Chapter 5: Ye Heng Proposes a Deal to Lin Meng

Lin Meng had slept until mid-morning when she was awakened by urgent knocking outside.

"Coming, coming, who is it, so urgent early in the morning!"

Fortunately, the small courtyard house left by her grandfather was sturdy everywhere; otherwise, with this reckless door-smashing, the door would have been smashed long ago.

Opening the door, she saw five thugs in suits blocking the doorway.

Behind them was a crowd of onlookers rubbernecking, and several of Lin Meng's aunts were also there.

"She is the paternal granddaughter of Lin Congshan; the old man owes you money, so come ask her for it."

Second Aunt Li Qiaohui suddenly pointed at Lin Meng's nose, gloating as she introduced her to the debt collectors, then rudely said to Lin Meng:

"Lin Meng, don't blame us for disregarding family ties; you said it yourself—the old man's debt is yours to pay. If you can give this house to your second uncle, we'll definitely help you figure out how to repay these debts."

Fourth Aunt Zhang Guilan, hearing this was wrong, immediately spoke up to interrupt Li.

"What do you mean, Old Two's family? Are you saying your second uncle takes the house and we all have to share the debt? I scoff, nice dream."

Seeing the two aunts arguing, Eldest Aunt Wang Fang leisurely stepped forward and, with an appearance of reasonableness, said to Lin Meng:

"Little Meng, a debt of over three million isn't something a fresh graduate like you can bear; your uncle sent me to tell you that if you agree to give him the house, you won't have to repay these debts."

As soon as Mrs. Wang spoke, the whole village's onlookers began urging Lin Meng to give up the house and not be ungrateful.

Lin Meng laughed; after all this, they were still fixated on the ancestral home left by her grandfather.

It's strange, really—this house in a rural self-built dwelling is hardly luxurious and wouldn't fetch much if sold, yet the uncles are fighting over it.

Especially the uncle who is well-off and good at calculating would rather take on over three million in debt just to get the ancestral home—does he not fear a loss?

Someone who doesn't even tend his ancestors' graves obviously lacks any sense of familial duty; there's no reason to be so obsessed with an ancestral home that has no commercial value.

What exactly do they see in this house?

At that moment, the leader of the five debt collectors gave a cold snort, cutting off the villagers' chatter.

He spoke with a stern face:

"Fifth Master said, we're not unreasonable people; according to the old master Lin's wishes, whoever inherits the Lin family ancestral home is responsible for the debt.

Lin Jingqing has already paid part of it; the remainder is to be continued by his daughter."

"You are Lin Jingqing's daughter, right? When can you pay the money?"

The debt collectors weren't overly pushy; they seemed open to negotiation, which let Lin Meng breathe a little easier.

She gazed coldly at the eldest aunt and said:

"I also want to pay, but you might not know: although the ancestral home is in my name, the title deed is held by my uncle. I fear that if I pay the money, the house could be taken away, leaving me with nothing for my effort."

Upon hearing this, the five debt collectors immediately fixed their gaze on Mrs. Wang.

"Is what she says true? Then are you still going to collect the old master Lin's debt from us?"

Mrs. Wang shook her head repeatedly: "Why should we help her pay? The deed is just temporarily safeguarding it for her; the young lady is inexperienced, and we're also afraid she'll be deceived."

Several women on good terms with Mrs. Wang also chimed in.

"As elders, we mean well; nowadays young people are easily fooled, especially innocent girls like her—a guy just has to crook his finger and she's hooked, scammed out of money and virtue; we ought to guard her a bit."

Lin Meng snorted coldly: "Do I still have to thank you? Don't think I don't know what you're plotting. I'll lay it out now: the condition for repaying the money is that the deed be returned; otherwise, go ask Lin Jianyang for the money—he's not short of those three million."

Having spoken, Lin Meng slammed the door, shutting everyone outside, then turned and headed for the kitchen.

Forget the house, debts, and terrible relatives for now—her stomach was protesting; no one should be neglected more than her own mouth.

The cursing outside gradually faded, and the debt collectors left as well.

Lin Meng took two eggs and a handful of noodles, making herself a simple bowl of egg noodles.

She sprinkled in some scallions, and the aroma immediately filled her nose.

She carried her bowl and chopsticks to the living room, when suddenly Ye Heng's voice sounded in her mind.

Lin Meng thought for a moment, then did not enter the space herself, but instead communicated with him across time and space as is.

"Ye Heng? Anything up?"

Ye Heng quickly heard Lin Meng's reply; she remembered his name.

Suppressing his excited heart, Ye Heng then tentatively opened his mouth:

"Miss Lin, do you still have that refined grain? If so, I'd like to ask about purchasing some—I don't know what I should offer in exchange."

"Refined grain?" Lin Meng blinked, then realized.

"You mean the chicken feed? I do have some, but how much do you need? I'm not a farmer; I just keep a few free-range laying hens, so the feed at home isn't plentiful."

Hearing Lin Meng say she raised chickens, laying hens at that, Ye Heng couldn't help but swallow.

Eggs—ten years ago, when he was still a teenager, he had once stolen a small bite in the Evolution Special Zone, a memory that has stayed with him forever.

It is said to be a high-end nutrition that even nobles cannot enjoy daily.

Even more so, laying hens—on the wasteland, flora and fauna are affected; for humans, eating them lightly causes stomach pain and diarrhea, severely can lead to death.

Even if they see wildlife in the wild, no one dares to eat it.

Only those about to die would think of eating some meat at their last moment to fill their stomachs before departing…

Ye Heng steadied his mind and said:

"Miss Lin, do you think this would work? I see you seem to need underworld currency; I've had the aunts at the Refuge fold some civilizational-era underworld money—could we use it to exchange for more refined grain?"

"I don't need much; just give what you think is appropriate—does that sound okay to you?"

Lin Meng felt the other's tone was very sincere, even a bit pleading, and found it unbelievable.

It's just a bit of chicken feed, not worth much money.

But combining some special information from his words, Lin Meng suddenly had an idea.

"Ye Heng, what do you mean by 'civilizational era'? What's your situation over there—can't even get enough to eat?"

Ye Heng hadn't planned to conceal anything; at first he didn't mention it because he thought she was just a passing acquaintance who might not care about his circumstances.

Since you asked voluntarily, he is certainly willing to explain.

Soon, from Ye Heng's description, Lin Meng learned that the world the other party inhabited indeed had a temporal/spatial discrepancy with her own.

The so-called civilized era there is already a thing of the past; they are now in the post-cataclysm wasteland era.

An era of extreme scarcity, where people cannot get enough to eat, and danger lurks everywhere—a wasteland era.