Ye Nai’s lunch was simple – it consisted of Mutant Beast at stew she had made, finely chopped and sandwiched in a white bun.
The aroma was so tantalizing that Little Sister Ye forgot about her pig’s trotter noodles.
"What kind of at is Big Sister eating?"
"Mutant Beast at. Awakeners need to eat Mutant Beast at to maintain their strength."
"What happens if they lose their strength?"
"Awakeners wouldn’t be able to use their abilities; for example, I wouldn’t have the energy to retrieve items from Space."
"Can ordinary people eat it?"
"They can and they can’t."
"I don’t understand."
Ye Nai wiped her hands, took out a cell phone from Space, and opened the Awakener app to find a post about ordinary people eating Mutant Beast at for the first ti.
This was an informative guide pointing out how to safely introduce Mutant Beast at to elderly and children in an Awakener’s family, how to handle any abnormal reactions and so on, as the energy contained in the at may not be tolerable by ordinary people initially, and they would need to try it gradually.
"Can you read everything now? Take a look at this article and learn so common knowledge."
Ye Bing read it hurriedly, only half understanding it, but she grasped the keywords.
"Ordinary people can’t handle Mutant Beast at; if they eat it carelessly, they might get a stomach upset, right?"
"Yes, that’s why you can only watch eat, and the only thing I have that you can eat is this noodles."
"Mm-hmm, I’ll eat the noodles, and Big Sister eats the Mutant Beast at."
"Eating at isn’t urgent. After I figure out the issue with our parents’ debts and find a good day, I’ll take you to eat at. With watching over you, you won’t get a stomach upset."
"Mm, let’s also call the two brothers."
"Sure, they’ll eat too."
"Don’t give it to Mom and Dad."
"We won’t give it to them; they don’t deserve it."
Ye Bing was exceedingly happy, feeling as if she had returned to the days when her elder sister backed her in everything.
Watching Little Sister Ye devour the pig’s trotter, getting oil all over her face, Ye Nai knew from her spores and Fungus that letting Ye Bing eat a bit of Mutant Beast at wouldn’t cause any problems. However, the main reason for not allowing her to taste it was to prevent lingering thoughts.
A well-prepared Mutant Beast at is tastier than ordinary at, and Ye Bing, being young, might obsess over it and accidentally leak information in daily conversation.
Ye Bing tried her best to finish half a bowl of noodles, but burped with discomfort, looking regrettably at the remaining half.
"There is still a piece of pig’s trotter left."
"If you can’t eat more, don’t force yourself. If you have indigestion when you go ho, and end up vomiting or having diarrhea, you would get beaten and expose my return. Here, have so indigestion tablets."
Ye Nai took out a blister pack of indigestion chewing tablets, handed four to her sister, then cleaned up the leftover noodles and cleared the table, setting out pen and paper.
"Okay, now tell about the family’s debt. Tell everything you know."
"I’ve only seen them twice, once before the exams and once just before the vacation after exams."
"Besides telling you to have Mom and Dad pay up quickly, did they threaten you personally?"
"They said if Mom and Dad didn’t pay up, they would sell off. Does that count as a threat?"
"Of course it does, and for debt collectors, they really would do it. They sell both boys and girls, and they’d even take away the house you live in to settle the debts."
"Ah? If they take the house, where would we live?"
"Before the house was sold, you had already been sold off to pay off debts. Worry about yourself instead."
"What should I do then?"
"Get close to Ye Yong and Ye Ji, and let them know that if the family debt isn’t paid off, the two boys, who are in their teens, are at the perfect age to be grood into gang enforcers."
"What about a little girl like ? What will happen to ?"
"The most straightforward is becoming a child prostitute. If you’re good-looking, you might even be turned into a human doll and sold to wealthy people as a high-end art collection."
"...What?!"
Ye Nai’s words truly shocked Ye Bing’s young mind, leaving him stunned.
"Child trafficking works best with younger kids who can’t rember, as you are already educated, becoming a child prostitute is the most common. This has beco an industry now. Those debt collectors benefit from this system, relentlessly demanding debts with interest several tis the principal—deliberately making it impossible to pay off to make it easier for them to do whatever they want."
"No wonder you said last night that you’ve never seen mom and dad’s money. Have they been wasting their money like this over the years?"
"If that’s true, that is terrifying. They’ve held on for so many years, why can’t they hold on now? What exactly have they done?"
"I don’t know, mom gives a little money for groceries every day, asking to keep track of it like you, but that’s all I know."
"Looks like I need to directly find those debt collectors."
"How will you find them?"
"Either we’re lucky and they show up themselves, or I hire a private detective to keep an eye on them. With the New Year approaching, I’m not even sure if anyone will take the case."
"Are private detectives capable?"
"Not necessarily, I don’t have connections in that area, I can only randomly find one, and ask him to do so background checks, investigate who the creditor is, and what’s happening with mom and dad’s debts."
"Should I go ho and ask mom and dad?"
"You won’t get anything out of them. You’re young, they won’t tell you the truth; we have to have soone else look into it."
"So, what can I do?"
"You shouldn’t do anything. When you go ho, don’t tell anyone I’ve been here. Keep doing what you usually do, watch your mouth, and don’t talk carelessly."
"Then I’ll be mute; they don’t care whether I talk at ho or not anyway."
"Right, don’t let them notice anything unusual, leave the rest to ."
"If we do this, how long will it take to resolve?"
"It’s hard to say. Everything depends on whether mom and dad really owe debts, how much they owe, how long they’ve been owing, and whether they truly want to repay, or if the creditor just wants to swallow our whole family. We need to investigate all this information before we can develop a strategy."
"The best case would be if they don’t owe any debts, and they are just pretending to get money from you."
"Right, if they are just acting to scam money from , that’s no problem. The money I earn is in my control; they can’t get it if I don’t give it to them. But to involve you three minors in this would be unforgivable."
"The worst-case scenario is that they really owe money and really can’t repay it anymore, then they need your money, but you’ve just begun to earn money yourself, and can’t afford it either; what then?"
"There’s nothing that can be done. Whoever owes the money should take responsibility. At most, I can take you three away. I ant what I said last night. If I have to be like a mother to you siblings, I’ll need to get your guardianship transferred to , including any state subsidies, and I’ll be your guardian in the future. But taking you away would bring other troubles."
"What troubles?"
"I work in a dangerous area, where there are no schools, and you wouldn’t be able to go to school. It’s best for children to live in the city, but I can’t commute back and forth. A single bus ride takes several hours; I set off just as it was getting light this morning and only just arrived before you got back."
Ye Bing showed a crestfallen slump in his shoulders.
"So, what should we do now, big sister?"
"Don’t think too much, let’s figure out this debt first."
"Okay, I’ll go ho and pretend I know nothing, and just do what I need to do."
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