Chapter 253: Making Silk Facial Masks

Jing Shu suddenly remembered that Zi Jing was an expert at handcrafts.

If the first year of the apocalypse had been marked by extreme heat and drought that killed 90% of the plants, leading to famine, the second year brought continuous torrential rains and floods that destroyed 70% of homes and essential goods. Although the government salvaged some supplies, much of what was retrieved was moldy and beyond repair. From that point on, people’s lives regressed to something akin to the primitive era.

By the third year of the apocalypse, there was a severe shortage of materials like cotton and hemp, and the falling temperatures meant people needed more clothing and bedding. When the third-year earthquakes struck, people resorted to scavenging clothes from the dead.

Everyone wore as many layers as possible to keep warm, resulting in strange, mismatched outfits.

In her previous life, Jing Shu had scavenged clothes from corpses, washed them, and given them to Zi Jing. Zi Jing had disassembled and re-sewn the fabrics into thick, warm clothes. It was then that Jing Shu learned Zi Jing had grown up poor, raised by her grandmother, who had taught her to raise silkworms and spin silk by hand. Zi Jing had learned this valuable skill from a young age.

Zi Jing once told her that she had no surname because her biological parents had abandoned her. If she had to take on a surname, she would use her grandmother’s—Ali. Zi Jing was a name given to her by her childhood sweetheart. After her grandmother passed away, she had only her given name, without a family name.

Upon hearing Jing Shu mention her skills, Zi Jing seemed to realize something. "That must be me. Everyone in the family housing knows I’m good with handcrafts. I’ve been doing this since I was a child, so I’m very familiar with it. Thank you for your help today. If you need anything made, I’ll be more than happy to do it."

As she spoke, a red worm from Zi Jing’s hair slid down her nose and crawled into her nostril. Zi Jing skillfully pulled the worm out, tied it into a knot with her fingers, and flicked it away as if she were casually disposing of a booger. Her movements were as smooth as silk.

Fortunately, Zi Jing had a naturally cute, chubby baby face. If she had looked more like an older man, Jing Shu might have kicked her away out of sheer disgust.

Jing Shu’s expression became conflicted. She still couldn’t fully accept Zi Jing’s state!

It was clear that some "transformation" was necessary.

Zi Jing, who was insecure and lacked confidence, would definitely put up emotional barriers if someone suddenly treated her too well. Even normal people would be suspicious if a stranger was overly kind to them for no reason.

The first step in Jing Shu’s transformation plan: express disdain. A lot of disdain. This would make Zi Jing think that Jing Shu was normal and not trying to get close to her for any hidden reason.

"Look at you. You’re absolutely filthy. Even if I wanted your help, how am I supposed to let you work like this? What if one of those red worms jumps into the silk I’m working with? You’d be making things worse, not helping."

Zi Jing bit her lip and lowered her head. Just a moment ago, she had nearly forgotten about her situation, as Jing Shu hadn’t seemed to mind. But she was right. How could anyone not care about this?

Step two of the plan: don’t lower your standards out of pity. Instead, emphasize that you need someone with her skills. This way, Zi Jing would believe she earned the job because of her abilities, not charity.

"Here’s the deal. I was already looking for someone to help me out, and I just happened to help you in the process. If you really want to repay me, clean yourself up and make some silk facial masks from silkworm cocoons. Show me your speed and skill.

If you do a good job, I’ll consider hiring you to boil the cocoons, pull the silk, and even make silk quilts and clothes. But I have high standards. If you can only manage two or three pounds of silk a day, I’m not interested. Your pay will depend on your skill, but it starts at 4 virtual coins per day."

Jing Shu still had some silkworm cocoons from last year stored in her space. Since there weren’t enough of them to do anything substantial, they had just been sitting there.

Today was the perfect opportunity to make some silk face masks. Although Jing Shu didn’t need face masks herself, her "cash cow" Su Mali had posted on her social media, saying she was out of stock on masks and was willing to pay a high price for more—on the condition that they were natural, pure silk face masks with no added chemicals. That ruled out 90% of the masks available on the market.

Silk protein contains 18 amino acids that are incredibly nourishing for the skin. Silk is breathable, has excellent absorption properties, and is even used for surgical dressings and burn treatments to promote healing. It’s often referred to as "artificial skin."

Jing Shu planned to develop this business further. After all, anyone still able to afford surgery in the apocalypse would likely be interested in using silk dressings to treat their wounds.

"Four... four virtual coins?" Zi Jing was shocked. That was almost as much as a government worker’s pay. Just who was this person? Did she have that many silkworms? Raising silkworms wasn’t easy these days. Who was this woman, really?

Zi Jing examined Jing Shu carefully. Earlier, she had seen her give a bottle of white wine to Captain Li. Rumor had it that this person also raised snakes? She must be wealthy.

"Don’t get too excited. I haven’t even seen your craftsmanship yet. Just tell me if you can do the job and meet my standards," Jing Shu said, rolling her eyes.

Definitely the attitude of someone with money.

Zi Jing bit her lip and sighed. "I’d like to clean myself up, but the government-issued plastic raincoats always let water in, and the red worms get into everything. I don’t have any salt to wash my hair, and the cocoons attract even more red worms. I’m afraid I’d end up making the masks full of worms. I don’t think I can help you. But if there’s anything else you need, I’d be happy to assist."

"Well, I live in the villa district, and there’s a saltwater pool at the entrance. I’ll take you there so you can wash your hair. After that, you can make the silk face masks, and we’ll take it from there."

Jing Shu took Zi Jing to her villa and let her soak in the saltwater pool for a long time. Zi Jing’s hair, which she hadn’t cut in over ten years, now reached her ankles. The sheer number of red worms stuck to it was unimaginable. Every time Zi Jing walked, it was like carrying a writhing snake made of worms.

It wasn’t just red worms in her hair—there were worm droppings and eggs too.

Jing Shu ended up dumping several more bags of salt into the pool and changing the water before everything was finally cleaned. After half an hour, Jing Shu let out a sigh of relief. "Here, take this waterproof hat. Put your hair up, wrap it tightly, and wear the hat to keep it dry."

Zi Jing sheepishly gathered her now-clean hair and tucked it into the waterproof hat. She felt like she was floating. If she had had this earlier, she wouldn’t have been rejected by everyone for three months!

Jing Shu set up various racks and tools under the shelter at the villa entrance, and Zi Jing began her work.

"You need to boil the cocoons in water to remove the grease, so the silk doesn’t need flipping. Boiling the cocoons is tricky—if they’re overcooked, the masks will be too flimsy. Undercooked, and you’ll have clumps of raw silk," Zi Jing explained as she expertly scooped the boiled cocoons out of the water and began pulling the silk.