The plump, middle-aged man flashed an apologetic smile.
"Sorry about that, my friend gave us half a pig, and my wife is handling it. Sorry for disturbing you."
The man's impatient neighbor waved dismissively. "Enough, leave it for tomorrow, handle it then!"
"Okay, sorry to trouble you," the man said, wiping sweat from his forehead, his eyes darting nervously.
He immediately slammed the door shut.
The impatient man mumbled as he returned to his own home.
Annan glanced at the tightly shut door of apartment 1302, her brows knitting slightly.
Why did that overweight man seem so strange?
She pondered for a moment and then turned on her heel, heading back home.
Her experience of surviving the apocalypse for four years had taught her this: mind your own business unless it directly concerns you.
That man was no saint. In her previous life, he had encouraged several neighbors to rampage, causing chaos, while he hid behind the scenes, collecting the spoils.
He was a cunning one.
The next day, Annan rose early and headed straight to a loan company.
She needed money, but selling her house would take time, and she couldn't afford to wait.
While banks offered mortgage loans, the amount was limited and disbursing the funds took time.
Therefore, Annan went directly to a usury company.
After all, with the apocalypse looming, she wouldn't have to repay the money.
Her apartment, a 100-square-meter unit, had cost 30,000 per square meter when she purchased it. In recent years, housing prices had plummeted, now down to just over 20,000 per square meter.
This property, now worth around 2.5 million, was offered a loan of 2 million by the company.
Annan, however, was firm. "I want 2.5 million. One week's loan, and I'll sign a 5-million-dollar promissory note."
She handed over a copy of her household registration book, using her father's name to verify her financial standing.
The company's representative's eyes brightened, and they swiftly processed the loan after securing Annan's house deed.
They had many ways to pressure her for repayment—she needn't worry.
Inwardly, they were pleased. Money from a wealthy second-generation was always easy to earn.
Annan took the money and left the office with a spring in her step. She visited several online lending platforms, borrowing an additional 500,000, bringing her total to 3 million.
She then went to a renovation company, ordering explosion-proof glass and armored doors, paying extra to have them installed by noon.
The apartment complex, Fenglin Yijing, had 15 floors with two units per floor. The elevator could only take residents to their designated floor with a swipe of a card.
Each floor had a lockable stainless steel door between the stairwell and the two entrance doors to the apartments.
Essentially, each floor had a private hallway door.
Once locked, no one could enter the floor unless they took the elevator.
Once the apocalypse struck, the power system would collapse, making elevators unusable. Therefore, as long as the hallway door was closed, no one else could access her floor.
Her neighbor's unit was vacant, the previous tenant never returning in her past life.
Living alone on the 14th floor, Annan decided to install an explosion-proof door behind the steel hallway door.
She also replaced her apartment's security door with two layers of explosion-proof doors.
Four doors meant four layers of security. No one was going to break into her home this time.
After securing the doors, Annan hurried to a large outdoor equipment store.
She bought diving suits and gear, sleeping bags, mats, tents, flashlights, radios...
She even managed to find a gas mask.
Next, she bought masks, tactical jackets, and cold-weather clothing.
Finally, she bought the most important travel tools for flooding—the assault boat and inflatable raft.
She bought multiple sets of each item to prevent damage in extreme conditions.
By noon, Annan stopped at a small restaurant for a meal.
As she ate, she chatted with the owner, asking for the supplier of her gas cylinders.
She then drove out to the suburbs and purchased two truckloads of gas cylinders.
Although her space had water, electricity, and gas, she could only spend a limited amount of time there each day.
Plus, some things in the apocalypse needed to be prepared the usual way; she couldn't just conjure up meals without arousing suspicion.
After buying the gas, she headed to a nearby factory and bought two truckloads of coal, which would be necessary during the extreme cold.
Just as she was leaving the factory, Annan received a call from the workers, saying that the doors and windows had been delivered to her home.
She drove back.
By the time she arrived, the workers were stunned, carrying several armored explosion-proof doors.
"Little lady, you live here? Why such a big setup?"
Annan smiled lightly. "It's not for me. It's for my brother—he has paranoid delusions. If it's not like this, he can't sleep well."
The workers clicked their tongues but didn't ask any more questions, quickly getting to work.
As the workers worked busily, on the other side, Qian Ying'er, who had slept until late in the afternoon, noticed that Annan still hadn't replied to her messages.
So, she sent another one.
It was returned with a red exclamation mark.
?!
Why had Annan deleted her too?
Qian Ying'er sat up in disbelief, a sudden wave of unease washing over her.
This woman was her and her cousin's hope to rise into high society. She couldn't afford for anything to go wrong.
In a panic, she rushed to put on her clothes and headed upstairs to find Annan.
Living on the 8th floor, Qian Ying'er couldn't use the elevator to reach the 14th floor, so she had to take the stairs.
Not used to exercise, she was out of breath by the time she reached the 14th floor.
When she finally made it, she saw the workers installing the explosion-proof door and stood there, speechless.
"Nan Nan, what are you doing?"
Annan, who had just finished talking to the workers and was about to head out again, saw the out-of-breath Qian Ying'er.
For a moment, she didn't even recognize her.
In the last life, after years of the apocalypse's devastation, the malnourished people had withered away into skin and bones.
Qian Ying'er, already thin, had turned into a dried, yellow skin hanging from her bones.
When she had raised a knife to Annan, she had looked like a grotesque, hellish monster.
The woman in front of her, with soft, fair skin and delicate features, was almost unrecognizable.
Qian Ying'er, seeing that Annan hadn't responded, grew embarrassed and asked again.
"Nan Nan, why did you add another door behind the hallway door?"
Annan's desire to end things right there was almost overwhelming.
However, with the workers nearby and society still intact, she didn't want to end up behind bars when the apocalypse came.
She merely glanced at Qian Ying'er and said coldly, "Is it any of your business?"
Qian Ying'er shivered at the icy look in Annan's eyes.
She hadn't seen Annan like this before, her gaze devoid of warmth, radiating an unsettling coldness and even a hint of disgust.
Confused, Qian Ying'er asked, "Nan Nan, why did you block me and my cousin?"
Annan replied flatly, "I blocked you because I wanted to. Do you have a problem with that?"
Taken aback, Qian Ying'er was momentarily speechless. She quickly followed Annan into the elevator.
"Nan Nan, is there some misunderstanding between us?"
She blinked back tears, adopting a pitiful expression.
"Is it because you think my cousin is too bothersome?"
"Actually, Wei Wenbin is a great guy, and there are many girls who like him, but he only admires you. He's really struggling, not understanding why you keep avoiding him…"
"Ding—"
The elevator reached the ground floor, and Annan stepped out without a word.
As she walked away, she casually remarked, "He's too ugly."
"Eh?" Qian Ying'er froze.
"You asked me why I don't like him. It's because he's too, ugly."
"Also," Annan turned and looked at her, "You're ugly too."
"I don't like being around ugly people."
With that, Annan turned and left.
Qian Ying'er stood frozen, processing her words, until Annan was out of sight.
Ahhhhh—!
That vile woman! She actually called me ugly!
For someone who always thought highly of herself, Qian Ying'er was immediately consumed by fury.
How dare Annan, the woman she loathed the most, openly look down on her?!
She screamed in rage, her temper exploding.