Chapter 288: The Red Worms Begin to Decrease

Great, the living arrangements for the family were all settled, and the current functional areas met Jing Shu’s requirements.

Exiting the space capsule, right beside it was the warm room Jing Shu had requested to be renovated, equipped with various light strips and five layers of planting shelves.

This was where Jing Shu planned to farm—not too big, not too small. The crops planted here, combined with last year’s dried vegetables, would definitely be enough for the family.

If possible, she would plant some easy-to-grow, space-saving fruits later, but that could wait. Ideally, all the family’s plants would be transplanted here.

The rear of the RV’s second floor, originally for solar panels, now had a skylight. Jing Shu called this the multifunctional breeding area. Since chickens and ducks had to be brought during migration and it was freezing outside, they had to be kept inside. As for the smell, Chu Zhuohua had thought of that too, so they installed a skylight to help ventilate.

To summarize the RV’s second floor: the rear was for raising chickens and ducks, the middle for planting, and Wu You’ai’s space capsule was there too. The front was the living area for storing supplies, and the very front was Jing Shu’s bedroom.

On the RV’s first floor, the front driver’s seat area was Jing Ye and Jing Nai’s bedroom, with Jing Gu’s hidden single bed nearby. The middle was the kitchen, dining, and bathroom. The rear was Jing Ba and Jing Ma’s bedroom.

That was the entire RV layout. After putting away Chu Zhuohua’s manual, Jing Shu pondered Qian Duoduo’s surprise. With the RV’s functions so complete, she couldn’t imagine what else Qian Duoduo might have prepared.

Big shots always had extraordinary moves. Jing Shu was a bit excited.

Anyway, the Xishan base was almost finished. She’d find out then. Jing Shu circled the super-large RV twice, growing more delighted, even sitting in the driver’s seat to feel what it was like to drive.

But the main driver would definitely be Jing Ba. She’d stay in her bedroom, practicing Rubik’s Cube and gazing at the distant scenery.

Speaking of the Rubik’s Cube, Jing Shu felt something strange. It had been two months since she upgraded the cube. Given her diligence, she should practice daily whenever she had time. Luckily, she upgraded the cube space before going to the U.S. next year.

At first, she was very diligent and made rapid progress after building a solid foundation, quickly able to restore the cube. Now she had reached the professional speed required by the cube space.

But at some point, she started forgetting to practice. Sometimes days passed before she suddenly remembered she hadn’t practiced!

She even set an alarm to practice at fixed times daily, but every time she started, something interrupted her. After the interruption, she forgot about practicing again.

Jing Shu wondered if this was related to the 8-layer cube space ability.

Like when she first challenged the 7-layer cube’s illusion ability, she often hallucinated during practice, greatly slowing progress. Later, a curse made her practice at 4 a.m. daily…

“But the cube keeps interrupting my practice and making me forget. Does this level of cube ability cause memory loss? Usually, cube space abilities help planting and breeding, but what does memory loss have to do with it?”

Jing Shu took out the cube and started practicing while thinking. Soon, her phone rang urgently. She sighed—just as she thought, it was strange.

“Jing Shu, why don’t you come to the factory? We have some things to discuss with you.” On the other end was her aunt-in-law Wang Fang.

“Okay.”

…

It was June. The red worms were decreasing, either due to weather or constant harvesting by the Chinese. Scientists from the U.S. and Australia warned that red worms would become a global disaster—their prophecy was coming true.

Worldwide, red worms’ density had reached over 80%. They ate everything and grew on everything. Fortunately, European countries had advanced water purification systems, so they could still grow some crops.

But while red worms increased globally, in China, they were decreasing—from once scooping large amounts to now only a little.

When Jing Shu arrived at the feed factory, workers lounged lazily on the ground with no work. Half were sorting red worms.

Her aunt-in-law paced, looking troubled. “Jing Shu, you’re here. Have you eaten?”

“No.”

Her aunt coughed twice. She was just making polite conversation, but Jing Shu was so straightforward.

“Jing Shu, I won’t beat around the bush. When will this factory close? Red worms are not only fewer, but many batches have half dead or smelly worms. We pick out the bad ones as you said, but the cost is huge, and we barely collect any red worms daily.”

Jing Shu squatted and poked with a stick. Indeed, these red worms carried the zombie deer disease from Australia.

Her uncle glared at his wife, then smiled at Jing Shu. “Don’t listen to her nonsense. We invested so much; we can’t just close. You’re the boss. Whatever you say, we do.”

“Suyi Yang, you don’t know what it’s like to stand and talk. We have to support so many workers for half a year. It’s almost bankrupting us. If this continues, it’s pointless. I won’t do it,” her aunt said anxiously.

Her uncle was angry. “Woman, short-sighted. Follow Jing Shu, and we’ll make money. Even if not, after all her help, we’ll jump in the pit with her.”

“I shaved my head long ago,” she said, pointing at him. “You’re braver now, shouting at me outside?”

“Enough, both of you. Don’t quarrel. It’s my fault for being busy and not managing here. Starting today, we’ll buy red worms at three times the old price, but no dead or smelly worms allowed. Let them sort themselves. Your people just inspect. Let’s work hard for one more month. I’ll handle meals.”

“Three times?”

“Yes, three times. Red worms are getting rarer, so prices will rise. That’s all.”

Her uncle stepped forward, embarrassed. “Jing Shu, don’t worry about meals. Since we’re managing, we’ll see it through. Otherwise, we’d feel bad taking dividends.”

“Alright then.”

They could collect red worms for one more month. Jing Shu needed to make the most of it. After leaving her uncle’s place, she quickly called her eldest aunt. Communication was much easier. Jing Shu only gave instructions, and they immediately executed.

After settling the red worm matters on both sides, Jing Shu felt she had forgotten something important.

“Forget it, time to go home and eat.”

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