Chapter 17: Mr. Jing and His Family

Actually, the money had arrived quickly. Yesterday afternoon was the agreed-upon day for Mr. Jing and Uncle Sun to settle the repayment. As expected, Uncle Sun pleaded poverty and, in the end, didn’t have the money to repay him. Mr. Jing went to Uncle Sun’s company and then his home to find him, but the entire family refused to even open the door, collectively vanishing. Mr. Jing finally saw the true colors of his friend of over twenty years. Jing Shu felt it was time for her to step in. With the 200,000 yuan from selling the car, Mr. Jing still needed 100,000 yuan to cover the recent renovation expenses, and at least another 200,000 yuan would be needed to finish the villa. Out of sheer necessity, Mr. Jing asked Grandma Jing for 200,000 yuan. Unexpectedly, this sum also included 100,000 yuan from each of his three aunts. A total of 500,000 yuan was transferred that day, significantly easing Mr. Jing’s financial pressure. Mr. Jing would not ask his mother for money unless absolutely necessary, as he did not want to strain family relations further. Poverty was rampant in the sixties and seventies, often leading to a preference for sons over daughters. Grandma Jing had three daughters in a row—Jing Pan, Jing Zhao, and Jinglai. Their names reflected the relentless hope for a son, and she was finally put at ease when she gave birth to Mr. Jing (Jing Shu’s father) and then Jing An. In the past, Grandma Jing had favored Mr. Jing (Jing Shu’s father), secretly giving him the best food. This caused a rift when his sisters, Jing Shu’s aunts, found out. When the aunts got married during hard times, Mr. Jing (Jing Shu’s grandfather) provided each with a set of wooden furniture as their dowry. When Mr. Jing (Jing Shu’s father) married, he used all his savings to make a down payment on a house in Wu City. Such a huge discrepancy did not sit well with the aunts. When the three aunts’ children were born, Grandma Jing gave silver bracelets to both the boys and the girls. However, when Jing Shu was born, Grandma Jing gave her a gold locket. When impoverished, favoring sons over daughters was understandable. However, continuing to favor Jing Shu even after conditions improved caused resentment from the aunts towards Grandma Jing and Mr. Jing (Jing Shu’s father). Fortunately, everyone’s living conditions had improved over the years, and Grandma Jing had started treating everyone equally. Therefore, Mr. Jing did not want to rekindle the strain just when relationships had begun to mend. However, Grandma Jing still told the three aunts about Mr. Jing (Jing Shu’s father) borrowing money. It was within Jing Shu’s expectations that Grandma Jing would lend money, but the three aunts also lending money was quite unexpected. Whether it was under Grandma Jing’s formidable influence or out of love for their brother, and whether they did so reluctantly or willingly, Jing Shu remembered this favor. She promised to repay them with grain after the apocalypse, helping them avoid some natural disasters. To repay kindness with kindness, seek revenge for wrongs, and not nurture ingrates—having a full meal every day became Jing Shu’s motto for the future. After Mr. Jing transferred 200,000 yuan, Jing Shu went out the next day. She bought 400 cases of Nongfu Spring water (550ml, 12 bottles/case) for 7,200 yuan and 100 cases of Nongfu Spring water (1.5L) for 5,400 yuan. Bottled mineral water was easy to carry, could be consumed directly, and was certainly more convenient than filtered water. It was inconspicuous and handy for fleeing during the apocalypse, and Jing Shu stocked up as a precaution. No matter how many years the apocalypse lasted, mineral water would always be a scarce commodity. She also bought two cases each of various beverages like honey pomelo tea, coconut juice, Xiang Piao Piao, Wanglaoji, Red Bull, Coke, Sprite, and orange juice. Jing Shu also purchased ten cases of Wahaha AD Calcium Milk. It had been a part of her childhood, an unforgettable flavor. Jing Shu followed the delivery truck to the villa’s front door. Once everyone had left, she used her space to move these life-saving waters to an empty upstairs study. She stacked the cases of water, filling the entire study, then locked the study door and the master bedroom door. Jing Shu locked every room containing supplies to prevent the renovation workers from seeing them. Each room featured solid, heavy wooden doors that several people could not break open, and they were equipped with Class A-locks that only a professional locksmith could pick. After checking off the list on her phone and noting the beverage quantities, she finally looked around, satisfied, and inspected the villa’s renovation progress. The tempered glass roof and walls were well-completed and could resist the insect rain of the apocalypse’s second year. All the villa’s glass had been replaced with triple-layered hollow glass, which was both insulating and soundproof. The water storage system on the right was fully constructed and concealed underground, with space for planting crops above it. The circulation system of the reservoir was connected to the villa’s various pipes and the two water tanks on the third floor. It could be activated for automatic filtering and recycling. Currently, it was only for less polluted uses such as washing vegetables and bathing, and it was no longer suitable for drinking water. This meant domestic water was recycled. Drinking water would come from bottled mineral water and water from the two storage tanks, purified through a triple-filtration system connected to the kitchen faucet. The pond was also constructed. The chicken coop in the front yard was completed. The boiler room, coal storage, and side gate were all set up. The kitchen cabinets were installed and finished. Only the final decorations and the modification of the conservatory remained. Captain Chen estimated that the work would be completed in three days, with one day for final adjustments. The two major events in Jing Shu’s Magic Cube Space were, firstly, that the chicks and ducklings had all hatched two days ago. Jing Shu tagged them with numbers and instructed the mother hens and ducks to incubate the eggs marked ’Number 1’. Number 1 grew larger, exceeding Jing Shu’s expectations for a mother hen. When the previously agreed-upon seven days were up, Jing Shu planned to halve its Spiritual Spring intake and begin drinking diluted Spiritual Spring herself. Jing Shu made a decision: she would keep feeding Number 1 Spiritual Spring until the day it died to test the spring’s effects. Besides, Number 1 managed the chickens so well, seemingly instilling order and discipline in their egg-laying, that Jing Shu couldn’t bear to slaughter it for soup anymore. The second event was that the rabbits were pregnant and had given birth to kits. Jing Shu had discovered the rabbits were heavily pregnant yesterday, and today they had already given birth. She could only marvel at the speed... Jing Shu almost saw Kung Pao rabbit waving at her! SLURP... Jing Shu returned home very late that day. As she opened the door, there was no aroma of cooking, nor any smell of burning. Instead, a thick, nauseating perfume filled the air, along with the sound of noisy chatter. "Lan Zhi, as you know, it’s not easy being a single mom with two kids. I’m interested in your school district house purely for registration so my younger child can attend school. The house won’t be occupied by us, so you can continue to live there. Just sell it to me at a lower price; consider the discount as rent for the next ten years," said a middle-aged professional woman in office attire. "Yes, Lan Zhi, the Director heard you were selling the house and rushed over to give you money." "It took a lot for the Director to ask you this. Just sell it cheaper. Your chances for promotion will soar after this." Everyone was talking at once. Mrs. Jing was surrounded and in a difficult position. "Director, we’re only selling our house because we’re short on money. Your offer is too low. A house like this on the market is 1.4 million yuan. Ours, including quality furnishings and furniture, we’re only asking 1.3 million yuan for. You’re offering only 1 million and suggesting the remaining 300,000 yuan be considered rent. Besides, we don’t plan on renting back the house we’re selling." "Lan Zhi, you can’t talk like that..." Jing Shu stood at the doorway listening for a moment, then covered her face. Ever since she was reborn, she seemed to encounter nothing but people looking to take advantage of her. Judging by the tone, this was Mrs. Jing’s boss? If they sold the house, wouldn’t these people still come knocking after the apocalypse... If they didn’t sell, these people wouldn’t let it go. They were practically inviting trouble, and there was nothing Jing Shu felt she could do.