Chapter 23
Chapter 23: Got Sued
In the end, pushed along by Ge Chun Yu, Grandpa and Grandma, Xiao Ying Chun’s uncle, and Xiao Ying Chun’s other aunt all signed the agreement.
The milk, sachima, and other goods Ge Chun Yu had taken on credit hadn’t been only for her family, either. She’d passed some to Grandpa and Grandma’s household and some to her brother’s household.
As for how her uncle’s family and Ge Chun Yu’s family would later divide responsibility—and how they would eventually carve up Grandpa and Grandma’s property—that was their business now.
When the dinner ended, no one had eaten well except Ge Chun Yu and the five young people.
Xiao Ying Chun stayed polite all the way through. She stood outside Yu Wei Restaurant and saw the elders off one by one.
“Grandpa, Grandma,” she said evenly. “From now on, I’ll still come pay my respects every New Year…”
Ge Chun Yu even put on a cordial face. “Ying Chun, do you want me to take you home?”
Xiao Ying Chun shook her head. When it mattered, they’d done nothing. Playing the good person now was pointless.
Ge Chun Yu insisted anyway. “It’s not that close. Let me take you.”
She even reached out, trying to grab Xiao Ying Chun’s arm.
Ge Chun Yu laughed under her breath. “You don’t have a car anymore. If your aunt wants to take you, just let her.”
Their family car had been totaled in the crash back then.
Xiao Ying Chun let out a tired sigh. “I drove here. No need to trouble Aunt.”
“Oh?” Everyone looked at her.
Xiao Ying Chun took out her key and pressed it.
Across the lot, the lights of a brand-new white Mazda SUV blinked, and the locks clicked open.
Ge Chun Yu’s eyes widened. “A new car?”
Xie Yu Lin crowded closer, greed bright in his voice. “You just bought it? This thing costs over a hundred thousand!”
Ge Chun Yu’s face twisted. “Ying Chun… you can afford a new car, but you still bicker with your aunt over that little money?”
Xiao Ying Chun smiled faintly. “Aunt, if you talk like that, then I won’t pay it.”
She let the words hang, then added, cold and calm, “I’ll say it again: even if I make ten million on one deal, it’s still my money.”
“And the down payment on your new house was scraped together by running up goods on credit under my shop’s name. You didn’t give me half of that, did you?”
Ge Chun Yu went speechless.
Xie Yu Lin yanked her arm, annoyed. “Let’s go. She was never going to help you anyway. She’s cutting ties with us. Why are you still talking?”
He looked like the one being wronged.
Xiao Ying Chun didn’t argue. She simply watched them leave.
Ge Chun Yu stared at the shiny new car, and for the first time, something shifted in her eyes. Maybe Xiao Ying Chun wasn’t as weak and helpless as she’d always assumed.
Ge Chun Yu let out a long breath. “Fine. Drive carefully. Message me when you get home.”
“Aunt, it’s not far,” Xiao Ying Chun said. “I’ll be fine.”
She left without sending any “I’m home” update to the group chat.
Ge Chun Yu didn’t ask.
It was almost like the whole family had reached a silent agreement: keep Xiao Ying Chun at arm’s length, so she wouldn’t think about Grandpa and Grandma’s last remaining apartment ever again.
When Xiao Ying Chun got home, she lay on her narrow bed in her tiny room and stared into the dark, unable to settle.
She kept thinking of her parents. Of everything they’d swallowed. Of everything she’d swallowed too.
In the end, she whispered into the blackness, “Dad, Mom… don’t worry. I’ll live well.”
And she could.
The next morning, she got up early, ate a bowl of rice noodles, and went back to her shop. Uncle Ye said he’d bring medicine over.
With the air conditioner running, Xiao Ying Chun didn’t sit outside anymore. She stayed behind the counter, minding the store.
She received the medicine from Uncle Ye, then the delivery from Uncle Liang.
And then Wei Xiang—the wholesaler who had come to collect the debt—walked in.
He’d heard from Ge Chun Yu that Xiao Ying Chun was willing to cover sixty thousand, and he’d come to confirm it in person.
Xiao Ying Chun admitted it.
Wei Xiang watched her carefully, like he was weighing whether she meant it.
Xiao Ying Chun grinned. “I’m paying to cut ties with my aunt for good. Not for you. Don’t flatter yourself.”
Wei Xiang’s expression eased. “Then when will you pay?”
“After your lawsuit ends,” Xiao Ying Chun said. “Once she pays her portion, you can come to me for what’s left.”
Wei Xiang thought for a moment. “Then I might list you as a defendant too. That way it’s safest.”
Xiao Ying Chun didn’t blink. “Sure. Put me on the list.”
Wei Xiang looked genuinely surprised. “You don’t mind being named as a defendant?”
Xiao Ying Chun smiled wider. “Life’s long. Being a defendant once might be a fun new experience.”
Wei Xiang gave her a thumbs-up. “That’s badass.”
He glanced at the unopened cartons stacked behind the counter and the shelves that still looked a little too bare. “Want me to help you stock?”
Xiao Ying Chun cut him off fast. “No. I’ll do it myself.”
Wei Xiang’s goal clearly wasn’t stocking shelves. He leaned in smoothly. “I carry those snacks too. My prices are good.”
He pulled out a pen and scribbled a few prices on the blank side of an empty cigarette carton. “Compare them. If you think it works, call me.”
Xiao Ying Chun glanced over the list. A few were slightly cheaper than Uncle Liang’s, and a few were the same.
She smiled. “I’ll think about it.”
Wei Xiang left.
Uncle Liang was an old, reliable connection. Even if his prices were a bit higher, the margin was still reasonable. Wei Xiang was offering cut-rate prices because he wanted to steal business.
Saving a few cents wasn’t worth the trouble of switching suppliers and creating extra work for herself.
Near noon, Xiao Ying Chun got her first delivery call of the day: the cotton coats, cotton shoes, and cotton hats were in.
She drove over. The other side brought their own workers to unload.
They counted everything on-site, checked each batch, and once it was confirmed, Xiao Ying Chun paid on the spot.
After they left, she moved the boxes into the spatial system’s warehouse.
Ten thousand sets of cotton coats and cotton shoes packed the space so tightly it looked ready to burst.
If the coats and hats couldn’t compress, none of it would have fit.
Afterward, she grabbed a quick meal by the roadside, returned to her shop, unlocked the back door, and reopened the Spacetime Supermarket.
Fu Chen An arrived soon after.
When he saw the two trailers piled high with cotton coats and hats, his eyes went wide. “Already?”
Xiao Ying Chun didn’t waste time. “Hurry and move them. Next we’ve got pots and pans, plus cotton shoes and compressed biscuits. You’ll need two or three more trips to take everything.”
Fu Chen An sprang into motion.
On Xiao Ying Chun’s side, the system’s auto-sorting function helped load. On Fu Chen An’s side, soldiers handled unloading. It was fast—almost frighteningly efficient.
The cotton coats and hats were cleared out in no time.
Xiao Ying Chun made three more runs to the warehouse, handing over batch after batch until the last of it was gone.
By then, the sky had darkened.
Fu Chen An was drenched in sweat. Xiao Ying Chun’s shirt clung to her back too. In this heat, running goods back and forth was its own kind of punishment.
Seeing how exhausted he looked, Xiao Ying Chun suddenly said, “How about I treat you to dinner?”