Hey, first of all, thanks for reading my lousy Machine Translation. To be honest, I’d really like it if you guys corrected the mistakes I made. But please speak nicely and politely. My heart is not strong enough to read your too-harsh comments. Have a nice day. π
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Chapter 3. part 1
Zhou An’an suffered another sleepless night, her dreams filled with apocalyptic visions.
The earth trembled, volcanoes erupted, all life withered, and everyone transformed into zombies.
She hid in the cramped break room of a fast food restaurant, while hordes of zombies clawed and clawed at the glass door outside, like a relentless tide.
The glass shattered, and a rotting, blackened hand grabbed her arm…
“Ah!”
She jolted awake with a scream, drenched in sweat. Sitting up in bed, she watched golden sunlight stream through the gap in the curtains, illuminating tiny dust motes dancing in the air. Only then did she realize it was just a dreamβshe still had six months until Doomsday.
Zhou An’an checked her phone: it was only seven in the morning.
She was scheduled for another day shift today, from ten a.m. to six p.m.
But now she wasn’t sure if she should even go to work.
Many people had witnessed the white light last night, and the news had likely spread across the internet by now.
If everyone believed the apocalypse was imminent, pointless jobs like hers would clearly become obsolete.
Zhou An’an got out of bed, walked to the window, and drew back the curtains. The scene outside startled her: the breakfast stalls in the alley were operating as usual, young people hurrying to bus and subway stations while munching on steamed buns and fried dough sticks.
Everything seemed exactly the same as usual.
Do they not know what happened last night?
Lu Yuan’s words echoed in her mind: “Just wait and see. They’ll come up with another explanation tomorrow.”
Zhou An’an immediately grabbed her phone and searched for the latest news online.
As expected, the official announcement had been released:
“On April 2nd at 7 PM, multiple citizens reported suspected UFO activity near People’s Square. After thorough investigation by our staff, the white light observed above the square was determined to be a promotional video for a game company, produced using drones and laser projections. The public is advised not to panic.”
*Just as I thought…*
If Zhou An’an hadn’t witnessed the event firsthand, relying solely on the blurry videos circulating online, she might have believed the official explanation.
But the fast food restaurant where she worked was right next to the square, and she had seen drone operations there many times. The white light last night was nothing like those.
Regardless, the announcement provided a plausible explanation.
In the comments section below, some users even posted pre-registration links for the game- a Doomsday adventure title.
It seemed she still had to go to work today.
Zhou An’an couldn’t help but feel a wave of disappointment. She looked as wilted as an eggplant after frost. Forcing herself to rally, she cooked a bowl of noodles, washed her dirty clothes, hung them out to dry, and then headed to work.
Arriving at the fast food restaurant, she found everyone else working as usual. The number of customers dining in hadn’t noticeably increased or decreased.
Zhou An’an tied on her apron and began her daily routine: peeling potatoes, chopping potatoes, and frying potatoes.
After the midday rush ended, the staff gathered in the break room at 2:30 PM for lunch, inevitably discussing the events of the previous night.
“Did you guys see the announcement this morning? They’re saying it was just a drone doing advertising, but it doesn’t look like that to me.”
“Then what do you think it was? Do you really think Doomsday is coming?”
“The video’s too blurry to see clearly… Hey, Zhou An’an, I remember you got off work around that time yesterday. Did you see anything?”
Zhou An’an, usually as invisible as air, suddenly found herself the center of attention. She froze for a few seconds before slowly lifting her head. “Huh?”
“You were on the day shift yesterday, right? You got off at six. And your place is in that direction, right? Did you see those white lights?”
Zhou An’an wrestled with whether to tell the truth or keep it hidden, ultimately choosing the former.
“I saw it,” she said.
Her colleagues immediately gathered around, their curiosity piqued.
“What did it look like?”
“Was it really a drone?”
“Was it a UFO?”
Zhou An’an shook her head. “I don’t know…”
She wanted to tell them the truth- after all, they were colleagues.
But with the official announcement already out, anything she said would be dismissed as rumors.
If the story spread too widely, she might even get arrested.
The others refused to believe her. “How could you not know? Tell us!”
Zhou An’an offered an excuse: “I was sleepy yesterday and didn’t see clearly.”
“Aww…”
Disappointed, they returned to their chairs and resumed their idle chatter.
Zhou An’an buried herself in her meal. Working at a privately owned fast food restaurant had its perks- a free meal during her shift. Day shifts got lunch, while night shifts got dinner.
Though the food was usually unsold fried chicken, fries, and fried rice, it still saved her a lot of money compared to ordering takeout.
After finishing her last bite, she was about to wash the dishes when her phone suddenly rang.
This had never happened to her before. Her colleagues turned to stare in unison.
“Hey, someone actually texted you? We’ve never seen that happen in all the time you’ve worked here. Are you secretly dating someone?”
“N-no…”
Zhou An’an, her face flushed, finished washing the dishes amid their teasing laughter and fled to the restroom to check the message.
Lu Yuan: Told you I was right.
Her cheeks still warm, she replied: Yeah, but don’t text me during work hours again.
Lu Yuan: You’re still working that dead-end job? Quit right now.
Zhou An’an: β¦
She hadn’t even earned this month’s rent yet. Quit now and starve?
Lu Yuan: 3500 a month? That’s a waste of your life. To survive Doomsday, you need to strike it rich.
She’d never even dared to dream of getting rich, let alone striking it rich. Besides, wealth never came from mere wishful thinking.
Zhou An’an strongly suspected Lu Yuan wasn’t from the Doomsday, but from a mental asylum.
Lu Yuan: You’ll need startup capital. How much cash can you get your hands on right now? I mean, besides that 600 yuan. Think carefully.
Zhou An’an: Do loans count?
Lu Yuan: Yes!
Zhou An’an: Huabei (Ant Credit Pay): 2000 yuan. Jiebei (Ant Cash Now): 10000 yuan. Jingdong Baitiao (JD Baitiao): 3000 yuan. Plus other sources… roughly 20000 yuan?
It was quite a sum when you added it all up, but she never considered using those credit lines. After all, she couldn’t even afford the interest, let alone the principal.
Lu Yuan: That’s not enough.
Zhou An’an: I really don’t have any more, unless…
Lu Yuan: Unless what?
Should I tell him?
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