"Xiao Niu, how long are you staying this time? The fruit in the orchard is all ripe. Why not stay a few more days?"
Liu Jing held Bai Xiqin's arm, her face crinkling into a smile, but there was a trace of melancholy in her eyes.
"Grandma, how about you and Grandpa come stay at my place for a couple of days?" Bai Xiqin said sweetly.
"Alright!" Liu Jing replied with a smile. "But you see, in the next few days, the apples, dates, and persimmons in our orchard will all be ripe. People will come to the village to collect them, and your grandpa and I need to be around."
Liu Jing and Bai Zhengxuan lived in the city when they were younger. After retirement, they moved to the countryside. They're used to being economical, and even with a decent pension, they couldn't keep still, managing the orchard and making quite a bit of money.
"Grandma, our family is planning to open a supermarket. Maybe we shouldn't sell the fruit from our orchard and save it for ourselves?" Bai Xiqin's eyes lit up.
After all, things in the space won't spoil. Even if the family can't finish them, they can be traded for supplies during the upcoming apocalypse.
"Opening a supermarket?" Bai Zhengxuan was startled for a moment. "Did your dad get fired from his job?"
Bai Zhengxuan felt his heart skip a beat. He hoped no work problems would arise while he and his wife were simultaneously diagnosed with terminal illnesses.
"...No, I'm about to graduate and plan to start my own supermarket business!" Bai Xiqin replied.
"Wow! Our granddaughter is amazing!" Bai Zhengxuan's face instantly brightened. "Since it's for our granddaughter's supermarket, we won't sell the fruit. It's all yours!"
Where Bai Xiqin couldn't see, Bai Zhengxuan breathed a sigh of relief.
"Xiao Niu, do you need money to open the supermarket?" Liu Jing whispered in Bai Xiqin's ear. "If you need it, just say so. Your grandpa and I have saved quite a bit!"
"Yes!" Bai Yifan quickly responded.
"Shoo! This is none of your business!" Liu Jing gave him a sidelong glance.
Bai Yifan scratched his head awkwardly and quietly took out his phone to check his social circle.
No business deals at all...
Alas, so poor!
"Grandma, how much money do you have?" Bai Xiqin asked, her eyes gleaming as she looked at Liu Jing.
Relying on one's elders is considered a despised behavior.
But considering that in three months, the world would end, and money would be just waste paper, it's more important to spend all the family's money early to buy supplies.
"About two hundred thousand, all for you!"
Liu Jing glanced at Bai Yifan and whispered in Bai Xiqin's ear.
Bai Yifan: ...
Grandma, you could speak even more quietly.
"All for me?" Bai Xiqin's eyes sparkled even more.
"All for you!" Liu Jing winked at Bai Xiqin and whispered, "Don't tell your brother!"
"Okay!" Bai Xiqin mischievously winked back at Liu Jing.
Bai Yifan looked up at the sky, sometimes finding his grandma pretty adorable!
Most elderly people have a hearing loss, whereas teenagers like him don't. Grandma, you could be more discreet when you play favorites!
The Bai family's old house was a two-story building. Initially, the family's old house had mud walls, but when the grandparents moved here to retire, they built a new two-story house.
As soon as the family reached home, the grandparents brought out a bunch of delicious treats and placed them in front of Bai Xiqin and Bai Yifan.
While Bai Yifan was eating pomegranates and not paying attention, Liu Jing secretly stuffed a bank card into Bai Xiqin's hand. This was their lifelong savings.
Bai Xiqin accepted it with a grin.
This money could buy a large amount of warm clothing and things like wheelchairs that the elderly might need.
Now that they had space, they should buy as much as they could.
"Xiao Niu, go have a rest!" Bai Zhengxuan smiled, carrying a kitchen knife outside. "Grandpa will make your favorite chicken stew with mushrooms!"
"Alright!" Bai Xiqin grinned.
In the Bai family, only the men cook. From her grandfather to Bai Yifan, they are all great in the kitchen.
Bai Zhengxuan took a deep look at Bai Xiqin and Bai Yifan. But as he turned around, his face was full of worry.
Old age means weakness; he rubbed his eyes hard as he headed towards the chicken coop.
Alas, as long as he and his wife still lived, they should spend as much time with the kids as possible!
Bai Zhengxuan walked away, full of gloom, never expecting that despite being healthy, both he and his wife would suffer from terminal illnesses!
"Xiao Fan, why are you just standing there?" Bai Xiqin nudged Bai Yifan. "Go help with the fire!"
"Alright!" Bai Yifan glanced at the skeleton in the hall, stood up, and ran outside.
No matter how many times he visited, seeing the skeleton in the hall always made Bai Yifan feel weak in the knees.
Liu Jing, a retired forensic doctor, has an obsession with specimens.
Young people display many figurines at home, but at grandma and grandpa's place, it's all skeletons and human specimens.
Of course, they're all fake.
They are high-fidelity replicas, yet every time Bai Yifan sees them, he goes weak at the knees!
Soon, Bai Xiqin and Liu Jing were the only ones left in the hall.
Liu Jing glanced outside, opened her mouth as if wanting to speak to Bai Xiqin, but hesitated and said nothing.
"Grandma, is something the matter?"
Bai Xiqin was munching on persimmon cake, her cheeks round like a squirrel's.
"No, nothing!"
Looking at her lovely granddaughter, Liu Jing thought she might never see her again, and her heart ached, tears streaming down her face.
"Grandma, what's going on?"
Bai Xiqin was startled, hurriedly grabbing tissues to wipe Liu Jing's tears.
Her grandma didn't appear as if "nothing" was wrong.
However, when Bai Xiqin touched Liu Jing's face, she felt a chill.
Bai Xiqin looked up into Liu Jing's eyes, noticing the tears turning into icicles, clattering as they fell.
Bai Xiqin: ...
"Grandma, don't you feel a bit different?" Bai Xiqin cautiously asked.
Watching the icicles fall in front of her, Liu Jing felt even more sorrow, and the icicles increased...
"Granddaughter, I'm dying. I feel colder than any corpse I've dissected! I'm literally—" Liu Jing pursed her lips, ice tears welling up. "Frozen solid!"
"Grandma, you've awakened to an Ice Ability. I also have Ice Ability." Bai Xiqin quickly manifested some frost in her hand to show Liu Jing. "Having a superpower can even extend your life!"
Initially intending to tell the elders after the apocalypse began, Bai Xiqin now realized it was time to let her grandma know.
"...Superpower?" Liu Jing stared blankly at the frost in Bai Xiqin's hand and cautiously asked, "What does that mean? Are you saying you have a terminal illness too?"
"It's not a terminal illness, Grandma. Listen to me. In three months, the apocalypse will come. At that time, zombies will run rampant, and humans will awaken superpowers..."
Bai Xiqin explained the concept of superpowers to her grandma, choosing her words carefully.
After much explanation and dry throat, Bai Xiqin finally made her grandma understand what the apocalypse and having superpowers meant.
"So, it turns out I'm frozen solid?" Liu Jing asked, noticing the icicles in front of her. "This is merely an Ice Ability?"
"Yes!" Bai Xiqin nodded affirmatively. "Grandma, since we awakened our superpowers before the apocalypse, we'll be much stronger than those who awaken later!"
"As long as it's not a terminal illness!" Liu Jing sighed in relief, then held Bai Xiqin's hand and asked, "Your grandpa spits water and fire in his sleep and even sprouts green shoots on his body. Is this also not a terminal illness, but some sort of superpower?"
Bai Xiqin: "…That's a rare Water, Fire, and Wood Three-Ability."