Li Ying had a computer at home. She brought it out and let Lin Xi operate it to access the contents of Lin Duxi's cloud drive.
Li Ying's cousin, Li Yucheng, quickly sensed something amiss after watching the video. He immediately took out his phone to make a call. Half an hour later, he received a call from the Tongzhou District police station.
After Lin Duxi went missing, someone had indeed reported the case to the police. However, since he was an adult and had been sending regular messages to acquaintances, the Tongzhou District police only recorded the report without further action.
After hanging up, Li Yucheng said, "In today's fast-paced, high-pressure society, there are plenty of adults who disappear on their own. As long as they occasionally check in and remain reachable, people don’t think much of it."
"So, the police called Lin Duxi at the time, but he didn’t answer. He only sent a text afterward."
"Similar cases have happened before, so the Tongzhou police didn’t take it seriously."
Lin Xi understood this situation. One of her college classmates had vanished after graduation, reportedly due to depression. The classmate occasionally posted on social media to reassure friends and family while supposedly recuperating elsewhere.
"Cases like this are too common these days. Honestly, if I hadn’t accidentally accessed Lin Duxi’s personal cloud and seen that video, I wouldn’t have suspected anything was wrong," Lin Xi said sympathetically.
Lin Duxi had majored in computer science in college, but he also had hobbies. He would compile his interests into collections and share them on forums and QQ groups with like-minded people. Lin Xi only discovered this when she went looking for information.
Afterward, whether she investigated Lin Duxi’s ex-girlfriend Fang Qianqian or Zhang Qiang, everything held up. Lin Xi wasn’t afraid of being scrutinized.
Li Yucheng copied the video onto an unused USB drive from Li Ying’s house and left in a hurry without even eating lunch.
Lin Xi stayed at Li Ying’s place until evening when Brother Feng returned, and they had dinner together before she left.
At the dinner table, she mentioned her plan to resign and return to her hometown. Brother Feng and his family were reluctant to see her go but didn’t try to stop her. Lin Xi’s grandmother was elderly and in poor health—they couldn’t stand in the way of her filial duty.
That night, back at home, Lin Xi received a message from Li Yucheng: the case had been officially filed and was under investigation.
Zhang Qiang and Fang Qianqian had been summoned to the police station for questioning.
Lin Xi relayed the news to Lin Duxi, who was overjoyed and deeply grateful. Before she went to bed, he sent her a piece of jewelry.
[Post-Apocalyptic Lin Duxi: In the early days of the apocalypse, gold was the hard currency, so luxuries like jade became worthless.]
[Post-Apocalyptic Lin Duxi: By the time I arrived, it was mid-apocalypse. The powerful had seized all the gold, and jade had long disappeared. I traded this for the bread you sent me with someone in my group this afternoon.]
[Thank you for sending those supplies—they saved me in a desperate moment. Honestly, the water and food gave me the hope to keep living.]
Lin Xi picked up the small wooden box that had suddenly appeared by her bedside.
Inside was a pale green jade pendant, cool and smooth to the touch.
Lin Xi didn’t know much about jade, but she understood that anything preserved so carefully in a post-apocalyptic world must be incredibly valuable.
Unease settled in her heart, and sleep eluded her. The supplies she’d sent Lin Duxi that morning had been cheap—less than twenty yuan in total.
Keeping this jade pendant felt wrong. Xu Huanhuan’s golden peanut had also been expensive, and Lin Duxi’s gene-repair serum was a priceless treasure.
If she sold it, wealthy buyers would line up. But those had been rewards for completing tasks—she’d given something in return.
This jade pendant was different.
Lin Xi got up, poured herself a cup of warm water from the thermos, and typed out a message.
By the time she set the cup down, Lin Duxi had replied:
[Post-Apocalyptic Lin Duxi: No, no, no, Miss Lin. To you, bread and water are trivial, but to us, they’re priceless. If I auctioned these supplies, countless people would pay a fortune for them.]
Lin Xi stared at the words, speechless, then typed: [Then how about this—I’ll send you something every day.]
Lin Duxi replied with an agreement, and they ended the conversation. Lin Xi turned her attention to the time-travelers’ group chat.
As usual, the group was buzzing with chatter, especially Ye Bingbing, who was practically spamming the chat, venting about the absurd world she was trapped in.
Even through the screen, Lin Xi could feel her frustration. The group had five members, including Lin Xi. Lin Duxi hadn’t replied, Ah Huahua occasionally chimed in, but Xu Huanhuan was nowhere to be seen.
Since she couldn’t sleep, Lin Xi decided to message Xu Huanhuan directly. Only after sending it did she remember that time flowed differently in Xu Huanhuan’s world, and with no modern entertainment at night, she was probably asleep.
Lin Xi lay back in bed, turned off the light, and replied to Ye Bingbing in the group chat.
Ye Bingbing, ever the active participant, ranted:
[Villainess in a CEO Novel Ye Bingbing: I can’t take this ridiculous world anymore. You won’t believe this—tonight, I secretly ordered takeout to my apartment, and who shows up? The CEO’s runaway sweetheart! Just as I was about to take the food, the idiot CEO storms in, accusing me of enslaving his darling.]
Lin Xi thought of the old-school CEO novels she’d read in her youth—this was exactly the kind of melodrama they loved.
Back then, she’d found the domineering CEO trope thrilling and romantic. But after life’s harsh lessons, looking back, those characters just seemed mentally unstable.
She comforted Ye Bingbing, who finally quieted down after venting. Then, Xu Huanhuan’s private reply arrived.
[Ancient World Xu Huanhuan: I’m fine. These past few days, I’ve been dealing with my scoundrel husband taking a concubine.]
Lin Xi’s breath caught at the words.
People always said no man could tolerate being cheated on—but the same applied to women.
Yet Xu Huanhuan, now in an ancient world, had come to terms with it. Perhaps, deep down, she’d never truly trusted men. Her initial distress had stemmed from growing up in a monogamous society.
As Lin Xi had said, if even modern laws couldn't guarantee a man's loyalty, then in an era where concubines were legally permitted, why should Xu Huanhuan torment herself over a few sweet promises made in the heat of passion?
It was like that saying Xu Huanhuan had once seen online—the tighter you grip sand in your hand, the faster it slips away.
Once she realized this, Xu Huanhuan threw herself into action. She personally selected a few gentle, obedient women—completely loyal to her—for her husband, Wei Mingye. None of the women he dallied with outside would ever set foot in her home.
Beyond that, she decisively separated her dowry and assets from the Marquisate. In modern society, she had been a researcher at a cosmetics company. After transmigrating to ancient times, she opened a popular beauty salon that raked in piles of money daily.
Wei Mingye’s family bore the prestigious title of the Marquis of Dingguo, but their finances were in shambles. The only reason they had married her—the daughter of a minor fifth-rank official—was for her maternal grandfather’s wealthy merchant connections and her substantial dowry.
She used to be foolish, thinking that since she was already married, and her in-laws, sister-in-law, and husband treated her well, it didn’t matter if she subsidized the Wei family. After taking charge of the household, she worked tirelessly.
She managed every little thing, turning the family’s businesses profitable and watching the accounts grow fatter by the day. With more money came comfort—but also idleness, and the various members of the household grew increasingly entitled.
Take Wei Mingye’s younger sister, Wei Mingzhu, for example. Now she demanded bird’s nest soup daily, new jewelry and clothes every month—and if Xu Huanhuan refused, she was the bad sister-in-law.
In the past, Xu Huanhuan had tolerated it for Wei Mingye’s sake. After all, her beauty salon made plenty.
But now? Lying in bed, staring at the dark canopy above, Xu Huanhuan replied to Lin Xi’s message.
She had already relinquished control of the household and reclaimed most of the money she’d poured into it. From now on, everyone could fend for themselves. Whoever wanted this rotten marquisate could have it. She had once hoped to find a home in this world, but now she had the chat group—and through Lin Xi, she could even see her parents. Since her heart had a place to return to, whoever wanted this worthless man could have him. Right now, she just wanted to raise her child and keep her money secure.
Faced with Xu Huanhuan’s words, Lin Xi could only offer a stiff reply. After a moment’s thought, she opened a food delivery app and ordered barbecue. When it arrived, she grabbed two cans of beer from the fridge and sent them to Xu Huanhuan.
Xu Huanhuan loved drinking. Whether happy or upset, she’d always down a couple of beers. Lin Xi figured that for someone in Xu Huanhuan’s state, words of comfort were too hollow—maybe beer and barbecue could soothe her soul.
In the ancient world, Xu Huanhuan sat on her bed, eating skewers and drinking beer. When she finished, she sent the packaging back to Lin Xi and then slept soundly. The bitterness and grievances buried in her heart seemed to evaporate along with the alcohol.
The next day, when Lin Xi arrived at work, she received a message from Xu Huanhuan—a sincere thank-you that made her smile.
Opening the group chat, she found it lively, with Ah Huahua and Ye Bingbing venting about their respective lives while Xu Huanhuan and Lin Duxi chimed in occasionally.
Lin Xi had already asked Lin Duxi about the exact quantity of the genetic repair serum. She hid it in the most secluded spot of her rented apartment, waiting until she quit her job and returned home to drink it with her grandmother.
Lin Duxi explained that the genetic repair serum had been developed by top biologists during the early days of the apocalypse, when resources were still relatively abundant.
Over the past few days, whenever she had time, Lin Xi had scoured the chat group repeatedly but still couldn’t find anything unusual.
Since she couldn’t figure it out, she stopped overthinking it and joined the conversation. Only when a customer arrived did she put her phone down to assist them.
Time passed in a blur of busyness. By the time Lin Xi received Li Yucheng’s call, it was already Wednesday of the following week.
She had been swamped that week, so she scheduled her day off for Friday.
Li Yucheng didn’t waste words. "Your friend’s body has been found."
