The whole family had a tacit understanding not to go out anymore.
After finishing their workout, both Mom and Dad were so exhausted they could barely get up.
“I’m dying from the heat!” Jiang Gan was drenched in sweat, sprawled on the floor with a look of despair.
Jiang Lang laughed. “Cherish these few days of warmth.”
In a few more days, they wouldn’t be able to experience it anymore. They would miss it dearly.
Jiang Lang went into the kitchen and prepared the ingredients: ribs, fish, crayfish, vegetables, lotus root, and chopped scallions, ginger, and garlic.
Today, she planned to make a huge feast: lotus root rib soup, braised pork, pickled cabbage fish, and stir-fried cabbage.
She had seen a food blogger she followed make these dishes recently. She wasn’t a complete beginner in the kitchen, but her skills had become rusty, so she pulled out her iPad and searched for tutorials.
She blanched the ribs and pork, filled the soup pot with water, then added the lotus root and ribs. After simmering for over half an hour, it would be ready just as she finished the other dishes.
Madam Bai liked soup, and so did she. It tasted great and was easy to make.
She cut the pork belly into large chunks, poured oil into the pan, added the meat, then soy sauces and seasonings for color and flavor before letting it stew.
The rich aroma of meat quickly filled the kitchen and drifted all the way into the living room.
The other three waited hungrily.
Jiang Lang was full of energy as she finished the remaining dishes.
Her memories of surviving the apocalypse in her previous life were still vivid. Food had been scarce, and they had stuffed anything filthy or rotten into their stomachs just to survive.
Compared to that, life now was simply blissful.
Jiang Lang tasted the rib soup.
So fragrant!
Although the aroma was subtle, the flavor was rich, combining the freshness of lotus root with the savory taste of ribs. It was incredible.
“Dinner’s ready!”
The other three helped carry the dishes to the table, and everyone immediately started eating.
“Our daughter’s cooking has improved!”
They started praising her before even taking a bite.
One bite of braised pork, one spoonful of fresh soup—it was amazing.
The three of them lit up with delight.
“This is so delicious!”
Jiang Lang grumbled inwardly. Obviously they were just too hungry. When you’re starving, everything tastes good.
Still, being praised made her happy.
After all the exercise, the four of them had much bigger appetites. Combined with Jiang Lang’s fairly decent cooking, all five dishes were completely wiped clean.
The fastest eater among them was Jiang Lang.
The others probably couldn’t understand that every single moment of eating was pure enjoyment.
Every bite she put into her mouth, every chew, every swallow, every moment of fullness—it all felt incredibly blissful.
After dinner, Jiang Lang returned to her room to rest.
All the jade had been exchanged for points. Li Bao’s jade collection had also been delivered, adding another five hundred points in total.
She hadn’t expected Li Bao’s private stash to be so extensive.
As she touched the jade absentmindedly, she suddenly remembered that her phone was still in the living room, so she quickly opened the door and walked out.
The moment she stepped outside, she ran into Madam Bai, who seemed to be holding her phone and reading something.
“Mom.”
Madam Bai looked at her with an extremely complicated expression.
Complicated, shocked, incredulous, suspicious…
Her gaze was indescribable.
Jiang Lang’s heart skipped a beat. A bad feeling rose within her.
She took the phone and saw a message.
An unknown number.
But she knew exactly who it was from.
Li Mei.
【Jiang Lang, you’re a demon. Even if I become a ghost, I won’t let you go. You murderer! Nearly stabbing me to death wasn’t enough—you even tried to kill my father! Why don’t you go to hell…】
The rest was filled with curses.
The intense malice and hatred practically seeped through the screen.
Jiang Lang’s face turned pale.
“You saw it?”
She had blocked Li Mei before, but she hadn’t expected her to use another number.
“What exactly is going on? Why is she calling you a murderer?”
Jiang Lang lowered her head silently.
She had hidden this matter all along.
Killing someone…
It hadn’t simply been self-defense. She had actively tried to kill.
She was no longer the innocent daughter who needed her parents’ protection.
She had become a murderer.
A monster.
She was afraid to see that strange look in her mother’s eyes.
Afraid her mother would think she had become a bad person.
Madam Bai covered her eyes and face as she burst into tears.
“Mom, don’t cry. I’ll tell you everything.”
Madam Bai lowered her hands, revealing a face full of pain, complexity, and heartache.
She trusted her daughter unconditionally.
But Jiang Lang really had stabbed someone.
So what exactly had happened to push her daughter this far?
What had those people done to her?
She wanted to know.
“Alright.”
Jiang Lang told her everything about Li Mei’s school bullying before the apocalypse in her previous life and how she had caused her younger brother’s death, leaving out not a single detail.
Madam Bai cried even harder and pulled Jiang Lang tightly into her arms, filled with guilt and heartache.
No wonder her daughter had always glossed over what happened in the previous life and never mentioned how the family died.
“I’m sorry.”
Only at this moment did Madam Bai truly realize how much parents’ neglect could affect a child.
Her heart felt shattered.
Her poor daughter had silently endured so much while she knew absolutely nothing.
“What you did was right. If it were me, I would’ve done the same thing.”
Once again, Madam Bai deeply realized how cruel the apocalypse truly was.
Sometimes, when others wanted to harm them, they would also need to pick up weapons and kill in self-defense.
Jiang Lang obediently rested in Madam Bai’s embrace.
Sometimes she had resented her parents, but the resentment always faded quickly.
Her mother truly loved her.
She had given her such a privileged life. Although she hadn’t had much free time, nearly all of it had been spent accompanying the siblings.
She had been responsible.
The best mother.
At this moment, Jiang Lang finally felt at peace.
“Then… how did your father and I die?”
“We were driven out after Uncle’s family took over the house. Then the remaining food was stolen, and you both died from illness.”
Madam Bai froze for a second.
The disbelief in her eyes quickly transformed into rising fury and hatred.
“Open the door! Bai Mingzhen! Get out here right now!” Bai Mingzhen was Madam Bai’s full name.
At that moment, a familiar voice rang out from beyond the iron gate.
Her aunt’s loud voice…
It really had been a long time since they’d heard it.