Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"You know, you would think that with how much he tries to blackmail people, he would be familiar with the difference," mused Liu Wei, and he held the front door open.

"Maybe if he had been successful in blackmailing people, he would," grunted Wang Chao, looking at the man that had tried on more than a few occasions to blackmail him. Too bad it never worked out well in the end… for him.

"I don't know who you think you are—" started Gong Hao Zhi, only to be once again interrupted by Liu Wei.

"See, I find that absolutely ludicrous, given how many times you personally called me before the end of the world," sighed the man in frustration. It had gotten to the point where every time he had blocked Gong Hao Zhi's number, he would just call again from another one.

Desperation was really not an attractive trait in anyone, especially not in a CEO.

"Who are you?" asked Gong Hao Zhi, pausing for the first time since he opened the door to look at the two men in front of him. 

"Ah! He finally remembers his manners. And yet, still so forgetful," sneered Wang Chao, looking at the man. "But let me introduce myself, I am Wang Chao, formally CEO of Phoenix Conglomerate."

"W- Wang Chao?" sputtered Gong Hai Zhi. "How could that be? I thought you died not long after the start of the apocalypse. No one has seen you since then…"

"I can assure you; the reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated," said Wang Chao, flicking off a piece of dust from his leather jacket.

"So it would seem," answered Gong Hai Zhi, visibly trying to pull himself together. "Please come in. I am sorry for how rude I was before. I hope that you can excuse my behavior. However, if you would accept a bit of advice from an old man like me, 'water seeks its own level.' Maybe I didn't recognize you because of the company you keep."

Mao Jing went pale at the other man's words. There was no question about who he was referring to by that statement. He had never hidden the fact that he hated Mao Jing with a passion. And the fact that he was willing to insult Wang Chao in the same breath was simply mind-blowing.

Maybe if water did seek its own level, then it was a good thing he was never on the same level as that man and his son.

"Or maybe because it is because you have always been senile," shrugged Wang Chao as he pushed past his host to go sit down in the living room. 

"You are in my seat," said Gong Hao Zhi, blinking a few times at where Wang Chao had decided to sit.

"That's nice," chuckled the other man. "Unfortunately for you, you have no seat until I decide to grant you one."

Gong Hao Zhi snorted at that and went to sit down on the couch just to the right of Wang Chao but looked up when he heard a gun cocking.

"You have not been granted permission to sit," said Liu Wei in a dead tone voice as he looked down at their host from the barrel of his gun. 

"I guess you have been away from things for too long," shrugged Gong Hao Zhi as he stared at the man who was holding a gun to him. "But the world has changed."

That remark caused Mao Jing to burst out laughing, bringing the attention of the men to him. "Sorry," he said with a wave of his hand. "But someone told my boss that just over an hour ago. It didn't seem to go over well, seeing as she killed him as a result."

"Yeah, my wife doesn't suffer fools gladly," nodded Wang Chao sagely. "What was the phrase she was trying to teach us? 'Les nouilles ne sont pas toutes dans la soupe'?"

"The noodles aren't all in the soup?" translated Mao Jing with a confused look on his face. "That makes no sense."

Liu Wei grunted in approval and nodded his head. "That is the literal translation, but it is similar to the expression, 'He is one card short of a full deck'."

"Oh!" said Mao Jing. "You are essentially saying that they are stupid."

"Exactly," smiled Wang Chao, his eyes never leaving his host. 

"I'll be sure to use that in the future," laughed Mao Jing. Yes, he picked the right side when he decided to follow his boss. He would need to remember that in the future.

Once again, Gong Hao Zhi snorted. "Now that the play is over, can I sit down? It's not like you are going to shoot me in my own house."

"How much are you willing to bet on that?" asked Liu Wei, adjusting his glasses with his left hand as his hand holding the gun remained steady. "From the research I managed to get on you, it looked like you were trying to break into the more illegal side of the real estate industry. How did that work out for you?"

"You—" sputtered Gong Hao Zhi, looking around the room.

"I thought he was a big-time gangster," interjected Mao Jing, confused. "Or at least that was what Gong Ling Xin kept saying. Every time we didn't do what he wanted or pay for his share, he said that his father would send his men after us and kill us."

"Ha!" laughed Wang Chao, and even Liu Wei was having a hard time getting his shoulders to stop shaking. 

"No one actually talks like that. You should always be more scared of the hit you didn't see coming than the one announced way in advance. But no, the Red Dragons took issue with him and kept blocking him."

"Red Dragons? Liu Yu Zeng mentioned that he was the head of them," said Mao Jing, putting all the pieces together. "Are you guys Red Dragons too?"

"He is," said Wang Chao, pointing to Liu Wei. "He is Liu Yu Zeng's older brother. I had enough on my plate; there was no point in dabbling into the underbelly of society at the same time."

Hearing the conversation going on around him, Gong Hao Zhi turned pale. He needed to hurry up and get these men out of his home and fast. Fuck his son. He made his bed; he could lie in it. 

"Oh! We have company," said a beautiful woman gliding into the living room. She was wearing a soft white dress that didn't have a spec of dirt on it, and her long black hair hung in curls down her back. This had to be Gong Hao Zhi's second wife, who was now 35 years old but looked much younger than Wang Chao and the others. 

"I am sorry I wasn't here to greet you; I was just trying to get a loaf of bread in the oven," she continued with a small, polite smile on her face. She went to stand beside her husband, ignoring the gun pointed at him, and smiled at Wang Chao. "May we sit down?"

Wang Chao studied the woman for a moment. Living with Li Dai Lu for as long as he had, he had learned one very important lesson—women were always the deadliest of any species. And the woman in front of him was not to be underestimated.

"Of course," he said with a nod of his head. Gong Hao Zhi carefully sat down, his back straight. He looked decidedly a lot less comfortable now that his wife was in the room. 

"Thank you," the woman in question said with a nod of her head. "My name is Hao Jing Ya," she continued, her eyes narrowing on the gun. "It is not polite behavior to hold a gun on your host. You will never find a wife if you behave that way."

Liu Wei looked over at Wang Chao, and when his friend nodded, he returned his gun to his shoulder holster. "I am already married," he said, taking his own seat across from the couple. Mao Jing, not sure what was going on, decided to walk over to stand just behind Wang Chao. 

"And you decided not to bring her here on this visit? I am sure that she is very disappointed," tisked Hao Jing Ya, and Gong Hao Zhi cringed at the sound.

"I doubt it," smiled Liu Wei. "She is probably plotting world domination or something," he continued with a shrug.

"Hardly," chuckled Wang Chao. "Taking over the world would take too much effort. It is so much easier to just kill everyone and deal with the consequences afterward."

"Ah," nodded Gong Hao Zhi's wife. "I have a very similar perspective as your wife then. May I ask why you are in my city, let alone my house?"

"Your city?" asked Wang Chao, raising his eyebrow at her statement. "I am sorry; I was unaware that you had claimed it as yours."

Hao Jing Ya studied the man across from her, trying to see what angle he was coming at her from. "You took that statement better than anyone else has," she said softly, straightening out her skirt over her knees. "That makes me wonder if you are being honest or sarcastic."