CHAPTER 107: PREPARING VARIOUS DRIED VEGETABLES

Precious medicinal herbs definitely needed to be planted, such as Polygonum multiflorum, gastrodia, ginseng, Cordyceps, and Panax notoginseng. They were of great value, whether kept for personal use or for saving people in need in the future.

As for the rest, Jing Shu planted some commonly used ones according to online tutorials, such as astragalus, Chameleon Plant, ginseng, Honeysuckle, Angelica, Motherwort, and hawthorn, among others. These common herbs could be used for minor headaches and fevers. Moreover, herbs like Panax notoginseng and Angelica could stop bleeding and reduce bruising, so she wouldn’t need to resort to the Spiritual Spring for every minor external injury.

As time passed, the value of these herbs would only increase, and Jing Shu planned to exchange a small amount of them for resources that were currently unavailable.

For vegetables, Jing Shu reserved one field to plant those needed for daily consumption.

In the other five fields, a total of thirty plots were filled with radishes and daylilies, which were expected to yield over five hundred kilograms.

In the second half of the first year of the apocalypse, Jing Shu would plant various vegetables, store a small portion in the Magic Cube Space, and turn the rest into Dried Vegetables and dried fruits. It wouldn’t be as conspicuous to eat these while living in public spaces later on.

Moreover, it was only from the end of May in the first year of the apocalypse that the temperature rose to super-high levels. This heat lasted for half a year, after which such temperatures would never be seen again. Thereafter, it would be impossible to sun-dry vegetables.

This was the most natural time to sun-dry vegetables and fruits, and the results were exceptionally good. Leaving them outside for just one day would ensure complete dehydration. After that, they could be refrigerated. When needed, these dried items could be rehydrated with a little water, turning them back into fresh vegetables. Their shelf life was extremely long, making Dried Vegetables perfect for eating during migrations.

In the second year of the apocalypse, even clothes would be damp, food left out for a few days would mold, and wild mushrooms would sprout everywhere. At that point, unless one used a dehydrator, making Dried Vegetables would be impossible. Therefore, Jing Shu planned to make as many Dried Vegetables and dried fruits as possible during the latter half of the current year.

The last six fields were still dominated by coconut trees. Although they took over three months to plant initially, they proved very productive once mature. Currently, a batch of coconuts could be harvested every five days. Jing Shu would activate the Magic Cube Space’s Second Form daily to creatively prepare coconut-based foods like coconut milk pudding, jellies, coconut sticky rice, and coconut jelly. She also occasionally cracked open a coconut to drink the natural juice.

The several consecutive days of temperatures rising from over 40 degrees Celsius to a super-high 50 degrees Celsius caused some people who had slowly adjusted to suffer from heatstroke again. Most importantly, there was an extreme shortage of water.

Now, those suffering from heatstroke were essentially waiting to die. Going to the hospital was useless as there were no medications left. Furthermore, neighbors lurked nearby, waiting for people to die so they could report the corpses and receive two work points in exchange for some water.

This led to a chain reaction.

Every household exchanged anything they could, such as spices, bedding, clothes, and even kitchen knives and utensils. They would then exchange the obtained work points for rice and water. The 500ml of water distributed daily was simply not enough; in order to survive, people were ready to do whatever it took.

The people in Jingshu District had only recently earned some work points, most of which they had now exchanged for water. Despite taking only tiny sips, it wasn’t enough to combat their bodies’ dehydration. Relief only came in the late afternoon when the temperature plummeted to a few degrees.

Forget about others; even Jing Shu, in an air-conditioned room with a constant temperature of 26 degrees Celsius, had to drink more than a dozen coconuts daily, eat some ice cream, drink Yogurt Shaved Ice, and have some watermelon juice just to barely meet her needs.

"I wonder what Wu You’ai is eating at her teacher’s place now that the natural gas is cut off. She probably can’t even cook," Grandma Jing said worriedly.

"Alright, I’ll bring her some food," Jing Shu replied.

Jing Shu packed a large box of food, which included sweet dumplings and preserved egg and lean meat porridge, as well as marinated meat. There was also a bucket of mineral water—plenty for two people.

Since she could see Wu You’ai’s status on her phone, Jing Shu wasn’t worried.

Alan, the anesthetist, had warned that life-threatening complications could arise after the anesthesia wore off, but nothing of the sort occurred. Jing Shu only saw Wu You’ai scrolling through her phone, reading comics, nibbling on biscuits when hungry, and drinking water when thirsty. She didn’t even need to get out of bed to use the toilet.

This was because the bed, which Chu Zhuohua had procured from somewhere, was a medical bed with a built-in toilet. One could use it by pressing a button, without getting up. Wu You’ai was in good spirits, although she couldn’t move her legs. Jing Shu visited daily to deliver meals, check the wounds for infection, and apply Spiritual Spring, hoping for a swift recovery.

Wu You’ai said that her life seemed to have reached its peak, and she liked this kind of lifestyle. If only there were more snacks and the temperature wasn’t so hot, it would be perfect.

After all, not everyone’s home could maintain a constant temperature of 26 degrees Celsius like Jingshu’s house could.

Jing Shu discovered that Wu You’ai’s teacher, Chu Zhuohua, actually owned a Maserati sports car. Of course, that wasn’t the main point. The point was that her teacher had personally modified the sports car into a hybrid electric-gasoline vehicle and had even rigged up a compatible charger for it!

Modifying the engine was undoubtedly like changing its soul. Impressive, Jing Shu could only think.

Jing Shu’s eyes unconsciously narrowed. Before the apocalypse, she had hesitated over whether to buy an RV for use during massive earthquakes or evacuations. However, she had scrapped the idea due to the prohibitive maintenance costs and fuel consumption. Besides, an RV cost one or two million, and she didn’t have that kind of money.

But if she could now acquire a gasoline-powered RV cheaply, prepare a battery, and then pay Wu You’ai’s teacher to convert it into a hybrid, would that be feasible?

Petroleum and natural gas were listed as major national resources by various countries; even the United States had restricted public access. One could imagine the value of gasoline and understand why gasoline-powered vehicles were practically obsolete. Consequently, gasoline RVs probably weren’t worth much anymore.

"I need to keep an eye out for this," Jing Shu resolved. In her past life’s migrations, some people had indeed used alternative energy vehicles or even ordinary gasoline-powered cars. RVs were rare, but she had seen them, invariably belonging to the upper echelons of society surviving the apocalypse. The thought that she might finally be able to enhance her comfort in this apocalyptic life thrilled her.

The extreme heat persisted for several more days with no sign of abating. The government had no time to address the public’s protests for more water because a significant evolutionary event had occurred: the rotten corpse insects in the contaminated water sources had evolved, and large numbers of them had begun to breed within Wu City.

These overwhelming rotten corpse insects had grown much larger and developed a new habit—like mosquitoes, they craved the blood and flesh of living humans.

Oh, mosquitoes at least only sucked blood. These newly evolved rotten corpse insects, however, preferred to eat blood and flesh. Generally, they didn’t attack humans aggressively. Incidents occurred when there was nothing else to eat in the vicinity, and their breeding numbers were so high that they inadvertently crawled into human-occupied areas and consumed human blood and flesh.

A single instance might involve just a tiny bite, hardly painful or bothersome.

However, according to news reports and incidents in residential areas, if you slept soundly under a blanket at night, and if food in your house attracted swarms of rotten corpse insects that laid numerous eggs, you might awaken the next day to find a patch of your flesh missing. That area would then slowly begin to rot.

And then, it would attract even more rotten corpse insects...