Chapter 2: My Intuition Says the World is Going to End

Seeing someone approach, Niu Boyi immediately bared its teeth, its front paws fiercely scraping the sand and dirt, the dog leash pulled taut.

Liu Mu knew that as long as she let go, Niu Boyi would guarantee to tear some flesh and blood from those people.

She said, "Are you trying to force a sale? I already said I don't want Zhou Chunwang, so why are you still trying to shove him onto me? There's no need to be in such a rush to sell your son."

Seeing that she wouldn't soften her stance at all, and recalling that this young girl had indeed made it on her own all these years—it was said she had some ability—Old Woman Li Er felt a bit intimidated.

She advised, "It's all a happy occasion, everyone please don't resort to violence; it won't be good if the new bride gets hurt!"

But the family of Zhou Chunwang was used to running rampant in the village. Having heard the situation of the woman from Old Woman Li Er, they had assumed they could easily get the money. Now that they were being sent away empty-handed, how could that be possible?

Just as a fight was about to break out, a loud shout suddenly came from afar, "What are you doing? I've already called the police! Is this robbery in broad daylight?"

It was Xu Xiaofeng. She was holding her phone, the screen showing 110, though her trembling hands betrayed her.

Liu Mu glanced over in surprise and also took out her phone, "Niu Boyi, don't bite them to death, or it'll be trouble when the police arrive!"

After saying this, she looked coldly at Old Woman Li Er and spoke into the phone, "I want to report a crime. Old Woman Li Er from Dahe Village has brought people to rob the Shengli Waste Station. Yes, it's at..."

Upon hearing herself mentioned, Old Woman Li Er panicked immediately and hurriedly grabbed the eldest uncle of Zhou Chunwang, "Oh my, this is a good marriage, how can you all resort to violence? It's supposed to be voluntary, do you have no regard for the law? You can't make a scene like this... Ouch!"

"You stinking hag, you lied to me saying this little bitch had money, I'll beat you to death!"

Zhou Chunwang's eldest uncle was naturally hot-tempered. Not only had he been rejected by Liu Mu, but as he rushed over, his foot was bitten by the wolfhound.

As luck would have it, Old Woman Li Er stepped in to break up the fight at that very moment; wasn't she just walking right into it?

With one punch, Old Woman Li Er's cheek swelled up instantly, and she fell to the ground, howling in pain.

Seeing that the situation was about to spiral out of control, Liu Mu put away her phone, which she had been pretending to use, rolled up her sleeves, and prepared to have a fight.

In her previous life, she had been polite to them from the start, so she hadn't seen the beastly side of this group early on.

It was one thing to endure it for so many years before, but damn it, she had been reborn, and if she was still going to be bullied by the same group of people, she wouldn't be a strong woman if she just gave in!

"What are you doing? You can't fight!"

Who knew that Xu Xiaofeng would pounce over and hold onto Liu Mu for dear life, "Sister, I called the police, I really called the police! If they dare to lay a hand on us, they'll all go to jail and eat prison food!"

Zhou Chunwang was also a coward. He was stunned by his uncle hitting Old Woman Li Er, and forgetting to target Liu Mu, he could only stand there muttering in a low voice, "What are you doing? This is my marriage, how can I explain it to my parents if you make such a scene? What are you doing!? Can you not make a scene?"

At this, the men on the Zhou family's side calmed down. That's right, they were just here to get some benefits and a free meal; it wasn't worth going to jail over someone else's family marriage.

Uncle Zhou also stopped, but he wouldn't let it go, "Wild girl, if you're smart, set the engagement and bring out the bride price. Everything is negotiable today. If you dare not marry my nephew, see if I don't beat you to death and burn down this broken waste station of yours!"

"Who are you going to beat to death? Who are you going to burn down?"

As his bicycle fell to the ground, Luo Sanlin, wearing his uniform, jumped off. He pulled out his handcuffs with an exaggerated flourish and shook them, "Coming to someone's door to rob and threaten early in the morning, do you think the country has no laws?"

Once the police arrived, the group instantly wilted. Only the uncle who had been bitten lifted his foot to complain, "She was the one who let the dog bite people first, Officer, look, I've been bitten!"

Luo Sanlin snorted coldly, "Hmph, the dog was on a leash, would it bite you if you didn't get close? Everyone shut up, let's go, take a trip to the Police Station."

Liu Mu pulled Niu Boyi back and retreated to the side, but she was still addressed by Luo Sanlin, "Liu Mu, you come too and explain the situation, making such a scene early in the morning!"

Xu Xiaofeng, being the one who reported the crime, consciously followed along.

After the events were recounted, Zhou Chunwang's eldest uncle was detained for fifteen days, and the others were chased away after writing letters of guarantee.

Liu Mu was kept until last by Luo Sanlin, and after being lectured for a few sentences, she was led out.

Outside, Luo Sanlin lit a cigarette himself, held it between his fingers, and pointed at Liu Mu, "Xiao Mu, you can't be so inconsistent with these things. If you want to get married, find a proper young man and date him seriously; if you don't, don't spread the news. You're a girl, and that waste station has been there for so many years, what are your plans?"

He had also grown up in the nearby area and had even attended middle school with Liu Mu.

However, after Liu Mu graduated from middle school, the orphanage no longer had the money to support her studies.

Luo Sanlin, on the other hand, had studied all the way to police academy and was assigned to his hometown Police Station after graduation.

In a bigger place, Luo Sanlin wouldn't be much, but in this area, his words still carried some weight. Plus, he particularly liked to seek a sense of presence, so he loved handling trivial matters.

Even at a young age, he had the air of a high-ranking leader, and he had to maintain a certain demeanor in his speech and actions.

Liu Mu used to find his talk annoying.

But Luo Sanlin had still upheld his duties during the apocalypse and tried his best to help others. Although he didn't end up with a good outcome in the end, it was enough for Liu Mu to feel a modicum of respect for him.

"Yes, yes, yes," Liu Mu nodded repeatedly, "I just feel it's unnecessary. I'm all alone, maybe one day I'll be gone, no need to drag others down."

Upon hearing this, Luo Sanlin couldn't bear it. He asked carefully for a long time, and only after confirming that his old classmate didn't have any terminal illness or depression did he let her go.

"If there's anything you need help with, just say the word. Given our friendship since we were kids, as long as it's reasonable and legal, I'll definitely help you."

Since Luo Sanlin said that, Liu Mu didn't stand on ceremony, "Brother Sanlin, if you put it that way, I really won't be polite, sister."

"To tell you the truth, I'm planning to expand the scale of my waste station, so I've put all my money into it."

"It's just that the land approval procedures won't come through, so where would I have money to get married? Can you see if there's any way you can help me?"

Liu Mu was somewhat famous in the surrounding villages. She was stingy, but she wouldn't swindle or harm people. Plus, as a young woman, her journey had been truly difficult, so her reputation was actually not bad.

Seeing her say this, perhaps out of sympathy, Luo Sanlin thought for a moment and said he would help her process the paperwork.

In his view, even if Liu Mu had made money over the years, it wasn't much, and this expansion would at most be a matter of a hundred thousand or so.

"I'll help you get the paperwork, but can't you get married and have a helper before you start the expansion?"

Liu Mu shook her head decisively. Under her damp bangs, her face—which was clearly very pretty but never groomed—was full of worry, "Brother Sanlin, let me tell you, I have a gut feeling that this world is going to end!"

"What kind of nonsense are you talking about?!" Luo Sanlin raised his foot to kick Liu Mu's backside, but halfway through, he remembered that his childhood friend was now a grown woman, and for a moment, he didn't know whether to retract his leg or kick.

Liu Mu dodged and pulled Niu Boyi away, not forgetting to urge him, "I'm telling the truth, I dreamed it last night! Please hurry up and get that paperwork done for me~!"

"I owe you!" Luo Sanlin couldn't maintain his leader-like demeanor and cursed out loud on the street!

The world hadn't ended yet; things were done within the rules, with restrictions and safety balancing each other out.

Returning to the waste station, Liu Mu hung a sign on the gate saying it was closed for the day, tied up the dog, and went out.

When her broken tricycle passed in front of Xiao Feng's shop, she was stopped and asked about the situation.

Xu Xiaofeng was only the one who reported the crime and had to take care of her younger brother, so she hadn't stayed to learn the specific details of what happened.

Liu Mu gave a rough account of the matter. When Xiao Feng heard she didn't plan to get married anymore, she rolled her eyes at her and scolded her for looking for trouble where there was none.

She walked away with a grin.

In three months' time, there were far too many things for Liu Mu to be busy with.

The first step was infrastructure; the Scrap Station needed a thorough renovation inside and out.

Liu Mu had lived for a total of twenty years in the apocalypse, and while various natural disasters had taken turns appearing over these years, this piece of land had been relatively less affected.

It wasn't submerged when the floods came, there were no landslides after the Extreme Cold, and it didn't even crack during the earthquakes; only the buildings on the surface were shaken to pieces.

It was a prime piece of land!

What she needed to do was make the house sturdy, dig out a basement, and redo the perimeter walls.

The second step was to know where the resources were; buy what could be bought, and for the things that weren't urgent, wait for the "zero-dollar shopping" later.

The urban area wasn't far, and Liu Mu rented two adjacent warehouses by the roadside in the suburbs, each with an area of over one hundred square meters.

When the apocalypse arrived, there was no need to prepare too much food; what was needed more were various survival supplies.

One had to know that in such extreme weather, unless one had a large temperature-controlled warehouse and could guarantee the warehouse wouldn't be destroyed, storing large amounts of food was impossible; otherwise, no matter how much one bought, it would either spoil or be looted by others.

If things went wrong, one might even lose their life.

However, before going to find that reliable construction team, she had to first send them some other benefits.

At an off-road vehicle 4S dealership in the city,

When Liu Mu walked in wearing old clothes, not a single salesperson was even willing to come and greet her.

She wasn't angry either; after all, this brand, which claimed to be the strongest four-wheel-drive off-road vehicle on land, really wasn't something an average person could afford.

But personal experience told her that this brand of car really wasn't bragging; after the apocalypse, those luxury sports cars, sedans, and ordinary off-road vehicles were all scrapped, but this model held out for decades—and, of course, it also saw a massive surge in value.

After browsing for half an hour, Liu Mu walked to the front desk, "Hello, please give me an introduction brochure for the various vehicle models."

The female receptionist leaned against the counter and didn't even acknowledge Liu Mu, as if she couldn't hear her speaking at all.

Liu Mu repeated it again, and the receptionist said impatiently, "It's on the shelf over there, didn't you see it!"

"Oh, thank you," there were many people who looked down on others, but Liu Mu already possessed a temperament beyond that of ordinary people, so she wouldn't bother with this level of behavior at all.

However, while she was flipping through the brochures on the display rack, a voice suddenly rang out from behind her, "Liu Mu? Is that you?"