Before she could ask anything (like was Auntie Michi adopted, or something), Naia turned to look at Linlin and belatedly noticed that she had a bandage on her neck.

She didn’t notice before because the girl went in for a hug at first sight, and then she wrapped the towel Naia gave them around her neck, accidentally covering it up.

Naia frowned. "What happened to you?"

At this, not only Linlin, but everyone’s faces darkened. "It was Pani," she said, muttering in annoyance. "She went crazy, going to my homeroom and yelling at how evil I was."

"She even said she took me in before and took care of us, so we have to pay them back. They said I can’t be an ungrateful bitch and then attacked me! Pshh! We just slept in her house a few times!"

Wow.

Speaking of that family, after Auntie Michi’s husband was imprisoned, the family really encountered bad luck one after the other.

Heh. They deserved it.

"Don’t worry, they’re in much worse states than I am."

It had only been a couple of days since they encountered Pani in Lotus Town. It seemed like another change had happened in that girl’s life. It was really 100x more dramatic than those dramas.

So Perdita was sold to a rich businessman in Town, but he got tired of her very quickly, and he started his dalliances again. Perdita went crazy, attacked the mistress, accidentally caused a miscarriage, and then got kicked out with nothing.

This was all in the span of a few days. It was amazing.

Not only that, but everyone in that family just got pushed down by bad luck over and over, and in different ways.

Naia did not have anything to do with this. It was just that the family made a lot of enemies when they were doing well, and those people could not wait to stomp on them the moment they tripped.

Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Karma at its finest, indeed.

According to Linlin, the previously peacock-dressed Perdita was dressed in her old clothes that weren’t even ironed well because they no longer had maids and she couldn’t do chores very well.

That girl probably snapped due to the ’poverty’ and tried to grab Linlin’s hair while demanding money. Their financial situation wasn’t even that bad.

The debts were just paying interest, and they still had an apartment left as an asset, and they wouldn’t go hungry in the short-term.

But people used to luxury falling on hard times would have a difficult time adjusting, let alone someone with a small mind like Perdita and Auntie Michi.

They would always find a way to get things with minimal effort, ideally for free, no matter who they had to step on.

Uncle rubbed his temple. When he found out his sister had tried to get their mother and his children killed, he was in a daze for two whole days before he drove to her house and cursed her to death.

It was such a pity she wasn’t imprisoned!

And she even had the gall to ask for money!?

That day, Marcus, who was already in his 30s, found out the world was even darker than he had thought!

"Sigh, I just can’t imagine how my sister could do that," he said, in that usual mild manner of his. No one would imagine the number of expletives he could actually rap out when angry.

"Well, people’s minds can be weird sometimes. It’s better to just ignore some," Grandma said, her tone obviously telling that she had already given up on that youngest daughter of hers.

This was a relief. Naia wouldn’t be surprised if Auntie Michi would go here to ask for money soon. The only reason the woman hadn’t was because of the history. But when there was no other option, a shameless woman like that could definitely go here and act pitiful. Maybe she’d even claim a few rooms for herself.

Fortunately, it looked like Grandma was enlightened. At this rate, she doubted Auntie Michi would be able to change Grandma’s mind.

That said, they were still mother-and-daughter in the end. Naia preferred that the confrontation didn’t happen at all. Even if Grandma stood strong, she’d be hurt.

She narrowed her eyes. Should she throw in a few more troublesome things in Aunt’s way so they didn’t have the time to bother Grandma?

Her thoughts were interrupted when Grandma held her son’s hand and asked in concern. "Did anything happen with your job?"

Marcus looked embarrassed and rubbed the back of his head. His mother indeed knew him well, but he was too embarrassed to say it, especially in front of the children.

"Just...some disagreements," he said. "I...I’ll help with the farm for a while."

Naia looked at them all concerned, and she realized it was the best time to inform them of what was to happen.

"Actually, this is fine," she said. "Uncle can stay here and help out. In fact, it would be best if the twins should also stop going to school in the next two months."

"????"

The entrance exams was in two months???

Naia remained unperturbed under the confused gazes of her family.

"The book...it’ll happen."

"What?"

"What I’ve been telling Linlin to write, it was part of a very detailed, precognitive dream."

"???"

"According to it, the apocalypse is coming, probably in two months."

"What???"

Her words made people even more confused. They knew all the words in her statement, but somehow they were struggling to understand what she meant. It was like she was speaking in vague metaphors.

But no, she was being very, very literal.

Not to mention, using the ’dream’ excuse was rather flimsy. People could just say she had a very vivid imagination, right?

But how to prove it? She couldn’t, at least not directly. However, she could at least open their eyes to the mystique of the world.

Naia waved her hand and all the furniture in the living room disappeared.

Bam!

Including the sofas. (Except Grandma’s, of course.)

!!!!!!!!!!

"I see my secret has shocked you so much that you’ve fallen off your chair."

"..."

After the initial shock of falling came the shock of realizing every non-living thing in the living room had disappeared.

"This..."

"Naia..."

"This...this...this!!"

Grandma and Uncle were blank, just utterly confused and not knowing what to think. The younger ones, on the other hand, were flabbergasted, but their minds immediately thought of a possibility and they looked at her as if she were a deity.

They had so many questions that none actually came out of their mouths, while Grandma and Uncle remained confused.

Naia didn’t tease them anymore. Kinda.

"I know this is all shocking, but the world will end and we have to start preparing now," she said. "We will all have to become stronger."

She then gave the twins—and Uncle—a look. "From today onwards, your training will be doubled."

"!!!!"