2: Underneath A Thousand Skies

236 Vixen Above, Mensao Below (50)

After Ye Minzhe coldly rejected her, Sheng Li stumbled away in a haze of tears.

It was not as if she hadn't known that her confession to him would be a fruitless attempt. Ding Xiuxiu was his fiancée, and due to her own status, Sheng Li knew that she wouldn't be able to measure up to her.

But, after she had known that Ye Minzhe didn't have any feelings for Ding Xiuxiu, a long buried hope inside her heart that she thought had already withered began to sprout.

If, if he didn't like Ding Xiuxiu, then maybe...maybe there was a chance for her?

If there was one thing Sheng Li was proud of, it was her elegant bearing. Ding Xiuxiu was rich, that was true, but she was also spoiled rotten and often acted like a damsel that needed to be protected. From years of observing him, Sheng Li found out that Ye Minzhe didn't like the weak type of girl.

He was always very annoyed every time Ding Xiuxiu cried.

Sheng Li was very smart. Even her name meant 'successful' and 'very victorious.' She was calm and practical, a very level-headed girl. She went into the library everyday to read books and knew a lot of variable knowledge. Among her classmates who only knew how to spend money and act frivolous around Ye Minzhe, she was a refreshing breath of fresh air.

Of course, Sheng Li didn't know. That the soul inside Ye Jia's body right now knew even more useless facts, and had read even more books than her.

That was why Sheng Li took the risk to confess to Ye Minzhe. Opposites often attract, and she saw how Ye Minzhe got along well with his half-sister after she had a change of heart.

Maybe like his father, Ye Minzhe also liked the 'cold flower on a high mountain peak' kind of girl?

But once again, Sheng Li's hopeful heart was dashed into pieces. She could still hear Ye Minzhe's cold voice telling her the truth.

"Ye Jia and I aren't siblings. I love Jia."

Ye Jia!

The only love rival Sheng Li thought of highly was Ding Xiuxiu. Surprisingly, there was a dark horse this time around.

Ye Minzhe actually liked Ye Jia!

No wonder the way he behaved around her was weird. It was because they weren't siblings at all! While she had been keeping her guard around Ding Xiuxiu, Ye Jia had stolen him right under their noses!

Sheng Li couldn't help the rush of anger that flooded her veins when she thought of this. How could Prince Ye like that slut? Didn't he see how she practically threw herself on their homeroom teacher? Of all girls, why did it have to be that lowly Ye Jia?

She did not deserve Ye Minzhe at all!

While she was thinking, Sheng Li didn't notice where she was going at all. Suddenly, her nose bumped into something hard. The pain from the tip of her nose woke her up, and Sheng Li slowly tilted her head upwards.

She let out a gasp when she finally recognized the familiar face smiling gently at her.

...

It goes without saying that even with the apocalypse going on just outside their walls, Papa Ye wouldn't skip Ye Minzhe's birthday without a celebration.

"Alright, put the balloons here...and the cake there..."

Song Jia felt her head ache just looking at the busy maids trying to put up the decorations. Although it wasn't as lavish and extravagant as Ye Minzhe's normal birthday party had been in the past, considering their situation right now, it was a total waste of their limited resources.

"I already told my old man not to do these useless things!" Ye Minzhe's angry voice was heard just above her head as he took his usual spot beside her.

Papa Ye wanted it to be a surprise, so while everybody was sound asleep, he had woken up the servants by himself and secretly prepared everything. By the time Song Jia and Ye Minzhe found out, it was already too late.

"Just indulge your father." Song Jia's voice was more of a sigh. "Anyway, it's not everyday you turn eighteen."

Ye Minzhe liked to call himself as the 'older brother,' but in fact, their age gap was only a few months. That was why they could stay in the same class together.

In front of them, two servants carrying a large crystal glass bowl filled with bourbon rosemary punch slowly made their way into the living room. Slices of lemon and rosemary figs floated on its vermilion-colored surface, making for a beautiful aesthetic.

"Don't drink that later on," Ye Minzhe advised her. "My old man likes to spike that with absinthe."

Song Jia raised her eyebrows. "Absinthe and bourbon?"

Ye Minzhe nodded his head. "Do you know why my classmates often stayed over at my house and would never fail to be present during my birthdays? It's because my old man parties hard."

In fact, Ye Minzhe also had his share of visiting night clubs and drinking alcohol like it was water. Like his classmates and his friends, he had indulged in every bad habit introduced to mankind. Since they had a lot of money to spend, doing illegal things practically became nothing more than just trying out a new 'thrill.'

If there was only one thing Ye Minzhe didn't try, that was fooling around with girls. Even Long Aotian had his share of visiting red-light districts, and one could no longer count the number of women Ouyang Che and Gong Qiye slept with.

As a liberal father, even Papa Ye sometimes wondered what was wrong with him. Could it be that his son...was actually bent?

Of course, he was quickly proven wrong when Ouyang Che tried introducing another type of partner to him and Ye Minzhe beat the two of them up.

When the sun sank down, Ye Minzhe's birthday party began. The party was held at night, and bright, flashing lights had been installed to give everybody the illusion that they were inside a night club. Although the music had been lowered with Song Jia's strict instructions, the ruckus they made was still loud.

Everyone had been invited, including the evacuees, so the mansion was fully packed.

Song Jia was very busy. She had to keep scolding the DJ to turn down the music and warned people not to get carried away as the noise they made might alert some zombies outside. Even Papa Ye couldn't help but give her a few words after noticing her disrupting the party.

"It's Minzhe's birthday, so just enjoy yourself. Don't worry, I already increased the patrol guards outside and no zombies had been spotted for a week now. Have you greeted Ye Minzhe yet?"

Because Papa Ye finally learned that Ye Jia wasn't his illegitimate daughter, his complex emotions towards her had disappeared. Instead, it was replaced by the identity of being Ye Minzhe's future wife. Papa Ye's voice was very soft, almost coaxing. This was the girl that would bear his future granddaughter!

Song Jia was helpless. The news had been silent for a few days now, with no updates about the pandemic. Although most of them knew that they were in a bad situation right now, the fact that the apocalypse was starting hadn't fully sank in. Like Gu Yuan, they hoped it would be a temporary situation and that the government would be able to turn things around.

Some of them who hadn't seen zombies in the flesh even had doubts that everything was just a conspiracy made by the government.

Song Jia was the only one who knew the bleak future that they were heading towards. There wasn't such a thing as vaccines or a cure waiting in the horizon—in the future, zombies would overrun the world. Even Ye Minzhe, the male god, could only create a stronghold to fight them off.

For now, they were simply standing in the eye of the storm.