Chapter 006: Same World, Same Mom

While exercising, Jing Shu closed her eyes and entered her Rubik’s Cube space. She selected seeds needed to make pickled vegetables before the apocalypse and began planting them in the fields.

The fields in the Rubik’s Cube space didn’t require seedling cultivation, watering, or pollination. However, Jing Shu decided to raise bees there eventually; honey is great for beauty treatments and can be used for face masks.

After some thought, Jing Shu made arrangements:

– 12 square meters of red chili peppers: With the aid of the Spirit Spring, they could be harvested every 5-6 days continuously. They’re essential raw materials for making chili sauce, spicy pickled cabbage, spicy beef jerky, and more.

– 6 square meters of mustard greens: Harvested every 7-8 days. Jing Shu’s grandmother was skilled at making various pickled vegetables. Just imagine, during the apocalypse, how delightful it would be to eat a bite of Wujiang mustard greens with steamed buns.

– 6 square meters of Chinese cabbage: Harvested every 5-6 days. Spicy cabbage, crispy pickled cabbage, sour cabbage—not only do they store well and avoid attracting attention in the apocalypse, but they’re also delicious appetizers.

– 3 square meters of white radish: Harvested every 5 days. Making small pickled dishes and storing pickled radish can last for a year or two.

– 3 square meters of cucumbers: Harvested every 6-7 days. The thought of pickled cucumbers made Jing Shu’s mouth water.

– 2 square meters of spring bamboo shoots: Harvested every 5-6 days. Pickled bamboo shoots and marinated bamboo shoots are absolutely delicious.

– 2 square meters of long beans: Harvested every 7-8 days. Sour long beans are the perfect companion for instant noodles.

– 2 square meters of garlic: Harvested every 6 days. Sweet garlic and pickled garlic cloves are so good that Jing Shu could eat a whole plate by herself. Products from the space are always top quality; the garlic grown here is different from those ordinary ones outside. Besides, she wanted to cultivate garlic sprouts, so she couldn’t be careless.

Jing Shu sowed the seeds densely and covered them with a thin layer of soil. After all, the space’s fields didn’t suffer from malnutrition or uneven sunlight.

58.com was very efficient. Jing’s father had already received several calls and scheduled multiple prospective buyers to view the property tomorrow. He even took half a day off for it.

Jing Shu didn’t join the excitement. Although she had no money, she couldn’t waste time. She asked her parents for their medical insurance cards and planned to go to the pharmaceutical wholesale center tomorrow to buy medicines. Located next to Wucheng Tumor Hospital, the medicines there were not only cheap but also unlimited in quantity—perhaps to meet the huge demand of the tumor hospital. In her previous life, Jing Shu went there every six months to buy medicines for various relatives.

At the beginning of the apocalypse, medical insurance cards were limited to 100 yuan per day, and soon they couldn’t be used at all. It was a pity that the tens of thousands of yuan in her mother’s medical insurance account couldn’t be spent. Both her father and grandmother had high blood pressure, and medicines became even harder to find after the apocalypse! Unfortunately, her grandparents passed away in the first year… This time, she wouldn’t let history repeat itself!

Jing Shu also asked her father for the original design plans of the villa, intending to modify them herself so she wouldn’t be caught unprepared when people came to renovate.

With the plan ready, Jing Shu returned to her bedroom, opened her laptop, and copied Baidu entries, maps, recipes, medical knowledge, and more. She also downloaded a “Library” software.

While the computer was downloading, Jing Shu reviewed the tutorial for the fifth-order Rubik’s Cube and began practicing.

The first two years after the apocalypse were manageable in the villa, but in later years, it became unsafe, and they had to flee with the larger group. Her current space was still too small; Jing Shu needed to upgrade her Rubik’s Cube space as soon as possible. She had many things to prepare.

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“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

“Today’s morning news…”

The soybean milk machine emitted irregular roaring sounds, like artillery shells, mixed with the rhythmic chopping of vegetables, her mother’s dissatisfied nagging, her father’s aggrieved rebuttals, and the sounds of the news broadcast.

All these noises reached her ears.

Same world, same mom. It wouldn’t be normal if she didn’t vent some emotions early in the morning or wake up the entire building.

“Ahhh! It’s my first day reborn, and I can’t even sleep in!” Jing Shu tossed and turned. In her previous life, before the apocalypse, no matter how noisy it was outside, she could sleep soundly, even answering her mom in her sleep whether she wanted fried or boiled eggs!

After the apocalypse, Jing Shu developed neurasthenia, easily awakened, fearing that the next second would bring an earthquake, flood, or be surrounded by rising tides of rotten corpse creatures.

Finally, with dark circles under her eyes, Jing Shu finished washing up. Her parents had already left for work.

The soybean milk was still steaming. Jing Shu added sugar and stirred it. She rolled up an egg pancake with a sausage and devoured it, polished off a plate of cold cucumber salad with two chopsticks, grabbed the last steamed sweet potato, didn’t bother peeling it, and swallowed it in one bite. The sweet potato flesh was fragrant and sweet, and the chewy skin couldn’t be broken down even after a long chew. Swallowing it brought immense satisfaction.

The soybean milk was the finale. The rich aroma and light sweetness flowed from her tongue to her throat, warm and comforting as it filled her stomach, making her whole body feel cozy.

No wonder her mother’s breakfasts were the best among her three daily meals—because breakfast was all semi-finished products, requiring only heating and minimal cooking skills. Once she had money, Jing Shu planned to stock up on frozen goods from the wholesale center.

After eating, Jing Shu went out and took a taxi directly to buy medicines. She also brought along a credit card she had never used before, with an overdraft limit of 40,000 yuan.

The pharmaceutical wholesale center was only slightly larger than a regular pharmacy. As soon as she entered, a sales assistant approached with a basket, smiling brightly, “Hello, how can I assist you?”

Confirming her gaze, that was the smile of seeing money.

“Hello, I’m here to buy medicines for my grandparents and relatives in the countryside. Here are the hospital certificates and photos of their ID cards—a total of 11 people.” Jing Shu expertly presented the documents; some medicines required proof to purchase.

The sales assistant’s smile deepened. “For high blood pressure medicines, there’s a national subsidy. We’ll need to register it later.”

“I’d like to buy more at once; it’s too much trouble to bring medicines each time. Can I use the medical insurance card?”

“No problem! Just leave the card here. We have branches that can rotate swiping it. We’ll call you to pick up the medicines once the transactions are completed,” the assistant said proficiently, saving Jing Shu the hassle of going to different pharmacies daily to use the card.

Jing Shu showed the assistant the medicines her grandmother needed, and the process became much easier. The quantity for 11 people was already substantial, and she bought a two-year supply for each person, which was sufficient.

With over 10,000 yuan remaining on the medical insurance card, Jing Shu bought common medicines: heat-relief pills, medical alcohol, saline solution, essential balm, wind oil essence, Huoxiang Zhengqi liquid, Yunnan Baiyao—life-saving items in the apocalypse—which she bought in large quantities.

When the assistant heard Jing Shu asking for a whole box of wind oil essence, her gaze became somewhat meaningful. She had heard that many young people liked to apply wind oil essence to their private parts for stimulation.

Leaving the medical insurance card and password, and registering the information of distant relatives and neighbors in the countryside, Jing Shu paid an additional 200 yuan for delivery. The goods would be delivered directly to her home.

After seeing off the delivery person and having the boxes of medicines placed in the living room, Jing Shu had already thought of a reason for buying so many medicines. She checked off the medicines on her phone’s checklist. Seeing that it was only 11 a.m., she quickly headed out again, taking a taxi to Wucheng’s livestock breeding base.

Jing Shu urgently needed to raise some livestock. Making jerky and smoked meat was secondary, really. The main purpose was to test how much the Spirit Spring needed to be diluted to achieve the best physical enhancement for humans and to test whether drinking the Spirit Spring would accelerate aging—this potential downside!

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Author’s Note:

From personal experience, bringing medicines back to the countryside in one trip is very troublesome, so I buy a lot each time.