Chapter 22 Spending Money to Learn a Lesson

Chapter 22: Learning the Hard Way

Chu Xiangxiang dared not act up any longer. Her face turned ghastly pale, and her voice trembled as she hastily blurted, "I’ll pay, I’ll pay, alright? Just wait, I’ll go get the things to return to you."

With that, she spun around and bolted for the door in a panicked rush, but she wasn’t fast enough.

A leg—still slender despite the thick winter pants—blocked her path, its foot planted firmly on her doorframe.

Hua Diao, bundled in thick cotton clothes yet exuding the aura of a formidable Big Sister, fixed Chu Xiangxiang with an annoyed glare. "I don’t want your used junk. I’m not a trash collector. Who knows if any of that stuff is even good anymore?"

Chu Xiangxiang’s face contorted, her heart bleeding as she gritted her teeth. "Then I’ll have my brother pay you back."

Hua Diao scoffed, tossing her head. "No. Prices change. Money used to be useful, but now it’s the apocalypse—who knows if those bills are just worthless paper? You think you can fool me with trash? Do I look that stupid?"

Chu Xiangxiang: *%&*#@* (*You were totally an idiot before! What’s gotten into you today? Wrapped in thick clothes, it’s like you’ve put on a whole new personality—completely changed your tune!*)

But she didn’t dare voice that thought. Instead, she gnawed her lip and mumbled in protest, "But you just said you wanted repayment..."

Hua Diao shot her a sharp glare, and Chu Xiangxiang immediately swallowed her words, changing her tune. "Then... then what do you want?"

Hua Diao grinned, satisfied, and laid out her terms. "I want in-game currency from *Survival Game*. I won’t rip you off—we’ll convert it fairly. One dollar equals one copper coin, and since it’s over 1.5 million, I’ll round it down to 150 gold coins."

Chu Xiangxiang considered it, found no fault, and, relieved, quickly agreed. "Fine, I’ll have my brother give it to you."

Chu Chengling and Jiang Yao, who had been listening to the entire exchange, nearly choked with frustration.

Chu Chengling’s handsome brows furrowed deeply as he sternly reminded her, "Xiangxiang, this is *your* debt."

Chu Xiangxiang pouted, whining, "Brother, are you abandoning me just because you married Sister Jiang Yao? Besides, I took the money *for* you and her! You can’t just leave me hanging!"

A vein pulsed in Chu Chengling’s temple, his chest tight with suppressed anger.

His sister didn’t grasp the gravity of 150 gold coins, but he did. He had analyzed *Survival Game* and its commodities, and after a recent scouting trip, he clearly understood that the world had changed—the peaceful era was over.

Before, even if you were broke and in debt, you could survive as long as you worked. But now? Survival meant risking your life to fight monsters for resources.

Jiang Yao, seeing her husband’s distress, also grew anxious.

She, too, understood the dire situation. Poisonous insects and monsters were encroaching on their living space. Survival was already difficult enough—adding debt on top of that was unbearable.

She didn’t want her husband to risk his life fighting monsters to pay off her thoughtless sister-in-law’s debts.

She reached out and gently tugged Chu Chengling’s sleeve.

This small gesture didn’t escape Chu’s mother. Her eyes darkened—*this scheming little wretch is trying to manipulate my son!*

Forgetting her own questionable actions, she wiped her tears and stepped forward, addressing her son earnestly. "Son, you can’t abandon your sister. You two grew up without a father—I raised you both single-handedly, hoping you’d always support each other. Now she’s in trouble, and it’s *because* of you. She’s your only sister—you *have* to help her!"

Chu Chengling pressed his lips together. Thinking of his mother’s sacrifices and his sister’s companionship over the years, his resolve inevitably wavered. In the end, his heart softened.

No matter what, good or bad, they were his closest family.

He sighed heavily, taking Jiang Yao’s hand in his and giving it a reassuring squeeze before turning to Hua Diao, who was thoroughly enjoying the spectacle.

"Junior," he said solemnly, "I will repay the 150 gold coins. But I don’t have them now—can you give me some time?"

Hua Diao felt a twinge of regret watching Chu’s mother successfully smooth things over. She’d *really* wanted to see a mother-son fallout.

Making a show of thinking, she replied, "I *could*... but Senior Chu, you know how valuable gold coins are. The sooner you accumulate them, the better—their worth might drop later. So I’ll set a deadline: two weeks. After that, I’ll charge interest. But given our past friendship, you can also pay with other in-game items. I’m sure you’ll scrape together the coins quickly."

*He’s the male lead, after all—bound to have protagonist luck.* Hua Diao had no doubt he’d accumulate the gold coins in no time.

*Unlike me, a plain old supporting actress who somehow made over 400 gold coins in one night!*

Chu Chengling’s mouth twisted—her "trust" didn’t exactly please him.

Then, glancing at his wife, he asked Hua Diao, "Can my mother-in-law’s debt also be settled in gold coins?"

Jiang Yao and her mother perked up, their eyes shining with hope.

But Chu’s mother and Chu Xiangxiang scowled. Before they could protest, Hua Diao cheerfully interjected, "Of course! Senior Chu, it’s admirable that you want to help your mother-in-law too. I’ll give you a fair price—200 gold coins. Once paid, my grudge with Aunt Jiang is settled."

She flashed him a smile, projecting an "I’m easy to deal with if the gold coins are there" vibe.

Then, her eyes gleaming, she added, "Oh, and speaking of debts—your mother owes me too. Aunt Chu took plenty from me before, *plus* she pressured me to fake suicide and teamed up with Aunt Jiang to scheme against me. Surely you’re not blind enough to deny your mother’s involvement, right? So let’s add emotional distress—let’s say... 350 gold coins? But since it’s you, I’ll round it down. How about it—want to lump it all together?"

Chu Chengling stiffly nodded. What else could he do? He couldn’t help his mother-in-law but ignore his own mother.

And just like that, Chu Chengling—who didn’t have a single copper coin to his name—was saddled with a crushing debt of *700 gold coins*.

Hua Diao was *delighted*. *This money is so easy to make!*

She even secretly regretted letting that fat otaku Jiang Yu off earlier—if she hadn’t, she could’ve squeezed another 100-plus gold coins out of him.

Now hooked on debt collection, she turned to Chen Fei and his gang.

Since Chu Xiangxiang had "voluntarily" repaid, their earlier deal was void.

Seeing Chen Fei’s miserable expression, Hua Diao decided to make *him* pay for his lesson too—hitting him with a 200-gold-coin bill. But unlike Chu Chengling, he had to repay *at least one silver coin daily*. After two weeks, interest would kick in.

*Chu Chengling’s the male lead—plot armor means he won’t die easily. But Chen Fei? Just a random extra who could drop dead any second. Gotta make him pay daily—if he croaks mid-repayment, I’m out of luck!*

Hua Diao’s inner abacus clicked away greedily.

Of course, no one else knew her calculations. They just assumed her "leniency" toward Chu Chengling was out of past affection.

Chu Chengling’s gaze was complicated. Jiang Yao seemed to want to say something but held back. Even the onlookers, who’d initially thought Hua Diao was money-obsessed, now felt she had a heart after all beneath her ruthless gun-wielding exterior.