Seeing that her eldest uncle's family was still alive and had not met the same tragic end as in her previous life, Jing Shu quietly let out a breath. Her impression of her eldest uncle Su Yiyang's household was tied to childhood memories of often visiting his home, where her aunt Wang Fang would cook dishes she especially liked.
After her grandparents passed away, although everyone still lived in the same city, visits became rare, only gathering for New Year's Eve dinners.
In the third year of the apocalypse, massive global earthquakes struck.
Wucheng, being located in a basin, experienced tremors every three to four days, most under magnitude 6. It was nothing compared to Sichuan, where the ground shook daily and every month or two brought a devastating quake. The people of Sichuan joked bitterly that the earth itself had become their bed that year.
Even so, the Wucheng authorities required residents to sleep at night in public squares, refugee camps, or on open ground, distributing supplies to help them endure.
She remembered vividly: that night, her aunt Wang Fang had said, "It stinks sleeping out in the square. Snoring, farting, grinding teeth, everything you can imagine. We just had a small quake a couple of days ago, there won't be another so soon. Look at the Li family, they go home to sleep every night without trouble. Besides, Su Long can't handle this cold weather. Let's just sleep at home tonight."
Su Long, Su Yiyang's son, was five years younger than Jing Shu, the family's beloved late-born treasure.
That night, Su Yiyang's family returned home—and a magnitude 6 quake struck, with the epicenter directly beneath their neighborhood. Buildings collapsed.
No rescue dogs came. No firefighters searched. No news reports aired. No one even counted the dead.
Because this was the apocalypse. Every day, countless people died.
More people rushed in to scavenge supplies. With no sunlight, crops failed. No cotton meant no clothes, no blankets, shortages of everything. Swarms picked through the rubble. Sometimes corpses were uncovered, and scavengers would strip them for clothing.
Her mother cried and insisted on searching with her younger sister. Too frightened to go alone, the younger sister clung to her until her father joined them. They eventually found the bodies. The scene was unbearable.
She always felt that her mother's tendency to spoil Su Meimei, to the point of giving her anything, was partly rooted in guilt from Su Yiyang's family's tragic death.
But this time, she would not allow her mother to have that excuse. Nor did she want her uncle to die a second time.
Her aunt Su Meimei—vain, though not beautiful—had a daughter, Zhang Hanhan, who was twenty years old. Their relationship was strained.
Su Meimei's husband, Zhang Zhongyong, came from a patriarchal family. Unable to have a second child, their marriage soured early. Zhang Zhongyong took a mistress and had a son. Within a few years of the apocalypse, the mistress openly moved into the household, forcing Su Meimei to accept a humiliating arrangement of two women sharing one man.
She only learned before her death that Uncle Sun had long been entangled with Su Meimei as well. Uncle Sun was spineless—while Zhang Zhongyong flaunted his mistress in public, Uncle Sun only dared to sneak around in the shadows.
With a father who did not love her and a mother who did not care, Zhang Hanhan grew up selfish and combative, hostile toward everyone.
For someone like Su Meimei, who repaid kindness with betrayal, her mother might pity her, but she had no intention of doing the same. Instead, she planned to let her aunt teeter on the edge of the abyss, extend a hand in false kindness, then push her down again.
Gurgle… gurgle…
As she sank into memories of her past life, her stomach betrayed her with a loud growl, echoing at just the wrong moment.
"You little rascal, where have you been fooling around? Today I called your uncle Su Yiyang, your aunt Wang Fang, your aunt Su Meimei, and your uncle-in-law Zhang Zhongyong over for dinner, to talk about your future," her mother charged out of the kitchen, knife in hand, thrusting a charred piece of fish at her.
"Here, eat this first. Then go greet your uncles and aunts."
…Terrifying.
Seeing the burnt fish, Su Meimei stood up. "I'd better help my sister instead."
She had endured a lifetime of her sister's cooking. As a child she thought it was intentional sabotage, but later realized Su Lanzhi was simply hopelessly uncoordinated. She used to gloat that it meant her sister couldn't find a good husband. Who could have guessed?
Su Lanzhi, who couldn't cook or do chores, had married a good man who doted on her, handed her control of the household finances, and cherished their daughter like a treasure.
Meanwhile, Su Meimei, who could cook and manage a household, married a domineering man who controlled every purchase and scorned her, while her daughter was treated like a burden.
Why!
Su Meimei clenched her palms to smother her resentment.
If they expected to borrow money tonight? Keep dreaming!
She quietly carried her bottled water into her bedroom, where she found the medicine boxes she had bought earlier stacked on top of the spice-filled room, making it even more cramped. Fortunately, her aunts had not noticed, or they would be back at her door begging for medicine once the apocalypse struck.
When she returned to the living room to chat with her uncles, her father finally arrived. Honest and reserved, he struggled visibly before opening his mouth.
Dinner was ready quickly. Su Meimei's cooking skills were undeniable, earning praise from the whole table. After a couple of drinks, her father raised the real issue.
"My daughter has always dreamed of becoming a star, a streamer. Now that she has found something she truly loves, as her father I am overjoyed. Of course I must support her fully! The opportunity is here. An entertainment company has sent a contract. With a bit of money, we can launch her to fame, and she'll soon earn her own living. I am proud of her! It's only 1.5 million. I'll help her gather it!"
He downed his glass, while Su Yiyang and Zhang Zhongyong followed suit. Wang Fang and Su Meimei stayed silent, eating their food.
Jing Shu's eyes grew hot. Was it wrong to deceive her trusting father into borrowing money like this?
No. This was not just deception. It was a chance to test her aunt. And to see how much she could rely on her uncle's family in the future.
But never test human nature lightly. Human nature cannot withstand it.
Jing Shu's reason for borrowing money was twofold. First, to let her parents see who would step up in times of hardship, so they would remember.
Second, the money now would be turned into supplies—true lifelines in the apocalypse. Later, when money lost all value, those supplies could repay the debt, helping those who had helped her to survive better.
Jing Shu would never forget kindness. She would repay it. That was her reason for borrowing. But if no one lent her a cent—why should she feed ungrateful wolves after the world ended?
"The shop makes money, yes. But it's nothing compared to what Jing Shu will earn on her own. Sell it! I sold it today for 600,000. The money is already in the account.
The cars and house too! Lao Sun still owes me 100,000 and promised to repay it in a few days. But the contract requires an 800,000 deposit by tomorrow. The cars will take longer to sell. That's why I asked you all here today. Please, lend us some money. Once the sales go through, we will repay you."
For the sake of his daughter's future, even reserved Jing Shu's father forced the words out. He looked at his relatives with tense, hopeful eyes. He and Su Lanzhi believed with all their hearts that their closest kin would surely help, just as they themselves would never hesitate to help if the situation were reversed.
"Lao Sun will repay? Ha! So naïve. His money is already in my hands," Su Meimei sneered inwardly. Wasn't there a saying—if you won't spend on your wife, someone else will?
She cast a sidelong glance at Zhang Zhongyong, the cuckolded man, who calmly sipped his wine as if oblivious. His silence was a shield, leaving her to play the villain.
Su Meimei clenched her teeth and dug her nails into her palm. They were forcing her to be the one to shut this down.
"What entertainment company? Be careful you're not being scammed. There are too many tricks these days," Wang Fang interjected, her priorities different from the others.
"It was introduced and guaranteed by the son of a colleague I've trusted for twenty years. Jing Shu, bring out the contract so everyone can look it over," said Jing Shu's father, full of confidence in Zhu Zhengqi.
Jing Shu's heart skipped a beat. With her aunt Wang Fang being a lawyer, would she see through the ruse?