[Fei Niu]:"These unit jobs are so good. Not only do they earn daily work credits, but they also get vegetables to eat. Now, even during inspections like this, they don't need to show up. Even the cafeteria aunties are higher up than us."
[Luo Zhu]:"Yeah, but it's a pity you need a government worker as a sponsor to get in. Each government worker only gets two slots, and they're insanely valuable. I heard you can trade snacks and side dishes for a slot. @Young Madam With a Baby, did you manage to trade for one?"
[Young Madam With a Baby]:"I traded all the sweet potato slices from my house and got a security guard slot at Ai Jia Supermarket."
[Fei Niu]:"I regret it so much. Three months ago, my uncle said he could recommend me as a guard if I gave him two bags of rice, and I would even get a free meal every day. I thought our grain would last until the Earth's Dark Days ended, but… sigh. If I had listened, I might not be eating vegetables now, but at least I would have a steady job and rice every day."
[Zhang Bingbing's Older Husband]:"It is exactly because of this corruption, connections and bribes everywhere. Why hasn't anyone reported it?"
Jing Shu was a silent observer in the group chat, but she always read every message, the blue dots marking them read. She couldn't stand unread notifications, a compulsive tidiness. She was surprised. Police inspections were about to start, yet these two dared to speak so openly? It was either bravery or stupidity.
The chat erupted with arguments over government workers openly trading grain for sponsorships, a debate on fairness in an unfair world.
Everyone knew about the new national law: government workers received daily vegetable rations and had two precious sponsorship slots. They could sponsor people for new jobs like security guards, cafeteria cooks, sanitation staff, or recycling workers, a lifeline of stability.
Of course, only those without criminal records were eligible, a basic filter.
Sponsoring someone carried risk, too. If your sponsored person committed a crime, you would also be held responsible, an ancient concept of "joint liability" revived for these times, a chain of accountability.
With limited production in the Earth's Dark Days, these jobs didn't require much skill. Loyalty was enough. Once hired, you basically had a lifetime job and were part of the system, a small cog in the machine.
Those who performed well in these roles could be "converted" into full government employees and enjoy daily vegetable rations, a promotion to the elite.
All of these laws were only valid for the duration of the Earth's Dark Days, a temporary social contract.
[Wang Qiqi]: "I think it's a good system. How can you expect to compete for jobs thousands of people want without offering something in return? Why should someone take on risk to recommend you? And once you have paid the price, you will cherish the job more. Otherwise, you will lose both the job and your investment."
[Fei Niu]:"Exactly. This joint liability system is a way for the government to deter crime. It really raises the stakes."
Jing Shu agreed with Wang Qiqi's viewpoint. It was a system that acknowledged human nature, greased the wheels with transaction, and maintained order through mutual surveillance.
At noon, the kitchen filled with the smell of boiling broth. Grandma Jing made winter melon, radish, and pork rib soup, and baked flatbreads served with pickled cucumbers and garlic shoots. Jing Shu, Grandma Jing, and Grandpa Jing had a simple lunch together at the small table.
But Jing Shu's appetite was too large, a bottomless pit. The big pot of ribs wasn't enough, so she cooked another pot of dragon whisker noodles on the side burner, cracked six eggs into it, and added greens from the soup pot.
It became a full bowl of rib noodle soup, rich and steaming. She slurped it down, gnawed every rib clean, and even chewed up the ginger slices, wasting nothing.
Water was becoming scarcer. Every bowl in their home was marked with a name in permanent ink. Each person used their own bowls for every meal, and the dishes were washed together in a dishwasher. The dishwasher water was filtered and recycled but still lost about 10 percent to evaporation and leakage, a precious drip.
In the villa courtyard, over twenty barrels of ice were set out to lower the temperature, the blocks sweating in the heat. Without them, the yard would feel like a sauna, unbearable. They switched out the ice as soon as it melted, or it would evaporate too quickly, a constant chore.
After feeding the livestock, the chickens clucking for their grain, Jing Shu took Grandma Jing and Grandpa Jing down to the underground garage, the stairs cool and dim. Wang Qiqi had already organized the community members into neat lines, and the Second Squad police officers had arrived, their uniforms dark spots in the gloom.
The weather was scorching at 52 degrees Celsius. The moment Jing Shu opened the villa's door, a wave of heat slammed into her like a furnace blast. It felt like stepping into a sauna, the air thick and heavy. Recent news said the atmosphere was now so saturated with evaporated water that torrential rain was imminent. People just needed to endure a bit longer, the promise of relief a dangling carrot.
She knew the atmosphere was currently a mix of water and dust, perfect conditions for breeding the new red nematode species, the next plague waiting in the humidity.
Down in the underground garage, it was a few degrees cooler, the concrete holding the night's chill. The community members had gathered, whispering quietly, a nervous murmur. Half a year of apocalyptic hardship had left them dirtier than refugees. They reeked of unwashed skin and sour clothes, especially their hands, which were coated in a hard, dark crust formed by a mix of soil and bug juices from digging up maggots day after day.
Then ten military trucks rumbled in, their headlights cutting beams through the dusty garage air. Two rows of police officers stood tall, rifles held at ease, faces stern. Behind them were four rows of criminals, shackled and slouched, their heads down.
This was Jing Shu's first time seeing police after the apocalypse, a sight that stirred something old and almost forgotten. They stood firm and gave off an aura of unshakable safety, order made flesh. The criminals, in contrast, looked like wilted vegetables, faces pale and sallow under the harsh lights.
Grandma Jing, Grandpa Jing, and the rest of the community were terrified by the scene, shrinking back, eyes wide.
"What is going on?"
"Are they here to scare us?" The whispers were fearful.
A young officer with a sharp jawline approached Wang Qiqi, who was holding the attendance sheet, her hands steady. "Is everyone here?" His voice echoed in the cavernous space.
The once chubby Wang Qiqi, now dark and gaunt from months of stress and lean meals, handed over the list. "Captain Li, only Wang Jin from Building 14 and Liu Qinyi from Building 18 are missing. Everyone else is present."
"Good." Captain Li's eyes scanned the list. "Zhou Xiang, Shi Zi, Luo Zhu, step forward!" he barked. The crowd fell silent, a collective intake of breath. The three named individuals froze, but the others instinctively backed away, creating a circle of space around them.
"Who is Luo Zhu?"
A young woman, thin and hollow eyed, unable to avoid it any longer, raised her hand slowly, as if it weighed a ton.
"Take her. Cuff her and bring her back for questioning," the officer ordered, his voice devoid of inflection. Two police officers stepped forward and handcuffed her, the metal click loud in the quiet, leading her to one of the trucks.
"Shi Zi?"
A man in his thirties with sores still visible on his neck and arms, his body covered in a sheen of sick sweat, raised his trembling hand.
"Chain his legs. Revoke his housing rights. Confiscate all his supplies." The orders were delivered like items on a checklist. "As for the other two, they ran fast, but treat them the same. Mark their IDs and confiscate their homes and possessions. Do they think they can escape? Unless they die of thirst outside, they won't get away." The officer's voice was cold, final.
Two officers moved forward, efficient and impersonal. They cuffed Shi Zi's ankles with heavy chains and dragged him aside. Shi Zi's legs shook violently, unable to support him. "W-what did I do? Why won't you even question me?" His voice was a broken whimper.
The officer glanced at his file, a tablet in his hand, then turned to the last man, who stood frozen in fear, his face blank. "You are Zhou Xiang? Is this Zhou Xiang?" He held up the tablet, showing a photo.
The man nodded blankly, his throat working. Wang Qiqi confirmed it with a silent nod.
"Execute him on the spot. Confiscate all supplies."
The officer's voice was as cold as a death sentence, which it was. Two officers rushed forward with practiced precision, one pinned Zhou Xiang down, an arm across his throat, the other drove a long, narrow blade into his heart and pulled it out in a single, smooth motion. The entire process took less than five seconds. Zhou Xiang sagged, a dark stain spreading on his shirt, and didn't move again.
The scene stunned the entire community into absolute silence. The only sound was the drip of water from a pipe somewhere. Shi Zi's trembling legs gave out completely, and a dark puddle formed beneath him. He collapsed to his knees on the concrete, sobbing, great heaving cries that echoed in the quiet garage.
"N-no… please don't kill me!" His plea was a raw scrape of sound, but no one answered.