I Am Cultivating in the Apocalypse

Chapter 777: Farewell, Heading Out to Establish the Next Cigarette Factory!

After all this fuss, he’s not even old enough yet. So what was everyone getting so worked up about? Such a waste of emotion.

The scene became very awkward and dead silent. Wu Dahai’s face turned the color of pig’s liver, and Wu You’ai burst out laughing with a PFFT, breaking the silence.

"Exactly, Jing Shu is right. Wait until you live to be sixty. It’s soon enough, just three years. I look forward to Mr. Wu Dahai making it to sixty, oh," Wu You’ai said, her eyes narrowing as she sized up Wu Dahai, then the Wu Family.

Just moments ago, she had been so enraged that she lost her composure and wasn’t thinking straight. Her usually calm and intelligent self found this matter with her birth father something she simply couldn’t reconcile, leaving her filled with unabated anger.

The teacher said to follow your heart, so I shall...

Good deeds are rewarded, and evil deeds meet retribution. Wu Dahai’s retribution is her, Wu You’ai.

"I hope that during this time, none of you try to do anything using any of our names. Otherwise, the consequences will be very! Severe!" Wu You’ai made a gesture, pointing two fingers at her own eyes and then at the Wu Family members. "I’ll be watching you closely."

Jing Shu looked at Wu You’ai with some concern. Has this child figured something out, or what? Wu You’ai had suddenly become overly excited. Jing Shu gently shook her arm. "How about changing your last name? If you submit the paperwork now, it could be approved by tomorrow. You’ve already proven that their rejecting you back then was their loss. There’s no need to constantly remind yourself of it."

Wu You’ai shook her head and laughed again. "Changing my surname won’t change the past, nor the blood in my veins. Why run away? Since they keep insisting I’m part of the Wu Family, wouldn’t it be a shame not to truly be one of them?"

The Wu Family members had a faint, uneasy feeling but couldn’t quite articulate it. This was supposed to be a good thing, wasn’t it?

So, Wu You’ai’s way of thinking truly was different from ordinary people’s.

Jing Shu had initially worried that these people would stick to them like a stubborn rash, causing a lot more trouble. But now, it seemed the Wu Family was in for some misfortune.

Since that was the case, Jing Shu decided not to concern herself with it further. She left, taking Ahua, an employee she hadn’t met before, with her.

"You’re Ahua, right? Thank you for stepping forward this time. If it hadn’t been for you, this situation could have escalated," Jing Shu said, smiling as she observed the middle-aged woman before her. The woman was thinly dressed and wore sandals woven from reeds.

The woman smiled shyly. "It was the least I could do," she said. She was incredibly grateful to her boss. If not for her, how could she have survived the apocalypse, let alone provide for her child and elderly mother? Life was a bit tight, but otherwise, everything was fine.

No wonder she never wore the work shoes provided by the factory as part of her benefits.

Jing Shu quickly learned about Ahua’s position and her upcoming transfer to the Nanhai Cigarette Factory.

A three-star core employee, good! Has family ties, good! Only wants to make money and isn’t interested in other things, very good!

"Ahua, would you like to be promoted another star? And take over as factory director at a different Cigarette Factory branch?"

"I dream of it!" The woman was no longer shy.

"But it might be more dangerous there..."

"Boss, I’m not afraid of danger! As long as I can provide a good life for my mother and my daughter!"

"Alright, then you’ll take charge of the Yun Gui Branch Factory. Ever since the apocalypse, it’s never been very peaceful there. It’s manageable for ordinary people, but it’s also an essential route for smugglers and a distribution hub... I also have some tasks for you..."

"The security forces there should be triple that of an ordinary factory. Wu City will provide you with some firearms."

"After you arrive, don’t rush things. Once you’re settled, start gathering information about these distribution hubs. You’ll do this, and this, and that..."

Ahua listened, dumbfounded. What? Is the boss planning to go after those criminals herself? To fight fire with fire? Even the local Township Government can’t control those people!

Jing Shu didn’t exactly intend to engage in a full-blown "dog-eat-dog" operation; it was more like... taking advantage of the opportunity along the way. And distance wasn’t an issue. If she got reliable intel, flying over in a helicopter would be no problem at all.

Jing Shu was, after all, someone who held grudges.

She was deploying these resources to set up the factory there primarily because Jun Bao’s reconnaissance indicated the presence—or at least the shadow—of the Wild Tribe in that area.

"Understood, Boss. I’ll entrust my elderly mother and daughter to your care once they reach the South Sea."

Having resolved a major concern, Jing Shu ate three extra-large bowls of rice for dinner, even though she had cooked the meal herself.

Why, you ask? Because Grandma Jing and Mr. Jing were still in line to collect their free multi-vitamin and calcium tablets and hadn’t returned yet.

These were distributed for free by the authorities—one collection per person each month. With so many members, the Jing Family could collect a total of... 77 tablets, worth 154 Virtual Coins.

So how could Grandma Jing possibly miss out on freebies?

Even though their family no longer needed them, collecting them to give as return gifts to relatives and friends who weren’t doing so well, especially during festivals or New Year, was still an excellent idea.

After all, if an acquaintance gave a gift worth around ten Virtual Coins, the Jing Family couldn’t very well reciprocate with something worth hundreds.

But the Jing Family truly didn’t possess anything inexpensive to give as return gifts! Every time it came to reciprocating, Grandma Jing would be utterly stumped, practically scratching her head in frustration.

Grandma Jing hadn’t been this exasperated since... well, the last time she’d been this exasperated.

Grandma Jing’s philosophy was to return a gift with something of roughly similar, perhaps slightly higher, value than what she received.

So why did Mr. Jing go too? To chat with people, of course...

Taking advantage of the empty house, Jing Shu quickly heated up some food while fully restocking all the necessary supplies and goods in the RV. She also added a dose of Spiritual Spring water to the water tanks, the fish tank, and for the chickens, ducks, fish, geese, cattle, sheep, and pigs, as well as to the mobile vegetable greenhouse.

She would be gone for such a long journey. Would her family eat and dress well in her absence? Would they encounter trouble on the road? With so many supplies, what if they ran into powerful robbers...

Jing Shu secretly topped up the family’s supplies here and there, deeply afraid they might run short of something or that Grandma Jing, in her frugality, wouldn’t let everyone use things freely.

The Jing Family spent the entire night preparing various things for Jing Shu, deeply worried that their girl would suffer hardships out on the road—not eating well, not dressing warmly, or lacking good provisions.

"It’s very humid in the south. We’ve made more chili sauce and salt and pepper. Take it all with you to eat."

"Being away from home isn’t like being here. We’ve made rich broth, frozen it into blocks for hot pot base; take plenty with you. Just heat it up and add whatever you like. You love beef rolls, so Grandpa specially made a meat slicer for you—it guarantees perfectly thin slices..."

"Daughter, we’ll be traveling with the main convoy, so it won’t be dangerous for us. Dad has detached the cannon from the RV for you. If you run into any fools on the road who don’t know their place, don’t hesitate to use it."

No, really, there’s no need...

How are things getting more and more outrageous? My family acts like they want to dismantle the entire RV for me to take! Jing Shu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

No matter how much they prepared, parting was inevitable.

Jing Shu packed the RV to the brim with supplies. She left behind plenty of weapons, the Hulk, and, secretly, the rotten mermaid. Finally, she bid farewell to her family once more.

"Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, You’ai! Third Aunt, Uncle, and I will go to the South Sea first to find a good place for us, acting as the vanguard. When you all arrive, you can move right in! I know, I know, Third Aunt will be there, and Uncle will look after me too. Okay, goodbye for now!"

With her group in tow, Jing Shu finally set off.