Chapter 111: "The Feast of Grain Bugs":

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Just a few days after all the mushrooms in the 12 management offices of Wucheng were devoured by corpse bugs, they were overtaken by a massive army of maggots. The management offices were now swarming with maggots devouring other corpse bugs in what could only be described as a biological battle.

“If no decision is made soon, these maggots will mature into flies. By then, their taste will degrade, their texture won’t be as good, and the protein content will decrease. The flavor and quality won’t be great. Maggots are best eaten when they’re young and tender!”

With biologists advising them, the government made the bold decision to start serving meat dishes to the public.

They also took into account the people's preferences.

Psychologists emphasized that the first impression of a new dish was crucial for acceptance.

To make this new food source more palatable, the government used all the seasonings they had collected over the past few days and decided to launch a grand feast of *grain bugs* (maggots), allowing the citizens to pick their favorite flavors so they could regularly enjoy them in the future.

For example, they introduced salt and pepper grain bugs, where the bugs were first deep-fried, then sprinkled with salt and chili powder. One bite and the juicy protein would burst out, mingling with the fragrant seasonings.

There was also cumin-fried grain bugs.

Or a lighter option: mushroom stew with grain bugs, garnished with scallions and a bit of salt.

They even offered stir-fried grain bugs with rice. After all, the bugs looked quite similar to rice grains, and this batch of maggots was excellent—well-nourished and plump, each about three centimeters long, with long tails. These maggots had consumed entire colonies of corpse bugs.

“This batch of grain bugs is more than enough to replace mushroom rice. What’s more, if we don’t control them, they’ll mature into flies, lay eggs everywhere, and once they’ve eaten all the corpse bugs, they’ll become the next batch of corpse bugs. Therefore, it’s best to let the grain bugs and corpse bugs keep each other in check. This way, we can solve the food shortage without any cost.”

“We should also encourage the public to search for grain bugs. We can use virtual currency to incentivize them, increasing their enthusiasm. Then we can process the bugs into meals and give them back to the people, creating a sustainable cycle to get through this tough period.”

“Let’s save our grain reserves as much as possible. We won’t be able to grow anything normally for the next two years until the artificial sun is established, and then things will improve.”

...

Jing Shu soaked over 100 pounds of glutinous rice, cleaned every lotus leaf in her pond and space, and cut them up. Since she didn’t have bamboo leaves for making *zongzi* (rice dumplings), and it would be suspicious to bring them out of her space, she decided to use lotus leaves instead. They had a similarly fragrant taste.

She also soaked red dates, prepared various dried ingredients and meats, and planned to make a variety of *zongzi*—meat dumplings, red date dumplings, sea cucumber and shrimp dumplings, eight-treasure dumplings, and red bean dumplings.

Once cooked, *zongzi* could be dried and frozen, lasting for years.

For a foodie like Jing Shu, filling her space and freezer was a must. These dumplings would make for easy breakfasts in the future—just heat them up and eat. Much more convenient than the corn cakes she had made, which were already long gone. This time, she planned to make a lot more *zongzi*.

Her favorite was the classic red date *zongzi*—drizzled with honey, combined with the purest glutinous rice. One bite, and the fragrant, sticky sweetness would melt in your mouth. Jing Shu drooled just thinking about it.

Wang Qiqi posted in the group chat: “@everyone, it’s almost Dragon Boat Festival! The government is giving us a 3-day buffet for free. 0.5 work points per person, no limits, but you only get half an hour each day and can only enter once. I heard the food tastes pretty good, so hurry and line up!”

Wang Cuihua sent a voice message: “Have things gotten so bad that they’re finally giving out food? Let’s hurry and line up! We’ve been starving for days. I wonder why the government is being so generous this time.”

User Wind3: “I told you, if we keep protesting, the government will have to distribute food. They can’t just watch us die. Didn’t they say China has three years of grain reserves? Time to bring them out! We can finally eat our fill!”

User FatGirl25: “Even if it’s just an unlimited supply of the worst mushroom rice, I’ll take it. I’m not exaggerating—I could eat the whole Ai Jia Supermarket.”

After preparing everything for the *zongzi*, Jing Shu smiled silently as she read the chat. “Foolish humans, you think it’s going to be something tasty?”

In her past life, this event had completely shattered her worldview. But in the end, not wanting to waste her 0.5 work points, she tried several flavors of maggots and found the salt and pepper ones to be somewhat acceptable.

Now that she had some free time, Jing Shu toyed with the upgraded Rubik’s Cube in her hand while sharpening her conical boulders in the space. Ever since she started using the reinforced wolf-tooth club, she had been thinking that it would be great if she could upgrade the boulders to steel. They could be reused, but they’d be too conspicuous. She decided to stick with the regular stones for now—there were plenty of them in the mountains.

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“Hurry up! The food’s about to be served. What’s there to hesitate about? The higher-ups said if your dish is good, you’ll be promoted to team leader. If no one eats it, you’ll have to finish it yourself! The first meal must be delicious to avoid leaving a bad impression on the people!” the bald man shouted.

At the repurposed cafeteria in Ai Jia Supermarket, eighty cooks were lined up in two rows, each standing in front of a stove. They were disgusted as they looked at the buckets of writhing maggots, fighting the urge to vomit. Everyone envied their jobs, but no one understood how hard it was.

These eighty cooks were responsible for feeding tens of thousands of people each day, but they were better off than the homeless people without jobs. At least they got a meal and work points.

One cook asked, “Director, these maggots are covered in corpse bugs and all sorts of filth. Shouldn’t we wash them first before cooking?”

The bald man glared at him. “You have water? Go ahead and wash them if you do!”

Despite their reluctance and disgust, the cooks put on gloves and got to work, grabbing the maggots and preparing them. Not only did they have to cook them, but the food also had to taste good, even in these harsh conditions.

Jing Shu’s third aunt, Jing Lai, pulled out a large packet of cumin and salt from her pocket. Her expression turned strange—just a few days ago, Jing Shu had given her these seasonings, saying she might need them soon. She hadn’t expected to use them so quickly.

After thinking for a moment, Jing Lai decided to make salt and pepper grain bugs!

She used coal to heat the oil and deep-fried the maggots. At first, she struggled to control the heat, causing maggot juice to splatter everywhere. But after a few batches, she got the hang of it. When she sprinkled the cumin that Jing Shu had given her, the fragrant aroma filled the air.

After three hours of hard work, the cooks had prepared a variety of grain bug dishes. They hurried to eat their own meager meal of mushroom rice before heading out to serve the buffet. Their job was to ensure that people ate all the grain bugs they had cooked.

Today’s meal was the usual bland mushroom rice, but even that was much better than what the starving masses outside had. Of course, these mushrooms still had traces of corpse bugs and maggots. Thinking about how the people outside were eating whole maggots made the cooks feel a little better about their meal.

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*Author’s note*: Thanks to Xuan Xuan Xuan Xuan and "Plain Faces Aren’t Always the Most Beautiful" for the tips!