Chapter 154: My Capabilities Won't Allow Me to Raise Pigs

Even if it costs her, it’s worth it.

Right now, the most valuable things are food and resources, but luckily, she doesn’t lack those.

However, Hengda Logistics... isn’t that Heng Jin’s company? It seems like, even after the apocalypse, he managed to work his way into the government system, helping out with logistics for them.

“Alright, I’ll contact him and see just how bad the RV looks when it’s delivered.”

Jing Shu hung up the phone and immediately contacted Heng Jin via WeChat.

“You’re transporting an RV back, right?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?” Heng Jin squinted.

“Because that RV is for me…”

Heng Jin: “...”

Fate between people is strange indeed. Jing Shu never expected to do business with Heng Jin again.

Before the apocalypse, Jing Shu was just an ordinary young woman who managed to earn some money by serving as a witness for Heng Jin. Heng Jin, on the other hand, was the well-off heir of a logistics company.

After the apocalypse hit and resources became scarce, while Heng Jin was struggling to survive, Jing Shu lived comfortably in a villa, well-fed and unbothered. Now, she’s ordering an extravagant RV all the way from the U.S., brought back by military personnel just for her.

Meanwhile, Heng Jin had to scramble, eventually earning a spot within the government system, working tirelessly for over a year transporting supplies. Now, he’s helping the very woman he once employed.

The contrast was overwhelming.

Heng Jin felt conflicted. “I never expected the owner of the RV we brought back from the U.S. would be you… But even though we’re friends, I can’t cut the transportation fee too much.”

“Fair enough, what do you need?”

Look at her—someone who’s consistently ranked among the lowest in daily WeChat step counts, but now, she’s ridiculously wealthy. What had this woman been up to over the past year?

“800 virtual coins or 60 kilograms of grain will work. Half of the journey will be by sea, but we’ll still have to drive it over a thousand kilometers, and that takes a lot of fuel.”

800 virtual coins is equivalent to six months' salary for a government worker. A family of three could live for a month on just 50 virtual coins, eating two meals of plain rice a day and supplementing with occasional vegetables and insects.

This is the stark difference between them. As food becomes more valuable in the post-apocalypse world, it will create a deep class divide. Those who can’t afford food will be even more reliant on basic rations and work for survival.

Jing Shu thought for a moment and decided to use virtual coins.

In her last trade with Niu Mou, she earned 300 units of electricity, 200 bottles of mineral water, and 500 virtual coins, as well as 300 virtual coins as a reward for her life-saving actions. With her regular “salary,” she had plenty to spare. There was no sense in hoarding virtual coins she couldn’t use effectively, like buying moldy rice next year.

“800 virtual coins it is. I’ll give you 200 as a down payment, and the rest when the RV is delivered.”

“Deal.”

With that problem settled, Jing Shu felt a weight lift off her shoulders. That evening, as she practiced solving her Rubik’s Cube, she felt a sense of mental clarity and even gained a deeper understanding of the seven-layer cube. Finally, she had mastered restoring it with ease.

The journey from proficiency to mastery was another hurdle, but she realized that practicing regularly had significantly improved her skills.

The seven-layer cube was much larger than the regular Rubik’s Cube, and her family couldn’t help but give her strange looks every time she pulled it out.

Especially when Jing Shu sat on the couch, munching on fried chicken and drinking soda while twisting the cube. It was the same look parents give kids who spend too much time playing video games. Her mother had commented several times over the past few days:

“If you’re not streaming anymore, why don’t you find a stable government job? Or maybe use those piglets to trade for a position at a livestock farm and start raising pigs.

You can’t just sit around all day eating, drinking, and fiddling with that cube. It’s embarrassing to be known as the ‘honorary frog breeder.’ Besides, now that the water shortage is over, frogs won’t be in demand in a couple of months, and you’ll be out of a job.”

It was true. Now that there was plenty of water, everything could be cultivated again. Even though it was still hot, people were now able to eat stir-fried vegetables with insects, and they were quite content with their lives.

Jing Shu’s father interjected with a non sequitur: “Didn’t I buy her a regular-sized Rubik’s Cube back in the day?”

Jing Shu continued twisting the cube and said, “Mom, my skills are beyond raising pigs now. There will be bigger and better things for me in the future.”

“What, so you think you're going to raise a mythical beast instead of pigs? Or maybe you're planning to fly?” Her mom teased while sorting out the dried string beans. “And why do I feel like the amount of dried vegetables keeps increasing?”

Aside from dried string beans, there were also dried bamboo shoots and bracken. Jing Shu had even planted another batch of peppers, which she also dried.

Last year, she had dried enough peppers to make over a hundred kilograms of chili powder, which still hadn’t been used up. This year, she planned to use the dried peppers mainly to flavor dishes.

Dried peppers were also effective at removing dampness from the body, which would help prevent illness during the rainy and humid months of the coming year.

The process of making powdered milk took Jing Shu several days.

The cows produced dozens of kilograms of milk each day, far more than they could consume. So, Jing Shu made yogurt, frozen yogurt, ice cream, and cheese. But with a month’s worth of milk accumulating, she decided to make powdered milk and milk tablets.

Powdered milk required specialized equipment, which she eventually found at an abandoned dairy factory in Wucheng. She brought her own power generator, boiled the milk in a pressure cooker, and used a centrifugal spray dryer to produce pure, natural powdered milk.

It took 10 kilograms of milk to make 1 kilogram of powdered milk. Jing Shu produced over 100 kilograms, enough to last through the apocalypse. Using the factory’s tablet press, she also made some milk tablets.

The factory still had storage containers, which she disinfected and filled with the powdered milk before sealing them. Her homemade powdered milk was complete!

When Jing Shu returned home with a truckload of powdered milk, her family’s reactions were priceless. Her mother had initially thought she was overcomplicating things by turning all that milk into powder.

“Why go through all that trouble when we could just drink the milk?”

“But powdered milk lasts longer. We can use it in emergencies, and it’ll be even more valuable later. It’ll make a nice gift too.”

Her grandmother wasn’t convinced either. “Why bother? Wherever we go, we can just take the cows with us—we don’t need powdered milk.”

Jing Shu: “…”

Jing Shu didn’t expect that, a month later, her entire family would be preparing to leave, with her grandmother insisting on taking all the livestock along…

But still, no one had expected that Jing Shu would actually manage to pull it off.

Wu Youai gave her a thumbs-up. “There’s nothing you can’t do.”

When her mom saw the beautifully packaged cans of powdered milk, she opened one and was greeted by a rich, creamy aroma. “I have to admit, this is really well done. My daughter is good at everything—except for studying.”

Emmm… Thanks, Mom!

Just as Jing Shu’s mom continued to nag her every day to find a proper job, preferably raising pigs, the one person Jing Shu had hoped to avoid, Su Mali, the “saint,” contacted her again. It seemed that the herbal medicine from last time had come back to haunt her!

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*Side Note:*

Thanks to *Zhang Xiaobao 831*, *Reader 20170608163054121*, *Little Ant Wants to Bite*, *Star Flower* for the support!