Chapter 116: The Meaning of Life (Please Support with Votes and Subscriptions)

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Night had fallen—or more precisely, it had already arrived. After finishing the last pack of cigarettes, the three of them aimlessly gazed at the sky. Yang Fan stared deeply, his expression profound, while Fu Gaobin looked up as if admiring a naked woman with great relish, not lowering his head for a moment. This made Wang Cheng involuntarily follow their gaze.

Finally, Wang Cheng couldn’t hold back any longer and asked, “Brother Yang Fan, Brother Gaobin, what exactly are you looking at with such enthusiasm?”

Hearing Wang Cheng speak, Yang Fan twisted his slightly sore neck, let out a long sigh, and said solemnly, “The universe, the stars, nature!” His words sounded pretentious, but Yang Fan was in high spirits and joked freely. Poor Wang Cheng, however, was still trying to figure out Yang Fan’s personality.

Fu Gaobin, with his head lowered and his gaze equally deep, was expected to say something profound as well. Instead, he scratched his neck and cursed, “Damn it, there isn’t a single plane in sight, and I was planning to jerk off!”

Everyone was speechless.

Yang Fan hadn’t expected Fu Gaobin to be so cheeky. After laughing and scolding him a bit, Wang Cheng said he couldn’t endure the cold outside any longer and planned to rest inside the car. Since Wang Cheng went in first, Fu Gaobin glanced at Yang Fan and said, “Brother Yang Fan, I know you’re tough, but we should still get inside the car and rest properly.”

“Yeah, okay.” Yang Fan had no particular interest in admiring the scenery outside, so he got into the car. The instant he stepped inside, a wave of warmth enveloped him, making him feel comfortable all over.

Sitting inside, Yang Fan relaxed leisurely. Fu Gaobin went to the back, while Wang Cheng was pushed into the driver’s seat by Fu Gaobin, who was taking advantage of the situation. Yang Fan, Wang Cheng, and the restless Wu Liang in the back all clearly saw this.

After a while, seeing nothing happening, Wang Cheng deliberately brought up a topic, sitting in the driver’s seat with a smile, saying, “If this weren’t the apocalypse, with my looks, my character, and my family background, I’d naturally marry a rich and beautiful woman, inherit my father’s fortune, and play around with young models at will. What a pity…”

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Wang Cheng half-joked, half-seriously spoke. The apocalypse hits the wealthy and powerful the hardest. Honestly, many ordinary people, once they come to terms with it, feel nothing but a sense of motivation, encouraging themselves forward.

The reason is simple: even if it weren’t the apocalypse, the bullying and scorn faced now are essentially the same. Being despised and abandoned, one might as well seize the chaos to try their luck, maybe striking it big. This is the prevailing mindset for many average folks.

“Heh, with your personality? Forget about being deceived by your brothers, you’ll probably get scammed by women later. With no fortune and enemies coming after you, you’ll find yourself unable to live or die. Ha!” Fu Gaobin mocked Wang Cheng mercilessly.

Wang Cheng shrugged; since Fu Gaobin was like this, he couldn’t help it. Now, being under someone’s wing, Wang Cheng dared not argue. More importantly, Fu Gaobin wasn’t wrong. Given his personality, Wang Cheng might indeed end up like that.

It might be worse than the present. For now, he had some strength, following a leader—Yang Fan—and was living relatively carefree.

So Wang Cheng chuckled sheepishly. Once he spoke, Fu Gaobin turned to shake Wu Liang beside him and asked, “If this weren’t the apocalypse, what would you do? You don’t seem like a big official, otherwise, how come I’ve never seen you around?”

“Only if you see me would I be a big shot,” was Wu Liang’s first thought. Curling up nearby, he wiped his mouth, chuckled, then looked gloomy, as if filled with worldly wisdom, shaking his head. Just as he was about to make some expression, Fu Gaobin slapped him on the head and scolded, “Are you kidding me? I asked you a question, and you’re busy making faces. What do you think you are, a movie star?”

Wu Liang quickly answered obediently, “If this weren’t the apocalypse, I think I’d climb the ranks step by step, and who knows, maybe even become a top leader.”

Hearing this, Wang Cheng, familiar with officialdom, laughed openly, “You? How old are you? Almost forty, right? Want to be a top leader? Unless you’ve made several major achievements—international ones at that—it won’t matter even if you do.”

Wang Cheng dared not mock Fu Gaobin but felt free to tease Wu Liang. Observing Wu Liang’s status here, he realized it wasn’t impressive. So while he spoke without contempt, his tone lacked the respect he showed Fu Gaobin and Yang Fan.

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“Tch, you little brat, what do you know?” If this were Wu Liang’s own workplace, his face would have changed. But who were they here? Forget Yang Fan, a man no one really understood, and Fu Gaobin, a person who hated trouble. Wu Liang wouldn’t dare provoke either of them.

Thus, he firmly resolved to speak less and do more.

“So, what about you two?” With the conversation started, everyone became more enthusiastic. To be in such an environment during the apocalypse was actually quite fortunate, so they all cherished the moment and had no intention of backing down. Wang Cheng turned to ask the two women.

As the saying goes, one woman is worth five hundred ducks—this was truly evident with these two women. They worked at a nightclub, but not as prostitutes. Apart from being taken advantage of by some men at first, according to them, they ended up exploiting men instead.

In telling these stories, they shared some very funny incidents, lightening the mood. Everyone began laughing and chatting, eventually reflecting on some things.

One of the women, named Xia Li, said, “If it weren’t the apocalypse, our lives wouldn’t be much different from walking corpses. Now, life is just more thrilling. It’s just that… this kind of excitement is a little too much.”

After she spoke, there was a moment of silence. What she said was true—in life, aren’t we all like walking corpses? What is the meaning of living…?

No one knew, and no one could say. This is life—living to survive.

Thinking of this, Yang Fan couldn’t help but wonder: what is the meaning of life? (To be continued)