“Kekeke!” The battle chicken screamed pitifully as Jing Shu lifted its wings. When Jing Shu heard her grandmother’s cries, her heart clenched. Her first thought was that maybe her grandfather was in trouble. She only relaxed when she heard that it was just her third aunt and cousin who had caught a cold. In her previous life, encountering such situations meant leaving it to fate, but this time she had her spatial spiritual spring!
“Stay in your coop and behave. If you torment any other chickens again, I’ll fry you up like a big plate chicken.” Jing Shu threw the over 30-kilogram hen four or five meters, accurately landing it in front of its luxurious chicken coop, lined with comfortable straw that her father had specially set up for it.
That’s right, she had kept this chicken with other chickens and ducks, but it had been acting bossy, not only eating all their food but also competing with the pigs for feed. The most outrageous thing was its delusion of wanting to drink milk.
It had turned the entire chicken and cattle shed into chaos, with chickens flying and dogs barking. Whenever Jing Shu’s mother and father tried to settle accounts with it, the chicken would run away swiftly. Jing Shu’s mother chased it around the yard with a broom but couldn’t catch it, almost tripping herself into the fishpond. The background music here should be: “You Can’t Catch Me, I’m That Strong! Hahaha!”
When Jing Shu finally caught it, she gave it a thorough beating. Her father had set up an independent, luxurious chicken coop, and only then did the chicken behave. It truly had the body of a chicken but the soul of a husky.
“Let’s go, we need to check what’s happening quickly.” After finishing the call, Jing Shu’s father put on his one-piece suit and was about to rush out, clearly losing his sanity.
Now, catching viral influenza was almost a death sentence; going to the hospital was even worse when they were refusing patients and had no medicine—absolutely a death road.
“Dad, apply some essential oil first and don’t rush. Last time I saved a family of three, I got some extra special medicine from the doctor, which worked very well. I’m going to get it now.” After saying this, Jing Shu grabbed two ordinary cold medicine tablets and went to rush with her father to her third aunt’s house in the city.
In the car Jing Shu was driving, her father’s emotions were very unstable. In his heart, he felt most guilty towards Jing Shu among his three daughters. Originally, he should be fulfilled his filial duties to the elderly, but over the years, Jing Shu had taken care of them all. Moreover, Jing Shu had the worst experiences among his three daughters, which made him feel even more guilty.
Even though his daughter said she had special medicine, with so many people dying every day because of this, he was still very afraid of losing his family members!
The temperature in Wucheng was still 47°C, and it was heard that Chongqing and Wuhan had already reached 50°C, even hotter than Turpan’s previous hottest region at 49.6°C. Every day, there were still cases of heatstroke, but after the power cuts and lack of air conditioning, people seemed to be gradually adapting.
Recently, CCTV was promoting an African custom of mixing mud with cow butter and applying it to the body. This not only prevents heat and mosquitoes but also keeps the skin clean and resistant to dirt, allowing one to go years without bathing. This method has been imitated by some people who are making pledges on their Moments (WeChat social media) to wash off the mud whenever water becomes available.
Jing Shu opened the door, and a wave of heat hit her face. Grandfather Jing was pacing in the hot house, grandmother Jing was sobbing with tears streaming down, and her weary third aunt, Jing Lai was lying at one end of the sofa, acting sullen: “When Jing An comes later, don’t cry, thinking that I’ve done something to you. Didn’t the hospital say they’d notify us when the medicine arrived? We’ve endured this period by harding it out. Drink more water, alright? I know, keep drinking as much as you can.”
Grandmother Jing, holding her daughter’s hands, cried heartbrokenly: “Why is it that we two old, stubborn folks are okay? It’s like white-haired people are helping black-haired people!”
Wu Youai was lying on the imperial concubine’s couch with headphones on, urgently reading a comic book, surrounded by various snacks and bottled water, probably wanting to finish eating the snacks before dying.
The arrival of Jing Shu and her father made grandmother Jing cry again. The elderly were very emotional, and whenever they felt wronged or sad, they loved to cry. Moreover, not knowing when her daughter and granddaughter would die, she immediately lost her composure.
“Daughter, first give them your special medicine. If it doesn’t work, I’ll call connections to get into the hospital. There will always be a way.” Jing Shu’s father stood in the living room with his hands on his hips, exuding authority. As soon as he panicked, he reacted like that.
“What special medicine?” Cousin Wu Youai finally turned her attention to them.
“Special medicine to treat the illness, hurry and take it, open your mouth.” Jing Shu handed her the medicine and water.
As a child growing up in a single-parent household, Wu Youai was somewhat introverted. She liked to be alone and often fantasized about traveling through time to become the protagonist. The reclusive, four-eyed otaku girl in anime seemed tailor-made for her—she was particularly serious. Moreover, while others’ introversion meant being quiet, she either didn’t speak at all or couldn’t stop once she started talking…
In fact, everyone is the main character of their own stage.
When Jing Shu gave her medicine, she refused to take it and disrupted her: “Isn’t this just Bai Jiahei (a type of drink)? How is it special medicine? Isn’t viral influenza treated with IV drips? I’ve never heard of taking medicine for it. You didn’t get it from a scalper, did you? Even worse, I won’t take it…”
Jing Shu was too lazy to explain; she grabbed Wu Youai, pinched her mouth, shoved the medicine into her, and poured a gulp of water mixed with a drop of spiritual spring into her. Jing Shu didn’t even mention that she felt sorry for the spiritual spring, yet Wu Youai still refused to take it.
Grandmother Jing, meanwhile, patted Wu Youai’s back: “You, this lifesaving medicine, eat it quickly. Don’t be so nagging.”
Wu Youai: “……” It felt like she was being forced to take poison. Could it be that they were trying to kill her and send her through time? But it was better than dying from illness and then traveling through time.
That’s right, Wu Youai wasn’t afraid of dying at all. In her mind, if she died, her soul would transfer into a novel or comic, just like in the stories.
Both of them drank the spiritual spring water, and after a while, their stomachs started rumbling. Then they began to eat frantically. Grandmother Jing cooked a large pot of rice in the kitchen, took out a jar of pickled cucumbers, a small jar of beef jerky, fried a dozen eggs, and stir-fried wood ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, and cabbage. After eating, they went to the bathroom, and after returning, they kept eating…
“Is your medicine fake?” Wu Youai asked, slurring her words as she ate.
The whole family was a bit worried.
“Do you still feel any symptoms of viral influenza?” Jing Shu asked. That day, she had used just one drop of spiritual spring water to save little Tuanzui.
“I feel my body is full of strength.” Wu Youai clenched her fist hard, nodding affirmatively.
“All the previous symptoms have disappeared. It seems I’m really fine now.” The third aunt’s complexion had become much rosier.
“That’s good, that’s good. Maybe the medicine was too strong and had side effects. Eat as much as you want and feel full.” Grandmother Jing secretly wiped her tears and went back to snacking. At this moment, she felt an endless supply of energy and even smiled out loud when looking at her grandfather. This kind of joy after a disaster was real joy—she felt completely relaxed.
Jing Shu also had an extra meal and analyzed the reason: “The spiritual spring water must have been overused. For critically ill patients, one drop is needed, and for someone like their third aunt who isn’t so severe, half a drop is enough. The excess might have been transferred to accelerate digestion.”
Jing Shu’s father also relaxed, eating a few fried eggs: “Mom, why don’t you and third sister stay at my place for a few days? It’s so hot, you don’t have electricity to run the air conditioner, no water to flush the toilet, no vegetables or fresh fruits to eat, and we don’t know when the Dark Days will end. Wait until the Dark Days are over and then come back.”
—
“Only when the temperature is this high.”
“This is thanks to the collision of stars that left billions of gray dust in the atmosphere, blocking the sunlight. Otherwise, the Earth’s temperature would be even higher! The living environment would become even more hostile! Now the Earth is slowly returning to its orbit. Please, citizens, stay calm and wait for the Earth to recover.”
Jing Shu’s parents read it and showed an expression of “I see.” Jing Shu couldn’t help but roll her eyes: “Blowing smoke, keep going. Every month you find new excuses, so awesome.”
Even though the central government has come up with all kinds of ways to comfort the public, even assigning tasks to local governments, and creating new departmental positions:
1. Sympathy and Conversation Specialists: Ensure every community visits residents, collects people’s voices, comforts those who are distressed, and monitors to prevent riots.
2. Crop Cultivation Specialists: Recruit those who have found new ways to grow crops in the darkness and other related areas.
3. Civilian Security: Responsible for guarding entrances of supermarkets, hospitals, and bus stops, finding tasks and benefits for idle people, and preventing riots. Generally, two armed police officers are paired with ten security personnel. However, over time, only those with strong connections and abilities could fulfill these roles.
Don’t underestimate these positions. After the apocalypse, these roles within the system are the easiest and at least come with a meal. In fact, after a year, positions like communal cafeterias for distributing meals, counting supplies, distributing water, and keeping scores are also quite good.
Jing Shu intended for her father to enter the first or second position. If he waited until the situation stabilized next year, it would be harder to get in.
Supermarkets had changed their opening hours to 7 PM-9 PM, only open for two hours each day, with no idea when sunlight would return. Every day, more people queued up, some even starting at 5 PM, and the situation only worsened.
Jing Shu remembered that in less than three months, it would escalate to people queuing for days and nights for just one hour to enter supermarkets. Those who didn’t get in had to wait until the next day.
Snacks, by-products, vegetables, grains, and all edible things were being stockpiled. Some people even spent a lot of money collecting grain in the countryside.
Prices were soaring, while cars, now almost as cheap as scrap metal, were plummeting in value. Everyone’s wallets have been drained over the past two months from buying this and that, transportation fees, hospital bills, and food expenses.
So, what could they do?
Sell cars!
Sell houses!
But as death numbers kept rising, the demand for these two dropped crazily. Originally, house prices had been falling due to oversupply, and they had plummeted to the bottom.
People with three or four houses panicked. Unable to sell their houses or cars, what could they do to buy grain from private hands without cash? They had to lower prices, keep lowering prices!
This led to a phenomenon where houses were on the verge of collapse.
Selling Apartment 25:
“@Everyone, I have a fully furnished 123-square-meter apartment for sale on the 1st floor of Building 25. Now selling for only 200,000 yuan! Cash only, no loans accepted!”
Wang Cuihua sent a voice message: “People are crazy for money. At 1,600 yuan per square meter in these barren mountains, it won’t sell. City prices have already dropped to 2,000 yuan.”
When this message appeared in the group, Jing Shu was thrilled. A few days ago, she was still worried about where her third aunt would live and how her grandmother could live comfortably, but today someone was selling a house!
Moreover, this community would become Wucheng’s new development area. Many people were scrambling to move in, and even now, those buying houses at low prices were getting great deals!
—
Author’s Note:
Thanks to zw7774, Rain God58, and chen33 for their donations. Love you all, mwah~ ��. Second update at 4 PM, third update at 7 PM.
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