Chapter 140 - 132: My Taking Charge Is Not Necessarily a Bad Thing

Chapter 140: Chapter 132: My Taking Charge Is Not Necessarily a Bad Thing

There’s only one thing that can pull a man out of an emotional mire:

Accomplishments!

If a man’s love life goes sour, he’ll just pour more of his energy into his career.

That’s why so many men who’ve been hurt by love have a WeChat status that says...

"Hustle for cash!"

Zhao Wenjie was broken, but then he met Yu Dong.

"Wen Jie, other people might see you as a joke, but in my eyes... you’re a real man, a hero!"

"You were hurt because your way of thinking is too outdated. You don’t understand the real nature of relationships between men and women."

"Men and women are inherently equal. There’s no such thing as one person’s ’first time’ being more valuable than another’s. And there’s no harm in taking what you can get, either."

"If you think women are more ’precious’ in that way, it just proves you don’t respect them. You still see them as accessories for men, a relic of a feudal society."

"True respect isn’t about granting special privileges; it’s about equal rights."

"After the apocalypse begins, we’re going to meet a lot of people and do a lot of things. I hope you’ll be able to look at the world through a new lens of equality."

"So, join us, Wen Jie! I need you."

Yu Dong’s words were earth-shattering. For the broken Zhao Wenjie, it was as if his entire worldview was being rebuilt from the ground up.

At that moment, he realized... the principles his father had taught him weren’t entirely right. His father was just an ordinary, old-fashioned man.

"Well said! Fucking awesome! Brother Wen Jie fights zombies head-on, so of course he can see through this!"

Yan Yikai cheered from the side.

A bit of color returned to Zhao Wenjie’s face.

Just now, Yu Dong had told the two of them a story about the post-apocalyptic world.

In Yu Dong’s story, he wasn’t a joke; he was a hero.

After he died, everyone missed him, mourned him.

Closing his eyes, he could almost feel that true strength.

’Dad, maybe there’s more to being a man than just protecting women...’

At this moment, Zhao Wenjie no longer cared whether Yu Dong’s story was true or not. It didn’t matter anymore.

What else could he do now?

"I’ll go with you. I hope everything you said about tomorrow is real..."

The shattered Zhao Wenjie was easily recruited into the team. Yu Dong turned his head to look at Yan Yikai, who was sitting beside him.

"Kai, in this life... are you still willing to join my team?"

Yan Yikai hugged a rubber ball to his chest and looked toward an apartment in Building Two.

"Have my family... all turned into zombies?"

"Yes. If you don’t believe me, you’ll be able to video call your family and see for yourself... I know it’s cruel, but that’s how the apocalypse is. There’s not much we can do."

Yu Dong had actually found a way, but... he couldn’t say for sure if it would succeed, and it could only help a few people. Yu Dong had no intention of saving Yan Yikai’s family.

Yan Yikai fell silent for a moment, staring at his Little Genius smartwatch for a long time...

"I’ll join."

"Oh?" Yu Dong hadn’t expected things to go so smoothly with Yan Yikai. After all, he didn’t know any of Yan Yikai’s secrets; he had only told him what happened in their past life.

"Because I don’t want to be a kid whose words are ignored by everyone anymore. I want to grow up. I want to be friends with people who respect me. And I feel like... Brother Dong, you respect me. Maybe that’s why I was willing to follow you in our past life!"

At this, Yan Yikai gave Yu Dong a smile. "Even if nothing happens, I’ll just treat it as a jog to Huangyang Port. No big deal. Though it’s highly unlikely that nothing will happen. But... for a story like that, I have to go see it for myself!"

From Yu Dong, he heard that he was valued.

This... was what he had always dreamed of.

He was already grown up. He didn’t like the Little Genius smartwatch; he wanted a real smartphone. But every adult in his family seemed to be deaf. No one ever heard what he said...

He didn’t understand why words always failed to serve their purpose of communication.

They all said, "Wait until you’re older, wait until you’re older..." But does a person, in going from 17 years and 364 days old to 18, automatically gain an attribute called [Maturity, Independence, and Autonomy] like they’re leveling up in a game?

If his family couldn’t be saved, then he would start a new life.

Zhao Wenjie and Yan Yikai went home to pack their things.

Yu Dong glanced at the small playground nearby. Qiao Ping was there, pushing her daughter Nuonuo on the swings.

It was Saturday, so there was no preschool.

Yu Dong walked over and sat down next to Qiao Ping.

"You still haven’t told me what’s going on with your husband. Are his superiors taking it seriously?"

"I don’t know. He got lucky, I guess. He wasn’t criticized, but no one has contacted him about it either."

"Alright... Tomorrow’s the day. You should get ready. Be at Huangyang Port before 5 PM. It’s going to be chaotic, so I’ll put you somewhere safe beforehand."

"And what if I don’t go? I’ve asked professionals these past few days. They said the ’S-Virus’ and the ’apocalypse’ you’re talking about are impossible. Why are you so lost in this delusion? Come with me to my place later... I have a psychologist at my home. She’s very professional. Let her take a look at you, how about it?"

"Sigh... If today’s experts could figure it out, it wouldn’t still be a mystery three months into the apocalypse. I don’t understand the specific principles either, but I know it’s definitely going to happen. Thanks for the kind offer, but... if you’re not there by 5 PM tomorrow... you know about Yin Shuangyang’s arrest, right? I’ll make sure to add the fact that your mother took a million yuan from him to the case. Let’s hope your mom can withstand this round of investigation."

"You’re a stubborn, crazy man," Qiao Ping said angrily.

"Because I know I’m right..." Yu Dong then asked, "Has the medical lab your husband contacted confirmed its opening time?"

"Tomorrow at 9 AM. Have your people go over."

"Mm... I suggest you have your husband and Nuonuo go too. It might save their lives."

"..."

Qiao Ping didn’t answer. She just watched her daughter, silent for a long time.

After Yu Dong left, Qiao Ping’s psychologist put down her binoculars and came down from upstairs.

She was an intellectual-looking woman, about the same age as Qiao Ping, but taller and with a gentle smile on her face.

"He trusts you a lot, and he feels a sense of... responsibility for you. Even when he’s threatening you, he’s watching your expression... probably because he’s afraid of making you uncomfortable."

"But every time he comes here, he forces me to do things I don’t want to do."

"He’s a dominant person. His eyes... they’re unbreakable. No one can persuade him, and he won’t allow you to oppose him. The corners of his mouth sometimes curl up involuntarily... I guess it’s because he finds it amusing to think about how you’ll react when you learn the truth."

"Are you saying... what he’s saying is true?"

"No... I’m just saying that he completely believes his apocalypse is real, so he does everything without any psychological burden. This state of mind... is often found in extreme cultists. He’s an extremely dangerous person."

"So should I go tomorrow? Or... I could just have my uncle arrest him. We’ve already gathered the one million yuan. If we turn it in proactively now, my mom probably won’t be in too much trouble."

The psychologist smiled faintly. "But... what if what he’s saying is true? Besides extreme cultists, that kind of mental state can also be found in another type of person."

"What kind of person?"

"A warrior with an iron will."

...

Yu Dong walked out of the Xiangti Bay Community by himself and looked at the Shangri-La Hotel across the street.

There were three more people there.

The boss, Jiang Cheng; the salesman, Lin Cong; and the HR manager, Tian Hui.

In the last month of their previous life, they had been living in the small supermarket next to the Xiangti Bay Community and didn’t have much contact with Yu Dong’s group.

But Xia Yao had said the three of them were good people and had taken great care of her.

Therefore, Yu Dong judged that the three of them at least had a moral compass; they weren’t bad people.

That alone was enough reason for Yu Dong to save them.

However, these three were also the most difficult to handle in this life.

Because Yu Dong didn’t know them well, it would be hard to devise a targeted plan for them.

Moreover, though the three of them seemed completely unrelated, they actually shared a hidden attribute: wealth.

None of the three were short on cash, otherwise they wouldn’t be staying at the Shangri-La Hotel by the sea for 800 yuan a night.

Jiang Cheng was a boss, so that goes without saying. Lin Cong was a salesman with a nuclear-powered work ethic; in his line of work, you could make good money if you were thick-skinned and worked your ass off.

Tian Hui was an HR department manager at a major corporation, a standard member of the new urban middle class.

Based on Yu Dong’s experience, the more accomplished people were, the harder they were to persuade...