The Correct Use of Recording

The Proper Use of Recordings

What was most important in the apocalypse?

Of course, supplies!

But aside from supplies, weapons were also necessary. In the early days of the apocalypse, humanity's greatest enemy was not zombies, but other humans.

Anyone without means of defense would not survive.

Stockpile food first, then stockpile guns. Neither could be neglected!

Jiang You wrote everything down line by line in a notebook.

First came food.

All kinds of rice, flour, corn, starch, instant noodles, bread, steamed buns, stuffed buns...

Seasonings—oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar—as well as all kinds of broad bean paste, soybean paste, sweet bean paste, rice-mixing sauce, Lao Gan Ma...

Chicken bouillon, MSG, spices, chili peppers, canned side dishes.

High-calorie foods could quickly restore stamina, so they were indispensable.

That meant all kinds of chocolate, candy, Snickers...

Since she had the means, snacks were indispensable too: luosifen, duck feet casserole, spicy strips, pickled pepper chicken feet, pig trotters, crispy noodles, biscuits, cakes, all kinds of carbonated drinks...

Dieting?

To hell with that!

High calories meant high energy!

Medicine was also necessary. After the apocalypse, medicine would be in the shortest supply: all kinds of antibiotics, anti-inflammatory drugs, hemostatics, cold medicine...

Clothes for spring, summer, autumn, and winter, as well as socks, pants, and shoes.

Especially winter clothing!

When it was hot, she could wear less, but if there weren't enough clothes when it was cold, people could freeze to death!

All kinds of daily necessities, such as toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, body wash, soap, toilet paper, sanitary pads, tampons...

In the apocalypse, women had a harder time surviving than men. During their monthly periods, once the smell of blood attracted zombies, they would basically have no chance of escaping.

Therefore, tampons were more useful than sanitary pads.

When fleeing, running, or making large movements, they were less likely to leak, and there was practically no bloody smell.

But sometimes, sanitary pads could be used to bandage wounds. They were waterproof and antibacterial, so she needed to prepare some as well.

And weapons. She needed to buy some cold weapons with relatively strong killing power.

For example, knives or crossbows.

As for firearms, her funds were currently limited, and she had no connections. She would put that aside for now.

Now that her uncle's family had moved out, she was the only one left at home.

Jiang You took an unfinished piece of cake from the refrigerator. As she continued recording the supplies she needed to stockpile, she devoured the cake in large bites.

From time to time, she checked online and refined her shopping list.

The night passed just like that, yet she did not feel tired in the slightest.

At noon the next day, her uncle eagerly delivered four million in bride price money, along with a letter of undertaking.

The letter stated that she had accepted the Wang family's bride price, and if she went back on her word, she would have to return double the amount.

Jiang You signed it without even blinking.

Seeing how straightforward she was, Li Tianming finally relaxed and hurriedly left.

He could barely keep the guilty expression on his face.

The moment Li Tianming left, Jiang You immediately found an agent to sell her house.

At the height of midsummer noon, the sun was at its most scorching.

There were barely any people on the streets.

Inside a real estate agency, several people in matching uniforms chatted comfortably under the air conditioning.

Jiang You pushed the door open and walked in. Seeing that the visitor was just a little girl, the others showed little interest and continued chatting.

One young man in his twenties quickly stepped forward.

"Little girl, what kind of place are you looking for?

Are you looking to buy, sell, or rent?

We've just opened a new apartment complex here. It's only five hundred meters from the subway station, making commuting convenient. It's perfect for young people..."

The agent assumed she had come to buy a house.

He was new, and a senior colleague had once told him:

Never look down on any customer who walked through the door, no matter how they dressed or how old they were.

In City A, the old man you thought was sweeping the streets one second might pull out a string of keys to collect rent the next.

And someone dressed to the nines might actually be living paycheck to paycheck.

"I'm here to sell a house."

Jiang You took out the property information she had prepared in advance.

Seeing this, the agent quickly nodded with a smile. "Of course, of course. I'll definitely get you a price you'll be satisfied with!"

"Jingang Garden, third floor in a walk-up, 140 square meters, four bedrooms and two living rooms. Here are some photos of the property and the floor plan.

I need to sell it urgently and require full payment. The price can be 300,000 below market value!"

If the buyer needed a mortgage, all the paperwork, bank approval, and disbursement would take about a month. By then, it would be too late.

She would rather sell it for less.

The agent cheerfully brought over a cup of chrysanthemum tea.

"Please have a seat and some tea while I check the database. I happen to have several clients looking to buy homes nearby."

"Jingang Garden is in the city center. Although it's an older residential complex, the units are spacious.

For a home over 140 square meters, transaction prices in this area range from seven to 7.5 million.

A house with roughly the same size and floor in that complex was sold a few days ago.

I was the one who sold it, and the final price was 7.3 million.

But its renovation was much better. To be honest, your renovations are already quite old.

Whoever buys it will need to renovate it again.

So if you need to sell urgently and require full payment, the price will probably have to be lowered further. The final price might be 100,000 to 200,000 less."

"But selling a house is such a major matter. Do you want to go home and discuss it with your parents and family first?"

The agent looked at the little girl before him, who was clearly under twenty, and asked with some concern.

Jiang You nodded. "I can make the decision. The property deed is in my name."

The agent quickly contacted several clients to view the house.

That afternoon, the house sold for seven million, paid in full.

They agreed that the property would be vacated one day later.

That evening, when Li Yingyue finished her class reunion and was preparing to go home, she suddenly received a call.

Over the phone, Mom gave her a new address and said they had moved.

She did not say anything else over the phone.

Li Yingyue thought her family had bought a new house, and her face lit up with a happy smile.

Her boyfriend, Chen Lu, asked curiously.

"Yueyue, why are you so happy? Did something happen? Also, what about the marriage I mentioned last time? Have you discussed it with your mom?"

Li Yingyue smiled faintly.

"My mom just called and said we moved. They must have bought a new house!

Looks like they succeeded in convincing Jiang You to get married! Boss Wang really is rich!"

She turned and said gently to Chen Lu, "Don't worry. I know your family's situation too. I'm with you because you treat me well. I'm not some materialistic woman!

I know your family is poor. I'll go back and talk to my mom about what you mentioned before. They have at least several hundred thousand in savings.

I'll use it for the down payment, then take out a loan for the renovations. It's fine that your mom isn't in good health—my mom is healthy!

When we buy a house later, we can get one closer to my family's home. My mom can help take care of Auntie too. It's not like she has anything else to do anyway.

My mom is a great cook. You'll find out then!"

Chen Lu's eyes lit up, then he said guiltily, "I'm sorry, Yueyue. It's all because my family is poor. But don't worry, I'll work hard. In the future, I'll buy you a villa, buy you bags, and give you a good life!

But I'd feel embarrassed putting my name on a house your family paid for.

But if my name isn't on it, my mom will definitely feel like she's living under someone else's roof..."

"What are you talking about? Since it'll be our house, of course it'll have both our names on it. Am I that petty?"

"Yueyue, you're so good!"

After parting with her boyfriend, Li Yingyue remained immersed in the joy of happiness.

But when she arrived at the address of the "new home" complex, she was dumbfounded.

She could hardly believe that this residential complex, which looked older than she was, was their new home!

When she got inside, she was even more disappointed.

When they had lived in Jiang You's home, the renovations had been old, but at least it was spacious.

But this tiny place before her had even older renovations, and the whole thing probably added up to only sixty square meters.

Especially after she learned that her brother had racked up gambling debts, that all the family's money had gone toward repaying them, and that this house was rented.

Li Yingyue completely broke down.

"What the hell are you doing?! This place is so small that if someone farts, everyone can smell it. How am I supposed to live here?"

"And I already promised Chen Lu that our family would pay the down payment for our marital home. You've spent all the money—how are we supposed to get married?!"

"Why? There are three children in this family. I'm entitled to one-third of the property too!

Why did you give all the money to Li Haochen? What right does he have to spend my money?!"

Li Yingyue shed her previous gentle demeanor and roared hysterically.

She opened the room Ge Chunhua had assigned her and pointed inside.

"Mom, look at this room. If there's a bed, there's no room for a wardrobe; if there's a wardrobe, there's no room for a bed. How am I supposed to sleep?"

Then she pointed at Li Haochen, curled up in a corner of the living room, covered in injuries and with bandages still wrapped around his head.

"Big Brother, if you're incapable of paying back your debts, then go die! Why should my money be used to repay your debts?!"

Slap!

Unable to bear it any longer, Li Tianming raised his hand and viciously slapped Li Yingyue across the face.

"Look at yourself—what do you think you're doing? Is that any way to talk, telling your own big brother to die?"

Li Yingyue burst into loud sobs, while Li Haoxuan also clamored for his own room, refusing to share one with his brother.

Li Tianming could only soothe them.

"Don't worry, this is only temporary. We moved out just to placate her.

Now that Jiang You has accepted the money, there's no way for her to go back on it.

She signed the agreement herself. It's a done deal. If she regrets it, even Boss Wang won't let her off!

We can move back tomorrow!"

That night, Li Yingyue lay in bed, smelling the moldy stench in the room, and grew angrier the more she thought about it.

Why? What gave Jiang You the right to drive their whole family out?

She had lived in that house for more than ten years. Why should she have to move out?

Elsewhere.

Ge Chunhua and Li Tianming talked through the night as well.

In any case, they had already gotten the money, and their son had been rescued.

Moving had only been meant to coax Jiang You into agreeing. He had only paid one month's rent for the place.

Now that Jiang You had accepted the betrothal gifts, it was a done deal.

They could move back tomorrow.

They were used to living there. Why should they move out?

Did that little girl really think they would never go back?

How ridiculous.

That night, as Li Yingyue was sorting through her dressing table, she discovered that the bracelet was gone.

Although the bracelet was ugly and poorly made, for some reason, the moment she first saw it, she had felt that it belonged to her.

She had wanted it badly.

So she had asked her father for it.

She had not worn the bracelet many times, but she remembered that it had always been kept in its box before.

Yet now, it had suddenly disappeared.

Only after asking Li Tianming did she learn that, in order to coax Jiang You into agreeing to marry, he had returned the bracelet to her.

He had also promised to buy her a gold bracelet later.

By all rights, Li Yingyue should have been happy. After all, a gold bracelet was far more valuable than that cheap street-stall trinket.

Yet for some reason, her chest felt tight, as though she had lost something incredibly important.

Sure enough, early the next morning, the whole family appeared neatly assembled at the front door.

Before Jiang You had even opened her eyes, she heard the commotion outside.

"Jiang You, I know you're in there! You've got the guts to change the locks—do you have the guts to open the door?!"

"Don't hide in there and refuse to come out! If you've got the guts, come out!"

"What sins have I committed?~

I scrimped and saved to raise my niece, and now that her wings have grown, she immediately throws us out on the street!~

Oh, what a miserable life I have~"

"Chunhua, stop it. Xiao You isn't that heartless. She must have her reasons. What she said yesterday was definitely just in the heat of the moment!"

"Dad, you're still defending that ungrateful wretch Jiang You?!"

"..."

The moment Jiang You opened the door, she saw several people crying and shouting again.

Just like before, Li Tianming played the good cop while the rest played the bad cops.

Quite a few neighbors had gathered around them, whispering among themselves. Some were even comforting Ge Chunhua.

With her arms folded, Jiang You leaned against the doorframe and looked at Li Tianming. "What is this supposed to mean? Didn't you take the money and move out? Are you going back on your word?"

"What do you mean, what do we mean?"

With bandages wrapped around his head and a cast on his hand, Li Haochen glared at her furiously.

"You ungrateful wretch! You were only four or five when your parents died. My parents worked their fingers to the bone to raise you! You ate our food and drank our water, and the moment you got into college, you wanted to throw us out!

Do you even have a conscience?"

The neighbors also disapproved of what Jiang You had done.

"Jiang You, this is where you're wrong. Even if this house belongs to your family, your uncle's family raised you for over a decade. You can't just turn your back on them!"

"Exactly. You really can't raise someone else's child. No matter how good you are to them, it's useless."

"Like they say, kindness is wasted on the ungrateful."

Li Tianming looked at Jiang You with a bitter expression. "Xiaoyou, I'm sorry. Your uncle failed you. I couldn't stop your aunt and the others."

As he spoke, he clutched his head in anguish and squatted down.

Li Tianming had always been like this—always pretending to be the good guy, always leaving a way out.

Jiang You swept her gaze over the neighbors around her, who fancied themselves righteous as they pointed fingers at her.

She had been too busy to deal with them, yet this family had delivered themselves right to her door.

She did not want to kill them so soon, since it would bring her plenty of trouble.

After all, this was still a peaceful era.

But she could at least vent some of her anger.

All these years, Ge Chunhua had always claimed to outsiders that they had raised Jiang You. Whenever Li Tianming heard such words, he never admitted it outright, but always wore an expression as though he had some hidden grievance.

Over time, quite a few people had actually believed it.

She had not fallen out with Li Tianming yesterday because she wanted to get the bracelet smoothly.

Now that she had no more reservations, Jiang You was not about to be anyone's punching bag.

"They raised me? What a joke! Their family only moved in thirteen years ago. Surely some of you still remember what they looked like when they first came here, right?

They were so poor they had nothing but a few bundles of ragged clothes.

The two younger ones were malnourished, sallow, and skinny. The two adults spent their days farming like refugees.

And look at them now. Their three children are fair and clean, while the couple carries themselves with the superiority of city folk. They've probably forgotten what they looked like back when they were refugees!

If it weren't for me, could they have lived such good lives?"

Li Yingyue raised her hand to slap her. "What nonsense are you talking about? You ungrateful wretch!"

Jiang You reacted quickly and sidestepped. Then she swung her hand, delivering more than a dozen rapid slaps, making sure to give both sides of Li Yingyue's face equal attention.

Perfectly symmetrical.

Li Yingyue's face swelled up like a pig's head. She was completely stunned, her head buzzing.

"Shut up! It's not your place to speak!"

Jiang You said coldly, "These two haven't worked a day all these years. They've just sat at home, eating and waiting to die. Where do you think the money for everything they ate and used came from?!"

The neighbors looked at Li Tianming and Ge Chunhua in confusion.

Li Tianming and Ge Chunhua were both horrified. What did Jiang You mean by that?

Could she have found out about the compensation money?

They were about to stop her.

But they were too late.

"They used my parents' compensation money! My parents died in a factory explosion, and the owner signed a compensation agreement. I was still young then, and to avoid bringing disaster upon me by giving me a huge sum all at once, they arranged to give me thirty thousand yuan in living expenses every month until I turned eighteen.

All these years, they've used my parents' compensation money, lived in my family's house, spent my family's money, and still had the nerve to claim they raised me!

This family is the real parasite! Shameless trash!"

"Jiang You! You're talking nonsense!"

With reddened eyes, Ge Chunhua rushed forward to claw at her.

Jiang You raised her hand and slapped her twice more. "You know perfectly well whether I'm talking nonsense!"

Li Haochen also rushed forward to attack, but Jiang You kicked and snapped his cast in half.

Crack!

"Ah!!!! My hand!!!"

The cast on Li Haochen's arm was kicked to pieces, and the bones in his hand bent at an unnatural angle. It was obvious that it had fractured again.

Li Haoxuan spat at her. "You bad person! Ungrateful freeloader! My mom was right—you're just a beggar!"

Before Jiang You could even raise her hand, Li Tianming immediately dragged Li Haoxuan backward and hurriedly covered his mouth.

The neighbors were enjoying the spectacle too much to leave. One auntie even turned around, went back inside, and came out with a handful of sunflower seeds.

"It's pretty hot out. Everyone should go back and enjoy the air conditioning."

As Jiang You spoke to the crowd, she swiftly reached out, grabbed Li Yingyue—who had been slapped more than a dozen times and was still dazed—and tossed her into the house.

Then she looked at the others. "What, do you want me to keep talking out here?"

Seeing this, the others entered the house with varying expressions.

Li Tianming and Ge Chunhua exchanged a glance, both silently understanding what the other was thinking.

There were too many people outside for them to make a move. But since Jiang You was courting death by letting them come in herself, they couldn't be blamed for not holding back.

There were five of them. Even excluding the injured Li Haochen and the young Li Haoxuan, there were still three adults.

And Jiang You was just a little girl.

Three against one.

Since she was asking to die, once the door was shut, they had plenty of ways to deal with her!

They would show her just how cruel the world could be.

They must have treated her too well before, which was why she had become so lawless. Did she really think she could change anything all by herself?

What a delusion!

By now, Li Tianming no longer bothered pretending. He walked in last with a cold expression, thoughtfully shutting and locking the door behind him.

Then the family of five stared at Jiang You sinisterly, preparing to force her to let them move in through violence.

These days, dealing with a little girl was all too easy.

Li Tianming shed his previous kindness and said coldly, "Jiang You, even if we did use your parents' compensation money, we still looked after you to some extent over the years. Otherwise, a little girl living alone like you might not even know how she died.

"Now that things have come to this, I, as your uncle, don't want to quibble with a junior. Things can go back to how they were before.

"Apologize for what you did wrong, and we'll still be family from now on."

Li Yingyue had recovered somewhat by then. Her cheeks were red and swollen, blood still trickling from beneath her nose, and she looked thoroughly bedraggled.

She glared viciously at Jiang You. "I've worn that bracelet for years. It's mine, so give it back! You bitch, how dare you steal my things? Why didn't you get blown to death with your parents back then?!"

Jiang You turned and kicked her straight to the floor.

"I've stepped on Earth for more than ten years and never dared claim it was mine. You wore a bracelet for a few years, and now it belongs to you? Shameless piece of trash.

"What, do you think it's a tumor on your body? It grew on you, so it's yours?"

Before Li Yingyue could retort, Jiang You chopped her directly on the back of the neck.

Li Tianming rushed over with his fists raised, but Jiang You swung several hard slaps at him, grabbed a vase from the nearby table, and smashed it over his head.

Blood streamed down Li Tianming's head. His vision went black, and he passed out.

Ge Chunhua: "Ah!!! I'll kill you!!"

Expressionless, Jiang You grabbed another wine bottle and smashed it down.

Crash! Ge Chunhua fell to the floor.

Seeing all three of them unconscious, their lives uncertain, Li Haochen stared at Jiang You in terror.

"Y-you! Don't come over here!!!!!"

He lifted his leg, turned, and tried to run out the door, not even caring about his younger brother anymore.

But when he reached the entrance, he discovered that the front door had somehow been locked!

That wicked Jiang You had actually locked the front door!!!

Was she trying to shut the door and beat the dogs?!

Jiang You grabbed a frying pan and hurled it at him viciously.

Clang!

"Alright, now you're the only one left..."

Jiang You looked at Li Haoxuan, the only one still standing, baring a mouthful of white teeth in a somewhat deranged smile.

"Y-you, you heartless bitch! You can't hit me! My mom will beat you to death!"

"Exactly. Someone as heartless as me ought to eat more hearts and lungs to nourish myself. I hear children's hearts are the most tender..."

"Ahhhhhhh!!"

Li Haoxuan's eyes rolled back, his pants went wet, and the smell of urine filled the air. He was so frightened that he passed out.

Jiang You walked to the window and looked down. A clean white sedan was parked beneath the streetlamp downstairs.

She tied the few people up with rope, found several light bulbs and stuffed them into their mouths, then packed them into woven plastic sacks. She stuffed clothes, ceramic pots, bowls, plates, and other hard objects into the gaps, along with other things.

This made the sacks impossible to recognize as containing human shapes, leaving them swollen and bulging.

Next, she found the car keys on Li Tianming.

Then she called for two local errand runners.

"Hello, yes, I need some things moved into a car. Yes, yes, fragile items. The car is downstairs.

I need two people. All right. The address is..."

Jiang You used a bathroom mop to clean the floor.

A few minutes later, the people helping with the move arrived.

They were a young man and woman.

The two looked at the large woven plastic sacks on the floor. Each grabbed one end and lifted them.

As soon as the sacks were lifted, the ceramic bowls and chopsticks inside clattered loudly.

The man's relaxed expression changed slightly. Gritting his teeth, he heaved the sack from the floor.

"Hey, little sister, these sacks are really heavy. From the sound of it, you packed all your pots and pans in there, didn't you?"

The woman rolled her eyes at him. "What do you know? This is how you live a proper life! If you don't take them with you, you'll have to spend money buying new ones when you get to the new place! The last time we moved, I didn't take the clay pots from the kitchen, and I've regretted it ever since!"

Jiang You smiled. "Save where you should save, spend where you should spend."

While they were carrying things downstairs, the auntie next door opened her door, cracking sunflower seeds.

"Jiang You, what are you doing?"

Jiang You lowered her head, her voice somewhat dejected. "My uncle's family said my cousin is getting married, so they told me to move out..."

The auntie spat a sunflower seed shell onto the floor.

"I told you that you couldn't beat them. Poor thing."

Her words were sympathetic, but her eyes held even more gloating.

Jiang You did not argue with her. Looking "disheartened," she took the movers and left.

She opened the trunk, folded down the back seats, and had the two of them load all the sacks into the car.

There were five sacks in total—four large ones and one small one—filling the car to the brim.

She then drove all the way to an unfinished construction site halfway up a remote mountain.

The place was isolated, located in the mountains on the far outskirts.

It had originally been intended as the site for an upscale villa complex, but construction had halted several years ago, and it had remained abandoned ever since.

Jiang You drove through the waist-high weeds and headed straight to the very back.

The ground around the unfinished buildings was uneven and full of potholes. As the car jolted along, the people inside the sacks woke up.

The woven plastic sacks kept changing shape as the people inside struggled.

Jiang You glanced at the rearview mirror and calmly continued driving deeper in.

When Li Tianming woke up, he discovered in terror that he had been tied up.

Something seemed to have been stuffed into his mouth too, leaving him completely unable to speak.

Everything around him was pitch-black. He had been stuffed into a sack?

He was being jostled along, apparently transported somewhere. In an instant, countless bizarre serial killer cases from legal awareness dramas he had watched flooded his mind.

He struggled frantically and cried out for help.

"Mmmpgh!!!"

"Mmmpgh!!"

There were clearly other people tied up nearby. He could hear their muffled whimpers.

How had he ended up here?

Jiang You!

Right—Jiang You had been the last person he saw before he passed out.

It had to be that little bitch. What was she trying to do?

Was she going to murder them to silence them?!

She was definitely going to sell them overseas to have their kidneys harvested!

At his age, he did not know how to use a computer and had no value at all. He could only be used for kidney harvesting.

Li Tianming struggled wildly. Suddenly, he felt the swaying stop.

Bang!

The sound of a car door closing rang out.

Then came the sound of a door opening again.

A set of footsteps rang out.

Jiang You opened the seals on the snakeskin sacks one by one.

"Still not coming out? I know you're all awake. Get out on your own."

The sack containing Li Tianming was the first to burst open.

The others followed. The contents of the sacks came spilling out with a clatter, and several bowls and plates shattered into pieces.

The group stumbled out of the vehicle, their arms tied behind their backs and their mouths stuffed with something.

They could barely move.

When Li Tianming saw Jiang You, none of his usual feigned gentleness and honesty remained. His face was terrifyingly gloomy.

Li Yingyue also stared at Jiang You venomously. Her cheeks were puffed out, leaving her unable to say a word.

They exchanged glances. Every one of them had a light bulb stuffed in their mouth, stretched open to the limit.

Before they could steady themselves, Jiang You smiled and pulled a stick from behind her back.

Smiling, she said, "Uncle, Auntie, weren't you usually so good at talking? Why aren't you saying anything now?"

She walked over and, before their horrified eyes, swung the stick into Li Tianming's mouth.

The light bulb in his mouth shattered at once. Li Tianming's mouth filled with glass shards, and he nearly got stabbed to death.

Sharp fragments of glass exploded inside his mouth.

Li Tianming did not even dare move his tongue. He could only open his mouth wide and scream hysterically.

Watching the brutal scene before them, the others instinctively backed away.

But before they could escape, Jiang You stepped forward and gave each of them a blow with the stick.

Fairness was the priority.

Their mouths were all covered in blood as they stared at Jiang You in terror. They wanted to run, but with their hands bound behind their backs, the slightest movement would earn them another blow.

Li Haoxuan, the youngest, had just woken up. He struggled out of the vehicle, saw what was happening, and fainted again from fright.

Jiang You walked over to Li Tianming and crouched before him.

"Dear Uncle, do you know that I really used to believe in you? We were family. You were the uncle who treated me best in the world...

"But now, I think we're even more like family. We share the same ruthless, vicious bloodline. Don't you think?"

"Don't tremble. Don't be afraid. I'm not going to kill you. I just want to vent my anger.

"After all, if you die, the police will suspect me first."

Li Tianming glared at her, blood constantly streaming from the corners of his mouth. His tongue had been cut by the glass, and he could not force out a single word. Nor did he dare to speak.

Any movement of his mouth brought tearing pain.

The shattered light bulb glass was thin and fine, embedded in his flesh with piercing agony.

How had this little bitch come up with such a vicious method?!

He looked at Jiang You in terror. A foul stench rose from his lower body, and one of his pant legs was soaked.

"Uncle, take your time and clear your heads. I'll be driving the car away.

"You can call a taxi and head back yourselves later. It's a quick trip down the mountain. And if that doesn't work, you still have your phone!"

"Oh, right. If you want to call the police, I'll fully cooperate.

"But if I get arrested, you'll be the first ones to suffer worse than death.

"Boss Wang's money isn't so easy to take."

"It depends on whether you want us both destroyed, or whether you'll let me vent my anger and we can all live in peace.

"After all, if I marry into the Wang family, I may need some helpers someday.

"By then, perhaps Uncle and the rest of you might rise with me too. Hahahahaha!!"

Li Tianming's eyelid twitched, his face becoming even more twisted.

Jiang You saw right through him. She reached straight into Li Tianming's pocket, took out a phone, and turned it on. As expected, it was recording.

"Uncle, you really are as cautious as ever.

"It's fine. Keep the recording. Save it to blackmail me later.

"I'll be the Wang family's daughter-in-law in the future. I may lack other things, but money definitely won't be one of them!

"Hahahahaha!!

"Uncle, I'll be waiting for you to blackmail me.

"There are no eternal enemies, only eternal interests. You're a smart man, Uncle.

"You know how to use this recording to maximize your benefits~"

As that woman proudly drove away with the car keys in hand, the others glared after her with such hatred that they wished they could cut her into a thousand pieces!

At the hospital, it took them quite some effort to clear all the glass shards from their mouths before they finally walked out.

Li Haochen said furiously, "Dad, that bitch has gone completely insane!

Let's call the police!

She hung us up like that and beat us into this state—it's against the law!"

"Yes, yes, let's call the police! We can't let her off!

If she gets a criminal record, let's see how she'll still be able to go to college!"

Li Yingyue and Ge Chunhua nodded in agreement as well.

"Call the fucking police, my ass!"

Li Tianming roared, only for the agitation to bring another burst of bloodiness into his mouth.

Covering his mouth, he looked at his children with exasperation.

"You idiots!

If we call the police, will Boss Wang's son still be able to get married smoothly in a month?

Not to mention, we already took two million in betrothal gifts. What are we supposed to use to pay it back then?

All the money went toward paying off your debts!

Boss Wang isn't someone to be trifled with. If you owe him money, chopping off your hands and feet won't be enough—he'll even take your kidneys!"

The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. "That bitchy girl knew exactly this was the case, which is why she dared treat us like this!"

Fuck, the more he thought about it, the angrier he got!

But that bitch was right. If they delayed Boss Wang's affairs, none of them would have a good ending.

Li Tianming was so angry that his eyes turned red.

He had been careless. He should not have given the money to Jiang You first or agreed to let her move out. That bitch must have planned this all along!

"But for all her arrogance, isn't she still afraid of going to jail?

She didn't even dare delete the recording and left it in my hands as leverage, because she's afraid I'll call the police!

She's right. Once she marries into the Wang family, I'll use this recording, and our family will still live without worries for the rest of our lives!"

"So are we just going to let the beating go? The corner of my mouth was split open!"

Li Yingyue's eyes reddened with unwillingness.

Li Tianming shot him a glare. "Do you want to call the police now just to vent your anger?!

Or do you want to keep her around so that, in the future, we might use the recording to get you a marital home?!

The Wang family has plenty of money!"

Thinking about how he and his boyfriend did not even have a marital home, Li Yingyue could only endure the pain in his mouth for the sake of love.

"Then I want a large single-floor apartment. Anything under 180 square meters won't do!"

The others fell silent as well.

Faced with greater benefits, they chose to endure.

Jiang You had seen through Li Tianming, which was why she let him record her and allowed him to hold what he believed was evidence against her, thinking he could control her for the rest of her life.

These people could not die yet.

If Li Tianming's entire family died, then as the only survivor, she would be the first person to become a target of close scrutiny. That would be extremely unfavorable to her upcoming stockpiling plans.

Meanwhile, Li Tianming covered his mouth and, for the first time, understood what it meant to suffer in silence.

Li Tianming had even thought through how to use that recording to plan his future.

What they did not know was that they would never live to see the day they could extort money with that recording.

By then, the recording would only be useful for the zombies to listen to.