Chapter 90: Brothers, You Have a Promising Future!

Yes, it really is like that.

China had been struggling for a month to control the proliferation of maggots, which not only hadn't been eradicated but had actually thrived due to the abundance of resources. For example, countless creatures and animals had died over the past six months, leading to mass extinction events. Coupled with high temperatures and water shortages, many people had died in their homes unnoticed, allowing maggots to infest entire houses.

The sheer number of corpses had caused maggots to evolve, becoming even more formidable. This evolution was on the brink of triggering an even more severe maggot disaster.

The scientific channels were incessantly broadcasting that the Earth was on the verge of annihilation, soon to be ruled by maggots.

But...

What no one expected was that another species had also exhibited unprecedented reproductive capabilities—maggots. More on that later.

First, let's talk about Jing Shu's moral compass: You don't have to eat if you don't want to, but don't waste. You can give to those who are willing to eat.

Having survived ten years in the apocalypse, Jing Shu understood the value of food, especially after the fifth year. Today, Jing Shu was no longer starving, but she still adhered to the "clean plate" policy, licking every scrap of leftover food at home.

Clenching her fists, Jing Shu forced herself to quell the anger in her heart and went with everyone else to collect water.

There were noticeably fewer people at the water distribution area. Some people didn't bring their own bottles and just used the communal ones to drink water. After all, with no water or electricity at home, they were drinking untreated water anyway.

After scanning their IDs and undergoing facial recognition, Jing Shu's family received their water. Each person was allotted only 500ml of water per day, totaling 2.5 liters for the five of them. This was only half of a 4-liter mineral water bottle, and even this amount wasn't enough to water their apple trees.

The family felt a bit embarrassed.

Jing’s grandmother held her precious granddaughter close and said, "After struggling for over half an hour, you only got this little water? At least before, everyone got one liter each."

"So, should we not go collect food?" Wu Youai mumbled drowsily. If it was about food, she didn't mind—it could really serve as a meal. Wu Youai was definitely a laid-back homebody.

"Look at this queue—it’ll take an hour to wait, and this food is really..." Jing’s grandfather complained, his toothache bothering him. One side of his mouth had a tooth that had finally come in after six months, but the other side was growing as well, causing him immense pain. Even biting down was excruciating.

Sometimes, Jing’s grandfather wondered, "With half my foot already in the coffin, why are my teeth still growing? Can't they let old men like me have a good meal?" He could only smoke to relieve his frustration. His biggest mistake was not stockpiling more cigarettes, making him too afraid to argue with his son, fearing he’d run out of cigarettes.

The family decided to head back home. In reality, apart from Wu Youai, no one wanted to eat this terrifying-looking food. On the way, they discussed whether they should continue collecting water daily.

Jing’s father, not being in charge, didn't understand how precious water was: "Why bother running all this way for so little water? Recently, many charging stations have shut down due to power outages, making it hard to charge energy cars."

Jing’s grandmother disagreed: "We've only wasted a batch of vegetables. A few days ago, we planted new ones that need daily watering. We have two more pigs at home, and the cows also need daily feeding. I estimate the water tank on the third floor is only half full. With our current water usage, it won’t last a few months. At least the distributed water can feed a cow."

Jing Shu had stored tens of tons of water and set up a wastewater recycling system, but she hadn't anticipated it still being insufficient. Washing, laundry, and other daily needs could be recycled but still consumed water. Moreover, feeding poultry and irrigating the fields was pure waste.

There were still 14 tons of mineral water in the space—enough to drink, but too extravagant to use for feeding pigs and irrigating the land.

"No, we still have to go somewhere to get more water," Jing Shu pondered.

After sending the three grandparents back home, Jing Shu and her father went to find a charging station to recharge the energy car. Now, it took 2-3 days to charge, which was obviously less convenient than the previous gasoline cars, but gasoline cars were already useless.

During this period, hyperinflation had rendered money worthless. The price of gold had soared to 3,000 yuan per kilogram—ten times higher than before, surpassing historical highs. Europe and the USA had directly abandoned the gold standard, and China was experiencing a gold rush. However, it wouldn't be long before gold prices crashed.

Global currencies had fallen into chaos. Damn the USA for aggressively lowering the dollar rate and increasing China’s debt. China retaliated by waging fierce diplomatic battles, saying, "You lower your rates, so we’ll lower ours too. Whoever backs down is a loser!"

As a result, money had become even less valuable, causing many charging stations to cease operations.

According to Jing Shu’s memory, restarting charging stations would have to wait until the following year when the situation stabilized. The government would take over and implement a new virtual currency system, previously known in her past life as work points—earned by working.

"This charging station is pretty remote; it was still usable a few days ago." Just as Jing’s father drove the car inside, the lights hit three men with small generators and electric hammers, starting to carve out the charging station.

Both sides seemed frozen in time. Jing Shu and her father hadn't expected someone to be stealing charging stations, and the other party hadn't anticipated encountering energy car users charging there.

Jing Shu got out of the car and said, "Brothers, you have a promising future! Knowing so early to steal charging stations for profit."

In the second year of the apocalypse, some individuals had already begun stealing charging stations and trading them with energy car owners for food or work points, making huge profits.

"Ah, they’re just two people. Brothers, we’ve just stolen the energy car and charging station together," the bald man said, raising his electric hammer with a sinister smile. His two companions put down their tools, grabbed machetes, and smirked wickedly.

The electric hammer looked highly destructive and intimidating.

Jing’s father drew a crossbow, and Jing Shu wielded a massive wolf-tooth club. With a booming smash on the cement ground, she created a deep pit, causing the entire earth to tremble.

The three men in front were dumbfounded, swallowing nervously.

"Brother Ermao, try hitting the ground with the electric hammer again. This is probably just mud!"

Ermao, the bald brother, struck the ground fiercely with his electric hammer. With a thud, a tiny crack appeared.

"Still, your wolf-tooth club is more intimidating."

The three men swallowed again, and the bald Ermao quickly panicked, saying, "This charging station is yours. Let’s stay out of each other’s way. Until we meet again!"

"Boom!" Jing Shu’s wolf-tooth club smashed the ground again, causing the surrounding area to collapse into a sinkhole. Satisfied, Jing Shu nodded and said, "Leave all your tools and get out."

"Okay, okay."

"We’re leaving now."

The three men fled in a flash, disappearing without a trace. Jing Shu felt completely relaxed, amazed at how just intimidating them could scare the enemies away so effectively. It felt so satisfying!

Jing’s father opened his mouth, increasingly baffled by his daughter, "So, what are we going to do?"

"Take the charging station home. It’ll be so convenient to charge right outside our door. Later, when we migrate, we can just put the charging station into the space. Perfect!"

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Author's Note:

Thanks to *zw7774*, *Yunshan Youyo*, and *Tian Jiujiu* for their generous rewards! 🥰 Excited about all your group donations! 😄