Confronting the Sucker

Wang Kai was fawning over Su Mengli in the break area of the warehouse. He wore an obsequious smile on his face, and his eagerness was almost palpable, as if the words "I like you" were written all over him. Carefully, he took out two concert tickets from his pocket and waved them in front of Su Mengli, his eyes shining with anticipation. "Mengli, these are tickets to Jay Chou's concert. I managed to get them with great difficulty. Let's go together, shall we?"

However, Su Mengli had little interest in men like Wang Kai. In terms of economic conditions, Wang Kai was just an ordinary wage earner. He was still renting a house and far from meeting the standards of a high-quality man. But Su Mengli, maintaining her usual green tea demeanor, still wore a sweet smile on her lips and said softly, "Thank you, Wang Kai. But it's really unfortunate. I already have an appointment with a friend that night."

Upon hearing this, the smile on Wang Kai's face froze instantly. Then, a look of disappointment clouded his features like a dark cloud. He had gritted his teeth and spent his entire month's salary on these two tickets, full of anticipation of confessing his love to Su Mengli at the concert and starting a romantic relationship. Unexpectedly, his beautiful fantasy shattered so easily.

Not far away, Lin Xiao witnessed all this and couldn't help but curl his lips into a mocking arc. He knew very well that a hopelessly devoted person like Wang Kai would eventually end up with nothing.

Wang Kai was filled with disappointment and, having nowhere to vent his frustration, turned his head and saw the faint smile on Lin Xiao's face. Instantly, a surge of anger welled up inside him. To hide his embarrassment, he, like a cat with its tail stepped on, stormed towards Lin Xiao.

"Lin Xiao, you really don't act decently!" Wang Kai shouted at the top of his voice, looking like he was here to seek justice. "As a grown man, you actually let a woman help you carry things. Aren't you ashamed? Mengli has been complaining about her backache since she came to work today. Next time you have such things, don't bother her!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiao cast a cold glance at Su Mengli. He knew that it must be this woman who had spread the word around, leading to this farce.

Sensing Lin Xiao's gaze, Su Mengli immediately put on a vulnerable look. She frowned slightly and cooed, "Oh, it's actually not a big deal. It's just that I don't usually do heavy work, and I might have accidentally sprained my waist." As she spoke, she raised her hand and gently pinched her slender waist, putting on an expression of great pain. Her acting skills were so good that she could have won an Oscar.

Seeing Su Mengli like this, Wang Kai seemed to have received some kind of signal. In order to show his "masculinity" in front of his goddess, he puffed out his chest and pointed at Lin Xiao, shouting, "Hurry up and give Mengli 500 yuan for her medical treatment. Don't dilly-dally!"

A cold glint flashed in Lin Xiao's eyes. He stared at Wang Kai defiantly and scolded angrily, "She volunteered to help me carry things. I didn't ask her to. Who do you think you are, giving me orders here? Do you really think you're someone important?"

Lin Xiao's scathing rebuke was like a thunderclap, instantly leaving Wang Kai and Su Mengli stunned. Wang Kai was just an ordinary clerk in the warehouse. He was timid and afraid of getting into trouble on a normal day. The only reason he dared to criticize Lin Xiao was that he thought Lin Xiao had a good temper and wouldn't get angry easily. But now, seeing Lin Xiao really lose his temper, Wang Kai immediately became as timid as a mouse and lost all his bravado.

"You... Why are you shouting so loudly?" Wang Kai stammered, his voice trembling slightly. "I... I was just discussing it with you."

Lin Xiao sneered, too lazy to waste any more words with him. He turned around and strode away. In his eyes, these people were nothing but ants about to be swept away by the impending apocalyptic storm and didn't deserve his time or words.

After Lin Xiao left, Wang Kai, looking like a wronged little boy, rushed to Su Mengli's side and whispered, "Mengli, see? I told you Lin Xiao was no good. You must stay away from him in the future."

Su Mengli frowned, and a sense of confusion welled up in her heart. In recent days, Lin Xiao seemed to have changed completely. He no longer greeted her proactively when he saw her, and even the nightly chats and goodnight wishes that used to be so regular had disappeared without a trace. "What on earth is wrong with him? Is he hiding some secret from me?" Su Mengli wondered to herself, and an inexplicable feeling of unease washed over her.

...

After work, Lin Xiao drove directly to the luxurious five-star hotel in Tianhai City, Hongfu Tianxia. He had ordered meals here before, and as soon as the hotel manager heard that he had arrived, he immediately greeted him with a beaming smile and personally arranged a spacious and comfortable guest room for him. The accommodation fee for one night in this five-star hotel was more than 1,000 yuan, but Lin Xiao didn't care at all. Now that he had several million yuan in his hands, during these last stable days, money was just a bunch of numbers to him. It would be a waste if he couldn't spend it.

That night, Su Mengli's familiar profile picture started blinking on Lin Xiao's phone screen. To his surprise, she took the initiative to send him a message.

Su Mengli: "Lin Xiao, I passed by your house today and saw that someone was doing some renovation work!"

Lin Xiao saw the message, curled the corner of his mouth slightly, and casually replied, "Yeah, that's right."

Su Mengli: "You seem so strange recently. You've been stockpiling things and renovating your house. Is something big going to happen?"

When Lin Xiao read this message, his eyebrows twitched slightly. He had to admit that although Su Mengli had a devious mind, she was quite sharp-witted. His abnormal behavior these days had indeed aroused her suspicion. However, Lin Xiao didn't care at all. Against the backdrop of the impending apocalypse, the opinions and speculations of others meant nothing to him.

"Nothing." He replied coldly and then tossed his phone aside, continuing with what he was doing.

On the other side, Su Mengli looked at Lin Xiao's brief and cold reply on the phone screen, and her heart felt as if it was being scratched by a cat. Recalling the past two years, Lin Xiao had always been very caring towards her. He would find all kinds of topics to chat with her every night and tenderly say goodnight before going to bed. But now, he seemed like a different person, so cold and distant that it made her heart ache.

Su Mengli couldn't accept this gap. In her heart, she was like a queen ruling over a fishpond, and Lin Xiao was one of her many "fish." She might not cherish him, but she definitely wouldn't allow this fish to swim away from her "fishpond." Although Lin Xiao wasn't a rich second-generation, he was still a decent middle-class young man. If she couldn't find a better marriage partner in the future, Lin Xiao could still be a backup option.

With this in mind, Su Mengli, unwilling to give up, sent another message: "I feel like we've been in touch less recently. I'm not used to it, and I feel kind of lonely."

However, after waiting for a long time, the phone screen remained silent, and there was no reply from Lin Xiao. Su Mengli was so angry that she gritted her teeth and threw the phone onto the bed, cursing, "This damned Lin Xiao. Is he possessed recently? I took the initiative to talk to him, and he actually dared to ignore my message!"

At this moment, her roommate, Li Shihan, heard the commotion and walked over with a smile. "What's wrong, Mengli? Are you having a quarrel with Lin Xiao again?" Li Shihan asked with a laugh. "Lin Xiao has really been acting strange recently. He bought so much food and drinks and ordered a lot of banquets from the hotel. It seems like there's really going to be a shortage of supplies."

Upon hearing this, Su Mengli frowned even more. She said thoughtfully to Li Shihan, "Shihan, do you think something really might happen? Could Lin Xiao have gotten some inside information and started stockpiling supplies?"

Li Shihan was taken aback when she heard this, and then she burst into laughter, clutching her stomach. "Mengli, are you overthinking it? If there's really something major happening, the official authorities will definitely issue a notice. Let's not worry about it. If we really start stockpiling supplies, others will laugh at us and think we're fools."

Su Mengli thought her idea was ridiculous after hearing this and couldn't help but laugh at herself. "You're right. I might have really been thinking too much."

...

In the following few days, Lin Xiao stayed in the suite of the five-star hotel. He didn't go anywhere and focused on two things: one was to continue to purchase banquets from various hotels on a large scale, adding delicious food and drinks to his stockpile of supplies; the other was to practice the use of a compound bow and crossbow in the room.

Fortunately, Lin Xiao had a passion for hunting in the past and had a certain foundation. After several days of intensive practice, his hit rate within a range of fifteen meters was already quite high. Coupled with the professional-grade compound bow in his hand, this modern and sophisticated piece of equipment meant that even an ordinary person could shoot an arrow with a power comparable to that of an ancient master archer. With this bow, not only could Lin Xiao deal with ordinary people, but even if he encountered wild boars, jackals, or large dogs, he had enough confidence to protect himself and deliver a fatal blow to the opponent.