"From what Mrs. Lu told us, it seems that there is more to the apocalypse than meets the eye. They told us to come back and talk to our families and think about our decision to follow them carefully.
They were different from the safe base opened by the military. They will involve themselves in fighting the apocalypse and whoever is behind it.
They intend to do everything they can to preserve humanity. But that would be dangerous. So, they told us to consider our decision again because if we join them, we would be in the same danger too. And that includes our families.
They donât want to force us to do something we donât want to, but they also donât want people who would drag them down.
So, if we choose to join them, we have to be prepared. Thatâs why I came back to talk to you all." Xu Man didnât hide anything and even added some of the unsaid words Leng Pan left out.
He wanted his family to understand everything before they made a decision.
If it was just him, he wouldnât have to think too much because his own life could not compare to the whole of humanity.
However, the other people in his family had the right to choose the life they wanted to live, so he had to involve them.
The room was silent for a long time. So long that Xu Man thought that his family had turned into stone.
Just as he was about to call out to them, his wife spoke.
"I will follow whatever decision you make." Mrs. Xu said while looking at her husband with trusting eyes.
She believed that her husband will make the right decision. Although she had always hated being forced to do what her husband wanted, but this time she was giving that opportunity to him willingly.
She would follow her husband in heaven or hell.
"Honey, you donât have to follow my wishes, you can make an independent decision for yourself." Xu Man said to his wife because he thought that she was doing this because of how he had always forced his decisions and opinions on her.
He didnât want them to live like that anymore. His wife wasnât a puppet.
"I didnât make that decision because you forced me to. I left the decision to you because I trust that you will make the right choice. And whatever you choose, I will support you."
Xu Man looked at his wife and realized that she was indeed not being forced. It was a decision coming from the bottom of her heart.
"Okay, then, I wonât let you down. Letâs wait for our parents to decide before we talk to the kids." Xu Man felt gratified that his wife would willingly let him dictate the direction of their life.
He was also touched by this and realized that he had lived his past years of life in marriage in vain.
Marriage means partnership, but he had turned his wife into something akin to his servant. Now he realized what marriage really was but he was glad that even though it was the apocalypse, they could still have a blissful married life.
The two elders looked at each other and Xu Manâs father turned to look at his son.
"If this is really something that was done by humans and needs to be dealt with, us joining such a team would be equivalent to serving humanity.
We couldnât serve our country during the peaceful times, if we can do something for it now that difficult times are upon us, then letâs do it." Old Man Xu said to his son.
"Are you sure dad? This could potentially cost us our lives." Xu Man didnât beat around the bush and was very straightforward.
He didnât want his parents to make a decision they would regret later.
"If we donât do anything when we know that doing nothing could lead to humanity being wiped out, wonât we die anyway? So, we might as well do something about it and die as heroes even if no one would recognize our contribution." Old Man Xu was very adamant about it.
"Your father is right. Even though we are old and donât have the strength to kill a single zombie, we can stay home and watch over the kids. This way, you wonât have to worry about them when you are out doing service for the country and humanity.
We have to think about the future of these little ones. We donât want them to grow up in the apocalypse when they canât even go out and play because they are afraid a zombie would grab them and turn them into food.
So, go and do what you need to do." Old Madam Xu was surprisingly supportive of joining Lu Zhen and Leng Panâs team to combat the apocalypse.
Xu Man had thought that it would take some time to convince his parents but he didnât expect them to agree so easily.
Moreover, he hadnât even stated his decision but his parents had already supported him.
It could be said that the saying that goes like, âa mother knows her sonâs was right. Because Old Madam Xu knew exactly what choice her son would make. That was why she had encouraged her husband to state that they would join Lu Zhen.
Others may think that the two elders didnât even speak. Moreover, since they were so patriarchal, then the husband must have made that decision without consulting his wife.
However, after being married for so many years, the two elders had developed a kind of tacit understanding. With just one look, they understood what the other meant.
Moreover, the decision didnât have to be what the old man wanted but was based on what his wife wanted.
However, they would never let anyone else know about this. The two of them had been married through an arranged marriage and their first few years were challenging because they let people interfere in their relationship.