Living with My Aloof Ex-Wife After the Apocalypse - Chapter 13

Chapter 13: You Seem Very Unfamiliar with Me.

To avoid looking too flustered, Xing He quickly set the stool upright and sat back down. She bowed her head and took several large gulps of alcohol, finally calming the stormy waves in her heart.

“Are you drunk? Why would you think that?”

When she looked up, Qing Meng was watching her intently. There was no doubt in those eyes, only certainty.

“Did you investigate this yourself, or… can you predict the future?”

Unsure if it would change the development of the world line, Xing He had no intention of telling Qing Meng about her rebirth. She knew she couldn’t hide it from Qing Meng forever, but in her original plan, exposure was supposed to happen months later. By then, supernatural abilities would have emerged, and the concept of “Awakened” people would be accepted by the public. She could have simply blamed everything she couldn’t explain on an “ability.”

But it was only the first day, and Qing Meng had already found the loose threads. Once the seed of doubt was planted, Qing Meng would find the truth sooner or later. There was no point in Xing He continuing the lie.

Xing He spoke with a dejected air: “How did you find out?”

Qing Meng analyzed calmly: “Bulletproof glass in the courtyard, steel doors, a modified vehicle… such thorough preparation is clearly meant for a specific type of disaster.”

It was a case of care leading to chaos. Xing He had been so worried about Qing Meng’s safety that she hadn’t bothered with any camouflage before bringing her back to the courtyard.

“You know the zombies’ weaknesses, and your movements when killing them are skilled, as if you’ve practiced thousands of times.”

“The controlled drugs you swiped from the hospital this morning also prove you clearly know this situation will last a long time and that the government is powerless to change it.”

“Someone who doesn’t know you might not have guessed it, but I… do I look stupid?”

Xing He gave an embarrassed smile. Qing Meng certainly wasn’t stupid; on the contrary, she was brilliant, with razor-sharp observation skills.

“Also, I noticed something on the way here. The Second People’s Hospital is clearly closer to your house, so why did you head specifically for the First Hospital which is further away?”

Qing Meng continued her output, easily piercing the vital point of the silent person before her.

“You came specifically to find me.”

It was a question, but she wasn’t seeking confirmation.

If Xing He’s previous silence was out of respect for Qing Meng’s observation skills, her current silence was because she simply had to be silent. She nodded gloomily, looking like a cat that had been caught trying to steal snacks.

For once, a very obvious smile appeared on Qing Meng’s face. She let Xing He off the hook and didn’t press that particular point.

“So, did you investigate something or can you predict the future?”

Xing He weighed her words: “I suppose you could say I can predict the future.”

“Suppose?”

“I died once, ten years in the future, and then returned to the present. That’s how I know the zombie virus breaks out today.”

Xing He spoke the words tentatively, but the expected interference from the “System” didn’t arrive. In the System’s judgment, telling Qing Meng wasn’t considered a dangerous act that would change the world’s development?

“Dying once and returning is somewhat similar to time travel,” Qing Meng noted. Her ability to accept the situation was stronger than Xing He had imagined.

“You don’t find it incredible?”

Qing Meng shook her head. “To put it another way, you traveled back from ten years in the future. I haven’t researched this field, so I’m not clear on the specifics. But strictly speaking, humanity discovered methods of time travel long ago. They just haven’t fully mastered it, so the news hasn’t been made public.”

Linking the concepts of rebirth and time travel made it much easier to swallow, though Xing He still wondered if time travel had anything to do with the “System.” Because the System’s existence was too sensitive, she didn’t tell Qing Meng directly, opting for a different explanation.

“I have some special abilities call them ‘superpowers’ and one more thing: I cannot change the direction of the world’s development.”

Qing Meng’s face showed no surprise. Even without being a researcher in that specific field, she knew that the greatest taboo for a time traveler was interfering with the development of the current era. Changing the natural progress of the world could result in the traveler’s existence being erased or, worse, rewriting history and destroying the world.

In this context, knowing the disaster beforehand wasn’t just a chance at survival; it was a double portion of suffering and torment granted by the heavens.

If Xing He knew the end was coming but could do nothing to change the status quo, it explained why she looked so relieved to find Auntie Chen was still breathing. Regarding the people who knew nothing and were still trying to live their lives, Xing He must have struggled for a long time with the question of whether to save them, and was likely still filled with guilt.

Qing Meng stopped questioning and simply nodded to show she understood.

Xing He felt a strange sense of competitiveness. She had shared a world-shaking secret, yet the other woman acted as if she had just taken a sip of plain water.

“Aren’t you going to ask me how things turned out after ten years?”

Qing Meng glanced at her strangely. “You’re back here, aren’t you? What kind of good ending could there have been?”

True. Realizing she had asked a stupid question, Xing He rubbed her head sheepishly.

Xing He had “phoenix eyes”—long and narrow, with the inner corners hooked and the outer corners tilted upward. Usually, even a slight squint gave her an air of majesty that made people hesitate to offend her. But now, because of the alcohol, her eyes were misty and dazed, making her look unexpectedly endearing.

Qing Meng said on a whim, “Or, what you want to hear is… did we get remarried?”

Xing He nearly choked on her drink. “No, no!”

The old Qing Meng was just as she appeared: distant and restrained, never losing her poise. She would never make such a joke. Today’s Qing Meng was a bit strange, but Xing He couldn’t put her finger on why. Her intuition told her it was time to end this wine-and-chat session.

Xing He stood up abruptly. “I’m going to wash up. Don’t drink too much. Go to bed when you’re ready.”

Watching her flee, Qing Meng couldn’t help but chuckle. This person was always like this like a quail, knowing only how to run or hide when she encountered something she couldn’t handle. She should have realized that morning: it wasn’t that Xing He didn’t recognize her, she was just thin-skinned and hiding from her.

And to think Qing Meng had been sulking for so long. She realized her anger hadn’t been very logical; luckily, Xing He hadn’t noticed.

If… she could stay with Xing He like this every day, the apocalypse didn’t seem so terrifying.

Suddenly, a low gurgle from a zombie’s throat drifted in from somewhere. Qing Meng looked up. The clear, cloudless sky was suddenly covered by a layer of dark clouds. Not a single shadow of a star could be found. Just like them, the road ahead was shrouded in mist, leaving only confusion.

How much longer could they live like this? Qing Meng didn’t know. She couldn’t even be sure if they would be alive tomorrow.

Deep underground, tender sprouts were stirred. Unwilling to remain in the dark for years, they seemed ready to burst through the soil at any moment to bathe their bodies in moonlight and rain.

Qing Meng finished the last drop of wine in her glass and followed Xing He’s footsteps upstairs.

The main gate was locked, but worried about Qing Meng’s safety, Xing He stood by the window for a while after washing up. When she saw Qing Meng come upstairs, she dove into bed, pulling the covers up faster than she used to when she thought there were ghosts outside as a child.

She had a dreamless sleep. When she woke up, it was already light.

The other side of the bed was cold; Qing Meng had likely been up for a long time. She checked her phone: 12:43 PM. Time to get up.

Xing He splashed her face with cold water to wake up. Before she could mentally prepare to face Qing Meng, she heard footsteps in the stairwell.

As Qing Meng approached, Xing He subconsciously stiffened her body, like a soldier greeting a superior officer: “Good morning!”

Seeing her awake, Qing Meng’s expression was neutral. She said calmly, “Breakfast is ready. Come down and eat.”

Her composure made the jumpy Xing He look like a flustered maiden.

Xing He expected instant noodles or self-heating rice. But downstairs, she found two steaming stir-fried dishes: Potato Braised Meat and Tomato Scrambled Eggs. The peeled potatoes were soft and perfectly cooked, and the meat was coated in a glossy, savory sauce. The tomato and eggs, sprinkled with green onions, looked incredibly tempting. The whole room was filled with the aroma of home cooking.

“I saw you were sleeping soundly, so I didn’t wake you. I took some vegetables from the fridge myself. Taste it and see how it is.”

Xing He was curious that Qing Meng could actually cook. She sat down as invited, and Qing Meng took off her apron and sat beside her.

“Auntie Chen isn’t awake yet, so she can’t eat this. I made some porridge and already fed her.”

“Thank you for the trouble.” Xing He felt ashamed; Qing Meng was so thoughtful while she had stayed in bed until now because of last night’s awkwardness.

Qing Meng picked up her chopsticks and watched as Xing He buried her face in her bowl, unaware of a grain of rice stuck to her lip, her eyes vacant as she drifted off into thought again.

A handful, this one.

Qing Meng helplessly picked up a tissue to wipe the rice from Xing He’s lip, then picked up some food with her chopsticks and held it to Xing He’s mouth.

“Open up.” It was that unquestionable tone again.

Xing He obediently opened her mouth. Only after swallowing the food did she get a chance to speak: “Qing Meng, I can eat by myself.”

For all these years, Xing He had always called her by her full name. Even during their marriage, her contact info was saved as “Qing Meng” rather than something like “Wife.”

Qing Meng felt inexplicably annoyed. She looked at Xing He flatly. “You seem very unfamiliar with me.”

Unfamiliar? We haven’t seen each other in four years, isn’t some awkwardness normal? Xing He was sweating buckets. She stole a glance at Qing Meng. The woman’s face was as unreadable as ever, but that didn’t seem to be the reason.

Was it the way she addressed her?

“A-Qing… can I call you A-Qing from now on?”

Qing Meng didn’t say yes or no. “And you…?”

Xing He answered quickly, “You can still call me Xing He, I don’t mind.” She really wasn’t used to giving names strange nicknames.

Unexpectedly, after trying to please her, Qing Meng’s mood didn’t improve; it plummeted.

“Fine. You don’t have to call me A-Qing either. Just call me ‘Ex-wife’ from now on.”

At the hospital, Xing He had told Jiang Pingan that she was Qing Meng’s ex-wife. This person remembered it very clearly.

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