"I've already told you my name, and for the rest of our conversation, I expect you to be completely honest with me, holding nothing back," Su Jin said, pulling a pen and notebook from his bag. He glanced up at Fu Qingdai. "Your daily routine, your family relationships, what the company discussed with you, and why you ended up in a psychiatric hospital."
Bracing both hands against her knees, Fu Qingdai replied earnestly, "I'm not crazy. I was sent here by mistake. I'm a student at Longshan Middle School, and it's just me and my parents at home..."
Su Jin listened closely, nodding along.
Fu Qingdai not actually being mentally ill was a slight surprise, but obviously good news.
From her description of daily life, the lifestyle here matched Earth remarkably well, just far more backward.
He had lived through this stage of development during his own childhood... For now, adjusting to this world didn't seem like much of an issue; in fact, there was practically no learning curve.
Fu Qingdai continued her explanation. When she mentioned her dreams, Su Jin's pen came to an abrupt halt. "You mean there's something wrong with the rain? A torrential downpour lasts for five days, people start losing their minds, and then comes cannibalism and total collapse?"
"Yes..."
Su Jin's jaw tightened, and he felt as though an invisible hand had clenched around his heart!
He had already gritted his teeth and accepted being transported to another world, and he had known about the apocalypse beforehand.
The apparent emergence of a zombie crisis wasn't all that surprising now.
The real problem was that the infection vector was rain?!
Pervasive water contamination... Water was the single most vital resource for survival. If the water supply was compromised, how could anyone stay alive?!
"Cousin, are you all right?" Fu Qingdai asked in a small voice, noticing his distracted look.
Suppressing the tremor of dread in his chest, Su Jin forced a slight smile. "I'm fine. Keep going. Your dream also mentioned the company. When did they contact you, and when did they tell you I'd be coming?"
"I only learned about the company and your arrival a few days ago."
"Back then, a voice suddenly echoed in my dream, claiming to be something called the Tiandao Company, and asked if I wanted to live. I said yes, and then it said the contract was signed and that someone would be sent to help me. After that, there was nothing... That's pretty much it."
"That's right, that's how our company operates," Su Jin agreed aloud, while cursing a blue streak in his head.
*Isn't that just straight-up extortion! Forcing an ox to drink! Who doesn't want to live? Just wanting to stay alive means signing a contract?*
*I clicked a mouse and got shipped off as dispatched labor to outer space.*
Still, Fu Qingdai's words raised plenty of questions. She had known days ago that he would appear, yet he had only been recruited by the company a few hours ago.
That was quite a time discrepancy. Was it due to the transdimensional travel?
Could the company foresee the future, was it all premeditated, or something else entirely...?
The underlying reasons were too complicated to untangle right now, and Fu Qingdai's understanding of the company was virtually zero.
Judging strictly by the circumstances, however, he probably had zero chance of contacting the company without completing this assignment!
In other words, his only option was to complete the mission!
Cursing fiercely once more in his mind, Su Jin raised his pen and said, "Let's continue. You can ask your questions after I finish mine."
"Okay," Fu Qingdai answered meekly.
"How many days until that rain starts? Do you remember the exact timeframe?"
"Seven days starting from today! I remember that very clearly!"
"Seven days... Within these seven days, whether by playing pitiful or putting on an act, can you get yourself discharged and back home?"
"I don't know. I've asked to go home, but my mom keeps insisting I stay here for treatment. She's really worried about me being here, though, and comes to visit every day."
"All right, let's skip that for now... Are there any apartments for rent near your home? The closer to you, the better."
Fu Qingdai's eyes gradually brightened. "Yes! In my apartment building, there are several units for rent! The phone numbers are posted right on the windows."
"Good... Keep talking about your daily routine, and your parents."
Ten minutes later, Su Jin paused his note-taking once more.
He had pieced together part of the information regarding the apocalypse and gained a deeper understanding of this world.
With only seven days, he had to pick up the pace.
Fu Qingdai seemed clever enough, but she severely lacked worldly experience.
Continuing to probe her personal life for intel would likely lead him to biased or misleading conclusions.
Twirling his pen twice, Su Jin shifted topics. "How much does your family of three spend each month? What are your parents' salaries?"
A visible question mark practically hung over Fu Qingdai's head. Hesitating, she answered, "Both of them make around two thousand... and our family seems to spend about two thousand a month."
Su Jin pressed on, "Is this a society governed by the rule of law?"
"Huh? Of course it is. We have plenty of laws."
"If something happens at work or school, do people rely on personal connections and favors to smooth things over?"
"Of course they do. How else do you get things done?"
"All right, I understand."
Pausing his pen, he pondered briefly. "Do you consider yourself pretty?"
"Um... why wouldn't I be?"
"Do you think I'm handsome? How's my style of dress?"
"Pretty handsome... and your clothes look great, but it feels like you'd be burning up."
"Are there video rental stores, wet markets, internet cafes, or similar places nearby?"
"The first two, yes. But I don't know about internet cafes."
"What is the chemical formula for water?" He paused briefly. "Um... Do you have periods? Do you use sanitary pads?"
"Huh?" Fu Qingdai's face gradually flushed red.
"...Yes, I do..."
After asking a few more questions, Su Jin closed his notebook and fell into thought.
This society had a weak awareness of law and placed heavy weight on interpersonal connections.
The apocalypse would likely strike in seven days. Five consecutive days of torrential rain, followed by escalating chaos and the suspected emergence of zombies.
The scope of the rainfall was unknown; law enforcement and state apparatus in the rainfall zones would likely collapse swiftly, meaning local military forces could not be relied upon in the short term.
At the molecular level, water was identical to that on Earth and safe to drink for now, but water contamination essentially eliminated wilderness survival as a viable fallback. He lacked the time and money to build a fallout shelter, and kidnapping Fu Qingdai by force was out of the question.
However, the seven thousand-plus yuan in his possession had strong purchasing power. It was barely enough to rent a room and hoard supplies, making securing lodging near her home the best option.
In terms of communication, common cultural knowledge, and personal appearance, this world didn't differ much from Earth, allowing him to blend in quickly.
Over the next seven days, it would be best to keep a low profile, avoiding any infractions of the law or conflicts with others.
As for the rest, he would just have to figure it out once he got outside...
As he thought this over, Su Jin suddenly realized something!
Picking up the pen, he wrote down H₂O on the paper and showed it to Fu Qingdai.
"Do you recognize what I wrote?"
"No."
"Fuck!"
"Why are you cursing at me?" Fu Qingdai blinked, bewildered. "What is this? I really don't recognize it..."
Su Jin's brow furrowed deeply.
He could understand all the written script and spoken language of this world, and everyone could understand what he said—undoubtedly the doing of the company or that mask.
However, when he wrote words down on paper, the people of this world couldn't understand them at all!
Renting a room here required signing a contract. If people couldn't read what he wrote, that was a massive problem.
With that in mind, Su Jin tore off another sheet of paper and handed the pen to Fu Qingdai.
"Write two characters for me: *Su* as in to awaken, and *Jin* as in ashes. Press firmly, stroke by stroke."
Fu Qingdai had no idea what this was about, but she complied obediently nonetheless.
Once she finished, Su Jin pulled the paper back and glanced at it.
Seeing the two Chinese characters, he ran his finger along the back of the sheet.
Feeling the raised impressions of the strokes, he couldn't help feeling utterly helpless.
It would probably match the ID card, but what his eyes perceived was completely different from the actual strokes on the page!
*The company's services have a damn bug—forced translation... Since the mask can't be taken off, I'm reduced to feeling out how to write my own name this way.*
Resigned, he tucked the signature paper away and said, "That's all the questions I have for now. Go ahead and say whatever's on your mind."
Fu Qingdai nodded nervously, then summoned up her courage to ask the question burning inside her: "Cousin... are you an alien?"
Chapter 5