Jing Shu hid in the bathroom, secretly gloating as she listened to her parents argue through the door. She turned on the faucet and directed the flowing water into the Cube Space, carefully filling all 8 cubic meters of the new aquatic section. At the same time, she checked off items on her phone's detailed seafood purchase list, noting the quantities and species one by one.
In her previous life, in order to scrape together money for her ill fated influencer dream, her father had also asked Uncle Sun to return what he owed. Every time, Uncle Sun promised beautifully, but after a few attempts he either disappeared or claimed sudden financial hardship. Later, when the money was finally gathered through other means, the debt was simply never mentioned again, vanishing into an awkward silence.
If they had never been truly desperate, no one would've seen through his act. Today, she wanted her father to experience it firsthand, the ugly feeling of begging for 100,000 yuan to save a life, only for Uncle Sun to prefer spending on lavish meals, drinks, and fun instead of repaying a debt of honor.
She wanted this naive, trusting man to finally recognize a hard reality. He treated others as brothers, while they only treated him as a convenient ATM.
After filling the pool inside the Cube Space, she planted lotus roots and aquatic grass in the muddy bottom, added seaweed and other organisms the fish store boss had prepared, and dripped in one precious drop of Spirit Spring along with some fish food bugs. Hopefully, a batch of crayfish and hairy crabs could be raised here before the villa's actual pond was even dug out.
She then collected the morning's bounty, more than sixty chicken eggs, over forty quail eggs and duck eggs. The eggs she had set aside for hatching still showed no signs of life, needing more time.
Inspecting the six soil fields, she found many green shoots already sprouting, a promise of future harvests. Satisfied, she exited the Cube Space and went to eat the late lunch.
The black pepper beef pasta her mother had made was badly burned, but no one dared complain while she was in such a state of anger. The three of them quietly ate the dark, sticky dish, occasionally picking out bits of charred, unidentifiable matter from between their teeth with grimaces.
Under his wife's continued wrath, her father reluctantly made three more calls, his pride clearly wounded. At last, on the fourth try, Uncle Sun answered. He began with a flood of oily apologies, his voice nearly groveling through the speaker. He claimed he'd originally gathered the money but an emergency with his wife had come up, and he promised faithfully to transfer it over in a couple of days.
"You see," her father said, turning to his wife with a look of relieved vindication. "He really did have an urgent matter. He'll definitely repay us in two days. I told you he was a man of his word."
Seizing the moment, Jing Shu opened her social media feed and struck a direct, visual blow. "Dad, look at this. Isn't this Uncle Sun and his wife? She just posted from Dubai, look at the palm trees. She's saying how happy she is. She's thanking her husband for giving her a one carat diamond ring for their anniversary."
Her mother leaned over, took one look at the glossy photo of a beaming woman by a hotel pool, and sneered. "So that's his urgent matter. Buying a diamond ring on a foreign vacation."
Her father grabbed the phone, his face twisting in embarrassment and building rage as he stared at the screen. Uncle Sun's smiling face in the photo, arm around his wife, stung like a hundred needles.
"Dad, forget it," Jing Shu said, laying it on thick with a sigh. "If we can't gather the money, then I won't become an influencer after all. It's too much trouble for you. I'll just take a random office job tomorrow and be done with it..."
Smack!
He slapped his own thigh hard. "No! We'll get the money together. I've already found the construction team for you. Tomorrow you'll go with them to start renovating the villa. As for Uncle Sun's money," he said, his voice hardening, "I'll get it back, no matter what it takes."
His teeth ground together audibly. His daughter's future was worth more than his pride, more than a false friendship. "Lao Sun," he muttered to himself, "I was blind to trust you for so long!"
Just then, as if on cue, her mother's phone rang. It was Su Meimei. When she learned through a few probing questions that they still lacked exactly 100,000 yuan, she immediately switched to begging to buy her sister's car cheaply. That way, she argued, they could give her the cash right away and solve the problem.
Jing Shu's heart sank. As she suspected, Uncle Sun and Su Meimei were already colluding. Otherwise, how could it be that the moment Uncle Sun claimed he had no money, Su Meimei immediately called with a ready offer to buy the car for that exact amount? It was too convenient. But without concrete evidence, she couldn't yet expose this pair of adulterers to her parents.
"Little sister, you know the car's condition," her mother said wearily into the phone. "It cost 290,000 yuan on the road. It has only 8,000 kilometers in three years, no scratches, no accidents. Selling it for 200,000 yuan is already fair. Since I urgently need the money, I'll let it go for 160,000."
"My dear sister, I really don't have that much," Su Meimei wheedled. "I only have 100,000 saved. Isn't that exactly what you're short of? Just lower it a bit more for your own sister. When Jing Shu starts making big money, she can buy you a brand new, big BMW."
Jing Shu nearly jumped up in silent fury. Did this woman think cars were like street vegetables to be bargained down by half? Such a black heart. It was clear now. Su Meimei had never truly treated them like real family, even before the apocalypse had warped everything.
"Mom," Jing Shu quickly interjected, raising her voice so it would carry. "The villa is still being renovated. That'll cost well over 100,000 yuan itself. How about selling Dad's car instead? Aunt's money isn't enough anyway." If possible, the BMW should never be sold to Su Meimei. She was too shameless, and it would create a lasting, messy tie.
Her mother also argued into the phone that 100,000 was far too low, an insult. But since she was desperate, hanging on the line, what choice did she have but to sell?
What happened next left Jing Shu stunned at Su Meimei's sheer, brazen audacity. Her aunt actually began to cry over the phone, loud, performative sobs.
"Big brother had Mom and Dad supporting him when he married. Sister had big brother and Mom and Dad together providing her dowry. When I got married, Mom and Dad had already passed away, and even their little inheritance went to big brother. I was left with nothing, nothing!
Heaven's so unfair. Now I ask my own sister for a little help, and she even wants me to pay full price. Is she going to just let me die poor and miserable?"
The veins on her mother's forehead bulged. Her heart iced over as she realized, truly realized, that all her years of sacrifice, of housing and feeding her younger sister, had meant nothing in Su Meimei's selfish eyes.
"Take the car," her mother said, her voice flat and dead. "Just take it. Think of it as Mom and Dad making up your dowry, since they're gone. Since they can't give it to you, let us part ways cleanly with this." Her words were heavy with a final, profound sorrow.
"Really? You're really giving it to me?" Su Meimei knew her sister was angry, but she also knew her soft nature. In a few days, with some sweet talking, she could coax her back around. The car was the important thing.
"Yes." This time, there was no warmth at all in the syllable.
Hearing the lifeless, cold response, Su Meimei finally realized things were turning seriously bad, that a line had been crossed. She quickly tried to patch things up. "I can't let my own sister take such a loss. I'll add in my private savings. I'll buy the car properly for 120,000 yuan."
"Alright." Her mother closed her eyes, weary to her bones. She told herself this was it, this was completing her parents' duty. From now on, they owed each other nothing. No more guilt, no more obligation.
Su Meimei, thrilled by her victory, didn't notice the profound heartbreak in her sister's tone. She immediately called her husband to handle the transfer, and on the other side, the money arrived at lightning speed, as if fearing a change of heart.
She never imagined that the car she haggled over so ruthlessly, hurting her own sister in the process, would soon be casually handed over to Zhang Zhongyong's mistress to drive. Months later, when Su Meimei saw the mistress cruising in her BMW, she'd nearly vomit blood in furious, helpless rage.
"We'll go handle the paperwork and transfer now," her father said, his expression dark as storm clouds as he tried to comfort his silent wife. "Jing Shu, you take the money straight to that company and sign the contract. Get it done."
The car had been sold at a brutal loss, but her mother's heart was already beyond mere disappointment in Su Meimei. It was a chapter closed.
One hundred twenty thousand yuan, Jing Shu thought, could buy a mountain of vital supplies. A BMW that'd be worthless, unmoving scrap metal in a few months was no comparison. Who'd have the last laugh when the world changed, it was hard to say.
For the first time, her available assets reached 817,000 yuan. Finally, she could spend without restraint, could move from planning to serious acquisition.
Since the Cube Space couldn't yet store too many bulk supplies, the immediate priority was to buy large containers, like commercial freezers. She'd keep some at the villa for now as cover and transfer them into the Cube Space later once it upgraded and had more room.
Major appliances were also urgently needed. The construction crew would be arriving at the villa soon, which was perfect timing for installation. Items like central air conditioning had to be set up early, or the first year of the apocalypse's murderous, record breaking heat could literally kill those trapped inside.
Although the villa was already basically renovated, in her eyes it wasn't far from apocalypse ready. It was just a pretty shell. She had to remodel it completely into a hidden fortress, and that required tools and systems.
Time was running short. She went directly to a large Suning appliance superstore and sought out the client manager, a brisk man named Manager Wang. The middle aged man assured her that the Double Eleven sales had already begun. Prices were guaranteed to be the lowest, and if she later found anything cheaper, they'd refund ten times the difference. Free gifts and promotions were abundant, he said, rubbing his hands.
She wasted no time with pleasantries. She ordered the most powerful, whole house central air unit they had, a system capable of heating and cooling ten rooms at once. Her family would be warm in the extreme cold and cool in the killing heat, safe indoors while the outside world boiled or froze.
She also ordered six massive 1,000 liter commercial freezers, the kind used by restaurants. Ideally, she'd build a proper walk in cold storage room, but since the basement was already reserved for dry and canned goods, these large freezers would have to do for preserving meat and vegetables in an emergency. They were a start.