Rebirth in the Apocalypse: Third Time's a Charm



"I need to arrange a meeting with Wang Chao if possible," said the woman who was holding the piece of shit that Chen Zi Han wanted to kill. Liu Yu Zeng simply laughed at her words. "Please, it's important," she persisted, her attitude completely different from what she had shown Li Dai Lu. 

Chen Zi Han was more than happy to let Liu Yu Zeng do the talking. He was more in the mood to slam Li Shoi Ming's head into the ground and try to smash it open like a nut. Too bad he couldn't do it right now.

"What is it about?" asked Liu Yu Zeng resting his arm on Chen Zi Han's shoulder.

"It's private," she insisted causing both men to laugh this time.

"And you think that by saying it is private would make him more inclined to meet you? Good luck," chucked Liu Yu Zeng as he shook his head, marveling at the stupidity of some people.

"Then, can you pass something on to him?" she asked. Li Shoi Ming was able to stand up on his own two feet now and stepped aside so that his companion could continue talking without him hanging off of her.

"What?" asked Liu Yu Zeng, now bored that Li Dai Lu wasn't around.

"Can you tell him that Yang Meng Yao said 'hi' and that I am glad he didn't turn this time," she said, looking down at the floor, almost vibrating with nerves.

"You want me to tell him that?" Liu Yu Zeng asked looking at the woman in front of him like she was crazy. "You do realize that he claims Li Dai Lu as his wife right?" Well, that was his claim in City Y. The guys all agreed that it wasn't fair if he was always her husband when the others wanted that title too. So the idea was that whoever had the most influence in that city would be the one to say that she was his wife. That way she would be protected no matter where they went.

Li Shoi Ming swung around to stare at Liu Yu Zeng in open-mouthed disbelief. "Impossible she can't be married," he snarled his fingers clenching like he already had a neck between them and he was trying to strangle it. Whose neck was anyone's guess.

"Sure," said Liu Yu Zeng not impressed by the other man's statement. It didn't matter if others didn't acknowledge it, all that mattered was that she was taken.

"She has a fiancé in City A," said Li Shoi Ming, his head up and his chest out.

"That's nice," said Liu Yu Zeng nodding his head. "Does this fiancé have a name?"

"You don't need to know," sneered Li Shoi Ming.

For such a big man, Chen Zi Han could move really fast when he wanted to. His hand was against Li Shoi Ming's throat and once again had him pinned against the wall before he could take a breath. "I have done things that I am not proud of, things that were so bloody that I was still washing blood off of me three days after the fact. But I promise you. That will make me look tame with what I will do to you if you don't tell him his name."

"It's a secret marriage, arranged by Li Dai Lu's parents before their death," stuttered Li Shoi Ming as his face once again turned red. Yang Meng Yao tried to pull the bigger man off, but Liu Yu Zeng held her back.

"I wouldn't interfere if I were you," he growled as he gripped her upper arm. "I am interested in this answer too."

Li Shoi Ming looked back and forth between the two bigger men, not sure what he should do. "Finish your thought," growled Chen Zi Han, his teeth bared, ready to rip chunks out of the other man until he confessed all that he knew.

"Zhao Jun Jie," gasped Li Shoi Ming, his eyes white with fear. "It is a marriage alliance with Zhao Jun Jie."

Liu Yu Zeng tilted his head, trying to remember where he had heard that name before. "Who is he?" he asked. Li Shoi Ming just looked at him in shock. "You don't know who Zhao Jun Jie is?" he asked.

"Would I have asked you if I did?" responded Liu Yu Zeng, not at all happy that he was made to feel stupid for not knowing some random guy in City A.

"Zhao Jun Jie is the oldest son of the Zhao family and the current head. The family owns the second biggest conglomerate in Country K and they are second in terms of power and influence with only the Wang family coming in first," said Li Shoi Ming, still not believing that someone in the country didn't know the Zhao family. "Oh, and he is the big brother of Zhao Jia Li."

Chen Zi Han and Liu Yu Zeng looked at each and then back to Li Shoi Ming. "You mean, Princess is engaged to Zhao Jia Li's big brother?" asked Chen Zi Han.

Li Shoi Ming nodded.

"And he is the same person that comes in second in every category to Wang Chao?" continued Liu Yu Zeng.  I think you should take a look at

Once again Li Shoi Ming nodded.

"And you think that she is going to go through with it?" This time when Chen Zi Han asked his question, Li Shoi Ming scoffed in response. "It's not like she has much choice in the matter," he said with a shrug. For some reason, he managed to forget his fear quite quickly.

Now it was the guys' turn to scoff. Clearly, Li Shoi Ming had no idea what he was getting himself into. At least it would be amusing if nothing else.

----

The meeting was over shortly after I returned to the conference room. Luckily for them, they decided to go with my plan, even if Zhao Jia Li did protest a lot. We were leaving the room when I saw Liu Yu Zeng and Chen Zi Han leaning against the wall across the hall. And the look on Liu Yu Zeng's face was… scary.

I don't mean that he looked pissed, quite the opposite. He looked like he had a secret that he was dying to tell us all. The smile on his face when he looked at me sent shivers down my spine.

"Now, Sweetness," he said as he came up and wrapped an arm around me. "What do you remember about this body?"

"Nothing," I said confused. We had already gone over that a few times. This body was completely blank when it came to a background.

"You sure nothing?" he asked with a shit-eating grin on his face.

"Nothing," I confirmed as look at him out of the corner of my eye. What the hell had gotten into him? We opened the door to the outside and made our way to where I had a single RV parked, my RV. We entered and I collapsed onto the couch, Chen Zi Han coming to sit beside me. "What is this all about?"

"So, you don't know that you have a fiancé?" he asked, the grin only growing wider as three people looked at him in shock.

"No way," I said with a shake of my head. No one had come looking for me in my second life so there was no way I had a fiancé. He would have searched high and low for me, right?

"Who?" demanded Wang Chao as he stood across from Liu Yu Zeng.

"Some guy named Zhao Jun Jie from City A," he answered, the smirk growing wider and wider as he got to press the other man's button. "Know him?"

"Zhao Jun Jie?" asked Liu Wei as he took out a handkerchief and proceeded to clean his glasses. "Head of the Zhao family?" Liu Yu Zeng hummed and nodded his head.

"Apparently he is second only to Wang Chao. He must be a great catch," he said as he walked over to the couch and picked me up. Spinning around so that he was now sitting on the couch with me on his lap he wrapped his arms around me.

"Zhao Jun Jie?" I asked in a soft voice. "Does he know about it?"  The four men turned to stare at me.

"I don't know, Sweetness," said Liu Yu Zeng pulling me in tighter. "Why?"

"I went to the sanctuary in City A in my last life," I said taking a deep breath. "It was the largest safe zones in all of Country K. Really impressive."

"What happened?" asked Liu Wei as he put his glasses back on.

"Nothing. Made it to the gates and that was as far as I got," I said with a shrug, like being turned away from those gates was not one of the worst moments of my life. But then again, with everything that happened to me, maybe it didn't even make the top 10.

But I do remember my heart shattering when I was turned away, broken, and bleeding. It was not one of the highlights that was for sure.

"Who was in charge of the Sanctuary?" asked Wang Chao, already knowing the answer.

"Zhao Jun Jie."