Chapter 234: Chen Tai, Again

“Three…”

“How dare you!”

“Two…”

“Ahhh!” Jiang Mengqiu was the first to bolt and run.

“One!”

An Nan put away her gun, watching with satisfaction as Wei Yang turned and sprinted away.

She ignored the two fleeing people and continued exploring the villa.

The villa had three floors, each with a living room and four or five large bedrooms.

Chu Peipei looked around in awe. “This villa is huge! There’s more than enough space for all of us to live here together.”

Zhao Ping’an’s eyes lit up at her words. “I think that’s a great idea. It’d be safer for us to stay together, too.”

Chu Peipei had only said it casually, but now her eyes brightened as well. “I agree. With such a big villa, I’d actually be a little scared to live here alone.”

Zhao Ping’an glanced around. “It’s so spacious, we could each have a whole floor to ourselves and still have plenty of room. Just like before, we’d be neighbors upstairs and downstairs, and we could look out for each other if anything happens.”

Chu Peipei nodded.

The two of them turned to look at An Nan.

“Nannan, what do you think?”

“Idol, what do you think?”

Of course, An Nan had no intention of living with them.

She needed to use her space frequently, and she had three mischievous little ones to take care of. Living together would be inconvenient.

So she shook her head decisively. “I’ll pass. You two can have this villa. I’ll find another one nearby.”

Chu Peipei and Zhao Ping’an exchanged a look, as if they’d just realized something.

“Oh, right, Nannan still needs to date. It’d be awkward with us around all the time.”

An Nan: …

That’s not what she meant!

Zhao Ping’an asked curiously, “Idol, isn’t President Gu’s house in this villa complex? Are you planning to move in with him?”

An Nan quickly waved her hands. “No, not at all!”

In her mind, no matter what, she should have a place of her own.

She and Gu Zhiyu had only just started dating. She still needed her own personal space.

There were plenty of villas around—why not pick one for herself? That’s one good thing about the apocalypse: you could pick any house you liked, no need to buy or rent, just move in wherever you wanted.

She said to the two of them, “You guys get settled here. I’m going to check out the villa next door.”

With that, she walked out.

Meanwhile, Jiang Mengqiu and Wei Yang, terrified by An Nan, screamed as they ran back to their own home.

Their shouts quickly attracted the attention of other villa residents.

“What’s going on? Why is Wei Yang running like he’s seen a ghost?”

“No idea. Let’s go take a look!”

“Don’t go out. Just peek from the yard. Things aren’t safe these days, better to be careful.”

A man and a woman stepped out of their villa, peering out through the gate, just in time to see An Nan walking out of the villa across the street.

The woman frowned. “Isn’t that the Hu family’s place? Why is a police officer coming out of there?”

The man said, “Did something happen to Mr. Hu?”

The woman called out to An Nan, “Hello, comrade! Are you from the government?”

An Nan turned at the sound.

When the woman saw her face, she froze. “An Nan?”

An Nan took a moment to recognize her. “Mrs. Chen?”

Mrs. Chen was nothing like she’d been the last time they met—no servants, no air of luxury.

She wasn’t as gaunt as some people in the city, but her expression gave her away.

In the past, she would have sent a servant to check out any trouble, never gone herself. Back then, she was always elegant and composed; now, her eyes were weary, and she gripped the iron gate with both hands, looking for all the world like a prisoner behind bars.

The man beside her asked curiously, “Honey, you know this policewoman?”

Mrs. Chen was a bit dazed. “I do… but she’s not a police officer. She’s An Nan, President An’s daughter.”

Mr. Chen was surprised. “President An’s daughter?”

Mrs. Chen looked An Nan up and down. “An Nan, what are you doing here? Are you… a police officer now?”

An Nan remembered how Mrs. Chen had given her a bayonet and a jade piece before, so she answered politely, “No, I just happened to get this gear.”

Mrs. Chen glanced at the gun slung over An Nan’s shoulder and asked, “Can you tell me what’s going on outside now?”

Ever since she’d dismissed all her servants, she’d lost contact with the outside world.

At the start of the storm, she’d used her connections to airlift in a lot of supplies, but as the disaster dragged on, those supplies were running out.

During the floods, she and her husband could still manage three meals a day plus afternoon tea. Now, they were down to two meals a day.

And those two meals were really just rice—no dishes.

She’d been born into wealth and had never known hardship like this.

If things kept going this way, in a year, they’d have nothing left.

An Nan replied, “It’s still chaos out there. A lot of people have died.”

Mrs. Chen’s face paled. “What about the government base…?”

An Nan said, “They’re still building it. Construction stopped for a while because of the plague and acid rain, but it’s started up again. It’ll be a while yet.”

Mr. Chen interjected, “So you’re…?”

An Nan glanced at him. “I’m not with the government. I’m a new resident.”

“New resident?” Mrs. Chen looked in surprise at the villa An Nan had just come out of. “What about Mr. Hu?”

Mr. Hu?

An Nan followed her gaze to the villa behind her.

“You mean the owner of that villa?”

Mrs. Chen nodded.

An Nan said, “He’s dead.”

The Chen couple exchanged looks, both looking grim.

“How could that happen? We just saw him last week… How did he die?”

An Nan replied, “No idea. He was already gone when we got there.”

She spoke calmly. After all, in the city, things like this happened every day.

Not just An Nan—even the city’s children had gotten used to seeing death.

But judging from the reactions of Wei Yang, Jiang Mengqiu, and the Chen couple, the people in these hillside villas clearly weren’t used to it yet.

An Nan didn’t linger and went off to look for another empty villa.

Mrs. Chen called after her, “An Nan, how did you get in? Isn’t there a guard at the gate?”

An Nan turned back and gave her a meaningful smile, patting the rifle slung across her body.

Then she walked into another empty villa.

Mr. Chen looked upset. “She forced her way in with a gun! How could she…”

Mrs. Chen quickly covered his mouth and shook her head. “Don’t get involved!”

She muttered, “The world really has changed.”

Mr. Chen wanted to say something more.

Mrs. Chen pulled him inside and warned, “Let’s not get involved with An Nan moving in. Lock the doors, and don’t open them for anyone, no matter who knocks.”

She had a feeling that with An Nan’s arrival, the peaceful facade of the villa community was about to be shattered."