Just like that, through a bizarre twist of internet fate, Jing Shu inexplicably became famous online. And with her, her lively, skilled grandparents also shot to fame by association. On the streaming platform, she was nicknamed Xiao Jingjing by viewers, and her growing fanbase all called her "My Sister Jing." Her public persona became that of a quiet, competent vegetable washer, because aside from meticulously washing mountains of vegetables on camera, she did almost nothing else that was visible.
Jing Shu's follower count soared to over two million in a matter of days. Unsurprisingly, many of these were disruptive bots bought by Zhu Zhengqi, but a significant portion now consisted of genuine viewers, including a surprising number of returning pregnant women.
Since a few pregnant mothers had testified online that eating Jing Shu's clean, additive free pickles had helped with their morning sickness and opened their appetites, expectant parents began flocking to her livestream. A phrase like "receiving good luck in pregnancy" started circulating in the chat, which brought even more expectant mothers, hoping to stock up on reliable pickles and reduce their stress through the wholesome, calming streams.
At some point, the endless back and forth trolling war with Zhu Zhengqi's bots was completely overshadowed and shifted to this new, positive trend of "receiving good luck in pregnancy." Even if there were still hundreds of thousands of bots spamming hate, the three words from thousands of real users instantly drowned them out. The power of the genuine crowd was just too strong.
Zhu Zhengqi's malicious plan not only failed spectacularly, but it also unintentionally made Jing Shu famous through the Streisand effect. One wonders how he felt about that. Oh, Jing Shu figured he probably hadn't had the time to sit and properly express his feelings lately. He was likely too busy scrambling.
After finishing the marathon of pickling all the vegetables, the month was drawing to a close, and everything they owned had piled up at the villa. Jing An was indeed formally called to a final board meeting to handle the tempered glass incident. He was given two clear options. Option 1, cover the financial shortfall himself and maintain the inflated profit margin so the glass could be sold at the planned price to the government project. This would require an extra 190,000 yuan from his own pocket, even more than the original cost price. Option 2, sell his shares in the company and leave quietly.
"They claim goods stored in inventory for over a year can be disposed of at cost. This is just an excuse. Wang Zhong wants me out. He has wanted to kick me out for a long time. I have finally seen through these people, Wang Zhong, Chen Yong, Xie Wumao. Very well."
Jing An, his pride and loyalty shattered, chose to sell his shares. He walked away with 700,000 yuan in severance and left the company he had helped build and served for over twenty years. That evening, he went to a somber farewell dinner with his trusted foreman, Captain Chen, and a few close colleagues who dared to show up, then they parted ways. The next day, he supervised a moving company as they transported all the remaining miscellaneous items and clothes from the now sold two bedroom apartment in the city to the villa.
From December 1st, that apartment officially belonged to Director Yu Caini.
Around the same time, Jing Shu was also formally invited to a certain "harmonious" government office to give her testimony and deal with the Sun Yinrui case. His wife, Yang Yunyun, his son Sun Zijian, and Sun Zijian's now former girlfriend Xiao Cao were all present.
As the nephew who had caused Jing Shu and her family so much suffering in her past life, she was naturally ready to begin her performance. New grudges and old grudges alike were about to be settled in this room.
Sun Yinrui, his face haggard and covered in gray stubble, listened as Jing Shu calmly, methodically recounted the facts, connecting him to the online exposure campaign. His mouth opened wide in dawning horror. Pieces of the puzzle in his mind seemed to finally snap together. He hoarsely shouted, pointing a trembling finger, "It's you, it's you. If everything is because of you, then it all makes sense."
Sun Yinrui pointed at Jing Shu with a furious, betrayed expression, his voice a guttural growl. "Why. Why did you do this to me. Why did you harm me."
Jing Shu smiled coolly at Sun Yinrui. This reaction was perfect. She loved this feeling. See. Sun Yinrui was shocked, enraged, and filled with impotent hatred upon realizing she was the architect of his downfall. Just as it should be. The more hatred he felt, the better. Let him marinate in it.
Though Sun Yinrui looked a full ten years older, having suffered both mentally and physically over these grueling weeks, it was still not enough, far from enough for what he had done. His whole family would pay, and Jing Shu would be the one to personally deliver their retribution.
"Quiet." Two stern staff members immediately stepped forward and restrained the bloodshot eyed, furious Sun Yinrui.
On the other side of the room, his son Sun Zijian was having a private panic attack. "When did I ever say those specific things to Jing Shu? My brain is getting worse," he thought, staring at his father's murderous glare. Had he misremembered his own bragging. He meant those stories for Xiao Cao, not Jing Shu. He was doomed. God, just take his father away now, or he would be beaten to death later.
With Jing Shu's testimony as the final setup, Heng Jin had prepared everything thoroughly. Every piece of evidence hammered down Sun Yinrui's corrupt actions over the years. And the final, crushing hammer was the proof of his long term affair during his marriage, complete with all the evidence meticulously gathered, involving none other than Su Meimei.
Strictly speaking, the marital affair was a minor issue compared to the corruption charges, but it was the personal blow that broke the dam. Sun Yinrui's wife, Yang Yunyun, immediately rushed at him in the office, thrashing him and screaming demands for an immediate divorce. Because Yang Yunyun became overly emotional and the scene turned chaotic, the official proceedings were temporarily halted.
Sun Yinrui was directly taken into custody from there. His life, as he knew it, was basically over. Heng Jin would later upload the full, damning results of the investigation online, stirring up who knows what kind of final media storm.
Step two was complete. Not only ruin Sun Yinrui's reputation, but make him lose everything, his freedom, his family. After the apocalypse began, for someone already publicly marked and imprisoned, survival would be a living nightmare.
Outside, Sun Yinrui's wife, Yang Yunyun, dragged a terrified Sun Zijian into a car, heading straight off to confront Su Meimei. Jing Shu guessed correctly. Judging by Yang Yunyun's furious, vindictive expression, she was going to confront "the other woman."
Poor Su Meimei. She was likely in for a severe beating.
Although Jing Shu anticipated the clash with some dark excitement, she didn't follow to watch. What if the emotionally charged parties lost control and turned on her, the apparent source of the revelation.
"Pleasure working with you," Heng Jin said, walking out beside her, clearly in a very good mood. "Looks like that family really crossed you. That person he was keeping outside, still your relative, right? Hehe. You can never afford to offend a woman." He chuckled, a sound of genuine satisfaction.
"Pleasure working with you," Jing Shu replied, also in a good mood, and surprisingly didn't contradict his generalization. For the first time, she seriously appraised this young man who wasn't exactly a playboy. He was average looking but reasonably attractive in a sharp, competent way. Compared to the average person's reactions, his patience and restraint throughout the process had been exceptional.
She found herself briefly wondering how someone with his resources and cunning would fare in the coming apocalypse.
As for the idea of reminding people, even him, to gather supplies, it felt like a trivial, almost mindless task now. Everyone was on their own path.
...
Back at the villa later, Jing Shu began that day's scheduled livestream. Zhu Zhengqi could clearly no longer afford or manage the bot army. The crowd that had come to fight the bots was mostly gone, leaving only the true viewers who genuinely enjoyed watching Jing Shu and her grandparents cook and work. Luckily, there were still about a hundred thousand of them, which was still a significant number for a livestream, even with her millions in general popularity.
Today's menu was simple, marinated tea eggs using chicken and quail eggs, and making salted duck eggs.
The Cube Space had been producing a ridiculous surplus of eggs, and it was finally time to process them in bulk. When Jing Shu returned, her grandparents had already washed all the eggs and started the brine for the salted duck eggs. Whether Jing Shu was present or not made little difference to their efficiency.
"Oh my, My Sister Jing is finally here," a comment flashed. "Look, the eggs are all washed. What else can you even do?"
Jing Shu's task, as assigned by Grandma Jing, was to peel the hard boiled eggs for the tea egg marinade. She secretly moved a large batch of freshly boiled eggs into the Cube Space, willed them peeled instantly in the sterile environment, then casually took a bowl and, in front of the camera, cracked a few eggs from the bottom layer of the pot, tossing the perfectly peeled eggs into the spiced brine. The process looked extremely fast and skilled.
By the end of the streaming day, all the eggs were marinated and cooling. Jing Shu then packaged them, one marinated chicken egg with three marinated quail eggs per vacuum sealed portion. They were long lasting, convenient to eat, and could be eaten peeled and ready, or even without cracking the shells if needed.
Each set, priced at that now familiar 998 yuan, contained fifteen eggs. The savory, spiced marinated eggs proved wildly popular with her viewers, selling dozens of portions almost immediately. Jing Shu put her now jobless father in charge of mailing them daily, giving him a busywork task. Otherwise, he would just spend his days getting into heated, pointless arguments with Grandpa Jing.