Tang Xiaoman unhurriedly unfastened the rope at her waist. One end was secured to the steel beam overhead; the other she tossed downward.

Zhou Yichen caught it first and climbed up in a blur of motion.

01 followed right behind him.

In the blink of an eye, all three of them had scaled the structure.

The onlookers: “……”

That… actually worked?

Under everyone’s skeptical gazes, Tang Xiaoman calmly demonstrated a textbook rope descent.

Her movements were clean, efficient—no wasted motion, no hesitation. She looked like someone who had survived countless battles and come out sharper each time.

She descended first.

Then Zhou Yichen.

Then 01.

They went up fast—and came down even faster. Each descent averaged under three seconds.

Little Shanshan immediately started waving her colorful balloon again, cheering at the top of her lungs:

“Yay! Sister Xiaoman is the best! Captain Zhou and Deputy Captain are amazing too!”

Only then did the stunned bodyguards snap out of it and burst into applause.

But their gazes toward the trio were complicated.

That… felt like cheating.

04 muttered under his breath, “No one said we could use ropes.”

“Exactly. Isn’t that against the rules?” 07 echoed quietly.

More people stayed silent, but dissatisfaction lingered beneath the surface.

Zhou Yichen swept his gaze across the crowd, taking in every reaction.

Then he spoke.

“I didn’t say ropes were allowed—but did I say they weren’t allowed?”

His voice was calm, but firm.

“In real combat, flexibility matters more than rigid rules. You don’t win by sticking to dead regulations.”

“Miss Tang is fast and skilled, so she takes point. Once she’s up there, her first priority is getting the rest of her team up quickly. Throwing down a rope is one of the fastest methods available.”

“Our goal is victory in real situations. As long as the objective is achieved, the method doesn’t matter. Understood?”

In unison, they answered, “Understood!”

It was a vivid lesson.

Not only did it teach them adaptability in real combat, it also showed them Tang Xiaoman’s extraordinary abilities.

Their boss wasn’t some fragile red rose.

She climbed just as fast as Captain Zhou.

At the very least—she was a red rose with thorns.

*

At noon, everyone gathered to make dumplings.

Most of the male bodyguards had never done such delicate work before. The dumplings they produced were wildly creative in shape—none of them remotely uniform.

Tang Xiaoman announced clearly, “Eat what you make yourselves. And we’ll grade them too, so take it seriously.”

Lu Jingming moved through the crowd like an inspector, correcting improper folding techniques here, uneven wrappers there, or fillings that were either overstuffed or miserly.

They were all young. Even without experience, their ability to learn was strong.

After a chaotic first round of grotesque dumplings, things gradually became more normal.

By 1:30 p.m., the dumpling-making session was paused.

The ugliest ones were boiled first. The properly shaped ones were frozen for later.

Everyone ate the dumplings they had made themselves. They were ugly, some even leaking filling—but no one complained.

Food made with your own hands always tasted better.

After lunch, Tang Xiaoman had them continue hydroponic farming practice and refresh the bean sprouts with clean water.

Then they rested for an hour.

Outside, the world raged like it was trying to tear the earth apart—torrential rain, violent winds, endless disaster.

But inside Villa 98, it was strangely calm.

Like an isolated paradise untouched by chaos.

The only change was that food deliveries had stopped, forcing the bodyguards to cook for themselves.

Still, they kept in contact with colleagues and friends outside—and the information they received was terrifying.

Three straight days of storms had devastated Lincheng.

Entire residential buildings in the city were submerged up to the sixth floor. Flood levels kept rising. Transportation was crippled, and rescue operations were painfully slow.

Many households had run out of food entirely and were flooding group chats with pleas for help.

Everyone hoped the government would save them—but in a disaster of this scale, even national resources were stretched thin. There simply weren’t enough rescue teams to go around.

Eventually, emergency inflatable boats were deployed in Lincheng, forming rapid supply squads.

They went door to door, registering affected residents and distributing emergency rations.

Families whose homes were flooded—or whose windows had been shattered by the typhoon—were relocated to temporary shelters.

Those whose homes were still intact received rationed supplies: instant noodles, sausages, and dried vegetables based on household registration numbers.

The homeless were given temporary accommodation. Those trapped inside their homes at least had food.

Panic slowly began to stabilize.

The bodyguards, however, were keenly aware of the contrast.

Except for the one night they went out to retrieve supplies and faced the flood directly, they had stayed inside the villa—like it belonged to a completely different world.

That contrast made them realize how lucky they were.

Not only had they found a generous employer…

They had also found the best possible refuge.

*

Tang Xiaoman slept for two hours. When she woke, the team was already back in the courtyard training again.

Shanshan was practicing knife techniques and had improved enough to be praised repeatedly by both 01 and Zhou Yichen.

Lu Jingming joined in occasionally, but spent most of his time checking the warehouse and auditing inventory records.

The seriousness in his expression told Tang Xiaoman everything.

He had already sensed how severe the disaster truly was.

Most people still believed the storm would pass—that the floods would recede and life would return to normal.

Only Tang Xiaoman knew that day would never come.

The fact that Lu Jingming was so meticulous about supplies meant he had likely sensed something too.

Especially after she had previously asked him to stockpile large amounts of medicine and medical equipment—and brought him and his daughter here right before the disaster struck.

He must have suspected she knew something in advance.

Yet he never asked.

After everything she had lived through in her previous life, Tang Xiaoman trusted him completely.

She had gone to great lengths to bring him here—not just as a private doctor, accountant, or part-time chef…

But as a partner she could trust her back to.

Lu Jingming wasn’t a fighter. In the short term, he couldn’t match the bodyguards. He also had too many responsibilities to train extensively.

And when the team went out to search for supplies, only he and his daughter stayed behind.

If danger ever came to the villa, she worried he might not be able to handle it.

She kept all of that in mind.

That evening, they continued making dumplings until every last bit of filling and dough was used up.

This time, the bodyguards had finally improved. Most dumplings turned out normal.

They enjoyed freshly made pork and cabbage dumplings—simple, but incredibly satisfying when eaten by their own hands.

The remaining dumplings were frozen and packed away, ready to be boiled anytime.

Homemade dumplings were always healthier than store-bought frozen ones.

After dinner, the team prepared to head out again to search for supplies.

While no one was paying attention, Tang Xiaoman tugged lightly on Lu Jingming’s sleeve.

“Come with me.”

She led him upstairs.

Almost immediately, Zhou Yichen followed.

01 finished organizing the team. Through the glass door, he saw the three of them heading upstairs one after another.

He frowned slightly, puzzled.

After assigning standby duty in the courtyard, he also entered the villa—and followed them up.