CHAPTER 88: THE CYCLE OF KARMA IS UNERRING

Every time the matter came up, Mr. Jing would feel a little embarrassed by Jing Zhao’s sarcastic remark, "The pigs were brought by Jing Shu, so now she’s the one who calls the shots on these issues."

Second Aunt Jing Zhao turned her gaze to Jing Shu, as if she had spotted a plate of braised pork ribs. She approached eagerly, intending to grab Jing Shu’s hand, but Jing Shu avoided her. Unembarrassed, Jing Zhao continued to ask, "Jing Shu, can you give your aunt a pig? After all, when you guys were in trouble, your aunt also helped you scrape together some money."

"Aunt, when Grandma called you to remind you to stock up on more grain, it was you who said you also wanted to hoard more, but you were just too tight on money. Right after the call, I paid you back the money. We didn’t even use the money you scraped together for us; we returned it immediately. How can you say you helped us with money?" Jing Shu spoke slowly. "We still owe Little Aunt 100,000 and my Uncle 100,000. They can each take a pig to settle the debt. If I gave you one, what would I use to pay them back? Besides, we don’t owe you anything, so why should I give you a pig? Or perhaps you have something to trade for it?"

Second Aunt was left speechless and full of regret. If only I had held back then, she thought. Now I would have several hundred pounds of black pig—actual, tangible pork that could be exchanged for several thousand pounds of grain, enough to feed a family for quite some time! She hadn’t eaten meat in half a year!

The thought of Dongpo pork hocks made her salivate. What was I thinking back then, demanding the money? she lamented internally. It was just the fear that her mother favored others or the worry that Jing An wouldn’t repay the debt that had pushed her to act so hastily. Look at Jing Pan; she merely loaned out 100,000 and now she’d received a sow expecting piglets!

Li Yun coughed. "Auntie, how about when your pig has piglets, you give us a few of the little ones?"

Jing Pan didn’t speak. Wei Chang, without showing any emotion, said, "Do you even know how to raise pigs? It won’t work if it’s too hot, nor if it’s too cold. Does your house have air conditioning to keep the pigs at a constant temperature? Do you have wheat bran or grain to feed the pigs? Does your home have a barrel of water to give the pigs every day?"

Li Yun lowered his head in embarrassment, and Jing Zhao was displeased at not getting a pig from either side.

Wei Chang added, "Alright, when it’s time to slaughter the pigs, I’ll send some meat over to you."

With that, he managed to pacify the two unwelcome guests. These pigs have to be pampered like ancestors, Wei Chang thought to himself. They probably won’t be slaughtered. You can wait until your next life for that.

At the same time, Wei Chang resolved to build a good relationship with Jingshu’s house, hoping for breeding opportunities next year. If any good fortune arose in the future, he must remember to consider their household. He had seen today that, compared to her simplicity in previous years, this girl had suddenly become formidable. She was the one in charge of this family now.

With Jing Pan now at ease, Jingshu’s house prepared to depart. Wei Chang went to the cellar again and brought out some vermicelli and all the apples he could carry. Jing Shu initially refused them all but, unable to resist, finally accepted some frozen pears that had been buried in the ground. They were dark in color, but reportedly delicious once thawed.

In her previous life, she had no options, but in this life, she wouldn’t settle. Any food that didn’t taste good, she wouldn’t eat.

Li Yun’s eyes gleamed at the sight of the new energy vehicle; he wanted to borrow it for a few days, only to be flatly denied by Jing Shu. Then he asked Jing Shu to drive them back to the city, which Jing Shu also refused.

Those two are so filthy; they’d make such a mess of the car, Jing Shu thought. And Li Yun’s foot odor is so strong I wish I could stay ten meters away from him.

"You’ll go back the same way you came. We’re in a hurry to get back; we have things to do," Jing Shu said.

"Oh, Jing Shu, so you’ve grown some backbone, have you? Have you forgotten what happened when you were little?" After being repeatedly rebuffed, Li Yun finally took advantage of a moment when the adults were talking and dashed over. He intended to teach Jing Shu a lesson.

Jing Shu executed a leg sweep, tripping the onrushing Li Yun and sending him sprawling face-first onto the concrete floor with a THUD. He screamed in pain. Hearing the commotion, the adults who were still inside the house rushed out.

Jing Shu innocently pointed at Li Yun and said, "He was running too fast and tripped."

"Really, he should be more careful."

"He’s old enough now. He should learn from Wei Zheng, who helps out with household chores."

Li Yun clenched his fists and gritted his teeth in silence, his eyes glaring hatefully at Jing Shu. She pulled out a bottle of Wahaha AD calcium milk and started slurping it. "See? When we were kids, you always snatched my AD calcium milk. From now on, you’ll never be able to steal it again. If you try, I’ll beat you up badly."

Even in his twenties, Li Yun couldn’t help but gulp, recalling the taste of the AD calcium milk and feeling an intense craving. Having eaten only plain white rice for half a year, without meat or vegetables, even an insect looked tempting to him!

Limping as he got up, Li Yun saw a large gash on his knee, and his ankle was purple where Jing Shu had kicked him.

Is this woman a monster?! he wondered. Such strength!

He had seen Jing Shu shoot and kill people before, but he hadn’t expected her to become so ruthless, so vicious even toward her own family.

Right in front of the resentful Li Yun, Jing Shu finished one bottle and then another. She didn’t stop until she had drunk a third one, just as people were starting to get ready to leave. Jing Shu’s family said their goodbyes, got into the car, and drove off, even tossing the empty bottles out the window.

Li Yun hesitated for a long time but eventually picked up one of the bottles. He licked it and realized something was wrong—an intense stench hit him. When had black pig shit been put inside?!

UGH! Li Yun started to vomit. Suddenly, a WeChat message arrived. It was from Jing Shu: "How you treated me as a child is exactly how I’ll repay you."

Memories flared up, and Li Yun finally remembered a time in childhood when he and a few friends had stolen Jing Shu’s AD calcium milk and put many ants inside it. As soon as Jing Shu opened it, ants crawled out. She had cried and fallen, scraping her knee...

Has everything been paid back today? he thought. No, this is tenfold retribution!

AD calcium milk, truly full of memories, Jing Shu mused, her eyes narrowed.

After returning home, Jing Shu offered the other pig to Third Aunt Jinglai to offset the debt, but Third Aunt Jinglai absolutely refused. After some discussion, they decided the pig would remain at the villa, and when needed, everyone would slaughter and eat it together.

Jinglai felt that with the current food scarcity, it was very embarrassing for her and her daughter to eat dinner at Jingshu’s house. Although they had previously bought over ten bags of rice and she had been bringing home cured meat from the slaughterhouse regularly for a while, it still felt like freeloading. Thus, this pig would serve to offset her family’s meals.

Wu You’ai eagerly ran over. "Is there anything else you need recently?"

Jing Shu thought for a moment and shook her head.

"If you do need anything, just tell me. I’ll go get it from my mentor."

As for the other pig, they had also informed Uncle and were planning to find a day to send it over. Just then, amid the chaos, Wu City finally announced a new policy: the provision of free food.

Wang Qiqi No.13: "@everyone, the government has ceased water cart deliveries. Every morning at 5 AM, you can go to the newly established government points to collect a day’s worth of pre-cooked food and water! Each person, by presenting their ID card and undergoing facial recognition, can receive one portion! The news said that the free pre-cooked food supply will continue until the Artificial Sun is completed! Our neighborhood’s nearest point is still the Ai Family Supermarket, 7 kilometers away!

But @everyone, pay attention: the eligibility rule for collecting food is having no recorded incidents of robbery or murder. If anyone commits robbery or murder and is caught and recorded from now on, they will never be able to collect food again! The chaos in Wu City will finally come to an end!"