Jing Shu sighed in frustration as her father spun tales, suggesting they just move her aunt and cousin in indefinitely. It wasn’t going to work; the Dark Days were not about to end—they had entered a new era. They might spend the next decade dealing with various natural and man-made disasters. Were her aunt and cousin supposed to stay indefinitely?
She felt once bitten, twice shy. Although her father was duty-bound to care for her grandparents, she didn’t want to lose them early again in this life. Her previous life’s experience with treachery from family members made her wary of inviting potential ingratitude.
As she was about to find an excuse to refuse, her cousin Wu Youai declined first.
“I have to work on a research project with my professor for the next half month, aiming for a recommendation opportunity. You go ahead,” said Wu Youai, who was accustomed to living alone. To her, an introverted girl who could survive on minimal comforts as long as her spiritual needs were met, none of the issues at her father’s place mattered. She could go a month without cooking, washing dishes, showering, or using air conditioning.
This home-bound girl, lost in her own world of anime and manga, was surprisingly a top student pursuing her master’s degree…
Jing Shu narrowed her eyes as she finally remembered why her third aunt had divorced. Her ex-family favored sons over daughters and, coupled with her aunt’s inability to have more children, she had resolved to leave. She had wanted to change Wu Youai’s surname to Jing, but her niece staunchly refused.
“I want to keep the Wu surname. I carry the Wu family bloodline, which I cannot disguise. I will study hard, become a top scientist, and be so successful that the Wu family will regret it and beg me. Then I might change my surname! If I don’t make something of myself, I won’t change it!”
That was why she was striving hard while also indulging in her love for the 2D world, admiring the protagonists who could defy fate and turn the world on its head.
“I’ll stay here with Youai then, let Mom and Dad go,” said her aunt Jing Lai, unwilling to leave her daughter in such conditions.
“Then we’ll wait until Youai is less busy. If the Dark Days are still not over by then, we can go stay for a few days to clear our minds. It’s good for the two of them right now. Where would our peace of mind be if we left?” Jing Grandmother smiled, pleased as she clutched Jing Shu’s arm, commenting, “You’ve put on some weight,” making Jing Shu grimace.
Having rushed over hastily this time, Jing Dad agreed to bring fresh fruits and vegetables a few days before departing. Jing Shu also quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Meanwhile, Jing Shu felt this situation wasn’t sustainable long-term. Elderly people preferred to stay rooted in one place rather than bouncing between their children’s homes. With a potentially long apocalypse ahead, even if her grandparents stayed at the villa permanently, they wouldn’t be comfortable. But letting them return to their country home was a concern for Jing Shu too.
However, just as Jing Shu was worrying over this, the issue resolved itself more smoothly than she had anticipated.
It had been nearly two months since the sunlight disappeared, exceeding the thirty-some days initially predicted by the news without any signs of the sun returning.
The black fungus beetle crisis had subsided after half a month of turmoil. As people gradually adjusted to the high temperatures, water shortages, and the absence of deadly microbes, the daily talk of deaths had them on edge.
Everyone was on tenterhooks about when the Dark Days would end and began stockpiling more supplies just in case.
Now, nobody knew when the light would return, and the latest statement from the Science Channel was: “The Dark Days are saving us!”
“It’s reported that the collision of stars has knocked Earth’s orbit awry, causing frequent seasonal disturbances and bringing Earth closer to the sun, which is why temperatures have soared,” the newscast explained.
“This should be credited to the billions of tons of dust from the collision lingering in the atmosphere, shading the sunlight. Otherwise, the Earth’s temperature would be even higher! The living conditions would be much worse! The Earth is now slowly returning to its orbit, and we ask the public to stay calm and wait for Earth to recover.”
Jing Dad and Jing Mom looked convinced after watching this, but Jing Shu couldn’t help but roll her eyes: “Keep spinning those excuses, brilliant.”
Despite the central government’s efforts to calm the public with tasks and even new governmental positions—like the Sympathy and Conversation Specialist, Agricultural Cultivation Specialist, and Civilian Security—people were anxious.
Underestimating these roles would be a mistake; they were the easiest “inside the system” jobs post-apocalypse and guaranteed at least one meal a day. Positions like meal servers, resource counters, water distributors, and scorekeepers appearing in a year would be quite decent too.
Jing Shu intended for her father to secure one of the first two positions sooner rather than later, as they might be hard to get into once the situation stabilized next year.
The opening hours for large supermarkets had been changed from 7 PM to 9 PM, open for only two hours in the absence of any clue when daylight might return. People began queuing by 5 PM, and the situation worsened by the day.
Jing Shu recalled that in less than three months, this would evolve into people queuing for days and nights for just an hour of supermarket access. Those who didn’t get in had to continue waiting for the next day.
Snacks, by-products, vegetables, grains, and all edible items were being hoarded. Some even spent a lot of money buying grain from rural areas.
As prices soared and cars, now almost as worthless as scrap metal, saw their prices plummet, everyone’s wallets had been drained from recent expenditures on various necessities.
So what was to be done?
Sell cars!
Sell houses!
But as the death toll rose, demand for these plummeted, and house prices, already on a decline due to oversupply, sank to rock bottom.
People owning three or four properties panicked. Unable to sell houses or cars, what could they do without cash to buy grain privately? Lower prices, keep lowering them!
This led to a potential collapse in the housing market.
For Sale, Building 25:
“@Everyone, I have a fully furnished 123 square meter apartment on the first floor of Building 25. Now selling for only 200,000 yuan! Cash only, no loans!”
Wang Cuihua sent a voice message: “People are desperate for money. 1600 yuan per square meter in this remote area won’t sell; even city prices have dropped to 2000 yuan.”
When this message appeared in the group, Jing Shu was surprised. Just days ago, she had been worried about where her third aunt would live and how to make her grandmother comfortable. Now, someone is selling a house!
Moreover, this community would become a new development area in Wucheng—a place many were eager to enter but couldn’t. Buying a house at a low price now was a great deal!
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