Ninety Days Before The Apocalypse

Severing The Ties

Four point five million yuan," Agent Zhou said, lowering his thick wire-rimmed glasses onto his nose. He tapped his index finger against the deed sitting on his polished oak desk. "Mr. Lin, your unit in the Grand Horizon complex is worth at least six point two million on a bad day. If you list it at four point five million, you are essentially throwing away a brand-new custom kitchen and two sunrooms."

"I need the entire payment deposited into my account by tomorrow afternoon," Lin Feng replied. He sat straight in the leather chair, his hands resting flat on his knees. "I am not looking for the highest bidder, Agent Zhou. I am looking for the fastest liquid cash."

Zhou leaned back, his chair creaking under his weight. He rubbed his chin, staring at Lin Feng with a mixture of pity and curiosity. "Is this a gambling debt? An emergency medical procedure? Because if you give me just two weeks, I can easily get you five point eight million in a clean transaction."

"Tomorrow afternoon," Lin Feng repeated. His voice did not carry a single hint of hesitation. "If your agency cannot facilitate a buyer with full cash by then, I will walk across the avenue to Century Realty."

Agent Zhou swallowed hard, his eyes darting back to the deed. "All right, all right. Do not be hasty. I actually have a buyer who was looking for a luxury suite in that exact school district. He has liquid cash sitting in a money market fund right now. But he will demand a ten percent earnest deposit transferred directly to our escrow account today before he signs."

"Good," Lin Feng said. "Print the preliminary agreement."

Before Zhou could reach for his keyboard, the heavy glass door of the office burst open with a loud, rattling clatter.

"Lin Feng!" Mother Su's shrill voice cut through the air of the real estate office. She marched across the tiled floor, her heavy gold bracelets clinking violently against her designer leather bag. Her face was flushed red, her narrow eyes fixed on Lin Feng like a predator sighting prey.

Behind her came Su Yan, wearing a tailored silk dress and high heels, her smartphone clutched tightly in her palm.

"So this is where you run off to when my daughter asks you for a little financial help?" Mother Su barked, slamming her heavy leather purse down onto Agent Zhou's desk, knocking over a pen holder. "You switch off your phone and hide in a real estate agency like a coward?"

Agent Zhou blinked in shock, looking between Lin Feng and the two women. "Excuse me, ladies, this is a private business meeting."

"Shut your mouth!" Mother Su snapped, pointing a long, red-painted fingernail at the agent's nose. "This man is my son-in-law. Any property he owns or touches belongs to my family! You have no right to talk to him without my permission!"

Lin Feng did not flinch. He did not turn his head, only shifting his dark, calm eyes toward Su Yan.

"Mother, let me handle him," Su Yan said, her tone dripping with forced patience. She stepped forward and leaned over Lin Feng's chair, placing a hand on his shoulder. Her fingers felt cold and stiff through his jacket. "Lin Feng, stop throwing this childish tantrum. Xiao Ming is still sitting at the auto dealership right now. The salesman laughed in his face because his card was declined. Do you have any idea how embarrassed my brother is?"

Lin Feng looked down at her hand resting on his coat. He remembered that exact same hand wiping dust off her own boots while three scavengers dragged his paralyzed, poisoned body out into the storm.

He raised his arm, calmly brushed her fingers off his shoulder, and adjusted his collar. "Your brother is twenty-four years old. If he wants a sports car, he can work eighty hours a week until he can afford one."

Su Yan pulled back as if she had stepped on a hot iron. "What did you just say to me?"

"Are you completely out of your mind?" Mother Su shrieked, her voice rising so loud that three other real estate agents in the hallway stopped to peer through the glass partition. "He is your brother-in-law! You brought nothing into this family, Lin Feng! When you married my daughter, you were a nobody! We gave you a home, we gave you social respect, and we allowed you to walk alongside us! Now you dare speak about my son like he is a beggar?"

Lin Feng unzipped the black backpack sitting beside his feet. He reached inside and pulled out a white paper folder he had printed at a local print shop twenty minutes earlier. He tossed the folder onto the desk, right between Mother Su's purse and Agent Zhou's desk organizer.

"Sign it," Lin Feng said softly.

Su Yan frowned, looking down at the bold black lettering printed across the cover page. "Divorce Agreement?"

"You keep the rental furniture in the old apartment," Lin Feng said, his tone flat. "I keep my personal savings, my vehicle, and the full liquid proceeds from this property sale. Sign page three, and we can head to the civil affairs bureau at two o'clock."

Su Yan let out a high, nervous laugh that rattled in her throat. "Divorce? You are divorcing me over fifty thousand yuan? Lin Feng, do not make a fool of yourself. You would starve to death in a month without my family! Who is going to cook your meals? Who is going to take care of you when you get sick?"

"I managed thirty-four years before I met you," Lin Feng said, his eyes empty of any warmth. "I will manage."

"You ungrateful little dog!" Mother Su roared. She raised her heavy leather purse high above her head, swinging it directly at Lin Feng's face with all her strength. "I will teach you how to disrespect my daughter!"

Lin Feng did not flinch or dodge. He simply reached up with his right hand, snatching the leather strap of the heavy purse in mid-air. His grip locked around the strap like a vise. Mother Su pulled back with all her weight, her face turning purple, but the bag did not budge an inch.

"Agent Zhou," Lin Feng said, completely ignoring the screaming woman beside him as he looked at the terrified broker. "Is the contract printed?"

"Y-Yes, Mr. Lin," Zhou stammered, pulling three warm pages off his desktop printer with trembling hands. "Right here."

Lin Feng took the black pen from Zhou's holder, signed his name neatly on the bottom line of the sale contract, and pushed the papers back across the desk. He held Mother Su's bag for another two seconds, looking directly into her furious, bulging eyes, before releasing his grip without warning.

Mother Su stumbled backward from her own pulling force, her heels catching on the carpet as she hit the edge of a leather sofa with a loud thud.

"Lin Feng, if you walk out that door, do not ever think about coming back!" Su Yan screamed, her face twisting into a bitter snarl as red patches broke out across her neck. "I will never forgive you! Xiao Ming will break your legs for this!"

Lin Feng picked up his backpack, zipped his copy of the divorce folder inside, and stood up.

"Tell Xiao Ming to enjoy his legs while he can still walk," Lin Feng said.

He walked past both of them without another glance, his footsteps firm and steady against the tile floor.

Thirty minutes later, Lin Feng sat inside a quiet, air-conditioned corner office on the twelfth floor of a private credit building downtown. Across the glass coffee table sat a middle-aged man in a tailored dark grey suit, wearing three thick gold rings on his right hand.

"Agent Zhou confirmed that your earnest deposit of four hundred and fifty thousand yuan just hit our escrow hold," the loan director said, tapping a thick leather binder lying between them. "That gives us enough property equity to approve your application. But Mr. Lin, I must be entirely transparent with you. Our monthly interest rate is four point eight percent. That is significantly higher than any commercial bank in the city."

"I am aware," Lin Feng said. He did not even bother flipping through the interest breakdown pages.

"If you fail to meet the interest payment after thirty days, our firm will immediately seize your remaining equity and initiate asset garnishment against all accounts registered to your name," the man warned, leaning forward with a sharp, calculating smile. "Are you absolutely certain you want to draw three million yuan in high-interest short-term cash today?"

Lin Feng picked up the heavy metal pen resting on the leather binder.

Thirty days? In ninety days, paper currency would be nothing more than useless kindling for barrel fires. Bank computers would be dead blocks of plastic, and financial directors like the man sitting across from him would be fighting stray dogs for moldy crusts of bread in frozen alleyways.

He pressed the tip of the pen to the paper and signed his name in firm, confident strokes.

"Wire the entire three million yuan to my primary account within two hours," Lin Feng said, sliding the signed folder back across the table. "And prepare another six million in asset-backed loan contracts for tomorrow morning."

The loan director froze, his smile vanishing as his jaw slackened. "Six million more? Mr. Lin, what could you possibly need nine million yuan in immediate cash for?"

Lin Feng stood up, walking over to the wide glass window that overlooked the bustling downtown avenue below. Hundreds of pedestrians were walking past luxury shops in light summer clothing, enjoying the warm breeze, completely unaware of the icy hell that was already racing toward them from the dark edges of the world.

"I am going shopping," Lin Feng said.