“Huo Tao, what kind of nonsense are you pulling now? Have you gone crazy for money? Don’t tell me you want to be a chef?”
“With the little money you have, you bought all this stuff? What a waste!”
Mother Huo’s heart ached as she stared at the brand-new pots, bowls, and utensils near Shen Guoguo’s hands.
Huo Hai’s chubby face quivered with anger just thinking about no longer having his fill of nutrient injections.
Though Huo Tao was now crippled, Huo Hai didn’t dare provoke him directly, so he turned on Shen Guoguo instead.
“You—dressing yourself up like some filthy butterfly! Hand over those nutrient injections!”
“You marry into our family, spend our money to buy things, and still want to eat our nutrient injections? How shameless can you be?”
The onlookers loved this kind of melodrama.
A delicate, pretty young wife vs. a fierce mother-in-law and troublesome brother-in-law—what better show to watch?
Shen Guoguo flicked her hand, tossing the chicken intestines into the basin with a splash.
People like Huo Mother and Huo Hai—greedy and self-serving—were useless to reason with.
She stood up, grabbed her newly bought kitchen knife, and strode toward Huo Hai.
“Filthy butterfly, huh? You’re right—your butterfly has arrived!”
“Huh?”
Huo Hai blinked, confused. “Butterfly?”
“Good boy!”
“You—f***! You looking for death?”
Even Huo Hai wasn’t slow enough not to realize she was teasing him. He rolled up his sleeves and lunged forward.
Shen Guoguo immediately raised her knife across her front. “If you bump into this yourself, don’t go crying to the patrol bots later!”
At the same time, Huo Tao rolled his wheelchair forward.“The money is mine. The nutrient injections are mine. I can give them to whoever I want.”
He couldn’t let Shen Guoguo get accused of murder.
“Heavens above! Such unfilial behavior!” Huo Mother wailed, dropping to the ground and pounding the floor. “I raised you! When you were hurt, it was your family that took care of you, and now you’ve married and forgotten your mother…”
Her shrill voice made Shen Guoguo’s ears ache.
Honestly, even in the wasteland era, old women’s tactics hadn’t changed one bit from ancient times—If you got tough, they’d talk reason; if you reasoned, they’d throw a fit.
And for this type, Shen Guoguo had plenty of experience—When words don’t work, use action.
She flung the knife onto the stainless-steel counter.
Damn it!
She forgot again—this wasn’t a wooden cutting board.
The blade clanged loudly and bounced right back up.
Shen Guoguo caught the handle smoothly, as if she’d done it a hundred times.
The move made Mother Huo’s eyelids twitch so hard she forgot to cry.
“Don’t throw around words like ‘filial’ to embarrass yourself. Look at my husband—he’s already like this. Don’t you think your son Huo Hai should show you more filial piety instead?”
Glancing at poor, pitiful Huo Tao beside her, a fierce protectiveness rose inside Shen Guoguo.
Her handsome husband—how could anyone bully him?
Huo Tao’s mind blanked the moment she called him “husband.”
“You two ganging up on Huo Tao—what kind of people are you?”
Huo Hai jabbed his finger right at her face. “Who are you calling that kind of people?”
“You, of course. What, didn’t hear me clearly? I can carve it on your tombstone if you’d like! Trash!” Shen Guoguo’s mouth was never one to lose a fight.
Seeing Huo Hai about to raise his hand again, she waved her knife.
【Beep, please make way!】【Beep, please make way!】
A chorus of mechanical voices sounded from outside the crowd—it was the Fengtu City security patrol bots.
Anytime their monitors detected an unusual gathering of people, they would arrive to investigate.
Unlike the shop-assistant robots, these were fully armed law-enforcement units.
Feeling he’d found reinforcements, Huo Hai rushed forward to complain.
“It’s her! She’s hogging my nutrient injections! She cursed at me and even threatened me with a knife!”
The robot’s red optical sensors flashed a few times as it scanned the scene.
Shen Guoguo wasn’t about to let him twist the story.
“Robot brother, first of all—this is my house. They came barging in to cause trouble. Look—this old lady is still rolling on the floor!”
“Second, I have the knife because I’m cooking. Look behind me—pots and pans everywhere.”
“And finally, the nutrient injections belong to me and my husband. Here’s our official collection record.”
At being called “husband” again, Huo Tao’s ears turned red.
Sometimes, robots were better than humans—because they only looked at facts, not emotions.
【Huo Hai and Zhang Wenjuan—instigating disturbance, false accusation, defamation. Penalty: loss of one month’s nutrient ration.】
The patrol bots had high authority. With one facial scan, they could identify a person’s basic profile instantly.
Mother and son froze in disbelief.
One month’s worth of nutrient injections—gone?
That was no light punishment.
The surrounding crowd instantly stepped back, afraid of getting dragged into the mess.
Mother Huo panicked. The last time she’d dealt with an official bot was when her husband died. She had no idea how much authority they had now—She only knew she had just lost a month’s ration.
She dropped to her knees in front of the robot, crying and thrashing.“This is injustice! They’re the ones at fault! You must’ve been bribed! That vixen must’ve bewitched you!”
The onlookers collectively gasped.
Inside the base, robots might not have been high-status, but that didn’t mean they lacked power. Especially official units—many times, they had more authority than humans.
【Warning: Zhang Wenjuan—defaming patrol officers, spreading false rumor of a ‘vixen’ within the city. Penalty: loss of two months’ nutrient ration.】
“I didn’t—!”
Seeing his mother about to argue again, Huo Hai rushed forward and clamped a hand over her mouth, dragging her away.
They had already lost three months of nutrient injections—best not to make it worse.
Arms folded, Shen Guoguo watched the show with satisfaction.
The gossip-loving neighbors all now knew—quiet, crippled Huo Tao had somehow landed himself a fierce, sharp-tongued wife.
Though it was a pity…
With a body like his, it was unlikely he could do anything. What a waste!
When the onlookers finally dispersed, Shen Guoguo could at last cook dinner in peace.
She twisted up her dark hair and secured it into a messy bun using a stainless-steel chopstick.
Huo Tao watched in fascination, his eyes fixed on her bun for a long time.
“Hehe, you want to learn? I’ll teach you when I have time,” Shen Guoguo said with a sweet smile before lowering her head to prepare the food again.
She’d only said it casually, noticing his curiosity—but the words painted an image in Huo Tao’s mind.
He pictured little Shen Guoguo sitting in front of him, her fair neck exposed, her silky black hair cascading down her back…
A strange warmth stirred low in his stomach.
He forced the thought away, coughed lightly, and turned his wheelchair aside, quietly watching her cook.
Shen Guoguo used alkali to clean the chicken intestines thoroughly, soaking the other organs several times.
Then she lit the stove and dropped the chunks of chicken fat into the pan.
“No water?” Huo Tao couldn’t help asking.
“Haha, this is phoenix fat! You can’t add water. Wait till I get you some pork fat next time—that’s the real deal.”
“Alright.”
Soon, a rich, savory aroma filled the air.