Chapter 7
When the call was disconnected, Ji Anfeng’s face was not a pleasant sight.
He hadn’t suddenly thought of this daughter; his second daughter had reminded him.
Back when he had caused a scandal, his parents had been so furious they kicked him out of the house. He, in turn, stubbornly refused to go back, instead buying another house and marrying Ji Siyue’s mother.
The main reason was that his wings had hardened by then. As the only son, he had the capital to be willful.
In the end, it was his parents who compromised. Because Qiao Yi had divorced him and immediately remarried, she became a stranger to her ex-husband’s family. Apart from sending money to her daughter, she rarely saw her.
Fearing that their granddaughter would be left without a father as well, they would relent and let him come back for the New Year every year. Later, when he got busy, the two elders would bring Ji Yang over.
After the two elders passed away, Ji Yang would come over for the New Year by herself every year.
Even though she didn’t get along with his current wife, daughter, and son, on the surface, everyone was amicable. During the New Year, guests were constantly visiting, and no one wanted to make a scene for others to laugh at.
But today, when his daughter reminded him, he finally remembered his spoiled and willful elder daughter. Why hadn’t he seen her at all?
He had thought she was just delayed by something, but even as it was almost time for New Year’s Eve dinner, there was still no sign of her. That’s when he made the call, only to be hung up on?
He straightened his back and called again.
Although he didn’t care about this daughter, a harmonious family was prosperous. He was a traditional man and didn’t want anyone to be missing during the New Year.
Of course, the fourth and fifth parties and the like didn’t count as family.
But to his surprise, when he made the call this time, it was constantly busy.
Ji Anfeng knew exactly what that meant—he had been blocked.
His face immediately darkened.
This damn brat, she calls nonstop when she wants money, but the moment she gets it, she blocks me?
Ji Siyue had sharp ears and naturally heard the tone. She was surprised but kept her expression neutral. “Dad, what did sister say? If she’s not coming, we wouldn’t dare to eat. Otherwise, when she gets here, she might flip the table.”
“Flip the table, my ass!” Ji Anfeng slammed his phone on the table and said in a low voice, “Let’s eat first! Don’t mind her!”
He was too embarrassed to mention being blocked, so this was all he could say.
Fuming inwardly, he didn’t forget to add, “Tell Auntie Zhang to close the door and not to open it!”
“Alright then…” Ji Siyue said hesitantly, but she was laughing inwardly.
So what if there’s an agreement?
It’s easy to find loopholes in the law.
Without Dad’s favor, Ji Yang will never get to the core of the company in the future!
And so, this family of four had a very cheerful New Year’s Eve dinner.
—
Jiafu Community
Ji Yang was also eating very happily.
There was nothing more delightful than good food.
Blocking the Ji family was her final act of mercy.
In her previous life, she had been sold. Not killing them was already repaying Ji Anfeng’s favor of reluctantly taking her in. As for the debt of birth? If she were to repay it, it would be to Qiao Yi.
After all, in this matter, Ji Anfeng had only contributed three minutes.
It was her grandparents who had raised her.
Including the shares. Originally, the majority of the shares were supposed to go to Ji Yang, but Ji Anfeng had cried and complained at the time, saying that if he didn’t have enough shares, he was afraid he wouldn’t have any authority in the company.
That was how the clause came to be in the share transfer agreement, stating that Ji Anfeng’s shares could only be inherited by her. Some major company decisions also required Ji Yang’s approval to pass; otherwise, the agreement would be void, and the shares would be returned.
Therefore, Ji Yang didn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt.
She quickly forgot the recent interlude and even turned on her tablet, randomly finding a New Year’s countdown concert to play. The Spring Festival Gala, even after five years, was something she had no desire to rewatch and re-experience that toe-curlingly awkward feeling.
Unless it was this year’s new gala, then she could at least curl her toes into a new castle.
Unfortunately, it was still early, and the gala hadn’t started yet, so she made do with a concert full of handsome men and beautiful women.
Soon, the room also became lively.
After listening for a while, Ji Yang felt hot.
The temperature had hit a new low today, minus eight degrees Celsius, the coldest it had been in years. Coincidentally, Ji Yang hadn’t gone out, so she had put the fireplace to use.
She had so much wood stored in her space, enough to burn for many years. The only downside was that she had to chop the wood herself. Fortunately, she had bought a wood-chopping artifact. By controlling it with her consciousness in the space, she could easily split round logs into firewood of various sizes. Tossing a piece into the fireplace from time to to time, with the heat circulating and the air conditioner as a backup, the temperature in the living room shot up.
Ji Yang took off her jacket, wearing only a soft sweater, and sat cross-legged to continue eating. Xixi sat primly at her feet, its doggy face looking up expectantly, waiting for a treat to appear before it at any moment.
When she was full, more than half of the prepared New Year’s Eve dinner was left.
It had already gone cold.
For a rare moment, Ji Yang was diligent. She went to the kitchen to heat it up. As she heated each dish, she placed it in her space. By the time all ten dishes were heated, her slightly uncomfortably full stomach also felt better.
It was still early, and Ji Yang wanted to enjoy the good days before the apocalypse a little longer. So, she took a shower, and returned to the living room, warm all over. She took out a large television, connected the power, tuned it to the Spring Festival Gala channel, and started watching this year’s gala.
The timing was perfect; the gala had just been on for ten minutes and was starting its first act.
Ji Yang hugged a soft pillow and snuggled on the sofa to watch the gala, letting Xixi warm her feet. When the comedy skits came on, as expected, her toes started curling into a castle again.
Just a little longer, and the castle will be complete.
She held on until it was almost midnight.
The television was counting down, and everyone was counting down.
As soon as midnight struck, firecrackers went off, and countless voices wishing a “Happy New Year” resounded across the country.
Xixi was so scared that it jumped straight into Ji Yang’s arms.
She held the dog with one hand and covered its ears with the other, her eyes looking towards the balcony. “Bang, bang, bang”—fireworks exploded in the sky, lighting up the dark night again and again.
The glass window occasionally reflected her face during the brief moments of darkness.
A young woman in her early twenties, with outstanding looks and remarkable beauty. Her long hair was messily draped over her shoulders, giving her an extremely lazy appearance. But looking at her eyes, one could see a coldness that permeated from the inside out.
Ji Yang quietly watched the scene outside.
In the future, she would never see such a scene of nationwide celebration again.
She remembered that the first New Year after the apocalypse in her previous life was spent in the extreme cold. The temperature had suddenly dropped to minus fifty degrees Celsius. A moment of carelessness could lead to freezing to death. There was no one on the streets.
To boost the public’s will to survive, the government had specially collected and set off fireworks. But only a few people were willing to go out and watch.
Even after they returned, many found that their homes had been burglarized, and their already scarce survival supplies were gone. Before the New Year was even over, cries and wails were everywhere.
Ji Yang had hidden in the base, with no desire to go out. At that time, she had no space, no trustworthy family or friends. Everyone she saw seemed to be an enemy. How could she dare to go out?
Who knew who might be lying in ambush in her room when she returned.
It was the New Year; she didn’t want to get into a fight and bring bad luck upon herself.
In the end, it was just as she had guessed.
By the second New Year, it was already the period of extreme heat. Mosquitoes, rats, and plagues were everywhere. The place where the officials stored the fireworks had several incidents of spontaneous combustion and explosion. In the end, they were all converted into ammunition.
After that, fewer and fewer people cared about celebrating the New Year.
As she watched, Ji Yang started to feel sleepy.
Fighting off her drowsiness, she added some more wood to the fireplace. She was too lazy to go back to her room and just lay down on the sofa. With a wave of her hand, a silk duvet appeared, and she fell asleep in no time.
In her sleep, she vaguely seemed to hear someone shouting, “It’s snowing!”
Ji Yang’s heart clenched, but thinking that there were some things she couldn’t change, she continued to sleep.
—
She didn’t wake up until it was past ten in the morning.
Before she even opened her eyes, the dazzling light made them sore. Ji Yang rubbed her eyes and opened them again, just in time to see the world outside the balcony.
She was on the fifteenth floor, with the sixteenth and seventeenth floors above her. The position was already very high, and she still couldn’t see the roof of the opposite building. But the distance between the buildings was large, and the view was unobstructed. At a glance, she could see a vast expanse of white outside.
Snowflakes were still falling, but not heavily, as gentle as in the peaceful era. Through the slightly ajar balcony window, she could hear the excited voices of children because of the snow.
Who would have thought that this snow, once it started, would never stop?
The weather forecast had also predicted snow, but only for these three days, so no one paid it any mind.
Only Ji Yang was so shocked that she sat up abruptly.
Xixi was also startled and jumped off the sofa, its doggy face looking around in confusion. What happened?!
The fireplace had gone out. Even with the air conditioner on, the living room was still a bit cold. A chill washed over her, and she quickly got dressed and hurried to the balcony to look.
It really had arrived early!
Ji Yang clearly remembered that it had not snowed on the first day of the Lunar New Year that year.
Her brows furrowed slightly as she stared at the white snow outside. After her rebirth, she had countless times wondered if various changes would occur because of her, including but not limited to the apocalypse arriving early, the sequence of events changing, or even more severe disasters.
Now that it had really arrived early, she felt a sense of finality.
Fortunately, it was only one or two days early, which meant the change was small. Even if there were changes in the future, they should be within a manageable range.
But some things had to be done in advance.
As she had said before, the debt of birth had to be repaid to Qiao Yi. Even though she had refused Ji Yang’s plea for help in her previous life, the debt of birth could not be erased.
She had given her a life; she would give her a chance at life in return.
Ji Yang opened her phone and placed an order according to the address in her memory.
The Qiao family was not in Changnan City, but in Hu City, more than a hundred kilometers away. However, Qiao Yi’s second husband happened to be in Changnan City. But Changnan City was very large; one was in the south and the other in the north, each with their own social and commercial circles. Without transportation, it was difficult to meet.
Fortunately, technology was advanced now. After switching the address, she could still buy whatever she wanted.
It was only the first day of snow. Even though it was a bit heavy and quickly covered her ankles, food delivery was still available. She directly selected two bags of rice, a bag of flour, and some fresh produce from the supermarket.
At checkout, she found that the delivery fee had increased to 20.
So cheap!
Ji Yang, who had experienced delivery fees of several thousand, exclaimed in her heart.