Meeting

Bai Shen and Lin Ruoxi used the train to move from the small village they were staying in to Shanghai.

The trip took them about 7 or 8 hours.

"Shen, it's the first time I've been to Shanghai!" Lin Ruoxi said with a blush. She grew up in a small city on the other side of the mountain where Bai Shen's villa was situated.

"That's perfect then! I'm going to take you out on a date." Saying so, Bai Shen couldn't wait anymore to get home to leave his stuff before spending some quality time together with Lin Ruoxi.

He also decided to call Meixue and Fatty Jiang over, but a bit later, since he wanted to focus on Lin Ruoxi now.

'Don't blame me guys. Life fully changes when you get a girlfriend... I'm sure at least Fatty Jiang would understand me. I'm not a simp; I'm just being realistic.'

Trying to hype himself up and deny that he was a simp, Bai Shen quickly gave a call to someone, much to Lin Ruoxi's curiosity.

"Who are you calling?" She couldn't help but ask.

"Our driver," smiling, Bai Shen brushed the matter off before going to a stand and buying some ice cream for the two of them.

"How do you know that I like vanilla topping?" The young woman was pleasantly surprised to see her favorite topping of ice cream being served on a platter by Bai Shen.

"You mentioned it on the train..."

Suddenly, Lin Ruoxi's face turned all red before she muttered in a low voice, "You're truly a pervert..."

Fifteen minutes later, a black sedan parked close to their position; without saying anything, Bai Shen picked up their baggage and put it in the trunk.

Then, he turned to Lin Ruoxi before saying, "Let's hop inside; our ride is here."

Trying to glance at the driver, Lin Ruoxi gave up because of the car's smoky windows.

She got herself in the backseat along with Bai Shen, but she still looked bothered by something.

She couldn't see the driver, as they were separated by a partition, just like in a limousine.

"Don't worry, I asked Old Zhao to specifically pick this car. I wanted some privacy for us." Bai Shen grabbed Lin Ruoxi's hands and squeezed them for a while.

This greatly relaxed her, and the two began chatting about random stuff.

The car ride took over an hour until they arrived at their destination, Pudong.

Pudong is a district of Shanghai on the eastern side of the Huangpu River, a modern business hub full of high-rise buildings, including several of the world's tallest.

Or better said, the place where the rich people are living. It was this district that was Bai Shen's home since he was young.

He watched as Lin Ruoxi was deeply shocked to see where they arrived, but he didn't say anything else.

Quickly taking back their stuff, Lin Ruoxi asked, "Where are we going now? Shouldn't the driver have left us somewhere close?"

Question marks filled the young woman's eyes as she asked this.

"But we already arrived," said Bai Shen before pointing his finger at the palace-like structure in front of them.

This left Lin Ruoxi in astonishment, her mouth wide open like saucers.

"Shen..."

"Let's go; we can talk about this later. Anyway, two days later, it won't matter too much..."

"Did you say something?"

"No, it must've been your imagination."

One hour later, both Bai Shen and Lin Ruoxi finished unpacking their baggage and found something to eat in the fridge.

"Ruoxi, I officially invite you out on a date," said Bai Shen with a smile. He really wanted to go out with Lin Ruoxi before the apocalypse started, and such a thing would be impossible.

"Ah, that's so sweet of you, but..." Lin Ruoxi avoided Bai Shen's gaze, "...but I'd like to spend a few more hours with you, alone."

As soon as the young man heard that, his eyes lit up like two burning fires. He was fully driven by desire. 'F*ck this! I'll just have to deal with the apocalypse and create a safe place for us.'

Closing the door of his room, the sound of their intertwined breaths was heard.

It was 8 pm when Bai Shen and Lin Ruoxi could be seen leaving his room.

He had already told Ruoxi that he was going to invite his two friends over to spend the night with them.

Making sure he also had some drinks available, Bai Shen sighed a breath of relief. 'Anyway, tomorrow is Saturday, so they won't feel too stressed out about drinking a bit. This Sunday, the apocalypse would begin, though...'

Feeling a heaviness pressing on his chest, Bai Shen could only pray that things would go the way he wanted them to.

One hour later,

After calling Meixue and Fatty Jiang, he was close to getting an earful from the fiery XueXue when he suddenly dropped a bomb.

"By the way, I have a girlfriend now, and she's here."

This astonished both Meixue and Fatty Jiang; the two people were speechless for a while, until Meixue's voice was heard from the other side, "We'll be there."

After saying that, she hung up the phone.

For a reason, her cold voice at the end gave Bai Shen shivers down his spine.

'Is she mad about something?' Bai Shen frowned for a while before shrugging his shoulders.

He went to make some preparations for their arrival, and Lin Ruoxi helped him.

It would be a lie to say that she wasn't nervous, knowing that she was going to meet Bai Shen's friends for the first time.

"I'm already 23 years old. I'm sure his friends are around the same age as him. What would they say about the age gap between us?"

"Would they think I'm only with him because of his money? Ah, gosh..."

After her little meltdown ended, Lin Ruoxi stopped overthinking things and helped Bai Shen.

It took Meixue and Fatty Jiang another hour to arrive at Bai Shen's mansion since the traffic was infernal, and they lived in different parts of Shanghai.

Knock Knock!

Hearing two soft knocks at the door, Lin Ruoxi's heart started to beat faster and faster.

She stole a glance at Bai Shen and saw that he wore a smile on his face. "Don't worry, Ruoxi. I'm sure they're going to like you a lot."

Opening the door, two people entered inside.

One of them was a young man with short, black hair, who looked like a moving barrel; it was clearly Fatty Jiang.

The other was a pale-skinned young woman with black raven hair and green-blue eyes. Her face didn't pale in comparison with Lin Ruoxi.

Only her figure was a bit less developed compared to hers, but still, she was the idol of many young chaebols' hearts.

'She's so beautiful! Is she Bai Shen's friend?' Lin Ruoxi couldn't help but wonder.

As soon as Li Meixue stepped in, she couldn't help but look at Lin Ruoxi, her thoughts resembling the latter, 'She's so beautiful! Is she really Bai Shen's girlfriend?'

Thus, the silent rivalry between the two women began. It was currently past 9 pm, 36 hours before the apocalypse begins.