Chapter 516: Chapter 516

Jing Shu hummed, barely audible. In her consciousness space, things were chaotic. My sheep is about to give birth! The lamb is a bit too large due to over-nutrition, and Yang Mie Mie is having a difficult delivery. I need to encourage the ewe to push and be ready to use the Magic Cube’s ability if things take a turn for the worse.

Considering the number of people in my family and the large amount of wool needed for sweaters and pants, not to mention boots made from sheepskin, I haven’t restricted the sheep from mating in the Magic Cube Space. It’s wise to prepare more warm items before the migration; otherwise, it’ll be hard to settle down for the next few years, let alone have such essential warm consumables.

I hoarded so many supplies before the apocalypse, but now, only three years later, they’re already running low. The apocalypse is far from over; how can I allow my quality of life to be affected?

Relying on the pitiful reproduction rate of the sheep in the villa is terribly slow. After all these years, we’ve only accumulated a few raw materials, and Zijin and Grandma Jing turned all of them into finished products back then. I wonder if Zijin will have time for such work in the future. Her craftsmanship is much better than Grandma’s; her creations are not only prettier but also warmer to wear.

I miss Zijin a little.

"Come on! Take a deep breath! One, two, three!"

"One’s out! Fantastic!"

Li Zhu watched Jing Shu eagerly. After a while, Jing Shu seemed to let out a breath and then said unhurriedly, "Oh, there are no set rules. I don’t know about other cities, but here in Wu City, it’s very transparent. A large bag of rice and flour can get you a permanent job. Alternatively, one thousand Virtual Coins can buy a full-time position. Of course, jobs with less work and more food are more expensive. For example, a canteen cook is pricier—after all, you can taste-test while cooking, right?

Contracting for cleaning or transportation is cheaper. Garbage collection is even cheaper, just one hundred Virtual Coins. All these jobs have one thing in common: they provide meals."

Nowadays, any job that provides meals is a good job. Never mind eating until you’re full; just having two meals a day is an incredible blessing.

The situation is getting worse and worse. It’s already good if the government can subsidize one meal a day. We have to figure out the rest ourselves.

Li Zhu smacked his lips. Is this even cheap?

"That’s a contract position. It costs five hundred Virtual Coins for a spot. The benefits are average, but there are perks," Jing Shu said, exhaling again. Yang Mie Mie just birthed another lamb.

"Then... Niece, since you can help outsiders get such good jobs, surely your own dear cousin should have one too? I just heard that Wu You’ai’s job was also arranged by you, and it’s an official position overseeing more than ten buildings. You see... it’s not good to play favorites, right? We’re not greedy. We just want a small, official job. Rest assured, once Li Yun gets his salary, he’ll definitely show his gratitude to you every month."

Jing Shu gave a short laugh. "Of course, that’s no problem," she said calmly.

Li Zhu was overjoyed. Before a torrent of thanks could leave his mouth, he heard Jing Shu continue, "In that case, Uncle, you should prepare the Virtual Coins. Tell me which position you’re interested in, and I’ll talk to someone. I’ll not only get you a discount but also guarantee it’s arranged properly."

"We... we don’t have any money."

Jing Shu feigned surprise. "So, you mean you want me to pay the Virtual Coins for your son’s job?"

Mr. Jing tapped his dry pipe, displeased. The entire family fell silent, all heads turning to look. Li Yun buried his face in his chest; This is so embarrassing, he thought.

Li Zhu wanted to say that was exactly what he meant, but he couldn’t bring himself to say it aloud. He whispered, "Well, when you arranged jobs for those other people, did they pay too? How come when it’s our turn, we have to pay so much?"

Second Aunt couldn’t stand it anymore. She stood up and started pulling Li Zhu, trying to get him to leave. My face is burning, as if it’s been slapped several times! I wish I could find a hole to crawl into. I never realized this man could be so shameless—this is worse than outright begging!

Li Zhu clung to the sofa, refusing to budge. He tried to bargain, "How about this, Niece? You advance the money, and once Li Yun starts earning, he can pay you back monthly. We can treat it like a mortgage—how about paying it off in ten years? After all, there’s a whole family to support..."

Jing Shu said, as if listening to a joke, "My Second Uncle-in-law may be from the countryside, but he certainly has a businessman’s mind. It’s quite sharp, isn’t it?"

Grandma Jing, struggling to contain her temper, sneered, "Such practiced skill at trying to get something for nothing!"

Mr. Jing added, "His skin is thicker than a city wall."

No one in the family disagreed.

After Second Aunt dragged the man away, the atmosphere in the room lightened up again.

Grandma Jing started to worry. "What if they latch onto us?" she fretted. "Look, what I feared most is happening. If they stay here every day and we can’t get them to leave, what will we do?"

"Don’t worry, Grandma."

The television chimed twelve times. Although there were no fireworks or firecrackers outside, the entire Banana District was filled with joy. Wu City had generously kept the power on, and every household’s lights were on as people excitedly shook their phones, trying to grab red envelopes.

The Jing family was also very excited. Even Grandma Jing was holding her phone, asking Mr. Jing to help her grab red envelopes.

This year, an entertainment feature was added, with a grand prize pool of 1.5 billion Virtual Coins up for grabs. By checking in daily, watering virtual plants, browsing inspirational articles, and leaving a few positive comments, people could try to grab red envelopes on New Year’s Day.

"I got one! 0.5 Virtual Coin!"

"I got 2.3 Virtual Coins!"

"Wow, Grandma, you actually got 5.7 Virtual Coins! That’s the most in our family."

Grandma Jing was beaming.

Jing Shu looked at her own red envelope containing 0.01 Virtual Coin and silently closed the app. I’m never doing this again! So many tedious tasks, and all I get is this measly amount? Do I look like I’m short on Virtual Coins?! Humph!

In the high school classmates’ group chat, everyone was excitedly discussing how many Virtual Coins they had snatched. The lowest amount mentioned was 0.1 Virtual Coin. There must be some shady business going on, Jing Shu suspected.

Just then, Su Malie posted a screenshot and said, "No wonder I poured my heart into this every day, writing all those comments! They actually gave me 99.9 Virtual Coins! Did I hit the jackpot?"

This instantly drew a wave of envious and jealous reactions from the group, Jing Shu included, of course.

Why is there such a huge difference between people?

Suddenly, Su Malie asked in the group chat, "@Jing Shu, how much did you get?"

Jing Shu thought, Way to bring up a touchy subject.

"I’ve been pretty busy lately, so I didn’t have time for all those tasks. Besides, my luck is pretty bad with these things; I never get much."

Su Malie replied, sounding a bit regretful, "Oh, don’t sell yourself short! It’s all random, you know."

"Su Malie, why don’t you send out a red envelope then? Let’s see!"

The classmates in the group chat chimed in, egging her on, so Su Malie sent out a red envelope. The most update n0vels are published on 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅•𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝗇𝖾𝗍