Jing Shu hesitated for a mont, but her body reacted honestly, snatching the red packet. The bright red 0.01 Virtual Coins notification flaunted itself rcilessly. Jing Shu turned off her phone, now just wanting so peace and quiet.
She’d never snatch red packets again.
It wasn’t until Mr. Jing and Mrs. Jing each sent her a red packet with 600 Virtual Coins that 26-year-old Jing Shu felt much better. Though she was no longer young and still unmarried, in her parents’ eyes, regardless of whether she was married or not, or how old she was, she would always be their child, and they would always give her lucky money.
Mrs. Jing gave Shu’en and her Uncle’s son, Su Long, 100 Virtual Coins each. Li Yun watched with envy but said nothing; after all, he was nearly thirty, and it wouldn’t be right for him to expect lucky money anymore. He admitted he was also quite envious that Jing Shu still received lucky money at her age.
Both Jing Shu and Wu You’ai gave Shu’en a red packet with 50 Virtual Coins as lucky money. Li Yun was on the verge of tears; he only had 10 Virtual Coins in total, saved up over a long ti. He could only act like an ostrich and keep quiet.
It was a rare year with so many people around, and the house was warm. The adults didn’t seem interested in sleeping, opting to observe the New Year’s vigil instead. Grandma Jing and Mr. Jing couldn’t keep up and went off to sleep.
Third Aunt and Mrs. Jing still had many chores: preparing feed for the chickens, ducks, and cattle. To save on feed, and with no vegetable roots or rotten leaves at ho, they had to mix in more Insect Cake. Fortunately, the high protein content in insects ant the chickens laid more eggs.
Even with a bit of Spiritual Spring water added, they still needed to supplent nutrition with beans and grains. The troubleso part was the cold weather; they couldn’t use cold water for mixing the feed and had to use boiling water. This way, the Dostic Poultry would enjoy the food, grow well, and be more productive.
The balcony crops needed tending, the backyard pigs and cattle required checking, the milk had to be collected early, and the front yard’s mushroom farm needed care. Even Jing Shu had to make rounds every night before bed, looking after the flowers, fruits, Bees, and nurous pets, ensuring all received equal attention.
It made sense that Jingshu’s house was wealthy; there were good reasons they had plenty of at and fish on the table every day.
A program played on the TV while the children sat on the sofa, happily drinking milk tea, eating candy, and watching the screen.
People played mahjong at the dining table and "Fight the Landlord" at the coffee table. It was a lively New Year scene, the likes of which hadn’t been seen for a very long ti.
Perhaps this is the happiness found in simplicity, Jing Shu thought. If only it could go on like this forever.
But clearly, things wouldn’t go as smoothly as one wished.
Only a few such warm and pleasant days passed. The whole nation was still indulging in the Spring Festival revelry, unable to extricate themselves. Those who normally couldn’t get enough to eat could finally eat their fill at the buffets during these few days. How could they not be happy? The als were better than usual. This ti, two more dishes were added: one of wild greens and one of rice porridge. However, each person was limited to one bowl and had to choose one of the two.
It was like the buffets before the apocalypse, where one had to choose between abalone porridge and Dazha crab—a truly agonizing decision.
Second Uncle’s family saw they couldn’t live in a villa, nor even an ordinary residence. While fretting in secret, they also couldn’t stop themselves from overindulging in the communal cafeteria. "After these few days, we’ll think of sothing," they’d say.
"These city cafeterias are delicious. The Insect Cakes in the countryside aren’t made well. Look at the city ones; they have over a dozen ways to prepare them!"
"How can you compare? The city’s cakes are pure at, while ours in the countryside are still half dirt."
Yes, the countryside cafeterias had already started adding dirt. Wu City, thanks to its Red Worm Cake Factory, supplied so Insect Cakes daily as a buffer, along with so old grain reserves from the warehouses. So, they hadn’t reached the point of eating dirt yet. But after the New Year’s celebrations, it will probably be ti, Jing Shu guessed.
The dirt wasn’t Guanyin Soil but a type known as expanding soil. This soil could alleviate hunger to so extent but was hard to digest. Short-term consumption wasn’t a major issue, but long-term use would cause one’s stomach to swell, growing larger and larger until... BOOM!
This was a type of edible soil, processed and screened multiple tis, which also contained certain substances required by the human body.
If soone had told Jing Shu before the apocalypse, "This soil, you can eat it. Not only can you eat it, but you can also make it into little biscuits and dry rations," Jing Shu would have sworn it was impossible.
But now, with their backs against the wall, what couldn’t be eaten? So people were so hungry they resorted to eating dirt. The clever and thrifty Huaxia people had ultimately learned how to eat soil from their counterparts in Africa.
Although not as dangerous as Guanyin Soil, which could kill after just a few als, it was still seriously harmful. COUGH. But in this near-starvation situation, who could afford to care about such things?
Besides, they could still eat so soil now. By next year, there might not even be any soil left to eat.
That’s when Jing Shu thought, Is the profession of Earth Digger about to erge too?
The work was laborious, involving digging pits several ters deep to find fine earth. This earth then had to be crushed and filtered to produce the finest quality.
Finally, it was handed over to the cafeteria. There, the canteen ladies would add so flour and salt to the soil, or perhaps so insects, constantly stirring it into a paste. Then, they would scoop out small portions, flattening them into biscuit shapes or strips to make the raw cakes.
This type of food, costing very little yet capable of sustaining many people, quickly beca popular.
They often just needed to be placed near burning garbage dumps to cook, and then these Earth Worm Cake dry rations were ready.
The fourth year’s mudslides provided pri conditions for making Earth Worm Cakes, especially before the mud began to solidify. If the Earth Diggers were willing to endure hardship, they could gather enough raw materials with just their bare hands, without needing special tools, and earn a good amount of Virtual Coin.
But in the latter half of the year, when everything had completely solidified, the Earth Diggers were out of options. With the cold setting in and the ground hardening like cent, not even soil could be dug up. Once every edible thing was consud and the severe cold weather took hold, the real test truly began.
So, being able to eat soil was, in itself, a kind of happiness.
Mud was flowing down the mountain!
More and more muddy water gushed from the surroundings!
At first, nobody paid much attention. After all, they had experienced floods and earthquakes. What was there to fear from a bit of muddy water flowing down the mountain? It wasn’t as if it were a life-threatening matter.
But soon, everyone realized sothing was wrong.
And indeed, reality proved them right.
If it were just an occasional mudflow in one place, it might have been ignored. But more and more areas began to spew mud. So volcanoes even erupted with torrential mudflows, directly subrging several nearby towns and townships!
Drone footage captured how these mudslides, in just one night, surged furiously down from the mountains, devouring everything in their path. Tens of thousands of people in the affected townships were fortunate; they had received a warning. Mudslides, unlike flash floods, weren’t as swift, which gave them ti to flee. The township mayor, drawing on his experience, organized everyone to escape with essential food supplies.
On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Jing Shu’s family was gathered in the house, eating breakfast while watching the news, when they saw the live broadcast.
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