Navigating clear paths in these troubled times is a challenge, and Jing Shu knows it’s not easy to explain the necessity for traps around the villa. She plans to consult her grandfather and Baozi’s dad, both skilled in carpentry, who could help design discrete yet effective traps—preferably the kind that remain hidden until needed.
Although those with spatial abilities in history might not resort to such crude methods, Jing Shu finds satisfaction in simplicity. In her view, the simpler, the better, whether it’s about living or the direct and straightforward ways of dealing with adversaries.
Moreover, Jing Shu harbors a personal motive. Anticipating harsh migrations during the later stages of the apocalypse, particularly during severe winters, she believes in using rudimentary methods for shelter. While relocating, she can discreetly set up wind and snow barriers with stone walls, making temporary camps more comfortable for her family. Given the pervasive darkness, her discreet arrangements would likely go unnoticed.
On March 2, 2023, a week after the black beetle crisis subsided, society teeters into the third month of the apocalypse. The people of Wucheng are on edge, suspended in a state of anxious dread as they await the end of the dark days.
Schools remain closed, pharmacies have ceased operations, and electronics are available only in a few major stores. Snack bars and self-service eateries have all shut down, and even clothing stores are barely hanging on. Previously bustling markets now echo with emptiness; Wucheng feels like a ghost town.
To conserve resources, all functioning businesses and government offices have temporarily relocated to the brightly lit central business district.
However, on the streets, those handing out flyers or attempting to sell property and vehicles are more numerous than pedestrians. An unassertive passerby might find themselves inadvertently whisked away to a sales pitch. Meanwhile, real estate and car prices plummeted to all-time lows, with prime district school-zone properties dropping from 15,000 to just 5,000 per square meter, still finding no buyers.
Cars are now valued similarly to scrap metal, utterly unsellable.
The devaluation of property and vehicles, alongside soaring gold prices, signals the deepening chaos of the times.
In the supermarkets, only a handful remain open for two hours daily, their shelves stripped of almost all products. Condiments, fresh produce, and even pricey imported goods have vanished, and the disappearance of alcohol and tobacco is particularly notable.
Necessities like toilet paper vanish at visibly alarming rates, yet supermarkets restock less and less frequently. The only abundant items are rice and flour, serving as a last reassurance to the populace, but even the quantities available for purchase are pitifully meager. Many now regret not collecting free rice distributed by the government in December of the previous year.
This emptiness spreads like wildfire, compelling more and more people to queue at supermarkets daily. They realize too late the gradual disappearance of everyday conveniences and the encroaching reality of scarcity.
Jing Grandma feels the inconveniences acutely while staying at her daughter’s house. Forgotten boiled water means no hot water for a day; meals for the next day must be prepared in advance due to limited electricity, affecting even gas stoves. Lighters have vanished from supermarkets.
A month without bathing leaves everyone reeking; a diet lacking in fresh vegetables causes persistent constipation despite Jing Dad’s occasional deliveries. Yet, without basics like onions and ginger, nothing tastes quite right, highlighting a series of problems with living under these conditions.
Fortunately, this particular struggle doesn’t last long. Jing Shu and Jing Dad soon move Jing Grandma, Jing Grandpa, Aunt Jing Lai, and Cousin Wu You Ai to a new home, suggesting a short stay which ends up being a more permanent move. They even show the property deed to the grandparents.
“What’s all this nonsense? How much did this house cost?” Jing Grandpa nearly kicked Jing Dad to his astonishment.
Jing Shu, feigning casualness about the expense, mentions, “Grandpa, Grandma, this house was just 100,000 yuan, including all the furnishings and appliances. If you don’t like it, I can just sell it. It was a good way to use the 200,000 yuan we owed you.”
Hearing it was only 100,000 yuan, Jing Grandpa is visibly shocked, while Jing Grandma quickly interjects to ease the situation, pointing out the practicality of living close to family and the convenience for Aunt Jing Lai, who had been through a divorce.
“This way, you don’t feel out of place at Aunt’s or Uncle’s. Plus, I’ll be live-streaming for many more years, and we could use your help. I couldn’t bear to have you move back to the countryside, so why not just stay here?” Jing Shu and Jing Dad suggest, planning a comfortable cohabitation.
“Fine, it’s nice to live here, fewer people and a nicer environment,” Jing Grandma quickly agrees, and even encourages Aunt Jing Lai to move her belongings: “You Ai just finished her busy period; she can relax here too, and this will be our home from now on!”
Jing Shu then shows everyone around, explaining how to use the new amenities, like the toilet system, the 5L water tank Jing Dad would refill, and other household functionalities, ensuring everyone feels at ease in their new environment.
“Let Grandma cook dinner tonight; then we’ll be officially moved in,” Jing Grandpa says, setting the plan in motion, happy with the new arrangements.
As this happens amidst resource shortages, Jing Shu’s eldest aunt, Jing Pan, spends several hundred yuan to bring a box of apples for each family, traveling miles to deliver them. Upon realizing nobody is at Jing Lai’s old house, Jing Grandma urgently sends Jing Dad to fetch her.
“You see, I always say she brings trouble. Now she’s waiting outside your door alone with all that fruit in these chaotic times. Hurry up and get her; who knows what could happen to her carrying so much fruit around,” Jing Grandma worries, unwittingly prophetic, as Jing Dad later learns that his sister was indeed robbed in the hallway.
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Second update at 19:00. Thanks to Yun Xiu, “Summer without Sun in District Q”, and “Duck with Flavor” for their generous support.
. Mwah! O(∩_∩)O
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