Chapter 136: Hello, 911?

Despite everything, Wang Zhong reluctantly handed over the phone, and Jing Shu casually took it. On the screen, Wu Youai’s face—a classic stay-at-home look—appeared, still happily slurping her ice cream.

"Cousin," Jing Shu said sweetly, "this crazy guy was sneaking around our house trying to break in. I caught him red-handed before he could steal anything, and he tried to do some… unmentionable things. My dad had to give him a beating to stop him. That's what happened."

Wu Youai, still savoring her ice cream, replied, "Attempted robbery, huh? That’s not too serious, but he'll need to be taken in for some labor reform."

"Got it, I'll let him know," Jing Shu responded, handing the phone back to the utterly dumbfounded Wang Zhong.

"They said someone will be here to pick you up soon. Just wait a bit," Jing Shu informed him.

Wang Zhong: "???"

Wang Zhong couldn’t believe his ears. Did she say ‘cousin’? Did I just contact their family for help? He was the victim here! How did calling for help result in *him* being arrested?

“Hey, hey!” Wang Zhong shouted into the now disconnected phone, staring at Jing An and Jing Shu with growing resentment. “This can’t be real.”

Desperate, Wang Zhong dialed again, this time hoping to reach emergency services. “Hello, 911? I’m—” he began, but was cut off by a busy tone. Frustrated, he tried the emergency call again, only to see the same face pop up on the screen.

“Still me! Don’t worry, just stay put. Someone will be there soon to take you in,” Wu Youai said, waving cheerfully before hanging up again.

Wang Zhong was speechless. This couldn’t be happening! He was the one calling for help! How had it all gone so wrong?

Realizing he was trapped, Wang Zhong got up, determined to flee. No way he was staying to be arrested—he wasn’t stupid!

Before he could make it far, Jing Shu delivered a swift kick that sent him sprawling back to the ground. “Run where? You forget your data's been uploaded. You’ve been logged in the system now. Wherever you go, they’ll find you. Do you want to end up a fugitive? Just think about what happens to fugitives.”

Wang Zhong’s mind flashed to the brutal fates of the criminals caught recently, and the fear overwhelmed him. He fainted on the spot. When he came to, he was being kicked awake by a police officer. He groggily heard Jing An’s daughter explaining something to them.

The officer then turned to him and asked, “If you admit to your crimes, it’ll only be labor reform. Deny it, and…”

“I admit it! I admit it! I don’t want to die!” Wang Zhong sobbed, waving his hands in surrender.

The officer smirked, turning to his superior. “Boss, I was going to say we didn’t have enough evidence to hold him, but he confessed right away. Definitely guilty.”

Hearing that, Wang Zhong’s face went white, and he fainted again. When he next woke up, he was already handcuffed, beginning his labor reform by collecting waste and sorting out maggot-infested garbage.

As Wang Zhong was hauled away, Jing An watched his former friend’s retreating figure and said, “Justice may be delayed, but it will never be denied. After all these years of taking advantage of others, it’s about time you paid for your sins.”

Before the police left, Jing Shu handed each of them a bag of dried black fungus as a small token of thanks. “Thank you for coming out, or we might’ve been dealing with this burglar for a while.”

One of the officers, the same young man who had stood behind Li Yuetian last time, smiled and accepted. “Just doing our job. Always here to serve.”

After they left, Grandma’s voice rang out from the kitchen. “Dinner’s ready!”

That night’s dinner was a feast—roast duck from the oven, an old hen soup, and iron-grilled fatty pork belly strips sizzling on paper. Jing Shu tucked into the meal with relish, wrapping crispy pork in fresh lettuce and savoring each bite as the rich, juicy flavor mixed with the crunch of the greens. Every mouthful was heaven.

After downing the broth from the chicken soup, she enjoyed another delicacy—a thin pancake wrapped around crispy roast duck, fresh cucumber, and slivers of scallion, dipped in sweet sauce. Each bite was a new flavor experience.

In the end, Jing Shu alone ate 80% of the meat, half the roast duck, and most of the chicken from the soup.

Her family chuckled as they watched her eat, Grandma announcing proudly, “She eats so well because she’s working so hard!”

After dinner, Jing Shu went to handle her vegetables for the next day, cutting and preparing the cucumbers and eggplants she had harvested. She planned to sun-dry them in the morning, adding to the stockpile of dried food in her magical storage space. The dehydrated vegetables and other ingredients were steadily growing in number, alongside the massive harvest of coconuts, which Jing Shu used as both food and drink.

As for the herbs she had been cultivating, the results were beyond her expectations. The special environment inside her space had accelerated the growth of these rare plants, though they still required careful nurturing.

“Perhaps it's time I start thinking about using these herbs,” Jing Shu mused. “If I can heal people and maybe even help the country, I could be a valuable asset. But I need to be cautious—there are always risks.”

With a satisfied sigh, she closed her magical storage and headed off to bed, already planning her next moves.

Author’s Note:

A big thanks to Shiyi for the tip! Mwah!