At half past eleven, Gu Jianguo returned almost punctually. Upon seeing the empty table and no one in the kitchen, he immediately bellowed in dissatisfaction, "Where's the food? Are we not eating lunch today!"
"Eating what? You're not working, and neither am I. Are we supposed to live on thin air? You want to eat? Make it yourself. I'm in a bad mood, don't bother me!"
Ding Yun clearly had no intention of continuing to be a devoted wife, housekeeper, and grandmother for the next few decades, sacrificing herself and contributing her best. Since she had already decided against it, why bother with pretense? Therefore, she hadn't prepared lunch at all. She wasn't hungry anyway.
Besides, Ding Yun was right; the original body's health had truly been failing for the past month or so. Unwilling to die at her workplace and extort money from her boss, she had resigned over a month ago and currently had no income. Her husband, ever since their children started earning, had been working sporadically, unwilling to commit. When others invited him to work, he'd refuse if the weather was too hot, too cold, or too close to the New Year. He barely worked half the year. Yet, he was almost daily out jogging in the morning, practicing his whip in the evening, and drinking old wine without fail. He refused invitations to work out of town. If invited for a drink, he would go even if hail was falling.
Since the beginning of this year, he had been using the excuse of his children's weddings to avoid working with others. Over the past six months, he had only earned ten thousand yuan. Considering he was paid by the day, earning at least four to five hundred yuan daily when working, one could imagine how few days he had actually worked. And this money hadn't been given to the original body; he kept it all in his own pocket. He only paid for the household phone bill each month, while electricity, water, gas, and daily food expenses were all borne by the original body, using her salary.
Therefore, Ding Yun's words were entirely justified. She also genuinely had very little savings. To describe her financial straits, the ten-plus pounds of beef she bought at the market that day had consumed one-third of her total savings, illustrating her dire situation. Gu Jianguo neither provided living expenses nor took care of the three meals a day, which also had to include meat. Ding Yun, just thinking about it, felt the original body had been wronged.
So, she simply threw in the towel. Whatever happened, happened. Her children were already married, so it didn't matter. Divorce didn't matter either.
"You... what is suddenly possessing you! If you're in a bad mood, why take it out on me? Are you going to starve me to death by not cooking? Who are you trying to scare? Just say you want money. Why are you throwing a tantrum at me like this? Really. Last month I didn't just send you a 520 yuan red envelope? Last year, I sent you 1,340 yuan!"
Good heavens, Gu Jianguo's indignant rebuttal almost made Ding Yun laugh. Yes, he hadn't given money, but last year he sent 1,340 yuan for her birthday, and this year on May 20th, the previous month, he sent another 520 yuan. In total, he had given nearly two thousand yuan in a year, enough for him to eat for free for a year. He only gave money twice a year. Even a generous Ding Yun wanted to roll her eyes. No wonder the original body rushed to find a job as soon as their two children could start primary school. If one didn't work and earn money, how could life go on? One would probably be driven to death by the monthly living expenses alone.
However, Ding Yun was too lazy to argue with him. She didn't respond at all, merely locking the door to the small bedroom. Then, she proceeded to click on the daily lunch check-in.
[Congratulations on successful lunch check-in. This check-in has obtained thirty Pusiqu snakes, the favorite food of the pet, the Bald Great Roc, belonging to the Master of Jade Jade Evergreen Valley, from a Wuxia dimension.]
Seeing the latest check-in reward, Ding Yun's face darkened. Was this a "Heavenly Gourmet Sign-in Device" or a "Heavenly Pet Gourmet Sign-in Device"? Why were the last two check-ins animals' food? Why not just rename it "Pet Market"! Although humans could eat Pusiqu snakes, and even benefit from doing so, Ding Yun truly couldn't stomach snakes. She not only accepted but also loved eating yellow eels, whether braised, boiled, stir-fried, or stewed, but snakes were out of the question. She couldn't accept them psychologically, let alone swallow a live snake's gall.
But these thirty snakes couldn't just be released, as they were poisonous. Releasing them wouldn't earn merit; it would be creating sin.
"Uh, this snake should be a new species, right? And its gall can enhance internal energy. Internal energy is actually a special energy extracted and converted from the essence of the human body. So, theoretically speaking, this snake should be a tonic, a powerful one. If it could be developed into a business... No, no, this snake is a new species. What if it's identified as a protected species later? Oh, it's too troublesome. Forget it, just destroy it!"
After some deliberation, Ding Yun, due to her unwillingness to eat snake gall and the hassle of reporting it, as well as the potential for invasive species issues if released, finally clicked the "destroy" button below the Heavenly Gourmet Sign-in Device's warehouse. She destroyed the thirty Pusiqu snakes. Then, she went to bed. She planned to sleep until evening to see if she could sign in something edible for dinner. If not, she would go out to eat. As for her husband, who cared if he died? He was a healthy man with savings; he wouldn't starve to death, would he?
Gu Jianguo had already been contemplating sending another three to five hundred yuan red envelope if his wife asked for money. But since Ding Yun said nothing, he didn't want to invite further unpleasantness. After muttering a few more words, he simply went out to eat. There were restaurants everywhere; he wouldn't go hungry. Alternatively, he could go to a friend's house to mooch a meal, his own father's place, or even his son or daughter's. This was entirely within his capabilities and something he would do.
With no one to nag him, Ding Yun's nap was exceptionally comfortable. She slept from twelve o'clock until past five in the afternoon. Waking up and turning on the light, she felt a bit groggy. Checking the time, she realized it wasn't morning but evening. And, as expected, she used her dinner check-in opportunity.
[Congratulations on successful dinner check-in. This check-in has obtained a set of high-grade delicious nutritional meals from an interstellar dimension.]
"Whoa, this system has changed its ways. Oh wait, this system has a change of heart. Finally, it's giving me food for humans!"
Ding Yun's surprise didn't last long, because when she took it out, she discovered that the so-called "high-grade delicious nutritional meal" was anything but delicious. A set of high-grade delicious nutritional meals contained ten multi-colored nutrient sticks. Five of them were fruit-flavored, and five were dish-flavored. Among the fruit flavors were durian and jackfruit, and among the dish flavors were luosifen (river snail rice noodles) and stinky tofu mala xiang guo (spicy stir-fry pot). Just by looking at the description and flavor profiles, Ding Yun had no desire to eat them.
At this moment, Ding Yun seriously suspected that this system was trying to force her to pay for an upgrade to the "Heavenly Gourmet Mall" so she could buy what she wanted, instead of, as now, specifically sending her food that was practically inedible for humans. Most outrageously, when Ding Yun considered destroying these nutrient sticks as well, the Heavenly Gourmet Sign-in Device actually reminded her that she had already wasted two servings of food today, and any further waste would deduct merit and luck. Well, it seemed like nothing was going her way today. She had only endured frustration and unexpected events all day.