“I don’t have that much. I only have two hundred,” said Lin Xiumei.
Upon hearing this, Ji Shuyu sneered, “Then write an IOU. Pay me back when you have the money. I’ve already made enough concessions by reducing the amount from five hundred to three hundred.”
“Ji Shuyu, don’t push me too far!”
Lin Xiumei had reached her limit. As she listened to Ji Shuyu’s words, she could hardly resist the urge to slap her across the face.
“Fine, then. I’ll have no choice but to tell Dad. I wonder if he knows that you promised me three hundred yuan, Auntie?”
“You!”
Lin Xiumei was so furious she saw stars, her chest heaving violently and her finger trembling as she pointed at Ji Shuyu.
She had no doubt that this wretched girl would actually go and tattle.
If Ji Guodong found out that she had not only secretly hidden three hundred yuan but also lost it, and even promised Ji Shuyu three hundred yuan to take Meiling’s place in going to the countryside, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Now, Lin Xiumei was truly like the dumb person eating the bitter herb—she couldn’t voice her suffering.
“Alright, you win,” Lin Xiumei gritted her teeth, her voice squeezed out from between them.
She snatched the paper and pen from the table, hastily scribbled an IOU, and slammed it onto the table. “One hundred Yuan! I, Lin Xiumei, owe you, Ji Shuyu, one hundred yuan. Satisfied?”
Ji Shuyu leisurely picked up the IOU, blew on the ink to dry it, folded it neatly with satisfaction, and tucked it into her pocket. “That’s more like it, Auntie. Once we sign the papers tomorrow morning, we’ll be square.”
Hearing this, Lin Xiumei shot her a fierce glare before turning to leave.
That little wretch—once she went to the countryside, Lin Xiumei would make sure she suffered.
Early the next morning, Lin Xiumei and Ji Meiling stationed themselves outside Ji Shuyu’s door, afraid she might change her mind.
“You’ve got the things, and I’ve written the IOU. Now sign it!” Lin Xiumei threw the rural assignment agreement onto the table, her tone urgent.
Ji Shuyu took her time washing up, then sat at the table and picked up the pen.
Under the watchful eyes of the mother and daughter, she signed “Ji Shuyu” in clear, bold strokes.
Lin Xiumei and Ji Meiling both let out a sigh of relief, their faces lighting up with relief.
“It’s done,” Ji Shuyu said, setting down the pen and packing her things into a canvas bag. “I’ll leave now, so I won’t be in your way anymore.”
Lin Xiumei snatched the agreement, carefully examined the signature, and only after confirming it was correct did she finally relax completely.
Watching Ji Shuyu pack, she felt half of her pent-up anger finally dissipate, a smug, mean-spirited triumph spreading across her face. “Know your place and get out of here. Don’t ever come back.”
Ji Meiling crossed her arms, gloating. “Hmph, you country bumpkin. Go eat dirt in the countryside.”
Ji Shuyu ignored their taunts.
The disappearing ink would fade completely in less than three hours. She needed to leave quickly.
“Oh, by the way, I’ve already arranged everything with the state-owned department store. Just go tomorrow and give them your name,” Ji Shuyu said as she left, throwing one last trap for Ji Meiling.
Ji Meiling raised her chin arrogantly, not even bothering to respond.
Ji Shuyu shouldered her bundle and walked out of the Ji family home without so much as a glance at the gleeful mother and daughter.
“Mom, she’s finally gone!” Ji Meiling jumped excitedly. “Hurry! Finish the paperwork for my job. I need to report to the department store!”
“Yes, yes, of course!” Lin Xiumei was equally thrilled, as if she could already see her daughter dressed in the uniform of a department store salesclerk, looking proud and distinguished.
She immediately grabbed Ji Meiling. “Come on, Mom will take you to get the paperwork done now, and we’ll submit that agreement signed by that little wench while we’re at it. Let’s make it official.”
After the two of them left, Ji Shuyu returned to the Ji house.
More than half the things in this house had belonged to Su Wanning. She wasn’t about to let them off easily.
Ji Shuyu directly initiated clearance mode. Everything in sight was converted into points, leaving nothing behind.
The system’s notification tones rang incessantly in Ji Shuyu’s mind.
Anything of value, anything that could be exchanged for points, vanished completely.
Only the bare walls, floors, and some truly worthless items remained.
In an instant, the entire Ji household went from a relatively well-off middle-class family to being utterly destitute and empty enough to race horses through.
[This exchange round obtained total points: 3000 points]
[Current total points: 7700.9 points]
[Mall auto-upgrade, discount coupon deduction, total deduction: 0.9 points]
[Mall upgrade successful! Current Level: Lv.2. Storage space expanded to 5 cubic meters]
[Exchange ratio upgraded: 1:30]
Awesome! So damn satisfying!
Not only had she taken back everything Lin Xiumei and her daughter had seized from the original host’s mother over the years, with interest, but she had also scraped away their own private hoards.
Her points soared straight to over seven thousand. While it still wasn’t enough for big-ticket items, at least her storage space and the mall had leveled up.
This feeling was even more refreshing and exhilarating than drinking a bowl of iced sour plum soup on a scorching summer day.
“When you two come back and see this ‘surprise,’ the looks on your faces will be priceless, right? I’d really love to see it in person!”
But now wasn’t the time to stick around for the show.
Ji Shuyu took one last look at this now hollowed-out place, her eyes cold.
“This damned place—staying a second longer feels filthy!”
Without the slightest hesitation, she turned and strode out of the Ji family door once more. This time, it was a true farewell.
Meanwhile, Lin Xiumei and Ji Meiling were still unaware of all this.
They rushed excitedly to the neighborhood office. Lin Xiumei, with a fawning expression, handed the agreement to the clerk. “Comrade, our Ji Shuyu is volunteering to go to the countryside. She’s already signed, you see…”
The clerk took it and began the routine check.
When she flipped to the signature page, her brow suddenly furrowed in confusion. She held it up to the light, looking at it again and again. “This… where’s the signature? Why is this a blank sheet of paper?”
“What?”
Lin Xiumei and Ji Meiling shrieked simultaneously, lunging forward to snatch the paper.
Where Ji Shuyu’s signature should have been, there was now nothing.
Not a trace of the signature, not even a hint of ink remained. It was as clean as a brand-new sheet.
“Impossible! I watched her sign it, right there!” Lin Xiumei frantically pointed at the blank spot. Was she blind? Could she have been mistaken?
Ji Meiling was also dumbfounded, her mind a complete blank. “How could this happen? How could this happen…”
The clerk tapped the table impatiently. “Comrade, how can we process this without a signature? What kind of game are you playing? Going to the countryside is a serious matter!”
“It was her! It must have been her! Ji Shuyu played a trick! She used some kind of sorcery!” Ji Meiling shouted hysterically, drawing strange looks from people around them.
“Sorcery? It seems to me you’re the ones trying to evade going to the countryside!” The clerk’s face darkened.
“Comrade Ji Meiling, your job assignment has been finalized for a long time. You’ve been delaying reporting for duty, and now you’re pulling this stunt? Evading the ‘Up to the Mountains, Down to the Countryside’ movement is a question of ideological consciousness!”
“I remember it was you in your family who was supposed to go to the countryside. How did it change to someone else?”
Hearing this, Ji Meiling’s vision went dark, and she nearly collapsed.
“No, Comrade, please let me explain, we were tricked…” Lin Xiumei was so frantic she became incoherent. She simply couldn’t figure out where the writing on a black-and-white document could have gone.
“Tricked? Who tricked you? Me?”
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