Chapter 113: "The First Dragon Boat Festival in the Apocalypse":

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Jing Shu understood the sigh from her grandmother and the importance of food in the apocalypse, which was why she had prepared so many supplies—because some things would simply become unavailable.

After collecting the water, the family got into their energy-powered car, drawing envious stares from the crowd. If it weren’t for the armed police nearby, those glaring with greedy eyes might have rushed over to rob them. In times like these, people who wore clean clothes stood out like a sore thumb, out of place in this world.

After all, six months into the apocalypse, almost no one had clean clothes anymore. People couldn’t even get enough drinking water, let alone care about grooming themselves.

“I really don’t understand why people who can still drive cars are competing with us for resources. We’re already pitiful enough, and now they’re taking water from us. It’s because of people like them that we’re getting less water.”

“Exactly, look how clean they are. They don’t need this water like we do. Giving it to them is such a waste—it should be ours.”

Jing Shu, sitting comfortably in the air-conditioned car, sipped on her yogurt shaved ice. *Look at this—I’m pitiful, so I’m entitled.* It was a classic example of people believing that just because they’re worse off, they deserve more.

"Let’s go, Dad. Ignore them."

"Sure thing," her dad responded.

People like that were all too common after the apocalypse. Society would soon become sharply divided. Some people were destined to scrape by, scavenging insects to survive, while others would find ways to create new value and alternative resources in this world.

...

This was the first Dragon Boat Festival after the apocalypse. Jing Shu’s family finally finished wrapping all the soaked glutinous rice into *zongzi* (rice dumplings). Each one was shaped into a triangle, tied with string, and placed into cold water to boil. As one batch was being cooked, they wrapped more. After boiling for over an hour, the first batch was done, and they continued the process with the remaining ones.

Jing Shu’s grandmother carefully separated the different flavors by tying them with different colored strings. Red was for red date *zongzi*, green for meat *zongzi*, and so on. They used several different colors of string to identify the variety.

To avoid bothering the neighbors, Jing Shu turned on the exhaust fan, though it didn’t help much. The mouthwatering aroma of the boiling *zongzi* filled the air, likely spreading far beyond their house.

Jing Shu, who hadn’t eaten *zongzi* in a long time, couldn’t help but drool. The moment the first batch was ready, she eagerly grabbed one, dipping it in honey and enjoying it while it was still hot. Before long, she had devoured more than a dozen.

User *FatGirl25*: “Yesterday, I tried over a dozen different flavors of grain bugs. I think the salt and pepper flavor was the best, but maybe I’m imagining things—now I keep smelling *zongzi*.”

User *Stone21*: “I smelled it too, like a meat *zongzi*, salty and with chunks of lean meat. Maybe even chicken drumsticks?”

User *FatGirl25*: “No way, I smelled red date *zongzi*.”

User *Ugly24*: “Strange, I also smelled *zongzi*. It seems to be coming from the villa area...”

Wang Qiqi jumped in to change the subject: “Ai Jia Supermarket is now selling *zongzi* made with rice for 2 work points each. If anyone needs some, you can catch grain bugs and trade them in.”

Wang Cuihua sent a voice message: “With that many points, you’d be better off buying a big bowl of white rice. Grain bugs are easy to catch these days—there are dozens of kilograms in our toilet downstairs. I’ve already caught a bunch and traded them for points.”

User *FatGirl25*: “That’s disgusting! You’re catching bugs from a toilet? That stuff gets fed to people, you know!”

Wang Cuihua replied with another voice message: “So what? I just scooped them out with a shovel, rinsed them off, and traded them in. I got 20 work points for it! I’ve already claimed the toilets nearby.”

User *Wind3*: “Please stop! I finally figured out why the bugs I ate today had a slight... you-know-what flavor. With all the bugs around, why go for the toilet ones?”

Wang Cuihua responded again: “Catching bugs outside takes forever, but in the toilets, you can scoop up a whole shovel-full at once.”

Thankfully, the talk of *zongzi* was dropped after that. Jing Shu breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, the villa’s tempered glass was covered by a thick layer of dust, completely concealing their home from view. Otherwise, their abundance would surely be exposed.

However, Jing Shu couldn’t help but admire the government’s effectiveness. By the next day, the entire population was out hunting for grain bugs. Some even started breeding their own—by digging a pit and turning it into a toilet, they could cultivate their own supply. The rest, you can imagine.

After the first time, there would be a second. Over time, people would gradually get used to eating grain bugs.

The government’s initial fear that corpse bugs would dominate the food chain had been neatly resolved. The explosion of flies had also been controlled, as people caught bags full of them every day, greatly reducing their numbers.

Though corpse bugs bred rapidly, flies were one of the few creatures that thrived in the heat and actively fed on corpse bugs. The flies kept the corpse bug population in check, while humans found a new food source. A new balance had been established in the ecosystem.

This incident also paved the way for the acceptance of red worms as a future food source.

It was reported that in the latter half of 2023, hundreds of billions of corpse bugs in China were wiped out by maggots. At the same time, trillions of maggots were consumed by humans, with the average person eating hundreds of maggots per day.

That year, China had the highest survival rate in the world at 89%, compared to 85% in the U.S. and 81% in India.

Several small European countries had been ravaged by both corpse bugs and flies, and despite attempts to use insecticides, the situation had only worsened.

The U.S. was preparing to consolidate its population and migrate. They planned to launch a nuclear weapon at one area before migrating to the surrounding areas, confident in their abundant food supply and smaller population.

India and its ally, Africa, followed China’s example, joining the insect-eating movement. In the end, the words of a great leader rang true: "The strength of the people is powerful. Stop messing around with complicated solutions."

Russia, known for its resilience, introduced a new law: every citizen must kill 1,000 bugs per day.

The news was filled with reports of the hardships other countries faced, highlighting China’s more measured and effective approach.

In Wucheng, the government’s main concerns had been addressed. There was food, so people wouldn’t starve. Aside from the scarce water supply, there were no immediate threats to life.

It was time to shift focus and deal with the looting and murder that had occurred. Wucheng was set to lead the way in reforming the new system and serving as an example for the entire country.

After two months of gentle policies, the government was ready to crack down on those who claimed territory or engaged in criminal activities. They were about to show their sharp fangs to the lawbreakers.

...

On Dragon Boat Festival, Jing Shu’s mother invited her eldest brother’s family to the villa for dinner. Since the falling out with Su Mei Mei, she only recognized Su Yiyang as her true brother.

Jing Shu’s father drove to pick up the family, but called halfway there: “Lanzhi, your sister-in-law says she wants to invite her brother’s family too...”

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*Author’s note*: It’s been exactly 60 days since the book started, without any breaks. Please give me some praise! 😊