CHAPTER 156: THE DAY THE FIGHTING CHICKEN WAS DEFEATED

And every time she came to the supermarket to collect food, Jing Shu could see tiny insects constantly jumping out from her scalp. Some crawled into her nostrils, others into her ears, and some, tired from their mischief, would jump back out again. She carried on as if nothing was happening, completely ignoring them.

Sometimes, when the insects became too much of a nuisance, she would pick them out.

She still dragged her long hair as she walked, attracting astonished stares from everyone. Sometimes, when her head became unbearably heavy, she would carry her hair, infested with red earthworms, as she walked. At night, to prevent the red earthworms from crawling around and disturbing her sleep, she would wrap her entire face and let them do as they pleased.

She said, "Anyway, if I ignore these insects, they’ll die in a few days. It’ll be fine once they’re all dead."

But she had to endure the pouring rain every day to collect food from the supermarket, and any time her hair got even slightly wet, it would attract countless red earthworms.

She disregarded everyone’s gazes. Wherever she went, people would unconsciously make way for her, steering clear of someone they dared not provoke.

It was only later learned that when she was eighteen, her childhood sweetheart had joined the army and told her, "I will marry you when your hair reaches your waist."

He went to help with the rescue efforts during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake and never returned.

Since then, she had never cut her hair and remained unmarried to this day.

If I have the chance in this life, I’d like to meet this woman again, who had once helped me, Jing Shu thought.

「...」

Grandma Jing enjoyed watching the rain so much that she couldn’t get enough of it; she adored the sight. The whole family stood at the villa’s doorway with chopsticks in hand, and Mr. Jing even said, "Nice, this rain is coming down well!"

It was at this moment that the advantage of Jing Shu’s large PVC canopy became clear. The downpour flowed down its four corners, leaving at least a meter-wide band around the villa’s front yard completely dry because the canopy extended out quite far.

The rainwater couldn’t even dampen the villa’s walls, but to guard against moisture, Jing Shu had still filled the place with desiccants.

The fat chicken danced gracefully outside, frolicking wildly, but gradually its calls started to sound abnormal.

It was then that the residential complex filled with rising and falling wails of despair.

"What’s happening? What’s happening?"

As everyone looked on in surprise, under the dim light, they seemed to see long, stringy things hanging all over the fat chicken.

And the fat chicken had suddenly grown much bigger.

Finally, the fat chicken flew home, screaming piteously, looking to Jing Shu for help, its expressive eyes blinking pitifully.

Jing Shu put down her bowl and chopsticks and rushed forward, grabbing a large pitchfork to pin the fat chicken at the entrance of the yard. No way, if this chicken brings a body full of red earthworms into the villa, I won’t allow it.

Only when they reached the yard entrance did the light clearly illuminate the fat chicken’s body. The family collectively gasped, and Grandma Jing even took a large step back, exclaiming, "Good Lord, lucky we didn’t go out!"

Mr. Jing shielded Mrs. Jing behind him. "What kind of insect is this? Is it poisonous? Is there any hope for Number 1?"

"What are we going to do?" Mrs. Jing was also frantic, pacing back and forth.

The fat chicken’s appearance was simply too horrifying, too pitiful.

The fat chicken’s body was covered in red earthworms that kept poking their heads out. They were entwined in its feathers, on its head, on every feathered part, even on its thighs.

It looked as if a giant black ball had enveloped the fat chicken. The chicken pecked at its own feathers furiously, trying to nip off the red earthworms, but unfortunately, it used too much force and ended up pulling out some of its feathers instead.

Only a few tufts were yanked out, and the freshly plucked areas were immediately covered by red earthworms again. They were densely entangled in a mass, making it impossible to tear them off one by one, as they were inherently tough and tightly bound together.

Chairman Mao once said that unity is strength. A single chopstick is easily broken, but a bundle of chopsticks is not. This is a perfect example, Jing Shu mused.

The worms clung to the fat chicken like a swarm of vampires, leaving the chicken, typically praised as a fighting chicken, utterly helpless.

The fat chicken looked at Jing Shu with desperation, then at its own body, and back at Jing Shu, its eyes pleading, Get these damn insects off me!

"Should we... should we use scissors to cut these things off?"

"Wouldn’t that mean we’d have to cut off all its feathers?"

"This chicken is going to end up bald!"

The whole family shuddered. So many insects were already terrifying enough, but who would have thought the rainwater itself was swarming with them? After just one stroll outside, the fat chicken had returned in such a miserable state. Good heavens, can we even go outside anymore? they wondered.

Wu You’ai ran out with her phone, shouting, "Don’t go outside! There are so many insects in the rain!" She then saw the family surrounding the insect-ridden fat chicken, which looked up at everyone pitifully and let out a couple of soft CLUCKS.

"There’s a message in the group chat," Wu You’ai continued. "Someone took a shower in the rain, and their hair got entangled with countless insects that they couldn’t get rid of. It seems these are the same kind of insects. However, so far, there have been no reports of these insects biting people."

Pinning the fat chicken with the pitchfork, Jing Shu said to Wu You’ai, "Go to the kitchen and bring a bag of salt. It should work on soft-bodied insects."

Salt is a surefire killer of red earthworms! Jing Shu knew.

But salt was also incredibly valuable in the apocalypse. Many people had no salt to get rid of the red earthworms on their bodies. In her previous life, Jing Shu would rather have shaved her head bald than use precious salt to deal with red earthworms; that just showed how rare and valuable salt was.

"Oh, I get it!" Wu You’ai exclaimed, her eyes lighting up as she headed for the salt. "Soft-bodied insects rely on their skin for secretion and excretion, so they’re very sensitive to changes in the osmotic pressure of surrounding fluids. Salt increases the external osmotic pressure, causing their cells to dehydrate and shrink! Jing Shu, you’re so smart!"

Jing Shu could only stare. ???

A top student truly is on another level, Jing Shu mused. She can deduce so much from a single sentence. I’m only just figuring this out myself now. How embarrassing. If I could be reborn in my school days, I’d definitely study hard, strive for daily improvement, and steer clear of being a slacker.

Wu You’ai brought the salt.

"Everyone, stand back," Jing Shu said as she covered the fat chicken with a large basket and then spread a generous handful of salt evenly inside it.

The whole family watched anxiously. Although the fat chicken usually caused trouble and loved to stealthily eat Mrs. Jing’s Xiaobai apricots—prompting Mrs. Jing to often chase it with a broom—the chicken secretly enjoyed the ’you can’t beat me, you can’t catch me!’ thrill.

But the fat chicken brought this family so much joy and many eggs; no one wanted it to die.

Then, they heard sharp, crackling sounds as something thrashed violently against the basket. The sounds started strong, then gradually weakened until there was silence. Only then did Jing Shu remove the basket, revealing a pile of curled-up, hair-like insects, motionless on the ground.

With a comfortable groan, the fat chicken shook its feathers. Except for a few patches it had pecked off itself, its plumage was intact. Hu Hansan is back! it seemed to declare.

However, when the fat chicken looked out at the rain again, its gaze was filled with much more apprehension. It then lowered its head, and as if taking revenge, it clucked and gobbled up all the clumped-together insects.

"Goodness, that fat chicken scared me to death! It really is tough," Mrs. Jing said, patting her chest. She picked up the fat chicken and hurried it back inside the house. "We’ll see if you still like to run wild outside now. Learned your lesson, haven’t you?"