014 Captive breeding

Fang Yuxin eyed the man at the window warily. She didn't make the first move, as the man seemed powerful, and she was well aware that she was no match for him. Concerned about waking up Bai Qianqian, she deliberately kept her voice low, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Due to the man's back being to the light, she couldn't see his face, only the vague outline.

Bai Ye glanced at Bai Qianqian, who was sleeping soundly on the bed, and felt relieved that he was all right. However, his face gave nothing away as he scrutinized Fang Yuxin. Seeing her in person, he was more certain that she was Bai Qianqian's mother.

Thinking about the relationship between Fang Yuxin and Qiu Yiming, he felt somewhat conflicted. It wasn't anger, nor was it joy, just generally uncomfortable. And upon reflection, if Fang Yuxin were to marry Qiu Yiming, their relationships truly would be complicated.

Although he hadn't known Fang Yuxin before, the undeniable fact that Bai Qianqian shared blood with both of them crossed his mind. At this moment, he had no intention to be open with Fang Yuxin or to foster their relationship; instead, thinking of Bai Qianqian, he couldn't help saying, "Take good care of him, and be careful of the Qiu Family." After speaking, he didn't wait for Fang Yuxin to respond and pushed off the windowsill, jumping out.

Fang Yuxin was utterly befuddled. Although she didn't sense any ill will from Bai Ye, the sudden appearance of a man in the room was reason enough for her wariness, yet all he left was a cryptic message before running off. She jumped out of bed, rushed to the window, and leaned out to look down, only to find the area silently empty, the man who had jumped as if vanished into thin air.

She closed the window, drew the curtains, and returned to bed, carefully hiding the knife back under the pillow. Just as Fang Yuxin settled down, Bai Qianqian unconsciously snuggled into her arms, murmuring, "Mama, don't go." Her heart softened abruptly, and she hugged Bai Qianqian, but the words of Bai Ye came to her mind. His "Take good care of him" obviously referred to Bai Qianqian, implying he might be Bai Qianqian's father. But if he was the father, why didn't he take him away? Could he really be sure? They hadn't even met before!

And then there was the "be careful of the Qiu Family." This statement troubled Fang Yuxin even more than the first. She remembered the dream, where, after the apocalypse, the Qiu Family still controlled the military, and because both Qiu Yiming and Qiu Hongsheng had awakened powerful attack superpowers, the influence of the Qiu Family was even greater than before the apocalypse. The Fang Family had a good relationship with the Qiu Family, who took care of her and her siblings until Fang Mengyao spread rumors that completely ruined the Fang Family's reputation, forcing their care from overt to covert.

At that time, many had designs on her, and had it not been for her brother's strength, her own ability to defend herself, and the Qiu Family's covert protection, they could very well have been killed. Therefore, when Qiu Yiming chose Fang Mengyao, she bore no resentment, merely feeling it was a pity they were destined but not fated. But now, thinking carefully, if the Qiu Family truly intended to protect her and her brother with their powerful influence, how could they allow those rumors to spread?

Her brother and she had lived on edge in that dream, treading on thin ice, and many questions they dared not deeply consider. Now, during the still of the night, as Fang Yuxin replayed the entire dream in her mind, many previously overlooked details began to seem suspicious. The more she thought, the chiller she felt, even feeling a cold all over, but fortunately, with Bai Qianqian, a little furnace in her arms, he was her only warmth at that moment.

It was then that Fang Yuxin entertained the thought of keeping Bai Qianqian close and raising him at her side. Though the man seemed strong, if the apocalypse really came, everything would change. Bai Qianqian was still a child, and staying by her side might be much safer. After all, she had the Cultivation Spiritual Mansion.

...

After breakfast, Fang Yuxin left Bai Qianqian at home with Qu Qianhe to foster their relationship, then drove out. Bai Qianqian wanted to follow, but Fang Yuxin did not agree. This time, she planned to go to the live poultry market to buy some birds and raise them in the Spirit Mansion. There was a bamboo forest in the Spirit Mansion, and she intended to keep the birds there.

After leaving home, she did not go directly to the live poultry market but first found a safe place to park. She locked the car and entered the Spirit Mansion Space directly. With Bai Qianqian at home, it was inconvenient for her to enter the space, but now she went in, took a knife to cut the bamboo, and made several simple fences, enclosing several areas in the bamboo forest, preparing to raise chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, cows, sheep, and the like.

That dream was too real; she even often felt it was not a dream but the actual future. In the dream, she and Fang Yuyang, due to insufficient preparation in the early stages, often lacked food and water, sometimes starving so severely that they could even swallow the unpalatable mutated creatures. Thus, with access to the Spirit Mansion Space, she planned to raise live poultry, livestock, and aquatic products there for future food and drink supply.

After fencing the areas, Fang Yuxin got out of the car, entered a large mall, changed her outfit in the restroom, and then rented a small truck. She drove it to the live poultry market and bought some chickens, ducks, geese, even pigeons and quails, and loaded them into the truck with their cages full. After driving to a deserted area, she transferred all the cages into the bamboo forest. Then, she continued to drive to several nearby livestock farms and purchased aromatic pigs, cows, sheep, and rabbits, also transporting them into the bamboo forest.

On the way back, Fang Yuxin's phone rang. The call was from Fang Yuyang, who was currently overseas conducting business. The business was settled, and he was preparing to return, so he called to ask if Fang Yuxin wanted anything he could bring back for her.

Hearing Fang Yuyang's voice, Fang Yuxin was so moved she nearly cried. In the dream, she and Fang Yuyang supported each other and relied on each other for survival for two years; Fang Yuyang was her only support and emotional anchor. Thus, Fang Yuyang's death later had a massive impact on her, so much so that she fell into Fang Mengyao's death trap less than six months after his death.

"Brother!" As soon as Fang Yuxin called out, tears uncontrollably fell. She tried to steady her voice, but it still wavered with a sob, "Brother, I don't want anything; just come back soon, I miss you."

The voice from the phone was somewhat distorted, but Fang Yuyang could still hear that something was wrong with Fang Yuxin's emotions. He instinctively thought that someone might have bullied or saddened her and asked with concern, "Yuxin, are you okay?"

Fang Yuxin struggled to calm herself, her voice regaining composure, "I'm fine, I just miss you. Please come back soon! The flu is rampant, make sure to take care of yourself. Don't worry about bringing gifts, just you coming back is enough." After saying this, she made an effort to remember that in her dream, at this time, Fang Yuyang had not caught any virus and had returned safely. However, she still could not feel completely at ease without seeing him in person.

Thus, Fang Yuxin repeated her words until Fang Yuyang promised he would take the next flight back; then she stopped nagging and told him to be careful on his journey.

After hanging up the phone, Fang Yuxin took a deep breath. She decided that once Fang Yuyang returned, she would discuss the apocalypse and the Spirit Mansion with her family thoroughly. They had to keep it from Bai Qianqian for now, who, despite being just a five-year-old child, appeared so suddenly that Fang Yuxin could not fully trust him yet.