At the mention of this, Jing An looked awkward, remembering Jing Zhao's earlier sarcasm when asking for money. "The pigs were secured by Jing Shu. These things are all up to Jing Shu now."
Second Aunt Jing Zhao shifted her gaze to Jing Shu as if she were seeing a platter of braised spare ribs. She bustled over to take Jing Shu's hand, but Jing Shu dodged. Second Aunt Jing Zhao was not embarrassed and pressed on, "Jing Shu, give your aunt a pig. Back when your family was in trouble, I chipped in money too."
"Auntie, when Grandma Jing called to remind you to stock up, you said you wanted to hoard more grain but you were short on cash. Right after that call, I transferred the money back to you. What you chipped in, we did not use. We returned it. How does that count as helping us?"
Jing Shu spoke evenly. "We still owe Third Aunt Jing Lai one hundred thousand yuan, and Eldest Uncle one hundred thousand. That is exactly one pig each to settle the debts. If I give one to you, what do I use to pay them back? Besides, we do not owe you anything. Why should I give you a pig? Or what will you use to trade for it?"
Second Aunt Jing Zhao was struck speechless. Regret washed over her. If only she had held back then. Now she might have a black pig worth several hundred jin of meat, hundreds of kilograms that could be swapped for thousands of jin of grain. How long could that feed a family? She had not eaten meat for half a year. She drooled thinking of Dongpo elbow. What had possessed her to press for money back then? She had been afraid her own mother would be biased and that Jing An would not repay, so she pushed. Look at Jing Pan. She lent one hundred thousand yuan and now received a pregnant sow.
Li Yun coughed. "First Aunt, when the pig has piglets, give us a couple, alright?"
Jing Pan said nothing. Wei Chang replied without changing his expression, "Do you know how to raise pigs? If it is too hot, they die. Too cold, they die. Do you have air conditioning to keep them at constant temperature? Do you have wheat bran or grain to feed them? Do you have a bucket of water every day for the pig?"
Li Yun lowered his head in embarrassment. With neither side giving her a pig, Second Aunt Jing Zhao's face fell.
Wei Chang added, "Enough. When we do slaughter, we will send some meat over."
That finally soothed the two uninvited guests. In his heart, Wei Chang thought, "This pig will be worshiped like an ancestor. Slaughter it? Not likely. You can wait until your next life."
At the same time, Wei Chang made up his mind to cultivate a good relationship with Jing Shu's family. Next year he would need breeding. If there were good opportunities later, he would think of them first. He could see it clearly today. Compared with the simple girl from a few years back, the young woman before him had become formidable. This household now revolved around Jing Shu.
With First Aunt Jing Pan stabilized, Jing Shu's family prepared to take their leave. Wei Chang brought out sweet potato noodles from the cellar and all the apples they could carry. Jing Shu refused them. In the end, she could not refuse the buried frozen autumn pears, each black as coal. They could be thawed and eaten, with excellent flavor, he said.
In her previous life there had been no choice. In this life, Jing Shu would not settle. Anything that did not taste good, she would not eat.
Li Yun's eyes lit up at the energy car. He wanted to borrow it for a few days to drive. Jing Shu refused on the spot. Then he asked Jing Shu to drive them back to the city. Jing Shu refused again.
The pair were so filthy the car would stink for days, and Li Yun's athlete's foot made Jing Shu want to keep ten meters away.
"Go back the way you came. We are in a hurry and have things to do," Jing Shu said.
"So, Jing Shu, you think you have skills now? Forgotten our childhood?" After being rebuffed again and again, Li Yun rushed over when the adults were mid-conversation, determined to teach Jing Shu a lesson.
Jing Shu swept out a leg and sent Li Yun sprawling face-first on the concrete. Thud. Li Yun howled in pain. The adults inside rushed out at the noise.
Jing Shu pointed at Li Yun, expression innocent. "He ran too fast and fell."
"Honestly, pay attention next time."
"You are old enough to know better. Learn from Wei Zheng. He is already helping with the family work."
…
Li Yun clenched his fists and said nothing, his eyes full of hate as he glared at Jing Shu. Jing Shu pulled out a bottle of Wahaha AD calcium milk and sipped. "See, when we were kids you always snatched my AD milk. From now on, you will never take it from me again. If you try, I will hit you hard."
Li Yun, a man in his twenties, could not stop swallowing, remembering that taste. After six months of no meat and no vegetables, only white rice, even bugs looked tempting.
He stood up limping. His knee was skinned wide open, and his ankle was purple where Jing Shu had kicked him.
This woman, is she a monster? Such strength.
He had also seen Jing Shu shoot people earlier. He had not expected her to become so ruthless, even toward family.
In front of Li Yun's hateful stare, Jing Shu finished one bottle, then opened another, and kept drinking until the third. Only then did the family climb into the car to leave. As they pulled away, Jing Shu tossed the empty bottle out the window.
Li Yun hesitated, then picked it up and licked the rim. The taste was wrong. A rank stench hit him. Someone had smeared black pig feces inside.
Urk. Li Yun gagged and vomited. A WeChat message popped up. It was from Jing Shu: "How you treated me as a child is how I will return it to you."
His memories unlocked. Li Yun finally remembered how he and a few friends once snatched Jing Shu's AD milk and stuffed it with ants. When Jing Shu opened it, ants poured out. She fell crying and skinned her knee.
Was everything paying him back today? No. It was tenfold retribution.
AD milk, such a rush of memories, Jing Shu thought, eyes half closed.
…
Back home, they gave another pig to Third Aunt Jing Lai to settle the debt. Third Aunt Jing Lai refused to accept it no matter what. After discussion, they decided to keep the pig at the villa and slaughter it when needed so everyone could share.
Third Aunt Jing Lai felt grain was too tight now. She and her daughter were already embarrassed to eat dinner at Jing Shu's house. Even though they had bought more than a dozen sacks of rice earlier and had been bringing braised meats from the slaughterhouse for a while, it still felt like freeloading. Taking back the pig would balance the books.
Wu You'ai hurried over. "Need anything lately?"
Jing Shu thought for a moment and shook her head.
"If you need anything, tell me. I will ask my mentor to get it."
They also phoned Eldest Uncle about the remaining pig, planning a day to deliver it. Just then, chaotic Wu City finally announced new policies: free food would be supplied.
On the 13th, Wang Qiqi posted: "@Everyone, the government has canceled water-truck deliveries. Every morning at 5 a.m., you can go to new government distribution points to collect a day's ration of cooked food and water.
Each person can collect one portion with an ID and facial scan. The news says free cooked food will continue until the artificial sun is completed. The nearest point to our community is still 7 kilometers away at Ai Jia Supermarket.
But @Everyone, note the rule: anyone with recorded robbery or homicide will not be eligible to collect. From now on, if you commit robbery or murder and get caught and recorded, you will never receive food again. The unrest in Wu City stops here."