Chapter 619 - 634: Raining

Hei Niu explained her ex-husband’s existence in very simple terms.

"We were childhood sweethearts with a long-standing engagement. On the day we registered our marriage, my father fainted. The check-up revealed he had a serious illness, so we got divorced."

"So we didn’t have a wedding, and never got the chance to hold one."

An Ning, who was lapping up the drama, felt a little stuffed.

"How dramatic!"

Hei Niu’s eyes met An Ning’s, and she couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

"You’re the first person to call it a dramatic story. Everyone else just says how pitiful it is."

An Ning shook her head in disagreement. "What’s there to pity? You only registered the marriage. Not only was there no real marital life, but you also got to see his true colors ahead of time. You didn’t lose out at all."

"Besides, did you even love him?"

Did you love him?

No one had ever asked Hei Niu that question. It was as if, because they’d been engaged since childhood, everyone automatically assumed they were a couple.

Hei Niu shook her head.

"I don’t know."

An Ning, considering herself to have a bit more romantic experience than Hei Niu, put down her grilled skewer and sat up straight.

"So, were you sad after the divorce?"

Hei Niu thought about nodding, but she wasn’t particularly heartbroken. It seemed she had handled the divorce with great composure.

"I don’t really know. At the time, I went straight through with the divorce and then focused on getting my dad medical care. I didn’t have time to think about it."

"No, no, no. Real heartbreak doesn’t just disappear because you’re busy."

"Oh, really? In that case, I really wasn’t heartbroken at all. In fact, the next time I saw him, it took me a moment to even remember who he was."

An Ning nodded in complete agreement, her fingers moving as if performing a calculation.

"I don’t think you two were fated to be together."

"What? Do you charlatans not even need birth charts for your predictions anymore?"

An Ning put on the air of a grandmaster, speaking in a deliberately profound tone. "You wouldn’t understand. It’s a case of ’the false can be true, and the true can be false.’ When you reach my level of skill, such things are merely supplementary tools."

Dropping the pretense, An Ning lowered her fingers and grew a little more serious.

"I really don’t think there was any love between you. Take me, for example. When Jiang Xia is away, I miss him dearly. I want to know what he’s doing every day. If I don’t hear from him, I get antsy and my mind starts to run wild."

"Oh? And what do you imagine?"

"I wonder if he’s in danger, if he’s been kidnapped, or if he’s been caught in a natural disaster."

Hei Niu was left speechless.

"Okay, that’s enough examples. Your worries are a little different from most people’s. Other people worry about their partner cheating on them; you’re worried about matters of life and death."

An Ning thought about it. ’I guess that’s true.’

"As for cheating... I don’t think Jiang Xia would dare. It’s not that I doubt his feelings for me, it’s just that the cost of betraying me would be far too high. Feelings can be pure, but they still come with a price."

"Exactly. There’s definitely a cost. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to get my marriage license in the morning and file for divorce in the afternoon."

The two of them talked for a long time about their views on love.

They drank bottle after bottle of beer and ate skewer after skewer of grilled meat. They even outlasted four guys at a nearby table who had been silently competing with them, drinking until they threw up.

They kept talking until ten at night, by which time the barbecue stand was getting ready to close up.

Hei Niu paid the bill, and the two of them finally got up to leave.

"Don’t drink and drive, even though I’m not drunk."

An Ning dangled her vehicle keys, feeling like she was teetering between morality and the law. ’What should I do? I really want to ride back.’

"Stay the night."

An Ning readily agreed to Hei Niu’s suggestion.

They both called home to let their families know they weren’t coming back, and they spent the night in town.

That night, not even the sound of thunder and lightning could wake them.

The rain came down in a torrent. An Ning, who woke up around four in the morning needing to use the bathroom, only then realized it was pouring. ’If it keeps raining this hard,’ she thought, ’we won’t be able to leave today.’

As if she had jinxed it, the heavy rain just kept falling.

At seven in the morning, Hei Niu and An Ning sat about three feet inside the doorway, watching the dense, bean-sized raindrops come down. RAT-A-TAT-TAT.

"It seems I’m fated to run into rain this year."

Just as An Ning finished speaking, her stomach started to RUMBLE.

Last night’s food was long gone. She nudged Hei Niu beside her with her elbow and asked, "Can you cook?"

"I can!"

"Perfect."

An Ning stood up, led Hei Niu to the kitchen, and opened a cabinet and the freezer.

"Chef, take a look and see what we should eat."

Hei Niu stared at the packed cabinet, which held a fifty-five-pound bag of rice, a fifty-five-pound bag of flour, and several packs of dried noodles. The nearby freezer was even more impressive, holding several cuts of meat, pork ribs, a fish frozen rock-solid, and an assortment of vegetables.

"Why do you have so much food?"

"I like to be prepared."

An Ning said with a touch of bravado, before breaking into a laugh. "My older brother comes to town often, and sometimes he can’t make it home, so he stays here. That’s why he stored a little food."

"There’s not just food, but also coal briquettes and some firewood. If it really does keep raining, at least we won’t starve."

Hei Niu was already getting ready to cook.

"If it keeps raining like this, it won’t matter how much food we have. The place will flood."

A flood?

An Ning had never considered that possibility.

In her past interstellar life, she had never experienced a flood; such things just didn’t happen.

She looked out the window. ’Could it really flood?’

’No, it’s probably just a lot of rain.’

Hei Niu was quick and efficient. In no time, she had cooked a pot of noodles with an eggplant sauce. The two of them, long since hungry, ate with gusto.

After the meal, An Ning volunteered to wash the dishes. Watching the heavy rain outside blur her vision, she felt a baseless anxiety creep into her heart.

"The rain... it’s getting heavier."

"Yeah."

Hei Niu was worried too. With her father’s poor health, she was even more concerned.

"An Ning, I have to go."

"I’ll go too."

They were both decisive. An Ning pulled out raincoats, grabbed a few plastic bags to waterproof some food and drinks, and stuffed them into a backpack.

"Also, grab a rope and a swim ring."

Once they were fully equipped, the two of them stepped out into the downpour.

By now, the downpour had already flooded many streets. In the deepest spots, the water was past their knees, reaching the tops of their thighs.

"Hei Niu, be careful. Hold on to the phone I gave you—it can get a signal anywhere, so call me if you need anything. And take this Copper Coin. It can protect you from disaster."

An Ning was employing both science and Mysticism.

Hei Niu didn’t refuse. She carefully put away everything An Ning had given her. Holding a long stick to probe the path ahead, they parted ways at a crossing.

After Hei Niu was a good distance away, An Ning also used a stick to probe the path, heading toward Shili Gou.

Along the way, An Ning saw that many family courtyards were flooded. People were desperately bailing water out, trying to delay the inevitable flood into their homes.

But the downpour continued relentlessly, a force beyond human control.

It took An Ning an entire hour just to walk out of the small town.

Outside the town, the farm fields had turned into a vast ocean. Shorter crops like peanuts were completely submerged, and the water was already halfway up the corn stalks.

"This... How am I supposed to get through this?"