CHAPTER 117: SESAME OIL NANG

Gasoline was reserved for the villa’s power generation and the BYD Song, while the RV could be modified to use batteries on flat terrain. Diesel was saved for the RV to navigate mountains and deserts or other situations requiring significant power. The solar energy systems at home and on the RV should suffice for daily electricity needs during relocation.

Currently, the country’s diesel reserves were quite substantial, but they were expected to decrease over a few years, so it was wise to switch early. Diesel would definitely be useful later during migration.

The modification of the RV would require many items, but Jing Shu was only collecting these as she came across them for now, without forcing the issue. She planned to study them more thoroughly when the RV arrived and ensure it was built into the most comfortable, secure vehicle post-apocalypse.

In addition to preparing two smoked black pigs, Jing Shu also saved one crock each of last year’s preserved mustard greens, pickled cucumbers, salted vegetables, pickles, and sauerkraut.

Although Yang Yang mentioned bringing out the best food possible, Jing Shu was not foolish. She didn’t take highly visible meats like spicy beef jerky, spicy rabbit cubes, or lamb legs. Taking them would be too ostentatious.

She also gathered five kilograms of dried Black Fungus, dried mushrooms, and vermicelli from her elder aunt’s house—these dry goods—and thoughtfully included one kilogram of soybean sauce for the side dishes.

Over the past half month, Jing Shu’s Magic Cube Space had accumulated thousands of kilograms of daylilies and radishes. She dried a batch of them daily, but the daylilies needed to be boiled before drying to remove toxins, as they were not safe to eat directly.

Jing Shu packed half a sack of daylilies and radish strips.

Cut into strips and torn, the radishes were chewy like dried meat and had an excellent texture. The radishes from her space were sweet and durable, suitable as both a dish and a staple.

For the main meal, Jing Shu made a bag of stir-fried rice and also brought along two burlap sacks of stacked sesame oil nang, enough to feed six people.

Back then, next to the boiler room in the villa, two pit ovens were built. Jing Shu had always wanted to cook roasted meat and Nangkeng Meat. She made it once, but the smell was so strong and traveled so far that she never did it again.

Now, making roasted sesame oil nang was not a bad idea, and it also added some snacks for herself.

Sesame oil nang, like clay oven rolls and pancakes from other regions, was suitable for military marches or travel. It was chewy when hot and crisply crunchy when cold, and it stayed fresh for a long time.

Paired with pickled vegetables, sesame oil nang was irresistible, just like steamed buns meeting chili sauce. The aroma was simply delightful.

Soaked in milk tea and soy milk until the nang was soft, it was a delight to eat. A sip of the soup mixed with sesame provided a rich flavor, much like savoring broth.

For the dough of the sturdy nang, eggs were essential. After kneading the dough and shaping it into pancakes, the edges of the pancakes needed to be thick and the middle thin, so the baked nang would be tender and flaky on the edges and crisp in the middle.

Indeed, after preparing the molds for the nang and sprinkling sesame seeds on them, they were slapped onto the hot walls of the pit oven. The pit oven’s belly was large and its mouth small, and the nang was baked through by the high temperature from its walls.

In the villa, two such pit ovens could bake more than 30 nang at a time, some for Yang Yang and others for Jing Shu to eat. For her own, Jing Shu often added scallions, onions, raisins, or rose essence to create different flavored nangs.

Jing Shu placed the freshly baked assorted flavored nangs into her Magic Cube Space, ensuring she could always enjoy hot nang whenever she wanted. SLURP. While baking, she couldn’t resist eating several sesame oil nangs herself.

It was during these busy days of food preparation that Yang Yang visited again. When Jing Shu brought out all this food, the eyes of the people who came with him widened, never expecting Jing Shu’s house to still have so much delicious food available.

"How about that, haven’t let you down, have I? I hope you don’t let me down either."

Jing Shu’s eyes seemed to say, "I’ve already given you the best. If you can’t give me what I want..."

Meanwhile, in addition to some common medicines, Jing Shu had created an exclusive formula for a hemostatic medicine: actually, it was just disinfectant with two drops of Spiritual Spring added.

"Here, this is it. Just spray it once and it should work, good for about a dozen applications. Just spray directly onto the wound and don’t waste it; one spray can stop the bleeding and prevent infection," Jing Shu said seriously as she handed it over, not feeling the least bit concerned that the bottle was heavier than the liquid inside.

Yang Yang took it as if receiving a treasure, noticing just a little bit of liquid at the bottom of the bottle.

Is she serious? So little liquid, are you sure it won’t evaporate? Are you sure it’s not just a couple of drops of water that will vanish as we travel, a deliberate attempt to fool me? It looks like I’ll have to keep it in an insulated container the entire time.

"Don’t worry, I’m still counting on you to bring back that RV for me. How could I cheat you?" Jing Shu explained patiently to Yang Yang’s constipated expression, finally waving goodbye, hoping that this time their mission would be successful, so she could join them next time to collect more items.

「...」

In the last few days, something significant had happened. During dinner, the whole family sat in front of the TV watching the news, except for Jing Shu, who was deeply engrossed in eating her nang wrapped around a lamb leg.

Since the end of May, the extreme heat wave had pushed temperatures in tropical regions to 60°C. The government had issued a relocation order, and the first group of people from Hainan had begun relocating half a month ago, but no one expected that it still wouldn’t stop the march of death.

The first group to relocate comprised three million people. All China’s trains were used to transport them, but many couldn’t endure the journey, and with no medical facilities, tens of thousands died daily.

Upon arriving at their destination, many suffered. They were unsuited to the Northeast climate and struggled with different dietary habits, among other reasons. This caused tens of thousands more to die every day. Within just half a month, more than half of this group had perished, and even those who had relocated to the Northeast were continuing to fall ill.

"According to expert analysis, the huge temperature difference caused disarray in the body’s immune system. Just when people had adapted to 60°C, they were suddenly exposed to sub-zero temperatures, which many could not withstand, falling sick, as the rapid environmental change affected 60% of the population..."

"For now, our country has stopped this relocation, as every day, in the high temperatures of Hainan, tens of thousands suffer from heatstroke, and the nation is initiating emergency measures."

"On June 20, the national railway service will resume, but it will be adjusted to run once every two days..."

The current situation facing the nation was this: if you relocated, the people couldn’t withstand the new climate, and falling sick might as well be a death sentence. If you didn’t relocate, the 60°C heat was no longer suitable for human habitation.

Because of this terrifying mortality rate, most people were scared, and it shocked the entire nation.

Grandma Jing sighed, "Old as I am, why bother with such nonsense? I’d rather take root at home."

"The government didn’t foresee this," Mr. Jing interjected.

Grandpa Jing slammed the table, "What are experts for, then? How come they’re predicting it now? Who is responsible for so many deaths?!"

Well, Mr. Jing and Grandpa Jing, who had only been quiet for a few days, started arguing again. Jing Shu felt she must shift the concept of her grandma and grandpa, lest they refuse to relocate when the time comes, causing trouble.