When Zhou Jiayue returned home, she discovered that Zhou Jiajun had already arrived before her.
However, he looked as though he was about to head out again.
The moment Zhou Jiajun saw Zhou Jiayue, he immediately came over. After sneaking a glance at the bedroom of their parents, he lowered his voice and asked, “Sis, did you make Mom angry today?”
Zhou Jiayue pursed her lips without explaining and simply asked, “Where are you going?”
“Mom just gave me twenty yuan and told me to eat something outside tonight. She did not cook dinner…”
“Sis, Mom does not look like she is in a very good mood. If you made her angry, hurry up and apologize. Mom will forgive you.”
“Hmm, I know. Go eat first. You still have evening self study later.”
After sending Zhou Jiajun away, Zhou Jiayue went into the kitchen and got to work.
She was not very good at cooking, but she could at least make noodles.
More than ten minutes later, Zhou Jiayue carried a bowl of steaming noodles to Wang Yumei’s room and knocked on the door.
“Who is it? Old Zhou?”
“Mom…”
There was immediate silence inside.
Zhou Jiayue sighed and pushed open the door while carrying the noodles. “Mom, I made some noodles…”
Wang Yumei was lying on her side on the bed without saying a word. She was still angry.
Zhou Jiayue placed the noodles on the bedside table and sat down beside Wang Yumei.
After thinking about it, she decided to clarify everything.
“Mom, I actually lied to you at noon. I did not take out a high interest loan. I was wrong. Please do not be angry with me.”
She had already thought everything through while making the noodles.
Now that she had the system, she could obtain points and exchange them for money by collecting books.
There was still more than a month before the apocalypse truly arrived, so she had enough time to prepare for it.
Therefore, if that lie was making her mother suffer so much, and she now had another way to accomplish what she needed, she chose to tell her the truth, even if doing so would make things much harder for herself.
Who could have known that the moment Wang Yumei heard Zhou Jiayue’s words, she would immediately associate her daughter with those university students who had hidden the truth from their parents, eventually becoming unable to bear the burden and choosing to end their own lives?
Her heart clenched, and the worry in her heart was instantly replaced by another kind of concern.
She sat up. Although her eyes were still somewhat swollen, she took Zhou Jiayue’s hand and forced herself to put on a comforting smile.
“Jiayue, Mom was too impulsive earlier. Mom should not have hit you. Do not be afraid. If we owe money, we will pay it back. Your father and I will find a way. Whatever you do, do not let your thoughts run wild!”
“Mom, I really did not…”
“Alright, Mom understands. Did you not make noodles? Let Mom try them and see whether you have improved.”
Zhou Jiayue could tell that Wang Yumei was avoiding the subject. She scratched her head. It seemed that her mother had gotten herself stuck in a dead end and was convinced that she really had taken out a high interest loan.
What was she supposed to do?
Still, at least her mother was willing to eat.
Zhou Jiayue quickly brought the noodles over to Wang Yumei and thoughtfully placed a tray underneath the bowl.
“Jiayue, have you eaten?”
“Not yet…”
“Then let us eat together. I cannot finish this whole bowl.”
“Okay.”
Zhou Jiayue had been worried that Wang Yumei would go hungry, and the bowl really was quite large. Hearing this, she went to get another bowl and a pair of chopsticks.
After finishing the noodles together with Wang Yumei, Zhou Jiayue carried the tray away and collected the dishes and chopsticks.
She was still somewhat worried about Wang Yumei’s condition, so she reminded her, “Mom, call me if anything happens. I will be in my room.”
Wang Yumei nodded. “Hmm, okay. Mom knows.”
Seeing that Wang Yumei seemed somewhat absent minded, Zhou Jiayue frowned, but soon sighed.
Forget it. After some time passed, her mother would naturally realize that she really had not taken out a high interest loan.
After washing the dishes and chopsticks, Zhou Jiayue noticed that there were still a few noodles left in the pot. She did not know when Old Zhou would return, so she wrote a note and stuck it to the refrigerator door to remind him that there were still noodles in the pot.
After cleaning the kitchen, Zhou Jiayue returned to her room. Once she had washed up, she sat on her bed and reviewed everything that had happened that day.
Reviewing things afterward was a habit she had developed since childhood. It helped her reduce the chances of repeating her mistakes.
The appearance of the Golden House System had given her greater confidence and courage in facing the apocalypse.
But there was one thing worth paying attention to. The system’s very first statement was this: The Golden House System was dedicated to the continuation of civilization.
Could the continuation of civilization really depend only on preserving books?
Did those words have some deeper meaning?
Also, while she was at the book stall today, she had discovered another rule of the system. Identical books only counted as one book. Even if the system collected them, the points would not accumulate.
She would need to pay attention to this when collecting books in the future so that she would not waste time and energy.
At the same time, she had obtained an Interstitial Space of one hundred cubic meters.
The Interstitial Space looked like a tiny sapling that had just begun to sprout. It quietly stood within her mind, alongside the little golden house and the little shop.
Zhou Jiayue looked at the little golden house in the middle and rubbed her chin. She took out a cup of water and wanted to see whether the little golden house could store something other than books, but she failed.
Zhou Jiayue sighed with emotion. Fortunately, she had decisively purchased the Interstitial Space.
After reviewing everything she had gained that day, Zhou Jiayue opened the system shop again and turned to the last page. Sure enough, the Interstitial Space had already returned to its original price of one million points.
Tsk!
Zhou Jiayue clutched her chest and asked the system, “Little Yellow, if the shop has another discount or flash sale like this in the future, can you tell me in advance?”
Golden House: …
【Host, you should not have a speculative mindset.】
Zhou Jiayue: …
Fine, fine, you are so noble!
She had only just been reborn today, yet she had already rented a house, gathered information, compared supply prices at the supermarket, and run back and forth to the book stall. Zhou Jiayue was completely exhausted and soon fell asleep in bed.
Zhou Lihua had been coming home quite late these past few days. There was no helping it. His workplace had suddenly received notice that provincial leaders would be coming to inspect their work the following week, so everyone at the entire workplace was on edge and working overtime to quickly make up for whatever was lacking.
Otherwise, if anything was not done properly, not only would it leave a bad record with the provincial leaders, his own superiors would not let him off easily either. It was giving him quite a headache.
After Zhou Lihua returned home, he saw the note Zhou Jiayue had left on the refrigerator. His heart warmed.
His daughter really had not been raised in vain.
Even though he had already eaten at work, Zhou Lihua still scooped up all the noodles left in the pot and ate them.
He had lived through difficult times when he was young, so the habit of never wasting food had already been ingrained in him.
The weather was hot as well, but the noodles were still warm by then.
After finishing the noodles, Zhou Lihua took a quick shower and climbed into bed, preparing to sleep.
Around nine thirty, Zhou Jiajun returned home after evening self study.
The house was completely dark, and no one had left a light on for him that day.
Wang Yumei had been preoccupied all day and had forgotten about it.
As for Zhou Lihua, he had completely forgotten that he still had a son who was out at evening self study and had not yet returned.
As for Zhou Jiayue, well, she had already fallen asleep half an hour earlier.
Zhou Jiajun scratched his head in the darkness at the doorway. Seeing that no one had left a light on, he realized that everyone at home had probably already gone to sleep.
So he changed his shoes and quietly returned to his room by himself, making sure not to cause too much noise and disturb the others.
In the middle of the night, Wang Yumei tossed and turned in bed, waking Zhou Lihua.
Still half asleep, he asked, “What is it? Why are you so wide awake in the middle of the night?”
Wang Yumei turned over again and let out a faint sigh.
“Old Zhou, I want to sell the house.”
Zhou Lihua was still groggy with sleep, and his mind had not fully awakened. He answered without thinking.
“If you want to sell it, then sell it…”
“…Hmm?”
It took quite a while for his brain to process what he had just heard. Zhou Lihua suddenly opened his eyes wide.
“What did you say? Sell the house?!”