a soft gasp.

Indeed, they were.

From the outside, the Zhou family home appeared modest, but inside, the furnishings and appliances were just as modern and high-end as anything found in the big cities. Seeing this, Ai Bing felt a rush of excitement. With such a financial foundation, perhaps she should reconsider things—if only Zhou Lin didn’t have that sister.

"Now, tell me exactly what’s going on," Cheng Yali asked in a low voice after closing the door.

"Mom, it’s a long story..."

"Then make it short!" she snapped.

"Mom, do you understand what rebirth means?" Zhou Lin rubbed his temples. He had no intention of lying to her—otherwise, it would be difficult to gain his parents' full cooperation in what was to come.

Ten minutes later.

"So… you actually died once?" Cheng Yali barely cared about the apocalypse or the impending disaster. What mattered to her was that her son had died once already—and at the hands of Ai Bing, who had conspired with others to push him off a cliff!

"What are you doing, Mom?" Zhou Lin quickly grabbed her arm.

"What am I doing? I’m going to kill that little tramp right now!" Cheng Yali's eyes were red with fury, her nostrils flaring as she dragged Zhou Lin toward the door.

"Mom! Listen to me!" Zhou Lin turned and blocked the doorway. "The disaster has already begun, but society won’t fall apart immediately. If people find out, it’ll be troublesome. Besides, just killing her outright would be letting her off too easily."

"Then what do you propose? I can't just swallow this!" Cheng Yali huffed, her breath heavy with anger.

"That’s just a small matter. The real issue is that we need to move out of here first."

"Move?"

"Yes!" Zhou Lin nodded emphatically.

In his previous life, though he hadn’t made it back to Shudu, he had witnessed the first month of the global temperature drop. Snow fell continuously worldwide, and in some lowland areas, the snow piled up to the third floor of buildings. Their home, nestled in a valley, would be buried in just three to five days. Worse still, as the lower layers of snow compacted under extreme cold and pressure, they would turn to solid ice, making survival here impossible.

As for Lai Fu, he wasn’t planning to reveal it just yet—not even to his mother.

"We’ll wait for your dad to come back and discuss it. You said we have six days before the temperature drop, right?"

"Six days. And Mom, it’s not just about the cold. There’s also the darkness."

Even though he had experienced it once before, just thinking about it sent chills down Zhou Lin’s spine. A world without sunlight was simply too terrifying.

Cheng Yali nodded, making a mental note. "I’ll call your dad now and tell him to come home immediately."

"Good. But be careful not to let anything slip in front of Ai Bing and Yang Qiqi."

As they stepped out of the room, Ai Bing and Yang Qiqi were still inside, packing their things. This gave Cheng Yali a chance to compose herself.

By noon, Zhou Caijun had returned. Unaware of what had transpired, he was delighted to see Ai Bing and even suggested having a drink. But a single glance from Cheng Yali was enough to make him rethink that idea, and he ended up muttering to Zhou Lin about how his status in the household was getting lower by the day.

Ai Bing noticed nothing unusual. After lunch, Zhou Lin took her and Yang Qiqi on a tour of the nearby farm.

The sight of the massive 20,000-square-meter livestock facility, filled with thousands of pigs and broiler chickens, left the two women in awe. It also gave them a clearer understanding of the Zhou family's wealth—especially Ai Bing. Her eyes practically sparkled as she looked at Zhou Lin.

"How much is all this worth?" Yang Qiqi asked. In truth, it was Ai Bing who wanted to know, but she felt uncomfortable asking directly.

"It’s hard to say. They say wealth is measured in assets, not cash. Until they're sold, these animals aren't considered profit. And if an epidemic breaks out, my parents’ hard work for the year could go down the drain."

"Is that so..." Yang Qiqi pursed her lips. She felt Zhou Lin was dodging the question. After all, with over a dozen employees working at the farm, the payroll alone had to be over a million a year. There was no way the Zhou family wasn't making serious money.

"Let’s head back," Ai Bing suggested. She needed time to calculate whether this "investment" was worth it.

Receiving a message from Cheng Yali, Zhou Lin decided not to waste any more time. As soon as they got home, Zhou Caijun called Zhou Lin into the study.

Despite Cheng Yali’s fiery temperament and commanding presence, the true decision-maker in the Zhou household was Zhou Caijun—the seemingly mild-mannered man who always played the submissive husband.

"Everything you told your mom... is it all true?"

Once the door closed, Zhou Caijun's expression turned serious.

"Would I joke about something like this, Dad? Mount Shifu and the Great Yellow Volcano have already erupted!"

"I know." Zhou Caijun frowned and handed Zhou Lin a cigarette. "We’ve got over a thousand pigs that haven’t reached market weight yet, plus two thousand broiler chickens that aren’t fully grown. Selling them off in a hurry will mean losses. Worse, it might make people suspicious."

"Forget about the losses. What matters now is converting whatever we can into cash and securing supplies."

Zhou Caijun fell into deep thought, silently smoking his cigarette until the filter burned his fingers. It wasn’t that he was indecisive—it was just that the whole notion of an apocalypse and rebirth sounded utterly fantastical. If it weren’t for the global volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, he might have taken Zhou Lin straight to a psychiatric ward.

"Six days?"

"In six days, the sun will disappear," Zhou Lin affirmed. "We need to relocate. Didn’t you and Mom buy that top-floor duplex in Lanshan? That’ll be the safest place for the next three months. As for this place… we’ll see if it still exists after that."

By then, urban food supplies would have run dry. Even with government aid, demand would far outstrip supply. Some people would inevitably resort to crime. In such times, densely populated areas became death traps.

"Alright. I’ll figure out the farm situation. You and your mom handle the supply runs. Use the pickup truck for now. But what about those two women?"

"She doesn’t like the countryside, does she? When Mom and I head into the city later, we’ll drop them off at Lanshan and have them clean up the place. Might as well put them to use."

"You’re not planning to keep them around, are you?"

"Come on, Dad, I’m not an i***t. Ai Bing is definitely getting dealt with. As for Yang Qiqi... In my last life, we had no major issues, but letting her go might be a liability. If she can’t be trusted…"

Zhou Lin had learned to be ruthless in the apocalypse. He would squeeze every last drop of value from Ai Bing—starting with the money in her bank account. Technically, some of that money should have been his. No—all of it should have been his.

"Ai Bing, my parents really see you as their future daughter-in-law. They even considered putting the Lanshan apartment under our names. But the remaining mortgage and fees..."

"I didn’t agree," Zhou Lin added.

"Why not?" Ai Bing asked anxiously.

"Where would I get the money? The remaining balance and fees add up to seventy or eighty grand. I can't just ask my parents for it."

"I have money!" Ai Bing blurted out. "I can lend it to you!"

Lend?

Zhou Lin couldn't help but laugh.