Chapter 5 Avoid Bad Company

• Two kilometers were a short distance, and they reached the neighborhood entrance in minutes.
• Nadia handed the man two thousand, thanking him for both rescuing her and ignoring traffic rules.
• His voice was cool. "No need. It was on the way."
• Seeing he wouldn't accept it, Nadia didn't insist. As she got out, she offered a quick piece of advice, saying, "The typhoon might cause power and water outages. Stock up on essentials like pasta, oil, and vegetables while you can."
• She opened the car door, clutching her package, and ran into the neighborhood against the wind.
• Huge raindrops pelted down as she stumbled out of the elevator, only to see Wayne and Maya waiting at her apartment door. They must have been waiting a long time. Wayne looked impatient, while Maya, the school babe, stood there in her spotless white dress, smiling sweetly.
• "What took you so long?" Wayne sounded irritable. "We've been waiting forever."
• For Nadia, seeing the pair brought back memories of the apocalypse—being bullied, as well as their cold indifference as she was slaughtered by monsters. Her mood soured instantly. My foolishness was my downfall back then. This time, if they think they could exploit me, they'll have another thing coming! The despair I've been through, they'll suffer twice over!
• Her expression turned icy. "What do you want?"
• She had always been warm to Wayne. Now, her cold demeanor caught him off guard. He blurted out, "Why didn't you come to my birthday party?"
• "We're not close. Why would I go?"
• "You…" Wayne was lost for words.
• Nadia had been pursuing him, promising to give him a gift he would like. But it wasn't the gift he was after; Maya was interested in her and wanted to meet her.
• Maya examined Nadia, smiling. "Hi, Nadia."
• Nadia replied icily, "Don't call me that. I don't know you."
• Maya's smile faltered, but she kept her sweet tone. "It's our senior's birthday. We're all schoolmates. Why don't you join us?"
• In reality, the birthday had already passed at noon. Maya wanted to drag Nadia to the eighth floor to take her special item.
• "Are you deaf?" Nadia's voice dripped with sarcasm. "Didn't you hear me say we're not close? His birthday has nothing to do with me."
• Stunned by her rudeness, Wayne turned red instantly. "Nadia, what are you playing at?"
• "You wear matching rings with her, yet you keep inviting me to your place. Are you trying to two-time?"
• "Don't kid yourself! I'm not interested in you!" Furious, Wayne grabbed Maya's arm. "Maya, let's go."
• Maya hesitated, though. "Nadia, actually, we came to celebrate Wayne's birthday, but we got caught in the typhoon and can't go back. Can I stay with you tonight?"
• "Are you nuts? I said we're not close!"
• Wayne's face darkened. "Nadia, watch your mouth."
• "I talk like this. If you can't handle it, stay away."
• Wayne tried to pull Maya away, but she resisted, forcing a smile. "Nadia, your pendant is really beautiful. Where did you get it?"
• Nadia took off the pendant. "You want it?"
• Maya's eyes lit up. "Can you sell it to me? I really love it."
• Nadia dropped the pendant to the ground. Then, she stomped on it until it shattered into pieces.
• After the domain was bound to her, the pendant had lost its luster and become useless. People could be dangerous. Better to destroy it than risk Maya doing something underhanded.
• "Your interest in it disgusts me!" she said.
• Maya gasped, shocked by the pendant's destruction.
• Seeing his girlfriend upset, Wayne lashed out at Nadia with angry words.
• Nadia's eyes flashed with anger. "Get lost! Don't ever show your faces here again."
• Wayne's face darkened with rage as he dragged Maya away.
• Only then did Nadia unlock her stainless steel door and rush inside to tear open her package.
• The polar clothing was thick, soft, and warm, and the mummy sleeping bag, made of multiple layers of down, was top-notch quality. These would be her lifeline in extreme cold.
• Outside, the wind howled, and the sky was ominously dark.
• Nadia closed all the windows and doors securely. She took out large white plastic barrels and filled them with water, stashing several in her domain's bathroom. With the typhoon and torrential rain, the power and water would soon be cut off.
• Despite the storm outside, she busied herself in the kitchen, prepping food and cooking up a storm. Braised pork, chicken and mushroom stew, seared fish, and a hearty beef stew—each dish was made in large batches and stored in stainless steel containers, steaming hot, then placed into her domain.
• With the typhoon just starting, everyone was stocking up on food. She had to cook these fragrant dishes quickly; once the storm intensified, it wouldn't be safe to draw attention by using her stove.
• She made different kinds of bread and snacks, using both the gas stove and the electric cooker at full blast, cooking late into the night.
• Exhausted, she changed out of her greasy clothes, took a hot shower, and fell into bed.
• Her sleep was cut short by the sound of a power drill. Pulling open the curtains, she saw the dark, stormy morning. Thinking it was still early, she checked her phone and was surprised to see it was already past 9 a.m.
• WeChat notifications exploded, with the community and class group messages piling up to over 99 unread. Many were celebrating the arrival of Typhoon Aeolus as a break from the grind—office workers finally escaping the grueling work schedule and students getting an unexpected vacation. Photos and videos of the typhoon's destruction flooded the group chats: uprooted trees, smashed luxury cars, and tornadoes tearing through corrugated iron factories.
• It soon became clear that many were unprepared. People lamented their lack of supplies, saying they rushed to the supermarket only to find shelves stripped bare, with nothing left but instant noodles.
• The sound of the power drill persisted, seemingly coming from the neighboring unit.
• Nadia was puzzled. In their building, each stairwell served three units, but the other two units were vacant.
• In her previous life, when floods reached the second floor, residents forced their way into empty apartments when help didn't arrive, breaking into homes for shelter. Initially, they coexisted peacefully, but as food dwindled, their greed and hostility grew. They had repeatedly tried to break into her apartment in the dead of night.
• This time, she was prepared with a fire ax. If anyone tried to break in, she was ready to defend herself.
• It wasn't just the drill; there were also sounds of a child.
• She stepped outside and saw the door to Unit 1801 wide open, the new stainless steel door leaning against the wall. A young man in casual light-colored clothes was drilling into the wall. He looked up when he heard the door open.
• Nadia's eyes widened in surprise. "It's you?"