Chapter 85: She Just Can’t Swallow Her Pride

Shi Yuebai lost her temper, but Xu Xuejiao didn’t understand why.

She knew she’d done something wrong, so when Captain Qiao came out, she anxiously ran up to him.

“Why is Shi Yuebai’s temper so bad?”

“Can’t she tolerate even the slightest bit of emotion from others?”

Xu Xuejiao had heard from others in the group that the Shi family used to be very wealthy before the apocalypse.

Shi Yuebai, that fat woman, was the little princess of the Shi family.

But even before the world fell apart, this little princess was known for her bad temper.

After the apocalypse, the whole Shi family suffered terribly for Shi Yuebai’s sake.

The men of the Shi family had all been turned into fools by the radiation, but they were still incredibly strong.

Father Shi and Shi Yi and Shi Er were the three strongest people in the whole group under the bridge.

By all logic, the Shi family shouldn’t have had such a hard time.

But because Shi Yuebai ate so much, all the food the Shi family scavenged went to her.

Xu Xuejiao never expected that even after the men of the Shi family were gone, Shi Yuebai’s temper would still be so unrestrained.

“I didn’t even say anything that bad. As a mother, I just spoke to her with a bit of emotion, that’s all.”

Xu Xuejiao couldn’t understand why Shi Yuebai couldn’t even tolerate that much.

Couldn’t Shi Yuebai try to understand a mother’s heart?

Captain Qiao shot Xu Xuejiao a glare.

“Just say less. You’re a mother, you’re allowed to feel upset.”

“But no one has the responsibility or obligation to put up with your feelings.”

Especially not someone like Shi Yuebai.

She’s always been proud, and she’s the one doing Captain Qiao’s family a favor.

Shi Yuebai has had a hard life too.

Just look at all the blood on her—anyone can see that.

In ways others can’t even imagine, Shi Yuebai must have endured pain no one else could bear.

Why should she have to care about Xu Xuejiao’s feelings?

Captain Qiao ran a hand through his hair in frustration and turned to walk toward the ditch.

Xu Xuejiao followed him nervously. “Where are you going?”

“To dig the ditch.”

Even though Shi Yuebai had lost her temper and told Captain Qiao not to come inside the Shi family’s walls again, with her abilities, she hadn’t actually hurt him.

She hadn’t killed him, either.

That meant Captain Qiao still had a chance.

Under Xu Xuejiao’s incredulous gaze, he jumped down into the ditch and started digging with all his might.

Xu Xuejiao stood at the edge, at a loss for what to do.

She just couldn’t swallow her pride and apologize to Shi Yuebai, nor could she truly accept Shi Yuebai’s authority.

In Xu Xuejiao’s mind, the Shi family had built a den of debauchery, which was already immoral.

The only reason the Shi family wanted her two beautiful daughters to move to this side of the ditch was because they wanted pretty girls in their den.

As for her husband, Captain Qiao, being angry—Xu Xuejiao understood that even less.

Captain Qiao was basically groveling and flattering Shi Yuebai all on his own.

Couldn’t he see that Shi Yuebai was so proud, she barely even acknowledged him?

Time passed in Xu Xuejiao’s anxious waiting.

By noon, she and her two daughters, Da Jiao and Xiao Jiao, were hungry.

Captain Qiao climbed out of the ditch, trailing hopefully behind Ah Hong and Pang Ziyuan, wanting to get inside the Shi family’s walls.

They’d already moved all their belongings to this side of the ditch.

Captain Qiao turned to Xu Xuejiao and said,

“You and the girls eat some of our rations first. I’ll go see if I can get a meal from Yuebai.”

It wasn’t that Captain Qiao didn’t want to bring Xu Xuejiao and the girls along for a proper meal.

But knowing Shi Yuebai as he did, he wasn’t even sure he’d be allowed inside the Shi family’s walls himself.

Let alone Xu Xuejiao, who had just vented her emotions at Shi Yuebai.

Xu Xuejiao’s eyes were red as she watched Captain Qiao line up at the Shi family’s gate.

Life was so hard. Before the apocalypse, she’d never seen her husband so humble.

After the world ended, every time she saw Captain Qiao bowing and scraping to others, she just couldn’t get used to it.

Captain Qiao waved at Xu Xuejiao, telling her not to worry.

He stepped through the gate—

—and was immediately thrown back out by some unknown force from inside.

Xu Xuejiao rushed over, unable to hold back her anger.

“Shi Yuebai, my husband’s been working all morning!”

“Did I beg him to do it?” Shi Yuebai sat in her wheelchair, looking at Xu Xuejiao’s red-rimmed eyes.

“It’s the apocalypse and you’re still so thin-skinned? If you can’t swallow your pride, then don’t. Who wants to take in your whole useless family?”

Tears fell from Xu Xuejiao’s eyes.

She stood there, fists clenched tight.

In the courtyard, a group of people had already set up a pot and were putting in slices of potato.

So the Shi family was actually providing some lunch?

Xu Xuejiao was a little surprised.

But no one in the courtyard spoke up for her.

Everyone knew what Shi Yuebai was like.

She was right. She always had to be.

She was their only correct answer.

If anyone spoke up for outsiders, they’d be the next to be kicked out.

Pang Zhenggong, lying on the ground, was breathing a little easier than yesterday.

He’d been barely alive, but now at least he was still breathing.

So Ah Hong and Pang Ziyuan were Shi Yuebai’s staunchest supporters.

They watched Captain Qiao’s family, who’d just been turned away, like thieves.

That was their stance—absolute loyalty to Shi Yuebai.

Captain Qiao climbed up from the ground with a smile, dusting himself off.

“Yuebai, I’ll just keep digging the ditch, and wait for you to cool off.”

Xu Xuejiao stared at Captain Qiao.

She wanted to ask her husband, why?

But what was the point? In the apocalypse, it was survival of the fittest.

They had no food, so they had to bow and scrape.

They weren’t strong, so they had to smile and flatter.

Xu Xuejiao understood all of this.

She understood all the reasons.

She just couldn’t swallow her pride.

Yes, she had self-respect. She was highly educated. She’d been the top student in the province, first in the nation on the civil service exam.

She had every reason to be proud.

“Just say less, and look at your daughters,” Captain Qiao pleaded, gazing at Xu Xuejiao.

“Wife, the past is the past.”

Xu Xuejiao looked over at her two daughters, fifteen or sixteen years old, huddled in the corner.

They seemed used to being hungry, squatting by the wall, staring at their mother with blank, identical eyes.

Captain Qiao silently went back to digging the ditch.

The Shi and Pang families were eating and drinking, while he went hungry.

He didn’t fight his wife and kids for food—he just worked hard, hungry.

Xu Xuejiao’s lips trembled.

To her left, inside the Shi family’s walls, everyone was feasting.

To her right, Captain Qiao was bent over the earth, digging.

And her two daughters, bewildered, not even understanding what was happening.

It was all too much. Hectares and square kilometers are so hard to figure out."