Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Bundled under the covers, Qi Mo rested for a while before mumbling, “Huo Liangzhou, can you not go to the Empire?”

Half-reclining against the headboard, Huo Liangzhou was dealing with work from his business trip.

Hearing the young master’s sulky voice and seeing the back of his head, he knew the young master was sulking again.

“Alright,” Huo Liangzhou agreed.

Hearing the answer he wanted, Qi Mo finally perked up.

Turning around, he silently stared at the man for a long time before extending a slender, pale finger. “You said it—pinky swear. Liar becomes a puppy.”

Huo Liangzhou’s lips twitched at this. *If I’m a puppy, what does that make you—the one married to a puppy?*

The young master could be ruthless—even with himself.

Of course, Huo Liangzhou wouldn’t dare say that out loud.

Otherwise, he might end up on the receiving end of another round of cold-shoulder treatment.

“Fine, pinky swear. If I lie, I’m a puppy,” Huo Liangzhou chuckled.

It was just a billion-dollar deal. No big loss if it made the young master happy. Besides, there was still a chance for future cooperation—he planned to lure them into collaborating locally instead.

Just required a bit more effort.

As long as the young master was happy, nothing was off the table.

To him, it was just a digit more or less in his fortune.

What was money for, if not for the young master and little lord to spend?

Purpose had to be clear—can’t get priorities twisted.

Only after getting a firm answer did Qi Mo finally unwrap himself from his cocoon. Then he slowly sat up, his aching waist and wobbly legs making it hard to climb out of bed.

Scowling at the man smirking against the headboard, he thought, *Still trying to seduce me with your looks? Who do you think I am—some pushover?*

Resisting temptation, Qi Mo strolled into the bathroom for a shower, no way giving the man an opening to take advantage.

As the warm water sprayed down, Qi Mo instantly relaxed.

Huo Liangzhou stripped the bed, stood by the floor-to-ceiling window sipping a glass of red wine, then put on his pajamas and walked out to knock on Aunt Zhang’s door.

Aunt Zhang opened the door quietly, shushing him before returning to fetch the toddler who had just fallen asleep.

“I can look after him during the day, but at night he cries too much,” she whispered, plunking Baby Yan into Huo Liangzhou’s arms.

“He’s used to his daddy’s side—he recognizes people,” Huo Liangzhou said, cradling the child securely.

Back upstairs, he caught sight of the young master sneaking off. “Not sleeping with the baby tonight?”

Qi Mo, who had been creeping toward his room, paused mid-step. Turning around, he saw the man holding his baby at the corridor entrance, watching him.

Drawing himself up, Qi Mo demanded, “Hand over my baby.”

“You can’t solo-parent a baby, you know. Be a good boy and come to bed,” Huo Liangzhou teased.

Huo Liangzhou, that jerk, trying to take our baby again.

Whatever, it’s almost over anyway—just a couple more days. Besides, apart from being overly competent, Huo Liangzhou doesn’t really have any other flaws.

Early the next morning, June 9th.

Qi Mo thought—he’d leave tomorrow morning. Once the power was out, communications down, all electronics failed, and cars stopped working, the only things left running would probably be old-school tractors.

Good luck with that.

For now, Qi Mo held his chattering baby in his arms, grabbed the car keys, and headed to the mall for supplies.

By evening, he’d collect everything stored in the warehouse.

At the supermarket, he bought a stack of ribeyes, cod fillets, prepped shrimp, lobster tails, and preserved veggies.

Next was the shoe store—snow boots, work boots, baby snow boots. Even though he’d already stocked up, seeing them made him want to buy more…

Then his favorite snack shop—bubble tea, fried chicken, skewers, fried meat patties, cakes, bread—everything he liked, packed to go.

The bank—another million-plus in cash.

After that, Qi Mo went to the gold shop—gold bars, gold bars, gold bars.

He raided every store on the block.

At the outdoor club, he snagged bows, arrows, tactical shovels, camping knives, folding saws, hiking poles, hiking boots, and backpacks—all good stuff.

In the afternoon, Chen Feng called again, inviting him to the farmhouse.

Qi Mo wasn’t about to waste time on that. Besides, after his fallout with Qi Huai, knowing Chen Feng was close to them, Qi Mo wasn’t about to be the sucker.

By evening, Qi Mo bought a ton of hats and gloves—for both adults and kids—at a gift shop.

Plus umbrellas, raincoats, and rain boots.

All kinds of resealable bags, storage bags, food packaging, trash bags, and more.

At six, Qi Mo arrived at the warehouse and told the elderly guard that they were off tomorrow, to return on Monday.

The guard clocked out and headed home happily.

Lately, he’d made a decent sum just watching the warehouse, and now he even got weekends off—with no pay cut.

He’d also arranged for a group to unload goods, skimming a cut.

Once the guard left, Qi Mo inspected the entire warehouse. He’d bought another hundred water tanks—ten would stay in the villa’s basement tomorrow.

Fifty had already been placed at the security company.

By now, they should be completely full.

As long as the lids were sealed, the water wouldn’t evaporate.

He killed the power, disabled the cameras, and gleefully hoarded it all…

Nothing beats the thrill of stockpiling.

Mature ginger, young ginger, garlic—enough to last for decades.

Hotpot seasoning, tons of it—plenty to go around for ages.

After collecting all the supplies in the warehouse, Qi Mo lingered a little, still holding Baby Yan.

At seven in the evening, Qi Mo returned home.

Huo Liangzhou looked at the young master who hadn’t been home much lately: "Where’ve you been running off to again? The weather’s too hot now—don’t let Baby Yan overheat."

"I had a water bottle," Qi Mo shot back. Starting tomorrow, he wouldn’t roam around anymore.

That night, Chen Feng, Qi Huai, and Jiang Nuan gathered again.

Chen Feng turned to Qi Huai: "I can’t get him to meet up. I feel like Qi Mo has changed—he’s been brushing me off lately."

"What do we do then? Getting Huo Liangzhou to take our bid is impossible unless Qi Huai vouches for us," Su Huai chimed in.

Now he can’t even step outside without a mask. Yesterday evening, someone even pelted him with rotten eggs.

The door and windows of his house were smashed with stinky fish, rotten shrimp, and durian—so rank the neighbors were up in arms.

Jiang Nuan looked at Qi Huai and said, "Your top sister’s still hospitalized—her face is wrecked, not even surgery can fix it. Huo Liangzhou got her parents and brother fired, and the other three also faced various degrees of suppression. Huo Liangzhou’s playing too hardball. Qi Huai, you can fan the flames of class resentment."

"No, my messages are getting blocked," Qi Huai replied.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to—it was that he couldn’t.

Jiang Nuan smiled. "Have them leak it to the press. Don’t show your face—there will always be people ready to go after the Huo family."

Qi Huai nodded. "Worth a shot."

"Tomorrow, I’ll go find Qi Mo. I’ll have my assistant watch Huo Liangzhou’s villa. The second Qi Mo steps out, we grab him," Qi Huai said.

Chen Feng didn’t want to go this far.

If they were caught kidnapping, it could ruin their lives.

Huo Liangzhou wasn’t one to cross—if they kidnapped the young master, he’d lose his damn mind. There was no way they could handle that.

He didn’t need to risk everything like this.

"Kidnapping Qi Huai won’t work. You should apologize to Qi Mo. If he forgives you, Huo Liangzhou probably won’t target you. If you’re not willing to apologize, then go with Jiang Nuan’s idea. It’ll definitely stir things up—maybe even lead to a truce with Huo Liangzhou," Chen Feng suggested.

Qi Huai frowned. "Chen Feng, are you refusing to help?"

"Qi Huai, there’s really no need to go this far. Over the past two years, Huo Liangzhou usually doesn’t go for total destruction," Chen Feng explained.

Jiang Nuan thought for a moment—indeed, Huo Liangzhou’s tactics had softened recently. But when exactly did that happen?

Only after he married Qi Mo.

So Huo Liangzhou didn’t marry Qi Mo just to do the right thing—he orchestrated this to get Qi Mo.

Otherwise, why did every other attempt to drug him fail, yet this time it worked?

Jiang Nuan gave Qi Huai a pitying look.

You’ve crossed Huo Liangzhou’s red line—you’re dead to him.

No wonder Huo Liangzhou’s counterattack came so swiftly—his Achilles’ heel had been struck.

“Qi Huai, you and Qi Mo are cousins. There’s no grudge that can’t be resolved. I know Qi Mo—he’s the softest-hearted guy around. If you butter him up a bit, he’ll definitely forgive you,” Jiang Nuan said. She had no intention of getting dragged down by a Qi Huai on the verge of snapping.

Qi Huai watched as the two tag-teamed him with their pleas. His eyes burned with anger as he smashed his glass against the table. “You two just don’t want to help me.”

“How is this not helping? But do you really need to go nuclear? Once you cross that line, there’s no coming back. Apologize, back down—there’s still room to fix things. After all, Big Sister overstepped. Don’t commit a crime, or Huo Liangzhou will never let you off the hook. Do you really think you can take him on in Jiangcheng? Are you planning to run overseas? What about your family? Your company?” The more Jiang Nuan thought about it, the less sense it made.

Qi Huai was being too extreme.

If they could just squeeze a few favors out of Qi Mo, that would be enough to keep them comfortable.

But if they burned bridges now, they’d lose any chance of future benefits from the Huos—and face ruthless retaliation from Huo Liangzhou. Not worth it.

Qi Huai left in a huff, parting ways with Chen Feng and Jiang Nuan on bad terms.

Jiang Nuan glanced at Chen Feng.

Chen Feng shut off the surveillance and wiretap devices. “Don’t worry, everything’s recorded.”

“If something happens, we tried to stop him,” Chen Feng smirked. Moments later, the two embraced and left the tea room, heading into the bedroom.

Moans and whispers drifted from inside.

Huo Liangzhou watched as the young master scooped up Baby Yan protectively and ran into the bedroom.

Huo Liangzhou got the message with a sigh—the boy was refusing to share a bed with him.

That was their silent understanding.

When the young master retreated to his room, it meant they kept their distance.

Huo Liangzhou kicked himself. He shouldn’t have given the kid his own room. One bedroom would’ve worked just fine.

Dumbest idea ever.

Late at night, he pushed open the young master’s door.

Baby Yan was splayed like a starfish, one tiny foot pressed against the boy’s face, leaving a red imprint.

He lifted the child gently and straightened him out.

His thumb brushed over the boy’s soft lips before Huo Liangzhou gave a dark chuckle and walked out, watching the boy frown slightly as he did.

Qi Mo rubbed his eyes. He felt like someone had slipped into the room earlier.

Even now, the air carried a hint of musk—the scent of a man.

Qi Mo got up to check. The door was locked tight.

Probably just his imagination.

Back in bed, he dragged the kid into a cuddle and thought again about last night’s heat of the moment. It had actually been pretty good. That ice-cold, untouchable guy had even been willing to serve him.

No, no, he couldn’t think about it. He almost forgot to breathe, until the man reminded him. His toes clenched, his cheeks burning.

He was bailing tomorrow. Thinking about that hypnotic gaze made his heart race. What was wrong with him? He was hooked.

And yet, in his previous life, he’d never done anything like this.

Huo Liangzhou, this is all your doing.

He gritted his teeth.

So annoying... just so damn annoying...

Qi Mo punched the pillow in frustration, closed his eyes, and tried to sleep.

After society collapsed in his past life, Huo Liangzhou never came looking for him. This time, if Huo Liangzhou could find him, it would mean they truly had fate on their side—he'd give Huo Liangzhou a chance.

Once he made up his mind, Qi Mo finally fell asleep.

The whole night was filled with chaotic dreams—nothing but that man's face, that focused look he got when they... you know.

Qi Mo touched his cheeks—they were flushed again.

Baby Yan, now awake, bit down on Daddy’s thigh.

Qi Mo looked down. "You little monster, don't bite. Be good, let go, let go... Daddy knows you're hungry, but chomping on Daddy won’t fill you up."

After being scolded, Baby Yan finally accepted reality and obediently released him.

Qi Mo started Baby Yan's morning routine: washing his face, hands, and bottom, letting it air-dry, applying protective cream, waiting two minutes, then putting on a fresh diaper.

Once they were done, Qi Mo finally gave Baby Yan the bottle.

Then he prepped more bottles—one, two, a dozen more, all stored in his space.

By now, Qi Mo’s space was stocked with seventy or eighty bottles of milk at just the right temperature, ready for Baby Yan whenever needed.

After cleaning yesterday’s bottles, Qi Mo waited.

He jotted down his to-do list and talking points in a notebook. Hmm, books—he seemed to have forgotten to buy some.

Well, he could get them on the way. The apocalypse wouldn't hit all at once; society would break down gradually, likely starting in about half a month.

But this time, Qi Mo planned to warn the authorities. In the last half-hour before the blackout, he prayed it would work—that number *better* still work.

Carrying Baby Yan downstairs, he taught him to wave goodbye to Daddy.

Huo Liangzhou watched as Baby Yan happily gurgled "Da-da," then waved back at the young master holding the child.

Massaging his temples, Huo Liangzhou felt like today was somehow different—like something was about to happen.

A nagging unease took root inside him.

The young master had never come to the door with the baby to see him off before.

No wonder it felt unusual.

Once he figured it out, Huo Liangzhou shook off the weird feeling.

After breakfast, Qi Mo buckled Baby Yan into his car seat and walked toward the SUV, taking one last look at the house.

"Auntie Zhang, later, could you fill all the water tanks in the storage room?" Qi Mo ran back to add.

Auntie Zhang thought it was strange but humored him—it wasn’t a big deal. "Alright, I’ll do it later."

Qi Mo strapped Baby Yan into his car seat before getting into the driver’s seat himself.

He had already stored two guns and a hundred rounds of ammunition, two crossbows and some bolts, as well as two curved blades and several hand axes in the safe.

There was also some gold and cash, which would be useful in the early stages of the apocalypse.

Previously, Third Master Bai had managed to get him two hundred rounds of ammunition.

Later, after he kept bugging him, Third Master Bai had no choice—he shelled out millions. Not on guns, just bullets, which were much easier to obtain.

So Qi Mo scored another three hundred rounds.

He hit the gas and headed for Yuncheng.

As soon as Qi Mo’s SUV pulled out of the villa, someone immediately called Qi Huai and then followed behind.

When Qi Huai heard that Qi Mo had finally come out—and without any bodyguards—he was delighted. He quickly motioned to the two guys with him to find a secluded spot and prepare to take him away…