Chapter 045: The Black Fungus Beetle

Zhang Zhongyong’s face was grim as he remained silent. Originally, he thought that by seizing Su Mei Mei’s weakness, he could act recklessly. As a man who had been cheated on, his feelings were understandable; he wished he could torment Su Mei Mei daily to vent his anger. Who knew this woman would expose the existence of his illegitimate son, threatening to report him.

If she reported him, his and his son’s lives would be ruined! The outcome would be worse than Sun Yinrui’s! That damned woman.

Uncle continued tapping the table and said, “So, Mei Mei, what’s your decision? Do you want a divorce and go your separate ways, or…?”

Su Mei Mei bit her nails and said fearlessly, “That depends on him.” Before the divorce, she would definitely make sure he was utterly disgraced.

Uncle looked at Zhang Zhongyong, who immediately said in panic, “Of course, we can’t divorce. I will sever all ties with her immediately. Once the Dark Days are over, I’ll send them far away.”

Su Mei Mei snorted, “Wait until the Dark Days are over? And what about the house and car?”

Zhang Zhongyong squinted at Su Mei Mei for a long time before spitting out a few words, “I’ll send them away immediately. I want the house and car back.”

Only then did Su Mei Mei nod in satisfaction and stay silent. Uncle appreciated Zhang Zhongyong’s cooperation and said a few kind words, hoping the family could live in harmony in the future. He also warned Zhang Zhongyong to cut off all ties cleanly; otherwise, his future would be ruined. He asked Su Mei Mei to apologize to Jing Shu’s mother. Jing Shu’s mother responded with a faint “Hmm,” and Uncle said nothing more.

Of course, Zhang Zhongyong wouldn’t sever ties completely. Su Mei Mei thought she had leverage over him, but her suffering was yet to come.

Zhang Hanhan glared at Jing Shu through gritted teeth. Whether her parents divorced or not made any difference. Her father only cared about the mistress, tormenting his wife to death, while her mother was scheming on how to get money. Did anyone consider her feelings? No one! Clenching her fists tightly, Zhang Hanhan vowed in her heart, “Don’t give me a chance, or one by one, you will all suffer! Especially you, Jing Shu!”

With matters settled, as per tradition, everyone was supposed to stay overnight. But Jing Shu’s mother felt freezing and, thinking of their temperature-controlled, clean, and odor-free villa, was eager to leave.

Su Mei Mei hesitated and said, “I won’t drive a car that a vixen has used. Sister, I’ll return the car to you.”

Not mentioning the car was fine, but bringing it up made Jing Shu’s mother’s heartache.

“Auntie, that car is as good as new. Back then, you thought you sold it at a loss, and we felt guilty. How about we each take back our own? Just pretend you never sold it,” Zhang Hanhan decided to side with her mother.

Su Mei Mei glanced appreciatively at Zhang Hanhan and said, “We could sell that car for at least 200,000 yuan, but isn’t it your favorite car, sister? Just pay me what I paid back then.”

“You insisted on buying it back then, and now you’re insisting on returning it. Since you can sell it for 200,000 yuan, go ahead and sell it. My mom won’t want a car someone else has touched,” Jing Shu retorted.

She added, “Instead of scheming for money, why not think about how to deal with Sun Yinrui’s wife, who’s been released from prison? She’ll take out all the anger from her time in prison on you.” Jing Shu gloated.

Su Mei Mei’s face turned pale. How could she have forgotten about that?

Jing Shu’s family and Wang Gang’s family were both leaving. Uncle escorted them downstairs.

“It’s so late, and it’s cold outside. The buses have stopped running, and there are no taxis. Why not stay the night?” Uncle looked out at the pitch-black city. There was no moon or stars, not even streetlights—it was truly so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of you.

“We drove our electric car; we could give the Jing family a ride,” Wang Gang took out his car keys.

“We also drove an electric car; let’s go our separate ways.” Jing Shu’s father declined the offer, got into the car with his wife and daughter, turned on the heater, and left.

Watching the back of Jing Shu’s family, Wang Can, who hadn’t spoken all evening, said, “I always felt their family was quite mysterious, not as vulnerable as Zhang Hanhan says.”

“A family that can grow such fresh vegetables, whose hands are so clean without any dirt under their nails, and can use laundry detergent to wash clothes—they don’t seem to be lacking water. Most importantly, they didn’t bring any extra clothes.”

“What about not bringing clothes?” Wang Can was curious.

“It means they don’t usually wear heavy clothes. Only under constant temperature air conditioning would they do that. It’s quite intriguing. Maybe my political achievements next month will depend on them.”

“When will the Dark Days finally end?”

“Who knows.”

—

A few days after the Lantern Festival, Wucheng changed the electricity supply time to 14:00–20:00, reducing it to six hours.

To improve efficiency and reduce energy output, work hours were shifted from 5:00 AM to 10:00 AM to avoid high temperatures. However, this didn’t prevent daily incidents of hundreds of elderly and children dying from various causes related to heatstroke and unsuccessful resuscitation.

In the apocalypse, the weak and sick elderly and children are always the first to be eliminated. Hospitals were the only places with 24-hour power and air conditioning. Every hospital was overloaded with patients and could no longer accept more. At this time, worse news arrived.

“According to reports, this is a new species of flying insect that evolved from the dark high temperatures, named the Black Fungus Beetle. It carries bacteria and spreads diseases freely. Like other flying insects, it is attracted to light. About the size of a date, it likes to dive from high places and flies erratically. Although it doesn’t bite or cause harm, it spreads multiple pathogens upon contact.

The bacteria it carries weaken the human immune system, making healthy people extremely susceptible to illness. The current widespread viral infections are mostly caused by this insect.

The Black Fungus Beetle’s weakness is that its sense of smell is 100 times stronger than similar insects. Spraying mosquito repellents like ‘Wenbu Ding’ or ‘Fengyou Jing,’ using floral water, or lighting mosquito coils can effectively drive them away.

The nation plans to eliminate this species within a week and produce preventive vaccines within three days. Please remain calm.”

The exterior of Jing Shu’s villa was buzzing with countless flying insects attracted by the light. They could hear the Black Fungus Beetles thudding as they dove and collided with the reinforced outer shell.

Jing Shu’s father wore a one-piece protective beekeeping suit, climbed a ladder, and began spraying a solution mixed with ‘Fengyou Jing’ onto the tempered glass shell. As he sprayed, swarms of flying insects fell to the ground with a buzz; more of them scattered instantly. But the villa was large, and the task was substantial.

When Jing Shu’s father received this set of equipment, he was actually baffled. It felt like his daughter was like Doraemon with a magical pocket, able to produce anything when needed.

They’ve really developed rapidly. Just ten days ago, their numbers weren’t this large,” Jing Shu recalled. The first time they fetched water, these insects didn’t carry viruses.

Wang Qiqi, Building 13: “Everyone, if you have mosquito repellent or ‘Wenbu Ding,’ make sure to spray it around your windowsills and door cracks! Do not touch these black flying insects. If any neighbors accidentally contract viral infections, please go to the hospital immediately! When going out, make sure to cover yourselves completely; do not expose your skin!”

Wang Xuemei, Building 2: “What should we do? I’ve checked all the supermarkets, shops, and pharmacies that might sell ‘Fengyou Jing’ and floral water; they’re all sold out!”

—

Author’s Note:

Third update.