Back to the Apocalypse - Chapter 33.1

Chapter 33.1

The following day, the weather unsurprisingly turned blisteringly hot as the sun was roasting the earth like meat on a barbecue . Temperature rose to 45°C (113°F) and although it was still tolerable in D city, in many others medium-sized towns, villages and smaller countries, power failures were already getting common . People began to loudly complain as day to day life was getting increasingly difficult . Inside most houses, the air conditioning was kept open nearly 24 hours a day and outside, barely anyone was walking around anymore . The sun, by his now murderous toxics UV, was now shining so strongly people exposed to it for a while would faint . A dozen of those cases were already seen in hospitals, most of them followed up in live on the radio and television, mostly to prevent more of those from happening .

But the strangest thing was the fact that the weather station hadn’t forecast anything of the sort . When asked, they literally had no explanation as there were no previous indications of the temperature suddenly rising so drastically .

As he was walking towards the door, Bai Jing touched his pocket and, casually confirming the presence of his cellphone, went out of the house . They say that money can make the ghosts and devils turn your grind stone (meaning : money can make everything happened) and that proverb for sure was quite true . Indeed, despite the weather, the supermarket suppliers did deliver the good as usual . Only the price was three times higher than normal, not forgetting the drivers and porters getting an 500 in tips each . Although the amount wasn’t much, it was enough to make them braver than usual .

But concretely, with the air conditioning in the car and the refrigerated warehouse, while the heat would exhausted them, in 1-2 hours everything would be done and the pay for the job was higher than what they would usually get in a day .

That day, as Bai Jing was leaving his house, Xiao Sa left D city . Having witnessed with his own eyes the changes his mind had refused to believe as real, he thought more deeply about about what Bai Jing had told him . In that case, specifically when he said he didn’t know exactly when the Apocalypse would begin .

As it was now important not to waste a single moment, he took upon himself to start right away with his preparations . As he had in mind all the details of what was to come, he truly had no intention of experiencing these on his own . The Apocalypse was approaching so Xiao San made some arrangements in N City for his brothers-in-arms whom he wouldn’t leave out no matter what .

The next morning, Bai Jing sent Wang Xuebing and Cao Lei to pick up the old couple and their son . Originally, he thought of waiting for Lin Zhifeng’s summer vacation to call them over . But looking outside, he couldn’t tell with certitude when the virus outbreak will start, so for his peace of mind he had sent for them earlier . After all the time they spend together, Bai Jing felt a lot of affection for that family .

And a that point, he truly didn’t want them falling like they did in their last life, stupidly dying protecting unrelated people who would end up abusing of their consideration .

As for Qin Yi, Bai Jing made him into some sort of spokesman, mostly to spread the word that the young master of the Bai family was truly fond of jade . In D city, his family name held a lot of power and therefore a lot of eyes and ears were constantly on him . Should he say the word and all the crimes committed by a family would come to light in an instant . But this time, the intention was a bit different as he only wanted the world to know about his particular interest in jade .

Qin Yi was at first puzzled, but after a talk with Wang Xuebing and Cao Lei where Bai Jing’s character was dwelled upon, he could roughly figure out what was expected of him . As long as he handled this affair properly and efficiently, there was no ‘privilege path’ . That morning he therefore immediately left the house after Bai Jing .

Xu Lei and Qin Hao were to stay at home like usual, having for only mission to store up some fresh vegetables and food .

Qin Yi must have worked hard, for as soon as the next day some people had braved the sun to come and visit him in his residence . It was faster than expected as new and old acquaintance came at his door, including deputy Mayor Zhu who came in, without his beloved daughter .

Bai Jing knew that the day he threw Zhu Ting out, adding with the drama related with the bodyguards and Ms . Chen, the story had unmistakably reached his father’s ears . And biased as he was, the man was sure Bai Jing always knew best and therefore his heart regarded with displeasure this little daughter of a Vice Mayor, daring to give pain to his one and only son . Vice Mayor Zhu, feeling deeply the consequences of displeasing such a man, was determined to make his daughter apologies but Zhu Ting was unwilling and frightened, and she cried as if her life depended on it .

He felt helpless and could only hate his spoiled own daughter . But looking at her unfading reluctance, he got afraid things would only get worst if she was forced to go .

Originally he thought an opportunity to redeem themselves would be a question of days but time passed and no such thing revealed itself . It was only half a month later that he had the good fortune to learn an important piece of information . And the very next day, two white jade Ming Dynasty bottles were delivered at Bai Jing’s doors .