“Big brother, you have to help me this time. For the sake of our late parents, you have to help me. We’re own flesh and blood!”
Listening to the same words repeated over and over, Qin Sang yawned again. Heaven knew—she had been sleeping soundly. Then, in the middle of the night, her dear Second Uncle had come skulking to their door. His purpose was simple: to ask her father to use his space to transport the supplies they had stored elsewhere and deliver them to the newly dug basement at their house.
On the surface, it sounded like nothing—just asking her father to use his space for one transport job. But Second Uncle’s creditors were scattered all over the village. If her father was caught helping him, he’d likely get beaten up by those creditors.
After all, just a few hours ago, their family had made it clear in the village group chat that they had nothing to do with Second Uncle’s family. And now they’d be helping this very uncle—who claimed all his supplies had been stolen—transport his goods?
Only someone with a hole in their head would agree to that.
Unfortunately for Second Uncle, her father’s head was perfectly fine. So Second Uncle was destined to be disappointed.
“Is it about money? Big brother, it’s just transporting things a short distance. I’m not even renting your space. There’s no need to be so calculative about it!”
Dad Qin had been holding back for a long time, sweat beading on his face from the effort. Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore.
“Go, go, go. I can’t help you with this. Half the village is looking for you to repay their debts. If you had any conscience, you’d use some of those supplies to pay them back. But you won’t. So there’s nothing to say. Leave! For the sake of us being brothers, let’s pretend you never came tonight.”
With that, Dad Qin unceremoniously pushed him out the door.
Mom Qin curled her lip. “See, Sangsang? Your Second Uncle is going to keep stirring up trouble.”
Qin Sang shrugged. “We’re not getting involved in their affairs.”
——
With a loud crash, a folding chair hit the floor, smashed by Qin Wenbang.
“Rejected again! Just a small favor, and they won’t help! So the eldest uncle’s family has completely turned against us, have they? Hmph, the apocalypse is coming, and they still dare to be this arrogant. After the apocalypse, let’s see how they survive without a son!”
In Qin Wenbang’s mind, the apocalypse would be a dog-eat-dog world. The weak—old people, women, children—would certainly be the first to die. The eldest uncle’s family had all three categories covered. They definitely wouldn’t last long. If they weren’t sucking up to him now, they’d die without even knowing how.
Hmph! Qin Wenbang gritted his teeth viciously. It would be better if the eldest uncle’s family died sooner. Then their supplies would become his family’s.
“Dad, can’t we find someone else to transport the supplies?” After cursing his uncle’s family in his heart, Qin Wenbang looked sourly at his father.
Second Uncle Qin shook his head. “We can’t trust anyone else. You know how things are out there. The authorities are strictly controlling supplies. Many people have money but can’t buy much. Our family was lucky—thanks to your prophetic dream, we were able to prepare so many supplies ahead of time. Even though the ones at home were stolen, we still have half left in the warehouse.”
Thinking back on these past days, Second Uncle Qin felt exhausted.
The stolen supplies, the creditors hounding him—as the head of the family, he had borne the brunt of the pressure. The recent zero-yuan shopping incidents had left the family too scared to sleep, terrified that the supplies in the warehouse would be cleaned out.
Although the authorities were cracking down on zero-yuan shopping, he still couldn’t rest easy unless the supplies were right under his nose. And today, when he made his usual circuit near the warehouse, he had spotted some unfamiliar faces from a distance.
After mulling it over, he felt uneasy. That was why he had gone to his elder brother late at night. And his brother had rejected him outright. A flicker of resentment crossed Second Uncle Qin’s eyes.
But he couldn’t ask anyone else for help. Aside from his elder brother, there was no one he could trust.
His elder brother might have his flaws, but he wasn’t the type to covet another’s supplies. The man was stubborn—even if he starved, he wouldn’t take advantage of anyone. So he tried to reason with his son:
“Forget it for tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll buy some gifts and go see your elder uncle again. He’s honest—he won’t try to take our supplies. Your aunt has a sharp tongue, but she’s above doing that sort of thing. And even Qin Sang, the college student, seems principled. So, Aqiang, asking anyone else just isn’t reliable.”
Hearing his father’s long-winded speech, Qin Wenbang closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.
——
“Give me a bottle of Tsingtao…”
“What? One hundred a bottle? Why don’t you just rob me?”
Cursing under his breath, Qin Wenbang still forked over the money. As he twisted off the cap, he surveyed the various goods on display at the counter. The shop had quite a lot of stuff. Too bad it was outrageously expensive.
Rumor had it the owner himself was a wholesaler, which was how he had so much stock.
“Qin Wenbang, I thought you said you had no money?”
Just as Qin Wenbang was fantasizing about all those supplies becoming his, Qin Wenqiang’s angry voice came from behind.
“And you’re not the one whose parents are out doing hard labor because you’re so poor? How do you have money to buy things here? Your parents must have done something truly terrible in a past life to end up with an unfilial son like you. They’d have been better off giving birth to a piece of barbecued pork.”
The two immediately started bickering in the store, but it didn’t last long before the muscular bouncer tossed them both out.
The two men, who had just been acting tough, didn’t dare make a peep.
This shop could operate so openly, had a reliable supply chain, and dared to charge such high prices—the owner clearly had deep connections. They had both come after seeing someone share the shop in the village group chat, just to see what it was like. There was no way they’d dare offend such a big shot.
Tossed out, neither dared to pick a fight with the muscular bouncer. But since they couldn’t stand the sight of each other either, they started fighting right there in the street.
One cursed the other for being a black-hearted swindler who tricked him into buying a crappy house. The other called the first a cuckold for having a girlfriend who stole supplies and ran off.
In short, the two treated each other like mortal enemies and went at it. Unfortunately, both were weaklings. After less than ten minutes, they were both panting and had to stop, resorting to trading insults.
Finally, Qin Wenqiang spoke: “Qin Wenbang, I’ve taken pictures of you at this shop. I can choose not to post them in the village group chat. But first, you need to compensate me with some money. I don’t want your crappy house.”
Hearing the threat, Qin Wenbang snapped back to his senses. If the villagers found out he could afford a hundred-yuan bottle of beer, they’d probably tear his house apart.
“Fine. What do you want?” Qin Wenbang’s brain kicked back into gear, and he asked directly about Qin Wenqiang’s intentions.
Hearing that there was a possibility, a glint of glee flashed in Qin Wenqiang’s eyes. “I know you don’t have supplies or much money. I don’t want to drive you to ruin. Here’s the deal—give me a few pieces of your family’s jade to cover the debt.”
The request made Qin Wenbang frown. Jade wasn’t edible or drinkable. Why would Qin Wenqiang want it? This guy was cunning. Why would he be asking for this at a time like this?
Qin Wenbang had a sharp sense that something was off. But his brainpower was limited, and he couldn’t figure out what was really going on.
His family used to have jade, but they had pawned it all to hoard more supplies. Now that Qin Wenqiang wanted some, he really couldn’t produce any. But he didn’t have any—his elder uncle’s family did. If he remembered correctly, when his biased grandfather died, he had left a jade pendant to his elder uncle.
“Fine, I agree.”
After all, everything from his elder uncle’s family would be his sooner or later. Besides, jade wasn’t worth as much as a bag of rice these days. He was only asking for some jade. If his uncle had any sense, he’d hand it over. Then, if his uncle ever really ran into trouble, Qin Wenbang might even bother to take a look.
Of course, agreeing was one thing. Qin Wenbang planned to get the jade first and then try to pry information out of Qin Wenqiang. For a sneaky rat like Qin Wenqiang to want jade, it must have some hidden value he didn’t know about.
Meanwhile, Qin Wenqiang was secretly delighted that Qin Wenbang had agreed. He had been busy chasing after jade lately. Although the stuff wasn’t worth much, it wasn’t like he could get it for free.
Now, with this idiot Qin Wenbang, he might actually get something good. He distinctly remembered that Qin Sang’s family next door also had jade. Once he got his hands on the goods, he could slowly squeeze Qin Wenbang, that piece of trash.
The two men, each with their own ulterior motives, exchanged smiles, both convinced they could outsmart the other.
——
“Achoo…” Qin Sang woke up early in the morning feeling a dry, itchy nose. Over the past few days, daytime temperatures had broken fifty degrees. Nights were better, but still over forty. So the air conditioning in the house hadn’t stopped for a moment. As a result, the constant AC had left her nose feeling dry and uncomfortable.
She looked through the floor-to-ceiling windows at the blazing sun outside and sighed. She still found it hard to imagine just how unbearable the so-called high temperature would actually be.
Fifty-something degrees already made it impossible for humans to stay outside for long during the day.
But she had something to do today, so she had to go out.
Just as she was eating breakfast, someone arrived downstairs.
Qin Sang looked at her cousin Qin Wenbang, who stood at the door with a perfectly natural expression. She truly admired his thick skin. She hadn’t forgotten how ugly his face was a few days ago when he came to borrow money and got rejected.
“What are you here for?”
Her house was a self-built property. There were small open spaces in the front and back, all enclosed with the house inside a wall. The wall had been raised, and the large iron gate had been replaced with an extremely sturdy one. Right now, she only opened the small door within the iron gate, easily blocking Qin Wenbang at the entrance.
Seeing himself blocked, Qin Wenbang reached out to push Qin Sang aside. What he didn’t know was that although Qin Sang didn’t look particularly imposing, she was very strong. She grabbed his wrist, twisted it back, and pushed—sending him stumbling back several steps and falling flat on the ground.
“Qin Sang, are you crazy? I came all the way here to see Uncle, and instead of welcoming me, you push me down?”
Qin Sang chuckled dryly. “It’s hot out. If you have nothing to do, I’m going back inside. There’s no one around, so stop putting on a show.”
Realizing this, Qin Wenbang looked around and saw that the street was indeed empty. Calming down, he remembered why he had come.
He couldn’t forget the most important thing.
Forcing a stiff smile despite the pain from his fall, he said, “Sangsang, oh Sangsang. Is Uncle home? I really do have something I want to talk to him about.”
Qin Sang had no patience left to entertain him. “Qin Wenbang, how many times have I told you? Our families are done. We haven’t even told anyone about Uncle’s visit last night. If you keep bothering us, don’t blame me for getting rough.”
Direct threats were the most effective. Qin Sang wanted nothing to do with her Second Uncle’s family. People like them were especially prone to stabbing their own relatives in the back during an apocalypse.
Knowing that playing the family card was useless, Qin Wenbang dropped the act and said bluntly, “I came to buy the jade pendant Grandpa left to Uncle back then.”
Hearing the words “jade pendant,” Qin Sang grew wary and frowned. “A jade pendant? Does Qin Wenbang know something?”
“No.” Whatever Qin Wenbang’s goal was, Qin Sang rejected it outright. The jade pendant their grandfather had left behind was still with them, stored in her space. It was a keepsake her father wanted to keep. There was no way she was giving it to Qin Wenbang.
Qin Wenbang didn’t lose his temper at being rejected. Truth be told, he had been rejected so many times by now that he was used to it.
“I’m not asking for it for free. I’ll pay for it with money.”
“I said no, and that means no. If you keep running your mouth, believe me, I’ll kick you all the way back to your own house!” Qin Sang was fed up with arguing with this man. It was like talking to a brick wall.
“Fine, fine. So my own grandfather’s keepsake—I can’t even buy it with money, is that it? Alright, just you wait. Let’s see how you weaklings survive the apocalypse. Don’t come crying to me later!”
Frustrated and humiliated by the rejection, Qin Wenbang could only hurl empty threats.
Qin Sang watched his furious retreating figure and let out a derisive snort. Someone like him? She’d never rely on him. Hah.
But come to think of it, Qin Wenbang’s sudden request for the jade pendant was highly suspicious, no matter how she looked at it.
She still had quite a few pieces of jade that she had gotten from Qu Meijing. She hadn’t yet decided what to do with them. If the secret that spaces came from jade ever got out, the jade in her hands would become incredibly valuable.
——
“Damn it, damn it, damn it all…”
Qin Wenbang cursed under his breath as he walked home. His life had been nothing but bad luck lately. Apart from the two days following his prophetic dream, when he had felt like he was on the path to becoming a winner in life, everything else had been nothing but trouble.
It was all the fault of the heavens, his elder uncle, and Qin Sang.
Hmph, don’t look down on a young man just because he’s poor. Qin Wenbang just hadn’t found the right opportunity yet. When the apocalypse came, that would be his moment to rise!
Qin Wenbang spent the entire walk home lost in his own fantasies, thinking about all his recent misfortunes.
It all came down to the fact that he didn’t have a space.
If he had a space, his supplies wouldn’t have been stolen. If he had a space, he wouldn’t have to grovel before his uncle’s family. If he had a space, he wouldn’t be afraid of Qin Wenqiang exposing that he still had money.
In short, everything came back to not having a space.
If only he could somehow take someone else’s space!
The more Qin Wenbang thought about it, the more unhinged he became. Then, at his front door, he spotted Qin Yonghua.
This kid was still in high school—barely even had his peach fuzz. And yet he dared to come to their house and cause trouble, again and again. Last time, when that Manman woman stole all their supplies, this kid was partly to blame. Qin Wenbang remembered how Qin Yonghua had blocked him and even split his forehead open.
Then he remembered that Qin Yonghua had registered as having a space. And then he thought about the video games he had been playing lately. Desperate for a space, a sudden, twisted idea popped into Qin Wenbang’s head.
Right! Why hadn’t he thought of it before?
Qin Wenbang smacked his own head, then put on a smile as he watched Qin Yonghua charge toward him.
“You’re Hua Zi, right? You’re here to collect a debt, aren’t you?”
Qin Yonghua frowned at the fake smile plastered on Qin Wenbang’s face.
“Didn’t you already know that? Why are you even asking? Just give me back my family’s supplies already!”
Qin Yonghua wasn’t stupid. His family had lent Qin Wenbang tens of thousands of yuan back when prices were low and there were no purchase limits. That same amount of money couldn’t buy the same amount of supplies now. He wasn’t an idiot—of course he wanted supplies, not cash. He had come many times before and been rejected each time. This was the first time Qin Wenbang had been this cooperative.
“Yes, yes, I know this is my fault. Look, why don’t you come inside with me and let’s talk it over. We can work out a solution we can both accept…”
With that, Qin Wenbang tried to pull Qin Yonghua toward the house.
——
“Hey, hey, hey! What do you think you’re doing? Hua Zi, come here.”
Just as Qin Yonghua was about to be dragged inside, Qin Wenfa’s gruff voice sounded from behind.
Qin Wenbang looked up and immediately saw Qin Wenfa. And behind Qin Wenfa stood Qin Sang.
You again!
Qin Wenbang seethed inwardly. The brilliant idea he had just come up with was ruined because of Qin Sang.
If Qin Sang knew what Qin Wenbang was thinking at that moment, she would have kicked him without hesitation. But even without knowing, she could see the deep malice in his eyes—first directed at Qin Yonghua, and now at her.
She knew who Qin Yonghua was—the high school student who had come to their house to cause trouble. She had heard that he had been showing up at her second uncle’s house frequently to demand repayment. She hadn’t expected Qin Wenbang to be so deranged as to harbor murderous intentions toward a high schooler.
Yes, that was right. Murderous intentions.
Although Qin Sang had never killed anyone, she could sense that kind of malice.
If she and Brother Fa hadn’t happened to pass by, Qin Yonghua might very well have been killed. All over a debt? How could anyone be so vicious?
Qin Sang made a mental note of this. As soon as her parents returned home with their space care package, she would tell them. From now on, they needed to stay as far away from Qin Wenbang as possible.
Qin Yonghua had no idea he had just narrowly escaped death. Hearing Uncle Fa from the patrol team tell him to go home, he obediently nodded. In truth, he, too, had felt a chill run down his spine just now.
After sending Qin Yonghua off, Qin Wenfa warned Qin Wenbang: “Bangzi, I don’t know what’s going on in your head. But don’t you lay a hand on anyone in this village.”
Leave a Reply