Chapter 232: "The Snake Eggs Have Hatched"

When it came to modifying the RV, Chu Zhuohua was the embodiment of an inspiration-driven person. He started with a burst of energy, enthusiastically working on his favorite part—the hybrid power system. Once that was done, though, he hit a creative slump and seemed to lose momentum, complaining about a lack of inspiration and poor performance.

Currently, the RV's power system was completely revamped, but Chu Zhuohua was now slowly working on the first layer of interior design.

Adding to the mystery, he was also working on another secret vehicle project that he wasn’t letting Jing Shu see, insisting that she only needed to pay when it was finished. Jing Shu thought, “Alright, it’s just a modified vehicle.”

Meanwhile, Third Aunt Jing Lai wasn’t idle either. Over the past few days, aside from making a brand-new red wedding quilt for the upcoming wedding, she had sewn new clothes for Grandma Jing, Grandpa Jing, Jing Shu, her parents, and Wu Youai, using up nearly all of the cotton and fabric in the house. Jing Shu started thinking about planting cotton once her space upgraded. In the increasingly cold weather, cotton was a lifesaver.

"By the way, starting this year, we should probably raise silkworms too, and collect silk for the harsh weather ahead," Jing Shu suggested.

Last year, Wu Youai's mentor had given her a few Indian silkworms. Jing Shu had kept them in the second-floor greenhouse, but they hadn’t reproduced much, producing only a few dozen silkworms. At this rate, it would take forever to make a silk quilt. With the abundant rain and food supply this year, it was time to focus on raising more silkworms and stockpiling these materials. It would also give Grandma Jing something to do, as boiling and extracting silk wasn’t an easy task.

It was only the second year of the apocalypse, so people still had clothes, and the daytime temperatures weren’t too cold yet. No one was paying attention to these issues now, but in a few years, when the weather got colder and people wanted more clothes and blankets, it would be too late to get them.

Grandpa Jing, being traditional, had written some Spring Festival couplets and "fu" characters for the doors to usher in good luck for the New Year. Considering the family would be away for at least three days, Jing Shu's father built a DIY automatic feeder based on popular designs to ensure the chickens, ducks, cows, and pigs would have food and water while they were gone.

The crops in the garden and the fruit trees in the second-floor greenhouse were all watered ahead of time.

As for the fate of the The Fat Chicken, the family decided it had to come along.

“It lays eggs every day, so we’ll have fresh ones to eat.”

“If we don’t bring it, it’ll ruin my apricot tree. Worse, it might finish off all the fish in the pond while we’re away.”

“If we don’t take it, it’ll go after the chickens at my workplace.”

The The Fat Chicken seemed rather proud of this decision.

The chicken had been drinking from the special spiritual spring water and had grown to the size of a small calf, now weighing over 50 pounds. Since its last eye mutation, there hadn’t been much change, and Jing Shu suspected it was waiting for the right trigger.

The chicken’s intelligence had also increased. It knew it was coming along, so it started packing. First, it ate all the food it had stashed in its nest—its favorite veggies, bones, and nut shells. Then, it patrolled the coop, reminding the other chickens not to get any ideas about challenging its authority. Lastly, it put on the colorful outfit that Third Aunt had knitted for it, which, though a bit tight, was supposed to help it "slim down post-partum," according to the humans.

Finally, the The Fat Chicken engaged in its usual routine of sucking up to its owners, acting cute and innocent, hoping to reinforce its image as a well-behaved, non-troublesome chicken.

The whole family worked hard over the next few days to finish up their tasks. After all, it was the apocalypse—there were no weekends or holidays anymore. They all spun around like tops, trying to get everything done.

Wu Youai was the busiest of them all. She had gained control of several more residential buildings, adding over 70 original residents under her jurisdiction. Every day, there were deaths, and she had to verify information, report it, and update population statistics.

Next in line was Jing Shu’s mother. Thanks to Jing Shu’s solution for filtering out red worms, her mother’s work performance had skyrocketed. She had even shared the method with other departments, earning praise and commendations. With the installation of official filters, Wucheng’s agricultural department could finally start growing crops again. At least ordinary people could now sprinkle some green onions on their mushroom and insect egg meals.

Jing Shu had planned to visit the Herbal Medicine Association, but then something exciting happened: the snakes in her dimensional space laid eggs! Jing Shu was thrilled—she had been counting on the snakes to produce eggs so she could make medicinal wine.

Jing Shu had been diligently studying the care of snakes and had been feeding them spiritual spring water. If they hadn’t produced eggs by now, she would’ve suspected they had fertility issues.

She carefully watched over the snake eggs for a few days. With the help of the spiritual spring water, the eggs were developing rapidly. Snakes needed a warm, stable environment to hatch, so Jing Shu built a cozy nest in her dimensional space and followed the instructions for incubating the eggs.

Typically, a pit viper would lay about 30 eggs, but with the boost from the spiritual spring water, her snakes laid 70 eggs, a clear testament to its effects.

Another challenge Jing Shu faced was communicating with the snakes. So far, she had made no progress. It looked like she would need at least six months to establish a bond with them, just like she had done with the bees.

Using snakes as a weapon was going to take time. Jing Shu resigned herself to raising about 30 of them as future stealth weapons, while the rest could be used for making medicinal wine or for culinary purposes.

She had heard that dragon-phoenix soup, made from snake and chicken, was a delicacy known for its nourishing properties...

Finally, on the day the family was set to leave, the snake eggs hatched. The dimensional space was now teeming with tiny flower-patterned snakes, tightly coiled together and wriggling in a heap. They looked so appetizing... wait, no! She had to remind herself that she wasn’t thinking about food.

Jing Shu separated the adult snakes from the hatchlings. The newborn snakes didn’t need food right away, so she just gave them a little water mixed with spiritual spring water from batch number eight.

She would start feeding them after their first molt, which would happen in a few days. Jing Shu planned to accelerate their growth so that by the time they returned from New Year’s, they would be ready to make medicinal wine.

It was 4:00 a.m. on February 8, 2024. After a hearty breakfast, the family made final preparations and checks before setting off.

The day before, Jing Shu had installed a few extra hidden surveillance cameras around the villa, including some at Building 25. These were, of course, to keep an eye on Lin Yi.

Jing Shu’s father did a final check on everything, while her mother ensured that all doors and windows were secure. Grandpa Jing inspected all the traps. Once everything was confirmed, they were ready to go.

Jing Shu’s father drove the energy truck, while Jing Shu took the shark submarine, and the family headed out.

To protect the villa, Jing Shu activated all the traps and installed an electric grid at the gate. She also asked Li Yitian to keep an eye on the property and hired four of Su Mali’s security guards, paying each one 4 virtual coins a day.