Chapter 146: Corpse Bugs Also Poop

Time flew by. During the hottest days, Jing Shu stayed home, enjoying air conditioning, drinking cold beverages, feasting, practicing her Rubik’s cube skills, and drying vegetables. She would occasionally check the small, trivial squabbles happening in the group chats, silently observing without saying a word, not willing to step outside unless absolutely necessary.

People were still dying in droves. In Jing Shu's neighborhood, three more people had died from prolonged dehydration. When Wu Youai called to arrange for the bodies to be removed, she mentioned they had dried up like mummies. The corpses were sent to the crematorium to feed the maggots, but even the maggots refused to lay eggs on them.

The government’s water supply had dwindled again, reducing by another 100ml. Even the spring water reserved for the high-ranking officials was nearly depleted. Wealthy people no longer dared to take baths casually, and Jing Shu’s family, too, had stopped washing clothes and bathing. The dirty laundry was piling up in one of the rooms.

With their last ton of water almost gone, they were now using water from the fish pond to irrigate their crops, but even the fish pond had dropped by a significant level, much to the concern of Jing Shu’s grandmother. Yet, Jing Shu herself remained calm and unbothered, continuing to eat, drink, and live as usual.

The reservoirs in Wucheng had dried into mud pits, and part of the current drinking water came from snowmelt collected from the mountains, filtered through a basic process. The water had a strong, bitter, and fishy taste, which often made people gag. Jing Shu knew that the taste came from the excrement of corpse bugs.

Don’t ask how Jing Shu knew… *ugh*!

In the chat groups, people constantly asked why the water tasted so foul, and even after boiling, there were black specks floating in it. Some wondered if it was a virus. Eventually, after a long delay, the government admitted, “Oh, those black specks? That’s corpse bug poop.”

Jing Shu’s family no longer bothered to collect water. The supply was too little, and even filtered water couldn’t sustain the crops. The livestock refused to drink the foul water.

Outside their villa, the world had turned into a living hell, but inside, it was a paradise. This time around, Jing Shu had managed to create the life she had dreamed of during the apocalypse.

Just when most people were on the verge of collapse from dehydration, the government of China finally delivered an inspiring message: the artificial sun was ready to be activated.

Wucheng’s government announced that the artificial sun would be officially operational on October 1st, National Day. Just a few more days of endurance, and everything would change!

At the same time, to ensure the artificial sun operated smoothly, Wucheng gathered all available energy sources, including oil, natural gas, and coal.

Operating the artificial sun was essentially a nuclear fusion process, though the government hadn’t disclosed a key detail: one crucial technical problem remained unsolved, forcing them to push forward despite it.

The result? It was burning through resources at an astronomical rate, as it hadn’t yet achieved self-sustaining nuclear fusion and still required massive amounts of energy to function.

Regardless, the artificial sun gave people hope—a chance to survive.

When the news broke, Jing Shu’s high school group chat exploded. Those who had previously bought distillers, along with those who hadn’t, scrambled to sell more. Classmates invited relatives and friends, trying to pull as many people as possible into the distiller scheme.

Zhang Ling Ling had been overwhelmed, managing her “twenty accounts” scheme. Jing Shu, having left the group in her previous life, hadn’t known what happened later. But in this life, she found out that Zhang Ling Ling had recklessly opened 20 accounts, investing 400 work points.

This meant she had to recruit 200 people just to break even. For every 10 recruits, she’d open another account, using each account to feed the next.

However, her high school group alone had already brought her substantial returns.

Excitedly following the instructions in the manual, her classmates buried the distillers in deep holes, expecting water to collect in the boxes by the next day.

Everyone pulled in their relatives and friends to gather more work points. Some even sold their last possessions to buy these devices, but eventually, the distillers themselves became secondary to the scheme.

After a few days, doubts started to surface.

“My distiller has only collected a sip of water after two days. Isn’t that kind of useless?”

Zhang Ling Ling replied, “Mine has collected plenty. You must not have positioned it correctly.”

Nima added, “Exactly. We bought three of them. Just buy more if it’s not enough.”

Whenever someone raised a concern, the group’s response was unified. Those who questioned the product were quickly silenced. After all, whether the distillers worked or not, you had to promote them positively if you wanted to sell them.

Even if the distillers didn’t work, no one dared to admit it out loud.

But now that the artificial sun was set to provide an endless water supply, these distillers, which had been marketed as crucial for survival, would soon become obsolete.

The chat group was in an uproar.

“I’ve only earned back 10 work points!”

“I’ve made 10 or so, but my relatives haven’t recouped their costs yet.”

Zhang Ling Ling addressed the group: “@everyone. Don’t be misled by the news. The artificial sun won’t start providing water right away—it’ll take 10 to 14 days for water to reach the public. There’s still plenty of time. Gather your work points quickly, but stop opening new accounts!”

Wang Chao: “Got it!”

While the news of the artificial sun launching shocked the entire country, the accompanying announcement of reduced electricity availability barely caused a stir.

Wu Youai informed the group: “@everyone. Due to the energy requirements for the artificial sun, Wucheng’s electricity supply will now only run from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM. Once the artificial sun stabilizes, it’s possible we’ll return to the pre-apocalyptic power schedule. But for now, no one’s cooking or bathing anyway, so we’ll manage.”

Electricity time had been cut from two hours to one, but people were already counting down the days until the artificial sun would bring salvation.

Wang Qiqi added: “Oh, by the way, on September 29th, Wucheng’s government will host a self-service buffet to celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival. It’s only 0.1 work points, and you can eat all the five-grain insects you want.”

Feiniu excitedly responded: “That’s great! I can eat as many salted five-grain insects as I want. Awesome!”

Zhang Bing Bing’s husband chimed in: “Taking my wife to fill up. Gotta make sure the baby gets some nutrition.”

On September 29th, 2023, Mid-Autumn Festival, Jing Shu’s father invited her uncle’s family to the villa for a reunion meal.

Normally, they would have gathered at her uncle’s house for dinner.

However, her uncle and aunt, who had become visiting officials, were struggling. First, the natural gas supply had been cut off, making it impossible to cook. Second, vegetable supplies had been stopped, leaving them with no proper food to offer.

Jing Shu’s mother, who worked in agricultural management, knew that the water shortage had become so severe that the government had stopped supplying vegetables to regular civil servants, limiting them to the top few hundred officials.

In place of vegetables, the government now provided two servings of white rice and a small piece of meat each day to civil servants.

This level of treatment drove people to madness with jealousy. Many were desperate to secure a government job, as the clear class distinctions spurred people to seek upward mobility.

In true Mid-Autumn Festival tradition, the family planned to eat dinner while admiring the full moon. As the daytime temperatures were unbearable, the meal was set for the evening.

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*Side Note:*

Thank you to Xiluo Juxi, Fat Rabbit M, and Yuyu for the support!