Rebirth: Leading Families to Survive in the Apocalypse

Chapter 16: Collecting Funds
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

In her past life, Su Jin had not experienced any of these incidents before the apocalypse, and she did not see them in the news either. Although some people mentioned a contagious disease online, she did not correlate that with this possibility. In her mind, even if there was a pandemic, the government would be able to keep it under control. However, this zombie virus took everyone completely by surprise.

It seemed that her starting over had already begun to change some things in the timeline. In that case, it must be possible for her to change the ending for herself, her family, and Lu Hao!

The next morning, Su Jin woke up just as Lu Hao came back from his outdoor training. He was going to take a shower, so he took off his shirt and revealed his tight abs.

That was the first thing Su Jin saw when she woke up. It was enough to get anyone’s blood racing…

Lu Hao did not know what she was thinking. When he saw that she was staring at him, barely awake, he thought that she was still bleary, so he bent down and gave her a kiss.

Su Jin hurriedly covered her head with the blanket so Lu Hao could not see her expression. She did not want to admit that he had completely charmed her over.

Lu Hao was planning to take the day off from work. Although something like that happened yesterday, the most important thing to him now was to gather more supplies together with Su Jin.

Last night, the two of them made a plan. Today, they were supposed to wait until Lu Hao got his leave approved, and then they would go to his investor friend and cash in all of the funds he had there.

Lu Hao’s friend, Guo Yang, was an expert in investments and Lu Hao’s childhood friend to boot, so Lu Hao had a lot of faith in him. He had asked Guo Yang to invest almost all of the money he had earned over the past few years from his position in the army, and his initial investment of around two hundred thousand was now five million.

That was an insane return! Su Jin was unbelievably jealous. Why did she not have such an over-powered childhood friend?

If they added the five million from the stock market, the two of them would have seven million in usable funds. Just then, Lu Hao looked up at Su Jin and motioned at the house.

“Lu Hao, don’t tell me, are you planning to sell the house?” Su Jin asked. The house was in the center of town, and they were supposed to start a family in it. Well, it is true that the house would mean nothing to them if the apocalypse struck.

That was what Lu Hao was thinking, too. He was reluctant to let go of the home he was building with her, but it was just as Su Jin said. Once the apocalypse hit, the safest places would be their respective bases. Even if they did not go to another base for shelter, this house would not be able to serve them much.

“What do you think, Lil Jin?” The two of them were going to fight this war together from now on, so of course they had to make every discussion as a unit.

“No objections here, naturally. You’re so smart, Lu Hao! I didn’t even think of that.” Su Jin lavished him with praise again.

Lu Hao had grown up receiving all sorts of compliments, even winning awards for his contributions and so on. He was used to the attention. When Su Jin praised him, though, he turned red for some reason.

Since they had everything planned out, now all that was left was to put it in action. Lu Hao went to the station and soon got his leave approved. He gave his men a few more words of advice before hurrying back.

With that, the two of them drove to Lu Hao’s childhood friend Guo Yang’s office.

An investment manager’s office sure was fancy, Su Jin thought to herself.

Guo Yang’s office was on the 33rd floor of a tower in the middle of the city’s central business district. The moment they stepped out of the elevator, the first thing they saw was the spotless marble floor. On the side, there was a huge God of Fortune statue, complete with an incense urn and some smoldering joss sticks…

“Your childhood friend still worships the God of Fortune, eh?” Su Jin teased Lu Hao.

“Yeah. He was influenced by his grandfather, so he believes in these things too,” Lu Hao said with a laugh.

Since young, Guo Yang had been a rather quiet kid. He lived with his grandfather, and his grandfather was old-school superstitious, so they had ceramic god statues littered all around their house. When Guo Yang had felt lonely with no one to talk to, he would talk to those statues.

Later, Lu Hao saved Guo Yang from some bullies, and the two of them somehow became bosom buddies.

Guo Yang was told in advance that Lu Hao and his wife were visiting today, and he knew why they were here too. Not long after Lu Hao stepped out of the elevator, he saw Guo Yang coming to greet him.

First of all, Lu Hao introduced Su Jin to Guo Yang. Guo Yang smiled and said, “Nice to meet you, lil sis-in-law.” He then invited the two of them into his office for some tea as they talked.

Guo Yang was a thin and tall man. He wore gold-rimmed glasses and his taut muscles showed that he was probably a regular gym-goer. Inwardly, Su Jin thought, ‘Is he the tall, rich, and handsome guy more girls dream about?’

Lu Hao saw that Su Jin kept checking out his childhood friend. His eyes turned green with envy.

She felt Lu Hao’s arm around her waist tighten, and when she turned her head to look at him, Lu Hao said into her ear, “Don’t stare at other men.”

Su Jin turned red, but at the same time she was amused. She had not expected him to be the jealous type.

Guo Yang’s office was extremely private.

After the three of them walked in, Guo Yang pressed a button at the door and the two floor-to-ceiling window panes turned dark brown. Su Jin looked at Lu Hao and saw that his expression had not changed. It seemed that the two of them were used to this.

“Tell me straight, Lu Hao. Why do you want to cash in your stocks? It isn’t like you.” Guo Yang asked as soon as he gestured at the two of them to take a seat.

“You say that like you know something. What’s wrong with me trying to get my money back from you?” Lu Hao knew that Guo Yang must have guessed something.

“Haha, let’s put it this way. I’ve known what you’re like ever since we were kids. You wouldn’t have even thought about taking this money unless something happened. Unless it was your last resort.” Guo Yang looked at Su Jin next to Lu Hao and pushed his glasses up his nose. “Unless this has something to do with Sis-in-law over there.”

It was not a question. Guo Yang had seen through them. He was a smart, almost devious man.

On the other hand, Lu Hao did not look angry, as though he had expected this to happen.

“Guo Yang, our team has been handling some strange cases lately. I sense a massive change in the air.” Lu Hao did not elaborate, but Guo Yang’s expression had already changed drastically. He knew that Lu Hao was not someone who would say something like this without great reason. It had to be monumental for Lu Hao to tell him that.

“I understand. Here’s ten million, take it!”

One million? Why so much? It was not like there was a stock market boom recently.

“Haha, don’t misunderstand me, both of you. Four million of that is mine. I don’t know why you two need so much money, but count me in as well,” Guo Yang said with a smile.

He went straight in, huh? Even Su Jin had to respect Guo Yang for that. He was boldly jumping onto their ship.

Lu Hao burst out laughing. Even if Guo Yang had not volunteered, he would have brought Guo Yang along. The two of them had known each other for over a decade, and he had quite a lot of faith in Guo Yang, but he could not tell Guo Yang about Lil Jin’s secret just yet.

Therefore, Lu Hao told Guo Yang about how their squad’s suspect had turned into a zombie and how Su Jin had encountered one in G Province as well. The higher-ups were already mobilizing, but what they saw could be just the tip of the iceberg. Things could be getting worse elsewhere.

“So you’re going to use all of your savings to buy supplies?” Guo Yang was surprised. Even if the situation was really dire, there was no need to react like this. The two of them were even planning to sell their house, so there was no turning back at all for them.

“I’m only telling you this because I trust you, Guo Yang. Lil Jin has been having some dreams lately, and they’re likely showing her what will happen next. The apocalypse won’t be as simple as what you’re imagining right now.” Lu Hao’s expression was complicated. He could only remind his good friend in this roundabout manner to avoid exposing Su Jin.

“I understand. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. I’m all alone now, but if there’s one thing, I have money. I want to hear what you two think I should do with it.” He trusted Lu Hao completely. Besides, if this really did turn out the way they thought, then his best option would undoubtedly be to go with Lu Hao and Su Jin.

“Weapons and cars,” Su Jin said softly, parting her red lips.

“What do you mean, Sis-in-law?”

“Those are my suggestions. That’s what I think you should get if you want to join us.” Su Jin figured that it was best to get straight to the point when talking to people as smart as Guo Yang.

As expected, Guo Yang agreed without hesitation. He could access some weapons, and cars were no problem. Then he looked at Lu Hao and saw that the latter was talking to Su Jin with open affection written all over his face. Fine, it was not like he had any other family to worry about. He just had to stick with his brother to the end!

After they left the tower, the two of them went to a property agency. Once the people heard that they wanted to sell their house in the center of the city, many agents in white shirts appeared and surrounded them.

The location and layout of the house were top-notch. Whoever got this business would definitely be able to earn a hefty commission.

As such, they offered Lu Hao and Su Jin tea, filled their cups, and even sliced fruits for the couple.

Finally, Su Jin pointed at the first agent, an older man who had been the first to greet them. The older agent beamed, confident that he would finally get a bonus this month. The others left in disappointment.

The older agent’s last name was Jiang, so Su Jin and Lu Hao called him Old Jiang. Old Jiang told them that he would be able to sell the house within three days, and at a good price too.

Lu Hao nodded and gave Old Jiang more information so that Old Jiang could handle the sale all by himself. After the agent nodded, Lu Hao and Su Jin went home.

At the time, the two of them had no idea about the chaos that was threatening to uproot Su Jin’s grandparents’ home.