Chapter 80: Giving Gifts with Care

I never dared to speak of it before. After all, how could a young lady like her devise such a vicious method?But after Wang Xue Mei’s tragic ordeal yesterday, the entire family no longer objected; it was unanimously approved. The happy life of their family of three was shattered in an instant, with two members now dead. Not only did Wang Xue Mei have to face the brutal life ahead, but even more tragically, she had been assaulted by so many men yesterday. Her ordeal was even filmed and shared in a WeChat group. One could only imagine how she would ever face the people in the residential complex. When Wang Qiqi and the others arrived, Wang Xue Mei was tied to the sofa, tortured beyond recognition, but still alive. Afterward, Wang Xue Mei wanted to end her life; it had already lost all meaning to her. Jing Shu sent the video of Gou Yitian being tortured to death to Wang Qiqi, telling him to show it to Wang Xue Mei. She then said nothing more. Whether to live or die is a personal choice. If one cannot overcome that mental hurdle, it’s better to end it all. After all, various natural disasters and man-made calamities lie ahead. One will witness countless deaths, in all sorts of ways, never knowing which method will claim you. "I think it’s still very dangerous if someone slips through the net. Could we set up another wire mesh? That way, we could shoot arrows from the front," Wu You’ai suggested. Jing Shu immediately gave Wu You’ai a thumbs-up. "Just a wire mesh isn’t enough; it lacks real stopping power. Our advantage is that we have electricity at home. Let’s just turn it into an electric fence. The wire mesh doesn’t need to be very high, but it must be wide enough to block off the entire yard. This will force them to destroy it before they can rush in, buying us a bit more time." The villa’s traps would be upgraded accordingly. Jing Shu would go ’find’ the materials, while Mr. Jing and Mr. Jing would begin preparations with the existing materials. It took the family two days to clean the villa, especially since they needed to conserve water. Third Aunt Jing Lai was a pragmatic woman; she said little and worked tirelessly from start to finish. It was no wonder she had managed to keep her position as a head cook in a government agency, securing her an ’establishment’ status in the apocalypse. Having lived together for half a year, Jing Shu discovered that Third Aunt Jing Lai had the personality of a strong, capable woman. She was efficient and, being a Virgo, seemingly had obsessive-compulsive tendencies. She needed everything to be perfectly tidy and clean; she couldn’t even stand a single hair on the floor and would immediately clean it up. She belonged to the ’actions speak louder than words’ category. Wu You’ai, a Libra, was the opposite. She was the type who would lie down if she could avoid standing, her mind a thousand times more active than her body. Some vegetables in the villa’s garden had been ruined and could now only be fed to the livestock. The front gate needed a new lock cylinder. Fortunately, other losses were minor. 「Three days had passed since the incident.」 A tally showed that on the day of the ’Biri’ rampage, members of three households in the residential complex had died. Two women were raped, one of whom Jing Shu knew: Zhang Bingbing from Building 4, who was active in the group chat. The terrified residents of the complex no longer dared to go out; they didn’t even dare use the public toilets downstairs. All supermarkets in Wu City had also closed and stopped selling anything. This caused those without stockpiled food to run out of supplies, and some even began to consider looting. After all, with the widespread chaos and no police intervention, whoever had food was a target for robbery! Those with smaller stockpiles could still eat a little each day, but panic set in as they watched their reserves dwindle. People within the residential complex even began to protest, staring at their last two bags of rice at home, wondering how long they could possibly last. The internet erupted with widespread grievances, complaints, and panic as the theory of an apocalypse was now largely accepted by everyone. Just as in Jing Shu’s previous life, most people hid at home, scrolling through Weibo posts: one moment, a residential complex was looted; the next, another was seized. In some areas, water trucks had stopped making deliveries altogether! The news channels, however, continued to report on national affairs, as steadfast as Mount Tai. May 2nd, 2023: Food factories like Master Kong were formally integrated into central government bodies as subsidiary departments. They began introducing dehydrated vegetable products, aiming to resume food production and supply to the public soon. May 3rd, 2023: China Mobile, China Unicom, and China Telecom officially merged into a single company. It was acquired by the central government, becoming a state-owned enterprise to spearhead the 6G era and implement free data for all. It was projected that call charge systems would be eliminated within a year, ushering the entire nation into a fully networked era. May 4th, 2023... A major event had also recently occurred in Wu City: news broke about the Sky Covering Party raiding the police station in the new district to steal firearms. At the time, the Sky Covering Party had gathered over two hundred people. Armed with two hand grenades from an unknown source, they blew open the police station. They then threw another hand grenade inside, killing or injuring more than twenty police officers, before storming in to execute their plan. However, events took an unexpected turn. The Sky Covering Party’s two hundred-plus members were stumped by the arsenal’s safe. The various saws and hammers they had brought couldn’t break it open. Eventually, after too many incorrect password attempts, the safe automatically locked down. They considered carrying the safe away, but it was integrated into the wall—they would have had to drag half the wall along with it... After reaching the arsenal and supposedly learning their lesson from the safe, they managed to inquire about a password. However, it was part of a three-factor authentication system, requiring confirmation from leadership as well as network verification. Ultimately, unable to gain access, they had no choice but to kill all the police officers inside and flee. This explained why Jing Shu had never encountered anyone with guns in her previous life. If police firearms were that easily stolen, there would be daily gun battles, just like in America. After all, those with guns are the ’bosses.’ Take the current Jing Shu, for example: she possessed three guns, all obtained through legitimate channels, which gave her considerable confidence. Mrs. Jing rested for a few days. Then, she, Jing Shu, and Mr. Jing took some gifts to Minister Niu’s home to express their gratitude. Nowadays, venturing outside required being fully armed, weapons in hand. Otherwise, there was a high chance of being robbed and killed. The chaos in Wu City had driven up the prices of iron gates and security bars tenfold. Every household had installed extra fortifications on their windows and doors. Unfortunately, to experienced robbers, these measures were merely slight inconveniences. The family deliberated for a long time on what to give. As the saying goes, a gift should be precisely what the recipient desires most. Otherwise, giving something unwanted is like trying to curry favor but missing the mark entirely—utterly useless. "Then we definitely have to choose something that aligns with Minister Niu’s preferences. What does your Minister Niu usually like?" Mr. Jing asked. "In my opinion, we should give them what they need most. That’s called ’sending charcoal in snowy weather’—providing help in dire times. The things he merely likes are just ’adding flowers to brocade,’ nice but not essential," Mrs. Jing opined. "If you ask me," Jing Shu interjected, "instead of giving something directly to Minister Niu, it would be better to give gifts to his wife and son." She then recounted what had happened that day with the chubby little boy, Niu Yanben. Mr. Jing wore an expression that said, "We’re all in the same boat." "His wife loves strawberries? Then let’s give strawberries, along with the soil they’re growing in," Mrs. Jing said, her eyes lighting up. "Minister Niu’s household certainly doesn’t lack electricity; they can continue to grow another batch themselves." "If you give them such a significant gift all at once, how will they remember you for long?" Jing Shu sighed. "If you give something so good this time, will you have to give something ’roots and all’ every time you visit? Conversely, if you bring a few strawberries each visit, won’t they be grateful each time?"