Dealing with Scum, Fast

Sheng An had the equipment put away.

"Leave things here to me. Don't worry," she said to the camera.

Jiang Yu looked puzzled. "Who are you talking to?"

"Officials at every level, and the researchers," Sheng An replied casually without looking up.

Jiang Yu: "???"

She touched her greasy hair, still struggling to process it.

Then a deep, resonant voice came from the computer in front of Hao Jingye-

"Jiang Yu, welcome to the Doomsday Special Affairs Office. We look forward to fighting the apocalypse alongside you."

Hao Jingye turned the computer around.

On the screen was an enormous conference room packed with people.

In the front row, leaders she had only ever seen on television nodded to her.

Jiang Yu: "???"

Jiang Yu: "!!!"

The screen went black. Jiang Yu remained stunned for a long time.

Then came a scream that nearly shook the building-

"Aaaaaah! I didn't wash my hair!!"

-To get to speak to such important people in her lifetime was an honor, even knowing the apocalypse was coming.

-But she hadn't washed her hair!

Only women understood how important it was to wash your hair before meeting people!

Sheng An looked at her in confusion, unable to understand what had gotten into her.

Jiang Yu gave her a reproachful look.

After that interruption, Jiang Yu still hadn't recovered when Yu Litian arrived.

Yu Litian came into view.

He was a handsome, delicate-featured man who wore glasses, just like Hao Jingye.

Hao Jingye looked overly rigid and proper, while Yu Litian was bright and handsome-the sort of boy who would have been the best-looking guy in class.

"Yu, what's wrong with you?" Yu Litian began impatiently the moment he stepped through the door. "It's been a few days now. Have you stopped being-"

His voice cut off abruptly.

Only then did he notice the other people in the room.

Yu Litian frowned and glanced over them.

The three plainclothes officers looked ordinary and utterly unremarkable.

Hao Jingye, however, was clearly no ordinary man.

Yu Litian's gaze paused briefly on Sheng An.

She was a strikingly distinctive beauty, and he couldn't help taking another look.

But the moment he spoke, Jiang Yu snapped out of her daze, overwhelmed by disgust.

Seeing him, Jiang Yu thought, How did I ever fall for a piece of trash like this?!

"What are you doing here?" she demanded bitterly.

Yu Litian immediately forgot about Sheng An and the others. With a sorrowful expression, he looked at Jiang Yu.

"Yu, how much longer are you going to sulk? You've misunderstood me and Chen Jiaojiao. We really are just from the same hometown."

His polished performance looked thoroughly convincing.

If Jiang Yu hadn't been reborn, she probably would have fallen for it.

Jiang Yu sneered. "Yu Litian, stop pretending. Those tricks of yours don't work on me anymore. I'd love nothing more than to rip you apart and hack you into a thousand pieces."

Throughout college and the years since graduation, she had noticed things that seemed off.

But Yu Litian's "sweet talk" and Chen Jiaojiao's apparent "disdain" for him had always quickly fooled her.

Looking back now, she felt like an absolute idiot.

Her eyes were filled with icy hatred-emotions that would never have appeared on her face before.

Yu Litian faltered slightly, an inexplicable fear rising inside him.

But remembering what he had come for, he continued pleading.

"Yu, what's wrong with you? Did all those years together mean nothing? Don't you care about the five years of our youth we spent together?"

"You have the nerve to bring that up? You two played me for a fool for five years. Feeling pretty proud of yourselves?"

Jiang Yu clenched her fists, wanting nothing more than to rush over and hack the bastard to death.

Yu Litian looked wounded. "How could you think that?"

He stepped forward and took Jiang Yu's hand, his eyes reddening. "Yu, how could I ever fool you? My feelings for you have always been sincere. Have you forgotten the promises we made by the sea? Have you forgotten how I carried you when we climbed the Great Wall and you couldn't walk anymore? Have you forgotten saying you wanted to spend your life with me at the edge of the world? Have you forgotten..."

The instant he took her hand, Jiang Yu violently shook him off, so disgusted she felt sick.

She found that no matter when it was, this man's shamelessness never failed to shock her.

If she hadn't been reborn, those words would certainly have moved her.

But during that year of the apocalypse in her previous life, she had heard him and Chen Jiaojiao tell her themselves-

In every place where they had made "happy" memories together... those two bastards had been sneaking around having sex!

Just how shameless did he have to be to say those things?

Sheng An and Hao Jingye watched the drama unfold from the sidelines.

Sheng An asked, "Who paid?"

That cut straight to the heart of it.

Yu Litian froze.

"What a sucker," Sheng An remarked.

Jiang Yu: "..."

-She really didn't want to hear that word again!!

Jiang Yu glared at Yu Litian and cursed, "I know every fucking thing you did. You and that bitch were together back in high school. When you had no money in college, you set your sights on me.

"We traveled together and ate together, and as soon as you finished fooling me, you went straight back to her to play the loving couple. Did you really think I didn't know?!"

Sheng An and Hao Jingye: ...Wow.

-Shi Xiao herself, right here.

Exposed, Yu Litian's expression changed for an instant, but he quickly stiffened his neck.

"Jiang Yu, I honestly have no idea what you're talking about. Do you have proof?"

His expression suddenly shifted into a sneer. "Are you the one cheating, and now you're pinning it on me?"

He scanned the people around him, passed over the three utterly ordinary "middle-aged men," and fixed his gaze on Hao Jingye, pointing at him.

"Is it him?"

Hao Jingye: "?"

How did watching the drama get me dragged into it?

Jiang Yu's hands loosened, then clenched again. She wanted to grab a knife and kill Yu Litian...

With Yu Litian pointing at him, Hao Jingye pushed up his glasses, his expression calm.

"Buddy, even a gigolo living off a woman should have some morals, right? Taking her money while keeping a mistress on the side is really unethical."

"What did you say?!" Yu Litian flew into a rage.

Hao Jingye looked him up and down, then shook his head.

"Buddy, with looks like yours, you were only worth a few bucks back when you still had youth going for you. She spent all that money on you. What more could you want?"

His gaze was full of disdain and condemnation.

Yu Litian practically jumped with rage. "What nonsense are you spouting? You're the fucking gigolo!"

Hao Jingye spread his hands. "I don't mooch food and money off my girlfriend. If you do all that and have no morals to boot, what are you if not a gigolo?"

"You-"

Jiang Yu raised her hand and pointed at the door. "Yu Litian, get out."

She gave a cold smile. "Letting you off now doesn't mean I'll let you off forever. Just wait. Your head will be on the chopping block."

Once the apocalypse arrived, she would make those two bastards suffer!

Yu Litian took a deep breath and turned back to Jiang Yu.

He didn't know why Jiang Yu had changed.

But after all their years together, deep down he still believed she was a gullible pushover.

"Jiang Yu, you're the one who asked to break up, and now you're falsely accusing me of betraying you and framing me. If you can't produce evidence, you have to compensate me. Otherwise, don't think you can get rid of me that easily!" Greed filled Yu Litian's eyes.

Hao Jingye clicked his tongue. "Tsk, tsk."

He shook his head as he did so.

Yu Litian glared at him, then looked back at Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu was so angry she laughed. "Are you threatening me?"

"You're the one who wanted to break up. Either we stay together, or you compensate me," Yu Litian said as though it were only natural.

Jiang Yu asked, "What do you want?"

She wanted to see what else this bastard could possibly say.

Yu Litian said, "That bracelet you took."

Jiang Yu drew in a sharp breath.

In that instant, rage engulfed her, and the memories of that year in the apocalypse swallowed her whole.

Jiang Yu's eyes turned bloodshot as she stared fixedly at Yu Litian.

"You want that bracelet? You've wanted it all along? So you knew it was something valuable. No wonder you stole it when you left before..."

It wasn't just a bracelet. It was a family heirloom, and an extraordinary stroke of fortune.

The apocalypse was coming. What it meant to possess a storage space went without saying.

Those two jackals were utterly disgusting!

Jiang Yu was so furious that her chest heaved, her eyes rimmed with red.

"You're the one who asked to break up. If you don't want to give me the bracelet, fine. Give me money instead," Yu Litian said, dropping all pretense without a shred of shame. "Otherwise, I'll go to our classmates' group chat and your company and tell everyone you-"

Sheng An suddenly stood and put away her phone.

Everyone's attention immediately shifted to her.

Her brows were drawn tight, her face full of irritation, as though her patience had finally run out.

"Jiang Yu, you said he took your bracelet after you broke up?"

Jiang Yu froze, then nodded instinctively. "Yes."

Yu Litian erupted. "She took it back!"

Sheng An ignored him, continuing to look at Jiang Yu as she asked:

"How much is your bracelet worth?"

Jiang Yu stammered, "My... my grandmother gave it to me..."

"Oh, understood. A family heirloom. A priceless treasure, worth a fortune." Sheng An nodded, summing it up.

She glanced at Hao Jingye. "What are the sentences for theft and extortion?"

Hao Jingye's eyes lit up. He stood with his computer in his arms and declared clearly, "Since he isn't a family member, it constitutes theft. If the amount is substantial, we can seek a sentence of three to four years' imprisonment. Extortion involving a substantial amount carries a sentence of up to three years."

Sheng An smiled faintly. "Then take him away."

Yu Litian: "?"

Jiang Yu: "??"