Learn! Learn everything!

Well, at least the surface knowledge. During the apocalypse, she’d have plenty of time to learn these things in depth.

It was good to have surface knowledge because it would help her make more thorough preparations before the apocalypse.

Some of the points to study would be the needs of farmers and what plants need to grow. She could Doogle these things, but there were plenty of details and subtleties only personal experience would teach.

In the previous generation, and even until now, the impression of farmers wasn’t prestigious. Not many youths aimed to be farmers unless that was the only path they could take; her mother and her siblings were the same.

Melinda had one older brother and one younger sister. From memory (which was 10 years ago), the uncle, Marcus, was the responsible kind of guy, though a bit meek. Her mother went into business, while uncle only finished high school and went to work at a construction site as soon as he graduated.

He married a similarly mild-mannered woman. She wasn’t sure what happened to her though. She remembered her uncle was already a single father before she left. He was an admirable and responsible adult.

The aunt, on the other hand, was an overbearing bitch.

Ahem.

It seemed like there was a rule that in every family, there had to be someone to ruin it, yeah? That woman, Michi, was just that.

She was spoiled rotten somehow and they had no idea how she turned out so differently when grandma did not really show favoritism. It was one of the village’s mysteries, even more mysterious than the alleged ghost near the well.

The running theory was that the aunt was praised a lot for her beauty and had a lot of admirers, but was humiliated by their background as peasants, so she was bitter with everyone. She would often snap at the villagers as if it were their fault.

Tsk. Naia remembered when she was young, and Aunt got a well-off admirer visiting. The woman threateningly pinched young Nadia’s hands, telling her to behave, or better yet, not to show up at all.

The young Nadia promptly went ahead and brought them a toad as a ’gift’. The dude, who had been looking down on the villager—who had been acting like he graced the poor villagers with his great presence— screamed even louder than the actual female.

Heh.

Fortunately, that woman and her daughter barely went to the village. Aunt Michi hated the village, after all.

Interestingly, today was Friday, and this meant that the cousins (Uncle’s children) would head back to stay.

Instead of a tricycle though, what arrived was a cab, and it stopped right outside the door.

At the time, Naia was in the living room, and it was easy to look out the window when she heard the sound of a car approaching. Three teenagers, two girls and a boy, came down.

She curiously went with Grandma to greet the newcomers. The boy, whose face was bandaged and bruised, gaped at her.

"Oh, it’s you! I knew it! I KNEW IT!!!" The young man exclaimed, looking like he had won the lottery. He then turned to her with a bright smile, which looked oddly pitiful considering all the bruises. "Thanks for your help!"

The two girls looked curious. One was openly admiring of her face, while the other seemed disdainful. "You know her?" she asked.

This pompous girl wore colorful clothes and branded items, and she looked at Naia with unfriendly eyes.

Hans nodded, while his twin sister, Linlin watched the interaction with curiosity. Those large, bespectacled eyes of hers seemed bright in gossip.

Linlin was quite petite. If Naia didn’t know she was twins with the boy, she might’ve thought this one was 14 or 15 years old instead of 17.

Grandma introduced them as they entered the gate. "This is Naia, your aunt Melissa’s daughter."

"These are your uncle Marcus’ twins, Hans (the older one, even if it’s not obvious) and Linlin," she said, and then looked at the other girl. "This one’s Pani, your auntie Michi’s daughter. They live in Lotus Town and are doing quite well there."

Pani chuckled at the side. "So this is the granddaughter taken back by her rich father? Did they finally kick you out?"

"Pani!" Grandma exclaimed while the twins’ eyebrows furrowed, looking at Pani with annoyance and confusion.

Naia was also taken aback. It was so presumptuous. If she remembered correctly, Pani’s family’s first and biggest pot of gold was because of Melinda’s connections. Pani’s father simply managed to grab on to it.

He even got loans from mother. The loans weren’t even fully paid. She could bet that, now that her mother was dead, they had forgotten about it already.

So...why was this one so arrogant?

"I visited your school to visit my friends once!" she said, but did not say anymore as if to add ’tension.

So that’s how it was. She knew about the bullying and her status in the house. Her current tone was probably stemming from this sense of superiority. Perhaps she thought Naia would feel insecure and act humbly in front of her.

As for why she wasn’t aware of the Cerra’s current state, she probably would within the week. The news was still gaining traction, and it was only a matter of time until everyone knew of it.

Still, it was a bit troublesome that Pani had connections to Nadia’s old life. She was, after all, hiding her existence at this time.

The case should already be solid enough by the time it gets revealed, but she wasn’t planning on expediting it.

"I’m here because I got kicked out," she said. "I have no money. When are your parents going to pay for their debts to my mother?"

"What?"

"The more I see you, the more I remember the debt. So annoying."

"..."

"Are you here because you heard I’m staying here and want to pay?"

"..."

"Stop dreaming! My mother sent me to check on grandma!!"

Naia looked at her as if she were joking. She heard that Aunt Michi never visited the village after she got married, wanting to cut them off except for when asking money from grandma or her mother.

Thinking of this, Naia couldn’t help but solemnly look at the pompous teen.

What are they up to?