CHAPTER 91: ONE HUNDRED WAYS TO EAT OYSTER MUSHROOMS

Seeing Mr. Jing looking a bit embarrassed—after all, he’d never stolen anything in his life—Jing Shu said, "If we leave it here, it won’t be long before it rusts and breaks down. It’s better if we take it home, use it, and maintain it well. When the sun returns and order is restored, we can bring it back. It’ll be as if we were just looking after it for them."

Only then did Mr. Jing smile. "Reasonable! Charging will be so much more convenient from now on."

Besides the charging station, they also found a small diesel generator and an electric hammer.

Jing Shu felt the small generator wasn’t very useful at the moment. They already had a high-powered gasoline generator at home, and besides, diesel fuel was controlled by influential people, though they could still manage to acquire a little.

However, it would become very useful five years into the apocalypse, during the migration. They could carry it for cooking, boiling water, powering electric heaters, and much more, significantly increasing their comfort during the journey!

The electric hammer would also be useful later on when dealing with thick ice and snow. Plus, there would always be a need for repairs, drilling holes, and the like.

After studying it for a good while, Jing Shu and Mr. Jing discovered that the charging station had already been "hacked." This meant one could simply plug it in to directly charge energy vehicles without needing to scan a code or pay.

After some discussion, the father and daughter loaded the generator and electric hammer into the trunk and strapped the charging station to the car’s roof. Then, they hauled everything back to their villa in the residential complex.

Mr. Jing worried the heavy charging station might damage the car. Jing Shu, however, simply stashed it into her dimensional space by temporarily rearranging the area designated for her Domestic Poultry. Once they arrived, she took it out and put it back on the car roof. This maneuver was necessary because Jing Shu’s entire 125-cubic-meter space was already packed with various items.

"’The fuel consumption didn’t seem to increase on the way back, but why does this charging station reek of manure?’ Mr. Jing found it odd but didn’t dwell on it."

The villa had its own garage, so the father and daughter eventually decided to install the charging station there for convenience. They also had to run a power line from the villa. It was a considerable project; laying and burying the cables took them two full days to complete the installation.

In the future, they would no longer need to travel far to find a charging station for their energy vehicle; they could charge it anytime, anywhere. Of course, to preserve the vehicle’s battery life, it was best to charge it only after the battery was nearly depleted.

Thus, Jing Shu’s family established a daily routine of going to collect water.

Regardless, Jing Shu felt she had to thank those three individuals. They had gone to great lengths to dig up the buried charging station, hack the payment system, and had even unintentionally gifted her a generator and an electric hammer.

For such a windfall, I can only wish to encounter benefactors like them every day!

Today marked the first day of free cooked food distribution, and it was the main topic of conversation in much of Wu City.

Fat Girl No.25: "The mushroom rice today had a strange, musty taste, and there wasn’t enough of it. I had to roast two skewers of grasshoppers when I got back this afternoon."

Zhu Fan No.7: "It’s much better than eating tree bark. Qian Duoduo, Wu City’s wealthiest man, is hiring bodyguards. He’s providing two meals a day! I’m signing up tomorrow. Anyone else interested?"

Wind No.3: "If you’re eager to die, go right ahead. I’ll stick to the government’s free food. Not having to cook is great. Once the Artificial Sun is built, everything will get better. I plan to play video games all day."

Fat Girl No.25: "Who around here is frying fish and making braised pork ribs every day? The smell keeps drifting over to my place. Can’t they spare a thought for those of us who don’t have enough to eat?"

Zhu Fan No.7: "Are you delusional? Who has fish or ribs these days? Besides, the natural gas supply is cut off, so how would anyone cook them?"

Reading this, Jing Shu quickly chewed the bone she was eating, swallowed it, and then yelled, "Grandma, turn on the range hood! The smell is drifting outside, and people will notice!"

"’Who has a nose like a dog, able to smell it from hundreds of meters away? Such a waste of electricity,’ Grandma Jing grumbled, but she still switched on the range hood."

Jingshu’s family now cooked dinner at 5:30 p.m. when the collective power supply was on, using their induction cooker. However, since the induction cooker consumed a lot of electricity, they used their coal-fired stove for simmering soups and braising meat. The lack of natural gas was genuinely inconvenient. Fortunately, Jing Shu had many pre-cooked meals stored in her space, enough for her late-night snacks.

Then, Jing Shu continued eating her ribs while reading the group chat.

Wang Dazhao had sent a message the previous day about Zhetian’s recent activities. He mentioned they were planning to raid the supplies of Qian Duoduo, the city’s wealthiest man. This news had already circulated, and Qian Duoduo had sprung into action, recruiting bodyguards from all over and even requesting aid from the government.

"’But I suspect it’s a diversion,’ Wang Dazhao had written, expressing his doubts. ’It doesn’t seem like Zhetian actually intends to rob Qian Duoduo. After all, Qian Duoduo is at the West Mountain Villa, and that whole area is his turf. He has numerous private bodyguards, and I’ve heard he even possesses firearms and has strong connections. It wouldn’t make sense for them to provoke such a formidable opponent.’"

Jing Shu recalled the events of her past life concerning this period. She didn’t remember many details, only that Zhetian had massacred a large number of people. Although Zhetian hadn’t managed to acquire firearms from the police station, they still possessed some guns and explosives. Ultimately, the armed forces had intervened and annihilated the group.

"’Then keep monitoring the situation. If possible, find out everything you can about that person for me!’"

Jing Shu hadn’t heard anything from Wang Dazhao to suggest Zhetian was interested in her residential complex; there hadn’t been even a whisper. Perhaps Zhetian didn’t consider her neighborhood significant. It’s best if they don’t target me; just ignore me, Jing Shu thought with a sense of relief.

In the evening, Mrs. Jing and Third Aunt returned together. They brought garlic shoots, baby bok choy, lettuce, and crown daisies, which were their remuneration. The advantages of being part of the "system" were becoming increasingly evident, especially when compared to the moldy mushrooms others received.

The disparity in living standards was bound to widen. Just as Jing Shu was contemplating how to find a task for Mr. Jing, he unexpectedly resolved the issue himself.

「On the morning of May 23rd, Jing Shu’s family saw Mrs. Jing off to work and then proceeded to collect their daily water ration as usual.」

This time, everyone was clearly more experienced. They brought various containers like bowls and bottles from home and no longer needed to wake up at 3:00 a.m. to cycle over and queue. Wu City had 13 districts and over 80 such large supermarkets, with each serving an average of 30,000 to 40,000 people. Arriving late now only meant an additional hour of queuing at most, so everyone was assured of getting their share.

Today’s meal consisted of fried rice with oyster mushrooms and minced meat, which garnered many favorable comments.

Of course, these positive reviews might be the last of their kind. From this day forward, the daily meal would invariably be some concoction of various mushrooms mixed with rice or a mushy mushroom-based noodle paste. For the next decade of the apocalypse, the government would proceed to demonstrate a hundred different ways to prepare oyster mushrooms.

It wouldn’t take long for people to grow weary of this diet and start complaining, at which point the government would introduce a "new" dish.

Oh, so you want meat, do you? Fine, you’ll get meat every day then. Satisfied now? Happy now?

...

「After returning home, Jing Shu placed the black pig into the carrier box on the car’s roof. She and Mr. Jing then drove to deliver the pig to her Uncle’s family. However, their destination wasn’t her Uncle’s house but rather the home of her Aunt’s brother.」

Her Uncle couldn’t raise a pig at his place, so the decision had been made to slaughter it directly and divide the meat. Since they had agreed to use the pig to settle a debt, how her Uncle chose to manage it was entirely his affair.

When Mr. Jing drove up to the apartment complex for government agency staff, all the streetlights suddenly illuminated in unison! It was quite an impressive display.

More than fifty people, predominantly middle-aged and elderly, were standing at the entrance, their eyes fixed on the approaching road in eager anticipation. The moment they spotted the car, they became animated, pointing and gesturing excitedly.

The instant Mr. Jing parked the car, the crowd surged forward, with Uncle’s family at the very head of the rush.