Chapter 138: A Moonlit Night on the Twenty-Four Bridges—Where Is My Beloved Now...

Jing Shu frowned. “That’s just your personal opinion. I really do need PVC plastic. Otherwise, why would I bother trading water for it?” She vaguely remembered that Nima Sang had a crush on Yao Zixin and was probably getting anxious, thinking Jing Shu was interested in him too.

Nima Sang said, “Maybe you’re just trying to use your free 300ml of water to get some plastic and catch the school hunk’s attention. Oh, come on, drop the act. I see right through your little tricks—they’re just a bit lowbrow, that’s all.”

Meanwhile, Yao Zixin, who hadn’t said a word, had already added Jing Shu as a contact. “Jing Shu, what kind of PVC plastic do you need? How much? What kind of water are you offering?”

Seeing Nima Sang getting more and more out of line, Jing Shu, who had originally wanted to spare her some dignity, decided to forget it:

“@Nima Sang, you’ve got a thing for Yao Zixin, don’t you? Aren’t you worried that Xie Zihao, who took a lovers’ bath with you back in high school, will get jealous?”

Of course, this incident hadn’t come out until later, but Jing Shu didn’t mind dropping the bomb early to give everyone a little excitement. As someone who had been reborn, her skills were on a whole different level—she couldn’t be bothered to play these low-level games with people like Nima Sang.

He Shouwu: “Wow, is that for real?”

Nima Sang: “Bullshit! You’re just making stuff up because you’re desperate!”

Jing Shu just laughed. “You guys insisted on booking a private mixed-gender bath at the bathhouse. They wouldn’t let you in until Xie Zihao paid 200 yuan. I happened to be right next door, and your voices were so loud. There was even a hidden camera recording the whole thing. Have you forgotten?”

Jing Shu’s revelation was like a bomb dropped in water, sending shockwaves through the group.

“This is explosive! Xie Zihao is so ugly, covered in pimples, and she actually hooked up with him?”

“Ugly, but rich.”

“Didn’t expect Nima to be that kind of person.”

“I wanna see the video—high school sweethearts in action!”

Nima Sang: “Enough! I have nothing to do with that ugly bastard anymore. The apocalypse is here—shouldn’t we be thinking about how to survive? And Jing Shu, I advise you to be kind.”

See, when you talk feelings with some people, they talk ideals. When you talk ideals, they talk about life… In short, she always has a comeback.

At this point, Xie Zihao also spoke up: “A moonlit night on the Twenty-Four Bridges—where is my beloved now, playing the flute? Nima, you said it yourself. It’s heartbreaking. You didn’t seem to mind me back when we were in that lovers’ bath, playing the flute together.”

If Jing Shu’s words still needed to be verified, now that the people involved had come forward, there was no doubt left.

“666!”

“Respect! Totally shattered the pure image I had of Nima.”

Su Mali: “What does playing the flute have to do with a lovers’ bath?”

Everyone: “……”

He Shouwu: “Come, let me explain the connection…”

…

The group chat had completely derailed from bartering supplies and was now all about Nima Sang. Everyone was having a blast. Meanwhile, Zhang Lingling had done a new headcount: out of 56 classmates, only a bit more than half were still active on WeChat or posting updates. The rest—who knew if they were alive or dead? Some people’s Moments had been frozen on a certain day, forever.

On the other side, Jing Shu got in touch with Yao Zixin. Luckily, his family’s workshop was pretty professional and could make exactly what she needed: an integrated PVC plastic ceiling, high in the middle and lower around the edges, so rainwater would naturally flow down.

To prevent red threadworms from crawling onto the ceiling and staying there, Jing Shu also asked for a PVC wiper. She’d have Grandpa Jing install a manual wiper, like the kind you use to pull down a roller blind, so any debris could be scraped off easily.

Of course, she also needed rainwater collection tanks—four of them, one for each corner, plus one for the RV garage. Speaking of which, the garage had been finished for ages, but there was still no news from Wang Dazhao and Yang Yang, who’d gone to America.

Jing Shu had tried calling, but all she got was “out of service.” Okay, so there’s no roaming service anymore, and international calls are out of the question. But America still has internet, right? Couldn’t they just find some Wi-Fi and send a message to say they’re safe? Jing Shu decided that if she didn’t hear anything in another month… well, she’d just have to wait a bit longer. If nothing changed, she’d ask Minister Niu for help.

As for the color of the PVC ceiling, Jing Shu wanted it black.

Yao Zixin had been wondering if Nima Sang’s words meant she was interested in him. After all, PVC is useful for a lot of things, but no one wanted it these days. But when Jing Shu told him her requirements, he swallowed hard—this was a big order.

“Ahem, sure, but how much water are you offering for it?” Yao Zixin was a little worried Jing Shu would try to get away with just a little.

“Do you want mineral water or regular water?”

Yao Zixin thought for a moment. “Regular water. That way, I can get more.”

“Fifty liters?” Jing Shu suggested. That amount would last his family until October, by which time water wouldn’t be so scarce. For Jing Shu’s family, though, that was just about what one cow needed for daily use…

That’s the difference between rich and poor.

“That’s over 300 centimeters’ worth—deal.” Yao Zixin did the math. His family had sold all sorts of things and only gotten a few dozen centimeters’ worth. Even after days of gathering firewood, they’d only earned a bit more than ten centimeters. This one deal would bring in so much—it was worth it. His family did run a factory, after all. Too bad they’d traded most of their stuff for food at the start. Who could have guessed water would be the real shortage?

“I’ll give you 10 liters as a deposit first, okay?”

“Sure, thanks. We’ll get it done as soon as possible.”

Once Jing Shu finished her deal, Zhang Lingling managed to steer the group chat back on topic, reminding everyone to prepare items for bartering. Three days later, they’d meet up at an abandoned mall in the new district to trade supplies and catch up.

Zhang Lingling: “Alright, it’s settled. Send me your needs and what you have to offer. I’ll post it in the group announcement so everyone can see at a glance.”

Jing Shu closed the WeChat group. For now, she couldn’t think of anything else she needed. As for the class reunion… she’d rather skip it. Dressing too neatly would draw attention, but deliberately dressing down just wasn’t her style.

Every day, countless people teetered on the edge of life and death, and many had already died. The public was demanding that, like in Africa, they dig deep underground shelters—at least that would lower the temperature, reduce water use, and save more lives.

But Chinese experts predicted the extreme heat wouldn’t last much longer. The longer it dragged on, though, the higher the sea level would rise, and the more devastating the eventual floods would be. Anyone hiding underground would be wiped out.

That’s why Africa, with its dry grasslands, could build underground shelters—they wouldn’t get flooded.

On this damned, housebound day, Jing Shu finished dinner, got in her car, and took several big barrels of water to the damned class reunion. She swore she really didn’t want to go. She swore that Su Mali must be her nemesis—otherwise, how could it be such a coincidence that only Su Mali had exactly what she needed to trade?"