Chapter 184: Rewarded with 6,000 Virtual Coins

Xie Zihao posted a video from Wucheng News in the group chat: “@everyone, take a look—this shark submarine must be the one @Su Mali traded to Jing Shu, right? And she got it in exchange for honeysuckle?”

Big Head: “Judging by the voice, it really does sound like her. The person in the video should be Jing Shu!”

Shi Lei: “Wow, seriously? I thought the person on DouYing looked a bit like Jing Shu, but I wasn’t sure. I can’t believe the person who saved over a thousand people is actually my high school classmate!”

Big Head: “A lot of people have been looking for this mysterious hero these past couple of days.”

Liang Xin: “Last time you guys were asking where Jing Shu lives, turns out she’s been hiding her true self all along. She’s way better than those people who just suck up to others. Her family lives in the villa district too. Did you notice? Their villa is covered with PVC plastic from @Yao Zixin’s family. With all this heavy rain, her house hasn’t gotten wet at all. I’m so jealous.”

Yao Zixin: “Now that you mention it, I just realized that is my family’s PVC cover! Jing Shu really has foresight—back when it was dry, she kept saying the news was warning about heavy rain, so she prepared in advance. I never thought it would actually happen! Now everyone wants PVC covers, but we’re out of raw materials.”

Mu Xiaoxuan: “No matter what, watching that rescue video, Jing Shu is just amazing. One person and a shark submarine—she’s as good as a whole rescue team.”

Jing Shu gnawed on a Dongpo pork knuckle, staring at the chat with dead-fish eyes.

Fame is trouble, just like pigs fear getting fat. Why did that Shi Jiujou have to film a video for no reason? Now she’s so famous, but hasn’t gotten much real benefit out of it, and all her high school classmates know her secret.

This really doesn’t fit her low-key, luxurious, and refined personality.

Su Mali: “Haha, let me tell you all a little secret—Jing Shu’s house is right next to mine! We’re neighbors! Tonight my family is moving in and getting settled, so tomorrow we’ll be living there! We’re having a swap meet at noon tomorrow, but the dinner I planned will have to change.”

Jing Shu let out a helpless sigh. Su Mali was just like in her previous life—an expert at stirring up envy. After Jing Shu quietly gave her the address a couple of days ago, Su Mali was excited for ages, saying there was someone who’d come a long way just to meet her, and insisted Jing Shu bring some potted plants to her house tomorrow.

Jing Shu thought maybe this could be an opportunity.

Zhang Lingling: “@Su Mali, what’s the change? Are you canceling the dinner?”

Almost everyone in the group instantly shifted their attention. As much as they envied Jing Shu’s house, nothing was more important than Su Mali’s dinner.

Su Mali sent a voice message:

“No, it’s not canceled. Since we’re having a housewarming party and some friends are coming, I’m combining the swap meet with the party. So this time, it’s not just a high school classmates’ swap.

Everyone can bring things you don’t need and trade with each other. Now that virtual coin transactions are open, if you don’t have anything to swap, you can buy things with virtual coins. I took the liberty of upgrading it—it’s now a trading and auction event!”

Shi Lei: “So it’s not canceled! Whatever the time, boss, just let us know and we’ll be there!”

“Tomorrow at 1 p.m., at Villa 2, Banana Community. Just give your name at the door.”

……

Jing Shu muted the high school group chat. She thought when she saw her classmates tomorrow, she’d better tell them not to reveal her identity.

Not long after the Wucheng News broadcast, Li Yitian from the Second Squad called to say her commendation had been approved, along with a bunch of other awards, all officially recorded. Jing Shu didn’t care much about those, but one thing caught her attention: Li Yitian said the higher-ups really supported what she did, so they were rewarding her with 6,000 virtual coins, which would be credited to her account within 24 hours.

Well, Jing Shu decided to take back what she said about not getting any real rewards. In the apocalypse, virtual coins are as good as real food, even if she didn’t have much use for them at the moment.

“Maybe I can see if there’s anything good at Su Mali’s trading event tomorrow?” Jing Shu’s eyes lit up.

She hadn’t been too excited about the swap meet before, since she didn’t want to trade away too many of her own things—it would not only reveal her identity, but her items had all been touched by spiritual spring water and were precious.

But now, with virtual coins, it was different. If she saw something she liked, she could just buy it—she had plenty of virtual coins.

Because she was in a bad mood, Jing Shu ate more than usual. Not wanting to waste leftovers, she finished off the remaining dozen or so pancakes.

But you can’t eat pancakes without some meat, right?

She chopped up some braised pork—fatty and lean—mixed it with sauce, and made roujiamo (meat sandwiches). But just meat wasn’t enough, so she added some cold shredded potatoes, cucumber, scallions, and chili. Then she thought, since she was adding things anyway, why not throw in two eggs?

So each pancake turned into a super-sized burger. Distracted by her worries, Jing Shu unconsciously finished all the pancakes.

*Burp*—even Jing Shu felt a bit too full this time. Just as well, she could go for a walk with Grandma Jing to help digest.

At 8 p.m., the temperature in Wucheng had dropped to 3°C, colder than before, and with the icy rain, even wearing a padded jacket and raincoat, Jing Shu could feel the chill outside.

But the Banana Community was unusually lit up with street lamps, and since it was the first day for residents to move in, the government thoughtfully hadn’t cut the power.

Next door, Su Mali’s family had five villas in a row, all surrounded by tall billboards. They’d copied Jing Shu’s idea and set up scaffolding, and all sorts of banging noises came from inside—judging by the footsteps, a whole crew of workers was rushing to finish renovations.

Grandma Jing was curious about taking a walk because she’d heard the community would soon be full of people and lively, so she was excited to go out and stroll around. Elderly people like a bit of bustle and chatting with others.

“Living here is great and all, but there’s no one to talk to,” Grandma Jing thought. With so many people moving in, surely there’d be a few around her age? It’d be nice to have someone to chat with.

Unfortunately, she was probably destined to be disappointed. Elderly survival rates were very low these days—most had died from heatstroke last year. The ones who survived usually came from extraordinary families, and might not have much in common with Grandma Jing.

“These houses aren’t lit up,” Grandma Jing said after making a round, feeling the community was still pretty deserted.

“Grandma, only the row from buildings 6 to 10 have been assigned so far. The rest of the people are still in the basement, and most of the houses are unfinished. They still need emergency lights installed,” Jing Shu explained.

When they reached Building 6, sure enough, three buildings were brightly lit and packed with people. The noise and chatter could be heard from far away—it was full of life.

Looking up from the ground, Grandma Jing could see the shadows of many people inside.

“Wow, I counted, and some of those houses have at least a dozen people. Too bad, though, I didn’t see any other elderly folks,” Grandma Jing said after searching for a while."