Chapter 19: On Su Xiangmei

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Just then, Lu Hao added, “Actually, you’re free to remind your friends and family in other ways. You could tell them to hoard more food and water. As for why, you can come up with a convincing lie as long as you don’t mention Lil Jin.”

“That makes sense, Brother-in-law! We could just tell them that we asked a wandering Taoist priest for divination lately, and he told us that we might encounter a disaster in the near future. Maybe he told us that the best way to avoid the crisis would be to hoard food and supplies. How does that reason sound?” Lin Xiuyuan’s imagination was getting away from him again.

“You brat, why aren’t you so cunning when it comes to your studies?” Lin Cheng laughed instead of getting angry. He had no idea where his son got these traits from.

Nevertheless, most of them thought that his excuse was absurd, so absurd that there was no way anyone could ask them to prove anything. That was why they unanimously agreed to use this story when advising anyone they thought necessary to remind.

It was at this moment that Su Jin finally felt the weight disappear from her chest,

With everyone’s support, Su Jin felt full of energy. In her past life, she was all alone. As she constantly fought for her life amidst the chaos, she often forgot her reason for living, her motivation for killing more zombies. Sometimes, she even felt as though she was no different from the mindless zombies before her. Now, everything she saw, and the person next to her holding her hand, finally felt real again. She did not have to worry about being alone anymore.

In that case, she should mobilize everyone to gather supplies together. They would be able to save time and increase their efficiency that way.

It was Su Jin’s suggestion, and it was about shopping. Naturally, the women in the house, including Grandma Li Xiuying, all began chattering like birds. Shopping was a woman’s forte, of course.

The men just exchanged looks. The world was ending, right? So why were these women so excited?

Lu Hao was amused. The entire family was optimistic and enthusiastic, which made them rare indeed. He then turned to discuss matters with his father-in-law Su Xiangzhe, the two uncles, and their grandfather. Aside from gathering supplies, they also had to think about strengthening everyone’s stamina. There were twenty days left, so they had to train up as much as possible and boost their immunity. Otherwise, it would still be quite dangerous for them to face the zombies without any fighting skills or physical strength.

The others nodded.

Eventually, Lu Hao and Su Jin decided that the first thing to do was rent some cheap land and large houses near their grandparents’ house to serve as temporary warehouses. They would store the resources they bought there. If any outsiders asked, they would just say that Su Jin and Lu Hao were planning to start a supermarket nearby.

Uncle Cheng and Aunt Yunxiang were put in charge of finding the warehouses. They had more connections there.

Aunt Tianzhen and her family were tasked with buying food. The rest was left to Su Jin and Lu Hao.

Su Jin planned to discuss the dimension with Grandma once everyone else was gone. It was vital to her future, so she wanted to address this properly.

As for why she did not ask her parents about it… She had to admit that she respected her grandmother’s ability to deal with matters like these more. In any case, Grandma was the one who made the important decisions in the family. She had an eye for these things much better than anyone else’s.

Hence, Su Jin hugged her grandmother’s arm sweetly and whispered something into her ear. Li Xiuying nodded without batting an eyelid.

Lin Xiuyuan was instantly unimpressed. “Su Jin, what are you whispering to Grandma about?”

“Su Jin said you’re like a half-hearted strategist. But well, you’re not all useless, I suppose.” Li Xiuying looked at her grandson with a smirk. At the same time, though, she was curious about what Su Jin wanted to say to her in private later. What kind of advice was she looking for? Did the girl still have something important that she was hiding from them?

That night, Li Xiuying purposefully went upstairs to the ceramic Guanyin statue they had kept in their house for several decades and properly kowtowed to it several times. The goddess had blessed them and showed her good granddaughter all this about the future, so she had to sincerely thank the goddess on behalf of their entire family…

Uncle Lin Cheng and Aunt Huang Yunxiang stayed up talking for a long time that night too. The two of them ran through a lot of possible warehouse locations and eventually decided that the closer the warehouse, the better.

Aunt Lin Tianzhen and Uncle Mao Zhihang practically did not sleep at all that night. Su Jin and Lu Hao had told them too much at once that day, and Lu Hao had even personally seen a zombie. Tsk-tsk, the two of them were in awe. From now on, Su Jin and Lu Hao were surely destined for good things. In comparison, Lin Tianzhen and Mao Zhihang had nothing to contribute but their support and assistance.

Su Xiangzhe and Lin Tianhui were the last to leave, exiting the house with Su Jin and Lu Hao. Su Xiangzhe was wondering if he should sell their house too, since their main base was his in-laws’ place.

Su Jin was fully in favor of that. She was planning to move into her grandparents’ place with Lu Hao once their house was sold, since there were plenty of rooms upstairs.

Meanwhile, Lin Tianhui kept talking to Lu Hao. She felt quite bad about how they had misunderstood and mistreated Lu Hao this time. On the other hand, Lu Hao comforted her and said that he did not mind. It was the truth; the whole family had been so worried about Su Jin precisely because they cared for her deeply. There was no way he would be angry at them for that.

After they got home, Lin Tianhui ranted to Su Xiangzhe about Su Xiangmei too, calling her nothing but a bad apple trying to ruin the bunch.

Su Xiangzhe could not find anything to say. He strongly disliked his younger sister as well. Back when he was in the army, she kept running to him and complaining about the hole in the roof that they could not afford to fix, or the bicycle she really wanted to buy… In other words, she was always taking advantage of him. Later, after their parents passed away and Su Xiangmei started a family of her own, the two of them gradually grew distant.

However, Su Xiangmei could never stay peaceful for long. After she got married, she cheated on her ex-husband and the two of them ended up getting a divorce. Later, she took her son from her previous marriage and married Zhang Da, who lived nearby. That did not mean her life became any better, though. Zhang Da was a lazy man who did odd jobs for construction sites in the day and went gambling at night. Their family was never rich to begin with, but they only became poorer as time went on.

As a result, Su Xiangmei grew increasingly jealous of her sister-in-law Lin Tianhui’s comfy life. She had always been envious of her pretty sister-in-law, and she was convinced that her brother had grown distant from her because of Lin Tianhui’s influence. That was why she pretended to grow closer to Lin Tianhui, taking advantage of the latter while she badmouthed Lin Tianhui to everyone who would listen.

In the beginning, Lin Tianhui treated Su Xiangmei decently, invited her over to eat quite often, and even asked her to join them at Lin Tianhui’s parents’ place for dinners. However, Su Xiangmei’s heart became even more twisted when she saw how happy Lin Tianhui’s family was. Eventually, Lin Tianhui noticed that Su Xiangmei was by no means a good person and slowly stopped hanging out with her.

That day, Su Xiangmei had finally, against all odds, stumbled across Lu Hao and a beautiful young girl trying to sell their house. She was so excited that she could not sleep all night, and within two days, everyone in the neighborhood knew that Lin Tianhui’s son-in-law had cheated on his wife and was about to chase her out.

Su Xiangmei wanted to see how cocky Lin Tianhui would be after that. Her precious daughter would be kicked to the curb in no time. See, that was why it was better to have a son than a daughter. Su Xiangmei used to think she was slightly luckier than Lin Tianhui because she had a son instead of a daughter, but then she realized that Lin Tianhui’s daughter was loving and capable, much better than her own useless and rebellious son. There, now, look! Once the girl got married, she lost everything.

Before, Lin Tianhui had been like a cat on a hot tin roof as she fussed over Su Jin and her son-in-law’s marriage. Now that the misunderstanding was resolved, her anxiety was replaced by the nasty shock of the apocalypse and the pleasant surprise from her daughter and son-in-law. The only problem now was that everyone in the neighborhood looked at her with pity.

Now, Lin Tianhui, her husband, their daughter and their son-in-law were all strolling leisurely down the street, chatting and laughing happily as they went. They bumped into many familiar faces, and Lin Tianhui put on a courteous act if their acquaintances greeted them. She explained that her daughter had long since returned from her business trip, and that all of them had been at Lin Tianhui’s parents’ place for a gathering. The neighbors saw how loving Lu Hao and Su Jin looked, and the rumors naturally fell apart. The couple was clearly getting along swimmingly. He looked handsome and she was gorgeous, making the perfect match. How could Su Xiangmei have accused them of something so scandalous? There must have been something wrong with her eyes.

Meanwhile, Su Xiangmei was at home eating sunflower seeds, extremely pleased with herself. She had no idea that Lin Tianhui and her family had completely debunked the “big scoop” that she had discovered. She wanted a tsunami of chaos, but now there was barely even a ripple anymore.