Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Cen Yi’s grandma was an old woman close to 80 years old. She didn’t have much strength so Cen Yi didn’t feel much pain.
He only pretended to shout in pain. Then he said, “It was a last-minute decision. Our home situation is getting more and more difficult. School is a waste of time. I think it’s better to go out and explore.”
“You, sigh~~”
His grandma sighed. She thought of Cen Yi’s mother and continued, “That year, your mother said she was wasting her time in the north so she wanted to explore the south. In the end, she didn’t come back…”
She was about to cry so Cen Yi hurriedly sat up and hugged his grandma. He comforted her.
“Grandma, I’ll only be going to the Cold Snake Tower. I’ll come back in a week. I’ll bring many energy stones back. Grandpa won’t have to work so hard to run that small broken company at such an old age anymore.”
The families who were able to live in this district had good financial situations. Cen Yi’s grandpa had a huge company that did quite well in the past. However, starting this year, it became harder and harder to run the company.
It was about to go bankrupt soon.
Although Cen Yi’s family weren’t short of energy coupons now and his grandpa had his methods of getting energy coupons, what would happen when his company went bankrupt? His grandpa was turning 80 in a few years long could a senior like him support the family?
They only had one child—Cen Yi’s mother. Cen Yi’s mother and father died in the south. Only Cen Yi was left. If Cen Yi didn’t support the family, what would become of the two seniors in the future?
Cen Yi comforted his grandma for a long time before she stopped crying.
She said to him, “You must promise to listen to Xiangxiang when you’re out there.”
“Alright, alright.”
“Don’t judge Xiangxiang by her looks. Actually, in this world, no one is useless. If God treats someone unfairly in one area, he will compensate them in another. Since she was young, she was left to fend for herself. She knows more things than you.”
Cen Yi became curious when he heard this. He asked his grandma, “What do you mean by ‘she knows more things than me’? Grandma, why do you and grandpa like her so much? I see that many people don’t like her.”
“Do you remember that your grandpa has heart disease? It started a few years ago. You didn’t come over at that time…”
His grandma turned chatty when she brought this up. Four years ago, the economy in the south was still very prosperous. It was growing steadily.
Cen Yi’s grandpa hadn’t cared about the company for many years. His daughter married a garrison in the south so he wanted to move his company to the south. This would make it easier for him to move to the south with Cen Yi’s grandma and reunite with their daughter.
Thus, Cen Yi’s grandpa always went on public square dancing sessions with Cen Yi’s grandma.
Once, he suddenly had a heart attack. It was a huge emergency. A bunch of people called the ambulance and shouted for help but no one knew how to provide first aid treatment. Cen Yi’s grandma was so worried that she burst into loud sobs.
This was when the 12-year-old Qiao Lingxiang popped out.
She had just returned from her extreme wilderness survival camp. This kind of cardiopulmonary resuscitation was the most basic skill from the survival camp.
Although Cen Yi’s grandpa was still sent to the hospital in an ambulance, without Qiao Lingxiang’s few minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, Cen Yi’s grandpa wouldn’t have been able to last until the arrival of the professional team.
This was how Qiao Lingxiang saved Cen Yi’s grandpa. From then on, Cen Yi’s grandparents gained a huge liking for this fat young lady.
However, this young lady stayed in her dormitory most of the time and was sent to survival camps directly every school break. Thus, Cen Yi’s grandparents had no chance to see her.
Their impression of this young lady had improved from four years ago, so Cen Yi’s grandparents started to take more notice of her. They slowly realized that sometimes, you couldn’t judge a person’s heart by her appearance.
Qiao Lingxiang was fat because of her physique. She secreted too much fat. Whether it was winter or summer, her face was always oily. An oily face didn’t look good on a lady.
She wasn’t ugly but because her face was big and oily, it made her seem ugly.
But her ugly appearance didn’t mean that she had an ugly heart. She was a little shy but if you were willing to interact with her and observe her, you would notice that she had many good traits.
Cen Yi’s grandma sighed. She tilted her head and said to Cen Yi, “She’s a good kid. You’re a good kid too. When you’re out there, support each other. Don’t treat her with contempt like other people. She’s witnessed the dark side of human nature ever since she was a child. The people around her treated her with evil intentions most of the time. Very few people were kind to her. However, she still managed to restrain herself. She’s a pitiful person. In the future, she will be a sensible person.”
“I understand. Grandma, don’t worry.”
Cen Yi nodded. He pondered it for some time and added, “I’ve never disliked her.”
Cen Yi’s grandma nodded. She smiled in relief and sniffed. Then she stood up and said to him, “I’ll get some food from the warehouse so that you can bring it with you.”
Cen Yi’s grandpa had started storing many goods in the basement, which was the warehouse under their company’s name. It included self-heating rice, self-heating hotpot… and many other things.
In the past, he was afraid there would be inflation when the apocalypse arrived and the price of food would skyrocket.
From the looks of it now, his decision at that time was extremely smart. Many supermarkets raised the prices of their goods. One box of self-heating rice could cost a few hundred RMB and it would be swept up the moment they started selling it.
The people who were still working were considered lucky. Their workplaces would at least provide them with one meal a day. That was why many people wanted a job that could provide them with three meals daily even if they didn’t have a salary.
But more and more companies went bankrupt and there were more and more unemployed people.
Once the number of unemployed grew, societal conflicts increased too. The security departments were extremely busy. They seemed to be on the brink of collapsing. Once the security of the city collapsed, the entire city would disintegrate from within.
“No need. There’s no need for that. I already have a lot of food with me. It’s enough for a week.”
Cen Yi pulled his grandma and opened his backpack to show her the snacks in his bag. He even explained to her, “Qiao Lingxiang said she knows wilderness survival skills. I wanted to go out this time to train my wildness survival abilities too. No one knows what life will be like in the future. You just have to watch our house with grandpa and protect yourself.”
His grandma still wanted to persuade him otherwise so Cen Yi hurriedly carried his backpack and ran out of the house. His grandma couldn’t catch up with him because of her age.
She could only stand at the door and shout Cen Yi’s name. Then she rushed to the staircase and reminded him loudly, “Ah Yi, the mission is secondary. Training yourself is the most important thing. Come back soon!”
“I understand~~~”
Cen Yi’s youthful and lively voice echoed up the railings covered with spiderwebs. He was still young. He wanted to go out and create a path for himself.
No one could stop him.