Chapter 1: Returning to Before the Apocalypse

The afternoon in Lotus City on Children's Day was as stifling as a steamer.

Qin Xiaoyu sat on a small stool in the courtyard, her feet resting on her slippers, staring blankly at the magnificent sunflower growing beside the chicken coop, its flower head larger than a millstone.

Heaven knows what had happened; she had been struggling against a mutated blood ginseng, and in the blink of an eye, she was back on the day of her eighth Children's Day.

Behind her stood a three-story self-built house, and in front, a twenty-square-meter chicken coop where three-month-old chicks were pecking at feed. A small vegetable plot, lush and diverse, lay nearby. Even the dodder climbing over the lamppost looked peaceful.

Having spent fifteen years in a research lab, often plagued by hallucinations induced by drugs, she couldn't help but suspect she was dreaming. Or perhaps that blood-red mutated ginseng—which, even without its roots, was as large as a strapping man—was toxic, and she was experiencing a hyper-realistic hallucination from an overdose.

Suddenly, a rustling sound reached her ears. She turned her head, dazed.

Her fraternal twin brother, Qin Anxia—nicknamed "Big Shrimp"—was crouching beside her, holding the sugarcane residue she had just chewed. He looked at her with such aggrieved eyes that it seemed he might burst into tears at any moment.

Qin Xiaoyu couldn't help herself and acted out.

"Waaah!"

"Mom! Xiaoyu snatched my sugarcane and pinched me!" Caught off guard by the pinch, Big Shrimp could no longer hold back and began to wail loudly.

Heaven knew what he had just endured. His younger sister, who usually had a tiny, delicate mouth, had suddenly opened it like a gaping abyss, transforming into a heartless sugarcane-juicing machine. A meter-long stalk of sugarcane had been devoured in the blink of an eye.

An Xian was dragging a forty-pound fat goose toward the concrete slab in the courtyard. Hearing the cry, she glanced over, offering a perfunctory comfort: "It's fine. Once I kill the goose later, you can have the goose tail."

Qin Xiaoyu looked at the trussed-up, massive goose on the concrete slab, and long-buried memories began to resurface. After the apocalypse, all animals, including insects, had the potential to become humanity's close companions. A goose this plump—it would be a pity to slaughter it.

Near the Guo family’s house at the village entrance, there was a large pond where a flock of geese was kept. This one was particularly outstanding; not only was it twice the size of the others, but it was also exceptionally fierce, clever, and capable of recognizing people. It had bitten every stranger who entered the village. It usually left the villagers alone, with the sole exception of Qin Xiaoyu.

An Xian pressed down on the goose’s head, her hand poised to strike.

Qin Xiaoyu shouted, "Mom, spare the goose!"

An Xian paused the knife in mid-air and turned to look.

She saw her chubby daughter charging over like a cannonball. The ground, having just been watered, was a bit slippery, and there was a banana peel Big Shrimp had just tossed aside. Before she could warn her, she saw her daughter step right onto it.

*Whoosh!*

An Xian couldn't bear to watch and closed one eye, only to see her daughter, completely unfazed, slide gracefully right up to her.

An Xian’s mouth twitched. "You’re quite steady on your feet."

Qin Xiaoyu moved her foot away. "Of course!" She wasn't even afraid of mutated banana trees; did they really think a single banana peel could take her down?

An Xian asked, "What's the rush? You didn't even put on your slippers."

Only then did Qin Xiaoyu remember why she had rushed out. She hurriedly dragged the trussed-up goose off the concrete slab, and while backing away, she accidentally stepped on the banana peel again.

Perfect. She held her balance again.

"Mom, this goose has grown so large; it hasn't been easy for it. Why don't we spare its life?"

An Xian looked astonished. "Didn't you come back at noon screaming for braised goose in an iron pot? You wake up from a nap and change your mind? You don't want to eat it anymore?"

Qin Xiaoyu nodded earnestly. "That's right!"

An Xian squinted at her. "If you didn't want to eat it, why were you screaming so loudly, throwing a tantrum, and insisting I kill it? You even threatened to roll around in the vegetable patch if I didn't."

Qin Xiaoyu: ...

An Xian continued to stare at her. "They said there wasn't another goose this big within ten miles. It cost me three thousand yuan, and now you regret it? You don't want to eat it? Or does your butt not hurt anymore?"

Qin Xiaoyu instinctively touched her backside. It did, in fact, still hurt quite a bit.

This fat goose was notoriously vindictive. It usually just watched the villagers come and go, but once, when she was running home from school too fast, she had accidentally bumped into it and sent it rolling into a ditch. It had held a grudge ever since. Every day, it would wait on her path home from school and chase her, pecking at her. This time was the worst; the moment she stepped off the school bus, it spotted her, bit her backside, and nearly knocked her into a ditch.

She looked at the goose again. *Should she just braise it after all?*

Although plants had gone wild and mutated after the apocalypse, squeezing the living space of animals and forcing many to rely on humans as rare companions, a vengeful goose seemed useless to keep around.

The goose’s eyes filled with tears, lamenting its fate. Having witnessed its predecessors turn into roast goose one by one, it had tried its best to grow into something that didn't look appetizing, and it had even self-taught the skill of guarding the house and village. Was it still destined to follow in its predecessors' footsteps? Not roast goose, perhaps, but braised goose in an iron pot nonetheless.

The tears dripped faster, hitting the ground with a soft splash.

Qin Xiaoyu was shocked. *Could this goose have become a spirit already?*

No, that wasn't right! The cosmic black hole wouldn't arrive until tomorrow noon; the Earth hadn't crossed over yet, and everything was still normal. It couldn't be a spirit; at most, it was just slightly clever.

"Will you peck me again in the future?" Qin Xiaoyu felt her heart soften and poked the goose’s head. Before it could react, she said, "If you promise not to peck me, I'll spare you. If you dare to peck me again, I'll have my mom slaughter you."

The goose froze, then tentatively stretched its neck to rub against Qin Xiaoyu’s foot, its eyes filled with fawning submissiveness.

Qin Xiaoyu widened her eyes. She didn't know if the goose was smart, but it was certainly thick-skinned. An hour ago, it had been chasing her, leaving her backside bruised.

"Has this goose become a spirit?" An Xian asked, surprised. She added, "Looking at how vengeful it is, it’s not far off. We’ve only raised it for less than a year, right? It’s more capable than the two of you. When you twins were one year old, you couldn't even walk. You were so dim-witted that one time I looked away for a second, you were both in the bathtub fighting over who could eat poop."

Qin Xiaoyu: ...

The weeping Big Shrimp: ...

*Nonsense!*

Qin Xiaoyu said nothing, crouching beside the goose, staring at it eye-to-eye. It looked so pitiful now, nothing like the arrogant creature that had pecked her earlier.

"You really don't want to eat it?" An Xian confirmed once more.

Qin Xiaoyu tentatively reached out and touched the goose’s head. Seeing it didn't dodge, snap, or peck, but instead rubbed fawningly against her hand, she nodded firmly.

"I don't want to eat it."

An Xian decisively put away the knife, though she lamented the wasted seasonings she had just bought. Suddenly remembering something, she turned to look at the dog not far away.

Terrified, Big Shrimp rushed over, stretching out his arms to block the dog.

"You can't eat Shaobing!"