Snowstorm: I'm Super Rich in the Apocalypse-Chapter 177 - All Kinds of People
Chapter 177: Chapter 177: All Kinds of People
Chapter 177 -177: All Kinds of People
Yang Jia heard this and realized something was wrong. Was this not an attempt to smear her?
She hurriedly opened the door, “Aunt Zhang, don’t slander me.”
Zhang Ping wore a face of concern and said, “How am I slandering you? I’m just concerned about you. A young girl like you, just bringing a man back home like that, is that proper?”
Chen Fengzhou came out, “Auntie, what are you talking about? The two of us are merely co-renting. How did it turn into something so indecent when it came to you? What era are we living in? Are we still so feudal? Is it illegal for a man and a woman to co-rent? To save some money, isn’t that a very normal thing?”
Zhang Ping lit up when she heard they were just co-renting, “Oh, you’re co-renting? To save money? See, I thought too much.”
However, after saying that, she felt even more compelled to separate the two, so her son could marry a “clean” woman.
She hurriedly added, “Child, Aunt Zhang is telling you, this base isn’t like the big cities of the past where nobody knows anybody. We don’t have a huge population in the base. You living with a man like this, isn’t it possible for misunderstandings to arise? Ask the neighbors around, I guarantee they also think it’s improper for a man and a woman to live together without being married.”
Gu Pan pushed the door open and walked over, “Aunt Zhang, I think it’s quite normal. I co-rented with several people when I first graduated, both men and women, and we each slept in our own rooms. They share the rent and also save space for the base, isn’t that a good thing? I heard that a new group of people is coming to the base soon. Won’t the rooms they save be just right for the newcomers? This is a good deed, don’t you agree?”
Zhang Ping felt something was off in her heart, but Gu Pan’s words caught her off guard, and she suddenly didn’t know how to rebut, “No, what you’re saying isn’t right. Reputation is important. They’re both unmarried; won’t this affect their prospects?”
Yang Jia said, “Affect what? We’re co-renting openly and honestly. How can you speak of it in such a disgraceful way?”
Zhang Ping looked at the seemingly well-matched couple in front of her and got even angrier, “You’re young and don’t understand things, but as an elder, I am just kindly reminding you.”
By that time, quite a few neighbors had already come out to see what the commotion was about.
Seeing more people around and realizing it was pointless to continue arguing, Gu Pan stepped forward and addressed Zhang Ping, “Aunt Zhang, you’ve always wanted Yang Jia to be with your son, but she is unwilling. Now, are you worried because she’s co-renting with a man, or are you still considering your son’s interests? Isn’t this a bit selfish of you?”
Zhang Ping didn’t expect Gu Pan to expose her thoughts so bluntly, and especially since what she said hit the nail on the head, it made her even angrier. Why did this infuriating woman have to undercut her?
Her gaze towards Gu Pan was filled with a cold intensity, “Why do you love meddling in other people’s business?”
Gu Pan smiled, “Well, I certainly don’t meddle as much as you do. I only care about my friends. Yang Jia is my friend. How is it meddling if I care about my friend? On the other hand, what relationship do you have with Yang Jia? What right do you have to interfere in her affairs?”
Zhang Ping was left speechless by Gu Pan, “I… I had good intentions.”
Gu Pan said, “When your good intentions cause trouble for others, they’re no longer good.”
She had always been at odds with Zhang Ping and wasn’t afraid of offending her. It was better to be overtly opposed to her, rather than let her scheme in secret. Everyone would be clear that they weren’t on good terms, and if she tried to spread rumors, nobody would believe her, which was ultimately better for herself.
Seeing Gu Pan defend her, Yang Jia didn’t want her to offend Zhang Ping too much on her account and quickly added, “I won’t possibly be with your son. I don’t need you to manage my affairs. Please stop bothering me in the future.”
Chen Fengzhou also said to Zhang Ping, “Yang Jia is my friend, don’t get any ideas about her, or I won’t let you off either.”
Lu Ruisheng was already standing by Gu Pan’s side, silent, but with an imposing presence.
Zhang Ping, seeing the four young people—all appearing very strong-willed—saw her own momentum falter, “Fine, fine. My goodwill has been taken for donkey’s liver and lungs.”
After she finished speaking, she turned around and hurried back to her own place, admitting she had miscalculated this time, but she was determined to teach them a lesson eventually.
The onlookers at the door, seeing that the incident had concluded, also went back inside and closed their doors. After all, these neighbors weren’t all that familiar with each other, and at most, only a couple of households were on good terms, privately conversing behind closed doors. Those who didn’t want to stir up trouble naturally returned to their own homes as well.
Yang Jia looked at Gu Pan, somewhat embarrassed, “You’ve gotten into trouble with me again.”
Gu Pan laughed and said, “We’ve been adversaries for a long time, and this time isn’t any different. Have you packed up everything?”
Chen Fengzhou replied, “Yes, I don’t have much stuff, just bedding to lay out.”
“Then we’ll go back and bring some food over in a bit,” said Gu Pan.
With that, she and Lu Ruisheng went home to fetch things.
Once home, Gu Pan took out some self-heating hotpot and self-heating rice from the Space. These convenient items were all she could reveal in front of them—while these people were nice, she couldn’t trust them as completely as some former neighbors, so it was necessary to remain cautious.
Moreover, these luxuries were scarce at the base now, with many unable to afford even instant noodles.
After packing these items, the two also brought a rechargeable lamp and bottled water to the house across the street.
Although the electricity was on for now, they worried about a potential outage or the power going off before they finished eating, so they brought the lamp with them.
Yang Jia had already set up the table on the other side.
Gu Pan and Lu Ruisheng placed the items they brought on the table.
Foll𝑜w current novℯls on ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm.
When Yang Jia and Chen Fengzhou saw this, both of them swallowed hard. These items were really hard to come by, and though mostly expired, as long as the packaging wasn’t bloated, everyone chose to ignore the expiration—a way of thinking that formed naturally after the apocalypse.
It’s important to note that the convenient hotpots contained actual chunks of meat. Of course, much of it was spoiled by now, and they could only hope that when they opened it up, there wouldn’t be any problems and everything would be edible.
Gu Pan smiled at them and said, “Let’s sit down and eat.”
Lu Ruisheng distributed a self-heating hotpot and a self-heating rice package to each of them.
Yang Jia thought for a moment, “How about I cook some rice? Let’s eat the self-heating pot today. You should take the self-heating rice back with you. These things are becoming rarer and rarer.”
Gu Pan replied with a smile, “It would be a bigger waste if they spoiled. I stored them well, in a cellar before, so they haven’t gone bad, but they can’t be kept for much longer. Go ahead and eat them. It’d be a waste if they went bad.”
As she spoke, she and Lu Ruisheng already began tearing open the packages.
Chen Fengzhou looked at Yang Jia.
Yang Jia nodded at him, and they both tore open their packages too, looking at the self-heating pots that hadn’t gone bad at all, they truly felt like crying—the flavor was so nostalgic.
Lu Ruisheng used the water they’d brought to get his and his wife’s self-heating pots and rice ready, then passed the water to them, letting them do it themselves.
Chen Fengzhou took the water and prepared his and Yang Jia’s as well.
