Jing Shu smiled, while Wu You’ai sneered coldly.
Granny Yu grew impatient. "Enough chatter! First, pay 100 Virtual Coins for the kettle!"
Upon hearing that such a sum was to be paid, the expressions of the Wu Family mbers soured.
Chun Xiao muttered under her breath, Courting death! Then, her expression quickly changed to a smile as she looked at Wu You’ai. She wasn’t the least bit embarrassed and continued her praise, "Not only are you strikingly beautiful, but you’ve also achieved so much in this apocalypse. You’re far more capable than your two brothers. I think the Wu Family will have to rely on you to bring it honor."
Old Lady Wu grumbled, "Relying on a re girl?"
"Look, your dad’s in trouble now, and your two brothers are still in school. With the old and young at ho, and us rushing all this way, life is hard. Where would we find the money to compensate the authorities? But for you, 100 Virtual Coins are just a drop in the bucket. Youai, your dad might speak harshly, but he’s ntioned you countless tis in private. He still cares about you. After all, you are a child of the Wu family..." Chun Xiao looked earnestly at Wu You’ai.
They’re courting death. The Wu family mbers just don’t get it; they can’t see the situation clearly at all. One by one, they’re all blind. What are they so proud of? Still clinging to that pitiful self-respect—can you eat that?
Father Wu buried his head and said nothing. Old Lady Wu, while clutching her son, twisted her head to look Wu You’ai up and down. Indeed, that wretched girl was decked out in fine things. Her eyes darted about, clearly scheming sothing.
"Indeed, 100 Virtual Coins wouldn’t even cover one al for . Helping you with this would be a trivial matter for ..." Wu You’ai paused, looking at the hopeful expressions on the Wu family mbers’ faces. Then, she doused their hopes with cold water, saying, "But I have absolutely no relation with you, the Wu Family, anymore. Why should I make this trivial effort for you? Is it because you beat and berated at will twenty years ago, or because you threw my mother and out of the house?" Wu You’ai crossed her arms, clearly enjoying the unfolding drama.
Old Lady Wu lunged forward to scratch Wu You’ai’s face, but Chun Xiao firmly held her back. Father Wu also roared, trying to charge forward, "See? I told you this wretched girl wouldn’t acknowledge us! She’s completely out of control! You ask on what basis? On the basis that you are my flesh and blood! Not only do you have to pay up, but you also have to provide for in the future. Otherwise, I’ll sue you! The laws are strict in the apocalypse! Anyone who doesn’t provide for their biological parents will be sent to forced labor!"
This was the source of Father Wu’s confidence. He’d been mulling this over. He rembered Old Wang from next door, who hadn’t supported his own father a few years back and ended up in forced labor. Old Wang didn’t even survive this recent relocation.
In the apocalypse, although there were special allowances and subsidies for children and the elderly—such as als for children and an extra daily al of rice for the elderly, along with so trivial nutritional supplents—for many, the elderly were still a burden. Therefore, the authorities issued new laws: those who failed to support their elders would be severely punished.
Jing Shu frowned. Such a law did exist, but it was complicated. Forced labor was the penalty for those who both lacked money *and* abused their elders. Most were compelled to pay money, but having to actually provide cash or grain each month—that was the real headache. Jing Shu wouldn’t let that happen to Wu You’ai.
Jing Shu silently contacted her support team, seeking professionals to see if there was a solution.
Wu You’ai clenched her teeth and scoffed coldly, "I’d sooner give money to a stray dog than give you a single coin. If you think you can, go ahead and sue . Worst cos to worst, I’ll go to forced labor!"
Wu You’ai, caught up in the situation, let her anger get the better of her, losing the composure she usually maintained with her shrewdness.
Jing Shu shook her head. "Filial support is one thing; compensation is another. Today’s matter has nothing to do with us. Let’s leave." Back ho, they’d have countless solutions. The worst-case scenario would just involve him eting with a ’small accident’ under ’unexpected circumstances.’
Chun Xiao cursed those morons a hundred tis in her heart, then cursed Wu You’ai another hundred tis. She had already stopped her mother-in-law, and now she had to stop Wu You’ai too—she wasn’t about to let this cash cow escape!
In her mind, Wu You’ai was already a fat sheep ripe for the fleecing. That paltry monthly support paynt? How much could that be? She was determined to coax Wu You’ai into covering all the living expenses for her two sons from now on!
"Wait!"
Under the light, another woman arrived. She wore black leather pants, a long black fur coat, and knee-high boots. Her hair was cut short, to her ears. Her skin glowed, her complexion rosy. She looked sharp and capable. The thick calluses on her hands showed she was used to hard work, yet she carried herself with the air of a top executive on an inspection tour.
"Mom..." Wu You’ai called out.
"Third Aunt is here." Jing Shu had hoped to avoid Third Aunt, but there she was. Oh well, she thought, it’s ti to settle this.
Only then did everyone realize that this woman was the one Father Wu had driven away more than twenty years ago.
Unbelievable!
Incredible!
Was this the sallow-faced, haggard woman who’d wasted half her life? After so many years, how could she look even younger and more attractive than before? Chun Xiao subconsciously touched her own face—wrinkled, sallow, aged. She was clearly ten years younger than his ex-wife, yet now, looking at her, Chun Xiao seed a decade older than the other woman...
"Xiao Jing?!" Father Wu was even more incredulous. Is this really the Xiao Jing from back then? Why did we even divorce?
Father Wu’s mind was a haze. If Xiao Jing had been this beautiful and feminine back then, would he still have divorced her?
"Wu Dahai," Third Aunt began, her voice firm as she pulled out a stack of docunts, "when we divorced, you weren’t even willing to pay the asly one thousand-plus yuan a month in child support. Hah! If you’d paid even one cent of it, you wouldn’t be facing these consequences today... These are the court docunts for your unpaid child support. I never had them enforced, all for this very day!" She had endured in silence for over twenty years, all for this mont, to avoid any disputes.
"So what?!" Wu Dahai felt a growing sense of unease.
"So what? If you had paid child support, your child would have a duty to support you. But you didn’t pay a single cent of child support, and now you expect your child to support you in your old age? You’re dreaming!"
Dreaming... dreaming... dreaming...
The last word echoed through the cramped boiler room, reverberating in everyone’s ears.
Third Aunt’s words left the Wu Family aghast.
Did this an the connection they had so desperately tried to re-establish was useless?
Seeing the cash cow about to bolt, Father Wu started to panic.
Chun Xiao took a deep breath. "It’s the apocalypse now; the laws are different. The new apocalyptic laws don’t cover that much. Youai, for your own reputation, you should help your father through this first. Otherwise, if we have no other option and appeal to the higher-ups, who knows what the outco will be? But it will certainly make everyone look bad. Why must family mbers make things so ugly for each other?"
Jing Shu quickly typed a reply on her nine-square keypad with one hand: "Understood. Thank you." Then, cutting through the tense atmosphere, she interjected, "Excuse , may I ask Mr. Wu Dahai’s age?"
Everyone turned, puzzled by the question.
"Fifty-seven, why?" Third Aunt replied. She was the sa age.
Jing Shu smiled. "Then there’s no issue. Mr. Wu Dahai is not yet sixty years old, so he hasn’t reached the age requiring mandatory support. Let’s discuss these matters again if, and when, Mr. Wu Dahai reaches the age of sixty!"
Ah, this...
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