CHAPTER 51: BUY ANOTHER HOUSE

The idea of renting a property just to stake a claim was utterly impractical.

This area was slated for government takeover. Once the floods submerged half of Wu City, countless homeless people would require accommodation.

Apart from homeowners retaining ownership of their properties, everything else would be managed according to government arrangements. After six months of riots, no one dared to disobey. Disobedience meant facing food scarcity and labor reeducation.

This included reassigning all rental properties. Those with connections could squeeze more people in; those without were left living in delineated parking spots in basements. Furthermore, individuals who had bought houses on mortgage without full payment had to surrender a portion of their food every month—since the loans belonged to the banks, and the banks were state-owned.

As for how the government knew whether you owned a house, paid with a mortgage, or paid in full... Well, since big data started in 2018, a simple ID scan could reveal all your information. This included details like the emergency rations you collected, down to the specific date and time in December 2022.

Having a record meant that your actions, good or bad, were recorded against your ID information. After the apocalypse, claiming relief supplies required facial recognition and an ID scan, with offenders being directly blacklisted.

So, in the post-apocalyptic world, there was no room for idlers. To survive, one had to generate value.

Her thoughts had drifted far. Jing Shu snapped back to reality to find several new messages.

A message from ’Selling Unit 25’ read: "Ma’am, the house I bought for 250,000 yuan, plus another 100,000 yuan for renovations, furniture, and appliances—all brand new, I’ll throw them in for free! I originally intended it as a weekend retreat, but now I’m selling at a loss!"

Wang Cuihua sent a voice message: "Then ask around some more, see who lacks a place to live. Anyone buying cars or houses now is a fool."

The seller of Unit 25 fumed silently, Ma’am, if you’re not buying, at least don’t ruin things for me!

Jing Shu added this person as a friend and sent a message: "I’ll take the house for 130,000 yuan, and I can pay right now. I’m only buying to stockpile property, waiting for the price to rise in a few years. Anything more expensive won’t interest me, considering the ever-present risk of a market crash."

The seller pondered for another ten minutes or so. He’d been continuously dropping the price for days. He’d found that as soon as potential buyers heard the location was outside Wu City, they weren’t interested in stockpiling it, no matter how cheap. Now that vehicles were useless, even a low-price bargain needed some potential!

Selling it is better than it becoming a dead weight. This person lives in a villa; they must genuinely be buying just to stockpile property. With this money, I could buy a batch of food. Nowadays, you can’t even get cabbage for one hundred yuan. The seller of Unit 25 finally agreed, replying: "Alright, let’s handle the paperwork tomorrow at 5 a.m."

「The next day」

For the first time in ages, Jing Shu accompanied Mr. Jing as they dropped Mrs. Jing off at work. Jing Shu had also packed her mother’s lunch: sweet and sour radishes, stir-fried Black Fungus with meat, spicy cabbage mixed with rice, two marinated eggs, and a bowl of refrigerated milk.

She didn’t dare to bring anything too good or any fresh fruit, as vegetables had become exceedingly rare. Even this meal, Mrs. Jing had to eat secretly every time. Lately, her appetite had grown quite large, and the amount Jing Shu brought was nowhere near enough for her.

The recent policy changes had forced low-level workers like her mother into daily overtime, just like in Jing Shu’s previous life. But Jing Shu knew her mother’s opportunity was about to arrive, and this time, she absolutely had to make sure her mother seized it!

Later, while delivering vegetables to her grandparents, she collected their IDs. Then, she went to the property transaction office they had arranged to visit yesterday, along with Mr. Jing and the seller, to complete the purchase. One party was eager to sell, the other eager to buy, so the transfer was accomplished smoothly.

After getting the key, Jing Shu and Mr. Jing went to Building 25, located a hundred meters across from their own villa. Mr. Jing looked utterly bewildered. "So, why did you buy another property for your grandparents? This area is so remote. I was actually planning on buying another one back in the city in a few years, once our financial situation improves."

"It’s too deserted here, and transportation and shopping are inconvenient. Making a trip out feels like traveling from the countryside into the city." Mr. Jing had truly felt this inconvenience these past few days from queueing at the supermarket and taking Mrs. Jing to work.

Jing Shu showed Mr. Jing around the property. She was very satisfied; it had a three-bedroom, two-living-room, two-bathroom layout, and all furniture and appliances, including beds, were there, except for an air conditioner. It only needed bedding and other daily necessities to be move-in ready.

"The finishing is quite ordinary; they used cheap materials for everything," Mr. Jing commented.

"Don’t we owe Grandma and Grandpa 200,000 yuan? They definitely won’t accept the money, so it’s better to buy them a house instead. And since it’s in their names, whether it’s Third Aunt, Elder Aunt, or Second Aunt visiting, when they stay at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, it will be like staying in their own home. Besides, we’ll have to live here for at least a few more years, won’t we?"

Jing Shu then explained her idea to Mr. Jing, even suggesting, "In the future, when you and Grandpa aren’t arguing, you can all live together. And if you do argue, they can move back here for a couple of days, wouldn’t that be good? If they want to live in the countryside, they can; if they want to live here for a long time, they can. It’s their own house, after all."

Mr. Jing’s eyes gradually lit up. He had always wanted to live with his parents, but doing so always made his father, Grandpa Jing, so angry that his old heart condition would flare up. Now, this problem seemed to be solved.

Over the next few days, Mr. Jing and Jing Shu busied themselves with getting the house in order, preparing a surprise for the elderly couple.

Since there was no space on the first floor for the UBC solar panels, they weren’t installed, and neither was an air conditioner. However, they managed to contact the previous manager, who helped install six sets of various water purifiers. Due to the water shut-offs, the price of these items had dropped again; hardly anyone was buying them, so they were installed quickly.

Next, they moved in the newly purchased bedding, daily necessities, and some of her grandparents’ clothes.

Jing Shu had to attend to all sorts of miscellaneous tasks during the day. While cooking meals each day, she also made sure to prepare extra cooked food for storage. At night, she had to check on the Domestic Poultry in her space. The quail population had grown to over six hundred, just waiting for her to find time to roast and store them in her space. Three batches of soybeans had also ripened, ready for Grandma Jing and Grandpa Jing to make tofu together once they arrived.

「In February」

Various universities and schools decided to continue the break, with reopening dates to be announced later. Even third-year high school students were given an extended break because schools also had their preferential power supply treatment canceled.

The electricity supply in Wu City was shortened again, now only available from 4:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., providing only 3.5 hours of electricity per day. This caused many difficulties for the citizens’ daily lives.

For instance, people had to buy extra power banks to prevent their phones from dying and boil water in advance. Since refrigerators only ran for three and a half hours a day, the food inside would thaw and spoil, forcing people to quickly consume their frozen food.

Those who were growing vegetables at home using simulated sunlight would likely see all their previous efforts go to waste, unable to grow any produce.

While the inconveniences in daily life could eventually be overcome, physical ailments were much harder to endure. Previously, there were at least six hours of air conditioning, but now, air conditioners were virtually unusable throughout the day, causing large numbers of people to suffer heatstroke. To make matters worse, hospitals were operating beyond capacity daily, and with drug production having ceased long ago, medications were now critically undersupplied.

Medications at major pharmacies were almost completely bought out, despite purchase limits per person. Simultaneously, the government announced a temporary suspension of medical insurance card usage; all pharmacies were to close and cease operations, with the government requisitioning all drugs!

Just like in her previous life, medical insurance cards became unusable before long. The government began to forcibly requisition all supplies. And yet, at such a time, some food factories were discovered to be hoarding goods.