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Chapter 95

Chapter 95: Gu Ning’s Dinner – The Door of Apocalypse Rebirth

Gu Ning was still basking in the joy of soon having two hundred million in assets when she heard Gu Mama outside the door say, “Ningning, Xiaoyu just called and said she’ll be over soon. I’m going out to buy some fruit. You stay home and let her in.”

Gu Ning snapped out of her newfound wealth-induced euphoria and immediately opened the door to step out. “What does she want?”

Gu Mama replied, “She didn’t say. Maybe she just wants to see you. She said she wanted to visit you on your first day back, but you didn’t let her come. You also said you were too busy with work to go over for dinner. There are only two girls in the family, and if you don’t spend time together, you’ll grow apart. You used to be as close as one person, but now that you’re back, no matter how busy you are, you should make time to meet up.”

Gu Mama, unaware of the apocalypse, naturally thought Gu Ning and Jiang Yu were still as close as sisters. Perhaps Jiang Yu thought the same. Only Gu Ning now wanted to keep as much distance from Jiang Yu as possible, preferably never seeing her again. But if she suddenly became too cold toward Jiang Yu and her family, Gu Mama might not be able to accept it. This would have to be handled gradually.

Gu Ning’s mind raced, and she quickly put on an anxious expression. “What should I do? I just got a call from a parent asking me to hurry over. There’s an emergency at their company, and the child is home alone.”

Gu Mama immediately said, “Then you should go. The parent trusts you so much, and you can’t let them down. Xiaoyu is family; it’s fine. I’ll explain it to her when she comes.”

Gu Ning feigned hesitation. “Is that okay?”

“It’s fine. You two can meet anytime. Go ahead, don’t delay their matter. Hurry up.” Gu Mama actually started urging her.

Having achieved her goal, Gu Ning hurriedly left.

Less than ten minutes after Gu Ning left, Jiang Yu’s car pulled up downstairs.

Jiang Yu knocked on Gu Ning’s door and, upon entering, gave Gu Mama a hug, sweetly saying, “Auntie, it’s been so long since I last saw you. I missed you so much.”

Gu Mama was all smiles. “Oh, you. You didn’t have to bring fruit. Are you trying to burn through your money?”

“It’s just a small token of respect for you, Auntie.” Jiang Yu casually placed the fruit on the table and glanced around the room. “Huh? Where’s Gu Ning? Didn’t you say she was home?”

Gu Mama explained, “She got a call from the parent she tutors for. There was an emergency, so she had to rush over to take care of the child. I told her to go. You two can meet anytime.”

Jiang Yu smiled. “Gu Ning must be working hard taking care of kids. Actually, there’s a position open at our company. Should I try to get it for her?”

Gu Mama waved her hand. “No need. Jiazhi mentioned a position at his company that Gu Ning could take anytime, but she didn’t want to. Her current job is good. The parent is very nice, and the pay is great—almost ten thousand a month. For someone who just graduated, that’s excellent.”

Jiang Yu was surprised. “The pay is that high?”

Gu Mama proudly said, “Yes. The parent really values Ningning. She even got an advance of thirty thousand after just a few days.”

Jiang Yu’s expression flickered for a moment but quickly returned to normal. “With such good conditions, I hope Ningning isn’t being scammed.”

“Of course not!” Gu Mama immediately replied. “It was introduced by a police officer friend of Ningning’s. Don’t worry.”

Jiang Yu curiously asked, “Gu Ning never mentioned she had a police officer friend.”

“Oh, speaking of Method—that’s Gu Ning’s little police officer friend—I really like him. He’s handsome, tall, sunny, and just the right age. I’ll have Gu Ning bring him over someday so you can see if he’s a good match for her.” Gu Mama was very close with the Jiang family, and Jiang Yu had grown up with Gu Ning. They were like sisters, so Gu Mama spoke freely, not noticing the slight change in Jiang Yu’s smile.

“Is that so?” Jiang Yu smiled. “Then I’ll have to meet him sometime and give Gu Ning my opinion.”

After chatting for a while, Jiang Yu steered the conversation to her real purpose for visiting. “By the way, Auntie, there’s something I need your help with.”

Gu Mama casually asked, “What is it?”

“Well, it’s actually to help a friend.” Jiang Yu warmly linked arms with Gu Mama. “A friend of mine works at a TV station. They’re doing a popular antique appraisal show. Right now, they’re looking for something like an antique to use on the show. I remembered you have a pair of vases like that, so I came to ask if I could borrow them for the show.”

Gu Mama laughed. “What antique? Those vases were part of Gu Ning’s great-grandmother’s dowry when she got married. They were passed down to me when I got married. They’re just from the Republic of China era.”

Jiang Yu said, “That’s fine. They don’t necessarily need antiques. They just want something to create a story around and appraise on the show. Once the show is done, I’ll return them in perfect condition.”

Gu Mama agreed, “Alright. They’re not particularly valuable, but I was planning to give them to Ningning as part of her dowry when she gets married. Make sure you take good care of them. Wait here, I’ll go get them.”

As Gu Mama stood up to fetch the vases, Jiang Yu smiled and said, “Thank you, Auntie.”

She also stood up and casually glanced around, noticing that Gu Ning’s room door was open. A thought crossed her mind, and she walked into Gu Ning’s room. Back when they were close, Jiang Yu often entered Gu Ning’s room without a second thought, and Gu Ning never minded. So, Jiang Yu felt no hesitation as she looked around the room. Suddenly, something on the desk caught her eye.

When Gu Mama saw Jiang Yu come out of Gu Ning’s room holding a box, she was momentarily stunned. Jiang Yu asked, “Auntie, Gu Ning has a really beautiful porcelain bowl here. It looks like an antique. Can I borrow it too?” In her hands was the Northern Song Dynasty Ru kiln celadon-glazed sunflower bowl that Gu Ning had forgotten in her haste to avoid Jiang Yu.

“I can’t make decisions about her things. Why don’t you call her? I’ll give you her new number.” Gu Mama found the phone book and handed it to Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu called Gu Ning on her phone.

“Gu Ning’s phone is off. Can I take it with me? I’ll call her later and let her know. If we don’t end up using it, I’ll bring it back right away.” Seeing Gu Mama’s hesitation, Jiang Yu clung to her arm and cooed, “Please, Auntie? I promise to return it in perfect condition.”

Gu Mama had no choice but to agree.

After chatting for a while longer, Jiang Yu left with the pair of green vases and the two-billion-yuan celadon-glazed sunflower bowl.

Meanwhile, Gu Ning, in a taxi, suddenly remembered she had left the celadon-glazed sunflower bowl at home. She wanted to call Gu Mama to make sure it was safely stored, but her phone was dead. Knowing Gu Mama’s personality, she figured Gu Mama would put it away for her, so she didn’t worry too much.

It was just past one o’clock, and she still had plenty of time.

Gu Ning used her phone to search for warehouses for rent.

She quickly found a roughly 100-square-meter warehouse. Since property prices in Jinyong City weren’t particularly high, and the location wasn’t in a bustling area, she negotiated the rent down to 2,500 yuan a month and paid a year’s rent upfront.

Without a second thought, Gu Ning headed to the city’s famous wholesale market and bought a large quantity of winter supplies, including winter coats for men, women, and children, various socks and shoes, thick quilts, and other daily necessities. To save herself the trouble, she bought a lot of everything she thought might be useful. Due to the large quantity, she managed to haggle the price down significantly. The wholesale store owner, rarely encountering such a big buyer, was all smiles and even provided a free truck to deliver the goods, which took two trips to complete.

The warehouse Gu Ning rented was essentially a decoy transit point.

After that, Gu Ning went to the farmers’ market and bought a large amount of vegetable and fruit seeds from a specialized seed store.

In one afternoon, Gu Ning spent over 100,000 yuan.

The money from selling the gold necklace was almost gone, and Gu Ning felt a pang of regret. But then she thought about how the diamond necklace alone could fetch at least a million, and the Northern Song Dynasty antique was worth two billion. The regret instantly vanished. However, she was still unaware that the celadon-glazed sunflower bowl was now in Jiang Yu’s hands.

In the TV station’s reception room, a man in his thirties wearing a blue shirt—He Youping, the friend Jiang Yu had mentioned to Gu Mama—picked up one of the vases and examined it closely. The vase’s design looked quite modern, and after a few glances, he set it aside. Then he opened the other, more delicate box.

Seeing his expression, Jiang Yu felt a bit disappointed, thinking he wasn’t impressed with the vases.

Unaware of Jiang Yu’s thoughts, He Youping lifted the lid of the box. He had expected Jiang Yu not to bring anything particularly valuable, as the vases had already confirmed his assumption. But as soon as the lid was opened, his eyes lit up.

Gu Ning had stored most of the warehouse items in her space, leaving only a small portion in the warehouse.

She checked the time; it was only five in the afternoon.

In the apocalypse, her parents and the people of the Third Company were relatively safe in the Zhongnan Base. Aside from regular zombie hunts and crystal core mining, there wasn’t much for her to worry about. Sometimes, she could go a day or two without returning without causing concern.

Back in this world, aside from the daily training with Ji Jiuzhe, which was a bit tough, there was no constant threat to her life. She felt her close combat skills were improving rapidly, and she was quite satisfied with her current life.

Thinking of the kitchen, which had all the tools but had been unused, and Zhuang Chen’s complaint yesterday about being tired of takeout, Gu Ning went to the supermarket, bought some ingredients, and took a taxi back.

“You’re not telling me you can cook, are you?!” Zhuang Chen was shocked when she saw Gu Ning carrying two large bags of groceries. Upon confirmation, she beamed. “Gu Ning, did you hear me say I was tired of takeout yesterday and decided to cook for me today?! Gu Ning! I’m so touched I could cry!” Zhuang Chen exclaimed dramatically.

Yi Shaoqing, Zhang Xiaobai, and the others gathered around. Gu Ning, feeling a bit embarrassed, politely declined their offers to help and methodically started working in the kitchen.

She hadn’t known how to cook before.

Back when Lu Jiazhi was in university, he had once casually complained that the cafeteria food was getting worse. Gu Ning took it to heart. Despite never having held a spatula before, she began studying recipes, reading cookbooks, watching cooking shows, and even secretly spent thousands of yuan on a cooking class.

Once she had some basic skills, she started experimenting with various dishes whenever she had time, packing them up and bringing them to Lu Jiazhi at school. A simple “tastes good” from him would make her day.

Over those years, Gu Ning’s cooking skills improved by leaps and bounds. She dabbled in all eight major Chinese cuisines, approaching the level of a professional chef. Gu Ning’s father often joked that if she had put as much effort into her studies in high school as she did into cooking, she would have gotten into Tsinghua or Peking University.

Although it had been half a year since she last cooked, and her hands were now more accustomed to killing zombies than filleting fish, her familiarity with the kitchen was still ingrained in her bones.

After watching Gu Ning’s knife skills while preparing the fish, Zhuang Chen couldn’t help but marvel, “See that? That’s what I call knife skills!” She then asked, “Gu Ning, when’s dinner?”

Gu Ning, while scoring the fish’s surface, replied, “Dinner will be ready at six-thirty.”

Zhuang Chen glanced at the clock and sighed, “That’s almost an hour away!”

Washing vegetables, chopping ingredients, and preparing various components—though these tasks were mundane and busy, watching Gu Ning move around the kitchen made everything seem orderly and effortless.

“Don’t you think Gu Ning has this glowing aura about her?” Zhang Xiaobai suddenly asked Zhong Xu, who was standing nearby.

Zhong Xu replied, “I just never expected Gu Ning to know how to cook… I thought all she could do was fight.”

Just then, Ji Jiuzhe happened to pass by. Whether he overheard their conversation or not, his steps paused slightly, and his gaze flickered toward the kitchen for a brief moment before he continued on his way, teacup in hand.

Almost as soon as Zhang Xiaobai brought the last dish to the table, Ji Jiuzhe finally arrived and took a seat across from Gu Ning.

The table was laden with eight dishes: braised crucian carp, sweet and sour pork ribs, spicy beef with small red peppers, cola chicken wings, boiled shrimp, stir-fried pork with vegetables… six meat dishes, three vegetable dishes, and a fresh scallop tofu soup.

Not only were the dishes varied, but their presentation was also meticulous, paired with exquisite tableware. Compared to the usual plastic takeout containers and mediocre-looking meals, this spread made Zhuang Chen’s mouth water uncontrollably.

She had already tied her voluminous red waves into a ponytail. As soon as the last dish was placed on the table, she exclaimed, “I’m digging in first!” and immediately reached for the braised crucian carp closest to her. The moment the food touched her tongue, she dramatically exclaimed, “This is amazing!”

Gu Ning, knowing Zhuang Chen was hyping her up, couldn’t help but smile.

Ji Jiuzhe, looking at the plate of sweet and sour pork ribs in front of him, gave Gu Ning a slightly surprised glance. How did she know he had a sweet tooth? He picked up a piece of the ribs, lowered his head slightly to take a bite, and after a few chews, was genuinely impressed. The dish wasn’t just visually appealing—it tasted incredible.

“Gu Ning, how did you make all these dishes? They’re so good!” Zhang Xiaobai said between mouthfuls.

Yi Shaoqing, his mouth full, managed to mumble, “Seriously, this is amazing.”

Zhuang Chen was too busy eating to speak, nodding vigorously as she sampled every dish on the table.

By the end of the meal, the plates were nearly empty, with only some sauce remaining. Even the spicy beef sauce was mixed into rice by Yi Shaoqing, who loved spicy food. Only the soup was left unfinished, as everyone was too full. Zhuang Chen leaned back in her chair, clutching her stomach, completely satisfied.

While the others devoured the food and were now stuffed, Ji Jiuzhe had only sampled each dish lightly and drank half a bowl of soup.

Seeing the dishes so thoroughly cleaned was a huge compliment to the chef. Gu Ning felt immensely satisfied, though she hadn’t eaten much herself. After sitting for a while, she got up to clear the table.

Ji Jiuzhe, however, silently picked up the plates and headed to the kitchen. Gu Ning hurried after him, trying to take the plates from him. “Captain, let me do it!”

Ji Jiuzhe raised his hand, easily avoiding Gu Ning’s grasp, and said, “You cooked, so I’ll clean.”

The matter-of-fact response left Gu Ning with no choice but to let him handle the dishes.

She went back to clear the rest of the table.

In no time, the table was spotless.

As Gu Ning wiped the table and prepared to wash the dishes, she was stunned to see Ji Jiuzhe already wearing an apron and one glove. He turned his back to her, tilting his head slightly, and said, “Tie the strings for me.”

Without thinking, Gu Ning reached out to tie the apron strings behind him—only to snap out of it moments later and weakly suggest, “Maybe I should do it…”

Ji Jiuzhe turned on the faucet with a flick, and Gu Ning quickly poured dish soap into the sink.

Ji Jiuzhe began washing the dishes with a sponge, while Gu Ning stood awkwardly to the side, unsure whether to stay or leave. Just as she was hesitating, Ji Jiuzhe handed her the first plate. Gu Ning, taken aback, accepted it, dried it with a cloth, and placed it in the cupboard. Then the second plate was handed to her…

The two figures, one tall and one short, moved in harmony to the sound of running water. Without a single word exchanged, the simple act of passing and receiving plates felt perfectly natural.

Meanwhile, Zhuang Chen and Yi Shaoqing were frozen in place, their eyes wide as they watched the scene.

After a long pause, Zhuang Chen finally blinked and asked Yi Shaoqing, “Have you ever seen Ji Jiuzhe wash dishes before?”

Yi Shaoqing shook his head stiffly.

The Door to Rebirth in Apocalypse

The Door to Rebirth in Apocalypse

末世重生之门
Score 8.4
Status: Ongoing Type: Author: Released: 2015 Native Language: Chinese
Two parallel universes. On the day of the apocalypse, the trajectory of history driven into two different paths, completely altered the two universes. One is a heaven, and one is a hell. One is an era of peace while the red flag fluttered. One is the end of the world where zombies rampaged, and lives devastated. Gu Ning tried to survive in the apocalyptic world, trying all her best to protect her family and loved ones. Yet, she dies brutally on the streets after being betrayed. She woke up in a strange dimension. An empty dimension, and a door. Opened the door once, it is the peaceful era. Opened the door again, it is the end of the world.

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