Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"..."

An awkward silence stretched on. Cheng Jing didn’t say anything, and just as Jiang Nian was about to speak again, the call ended.

"Ahh..."

Jiang Nian sighed, mustered his courage, and dialed again. No shame in begging an ex back.

It wasn’t until the third try that the other line finally picked up—but Cheng Jing still said nothing.

Jiang Nian quietly inhaled and awkwardly broke the silence:

"Uh... long time no see."

A cliché opener, but he felt inexplicably happy saying it.

"Do you need something?"

Cheng Jing’s voice was ice-cold now—the standard ex tone.

"..."

Damn, straight to the point. Jiang Nian hesitated for a moment. Truthfully, there wasn’t much room for small talk between them after their last unpleasant encounter. He decided to cut right to it:

"Yeah, I want to come see you."

Bold and blunt. His cheeks flushed hot enough to fry an egg.

Cheng Jing clenched his jaw:

"What, lost a game of truth or dare?"

"No, I'm serious."

Jiang Nian blurted out. Dumping him out of nowhere, then suddenly coming back with something shocking—he understood Cheng Jing's reaction. Before Cheng could speak, he barreled ahead:

"My mom passed away. I just finished her funeral... and I’m not doing so well right now... Is that okay?"

He was betting on Cheng Jing’s soft spot, even if this seemed desperate or shady. Besides, it wasn't exactly a lie—dying tragically, being reborn, losing his mother... Even if the apocalypse wasn’t already here, he needed to catch his breath.

If he could just stick around Cheng Jing until the end came, he’d have his safety net locked in.

Though this time, he wouldn’t let himself end up as helpless as before. His power was niche but weak in a fight—if someone targeted him, he'd be a lab rat.

So he needed muscle to watch his back.

And the only one he truly trusted? It had to be Cheng Jing.

Their tragedy was entirely his own damn fault. Thinking back to how Cheng had screamed for him, raw and broken, at the end of his life, Jiang Nian felt his nose burn.

Even if he had to grovel, he would stay by Cheng Jing’s side.

"...Sorry for your loss."

Cheng Jing’s tone softened considerably, but then he asked:

"Where’s your usual crowd?"

"......"

Jiang Nian tightened his grip with his other hand, pausing to choose his words before replying:

"You know how bad things are with my dad—I don’t want anything to do with him..."

This time around, he wanted zero contact with that family!

If they crossed paths in the future and left him alone, fine. But if they started shit, they’d regret it.

"......"

Cheng Jing stayed quiet for a moment before asking:

"What about your boyfriend?"

"What?"

Jiang Nian blinked, caught off guard. He quickly realized Cheng Jing was feeling him out, so he kept going:

"I don’t have a boyfriend. Been single since we broke up. My mom was sick for two years, and... well, you never actually agreed to the breakup, so I didn’t dare look for anyone else. Was too scared you’d come after me when you got back from the army. Didn’t even dare check out a decent-looking guy in two years."

He added with a smirk:

"Seriously. If you don’t believe me, go investigate."

After getting a second chance at life, might as well use his mouth and grow a thicker skin—might help get some leniency. Back when he was chasing Cheng Jing, he'd thrown way crazier lines than this.

Of course, even though he was mouthing off now, he was still all about real love. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have dared to mess with someone like Cheng Jing in the first place.

They’d just started dating when Cheng Jing was already planning their wedding—totally nuts, like some crazy rom-com or something.

"......"

After a long silence, Cheng Jing finally scoffed:

"You better not be lying."

"Wouldn’t dream of it."

Jiang Nian let out a breath, then asked carefully:

"So... can I come see you? Maybe clear the air between us while we're at it?"

Play the sympathy card while hashing out old drama—two birds with one stone. First step: get face-to-face. Once they met, there’d be a chance.

"I’ll pick you up at Qingyun Station."

Cheng Jing finally gave in.

At first came the rush of relief, followed by shock:

"You... you’re in Qingyun?"

Holy shit—had they been this close the whole time?

But last time around, he thought Cheng Jing’s security company was based in Beishi, the capital. Wasn’t that right?

"Click—"

Cheng Jing didn’t answer, just hung up again—but soon added Jiang Nian on social media through his number. It was a way out, at least.

Jiang Nian exhaled deeply. Whatever else happened, the most important thing had been settled—he’d grabbed at least a toehold of support from that bigshot.

Now he needed to find a way to scrape together some cash. No one would lend him money anymore, so he'd max out his recently paid-off credit card and milk those online lending platforms dry. The world's ending anyway—screw it.

After a flurry of moves, his balance read over 70k.

For stockpiling supplies to survive the apocalypse, that wasn't even pocket change. But it was something. If things went sideways when he met Cheng Jing, this little bit could tide him over for a while.

He sold the apartment with all its furniture still inside, only packing a few sets of clothes, essentials, his mother’s portrait, and an album into a suitcase. He didn’t have much—just one suitcase and a backpack.

Checking out of the short-term rental was easy. That same afternoon, Jiang Nian hauled both suitcases to a hotel.

Around eight in the evening, his father called, asking if he wanted to stay over for a few days. Jiang Nian refused.

Nothing big had gone down yet in this life, so he didn’t want to get into too much detail. He was fine with everyone minding their own business.

But when his father found out he sold the house to pay off debts, he chewed him out for not running it by him first, saying his stepmom could’ve covered the price he sold it for.

Father and son went at it. In his past life, Jiang Nian just listened without pushing back. Now, all his bottled-up anger exploded, and he shouted right back.

Only when the man, furious over what he saw as a challenge to his authority, snapped that neither he nor his mother had any conscience did Jiang Nian finally calm down. He took a few deep breaths, wiped away his tears, and gritted his teeth, tearing the last shred of decorum between them to pieces:

"Chen Shanmin, you can curse me all you want—but don’t drag my mom into this! The *only* reason I even call you Dad now is because she had too much conscience. Other than sharing DNA, you don’t deserve it!

The moment you divorced her because she insisted on having me during your startup phase, our real father-son bond ended! To you, I was nothing but a damn inconvenience. That’s why I carry my mother’s name—I’m *Jiang* Xueyun’s son! You’re Chen, the father of Chen Yue and Chen Lin!”

In his past life, he thought after his mother passed and the apocalypse came, they should let go of their grudge and try to survive together. But clearly, that was wishful thinking.

To Chen Shanmin, he’d always be an accident—at best, a tool for saving Chen Yue later on. Any scraps of kindness thrown his way were no different from tossing food to stray animals.

Chen Shanmin, enraged that Jiang Nian had dragged his old shame into the open, had his perfect image shattered. He snapped that he was disowning his ass completely, growled at Jiang Nian to pay him back if he was man enough, and slammed down the phone.

Jiang Nian didn’t hesitate. As soon as he hung up, he transferred 20,000 yuan, sent a message saying they were square, then blocked every contact method.

It was a waste to pay it back, sure—but he worried that if they crossed paths after the apocalypse, he might get guilt-tripped. Better to cut clean now.

One mess cleared, Jiang Nian flopped back onto the hotel bed, panting hard, letting his overheated mind cool.

About half an hour later, once he’d steadied himself, he pulled out his phone, bought a train ticket to Qingyun City for the next day, and sent the screenshot to Cheng Jing.

The other man ignored him coldly, so Jiang Nian tried to make conversation:

“Send me a photo. Otherwise, with how packed the station gets, I might not spot you. I’ll send mine too.”

People change after two years apart.

This time, Cheng Jing replied fast:

“Forget it. I’d know you even as dust.”