Chapter 003 "Fraud" also requires skills

City Z.

As soon as she got off the train, Lin Jiu finally breathed a sigh of relief as the moist air hit her face.

Taking off her scarf, she rubbed her sore eyes, which had been frantically adding items to the shopping cart all night on the train, and looked at the city where she had lived for twenty years.

In her past life, Lin Jiu had a deep attachment to this city, but returning here now, she felt a complexity that was hard to put into words.

This was the place that raised her, but also her cage. Fortunately, her mindset had changed, and as long as she didn't put herself in a passive position, this place was still lovely.

Even though City Z had undergone many changes due to the renovation of the old residential areas in recent years, Lin Jiu was very familiar with every street in this small city. The locations of various shops and malls needed to be confirmed again, but it wouldn't take long.

On her way home, Lin Jiu casually picked up a box of discounted milk that was about to expire at the supermarket.

It's easy to give money, but hard to ask for it. Lin Jiu could imagine the look on her parents' faces when she directly asked them to pay her back. She needed to come up with a different strategy to get her money back.

The residential area where the Lin family lived was one of the older ones in City Z, with a maximum of five floors and no elevators. The outer walls of the floors were peeling, and the anti-theft nets of every household were filled with damp clothes.

Although the style of the houses was old-fashioned, they were very sturdy and durable. At least in the early stages of the apocalypse, this old building had almost no damage in several small earthquakes, which was completely incomparable to the neighboring shoddy construction.

Standing at the entrance of the building, Lin Jiu's emotions surged, and it took her a long time to calm down.

This was where she grew up, bearing many disappointments and grievances from her childhood to adulthood.

As the eldest child of the Lin family, her younger brother Lin Ye was the family's treasure, while she was like an unsightly weed growing in the cracks of the wall, constantly being looked down upon.

Growing up in the biased and stumbling Lin family, she had so many times when she was about to burst out in a loud questioning voice, but they all vanished in the indifferent eyes of her mother.

"You are the older sister, what's wrong with letting your younger brother have his way? Which family doesn't have this kind of situation? We have already done our best by sending you to school!"

Although she was born just a minute later than Lin Ye, she became the sister who always had to make concessions and wholeheartedly support her brother.

Having never been loved, she felt it was only natural to be bullied and oppressed everywhere. The deep-rooted influence of her original family eventually led to her tragic death in her previous life, after she lost her value.

Lin Jiu forcibly suppressed her surging emotions, trying not to show any signs of discomfort. She was still the same honest and accommodating Lin Jiu as before.

The Lin family lived on the second floor, and it was still early. Lin's father, mother, and Lin Ye should all be at home. Lin Jiu stood in front of the door, dragging a cheap suitcase, and knocked on the door of the Lin family.

As the eldest daughter of the Lin family, she hadn't spent a single night in this house for a whole ten years, but had been living alone in her grandmother's yard in the countryside.

The place where her grandmother lived before her death was barely decorated, and the few remaining pieces of furniture still carried an indelible musty smell. She had to take a one-hour bus ride to school every day, and she spent the most beautiful six years of her youth there alone.

The door creaked open, and Lin Jiu looked up with the same gentle smile on her face.

"Mom."

"Why did you come back? Instead of working outside, what are you doing back here? You didn't even tell us in advance, just causing chaos..."

The wrinkles between Lin's mother's eyebrows could almost kill a fly, and her disgusted expression softened slightly when she saw the milk in Lin Jiu's hand.

"I quit my job."

Lin Jiu entered the house, and Lin Ye was sitting on the sofa with a clean and pretty girl, both of them engrossed in their phones. When Lin Jiu entered, he didn't even look up.

Xu Chuchu... Lin Jiu's eyes darkened. So Xu Chuchu was already at the Lin family's house, no wonder Lin's mother cried and begged her to pay for the house.

Xu Chuchu, true to her name, had clear and bright eyes, fair and smooth skin, and looked pitiful and beautiful. She was born out of wedlock as the mistress's daughter, but she was incredibly sensible and kind, which Lin's mother loved.

But it was this sensible and kind woman who took away her fiancé, forced Lin Ye to join forces with her, and killed her.

However, Lin Jiu still couldn't understand why Xu Chuchu wanted to kill her at that time.

Her parents had become Xu Chuchu's in-laws, her brother had become Xu Chuchu's husband, and her boyfriend had become Xu Chuchu's second lover. She had lost everything!

Lin Jiu took a deep breath and averted her overly focused gaze to avoid arousing suspicion.

Repeatedly reminding herself of the purpose of her visit, she was only here to get the money. As for the others... without her, whether this selfish group could survive in the apocalypse was debatable.

Lin's father must have worked the night shift yesterday and was now sitting at the dining table smoking, looking dispirited. When he saw Lin Jiu return, he raised his head.

"Little Jiu is back, huh? Why did you quit your job?"

"Who knows what's wrong with her, she's had this bad temper since she was little... Son, Chuchu, come and have breakfast, don't mind her."

Lin's mother grumbled as she brought out four servings of breakfast from the kitchen, clearly not including Lin Jiu, and promptly placed the first bowl of porridge in front of Xu Chuchu.

"Thank you, Auntie." Xu Chuchu held the bowl with both hands and thanked her obediently.

"Chuchu, why are you being so polite? Did you go to see your father-in-law last week?"

A glint of darkness flashed in Xu Chuchu's eyes, but when she raised her face again, she had the demeanor of a well-bred young lady, which made Lin Jiu sick to her stomach.

"Seeing... Dad has been busy with the construction in the city recently. He said that once this matter is over, he can bring me back... If Auntie really doesn't agree, she can at least help me settle down outside and not let me drift around."

"Okay, okay, good child, eat quickly."

Lin's mother heard the answer she wanted and her old face lit up with a smile, looking at Xuchu's eyes as if she had found a gold mine.

Originally, she didn't agree with her son bringing Xuchu back home casually. When she found out that Xuchu had no money and still demanded the family to buy a house for her marriage, she almost wanted to kick Xuchu out on the spot.

It wasn't until she learned about Xuchu's background that Lin's mother realized they had picked up a treasure, so she became especially attentive to her.

Lin Jiu really didn't have time to watch this family's drama in front of her. Her only goal today was to "trick" her money back.

"I didn't quit my job on purpose. It's just that there's a better opportunity to make money now. I think the job is too tiring and doesn't pay much, so I quit."

As soon as Lin Jiu finished speaking, Lin's mother hesitated for a moment, then turned and brought a bowl of porridge from the kitchen and placed it on the coffee table in front of Lin Jiu.

"What kind of money-making opportunity? Don't let yourself be deceived."

"How could that be, Mom? It's our general manager, Mr. Li. You know him, right? He's so rich that he doesn't care about the little money I make."

"Tell me, how do you make money?"

Lin Ye picked up a youtiao from the table, tidying his carefully trimmed short hair, and finally gave Lin Jiu a meaningful look.

"I gave you 300,000 yuan a few days ago, and I want to take it back in a hurry."

"That 300,000 yuan is out of the question. It's the down payment for your brother and Xuchu's wedding house!" Lin's mother's face immediately fell when she heard that Lin Jiu had her eyes on the 300,000 yuan.

"Yes, that's the money for my wedding house. You've already given it, what do you mean by wanting it back?!"

Lin Ye immediately stood on the same front as Lin's mother, turning against Lin Jiu as if turning a page in a book.

Lin's father mumbled a few words, probably wanting to speak fairly, but seeing Lin's mother's expression, he lowered his head and focused on his own breakfast.

He had no ability to earn much money for his son, and Lin Jiu earned money to support his brother, which was nothing.

Xuchu still sat calmly at the dining table, eating her meal as if she didn't see the drama in front of her, as if it had nothing to do with her.

Lin Jiu's eyes wandered around her, and she smiled.

Speaking of which, Xuchu did have some background. She was the biological daughter of the mayor of Z City, but unfortunately not born to the original wife.

Now her father, Xu Zhiqiang, was still tightly controlled by his wife's family, and turning the tables was a matter for after the apocalypse.

From beginning to end, Xuchu had been instilling in the Lin family the power of the Xu family's wife, and Xu Zhiqiang had never dared to take care of her in order to gain support from his wife's family, making the Lin family mistakenly believe that Xuchu's father cared a lot about her.

Lin's mother clearly saw a bright future in having the future mayor's son-in-law, which was why she accepted an outsider so quickly.

She was daydreaming all day long, without considering the fact that the legitimate wife had given birth to sons and daughters. Why should she care about a illegitimate daughter who had no presence?

If Xu Zhiqiang really wanted to compensate Xuchu, he wouldn't have abandoned her for more than twenty years.

In that conversation just now, the Lin family didn't see whether Xuchu had seen Xu Zhiqiang or what the situation was. They had to rely on Xuchu's words, but anyone with a little bit of sense wouldn't be fooled by Xuchu's ambiguous tricks.

Five years after the apocalypse, Xuchu awakened her second spatial ability and became a strong figure in the base. Not only was she recognized by the Xu family, but she also became the daughter of the mayor in the safe zone, with countless men around her.

By the way, spatial abilities... Generally, people who can awaken their abilities have already stabilized two years before the apocalypse. After that, those who can awaken a second ability are extremely rare.

Even if they awaken, they are usually powerful individuals. With Xuchu's ordinary fire level 4 ability at that time, how did she awaken her spatial ability?

This thought flashed through Lin Jiu's mind.

"Xiaoye, don't be like this. It's not easy for your sister to make money... I'm fine with it. I can wait to buy a house, whether it's sooner or later."

Xuchu walked to Lin Ye's side and gently pulled her, showing a considerate appearance.

After hearing this, Lin's mother and Lin Ye's expressions became even more disapproving.

Lin Jiu raised an eyebrow and didn't rush to explain, but instead carefully planned her words on the way to the Lin family.

In any case, she was determined to get that 300,000 yuan today!