Chapter 061: Someone Is Bearing the Weight for You

Since her promotion, Jing Shu’s mother has been working at the “Plant Research and Management Department,” located between the original city center and the current center near their villa. This location was much more accessible at just 14 kilometers away.

However, Jing Shu still drove cautiously as the roads outside the city center were not regularly cleared of debris like those downtown, and they were only passable following the tracks left by larger vehicles.

At 4:40 AM with the temperature at 3°C, Jing Shu adjusted the heater in their car while listening to the 949 broadcast. Due to the cessation of oil sales to the public, most logistics companies had shut down, and prices for energy cars had skyrocketed, earning them the status of ‘luxury cars’.

Traditional gasoline vehicles, in contrast, had plummeted in value as companies halted their production to switch to energy cars. However, the scarcity of raw materials and other factors meant that new energy cars were still rare.

Jing’s mother, sitting in the passenger seat, was cracking open apricot kernels to extract the almonds inside, saving them as a snack for work, “I don’t know how our apricot tree produces so many fruits; I can’t even finish them all daily.”

Jing Shu rolled her eyes silently. To ensure her mother could enjoy fresh apricots every day, she diligently watered the tree with diluted spiritual spring water. There’s a saying that when you feel your life is easy, it’s because someone else is bearing the burdens for you.

This saying was apt for Jing Shu’s situation. In her previous life, her parents shouldered the hardships so she could live comfortably. Now, it was her turn to bear the weight. However, she had learned her lesson well—no more nurturing thankless ingrates.

They arrived at her mother’s workplace just on time. The entrance was secured with iron barriers and several guards in bulletproof vests wielding electric batons, who only allowed entry after verifying identities.

Rows of expensive greenhouses, brightly lit and visible through clear glass, showed busy figures moving about. As Jing Shu parked, a government shuttle arrived with the last batch of employees.

Yu Cai Ni stumbled out, a stark contrast to her previously poised appearance. Half a year ago, she was elegant and competent in her business attire. Now, she looked disheveled and frazzled, her clothes wrinkled from the crowded commute.

Fixing her hair and clothes before entering, Yu Cai Ni spotted Jing Shu and her mother and immediately glared at them with resentment. She approached them haughtily, “Let’s set a time to transfer the property ownership back. Return my house and my money.” She was infuriated that the house she thought was a steal had devalued so drastically, dropping from 1.4 million to barely sellable at 300,000!

Liu Ke had sweet-talked her into buying it, claiming that center city properties would only lose value if the world ended—well, the market had crashed spectacularly.

For every drop in property value, Yu Cai Ni cursed Jing’s mother. If she had that money now, she could have bought an energy car instead of squeezing onto the commuter shuttle every day.

Sulanzhi, Jing Shu’s mother, nonchalantly walked away with Jing Shu, who called back, “Congratulations on your house’s depreciation, just desserts indeed!” before they both hurried into the building.

Yu Cai Ni sneered after them, “You can run but you can’t hide, Sulanzhi. You’re bound to lose in the upcoming competition. I’ll make sure you never rise again, teaching you that in politics, those without connections can only be clerks.”

Jing Shu was dragged into the research facility by her mother, listening to her complaints, “Why bother with her? We’ve already made our gains, let’s just keep quiet about it. We’ve spent all the money, and I don’t want to live in that tiny apartment anymore. Let her complain to the directors if she wants.”

Their department was divided into several parts. The state-of-the-art greenhouses that ran on a minimum of 8 hours of power and maintained constant temperatures were under the ‘Director’s’ control. Each Deputy Director, including her mother, managed a research facility dedicated to studying crop cultivation during the dark days.

Yu Cai Ni’s facility was equipped with rows of shelves under 24-hour light, cultivating lettuce and spinach with ample resources, advanced equipment, and a team of researchers and professors giving daily advice.

In contrast, Sulanzhi’s setup was a makeshift lab in a repurposed warehouse, cramped and barely lit, manned by three experienced farmers without the benefits of advanced technology.

This disparity in resources made Sulanzhi feel increasingly despondent, “What can I do? When I said I could grow my own, they gave me this setup. Yu Cai Ni’s uncle is a professor at the research institute; he arranged everything for her, including catalysts…”

Facing such unfairness, there wasn’t much Sulanzhi could do as an outsider without connections.

“I’ll go spread the soil,” Jing Shu said as she started sprinkling it on the undernourished plants on the shelves. Her mother wondered why the vegetables thrived at home but languished here, until Jing Shu suggested it might be the soil, which was mixed with enchanted spring water and soil from her magical cube.

Since their focus was on plants that required minimal sunlight, like garlic, spinach, lettuce, and mushrooms, these were the varieties they tried to cultivate in the lab.

While Sulanzhi and the farmers got to work, Jing Shu sat on a step outside, munching on roasted cashews. Suddenly, she felt a gaze on her and stopped chewing, startled by the eyes of a dirty, snotty-nosed little boy about five or six years old watching her intensely.

Shaking her head, Jing Shu stood and walked inside, the boy following her with a hopeful expression. Though he said nothing, his eager eyes communicated his desire for a taste of her snacks.