Chapter 17: Shameless to the Extreme
There wasn’t much time left. Zhan Yun launched into a full-scale shopping spree. Unlike Su Ruizhe, who bought things bit by bit, Zhan Yun went big. Although he was “just” an undercover police officer, his family background was actually quite decent, and his bank savings were well into seven figures.
Through online marketplaces, he contacted local vendors, negotiated wholesale prices, and brought in huge quantities of daily necessities via freight logistics. The volume of goods he purchased was practically enough to open a small supermarket.
Zhan Yun looked down on the little money Su Ruizhe made from running a street stall and forbade him from continuing. Su Ruizhe set up his stall for one last day, then told the aunties who were regular customers that the produce he grew at home was almost sold out and that he wouldn’t be coming back anymore. At the same time, he casually reminded them that he had a friend working at the meteorological bureau who’d received news that temperatures might exceed 40°C in the coming days, advising them to stock up on food so they wouldn’t have to brave the heat later.
The aunties all liked Su Ruizhe very much—such a well-behaved, adorable boy—so they nodded repeatedly, saying they’d definitely go buy supplies. This lifted Su Ruizhe’s spirits quite a bit. He hoped that the food they bought would be enough to last until the military came to carry out rescue operations…
As for Wu Qi and Xu Ji Restaurant, Su Ruizhe also went to inform them. After providing them with enough fruits and vegetables to meet customer demand for two days, he used the same excuse and made the impending heatwave sound even more severe, urging them to prepare plenty of food and water, and, if possible, more daily necessities as well.
Wu Qi and the Xu family took Su Ruizhe’s words very seriously. During the time they’d known him, they’d come to see him as an outstanding kid who wouldn’t lie to them without reason. Besides, they’d all heard about things like the greenhouse effect—making preparations in advance was perfectly reasonable.
Xu Min even warmly invited Su Ruizhe to stay for a meal and try her cooking. Xu Jie also went into the kitchen and made two of his signature dishes, leaving Su Ruizhe both flattered and overwhelmed. Without real skill, the Xu family wouldn’t have been able to run a restaurant. The dishes they served were rich in color, aroma, and flavor—authentic local cuisine. Just the smell alone made one’s mouth water. Still, with Zhan Yun waiting at home, Su Ruizhe only ate one bowl of rice before taking his leave.
The Xu family had no choice but to pack up a few dishes for him to take home, so Zhan Yun could also taste their cooking.
When it came time to move, Zhan Yun hired a moving company and had everything from Su Ruizhe’s old house transported to the villa.
Zhan Yun also rented a warehouse nearby. Batch after batch of purchased goods was delivered there. Whenever Su Ruizhe returned home, Zhan Yun would drive him to the warehouse so they could transfer everything into the space, piling it all onto an open area behind the valley. During the day, Su Ruizhe would enter the space to organize the supplies, sorting them by category and labeling the boxes with a marker so they wouldn’t have trouble finding what they needed later.
In addition to daily necessities, medicines also needed to be stockpiled. Zhan Yun made a call and asked Song Chengshu to help purchase a batch of common medications, which startled Song Chengshu so much that he kept pressing him about what he was planning to do. Zhan Yun held his tongue and only told him to bring the items to the villa in three days—he’d explain then.
As for the sixty thousand owed to Chen Huizhen, Zhan Yun ultimately transferred it to her anyway. Su Ruizhe had been worrying about it the whole time, saying that once the money was given, they’d be completely even, with no further ties to her family. Zhan Yun couldn’t do anything about it and had no choice but to pay.
Days passed one by one. Then, with only three days left before the apocalypse, Zhan Yun suddenly received a phone call.
It was from his superior. Someone had gone to the police station to report a person—the very child who had previously taken Zhan Yun in. They were calling to ask about the situation. As it turned out, right after receiving the money, Chen Huizhen had gone straight to the police… claiming that Su Ruizhe had run off with the remaining demolition compensation. According to her, their family was supposed to get ninety thousand in total, but Su Ruizhe had only given them sixty thousand, and now he couldn’t be found.
She completely avoided mentioning how she herself had proposed splitting the compensation evenly in the first place. Instead, she repeatedly demanded that the police help recover the missing thirty thousand, crying as she cursed Su Ruizhe out mercilessly, even threatening to sue him. She cried and made a scene at the station; in the sweltering heat, the officers were driven nearly mad by her antics. That was how Zhan Yun’s superior got wind of it and called him.
Zhan Yun was so angry he almost laughed. That woman truly had no shame whatsoever. Leaving aside the fact that the demolition compensation had nothing to do with her family in the first place—Su Ruizhe had only kindly allowed them to register their household there—the way sixty thousand suddenly turned into ninety thousand made Zhan Yun despise their entire family even more. She must have planned it all along. After all, their agreement had only been verbal. Legally speaking, if she really took the case to court, Su Ruizhe might actually be forced to cough up that thirty thousand.
“Just ignore her. Let her sue if she wants,” Zhan Yun said coldly. “Don’t worry—I know what I’m doing.”
The apocalypse was about to arrive. Even if her lawsuit were accepted, there would never be a chance for it to go to trial.
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