Enemies Are All Nourishment for My Fungi-Chapter 126: Going Through the Motions for New Year

When Yu Qing said this, a murderous intention briefly flashed through her heart.

Ye Yu might have seen the murderous look in Yu Qing’s eyes, which subdued him a bit, and he no longer insisted on giving a red envelope before the divorce.

The next morning, the couple followed their respective plans, each busy with their own tasks.

Ye Yu went home to wish his parents a happy new year, and took the opportunity to discuss selling the house and divorcing, to see if his older brother’s family wanted to take over.

Yu Qing, on the other hand, took their three children to see her own parents. When they asked about the injuries on her face, she openly said it was from a fight with her husband but did not mention getting a divorce, for she would definitely have been scolded. Fighting during the New Year might be overlooked—after all, which couple doesn’t fight—but, at her age, with so many children, talking about divorce was just crazy.

It was almost noon, a time when not even siblings usually visit to wish each other a happy new year, mainly because it’s close to meal times and disliked by most. Only their elderly parents and her older brother’s couple were home, and their two nieces had gone out to give new year’s greetings as well. Yu Qing took the opportunity to suggest taking the four of them out to eat; Ye Nai had reserved a private room at Seafood Restaurant.

Ye Nai’s job of moving trash in the hazardous area was known by close relatives at home; every year, kids graduate from their teens, and it’s inevitable for elders to ask in casual conversation where their children are working now?

The Yu family had never really been to Seafood Restaurant before.

Yu Family’s big uncle and aunt both had good jobs, having passed official exams. Although their salaries weren’t high, they received good benefits during festivals and holidays, and with only two daughters, their financial situation was much better than that of Ye Nai’s parents.

At the dinner table, seeing Ye Nai’s face bruised, they naturally wondered how it happened.

So Ye Nai began to concoct a story.

She said she earned between nine to ten thousand a month moving trash in the trash area. After taxes, she had to make payments to the local tyrant or she wouldn’t be allowed to work on their territory. The local tyrant’s underlings also needed to be taken care of regularly; gifting them good cigarettes and alcohol—something that couldn’t be skimped on—meant half her income went just like that.

This was the same in any dangerous area. Being young and strong, she worked more and earned more, which inevitably led to jealousy and squabbles. That meant fighting—whoever had the harder fist ruled. Fights weren’t made a big fuss of; otherwise, if the military intervened, it was all over.

What Ye Nai described was completely unknown to ordinary people living in the city, at least to her relatives, as they wouldn’t come across such detailed informal rules even in short videos online.

Since her uncle and aunt’s departments didn’t interface with dangerous areas, they also didn’t know, at most hearing some third-hand gossip from colleagues.

The details from Ye Nai were much more compelling now.

When they heard that a Secret Realm Laborer earned a thousand a day, they thought it was a very high salary, but the next second, upon hearing this was merely "risk money" and that in the Secret Realm you were responsible for your own life and death, they felt a thousand a day was too cheap—life really was cheap.

Yu Qing also advised Ye Nai, even if she was short of money, not to go into such laborious work. Moving trash was hard, but at least it was less risky.

Her grandparents didn’t think too highly of giving half her hard-earned money to the local tyrant either, advising Ye Nai to lean on someone reliable, to grab a steady "big leg" so she needn’t risk her life like this, and the best option was to find a good man and get married while she was still young.

Ye Nai appeared polite and docile, nodding at everything the elders said, showing no hint of her capability to fight men.

The younger family members felt that Seafood Restaurant was delicious and that their elders were easy to deceive.

The meal was a joyous affair. After filling up on gossip, the elders had plenty to talk about after the New Year. However, they were a bit shocked when they heard the price of over seven thousand as Ye Nai was paying.

Compared to yesterday’s meal, which cost over six thousand for a family of six, today’s meal for nine people amounted to over seven thousand, which actually worked out cheaper per person.

Ye Nai wasn’t short of this bit of money. It was New Year’s—time for a good meal. Who knew if she would still be treating like this next year?

Ye Nai also called the taxis, ordering two to take both families back to their homes.

She stood by the roadside watching as the car drove away. She returned to the Seafood Restaurant, ordered again—ordinary ingredients and Mutant Beast Meat, whatever was tasty—all packed up directly into her Space, then she went outside, released her electric bike, and rode out of the city.

Being so cautious was mainly to guard against the Awakeners at the Seafood Restaurant, where they were densely packed. Among the people there for family dinners, the vast majority were relatives hosting Awakeners like her; hardly any ordinary people were there on their own.

Her motorcycle was so conspicuous and unique, it was not necessary to flaunt herself in a place crowded with Awakeners.

Ultimately, East Ridge City was just too small. A society of acquaintances forced one to be cautious. In a city like Anyuan City, with a population of a million, there was much more room to display individuality on the streets without anyone being so petty.

By dusk, before it got dark, Ye Nai had returned to her rented home in Yijia District, Danger Zone 5.

She did a quick cleanup and placed the packed boxes from the Seafood Restaurant on the dining table for a group photo, which she then posted in the team leaders’ group chat.

[I’m back. Wanna come over for dinner?]

[Yo, Seafood Restaurant?]

[Yes, coming? I’m laying it out now; it will cool down soon.]

[Coming, coming, on my way.]

A few minutes later, several team leaders arrived at Ye Nai’s place.

She had set up a stainless steel workstation in the center of the living room to serve as a large dining table, with heat-proof mats on top, the takeout boxes directly placed on them. There were half a bag of disposable chopsticks and cups at one corner of the table while cases of beer and liquor sat on the floor.

The main point was to eat and drink without having to wash dishes afterward.

Once everyone arrived, they sat down and started eating.

Ye Nai had bought large quantities of food, choosing the largest available sizes for each dish that was sold by piece. The kitchen had to use two of the largest packing boxes to hold it all.

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Despite buying a lot, it didn’t seem excessive when they ate; the discarded shells piled up on the table.

As they ate and chatted, they inevitably touched upon Ye Nai’s troublesome family matters, hearing how she encouraged her parents to divorce. The team leaders all thought that was a respectable solution.

They had all seen the small two-bedroom house which squeezed six people; they never dared ask how Ye Nai and her four siblings managed to sleep there throughout their childhood.

After the divorce, the father would take the sons and the mother the daughters, each renting a small two-bedroom flat, which would allow them to live much more comfortably and peacefully.

After a few minutes, the awkward topic ended, and the conversation moved to routine exercises. The gym would be closed until the fourth day of the Chinese New Year and would reopen on the fifth. They needed to get some activity; otherwise, they’d get fat over the holidays.

Ye Nai also mentioned the shoe lasts they’d ordered from Town 1, reminding them to pick them up after the New Year, as well as the leather being tanned by the military cobbler, which was nearly ready.

She also needed to hurry and practice her tractor-driving skills, hoping to pass the driving test at once.

When they summed it up, they were quite busy after the New Year.

After eating their fill, the team leaders called in logistics team members who had Space to pick up the New Year goods Ye Nai had stored in her Space, finally distributing everything to its rightful owners.

After seeing off the guests, Ye Nai cleaned up, tossed the trash, washed her hands, and was about to head to the guest room to turn on her computer when she went to get her fully charged phone from the master bedroom. She found her mom had sent a string of messages an hour earlier, but she hadn’t heard anything at the time due to the commotion.