Chapter 91: One Hundred Ways to Cook Mushrooms

Seeing Jing’s father feeling somewhat embarrassed—after all, stealing was something he had never done in his life—Jing Shu said:

“Leaving it here won’t last long before it rusts and breaks. It’s better to take it home, take good care of it, and return it when there’s sunlight and order is restored. Think of it as helping them maintain it.”

Jing’s father then smiled, “Makes sense! Charging will be so convenient from now on.”

In addition to the charging station, they also acquired a small diesel generator and an electric hammer.

Jing Shu felt the small generator wasn’t very useful at the moment, especially since the family already had a high-power gasoline generator and no diesel. Currently, these resources were controlled by those in power, so it was still possible to acquire a little.

However, five years into the apocalypse, during migration, it would be extremely useful. They could carry it with them to cook, boil water, provide electricity, and run heaters, greatly increasing the comfort of their migration!

The electric hammer would also be useful during heavy snow and ice, and for future needs like repairs and digging.

After studying with her father for a long time, they realized the charging station had already been "cracked" by previous individuals. It could directly charge energy cars by plugging in without needing to scan a code and pay extra.

After planning together, the father and daughter placed the generator and electric hammer in the trunk, tied the charging station to the car roof, and drove back to their villa in the community.

Jing’s father was worried that the charging station was too heavy and might damage the car, but Jing Shu stuffed it into the temporary storage space created by their poultry section. Once they arrived, they would place it back on the roof, as Jing Shu’s 125 cubic meters of space were already filled with various items.

“On the road, it didn’t feel like the fuel consumption increased. But why does this charging station smell like crap?” Jing’s father felt a bit strange but didn’t think much of it.

Their villa had an independent garage, so the father and daughter decided to install the charging station there for convenient charging and ran a connection from the villa. It was quite a project, involving wiring and burying lines, taking two days to fully install the charging station.

Finally, they wouldn’t need to travel far to find a charging station for their energy car. They achieved the ability to charge anytime and anywhere. Of course, to protect the energy car’s battery life, they still needed to charge it only after it was used up.

Thus, Jing Shu’s family established a daily schedule to collect water.

Anyway, Jing Shu had to thank those three individuals who had painstakingly dug up the charging station buried in the ground, cracked its charging password, and even gave Jing Shu a generator and an electric hammer.

Regarding such fortunate helpers, Jing Shu could only say: I hope to encounter them every day!

Today was the first day of free cooked food distribution, and the majority of topics in Wucheng revolved around this.

Fat Girl, Unit 25: “I always feel like today's mushroom and rice stir-fry has a musty smell and isn't enough to eat. This afternoon, I roasted two skewers of grasshoppers.”

Zhu Fan, Unit 7: “It's much better than eating tree bark. Our richest man, Qian Duo Duo , is hiring bodyguards. It covers two meals. I’ll sign up tomorrow. Anyone else joining?”

Feng, Unit 3: “Anyone who’s fed up with the slow distribution should hurry up and go. I’ll stick with the free government food. No need to cook every day, so great! Once the artificial sun is built, everything will be fine. I want to play games every day.”

Fat Girl, Unit 25: “Why is every family frying fish and braising pork ribs every day? The smell drifts all the way to me. Can you consider those who aren’t getting enough to eat?”

Zhu Fan, Unit 7: “Are you crazy? Who still has fish and pork ribs? Plus, the natural gas is gone. How are you supposed to cook?”

Seeing this, Jing Shu hurriedly chewed and swallowed a bone, shouting loudly, “Grandma, turn on the exhaust fan! The smell is drifting out and everyone can smell it!”

“Who’s a bloodhound? Even from a few hundred meters away, you can smell it. This is worthless electricity.” Jing’s grandmother complained but still turned on the exhaust fan.

Currently, Jing Shu’s family prepared dinner by waiting for collective power at 5:30 PM to use the induction cooker. Since induction cookers consume too much electricity, they used coal-fired stoves for making soup and boiling meat, as the natural gas was gone, making cooking inconvenient. Fortunately, Jing Shu’s space had prepared plenty of cooked food for their midnight snacks.

Then, Jing Shu continued eating pork ribs while watching the group chat.

Wang Dazhao sent the latest news from She Tian yesterday, saying that they planned to rob the wealthy Qian Duo Duo ’s supplies. The news had already been released, and Qian Duo Duo had taken action over the past few days, recruiting bodyguards and even seeking government assistance.

“But I feel like it’s a diversion and not actually targeting Qian Duo Duo . After all, Qian Duo Duo is at his villa in Xishan. That area is his stronghold, with plenty of private bodyguards, and I heard they have guns. With such strong connections, there’s no reason to mess with them,” Wang Dazhao was puzzled.

Jing Shu thought about what had happened in her previous life. She didn’t have much memory of this period, only knowing that She Tian had massacred many people. They hadn’t managed to steal guns at the police station, but they had a few guns and bombs. Eventually, the armed forces arrived and eliminated the group.

“Then keep an eye on it and, if possible, help me gather all the information about those people!”

Jing Shu hadn’t heard anything from Wang Dazhao about She Tian showing interest in her community, not even a hint. Maybe She Tian didn’t consider her community important, “Hope they don’t rob me. Just ignore me.”

Jing Shu felt relieved.

In the evening, Jing’s mother and third aunt returned home, bringing garlic sprouts, baby bok choy, lettuce, and crown daisy. This was their reward, and compared to the musty mushrooms, the benefits of working within the system were gradually becoming evident.

The gap between them would only widen. Just as Jing Shu was considering finding a job for her father, she didn’t expect her father to resolve it on his own.

On the morning of May 23, Jing Shu’s family drove her mother to work and went as usual to collect water for the day.

This time, everyone clearly had experience. They brought their own bowls and bottles, eliminating the need to wake up at 3 AM to ride bicycles to queue. With 13 districts in Wucheng and over 80 large supermarkets, averaging 30,000 to 40,000 people per supermarket, arriving later would only mean waiting an extra hour, ensuring their turn.

Today's meal was mushroom fried rice, mixed with minced meat, receiving many positive reviews.

Of course, these positive reviews might be the last ones because the following days would feature various mushroom and rice dishes or mushy mushroom noodles. In the next ten years of the apocalypse, the government would develop a hundred ways to cook mushrooms.

Before long, when people got tired of eating them and started complaining, the government would switch to new dishes.

“Alright, you wanted to eat meat, so from now on, eat meat every day. Satisfied? Happy?”

...

Upon returning home, Jing Shu loaded the black pig into the trunk and, along with Jing’s father, drove to deliver the pig to her uncle’s family. However, the address wasn’t her uncle’s home but her aunt’s brother-in-law’s house.

Uncle’s family couldn’t keep pigs, so they decided to slaughter the pig and divide the meat. Since they had decided to use the pig as debt repayment, her uncle could handle it however he wanted.

When Jing’s father arrived at the government officials’ family building, the streetlights were all on! It was particularly grand!

At the entrance stood over fifty people, mostly middle-aged and elderly, staring eagerly. When they saw the car, they became excited and pointed fingers.

As Jing’s father parked the car, these people rushed forward, with her uncle’s family being the first in line.

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Author's Note:

Thanks to *zw7774* and *GuaiGuai Lü* for the generous rewards! 🥰