NOVPUBChapter 63: In the beginning, no one paid attention to this disaster...
Ye Qiu closed his eyes, as if he was simply resting.
This left Su Xintong standing there, unsure what to do.
Right, she thought. Why did I suddenly come looking for Ye Qiu?
What is the purpose again?
As she was thinking, her phone buzzed.
She pulled it out and saw a text from her father, Su Huarui: “Are you at Xiao Qiu’s house yet? Talk to him more, and try to invite him over to our house for a meal!”
Su Xintong suddenly remembered.
Earlier, her father had texted her with an address, telling her to find someone after school.
That person was Ye Qiu!
He had even stressed that she must persuade Ye Qiu to come over for dinner, to properly thank him.
But when she first arrived, trying to find a casual topic to start a conversation, she had only asked why he hadn’t gone to school.
She hadn’t even gotten around to inviting him yet!
And now here she was, a guest, standing awkwardly in someone else’s house.
Meanwhile, the owner, Ye Qiu, was lying in bed looking like he was asleep, and she had no idea what to do.
Feeling speechless, Su Xintong quickly texted her dad: “He really seems sick. I just helped him set up an IV drip.”
Immediately, her father replied: “Then stay there and take care of him. Once the IV is done, text me, and I’ll come pick you both up.”
“Huh?!” Su Xintong froze.
What the heck?!
You’re asking your daughter to stay and take care of a boy?
Even the most open-minded parents wouldn’t do something like this, right?
She hurriedly started typing a reply, but before she could send it, another text came in: “Enough, I have to keep driving to take more jobs. I won’t be able to check my phone until after 9 PM. Just take good care of him. After all, he did us a huge favor, and now that he’s sick and alone, he needs someone to look after him!”
Su Xintong immediately fired back: “Dad! What are you even talking about! Come pick me up right now! Otherwise, I’m walking home myself!”
However, after that, there was no more response from her father.
Su Xintong was both angry and helpless.
At that moment, Ye Qiu suddenly opened his eyes and said, “Huh? You’re still here?”
Seeing Su Xintong still standing there, Ye Qiu spoke up.
He was hesitating whether to log into the game or not.
He was worried that doing so might affect the Mysterious Potion he had just taken, so he was caught in a dilemma.
“I, I...” Su Xintong fidgeted a little, then summoned her courage and said, “I wanted to invite you to my house for a meal.”
“Huh?” Ye Qiu looked surprised, staring at her in disbelief.
“Class monitor, are you sick too?” he asked.
Su Xintong quickly explained, “Don’t misunderstand! It’s because of my dad...”
Just as she was speaking, a sudden commotion rose from the street outside.
There were even police sirens.
The next second, a loudspeaker blared: “Attention all citizens, attention all citizens, attention all citizens...”
The announcement repeated three times, the volume so loud it could wake even those in deep sleep.
Then it continued: “An unidentified creature has attacked people in the city. Several citizens have been bitten, and there is already one confirmed death! For your safety, please avoid going outside. If there is an emergency, please call the designated hotline...”
The broadcast repeated again and again for a long time.
Su Xintong panicked and quickly tried to call her father.
But no matter how many times she called, it kept showing “no answer.”
“I’m going outside to check!” she said, hurrying toward the door.
But as soon as she opened it, she saw that the street was already blocked off!
People were allowed in, but not out.
Half an hour later, Su Xintong returned to Ye Qiu’s house, looking flustered.
“Is it martial law?” Ye Qiu asked right away.
In his previous life, there had indeed been a “three-day lockdown” incident.
At that time, he and his classmates were staying in school dorms, so the event hadn’t made much of an impact on them.
Besides, it only lasted three days, after which everything returned to normal.
Su Xintong nodded, then stood to the side and said, frustrated, “As soon as I tried to leave, the neighborhood security stopped me. They said no one can leave until further notice. I told them I don’t live here, but they demanded proof!”
Ye Qiu stayed lying down, afraid that any movement might affect the potion’s effectiveness.
Hearing this, he reassured her, “Don’t worry. I’ll take you out tonight.”
Su Xintong gripped her phone tightly, her face full of worry. “My dad’s phone suddenly can’t get through.”
Ye Qiu recalled the event vaguely.
If he remembered right, there were casualties. Maybe three, maybe five?
He hadn’t paid much attention at the time, so his memory was a bit hazy.
Now, living again, Ye Qiu couldn’t help but recall a line from a movie: “In the beginning, no one paid attention to this disaster. It was just seen as a random animal attack...”
However, the truth was likely much worse.
It seemed that monsters had already begun appearing early, accidentally slipping into the city.
“Try calling again,” Ye Qiu suggested.
He couldn’t guarantee that Su Xintong’s father wasn’t among the victims.
Su Xintong silently kept dialing, over and over again, but no one picked up.
In her anxiety, tears started to fall.
Ye Qiu didn’t know how to comfort her.
In his previous life, he had witnessed far too many tragedies:
Parents burying their children.
Newborn babies lying next to the corpses of their parents.
Monsters gnawing at family members’ bodies outside, while survivors cowered inside, not even daring to cry aloud.
Trying to shift the topic, Ye Qiu said, “By the way, earlier you mentioned inviting me to your house for dinner? What was that about?”
Ye Qiu thought back carefully.
In his memories, this situation hadn’t happened in his previous life.
Back then, he and Su Xintong were little more than classmates who barely exchanged five sentences.
They were practically strangers.
Su Xintong lowered her head, quickly wiping away her tears before whispering, “You saved my dad. He asked me to invite you over for a meal, to thank you for saving his life.”
“Your dad?” Ye Qiu was startled, then seemed to realize something and blurted out. “Uncle Su is your dad?! You’re Uncle Su’s daughter?!”
“Uncle Su? My dad’s name is Su Huarui. He drives a taxi. It’s about what happened yesterday, getting a refund at the taxi company.”
Su Xintong lifted her head, her eyes red from crying.
She was so anxious now, terrified that something bad had happened to her father.
The sudden lockdown, the announcement about an unknown creature attack, and confirmed deaths.
Plus, her father often drove around the city for work...
What if something really happened?
As she spiraled into anxious thoughts, Ye Qiu suddenly smiled and said, “Don’t worry, your dad will be fine.”
Su Xintong looked at him, sniffling, and asked, “How can you be so sure?”
Ye Qiu awkwardly paused.
He couldn’t exactly tell her: “In a few days, monsters will appear. You’ll be killed by a monster with a stinger, and your dad will end up having to claim your body at the school.”
If he said that, she would surely react the same way people had when he first warned them after being reborn, they simply wouldn’t believe him.
Thinking about it, he realized it was understandable.
If someone suddenly told him: “Don’t shower at school in a few days or you’ll die,” he wouldn’t have believed it either!
“Anyway, your dad will be fine. Believe it or not,” Ye Qiu said lazily, not bothering to explain further.
With that, he closed his eyes, intending to log into the game and check the situation.
After all, game time passed at a ratio of 1:10 compared to reality.
He didn’t want to waste real-world time idly.
Just as he was about to shut his eyes completely, his phone suddenly rang.
