Chapter 70 Family Matters Punished
Xiang Qi knew that if he admitted it, he would be in big trouble, so he stubbornly refused to admit it: "Just because I have a grudge against Cheng Zhiyu, you arrested me, waaaaah... I'm so pitiful, I lost my son, I'm all alone in this apocalypse, and I'm just an ordinary person, and I'm being bullied like this, waaaaah..."
Cheng Mo narrowed his eyes and shoved a mouthful of water into Xiang Qizheng's mouth: "Shut up."
Xiang Qi was choked and coughed until his face turned red. He almost passed out and it took him a while to recover.
He didn't dare to complain to Cheng Mo, who looked like someone not to be trifled with, so he could only shrink back and remain silent. However, he would never admit to stealing the mutated seeds.
Cheng Mo sneered. He had plenty of ways to get Xiang Qizheng to talk and for Cheng Zhiyu to hand the person over to him.
Cheng Zhiyu shook his head: "Have someone search his house and bring his wife in for questioning."
Xiang Qi, who had originally decided to remain silent, panicked upon hearing this and struggled desperately: "You...you can't do this! What right do you have to investigate my home? I can't live like this! You've ruined my reputation! I can't live like this! I'll hang myself at your doorstep and haunt you every day!"
Cheng Zhiyu glanced at him, his expression one of disgust: "You're really annoying."
Xiang Qi was speechless, choked by the words. In the past, whenever he talked about Cheng Zhiyu, the other party would at most ignore him. This was the first time he had said something like this.
Cheng Zhiyu had actually wanted to speak up for a long time, but he felt it wasn't worth wasting his breath on someone like that. But now he couldn't hold back any longer: "What are you always acting like an elder for? Who owes you anything? You say I'm a superhuman, abusing my power to bully others. Even if I really did bully you, what could you do about it?"
Xiang Qizheng: "..."
"You keep talking about dying all the time. If you want to die, then die. We'll just burn you down and that'll be the end of it." It was clear that Cheng Zhiyu was really annoyed by him; he wouldn't normally say something so harsh.
Xiang Qi was stunned for a moment, then burst into tears: "I can't live like this!"
He was hoping someone would soften their heart, but Fang Guowei remained cold-faced. The other man was furious at the thought of their hard-earned seeds being secretly dug up. Soft-hearted? Soft-hearted my foot!
If we are too soft-hearted towards Xiang Qi, what will happen to those who starve to death because they lack this one bite of food?
That's too cruel for those people.
Needless to say, Cheng Mo immediately raised his hand and clapped, "Zhiyu is right, absolutely right."
Xiang Qizheng: "Waaaaah, people these days are so heartless! Waaaaah..."
She cried until her voice was hoarse, but no one paid any attention to her.
After a while, Xiang Qizheng's wife was finally brought in, along with a bag of flour.
“Look at this flour. It’s obviously ground by themselves, and it’s clearly not made from ordinary wheat. I can feel the energy flowing through this flour; it’s mutated wheat.”
Xiang Qizheng's wife shrank back, fidgeting with the hem of her clothes, her head bowed and trembling: "Waaah... I've tried to persuade Old Xiang not to do such a thing, it's heartless, but he won't listen!"
Xiang Qi, who had initially denied it, was almost spitting blood with anger, cursing, "You stupid woman, how could I have married such a stupid person like you!"
"Old Xiang, just accept it. They've ground you up to the bone. What difference does it make whether you recognize them or not?" Xiang Qizheng's wife advised.
After she finished speaking, she knelt down with a thud: "Please, I beg you, the old minister was just confused for a moment, please... please give him another chance!"
"Give him a chance? What about those who starved to death for a single grain of rice?" Cheng Zhiyu said, "Who will give them a chance?"
Xiang Qizheng's wife was stunned for a moment before saying, "I...we'll compensate, we'll compensate, okay?"
Fang Guowei was absolutely furious: "Compensate? What are you going to use to compensate? Do you know how valuable a single mutated seed is? Do you know how much grain it can grow? You're so ignorant! Let me tell you, all these mutated seeds aren't even worth that much of your lives!"
Xiang Qizheng's wife was stunned. She hadn't expected him to be so valuable. She could only murmur, "Please, let him go. Give him a chance."
Xiang Qizheng, who had been trying to remain calm, couldn't keep up the act any longer. He immediately changed his demeanor and cried, "Little Cheng, I've been confused. I've been driven mad by this apocalypse. Please, for the sake of all the time I've watched you grow up, give me a chance! Didn't you give me these mutated seeds? If you just say the word, I'll be fine. Please, Uncle, I'm begging you."
Cheng Zhiyu simply said, "Many of the people in the village are elders who watched me grow up. If we're really talking about who's better, you don't even come close. Do you expect me to give each of them a chance?"
Xiang Qi was furious: "You heartless bastard, how could you be so cruel!"
With a "slap," a handprint appeared on his face out of nowhere. Cheng Mo's expression was dangerous: "Say that again?"
Xiang Qi trembled and dared not utter a sound.
Now that the person has been caught, in order to set an example, we called the people from the base over and told them about it.
When everyone heard about it, they were furious. Before the apocalypse, they were farmers; after the apocalypse, those mutated seeds were their hope for the future.
As a result, Xiang Qizheng actually dug up the seeds, ground them into flour, and ate them!
"Pah! Shameless! The base is distributing rice now, so there's no way they'll starve. And he still dares to dig up mutated seeds! He's utterly shameless!"
“I knew he wasn’t a good person before. Before the apocalypse, he liked to steal. He stole one of my shovels. Later, when I went to his house and saw it, I said, ‘Why does it look so much like mine?’ He had the nerve to say that he bought it from the street. How could I not know if it was mine or not?”
"I think he's incorrigible! Everyone needs to keep a close eye on their belongings from now on. If he sets his sights on something, it might end up being his."
"If you ask me, this kind of person should be kicked out of the base!"
"Kicking him out of the base is too much. He'd die out there. It's not that bad."
Lin Kang, as the base manager, also came, but he said that this was a matter for the farming department and he would not interfere.
Cheng Zhiyu felt that he was not a member of the farming department and did not intend to get involved.
Finally, Fang Guowei said, "This is the first time we've discovered this, but stealing mutated seeds is really too heinous. A small punishment won't do. From now on, let him work in the fields. We won't give him any contribution points or provide him with meals."
Xiang Qi was getting anxious: "Isn't that going to make me starve to death?"
He won't starve to death; the base will provide everyone with basic supplies, like the rice they received before. But once things get better, he won't receive some of the perks.
They not only had to do heavy physical labor, but they could also only eat the bare minimum.
Fang Guowei: "However, with this precedent, anyone who dares to do this again will be expelled from the base, including Xiang Qizheng. Everyone should supervise each other and report any problems at any time. If it's true, there will be a reward."
Upon hearing this, everyone nodded. Even without a reward, they would keep a close eye on it, as it represented the future of the base!
Those who had originally intended to block the way dared not do so after hearing this; if they were kicked out of the base, they would only face death.
Fang Guowei looked at Xiang Qizheng: "If you're not satisfied, just leave the base. I won't stop you."
Xiang Qi was as if he had been choked, his face flushed red, and he dared not say anything more.
He looked at Fang Guowei with a resentful and sinister gaze. He didn't expect the other party to be so ruthless. After all, they used to be from the same village. Fang Guowei had even eaten at his house before. What an ungrateful wretch!
Xiang Qi cursed inwardly.
As he left, he saw the villagers' glaring eyes and felt his face burn. These people, really! Didn't they want to go dig up the seeds too? What right did they have to criticize him?!
Regardless of what Xiang Qizheng thought, he was woken up early the next day and then watched as he went to work in the fields.
The person supervising his work was a particularly disciplined young man who told him to keep working until he was told to. Except for lunchtime, when Xiang Qizheng's wife brought him food and he would rest for a while, he had to keep working.
As for lunch, because Xiang Qizheng's wife was too frugal, she cooked a thin porridge and there were definitely no vegetables. Who would have vegetables to eat at this time?
A bowl of thin porridge would have been fine before, but after a whole day of work, he was exhausted and starving by the end of the day.
When he got home, he gave his wife a good scolding: "Don't you know what I was doing? All you did was cook me that little bit of thin porridge. Did you want me to starve to death?!"
"Don't you know what the situation is like at home?" Xiang Qizheng's wife also felt wronged: "What you're saying makes it sound like I'm deliberately mistreating you! The rice is almost gone, if we don't cook it sparingly, will we starve? You don't contribute anything to the family now, it's all up to me. I'm busy outside and inside, and I still have to take time out to bring you food? Do you know how hard it is for me!"
She became more and more aggrieved as she spoke, blaming her husband for being so reckless. The seeds planted at the farm were not something he could just dig up whenever he wanted!
Now look what's happened! What are we going to do now?
"You're blaming me now? Blame Fang Guowei, blame Cheng Zhiyu!" Xiang Qi gritted his teeth, barely having the strength to curse: "All I did was eat some seeds."
Actually, he was secretly regretting it, but he just wouldn't admit it.
His wife was crying beside him, and Xiang Qi was also filled with anxiety. What should he do? They would have to live this kind of hard life forever.
——
When Cheng Zhiyu and his friends had some free time, they went to Lin Jiashu's house to see the little tiger.
Lin Jiashu wasn't originally from this village; she married into the village and lives here with her husband's family.
Lin Jiashu's husband is an honest and kind man, her father-in-law is also taciturn, but her mother-in-law is much more talkative and comes to entertain them.
When Grandma Lin Jiashu saw them, she was incredibly hospitable: "Oh dear, it's a pity we don't have much to offer you right now."
"It's nothing, you're too kind," Cheng Zhiyu said with a smile.
Zhou Min and the others had already gone over to touch the little tiger, but because Cheng Mo was jealous, Cheng Zhiyu had to give up regretfully.
It's really nothing. At worst, we can go back and turn Cheng Mo back into Big Black, and he can touch him however he wants!
"That day, Jia Shu brought home a tiger, which really startled me," said Lin Jia Shu's mother-in-law. "Who would have thought that we could keep a tiger as a pet?"
"Mom, Xiaohu is very well-behaved, you don't need to be afraid." Lin Jiashu had grown fond of Xiaohu after raising him for a few days.
"I know, otherwise why wouldn't you stay?" Grandma Lin Jiashu said, "It's because of this tiger, it eats too much, and it has to eat meat every meal. Tell me, we humans don't eat meat every meal, do we?"
Lin Jiashu paused, somewhat displeased. She had promised to raise the tiger cub well, but now her mother-in-law's words made her feel embarrassed. She retorted with some dissatisfaction, "Mom, I feed the tiger cub with money I earned myself."
"You child, aren't you one of our own?" Lin Jiashu's mother-in-law found her words unpleasant: "I was just saying a few words to you, and look at you!"
Zhou Min and Tian Qiao, who were touching the tiger, exchanged a glance, looking somewhat embarrassed.
Well... Lin Jiashu's mother-in-law is indeed a bit speechless, but they can't really say anything about it.
They thought to themselves, "Why don't we leave now and come back after Grandma Lin Jiashu is gone?"
Unexpectedly, Lin Jiashu's mother-in-law started complaining instead. She wiped away her tears and looked at Cheng Zhiyu: "Tell me, what kind of daughter-in-law talks to her mother-in-law like that? I only said a few words to her."
Lin Jiashu was extremely embarrassed: "Mom! Can you please stop doing this?"
"What's wrong with me? Can't I even cry?" Lin Jiashu's mother-in-law wiped away her tears and said matter-of-factly, "I haven't even said anything to you, you barren hen. You've been married into our family for so long and you don't even have a child. It's only because I'm kind-hearted that we don't have a daughter-in-law like you."
Cheng Zhiyu and the others: "..."
You call yourself kind? You have no shame!
However, since it was someone else's family matter, they couldn't say anything. Cheng Zhiyu coughed lightly and took his leave.
Instead, it was Lin Jiashu's mother-in-law who wouldn't let it go: "Xiao Cheng, you have to stand up for your aunt! Look at her, what kind of person is she! She's never home, and when she comes back I have to cook for her and take care of her. And to make matters worse, she even makes a mistake while taking care of her! Good heavens, she's heartless!"
Cheng Zhiyu's lips twitched.
Lin Jiashu didn't want to argue, as she felt ashamed. But seeing her mother-in-law's relentless insistence and blocking Cheng Zhiyu and the others from leaving, she was furious: "All the food in the house, wasn't it all earned through my hard work? When you were eating it, why didn't you say I wasn't home? I was even thinking of switching places with you. Why don't you go out and fight zombies, and I'll cook at home!"
Lin Jiashu's mother-in-law slapped her thigh in anger: "Waaah... Look at this, this daughter-in-law is pointing at her own mother-in-law and cursing! She's really become a superhuman, our whole family depends on her to support us, and she thinks she's so capable! She's a barren hen, and we're already being kind enough by not looking down on her, how dare she talk to me like that!"
Lin Jiashu remembers that her mother-in-law was very kind at first, but after she hadn't had children for several years, her mother-in-law's attitude towards her changed drastically, and she would bring it up from time to time.
Before the apocalypse, their family had argued a lot about this, and Lin Jiashu almost got divorced. But before they could get divorced, the apocalypse came, and she almost lost her life. So naturally, they wouldn't argue about this anymore.
She didn't expect her mother-in-law to bring this up again. It's the end of the world, is having children still that important?
Putting aside the fact that the child would suffer after giving birth, just consider the family's situation: she's the only one with superpowers, and the whole family depends on her. If she really gets pregnant, how will they live? It's a full ten months.
But for some reason, my mother-in-law just can't seem to get her act together; she's gone crazy again today.
"We only have one son in our family. If you don't have another child, are you trying to kill our family line?" Lin Jiashu's mother-in-law slapped her thigh in anger.
Cheng Zhiyu and the others were exasperated by her wailing. To be honest, if it weren't for the fact that it was someone else's family matter and they shouldn't interfere, they would really want to curse at Lin Jiashu's mother-in-law for being like this.
"Alright! Are you ever going to stop?!" Lin Jiashu took Xiaohu back to the room first, and then finally couldn't stand it anymore: "Cry, cry, cry! What are you crying for? Do you think people will feel sorry for you if you cry? Laughable! Everyone just thinks you're annoying, an annoying old woman. Shut up!"
Grandma Lin Jiashu couldn't believe it: "..."
She never expected Lin Jiashu to dare to point her finger at her and curse. She was stunned for a moment, then cried even harder: "This is outrageous! This is outrageous! Lin Jiashu, when my son comes back, I'll make him divorce you and make you a widow."
Lin Jiashu is afraid of her. It's the end of the world, and her mother-in-law is still using this to threaten her. It's ridiculous.
She didn't want to argue any longer; it was too embarrassing. She pushed aside her mother-in-law, who was blocking the way, and saw Cheng Zhiyu and the others off.
"I'm sorry, you all had to see this." Lin Jiashu said with a bitter expression.
Cheng Zhiyu didn't elaborate on this to avoid embarrassing Lin Jiashu, and only said, "If you need any help, you can contact us."
Lin Jiashu blinked: "Thank you."
She used to be reluctant to abandon this family, thinking that they were relatives after all, but they really went too far.
In the past, we would only exchange a few words at the dinner table, but today they went too far.
Lin Jiashu composed herself and went home. Her mother-in-law had stopped crying and started cursing, "So you know how to come back! When my son comes back, I'll make sure you divorce him! You dare to point your finger at me and curse me, your own mother, every day! You've really gone too far!"
Lin Jiashu took a deep breath: "You're not my mom. My mom wouldn't say that to me."
Lin Jiashu's mother-in-law was stunned for a moment: "Oh, so you don't even recognize your elders anymore! Your biological mother died a long time ago!"
Lin Jiashu's face immediately turned grim. Her parents were not with her when the apocalypse came, and she did not know their current situation.
But Lin Jiashu firmly believed that they would definitely meet again in the future.
I never expected my mother-in-law to say something like that.
After finishing her sentence, Lin Jiashu's mother-in-law realized that she had said the wrong thing. She was a little weak, but she still wouldn't let it go: "What did I say wrong? That's exactly what I said."
Lin Jiashu returned to her room with a grim expression. A moment later, she came out carrying Xiao Hu and a suitcase.
Lin Jiashu's mother-in-law was pondering how to nag her son when he came home, when she saw this scene and was stunned: "What are you doing?"
"Didn't you tell me to get a divorce?" Lin Jiashu said, "I can't get a divorce now, so I'll just move out and consider it a divorce."
She had planned to get a divorce before the apocalypse, but during this time, she almost forgot how she had been tormented by this family.
"You...you think I'm afraid of you?!" Lin Jiashu's mother-in-law retorted, still feeling that Lin Jiashu was threatening her.
Lin Jiashu ignored her and left. The base had dormitories for people with superpowers, but since everyone had found rooms to live in, the dorms were empty, so she could stay there temporarily.
On the other side, Zhou Min was still saying incredulously, "Is Sister Lin's mother-in-law out of her mind?"
Tian Qiao: "I almost wanted to yell at her several times."
After thinking about it, he held back, afraid that the old woman would become attached to him.
Tian Manman patted her chest: "That was scary."
Cheng Zhiyu was also determined to fight back. He had only ever seen mothers-in-law like Lin Jiashu in melodramatic TV dramas.
That's so bizarre.
Not long after, they learned that Lin Jiashu had moved out of her home.
During this time, Lin Jiashu's husband also contacted her.
That afternoon, after her husband returned home and heard what his mother had said, he went to the dormitory for people with supernatural abilities to find Lin Jiashu, hoping to persuade her to come back.
“That’s just how my mom is, you know that.” The honest man looked tired and helpless. “Just bear with it. She’ll say a few words to you at most, just ignore it.”
"Why should I put up with it? Your mother says such awful things, why don't you go and say something to her?" Lin Jiashu was so tired of hearing the man say these things.
She had endured it all the time, but she had completely had enough!
The man was stunned for a moment: "Jiashu, how can you say that? That's my mother. What do you mean by 'why'? She's an elder. Besides, don't you know her temper? How could I dare to say anything to her?"
“You know that’s your mother, not mine.” Lin Jiashu looked at the man, increasingly disappointed. “If you want to be scolded by your mother, then listen to her. It has nothing to do with me. I don’t plan to go back. Your persuasion is useless. It’s fine. Since you listen to your mother so much, and she wants me to divorce you, then let’s get a divorce. Don’t come looking for me again.”
"How could you be so heartless?" The man said incredulously, "I know, it's the apocalypse now, and my family are just ordinary people, so we're a burden to you, right? Fine, then you can leave. From now on, my family won't be a burden to you. I'll take good care of my parents. You can live your good life!"
After the man finished speaking, he stopped trying to persuade him and turned to leave.
Lin Jiashu watched his retreating figure and smiled self-deprecatingly. See? She had worked so hard to support this family for so long, but in the eyes of men, she was just a selfish person.
Sure enough, some people, no matter how good you are to them, will overturn all your kindness if they do anything wrong.
Lin Jiashu initially felt a pang of sympathy for the exhausted man, but now she reaffirmed her resolve. She didn't want to go back, giving that family chance after chance, making them feel that they were the ones who couldn't live without her.
Her choice not to go back was the right one. Lin Jiashu's mother-in-law was waiting at home for her son to bring Lin Jiashu back. She thought that she would be patient with Lin Jiashu's return this time and find an opportunity to talk to her later.
After waiting and waiting, only her son returned alone. Lin Jiashu's mother-in-law looked out the door and asked, "Where is your daughter-in-law?"
"She's not coming back, Mom. Just pretend you don't have this daughter-in-law anymore," the man said with a dark face.
"What...what do you mean?" Lin Jiashu's mother-in-law was stunned.
“She won’t come back, and she doesn’t treat you like her mother anymore.” The man said, “Her heart is no longer here. Even if we beg her, she won’t come back.”
The man said, "I'll take care of you from now on, so you can rest assured. No one will scold you or make you angry anymore."
Lin Jiashu's mother-in-law was stunned. She never expected that Lin Jiashu would really not come back. For some reason, she, who had been calm before, was now panicking.
This shouldn't be the case. In the past, no matter how fierce the argument was, Lin Jiashu would be fine after her husband coaxed her, as if nothing had happened. Why didn't it work this time?
"Why don't you go and call her again?" Considering that Lin Jiashu was the only person in the family with superpowers, even though her superpowers weren't very effective, they were still stronger than ordinary people like them.
"Why would I call her? She's a superhuman, she's different now." The man stubbornly refused to lower himself to beg her to come back: "Mom, you happen to dislike her too, isn't this a good thing?"
"What's so good about it!" Lin Jiashu's mother-in-law was miserable, watching helplessly as her son went back to his room, not knowing what to say.
How could Lin Jiashu be so ruthless!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com