CH 2

After the message was sent, Feng Yi’s face turned red. What he wanted to borrow was truly not a “little” amount of money. It was quite rare for an ordinary person to be able to borrow a few thousand, let alone the amount he wanted to borrow would be a sky-high price for most. Thinking about it, Feng Yi let out a long sigh, rubbed his face vigorously, and added a few more words.

[It would be best if you could transfer the money to me in advance. You can write an IOU1an informal document acknowledging debt and get my fingerprint if necessary. I will go to Yangcheng within three days to complete the genealogy record matter. If what you said is true, it shouldn’t be too hard. Even if it is, I will still complete it. Could I get a part of the fourteen million first? I need it urgently…]

He thought that the other party would leaving him hanging, but he didn’t expect to receive a reply so soon——

[Advance payment isn’t possible, but I can personally lend you some money first, so there’s no need for an IOU. Hold on.]

Feng Yi thought about how to phrase it carefully and typed: [The amount I want to borrow is not small…]

Before he could finish editing his reply, he received a message from the bank informing him that he had received five million in his account. It was just enough to pay off his debt.

His bank card number was given on the signed contract, so it wasn’t a surprise that the other party knew it. In addition, the other party had been investigating and watching him for more than a month. Knowing the sum he owed and sending him the exact amount wasn’t too shocking either. However…

Transferring such a large amount so quickly? Weren’t there additional steps that needed to be taken? Or were there other shortcuts?

Feng Yi took a deep breath, searched for the nearest ATM on his phone, and then ran to check the balance on his card. Indeed, five million had arrived in his account! It wasn’t a fake message!

And, what the old butler said was, “I can personally lend you some money first”?

Feng Yi clutched his phone tightly and fell into deep thought. This was a butler? A butler who could lend five million as if it were five hundred dollars? Most people would ask a few more questions if they borrowed even five hundred dollars, right? Yet the old butler lent it to him so easily?

At this moment, in Feng Yi’s eyes, the profession of butler seemed to shine with a golden light. Of course, this also meant that the inheritance left by that great-aunt he had never met might be more than he could imagine.

With mixed feelings, Feng Yi sent a text message to the old butler: [Aren’t you afraid that I would run away with the money?]

Butler: [ smiles ]

Feng Yi: [ well-behaved ]

He sent an emoji to act cute, but Feng Yi’s wariness grew. The old butler wasn’t afraid of him running away. He couldn’t run away.

Perhaps the newly fused zodiac flower coin had a tracking function. Even if it didn’t, someone who could use that kind of technology was definitely no simpleton. Realizing this, Feng Yi let out a deep sigh. He walked to the parking lot and drove home. It was useless to think too much right now. He should solve the immediate problem in front of him first.

After making an appointment with the partner companies to pay the compensation tomorrow, Feng Yi wanted to go home first and take a nap to replenish his energy. He hadn’t slept well in a week, and today’s events were too shocking. He could feel the onset of a headache and felt a little dizzy. However, the weight that had been pressing on him for so long was temporarily lifted, and he felt a little more relaxed; even breathing was smoother. When he got home, he immediately caught up on sleep.

Even though it was daytime, he slept soundly until he was awakened by the doorbell. The visitor wasn’t a debt collector, but Wu Ji, a university classmate who resided in the same building.

“Are you okay? You didn’t answer any of my calls or messages. I almost called the cops!”

Wu Ji observed Feng Yi carefully. Feng Yi looked like he hadn’t woken up yet, but his mental state was much better than it was a few days ago. Even with such an appearance, he would still win over many people. As expected from the one who was pulled by Mr. Tony, the owner of the barbershop in front of the school, to shoot a commercial in his freshman year.

Knowing that Feng Yi was fine, Wu Ji felt relieved. Since he lived nearby and was too familiar with the place, he didn’t bother to be polite. After entering, Wu Ji poured himself a glass of water and sat down.

“Have you found the person who ran away with the money from your work studio?”

Feng Yi didn’t give too many details, so all Wu Ji knew was that Feng Yi’s work studio associate cheated him and ran away with the money. Feng Yi had to pay a lot of money. He didn’t say how much, but looking at him these past few days, it was definitely not a small amount.

“Not yet,” Feng Yi said. “But I already have a solution.”

“W-W-W-What solution?” Wu Ji stammered.

Now that Feng Yi had one foot on the edge of the entertainment circle, he was afraid that Feng Yi would go down the wrong path. Some roads were hard to turn back from.

Feng Yi thought for a while and said, “I found a rich relative.”

Wu Ji was doubtful. “That’s good. How much more do you owe? I can help you find a way.”

Last month, he had invested a lot of money in remodeling his own shop, and he was quite busy. His financial situation was a bit tight right now, but he didn’t want to see Feng Yi go down the wrong path.

Wu Ji’s family made their fortune from demolishing their house and relocating. Back then, they bought two houses in the same building with the demolition money; one on the fifth floor for his parents and the other on the twenty-ninth floor directly below Feng Yi’s for himself. Later, he borrowed money to buy a shop at the entrance to the community and ran it himself. After graduation, he became a small business owner. Although money was tight, one or two thousand was still affordable.

“Thanks, but I can solve the money problem myself.”

Feng Yi knew Wu Ji’s situation, so he didn’t explain in detail. If he only owed a few thousand, he could borrow money from Wu Ji and the others, but owing more than three million was not something Wu Ji and the others could help with. Besides, this time the matter was more complicated, and he didn’t want to involve too many irrelevant people.

Seeing that Feng Yi wasn’t putting on a front and that his mental state seemed to have improved, Wu Ji didn’t continue the topic.

“Okay, it’s a good thing if you can solve it… Oh, by the way, I will be temporarily living on the fifth floor for the next few days. If you need me for anything, just go there.” Wu Ji said. “You know about the rat plague going around the community lately? The property owners’ group chat has been in an uproar for days now.”

Feng Yi nodded. “I’ve heard a little bit, not much. I haven’t read the group chat lately because of my work studio’s affairs.

“Then let me tell you, there have been rat plague outbreaks in many urban areas recently. Last week, the two neighboring communities hired rat exterminators. In the end, the rats were not killed, and ended up fleeing to other communities. Our community was the closest and suffered the most. I heard that a child was bitten by one, but I don’t know if it’s true or not. There are a lot of rumors and it’s all so chaotic…” Wu Ji paused briefly and gave a sigh. “Anyway, my parents live on the fifth floor and they’re really annoyed by the rodents. They can’t sleep well, and those who live on the lower floors are even more disturbed.”

“Doesn’t your apartment have three rooms? You can stay with your parents on the twenty-ninth floor,” Feng Yi suggested.

Wu Ji waved a hand in disagreement. “It’s inconvenient because my work and rest hours are different from theirs. I’ll swap with them first and get through this rat plague. By the way, are there any rats in your house?”

Feng Yi thought about it carefully and shook his head. “I haven’t seen any, maybe I just didn’t notice.”

“There are fewer rats on the upper floors, but you should still be careful. I heard that there have been rats on the thirtieth floor in other buildings. Since they have already entered the building, they can get anywhere even if they don’t use the stairs. A homeowner in the next building even photographed a rat climbing the wall!”

Wu Ji tutted and continued, “Rats really are magical creatures, I say. No matter how tall a building is, they can still be seen. As long as there’s food, you can see them climbing windows, walls, and balconies!

“Property management has already contacted the rodent control company, and there will be a major cleanup in the next two days. When you go outside, close your doors and windows. It should be okay to close your security window screens. If there are holes in other places, they should be plugged. Check all pipes. If there’s really a rat there, it will be troublesome.”

After Wu Ji left, Feng Yi went to check the kitchen and found no signs of rodent activity. During this time, he had been running around and not working at home, so the place was a bit messy, with various documents piled up. The take-out trash had already been disposed of, and there was no exposed food to attract rats.

Stretching, Feng Yi looked at the night sky outside the window. He had directly slept from daytime into evening. Walking to the bathroom, he filled the bathtub with water. It was rare that he felt like taking a bath and relaxing.

There was an electronic screen on the wall next to the bathtub. Feng Yi liked to listen to the news recommended by his subscription while taking a bath. Usually, he was too busy to pay attention to anything else, so he would listen to the daily news during this time. Sometimes it was important news, but there was also social, entertainment, and miscellaneous news.

Feng Yi closed his eyes, relaxed his whole body, and listened to the news broadcast from the electronic screen.

“XX, a world-renowned luxury leather goods brand, failed to persist in their stubbornness. Under pressure from many parties, they have abandoned animal leather and adopted eco-friendly leather…”

“…City X has just busted a gang that was selling animal skins from protected wild animals. The current investigation has revealed that fifty thousand pieces of animal skins have entered the market, including alligator and python skins…”

“…Extinct plants are reappearing! Our scientific expedition team discovered during this expedition…”

This was nothing new to Feng Yi, as there had been similar reports every once in a while.

More than forty years ago, there was increased volcanic activity around the world; those on land and under the sea were extremely active. In addition, large and small mountain fires and forest fires occurred frequently. This was accompanied by climate anomalies that have lasted for almost two decades. After such a long period of abnormal weather, even a slow-witted person would notice that something was wrong. For example…

When it rained, it was a torrential downpour that went on and on.

The average person would go through three kinds of emotional changes in such a situation——

It’s no big deal→ It’s a little annoying → Panic time

Continuous torrential rains were only a phenomenon of the climatic anomalies. Sometimes there were continuous droughts or abnormal temperatures.

When taking a shower, changing the water temperature by just one degree Celsius could make people feel hot or cold. If they could clearly feel uncomfortable when their body temperature increased by one degree, then those species that were more sensitive to temperature changes would be worse off. Prolonged temperature anomalies would undoubtedly be catastrophic for some species, and they could only await extinction if they couldn’t survive.

Climate anomalies also have a major impact on agriculture. In the past two decades, seed banks have been opened on a global scale for the first time in history. The “doomsday seed banks” established by various countries popped up one after another.

Under the stimulation of survival, there was rapid innovation of relevant technologies, and human life quickly stabilized. But different species around the world were still going extinct at rates that alarmed and stressed biologists. Tens of thousands of species were going extinct every year, and the rates were only increasing. Evolution and extinction were the laws upholding the ecological balance, but this rate of extinction was simply a harbinger of disaster and brought chills.

Scientists from the world’s top universities weighed in, and there were many proponents of the “sixth mass extinction turning point theory”——

[There have been at least five mass extinctions in geological history. So far, we have been in the early stages of the sixth mass extinction, but now we probably have reached a turning point. Whether we avoid the sixth extinction or enter the middle stage will be proven by the data.]

This was how the “sixth database” was created.

Due to the rapid rate of species extinction and the sharp decline in biodiversity, the “sixth database” also needed to collect data. Relevant laws and regulations were all revised, and a new regulatory organization was established. The newly revised set of laws and regulations was also known as “the strictest conservation law in history”.

Fortunately, after nearly two decades of abnormal climate, it finally returned to normal, but the sixth database was inconclusive. The data still needed to be collected continuously, and the strictest conservation law would remain in effect until a conclusion was reached. Perhaps it would take decades, centuries.

Was the climate anomaly really over? Or was it just storing energy for the next round?

No one knew.

However, with the “sixth database,” even if the next climate anomaly occurred, there would be an early warning and preparations could be made. Though for most ordinary people, it didn’t matter! Humans wouldn’t be wiped out that quickly if it wasn’t an immediate disaster like a meteorite, even if it was confirmed that they were in the sixth mass extinction period. It was probable that no progress would be made in the sixth database in this lifetime, let alone during the extinction era, which might be thousands of years or perhaps longer.

Instead of using the time to think so much, why not think about what to wear tomorrow, whether there are new games, where to go to eat, drink, have fun, and shop, shop, shop… Or maybe think about how to deal with: “Should I buy or rent a house with this salary”, “How much money do I have to save for the whole family to travel”, ” The child’s teacher at school called again”, and so on.

Matters like the extinction period were things for the big shots to worry about, not for ordinary folk. Although it was a bit unfortunate that some delicacies couldn’t be eaten and some hobbies had to be given up, life still went on.

Feng Yi was born in the year when the climate returned to normal. The seniors always said that he was born at a good time. Feng Yi didn’t know whether it was a good time or not. Like him, there were many young people who hadn’t experienced the abnormal climate period or the various fears surrounding it. However, they had felt the chaos in the food chain caused by the destruction of the ecological balance.

Such as the rat plague.

Another example was the flood of cockroaches and mosquitoes.

The predators of nature were sluggish during the abnormal climatic period, but these creatures with tenacious vitality grew rampant day by day.

Feng Yi refreshed the social feed and saw that a certain celebrity had made a radical remark——

“Those who deserve to die, live on, while the corpses of those who don’t pile up.”

The accompanying image showed a hand holding a slipper about to hit a cockroach.

The first hot comment beneath it said:

[If you find one cockroach in your house, there are already more hidden.]