Chapter 020: This Unfortunate Kid Who Doomed His Father

“You’re essentially telling everyone that Old Sun not only owes me money but also asked me to falsely state that he doesn’t?” Jing’s father was already troubled by his argument with Wang Zhong. He hadn’t engaged in any abuse of power for personal gain and wouldn’t admit to something he didn’t do. At worst, he’d withdraw his shares and start his own business, making up the profit difference for the tempered glass. He was unaware that the video had gone viral in Sun Yinrui’s social circle, so he didn’t understand why Old Sun was acting this way.

Just as he finished speaking, his phone rang…

Sun Yinrui didn’t connect the unpaid debt and the exposure of his misconduct as related events targeting him. He knew that someone was coming after him in an organized and premeditated way. Having known Old Jing for over 20 years, he understood that Jing was an upright person who wouldn’t resort to underhanded tactics. Most importantly, he had only bragged to his son, word for word, and now it was all over social media. It had to be that ungrateful son leaking information!

The person exposing him was skilled, likely a competitor.

This expert was revealing one piece of dirt each day, first creating public opinion to attract attention and stir public outrage, hiring online trolls, and eventually dropping hard evidence that would ruin him. So he needed to start by refuting the debt issue and begin clearing his name one step at a time.

That day, Sun Yinrui went home and severely beat his son, Sun Zijian, with a belt until he was covered in welts, yet he still wasn’t satisfied. He found out that this ungrateful kid had been bragging to his girlfriend, Xiao Cao, about his business tricks. Now, Xiao Cao has been bought off by the other side!

“Throw money at it! Keep throwing money! Make Xiao Cao testify that she said those things because she was paid! You ungrateful brat!”

Sun Zijian wailed; he genuinely couldn’t remember whether he had told Xiao Cao or not. But if he didn’t admit it now, he’d be beaten to death!

Sun Zijian was also innocent!

—

Seeing that the call was from Uncle Sun, Jing Shu immediately answered and started recording. Instantly, a barrage of obscene curses came through, accusing them of taking his money without doing anything, acting sanctimonious despite being dishonorable, and threatening them to delete the social media post if they didn’t want to “eat bullets,” among other things.

Jing’s father’s face darkened. “I don’t understand why you’re giving me 200,000 yuan and fabricating that you don’t owe me money. I’ll keep the 100,000 yuan you owe me and return the rest to your Alipay account. That’s it, Old Sun. From now on, you walk your way, and I’ll go mine.”

Beep beep…

Jing’s father hung up the phone and transferred back the extra 100,000 yuan.

After calming down, Sun Yinrui began to feel afraid. He had lost his cool in anger. He always thought Old Jing was easy to bully—upright and unwilling to use underhanded methods against him. But the earlier social media post didn’t seem like something Old Jing would write…

Sun Yinrui frantically called Jing’s father and bombarded him with apologetic messages on WeChat, but it was too late. The recorded phone call, including the threat about “eating bullets,” had already been uploaded online. That very night, it sparked enormous public outrage. The next day, the Wucheng Police Department’s social media account announced they had opened an investigation.

Not only did Sun Yinrui fail to clear his name with his first move, but he also provided concrete evidence against himself, proving his attempt to bribe Jing’s father.

Revealing one piece of dirt each day, with a surprise on the last day—let the matter ferment slowly until it emits an enticing aroma…

—

Today was the day Jing Shu had arranged to pick up her grandparents from the countryside. Since it had been planned in advance, there were no hiccups.

Her grandparents lived in a town over 100 kilometers from Wucheng. Her eldest aunt, Jing Pan, had married into a local family that grew fruit trees. Her second aunt, Jing Zhao, was married to someone in a city 50 kilometers away; they owned a tobacco and liquor store.

Her third aunt, Jing Lai, had married to Wucheng over 20 years ago. It took her five years to have a daughter, and she damaged her health in the process, becoming unable to have more children. Her in-laws, who favored sons over daughters, looked down on her and her daughter. Being strong-willed, the third aunt divorced and lived with her parents, taking care of the elderly couple.

The third aunt had a two-bedroom apartment in Wucheng, which was part of the divorce settlement. Her daughter, Wu Youai, was in graduate school and stayed there on weekends.

So today, in addition to bringing her grandparents, Jing Shu also brought her third aunt back to her place in Wucheng so she could take care of her daughter for a while.

It took about an hour and a half to drive to the town. Jing Shu asked her grandparents to pack more belongings since they’d be staying for over a month and should bring items they were accustomed to using.

“Child, let me pack you some apples and bananas to eat on the road.”

“Your third aunt fried some twists and doughnuts; take them in case you get hungry.”

“I’ve fried some fish pieces for you, worried that you’ll be hungry on the way.”

“Here, have some carp soup first. I made it early this morning.” Grandma handed over the fish soup, her hands full of wrinkles and veins.

The way elders show their love is often by urging you to eat.

When dealing with elderly, there’s no need for excessive words or constant expressions of concern. Just one word: eat! Whatever the elders hand you, finish it. If they urge you to eat more, just nod.

In one breath, Jing Shu drank a whole pot of carp soup, gnawed on a carp, ate a plate of fried fish pieces, and consumed five large doughnuts. Grandma’s mouth hung open for a while before she said, “Stop eating now. When it’s lunchtime, and we get home, Grandma will cook more for you!”

“Okay.” Jing Shu flashed a bright smile, showing her white teeth. She was genuinely happy—after ten years, seeing her grandparents again was wonderful. Truly wonderful. Tears welled up in her eyes. She quickly said, “You all keep packing; I’m going for a walk,” and ran off.

After composing herself, Jing Shu drove about a dozen kilometers to a bee farm. The beekeeper was very professional and asked Jing Shu a bunch of questions: types of nectar sources, area, pollen sources, etc. Jing Shu knew nothing.

In the end, under the beekeeper’s recommendation, Jing Shu chose Italian bees, which produce the most honey and have the strongest royal jelly secretion ability. They require long nectar flow periods and large nectar sources.

She bought a hive of bees and the necessary tools: a hive tool, bee brush, feeder, foundation, honey extractor, beehive, and frames. Each hive contains one queen bee. The beekeeper gave many tips, such as keeping the apiary as close as possible to nectar-producing plants and not too far from water sources.

Jing Shu directly merged a 1-cubic-meter beehive space with her six plots of farmland in her Rubik’s Cube space, placed water nearby, and added a drop of spiritual spring water, ensuring the bees had food and water as soon as they opened their eyes.

Additionally, he mentioned needing abundant nectar and pollen sources. The farmland in her Rubik’s Cube space would satisfy them 365 days a year.

He also said the apiary should be in a flat, dry, and sunny location. Jing Shu felt that her space perfectly met these conditions. The bees quickly adapted to their new environment and began buzzing around her fields.

With another major concern addressed, and her post-apocalyptic living conditions further improved, Jing Shu returned to Wucheng with her grandparents, third aunt, and a car full of luggage.

After drinking the diluted spiritual spring water, Jing Shu’s appetite had noticeably doubled, and her digestive system had become much stronger. However, the most direct change was in her physical abilities.

Jing Shu seemed to have more strength than before, and her reflexes were faster. In the past two days, her speed at solving a five-layer Rubik’s Cube during daily exercises has improved. At this rate, Jing Shu was confident she could unlock the five-layer Rubik’s Cube when the apocalypse began in a month.

That evening, her grandfather and father had another argument. They hadn’t seen each other for a month and missed each other. After mutual greetings, they drank tea together, watched the news, and discussed national affairs.

The problem arose during their discussion of national affairs!