5: Chapter 5 I just want to sleep in my own bed.

Time passed minute by minute, second by second.

The sky outside the window gradually darkened.

6:00 PM.

Lin Yuan glanced at the weather forecast on his phone.

Outdoor temperature: -10 degrees Celsius.

And it was still dropping.

He looked up out the window.

White snow continued to fall, denser than it had been in the afternoon.

The entire city was shrouded in a deathly pale white.

The streets were completely deserted.

Only the occasional shrill, miserable scream echoed, sounding exceptionally piercing in the cold wind.

Lin Yuan tucked his neck in.

Although the room was a bit warmer than outside, it wasn't much better.

His small 25-square-meter studio had neither air conditioning nor heating.

The only heating equipment was the electric blanket on the bed.

And now, this single bed had become the focal point of a struggle between three people.

"Lin Yuan."

Ye Qingxue spoke, her voice still cold and indifferent.

"What is it?" Lin Yuan looked up.

"It's getting dark."

Ye Qingxue looked at him, "We need to rest."

"Mhm."

Lin Yuan nodded, "Then go ahead and rest."

"But there's only one bed here."

"Yeah."

"So..."

Ye Qingxue paused, "I want to discuss something with you."

Lin Yuan's heart stirred.

Here it comes.

This was exactly what he had been waiting for.

"Go on."

Ye Qingxue took a deep breath: "I can pay you to stay somewhere else for the night. Fifty thousand, how about it?"

Lin Yuan pretended to think it over, then shook his head.

"No."

"Why?"

"It's so cold outside; I'll die if I go out."

Lin Yuan said as if it were a matter of course, "Besides, this is my room. Why should I be the one to leave?"

Ye Qingxue grit her teeth: "One hundred thousand."

"Not going."

"One hundred and fifty thousand."

"Not going."

"Two hundred thousand!"

Ye Qingxue's voice rose a few notches, "Two hundred thousand! Go find a hotel outside and stay for the night!"

Lin Yuan shrugged: "In this situation, are the hotels outside even open? Even if they are, I might freeze to death on the way there."

He didn't mention the snow poison.

Because there was no need; right now, thinking about how to activate the system was the top priority.

"You!"

Ye Qingxue's face turned red with anger.

But she knew Lin Yuan was telling the truth.

The situation outside was indeed very dangerous.

Never mind going to a hotel; even just going downstairs could lead to an accident.

"Then what do you suggest?" Ye Qingxue suppressed her rage.

"It's simple." Lin Yuan pointed to the floor, "You guys can sleep with me!"

Saying this, Lin Yuan added with feigned generosity: "Don't worry, I won't mind you guys."

"You!"

Ye Qingyue finally couldn't hold it in anymore, her tears pitter-pattering down.

"Sister... how can this person be like this..."

Ye Qingxue held her sister, staring at Lin Yuan with cold eyes.

"Lin Yuan, we are girls, and you, a grown man, want to sleep with us? Are you dreaming?"

"Since you're unwilling, then there's nothing I can do."

Lin Yuan spread his hands, "This bed was mine to begin with."

"Five hundred thousand."

Ye Qingxue grit her teeth and spat out the number.

"Five hundred thousand. You give up the bed and sleep on the floor, just for one night."

Lin Yuan shook his head.

"One million."

Ye Qingxue's voice was trembling.

One million wasn't a huge sum for the Ye family.

But for an ordinary person, it was already an astronomical figure.

She didn't believe Lin Yuan could refuse.

However—

"Not going."

Lin Yuan still shook his head, his tone flat.

"You... what exactly do you want?!" Ye Qingxue finally snapped.

"I don't want anything."

Lin Yuan stood up and walked to the bedside, "I just want to sleep in my own bed."

"Whether you guys sleep or not is up to you, but I'm sleeping on the bed anyway."

After saying that, he walked to the computer desk and picked up the fruit knife.

Only then did he walk back to the bed and lie down.

The fruit knife was pressed under his pillow, in a position where his hand could reach it at any time.

This was a necessary precaution.

Lin Yuan knew very well that Ye Qingxue was a woman with a high IQ.

And she was currently full of hatred toward him.

What if she snapped under extreme cold and despair and launched a sneak attack while he was asleep?

Although their body temperatures were very low and their movements were restricted now,

People in desperate situations often burst forth with extraordinary strength.

Lin Yuan didn't dare to gamble.

He never gambled with his own life.

Besides the knife, he checked the room door again.

Locked.

The key was in his pocket.

The window was also locked tight.

They couldn't run away.

And even if they wanted to make a move, Lin Yuan would be able to react immediately.

Having made these preparations, Lin Yuan finally pulled the quilt over himself.

But he remained alert.

Although his eyes were closed, his ears were constantly listening for any movement in the room.

If there was any abnormal sound from that corner, he would wake up instantly.

This was Lin Yuan's way of survival—playing it safe.

Playing it safe to the extreme.

"Ah—"

Ye Qingyue completely broke down, hugging her sister and crying heart-wrenchingly.

Ye Qingxue's eyes were also red.

In all her years, she had never suffered such a grievance.

She was the eldest miss of the Ye family, the belle of Jiangcheng University, the object of pursuit for countless people.

When had she ever been treated like this?

This man was not some 'good guy' at all, let alone the simps she encountered at school.

He only cared about himself, completely disregarding the lives of two great beauties like them.

And...

Ye Qingxue noticed Lin Yuan's action of taking the knife.

Her heart sank once again.

This man was extremely guarded.

Although that movement just now was very fast, she still saw it.

He had pressed the fruit knife under his pillow.

This meant that even if she wanted to resist while he was asleep, it would be impossible to succeed.

The other party had been guarding against her all along.

A deep sense of powerlessness welled up in Ye Qingxue's heart.

She could do nothing now.

Money had completely lost its effectiveness in front of this man.

And she didn't dare use force.

Although Lin Yuan looked quite thin and weak, he was a man after all.

If it really came to a fight, she and her sister might not be his match.

Furthermore, their physical condition was currently extremely poor; their hands and feet were icy cold.

They couldn't even stand steadily, let alone fight.

"Sister... what do we do..." Ye Qingyue asked through her tears.

Ye Qingxue was silent for a long time.

Finally, she let out a sigh.

"Just endure it."

She glanced at the corner of the wall.

There was a small space there, barely enough to accommodate two people.

"We'll sleep there."

Ye Qingyue followed her sister's gaze, and her tears began to flow again.

That corner was not even a meter wide.

The floor was made of cold ceramic tiles.

They were going to sleep there for the night?

But they had no choice.

Ye Qingxue pulled her sister to the corner and slowly sat down.

The icy sensation instantly transferred from the floor.

She couldn't help but shiver.

It was too cold.

Even colder than she had imagined.

"Qingyue, lean on me."

Ye Qingxue pulled her sister into her arms, and the two of them hugged each other tightly.

Ye Qingyue's tears kept flowing.

"Sister... I'm so cold..."

"I know."

Ye Qingxue's voice was hoarse, "Endure it a little longer. When it gets light, Father's people will come to pick us up."

"Really?"

"Really."

Ye Qingxue said so, but she wasn't sure herself.

From the afternoon until now, she had called home several times.

Her father always said he would send people to get them.

But up until now, not a single person had appeared.

Clearly, the situation outside was worse than she had imagined.

Even a great family like the Ye family was trapped.

Could they really hold out until tomorrow?

Time passed bit by bit.

The night grew deeper.

The indoor temperature continued to drop.

Ye Qingxue could feel her body heat draining away little by little.

Her hands and feet had completely lost all sensation.

Her body was also becoming increasingly stiff.

Her sister was constantly shivering in her arms.

"Sister... I'm so cold... really so cold..."

Ye Qingyue's voice was trembling.

"I know... I know..."

Ye Qingxue held her sister tighter.

The only thing she could give her sister was this meager bit of body heat.

But it was far from enough.

Both of them were afflicted with snow poison, and their body temperatures were already dropping.

Hugging each other was merely better than nothing.

Ye Qingxue looked toward the bed.

Lin Yuan was covered by the quilt and seemed to have already fallen asleep.

A strong surge of hatred rose in her heart.

This man!

He clearly had an electric blanket and a quilt, yet he just watched them freeze in the corner!

This was too much!

If... if she could leave this place alive...

She would definitely make this man pay the price!

But now, she could do nothing.

She could only hold her sister and suffer through the cold.

On the bed.

Lin Yuan was not completely asleep.

He remained in a state of light sleep, his hand always under the pillow, ready to reach the knife at any moment.

After about half an hour, having confirmed that the two sisters in the corner were not making any moves, he slightly opened his eyes and peeked through the slits to observe them.

In the dim room, the faint light from his phone screen illuminated that corner.

The two girls were hugging each other tightly.

The older sister, Ye Qingxue, held her younger sister in her arms as if she wanted to melt her into her own body.

The younger sister, Ye Qingyue, was buried in her sister's chest, shivering incessantly.

The long hair of the two was tangled together, indistinguishable from one another.

The cold and elegant school beauty and the sweet young girl had both shed their usual halos at this moment.

All that remained were two shivering, pitiful girls.

But even so, the scene was still breathtakingly beautiful.

The 'Flower on a High Ridge' and the 'Girl Next Door' sleeping in each other's arms.

Such a scene was a once-in-a-lifetime sight.

A complex mix of emotions welled up in Lin Yuan's heart.

There was pity.

There was guilt.

But more than that, there was cold rationality.

He knew what he was doing.

He was gambling with the sisters' lives.

In a situation like this, Lin Yuan naturally didn't believe in some selfless sacrifice being able to move a woman.

Such talk was a joke in his eyes.

Lin Yuan's nature was inherently a bit more forceful.

From childhood to adulthood, he had never been like a simp trying to please women.

For example, with his previous online girlfriend, when she asked him to buy something, Lin Yuan naturally refused.

And then, as expected, his cheap online girlfriend said something about him not giving her 'emotional value.'

Lin Yuan didn't indulge her at all; he cursed her out, then directly broke up and blocked her!

The better you treat a woman, the more she thinks you're a pushover, and thus she becomes bolder and bolder.

Her favorable impression and liking for you will also gradually vanish.

So, the reason why some men's wives cheat is not just because they aren't physically satisfied.

It's also because the better a man treats them, the more they take an inch and want a mile.

They look down on the man more and more...

At this moment, Lin Yuan's idea was this:

Use cold and despair to slowly destroy their pride and defenses.

Until they break down.

Until they have no choice but to submit.

This was cruel.

But this was the Apocalypse.

In the Apocalypse, there are no saints.

There are only winners and the dead.

Lin Yuan closed his eyes; he needed to rest.

But his hand never left the knife handle under the pillow.

Tomorrow, there would be even more things to do.

As for the two sisters in the corner, they would survive the night.

At least, that was what Lin Yuan was betting on.

But until they completely lost their ability to resist, he would not relax his guard in the slightest.

The night deepened further.

The only sounds in the room were the faint weeping of the two girls and the howling of the cold wind outside.

The white snow continued to fall.

The first night of the Apocalypse was a long ordeal for all three of them.

Ye Qingxue held her sister.

It wasn't until the latter half of the night that she dazed off into sleep.

But even in her dreams, she was shivering.

She dreamed she had turned into an ice sculpture.

Her sister had also turned into an ice sculpture.

Two ice sculptures, forever embracing each other.

Cold.

Dark.

Despair.

Meanwhile, Lin Yuan remained in a state of semi-sleep throughout the night.

His ears were always attentive to any movement in the room.

His hand always gripped the knife handle.

This was his caution.

This was the capital that allowed him to survive in the Apocalypse.

This was the first night of the Apocalypse's descent.