Chapter 060: The Real Iron Rod

Zhang Bing Bing 4 shared, “I was also robbed. There were four or five people with sticks demanding the things I was carrying. I dropped the stuff and just ran. Next time anyone heads out, please call me. The morning bus is too late; I usually bike there at night.”

Wang Xuemei 2 replied, “I’ll call you next time. We also bike there. It’s hard to say when these days will end. Since the freezer ran out of food, and the dried shiitake mushrooms we bought earlier are gone, as are the snacks, we’re left with just eating plain rice or the corn mush distributed earlier. I hope the dark days end soon ��.”

Fei Niu 25 shared, “Just tightening our belts and waiting for the artificial sun, everything will get better! But does anyone have a scalper’s number? I really can’t stand this anymore!”

Jing Shu’s memories were triggered. At this time in her previous life, her mother was still working hard and doing overtime. Because Yu Cai Ni had been promoted to ‘Deputy Director’, her former position was left vacant, and Jing Shu’s mother competed for the spot with Tian Qing, eventually ending in failure. She soon became depressed due to the heat and her career stagnation, never making it into the system.

And Jing Shu, still naive at that time, would accompany her father with a steel pipe to the supermarket to queue for food, fearing their own supplies would run out or be stolen. Like many others, they hoped the dark days would end soon and that someone would come to rescue them, pinning their hopes elsewhere.

Jing Shu eventually realized that people must rely on themselves.

Almost like clockwork, after learning that everyone’s refrigerators were empty, the electricity supply hours were shortened again, now only from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM.

Within those two hours, everyone rushed to meet all their electrical needs: charge power banks, phones, flashlights, cook a day’s worth of rice with electric cookers, boil water, and keep lights on for at least an hour (following news advice that people need to absorb light daily as candles were already used up), and watch the news to stay updated.

Excluding a minority of wealthy individuals with UBC solar power systems, which are said to have skyrocketed to millions for a set and are available only to the very wealthy, less than 0.03% of the population has them.

Also, exclude those with power and influence, whose electricity rarely cuts off, as rules are always meant to control the lower tiers in any place. However, those who have genuinely contributed significantly have the right to special treatment.

For instance, managing to keep the last few hundred million people alive through the hardest times, even though their decisions also led to the death of a third of the population. As a survivor, Jing Shu felt that it was impressive to keep two-thirds of the population alive under those conditions, especially when several countries abroad had fallen.

A popular saying in the post-apocalyptic world was: “The rich have UBC, the powerful have uninterrupted power, and those with nothing rely on public resources; the rich eat dried goods, the powerful eat vegetables, and those with everything can eat bugs; the rich drink purified water, the powerful drink spring water, and those with nothing drink rainwater.”

Where did someone like Jing Shu, who seemed to have everything, fit into all this? Reflecting on it, she felt quite satisfied…

Regarding air conditioning, it was no longer necessary since the temperature started to drop rapidly after 5:30 PM. One of the assurances for survival in the high heat was maintaining adequate hydration.

However, water supply regulations changed too. Now, each person is only allotted 1.5 liters per day, which is insufficient in such heat where adults should ideally consume at least 2 liters.

The gradual changes were hardly noticeable at first-from a bucket per person a month, to two buckets per family, then down to one bucket, and now, three months later, just 1.5 liters per person. Although the public found it hard to accept, faced with armed police, they dared not complain aloud.

“Are armed police really necessary just to deliver water?”

This was as far as most dared to grumble, evidencing the nation’s severe water shortage. The freshwater lakes had turned green and stinky due to rotting biological matter, soil erosion, and drought hit rivers too fast to manage, and still, it did not rain.

Scientists across channels unified their statements: high temperatures would cause sea levels to rise, which in turn would flood a third of the globe, potentially submerging island nations entirely.

“Rain will come eventually. We predict major floods in many areas, and everyone must prepare in advance; otherwise, the consequences are unimaginable,” the scientists warned in the first month, causing widespread anxiety.

Four months later, the public had become desensitized. “Just let it rain already, even a flood would be better than dying of heat!”

But still, no rain came, and no floods occurred. Japan had prepared for three months to be submerged but remained dry.

Only Jing Shu knew that when everyone let their guard down, the predictions would come true in the second year of the apocalypse. It wasn’t that disasters weren’t happening; they were just gathering strength for a massive onslaught that would submerge several countries and a third of China in a deadly year.

Shaking her head, Jing Shu reflected on how each day brought back memories as she finished eating ten scallion egg pancakes, two bowls of double-skin milk, and a large pot of tomato and egg dumplings soup. She then donned her helmet, grabbed the real iron rod, and set off to escort her mother to work.

Yes, a genuine iron rod. Some might not understand the weight of iron; Jing Shu provided a quick lesson—iron weighs 7.8 tons per cubic meter, so a solid iron rod one meter long weighs about 39 kilograms.

Jing Shu could now easily lift it and swing it dozens of times without issue. If anyone dared approach, she could break their bones effortlessly, ensuring a lethal hit.

She also brought two boxes of soil from the villa. With her mother’s competition approaching, Jing Shu decided to cheat a little to help her edge out Yu Cai Ni.

“Are you sure you need to go out, dear? Isn’t it safer to stay home?” her mother asked, smearing some dirt on her face to blend in. Jing Shu did the same, noting how strangely out of place their healthy, glowing complexions were among those who lacked sunlight and nutrition.

After the apocalypse, people deprived of sunlight grew increasingly malnourished and frail. In her previous life, her mother, not yet fifty, had appeared seventy years old. This time, however, she retained the beauty of a thirty-year-old.

Jing Shu, clanking the iron rod down, declared, “Look at my strength now; if anyone causes trouble, I’ll sort them out! Dad was called away by Uncle, and I can’t bear the thought of you going alone. It’s also a good chance to see what sort of bizarre things your unit is up to.”