The two of them walked hand in hand, burping as they went.
Jing Shu gritted her teeth and exhaled, already plotting how to deal with Wang Zijian.
"Kids don't understand, it's all because the shrimp was too delicious," Uncle Sun said, finishing the remaining shrimp porridge down to the last drop.
Jing's Dad finally brought up the repayment. Uncle Sun promised to return the money within a few days, but Jing's Dad had started to doubt it. In the end, they agreed that payment must be made by three o'clock the day after tomorrow, and only then was Uncle Sun allowed to leave.
Jing Shu sneered and threw away all the plates, bowls, and chopsticks that the three had used. If the timing were different, she might have already taught them a lesson.
Speaking of Uncle Sun, Jing Shu actually admired him. In one word, he was like a tough piece of meat: impervious to water and fire, oil and salt, neither soft nor hard!
No matter what you told him, he would agree with a cheerful smile, but he never actually did anything. Jing's Dad, either out of face or friendship, would at worst say, "Please try to repay the money soon."
Uncle Sun would always reply, "Yes, yes, certainly," and that was the end of it.
Those who owe money are always the ones in charge.
That night, Jing's Mom returned home late with Jing's Dad and praised the meal Jing Shu had prepared, saying it was delicious.
The three of them held a family meeting. Su Lanzhi said, "Starting tomorrow, the new rules will be trialed here first. Our unit will try them, then they will be widely implemented.
This concerns the direct relatives of employees. If someone seriously misbehaves and is reported, we could also be fired. Severe cases are treated the same as the culprit unless we report in advance."
Such rules existed even in ancient times: if one person committed a crime, direct relatives were held accountable. Indirect relatives might have to undergo reform. Families who disobeyed received no relief, while informants were rewarded.
"Things have been strict recently. Something big might be about to happen," Su Lanzhi said, mentioning the recent rise in security measures and new rules. Streets were now filled with security checks and patrol vehicles, and facial recognition was required almost everywhere.
Jing Shu's heart sank. So preparations had started long ago. They already knew the consequences of celestial collisions and social repercussions, and they were taking measures. The new rules effectively cut off many people's opportunistic intentions at the beginning of the apocalypse.
Unfortunately, no one expected the disaster to last at least ten years. No one foresaw that the Earth would become so plagued, and it wasn't simply a lack of sunlight.
Afterwards, Jing's Dad mentioned raising money. The car had a potential buyer and could be sold in the next couple of days. The house would be slightly discounted to sell.
"I want to withdraw from the shares and work independently," Jing's Dad said abruptly and refused to explain further.
Jing Shu knew that a man like her father would never admit, "I'm about to be fired." He had contributed more to the company than anyone and had deep emotional ties. He was warning Su Lanzhi and Jing Shu in advance.
Jing Shu had been spending like water in the past few days. After buying grain, oil, dry goods, dried fruits, air conditioners, and appliances, she only had 300,000 left. She still needed to stockpile essential supplies and equipment to survive in the harsh conditions of the apocalypse.
She would need a large sum of money and had no choice but to make her father arrange more funds.
…
"November 10, Mr. Zhou, a concerned citizen, reported and verified that the lottery core had been embezzled by over a hundred billion yuan."
"November 11, Mr. Liu reported strange lights in the neighbor's house at night. Verification showed that Zhang in Yuzhou had hidden hundreds of billions worth of gold in dozens of places."
For several consecutive days, explosive news arrived daily, mostly about who embezzled how much, all confiscated. Jing's Dad and Jing's Mom checked these early morning reports religiously.
"This is only the beginning," Jing Shu yawned as she finished washing up. She went out for her morning run and cleaned the poultry droppings. Recently, notices had been posted forbidding secret breeding of large animals that could damage the neighborhood, and she wasn't sure if they meant her.
Everything followed the same trajectory as her previous life. Sadly, she hadn't noticed it then. Jing Shu felt the November sun still pleasantly warm, but in a month and a half, she would no longer see sunlight.
"Every day, they expose frauds, report which celebrity donated how much, which food factory hoarded supplies. Those who disobeyed were later wiped out, their stock seized, and redistributed to citizens with clean records."
In the first year of the apocalypse, crops failed and plagues raged. Survival depended on controlling the food industry and rationing stored supplies.
Everyone actively stockpiled grain. Why shouldn't Jing Shu? She had bought in bulk everything she needed. She knew that while online marketplaces weren't much cheaper, the convenience of having everything saved her trips and effort.
The Double Eleven shopping rules were getting more complicated, but Jing Shu was unfazed. At midnight, many stores offered half-price deals for the first ten minutes or the first hour. She had already bought a small batch early this morning.
Today, she focused on Tmall Supermarket, JD, and NetEase Kaola.
She bought multiple boxes of all available snacks: compressed biscuits, chocolate, beef jerky, meat slices, crispy noodles, and other filling foods. Each had five boxes.
She also bought milk, yogurt, beverages, and adult milk powder for emergency use. Bottled water would be bought wholesale to fill an entire room.
Instant noodles, ham, hotpot ingredients, and canned goods were essential. She purchased ten boxes to store on the second floor of the villa.
Toilet paper, shampoo, body wash, sanitary pads, toothpaste, soap, laundry detergent, disinfectant, dishwashing liquid, and skincare cream were all bought in quantities to last ten years.
Jing Shu bought fifty 60-liter storage containers for dry goods and miscellaneous supplies, making organization easy and ensuring everything could be loaded into the Cube Space in an orderly manner in case of evacuation.
She also wanted to buy more specialized clothing, such as windproof space suits and extreme cold winter gear. However, funds were insufficient.
Most of her money had been spent on snacks. Reducing purchases felt unbearable because these foods would be discontinued after the apocalypse and never available again.
Jing Shu would have to wait for the next installment of funds.