Su Jin looked around the house. Thankfully, Su Xiangmei was not there, and there were no other outsiders either. It seemed as though everyone had decided to settle this within the family.
"Actually…" Su Jin began. "When I was on the plane to G Province, I saw the future and what was going to happen in the next two years. I know it sounds absurd and makes no sense, but I saw it. I even saw my death two years from now." Su Jin did not want to hide anything from these people. They were a family.
"What?" Everyone took a sharp intake of breath, and Su Jin's mother Lin Tianhui had tears in her eyes from the shock. Death? What was she talking about? Had her daughter really lost her mind?
"Go on, Su Jin. I believe you."
Su Jin's grandmother was the most composed in the room. Su Jin looked at her and continued telling them everything, from the zombies to the special abilities to the way the entire family had been wiped out.
"Su Jin, are you saying that the world is ending soon? And we're all going to die? I can't believe that." Lin Xiuyuan was even more skeptical when he heard that all of them died during the beginning of the apocalypse.
"Lin Xiuyuan, I'll make all of you believe me." Just as Lin Xiuyuan called Su Jin by her full name, Su Jin called her cousins by their whole names as well. It was a family habit, and no one was unduly bothered by it.
Su Jin's maternal grandfather Lin Yunguo did not believe her either, but like everyone else, he was rendered speechless when he saw Su Jin summon countless green vines in the blink of an eye. He rubbed his eyes in shock and looked at the vines tangled around his arm.
Was everything Su Jin said true?
"Whoa, Sis, what is this?" Lin Xiuyuan yelled. This was absolutely bonkers.
"That's Lil Jin's special ability. Everything she said is true. I believe her, because I saw a real zombie with my own eyes."
"Brother-in-law, did you see the world two years from now too?" Lin Xiuyuan ran over to Lu Hao and asked.
"So you're calling me Brother-in-law now?" Lu Hao raised his brows. He had not forgotten how Lin Xiuyuan had rolled his eyes at him just now.
"C'mon, that was just a misunderstanding." Huang Yunxiang hurriedly tried to make peace. "Please don't be mad, Lu Hao. It's just, all of us thought you had let our Lil Jin down."
"Is that why you two wanted to sell your house? You want to convert the funds into supplies?" Her uncle Lin Cheng continued to press them.
"That's right, Uncle. After the apocalypse hits, food production all over the wall stops, and people start rapidly building safe bases. If normal people want to enter these bases, they'll have to give up their limited supplies and work tirelessly for the base. I saw all this in advance, so I want to make sure that all of us can live together, happily and safely, even during the apocalypse." Her heart ached every time she thought of how her family had ended up in the past life.
The apocalypse was a cold, cruel place. Countless people died, but she was just a small pawn in the larger scale of things. To her, her family was the most important. She just wanted to protect them, and that was enough of a goal for her to give it everything she had.
The entire house fell silent. Su Jin's grandfather Lin Yunguo was sighing inwardly. They had finally started living a good life, yet even that would not last. Both he and his wife Li Xiuying had had a rough life so far. They even fought wars in the past. Once they were finally released from that hell, the two of them had two daughters and a son. At the time, the country was building up its infrastructure, so the two of them spent all their days doing roadworks to earn their living. Now, their children had found suitable jobs and their lives were taking a turn for the better. They were constantly surrounded by their children and grandchildren, and their family got along wonderfully. Both he and his wife truly savored this hard-earned happiness. However… Sigh!
As soon as Su Jin finished explaining, Su Xiangzhe fell deep into thought. He had gotten a bad premonition when Su Jin said she wanted to go abroad for a business trip. Now he knew that it was his sixth sense at play. To think that such a thing actually existed.
Lu Hao was starting to feel bad for Su Jin again. She told her family that she saw the future two years from now because she did not want her family to feel bad, but in truth she had personally experienced all of it! That included the way she was tricked and killed at the end.
Lu Hao stood up and took Su Jin's hand, pulling her to the table. He then pulled another plastic stool out from under the table and put it next to him, gesturing at her to sit down with him.
Everyone else, "..."
Su Jin, "..."
"Cough cough, um, Lu Hao? You and Lil Jin don't have to sit on those stools. Come, sit on the couch! Come on, come here." Su Jin's youngest maternal aunt Lin Tianzhen hurriedly beckoned the two of them to sit with them. It was especially awkward to see someone as tall and big as Lu Hao sitting on that tiny stool.
"Yes, haha! The misunderstanding is resolved now, so no one blames Lu Hao anymore, okay?" Aunt Tianzhen's husband Mao Zhihang backed his wife up and took out a packet of cigarettes, offering Lin Cheng and Lu Hao one each. Both Mao Zhihang and Lin Cheng were avid smokers, and while Lu Hao was not addicted to them, he would still smoke a cigarette once in a while.
Su Jin retracted her vines and teased Lin Xiuyuan, "You were always whining about wanting to skip your college entrance exams, right? Well, your wish has come true. Aren't you happy? Surprise!"
"You know what, Su Jin, that makes a lot of sense coming from you!" When he heard that he would not have to take the exams, he suddenly felt that the apocalypse was not too bad after all. Besides, his cousin knew everything that would happen now, so there was nothing to fear as long as they prepared well.
Su Xiangzhe looked at the two frolicking cousins and then turned to ask Lu Hao, "If everything Lil Jin said is true, does that mean we should start preparing now?"
Lu Hao took out his phone and showed them the video of the zombified "Li Wei". As everyone took turns watching the video, he said, "This is one of the zombies Lil Jin was talking about. They become mindless monsters whose only instinct is to bite and eat humans. If a normal person is scratched or bitten by one of them, they'll become zombies too. One of my men and his family died in exactly that way." Lu Hao's expression turned a little melancholy at that part. He recalled his teammate Lin Zhi again.
Lin Xiuyuan went silent after he watched Lu Hao's zombie video. Yeah, even the college entrance exam was better than this. That zombie was terrifying.
Mao Qiqi looked at the zombie in the video and could not believe how ugly it was. If Sis Su Jin was telling the truth, did that mean that she could wind up like that too? Soob, she did not want to!
"Are you scared, Qiqi?" Su Jin asked, rubbing her head.
"I'm not scared, Sis Su Jin. I just think he's way too ugly! I don't wanna end up like that," Mao Qiqi said hastily.
"Yeah. I came back from my trip early to protect you. As long as I'm here, I won't let any of you come to harm."
"Don't stress yourself out too much, Lil Jin. Everyone dies someday. Even if anything happens to any of us, we won't blame you for it." Her grandmother Li Xiuying seemed to be addressing Su Jin, but at the same time she was directing those words to everyone here too. Her Lil Jin was fortunate enough to see the future and have a special ability to protect herself with. If Su Jin went out into the apocalypse on her own, she would probably be fine. However, they had a huge family with both children and the elderly. If they all relied on Su Jin, they would just become her burden. Li Xiuying would never allow that to happen.
"What are you even saying, Mom? We'd never blame Lil Jin! Since she told us something so important, we'll have to prepare for this apocalypse in advance. So what if the world's ending? As long as we're together, there's nothing to fear." Lin Cheng took a hefty dreg from his cigarette and told Su Jin, "Good job, Lil Jin. From now on, we'll do anything you tell us to."
"That's right, Su Jin. You're our family treasure from now on," Lin Xiuyuan said with a laugh.
"Your uncle and I think so too, Lil Jin. Don't worry, we'll do everything you say," her youngest aunt Lin Tianzhen chimed in.
Lastly, Su Xiangzhe declared that they would withdraw all their funds to collect the resources just as Su Jin said they should.
Everyone else agreed. If they did not spend their money now, it would only end up becoming waste paper later.
The family's reactions filled Su Jin's heart with warmth. All of them trusted and supported her unconditionally. She was so glad to have a family like them.
On the other hand, Lu Hao thought it was time for a reminder. The atmosphere was warm, and everyone looked optimistic. However, there were some things he had to say.
"Grandpa, Grandma, there's something I need to tell you." Lu Hao wanted to get their grandparents' approval first.
"Go on, Lil Hao. We're all listening," said Grandma.
"Right. I hope you won't tell any outsiders about the apocalypse, because no one will believe us if you do. That includes your friends and family, okay? If you tell them, word might spread quickly. We don't know if they'd believe you, and even if they do feel grateful to you once the actual apocalypse hits, you might end up putting Lil Jin in danger instead. There's a high chance she'll be captured and experimented on." Lu Hao's expression was severe. When it came to Su Jin's safety, he was not going to pull any punches.
That possibility had occurred to Su Xiangzhe too. He stood up and patted Lu Hao's shoulder, saying, "Don't worry, your mother and I won't tell anyone. Lil Jin is our daughter. She's more important than anyone else."
He then looked around the room. Just then, Huang Yunxiang stood up as well and said that she would not tell anyone else. Huang Yunxiang came from another province and married into the family. While her parents were alive and she had a younger brother to boot, her family had always been misogynistic. As a child, she had lived like their maid, cooking, tending to the fields, and even chopping the firewood. When she finally found a partner to marry, her parents mercilessly demanded a huge dowry from Lin Cheng's family. If Lin Cheng had not stopped her, she would have cut ties with her family. Later, when her younger brother was getting married, her parents called and yelled at her to send them more money. At the time, she had simply hung up and never contacted them again.
She considered herself beyond lucky to be able to marry into Lin Cheng's family, to join such a great family and to have a wonderful son like Lin Xiuyuan. There was no way she would betray them.