Chapter 233: Chapter 233

"Wei Zheng, go, get more stuff from the cellar," said his elder aunt, looking displeased.

Wei Zheng felt incredibly awkward and glared at Qiao Lian and her entire family. Who finishes off a dish as soon as it’s served? Don’t they even leave a few scraps for others?

Jing Shu had anticipated this awkward situation of potentially not having enough food. "It’s no trouble, no trouble at all," she said. "We brought plenty. We can just take something out and cook it. You all eat."

Then Jing Shu took out beef jerky and diced rabbit from the car, casually whipped up a couple of dishes, prepared some milk for everyone, heated the nang, and her family sat down for a simple meal, occasionally tossing scraps to the fat chicken.

The fat chicken wasn’t adjusting well to the new environment, always sticking close to Jing Shu as if it feared being abandoned. Thus, when such a large fat chicken was brought along, elder aunt’s family was quite surprised.

When a rowdy child shouted, "There’s chicken to eat, there’s chicken to eat!" Grandma Jing gave him a stern glare. This chicken was her precious pet. Could it be killed for food?

"Let’s just eat simply today. Tomorrow is New Year’s Eve; we’ll make dumplings then," Grandma Jing announced.

Qiao Lian’s mother drooled with longing. Who do they think they’re kidding, calling this ’eating simply’?

Just then, Qiao Lian’s youngest brother ran over. Without a word, he eyed the beef jerky, ready to grab a handful. Jing Shu showed no politeness to such a rowdy child; she simply stretched out her leg and tripped him.

CLANG. The child crashed to the ground and didn’t dare to cry.

Qiao Lian shouted, "You rascal, haven’t you eaten enough? Come back with me right now! You’ve embarrassed our family enough!"

Qiao Lian’s family left after eating their fill, thoroughly embarrassed. They had eaten plenty anyway. The drama finally ended, and Qiao Lian’s family came away with a new understanding of Jing An’s family; they were even more formidable than Wei Zheng’s family!

Second Aunt’s family was fortunate to have such a lavish dinner. Second Aunt’s husband had always looked down on Jing An’s family, considering them too honest, inflexible, and stuck with fixed, meager salaries that offered no prospects.

Now, in the second year of the apocalypse, they struggled to find anything to eat. Meanwhile, Jing An’s family not only took in two ’burdens’ but also treated them exceptionally well, providing all their food and drink, and living in such good conditions...

Second Aunt’s husband kept thinking about how to cozy up to them. Even the scraps from Jing An’s family would be enough to feed his own.

During the meal, Second Aunt’s son, Li Yun, kept quietly hiding in a corner, occasionally glancing at Jing Shu. Every time Jing Shu looked at him, he would duck behind something. Remembering her devilish smile from before, Li Yun knew Jing Shu had changed. ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by NoveI[F]ire.net

The little girl he used to bully had turned into a devil. Just now, she had tripped someone without batting an eye. And earlier, when that rowdy child yelled about wanting to eat the chicken, the fat chicken had shot out with a WHOOSH! and landed on him, scaring everyone. The child never dared to yell about eating chicken again.

That evening, Grandma Jing helped elder aunt with various wedding preparations, including outlining the procedures. Meanwhile, Jing Shu diligently practiced with her Magic Cube and tended to the domestic poultry and plants in her space. The snake, nourished by the Spiritual Spring, was indeed growing much faster—it would likely reach a medicinal grade in no more than ten days.

Using her walk as an excuse, Jing Shu also had to dispose of the poultry droppings. If they weren’t cleared out every two or three days, the droppings would fill up the space. Thus, Jing Shu maintained her excellent habit of taking a daily walk.

That night, with so many people, there simply wasn’t enough space to sleep. Even Second Aunt’s family had to sleep on the floor. Fortunately, Jing Shu’s family had brought tents. They squeezed into elder aunt’s storage room, cleared out the clutter, laid down planks and moisture-proof mats, and finally set up the soft tents.

Of course, the storage room had a foul smell. After more than a month of heavy rain, the house had become moldy. Despite a thorough cleaning by Mrs. Jing, the smell lingered. They had to use lime powder to dry out the room and even brought in a dryer.

Mr. Jing, with nothing else to do, dug up some soil and built a simple clay kiln. It was still very cold at night, so the charcoal fire couldn’t be allowed to go out.

Even Uncle was amazed by Jing Shu’s family’s meticulous efforts, not to mention Qiao Lian’s mother, who was watching the spectacle with great interest. A house that provided shelter from wind and rain was far better than a prefabricated shack, yet this family was fussing over mold, wiping and drying everything, and even built a proper fire pit. It was truly extravagant.

The government had previously collected all sorts of wood and Fuel, but now such things were nowhere to be found. If you wanted any, you had to exchange points for it—unlike Jingshu’s house, where they could easily pull out several baskets full.

"Why are you giving me the cold shoulder all day?" Qiao Lian asked, hugging her man from behind.

After a long silence, Wei Zheng finally said gloomily, "Did I marry just you, or did I marry your whole family too?"

"Didn’t your second aunt also bring her whole family over?"

"How long have they been here? And how long has your family been here? How about this: I’ll separate finances from my parents. I won’t meddle in their affairs, they can invite whoever they want, and they won’t meddle in mine. I get 100 Virtual Coins a month anyway. I’ll give it all to you, and you can manage it as you please," Wei Zheng said.

Without Wei Zheng’s parents, what would he have?

Qiao Lian was clever enough not to use the child in her belly to argue. Instead, she said, "After the first day of the New Year, I’ll have everyone except my eldest brother go back. I’ve fulfilled my filial duty. I’ll give them 30 Virtual Coins each month. If they don’t want it, that’s their problem."

Qiao Lian let out a quiet sigh of relief, her hand skillfully reaching into his trousers. "How about... I give you a... deep throat? Hmm?"

Finally, New Year’s Eve arrived. Early in the morning, Jing Shu’s family prepared a lavish breakfast using their own supplies. Perhaps Qiao Lian had said something to her family, because when invited to eat, they declined and just quietly ate their own thin gruel.

The day was still a busy one. Preparations for Wei Zheng and Qiao Lian’s wedding feast were underway: organizing various dishes, confirming the number of guests, and so on. Naturally, the whole process was simplified. Only after finishing all this did Grandma Jing begin to prepare the New Year’s Eve food.

Besides various other dishes, they also had to make dumplings.

It was the first time Qiao Lian’s family had ever seen so much flour mixed together for dumpling wrappers. Their usual fare was a watery gruel with just a sprinkle of flour. When had they ever seen pounds of flour being used at once just for dumpling wrappers?

They couldn’t stop swallowing their saliva. Qiao Lian’s mother couldn’t help but step forward. "In-laws, let me help you make dumplings?" It would be good to sneak some home.

Grandma Jing looked at her dirty, unkempt hands—who knew what they had touched—and frowned. "Xiao Wang, your hands aren’t clean enough for making dumplings. If you really want to help, go help tend the fire."

"Oh, I just remembered Qiao Lian asked me to get her a glass of water." She then hurried off.

Seeing this, Grandma Jing shook her head. Elder aunt quietly said to her, "If I had known Qiao Lian’s family was , I would never have let Wei Zheng marry her, not even if it killed me. I was muddle-headed at the time, anxious because Wei Zheng was thirty and still unmarried. Look now, there are women practically lining up outside to marry him."