CHAPTER 110: FIVE GRAIN WORM FEAST

A few days ago, the mushrooms in the other twelve Management Departments of Wu City were devoured by corrosive insects. Soon after, these departments were occupied by an army of maggots. Now, the twelve Management Departments were densely packed with maggots devouring other corrosive insects, and a large-scale biological battle was unfolding.

"If we don’t make a decision soon, these maggots will mature into flies! By then, the texture of the food will be much worse, the meat quality will be poor, the protein content will decrease, and the flavor will be off. So, they taste best when eaten tender!"

Following the dual recommendations of a biologist, the government resolutely decided to start providing meat dishes to the citizens from then on.

Moreover, the government also took into account the taste preferences of the general populace.

According to psychologists, the first impression of a taste is very important.

To cater to the public’s taste and help them accept this readily available food source, the government used various recently collected seasonings. They decided to start with a grand banquet of Five Grain Worms, allowing people to choose their favorite flavor to be made regularly.

For example, there was the salted Five Grain Worm: first deep-fried, then generously sprinkled with salt and chili powder. One bite, and SQUIRT! The delicious proteins burst out, mixed with flavorful seasonings.

Or, a cumin-fried Five Grain Worm dish.

Or, a milder dish of Mushroom stewed with Five Grain Worm, sprinkled with green onions and salt.

Alternatively, Five Grain Worms could be mixed with rice, as they looked similar. This particular batch of maggots was of excellent quality. Each one was very nutritious and plump, about three centimeters long with a long tail, and capable of devouring a large number of rotten corpse insects.

"This batch of Five Grain Worms is enough to replace Mushroom rice. More importantly, if we don’t control them, these Five Grain Worms will mature into flies outdoors. They will lay eggs everywhere and completely devour the rotten corpse insects, only to become the next generation of rotten corpse insects themselves. Therefore, it would be best to let the Five Grain Worms and corrosive insects restrain each other, thus solving the food problem at no cost."

"So, we must also encourage the citizens to search for Five Grain Worms. We can exchange Virtual Coins for Five Grain Worms to boost public enthusiasm. Then, we can cook them into ready-to-eat meals and distribute them back to the public, creating a positive cycle to get through these hard times."

"We should avoid using our food reserves as much as possible. After all, our country won’t be able to grow anything normally for the next two years. Once the Artificial Sun is established, everything will get better."

Jing Shu had soaked over a hundred pounds of glutinous rice. She washed all the lotus leaves from the pond, along with those in her space, and trimmed them. Since she had no zongzi leaves—and even if she grew them, Jing Shu couldn’t think of a good excuse for having them—she simply used the lotus leaves, which she found to be as delicious as zongzi leaves.

She also soaked red dates, various dried goods, meat, and more, preparing to make plenty of meat zongzi, red date zongzi, sea cucumber and shrimp zongzi, eight-treasure zongzi, and red bean zongzi.

Zongzi, once boiled and dried, could be frozen and stored for years.

For a food lover like Jing Shu, it was essential to stuff her space and refrigerator full. This would make breakfast convenient: just heat and eat, especially since the corn cakes she had made a while ago were already gone. So this time, she was determined to wrap many more zongzi.

Jing Shu’s favorite was still the simplest and most classic red date zongzi, drizzled with honey and made with the purest glutinous rice. One bite was fragrant, soft, and sticky, with the invigorating sweetness of the honey... SLURP! Truly delicious, Jing Shu thought, her mouth watering.

Wang Qiqi posted in the group: "@everyone, the Dragon Boat Festival is coming! The government is offering a perk: a three-day buffet, 0.5 coins per person, unlimited quantity, but only for half an hour, and you can only enter once a day. I’ve heard the food’s not bad, so hurry up and get in line!"

Wang Cuihua sent a voice message: "Is it because the situation has gotten so severe that they’re finally releasing some food? Then we should hurry and line up! We’ve been hungry for several days now and don’t even know what kind of compassion the government is showing this time, or what food they’re giving out."

Wind No.3 said: "I told you, as long as we dare to make a fuss, the government will definitely provide food! With so many people, they can’t just watch us die, right? Didn’t they say that Huaxia had over three years of food reserves? It’s time to bring them out! We can finally eat our fill this time!"

Fat Girl No.25: "Worst comes to worst, even if it’s just unlimited Mushroom, I’m not bragging, but I could eat the entire Ai Family Supermarket out of house and home!"

After all the prep work was done, it was time to make zongzi. Jing Shu watched the chat in the group with a smile but stayed silent. Foolish humans, do you really think it’s going to be something tasty?

In her past life, her worldview had been completely overturned, and she’d had no choice but to compromise. Not wanting to waste the 0.5 coins, she had eaten several flavors of maggots and eventually found the salt-and-pepper ones to be somewhat acceptable.

With some spare time, Jing Shu studied the upgraded Magic Cube while grinding a conical boulder in her space. After using the steel-reinforced wolf-toothed club, I really should turn all these conical boulders into steel-reinforced ones for reuse, she mused. Though, they are a bit too conspicuous. Oh well, I might as well stick with the stone boulders for now; there’s a whole mountain of them behind the house.

"Hurry up, all of you! The meal service is about to start! What are you hesitating for? They’ve said whoever makes the tastiest food gets promoted to group leader, and if nobody eats what you make, you’ll have to eat it all yourselves! You have to make it delicious the first time, so you don’t leave a bad impression on the public!" shouted the bald man.

The Ai Family Supermarket had been converted into a large cafeteria. Inside, eighty cooks were lined up in two rows, each in front of a stove. They stared at the buckets of squirming maggots, nearly vomiting at the sight. Everyone envied them, but who knew the hardships they endured?

These eighty-plus cooks had to prepare food for tens of thousands of people each day. Still, they were much better off than the homeless and jobless outside—they received a daily meal and earned work points.

"Director, these maggots are covered in rotten corpse insects and all sorts of filth. Shouldn’t we wash them before cooking them?"

The bald man glared. "You have water? Then you wash them!"

Reluctantly, and despite their disgust, everyone put on gloves for the sake of their jobs. They grabbed the maggots and began to cook. They couldn’t just prepare them haphazardly; even under these harsh conditions, the food had to be made delicious.

Jing Shu’s third aunt, Jinglai, pulled a large bag of cumin and salt from her pocket, her expression strange. A few days earlier, Jing Shu had given her these spices, saying she might need them someday. Jinglai hadn’t expected that day to come so soon.

After some thought, I’ll make salted Five Grain Worms! Jinglai decided.

Jinglai heated oil over a coal fire and began frying the Five Grain Worms. Initially, she didn’t manage the heat well, and their juices splattered everywhere. After a few more batches, however, she got the hang of it. Sprinkled with the cumin Jing Shu had provided, the entire batch of Five Grain Worms became fragrant.

After three exhausting hours, the cooks had each prepared their different flavored batches of Five Grain Worms. They all quickly ate their own meal. Once finished, they had to go out and manage the buffet, ensuring that the public consumed all the Five Grain Worms they had made.

Today, the cafeteria served a pitifully small portion of Mushroom rice. However, it was still much better than what those outside received. The truth was, these mushrooms contained bits of rotten corpse insects and maggots. But when they thought about the people outside eating whole maggots, the cooks felt a sense of relief eating their Mushroom rice.