CHAPTER 67: HOW OYSTER MUSHROOMS COME FROM MOLDY VOMIT

Along the way, Mrs. Jing couldn’t stop blaming herself.

"If I had known that Yu Caini was the kind of person who will stop at nothing, I should have been on guard. I knew there was something wrong with the way she looked at me yesterday, but I never imagined someone could be evil to this extent! It seems I thought too well of people."

People always learn to be wise after being taken advantage of and falling down. A thousand teachings are less effective than a hard fall to make one understand. To train soft-hearted parents, they need to suffer a loss. If once isn’t enough, then twice will do.

The Spiritual Spring was added to the garlic shoots and oyster mushrooms without regard to cost. In just a few hours, they had grown significantly and become much more vigorous. Jing Shu hesitated, wondering if such experimental products that exceeded normal yields might arouse suspicion, but then she realized she was overthinking it.

At the same time, Jing Shu also understood why she had survived in her previous life. She was thankful for the mercy that spared her life and grateful that after ingesting so many unidentified medicines, she had still been able to live for another decade in the apocalypse.

The experimental products from the thirteen districts of Wu City were competing fiercely. Spinach treated with a certain substance could mature in two days. Grafting garlic in a way that allowed both ends to grow six or seven cloves created a monstrous garlic—it was uncertain whether it was even edible.

Although Mrs. Jing’s experimental oyster mushrooms were quite superior, they only managed to win third place in the final evaluation.

The first prize went to oyster mushrooms with altered genes from the new district of Wu City. These had been treated with dozens of times the normal amount of mold and chemicals and soaked in a greenish, stinking liquid. The result was that one mushroom bag could grow more than a dozen bundles of oyster mushrooms. Within these oyster mushrooms, even more layers of moss-like green oyster mushrooms could continue to grow. It looked extremely disgusting, and she didn’t know how she had managed to eat it in her previous life.

One mushroom bag could provide enough food for twenty people for one meal.

The advantage was high yield and low cost, with low difficulty in extraction and the potential for mass production. The downside was the poor taste. Additionally, the incomplete evaporation of mold and other substances could leave safety risks inside the human body.

Jing Shu knew these oyster mushrooms; they were the vegetables she had vomited in her previous life and never wanted to eat again. She realized that such research had started so early—it was just like forcibly making a chicken grow four or five wings. That’s why the leaders never ate these oyster mushrooms, she figured.

The second prize went to the transformation of corn into a monstrous new species that didn’t need sunlight. The yield was high, and the planting requirements were lower. It was still under research, but considering its value, it was placed second.

Although Mrs. Jing was ranked third, after the leaders tasted the vegetables, they praised her profusely. Her Development Zone was eventually designated as ’government-exclusive vegetables.’

In the future, twelve districts would supply the people of Wu City, while Mrs. Jing’s Development Zone would supply all the governments of Wu City. It was a promising yet very dangerous job.

As for Yu Caini’s experimental products, they were too mediocre. They neither had the good taste of Mrs. Jing’s nor the low cost and high yield of the first prize. They were similar to the other districts’ experimental products: bulk production via catalysts.

Such costs were too high; after all, catalysts were also very expensive to produce, so she secured seventh place.

Yu Caini threw a fit on the spot, "She cheated! The vegetables in her lab were all eaten by insects! She must have stolen them from somewhere else!"

That’s why the winner takes all and the loser stands small. Whatever the winner says is right, and the loser’s words are futile. Seeing the situation was settled, Niu Mou stepped forward and perfectly resolved the issue.

Yu Caini was stripped of her title as Deputy Director on the spot, demoted three levels, and subjected to three months of off-post training under the Management Department to reassess the situation. If she refused to comply, she would stay at home. It was rare for a government unit to use the term ’fired’—staying at home was practically the same as being fired.

Liu Ke Yuan was implicated in ’negligent supervision,’ which led to serious financial losses for his unit. Consequently, he was demoted by one level and placed under off-post training for three months, with the option to stay at home if noncompliant.

"Look, sometimes evidence or the lack thereof simply doesn’t matter. If someone wants to target you, any excuse will do," Jing Shu said, pointing out Niu Mou’s aggressive tactics to Mrs. Jing. "In just one day, he dealt with all of Yu Caini’s associates, completely clearing all obstacles for you before he even took office."

Not only that, but he also left a significant gift. Jing Shu was hired as an honorary consultant for the Development Zone Management Department. She would be responsible for implementing a frog breeding and insect removal program in the absence of pesticides, with her salary calculated based on the area treated and the results.

In the following days, Mrs. Jing began to get busy with the handover tasks with Director Niu.

Meanwhile, Yu Caini and Liu Ke Yuan had to continue with their off-post training every day. This consisted of memorizing various regulations in the morning, then doing the most basic and dirty work under the supervision of a trainer, such as spreading and drying feces to make manure. In just a few days, Yu Caini had slimmed down, and calluses had formed on her hands.

「On Monday, May 1, 2023.」

Just as in her previous life, the Wu City Government decided on the location for the Artificial Sun project at the reservoir in the new district. The official initiation of the Artificial Sun project began. It was expected to be completed in four months, with trial operations starting in early October. At that point, the supply of all water, electricity, and gas could be restored.

At the same time, news emerged of various cities in Huaxia building their own Artificial Suns. The timelines varied, but the message was the same: Hold on just a little longer; everything will be better once the Artificial Suns are operational. Then, it wouldn’t matter whether there was a natural sun or not, or whether there were high temperatures during the day and low temperatures at night—there would be a continuous supply of energy!

But at that time, the public, who had already been enduring hardships for five months, along with those who had been itching to cause trouble, could no longer contain their predatory ambitions and began to stir.

Also, from that day on, all gas supplies in Wu City were cut off. From then on, if people wanted to cook, it seemed they could only use rice cookers to boil rice and induction cookers for other types of cooking, although coal and firewood also remained options.

Fortunately, now that all households were out of dried vegetables, meat, and frozen goods, frying dishes wasn’t even a consideration, not to mention that cooking oil had long been consumed completely.

The only options left were steamed rice and boiled noodles.

So, people only needed to cook the next day’s food during the two hours of daily electricity supply, which didn’t cause too much of an impact.

However, a new problem arose. A family of three needed to consume three pounds of rice daily. A 10 kg bag of rice, which used to last for several months, would now be gone in just six or seven days without any side dishes. Families that had over a dozen bags of rice last month suddenly found themselves with only a few bags this month.

Even if a family of three lined up at the supermarket every day, they would have to camp there for two days just to get into the queue. Furthermore, each person could now only buy one pound of rice, which simply couldn’t keep up with consumption.

And that was the situation for the relatively better-off. What about those who hadn’t stored enough grain in the first place? Or those who had been acquiring grain through robberies but now found it increasingly difficult as people started to band together for protection?

Thus, the first home invasion robbery occurred.

"Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

"Today we celebrate three things! First, the national Artificial Sun project has officially started. Second, Lan Zhi’s promotion to Director has been finalized. And third, Jing Shu also has a respectable job now!" Mr. Jing raised his glass of red wine.