Chapter 2: The Old Papaya Tree Speaks?

An Xian was lost in thought, silent and brooding. Compared to the goose, she felt a much stronger urge to slaughter this energetic, furniture-destroying dog.

A Husky was the kind of creature that belonged in a stew. Even living out in the countryside, it couldn't shake its destructive habits. The living room sofa had been gnawed into a ruin; honestly, the trash discarded at the curb by the neighbors looked better than their own furniture.

Daxia stood in front of Shaobing, looking as though he were prepared to live or die alongside the dog. Shaobing, however, assumed Daxia wanted to play. It grabbed onto his pant leg and shook it vigorously, revealing his underwear in the blink of an eye.

An Xian rolled her eyes, turned around, and headed toward the chicken coop. Regardless of anything else, they were having stewed chicken today.

As soon as she left, Daxia pulled up his pants and crouched down next to Qin Xiaoyu. Like a conspirator, he whispered, "Xiaoyu, how were you able to eat that sugarcane so fast without hurting your gums?"

Qin Xiaoyu was staring at the papaya tree by the edge of the vegetable garden. Was she imagining things? She could have sworn she heard it speak just now.

[Don't chop me down.]

She listened closely, but there was nothing.

It was a century-old papaya tree that had grown too tall. They had chopped it down for fear that a strong wind would snap it and cause damage, yet its vitality proved tenacious. Not only did it survive, but eight branches had sprouted from the stump, all now laden with papayas.

"Xiaoyu?" Daxia nudged her.

Qin Xiaoyu came back to her senses and touched her tongue against her teeth. To be honest, it hadn't been that easy; her mouth was still a bit sore. But at the time, she had mistaken it for a mutated blood ginseng. Driven by the suicidal determination to go down with it, she would have chewed through it even if it meant breaking her teeth or severing her tongue.

Thinking of this, Qin Xiaoyu pinched Daxia hard.

"Ow, ow, ow! That hurts!"

Hearing her brother’s shrill cry and feeling the lingering ache in her own cheeks, she became more certain that she had truly been reborn.

Qin Xiaoyu slapped Daxia on the back, a surge of heat rising in her chest. Since that was the case, she had to prepare early.

Poor Daxia was knocked flat onto the ground, utterly bewildered. Was his little sister’s strength getting a bit too out of hand?

An Xian, having just caught a chicken, frowned at the sight. "The floor is covered in water. Why are you lying there? Is your skin itching for a beating again?"

Daxia tattled, "Mom, Xiaoyu hit me!"

An Xian looked at him with disdain. "And you just lie on the floor because she hit you? Can you show even a shred of ambition?"

Daxia protested, "I didn't lie down on purpose! Xiaoyu knocked me down!"

An Xian looked at her daughter, and seeing no sign of denial, she couldn't help but feel surprised.

Qin Xiaoyu was currently debating whether or not to reveal that the apocalypse was coming. After all, she was only an eight-year-old child now, with no money and little strength. There was almost nothing she could do.

"Mom, if I told you the apocalypse is coming, would you believe me?" Qin Xiaoyu tested the waters.

"I believe you."

Qin Xiaoyu’s eyes lit up, only for the next sentence to follow immediately: "Don't talk to me about the apocalypse. Even if the sky falls, you still have to finish every bit of your homework. Don't even think about slacking off."

Qin Xiaoyu raised her voice. "I’m serious! I’ve come back from twenty years in the future!"

"Oh."

An Xian replied perfunctorily. With a swift motion, she ended the chicken’s life, then proceeded to scald it in boiling water to remove the feathers.

"Mom!"

"You're too noisy. If you have nothing better to do, come here and pluck the feathers."

"..."

Qin Xiaoyu held the goose’s head and sighed. "My words carry no weight because I am a child. What am I supposed to do?"

The goose let out a "Gah?"

By now, the cosmic black hole had already appeared. On the night of June 4th, it would swallow the Earth. After twelve hours of absolute darkness, the Earth would be transported to another planet. The scouring of unknown substances would cause plants across the globe to mutate.

That’s right—only the plants would mutate.

Humans and animals seemed to have been abandoned; they underwent no changes at all, yet they were left vulnerable to the attacks of the mutated flora.

It wasn't until three months into the apocalypse that humans discovered consuming mutated plants could strengthen their physique, but many of the plants contained toxins. Once toxins accumulated to a certain level, they caused genetic collapse. Furthermore, the process of strengthening one's physique was prone to hitting bottlenecks.

By the time these issues were addressed, twenty years had passed. The mutated plants had become formidable, while humans and animals remained weak, wiped out before they could even grow.

Thinking of this, Qin Xiaoyu gasped. If she had to repeat the same mistakes, she might as well let the goose peck her to death.

Qin Xiaoyu suddenly felt incredibly grateful. After her entire family had become fertilizer, she had felt there was nothing left to live for and voluntarily applied to become a test subject at a research institute. Because of that, she remembered every single medicinal formula from the early to late stages of the apocalypse.

She glanced at Daxia and said suddenly, "Daxia, if I told you the world ends in three days, and that sunflower you’re growing will turn into a Gatling gun and spray seeds at you, would you believe me?"

Daxia was shocked. "I don't believe you. Are you just trying to steal my sunflower seeds?"

Qin Xiaoyu: ...

Though he had been born two pounds heavier than her, it seemed he had only inherited the fat, while the brains had been left to her. Even now, he weighed twenty pounds less than her, and he still hadn't grown any brains.

"Believe it or not, I don't care!"

Qin Xiaoyu didn't dwell on it. She peeked toward the chicken coop, and seeing her mother busy with the chicken, she left the bound goose where it was and trotted back home.

She put on her shoes and rinsed her feet in the bathroom. Once clean, she peeked out the door again. Seeing her mother occupied, she snuck into the study.

As soon as she sat down, Daxia darted in.

"Xiaoyu, are you trying to sneak onto Mom's computer?" Daxia winked, his eyes filled with longing, as if he were afraid someone might not notice that he wanted to play too.

Qin Xiaoyu turned to look at him and silently began rolling up her sleeves.

"Don't start! I'm not here to steal it; I'm here to join you," Daxia said hurriedly.

Qin Xiaoyu raised her fist at him. "Get out. I don't play with losers. Go stand by the door. When Mom starts picking vegetables, I'll let you take a turn."

Daxia didn't want to go, but he couldn't beat her—he absolutely couldn't beat her.

His sister was not only chubby, but she was also half a head taller than him. Every time she sat on him, he felt like he was going to die. And now he’d discovered she had immense strength.

"Alright," Daxia said, hanging his head as he left.

As soon as he stepped out, the door clicked shut.

Qin Xiaoyu opened the computer, her chubby fingers flying across the keyboard. It took her half an hour to finish.

*If the world were transported and countless plants mutated, what would you do?*

*On the night of June 1st, the sky was filled with stars, but the Big Dipper was obscured by a black dot. As time passed, the dot grew larger, and on the evening of June 4th, it completely swallowed the Earth...*

Copy, paste, publish, confirm!

One social media post wasn't enough. She switched accounts and posted it on every website she could find.

Finished, she cleared the desktop, shut the door, and left.

Daxia was stretching his neck to peek inside. Seeing her, he jumped up and darted in, excited.