CHAPTER 48: INSECT CATCHING CRAZE

So it goes to show that good deeds are rewarded. Jing Shu had just gained another lifeline: a drop of pure Spiritual Spring capable of saving lives. This serendipitous discovery came at the perfect time, as it would be needed again in just a few days.

"@Everyone, I especially want to thank Xiao Shu of Xiao Shu’s Villa District for taking a family of three suffering from viral influenza to the hospital at two in the morning. The child has now passed the critical period, and the adults are fine too. The hospital is overcrowded. We’ve just completed the discharge procedures and have returned to our residential district. A reminder for everyone to take proper protective measures; the hospital is now running low on medicine."

「Three days later」 The couple came with their child to thank Jing Shu. They brought a box of dried purple sweet potatoes and dried regular sweet potatoes as a token of their gratitude—life-saving supplies in the apocalypse.

The couple had run a small dried sweet potato shop in the city. However, with sales dropping and raw material supplies ceasing, they had recently closed it down temporarily. They still had plenty of dried sweet potatoes stored at home. Since Qian Jingshu wouldn’t accept money, they could only offer their homemade specialty as a thank-you gift.

Jing Shu was very satisfied and ate a lot with Little Tuanzi, the couple’s son. Little Tuanzi’s appetite had increased significantly after drinking the Spiritual Spring. Fortunately, though he ate more and thus eliminated more, he showed no other adverse symptoms for the time being.

The sweet taste and chewy texture made them a rather good food option in the apocalypse, prompting Jing Shu to decide she would make some dried sweet potatoes herself later.

「That day」 Mrs. Jing indeed scolded Jing Shu again. She criticized her for not involving Mr. Jing in the rescue, pointing out the dangers of going alone. "Just thinking about it scares me!" Mrs. Jing lamented. "That night, Wang Hong, one of the female colleagues who came with us to sell the house, fell ill. By the time they realized and got her to the hospital queue, it was too late. She died today. Sigh, and I still have to contribute 500 yuan for the funeral, on top of the 800 yuan she still owed me!"

Jing Shu remained silent. Her mother’s focus seems a bit off, doesn’t it?

As people around them continued to die and the Dark Day showed no sign of ending, the populace grew increasingly panicked. The national vaccine release was still delayed; instead, a nationwide mission was announced.

「That day」 As the national news broadcast aired, government bodies from various regions also issued their task quotas.

The announcement explained, "In 2017, Australia injected the Wolbachia bacterium into mosquitoes, rendering the males ’infertile.’ They then released twenty million of these ’infertile’ mosquitoes to infect normal mosquitoes with the Wolbachia bacterium. This would cause an increasing number of mosquitoes to carry this bacterium, preventing them from producing the next generation of infected mosquitoes, thereby eradicating them through sterilization. This method achieved excellent results."

"This method is equally effective on the Black Fungus Beetle."

"However, this method has geographical limitations, so local governments need to implement it. The bacteria have been distributed to all urban and rural government authorities. Each area must capture a certain number of Black Fungus Beetles, inject them with this bacterium, and then release them. This will sterilize these insects, preventing them from reproducing. Once this generation of Black Fungus Beetles dies off, they will be eradicated."

Just as in her previous life, the government started assigning tasks to the populace. This was intended to alleviate their panic and enhance their sense of collective honor.

There’s a saying: "An idle mind is the devil’s workshop." This holds philosophical truth. Keeping people busy enough that they fall asleep exhausted, with no time for idle thoughts, diverts them from other worries. The leaders were adept at understanding and managing the public sentiment this way.

In Wu City, an insect collection truck now followed the daily water delivery truck. Tools such as head coverings, burlap sacks, and nets were distributed. Exchanging a full burlap sack of Black Fungus Beetles for an extra bucket of water further boosted everyone’s enthusiasm.

The likelihood of people risking their lives to capture these insects for free was minimal; this endeavor had to be based on mutual benefit.

Besides, although many households hadn’t yet resorted to licking their bowls clean after meals, they were already at the stage of wiping them with toilet paper. Water was barely sufficient for drinking and cooking, so any extra water was most welcome.

「Once the temperature dropped that day」 People from Jingshu District formed groups. They donned head coverings, thick socks, and rain boots, applied mosquito repellent, wore gloves, and wrapped themselves up tightly to go insect hunting.

"Each of us has a quota of at least ten burlap sacks of live insects. People in other public institutions have to turn in five sacks," Mrs. Jing said anxiously while eating an apple.

Mr. Jing had sent Grandma Jing a supply of mosquito repellent, bottled water, and vegetables when the Black Fungus Beetles first appeared. Consequently, he was quite relaxed now and said casually, "Then I’ll go to the entrance of our residential district and catch them for you."

"How long would that take? You probably couldn’t even fill one sack in a whole day!"

Just then, Jing Shu pulled out a powerful light stick. "Use this," she said.

My daughter must be Doraemon reincarnated, Mr. Jing often thought.

While their neighbors from the residential district struggled to catch flying insects with nets under the solitary lit streetlight at the main entrance, Jing Shu and Mr. Jing, fully equipped, went to the front of their villa. They took out several light sticks, switched on their intense beams, and placed them on the ground. Soon after, a multitude of insects came fluttering down, buzzing incessantly.

Jing Shu could fill a third of a burlap sack simply by covering an insect-laden light stick with a sack and then pulling the stick out.

Mr. Jing followed her example. In less than half an hour, the two of them had filled ten burlap sacks, completing their quota. Throughout the process, Mr. Jing shuddered at the sight of the dense swarms of large black insects. His daughter, however, handled them directly, even catching any that escaped and tossing them back into the air.

The giant chicken his daughter had recently acquired would fly up to catch these tossed insects, and she would even praise it. It really looked like she was training the chicken like a dog. The crucial part was that the chicken performed remarkably well. Mr. Jing found himself wondering whether the world had gone mad, or if he had.

"We should let the neighbors in the residential district use these too," Mr. Jing suggested. "Using nets, they can only catch three or four at a time; it takes ages to fill a sack."

"They’re finally having some evening entertainment, Dad. Don’t spoil their fun," Jing Shu said. Then she waved to the chicken, Number 1, whose presence had only been officially acknowledged in the last couple of days. "Number 1, let’s go, let’s go!"

Number 1 waddled its large rear reluctantly, extracted itself from the pile of insects, and returned to Jing Shu’s side. The creature was a veritable Bottomless Pit. After its recovery from ingesting the Spiritual Spring, its appetite was insatiable; no matter how much it ate, it could always eat more. The insects outside had become a delectable, inexhaustible feast for it, as it ate and defecated simultaneously.

The nationwide insect-catching campaign successfully ignited everyone’s enthusiasm. Almost every household managed to collect a few extra buckets of water. Within three days, the Wu City Government announced that all the collected insects had been injected with the bacteria and released.

They assured the citizens that in less than a couple of weeks, this current generation of Black Fungus Beetles would die out, and the insect plague would be completely over.

「Fifty days into the apocalypse」 The number of Black Fungus Beetles was drastically reducing, and the national situation seemed to be improving. Just then, Mr. Jing received a tearful phone call from Grandma Jing:

"You all need to come quickly! Jinglai and Youai have been infected by Black Fungus Beetles! They’ve caught that viral influenza! The nearby hospitals are refusing to admit them, saying they’re out of medicine! What are we going to do?!"