Jing Shu observed Su Mei Mei, who was sitting disheveled in the corner with a messy nest of hair. The wounds on her face had healed, but it was evident she hadn’t bathed in a long time. Her clothes were dirty, stained with oil, and the original color was indistinguishable.
Su Mei Mei looked up and happened to meet Jing Shu’s gaze. Her eyes couldn’t hide an overwhelming hatred. But when facing Jing Shu’s mother, she immediately became teary-eyed and called out pitifully, “Sister, you’re here.”
Zhang Zhongyong’s appearance was much better. He stood up and awkwardly greeted, “Sister, brother-in-law.”
Jing Shu’s mother responded with a faint “Hmm” and said nothing more. She pulled up a chair and sat with Jing Shu to watch TV. Jing Shu’s father cautiously sat on a third of the sofa, not daring to speak to Su Mei Mei’s family.
In her previous life, their family had also come to Aunt Wang Fang’s home for the Lantern Festival. At that time, Zhang Hanhan had excitedly hugged Jing Shu, saying how much she missed her, leaving Wang Can aside. Her aunt and Jing Shu’s mother chatted warmly together. In this life, everything has changed.
On the coffee table were fried twisted dough sticks, sunflower seeds, and candies. Su Long diligently poured tea. Aunt Wang Fang and Uncle were in the kitchen preparing the belated reunion dinner. Wang Gang chatted intermittently with Jing Shu’s father, while Liu Shufen, just like in the previous life, kept nibbling on sunflower seeds.
“Yes, it’s her who falsely accused my mom, causing a rift between my parents.”
“Her family is all about appearances. Her parents sold their house and car to support her live-streaming career, even borrowed money everywhere.”
“I heard they spent over a million hiring promoters, but she still didn’t become famous.”
“Now they live in the mountains thirty kilometers away, in a place where not even birds lay eggs or turtles hatch. I don’t know how they manage.”
“I’m nothing like her. I’ll be acting next year. She couldn’t even become a popular internet celebrity. Look at her rustic attire, even wearing rain boots—it’s hilarious.”
Jing Shu clearly heard Zhang Hanhan’s slander about her, feeling inexplicably annoyed. She hated it when people spoke ill of her behind her back. Either don’t say it, or don’t let her hear it. They openly pointed and laughed at her while whispering.
They were clearly showing a “I’m talking bad about you, come and hit me if you dare” attitude, making Jing Shu feel an urge to slap her a few times, accompanied by the line: “What makes you think you can disregard me like this?”
After a long while, dinner was finally ready. After 7 PM, the temperature quickly dropped to 6°C (43°F). They turned off the air conditioning, and everyone uniformly put on heavy coats and pants. Uncle moved the dining table to the living room, preparing to eat dinner while watching the Lantern Festival Gala.
Jing Shu’s family maintained a constant temperature of 26°C (79°F) at home, so they hadn’t brought any extra clothes. Jing Shu’s mother felt a bit embarrassed. Both Liu Shufen’s and Su Mei Mei’s families had brought warm clothes.
“I’ll get you some clothes,” Uncle offered first.
“No need, big brother. It’s not too cold; we’ll warm up once we start eating,” Jing Shu’s mother said, noticing that their clothes had unknown oil stains and various body odors, clearly not washed for over a month. She quickly declined.
In her previous life, she wasn’t so particular—it was all due to being spoiled. Jing Shu thought, but she was happy to spoil her own mother.
The reunion dinner included dishes made from the dried goods Jing Shu’s mother brought: stir-fried wood ear mushrooms with meat, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stir-fried cured meat with garlic sprouts, sautéed bean sprouts, and cabbage stewed with vermicelli. Uncle’s family had prepared braised pork ribs, braised fish without green onions or ginger, pure stir-fried mushrooms, scrambled eggs with chives, and a pot of frozen dumplings.
Jing Shu poured each person a paper cup of Sprite; the 2-liter bottle was almost empty, with the last bit snatched and hidden by Su Long.
For those people who hadn’t eaten well for a month, the reunion dinner was incredibly sumptuous. Uncle raised his cup, “Sorry for the inadequate hospitality today. When the Dark Days are over, we’ll make up for it. Let’s put all grudges aside and enjoy the meal first!” He looked meaningfully at Su Mei Mei and Jing Shu’s mother.
Everyone clinked their paper cups and officially began the meal.
At the dinner table, the differences quickly became apparent. The dishes brought by Jing Shu’s family were the most popular and were gone in no time. Uncle’s dishes were barely touched.
“Old Jing, where did you get these vegetables? I’ll trade some mineral water for them,” Wang Gang said, eyeing the empty plates with lingering desire.
Jing Shu’s father smiled and declined, “We just grew a little at home; it’s not enough even for ourselves.”
Aunt Wang Fang patted Jing Shu’s father and pointed upward, “My big brother has inside information. He says the Dark Days will last at least another month. Water is so scarce; mineral water isn’t easy to come by. Only my brother can get it. Are you sure you don’t want to trade some?”
Jing Shu’s father thought to himself that his spendthrift daughter had stored water in four pools, but he hadn’t bragged about it. Seeing Jing Shu’s mother’s displeased expression, he quickly shook his head, “It’s not that I don’t want to trade; we really don’t have any left.”
Aunt Wang Fang then began praising Wang Can. So young and already a clerk in a government agency—imagine what she could achieve in a few years. She was following in her father’s footsteps in politics.
Wang Fang rarely praised others. When she did, it meant she needed a favor. Sure enough, she began asking Wang Gang to share some water.
This was entirely opposite to the previous life’s scenario. In the past, Aunt Wang Fang had praised Jing Shu to the skies to ask Jing Shu’s mother to share water. Aunt Su Mei Mei also got some water, and Jing Shu’s father gave each of their families 200 bottles, leading to their own water shortage later.
In this life, Wang Gang gave them 60 bottles, making Wang Fang extremely grateful, remembering it forever. Finally, Uncle proposed giving Jing Shu’s mother and Su Mei Mei’s family 10 bottles each. Aunt Wang Fang shot him a glare, and Uncle changed it to 5 bottles.
“My son Su Long gets diarrhea whenever he drinks muddy water. Sorry, but we can only spare 5 bottles for each of your families in this emergency,” Wang Fang said.
Relatives willing to share a sixth of their water in the apocalypse were considered decent people—such people were smart.
After the meal, everyone didn’t even watch the Lantern Festival Gala. Uncle began, “Alright, now that we’ve eaten, let’s discuss serious matters. Zhongyong, what’s going on with you? Not only did you find another woman outside, but you also have a ten-year-old illegitimate child?”
This shocked everyone at the table, including Jing Shu’s mother and father. Wang Gang even showed a “Wow, you’re something else” expression.
“Mei Mei’s affair with Sun Yinrui—we all know about it. She was wrong in that. But she’s only been involved with him for a short while; at most, it’s an improper relationship. But you? How many years have you been with that woman outside? At least ten years, right? And you have a child!”
Uncle knocked on the table. “As a civil servant committing such mistakes, do you know how serious it is?! Bigamy! And it’s compounded offenses!”
Jing Shu showed a look of sudden realization. No wonder she saw Su Mei Mei and Zhang Zhongyong together today. It turned out that Zhang Zhongyong’s scandal had been exposed. Those who have nothing to lose don’t fear those who do; Su Mei Mei had nothing to lose, while Zhang Zhongyong had everything to lose.
In her previous life, Zhang Zhongyong’s affair wasn’t exposed until two years later, by which time he didn’t fear anything and even made it public. In this life, it was exposed so early.
Was it because Jing Shu’s mother sold the BMW to Su Mei Mei, but Su Mei Mei didn’t get to drive it, leading her to suspect that Zhang Zhongyong had someone else outside? Did she hire a private detective to find evidence and expose it?
A small butterfly can indeed create significant effects. Jing Shu hadn’t expected such a pleasant surprise.
—
Author’s Note:
Second update.
Translator thought: Thank you so much for visiting the site and reading the story. If you would like to support my translation you can buy me a cup-ontea. You can also help by shopping in our store or watch the youtube video to get more traction to the website. If you can’t wait to read the next chapter why not subscribe to our monthly plan, you will get 15 chapter every month for $35.
