"Thank goodness Jing Shu set up that plastic mega-canopy, and there's a layer of tempered glass beneath it. No way the water will flow into the house." Su Lanzhi said, looking up at the clear sheet overhead, the rain drumming a steady rhythm against it.
Just as the family breathed a collective sigh of relief, the immediate danger past, Grandma Jing suddenly grew anxious, her hands twisting together.
"Oh no, Jing Lai went out to work today at the recycling center! There are so many bugs in this rain. What do we do?" Her voice was tight with worry.
Remembering what happened to Xiao Dou, the rapid infestation, everyone's faces changed the moment they heard Jing Lai was still out there, exposed.
People at this moment were terrified of these unknown, invasive bugs. They were not like they would be a few weeks later, once they had fully understood the red nematode's harmless nature and, since it would become a standard part of the daily government menu, could casually grab a handful any time for a snack without a second thought.
"Should I go pick her up?" Jing An asked, already turning as if to get the car keys.
Jing Shu quickly stopped her father, putting a hand on his arm. "Wait, Dad. Grandma, did you forget the fully sealed raincoat I prepared for Third Aunt last week? The scientists on the news said a torrential downpour was coming soon, so I put a sealed raincoat and an automatic life jacket in Third Aunt's work bag. You even asked me how many automatic life jackets we had and said we should suit up the poultry too." She reminded them.
At the mention of the sealed, hooded raincoat, the ugly but functional one-piece, everyone remembered.
When Jing Shu first brought that eyesore of a yellow, non-breathable raincoat home, the whole family had resisted, groaning. Grandma Jing had said, "In weather this hot, wearing a plastic raincoat that doesn't breathe will cook you alive, suffocate you."
Jing Shu had only shrugged, playing the pragmatic shopper. "This was all I could find in the old inventory. Everything else was out of stock. We will have to make do."
Today, seeing the rain teeming with worms, when Jing Shu took the same style of raincoat out for themselves, Grandma Jing had no choice but to give a heartfelt thumbs up. "My granddaughter is a lucky star, always prepared. This raincoat is perfect now. Even those thin bugs can't get in through the seams. So thoughtful."
With the memory of the sealed raincoat assuredly in Jing Lai's bag, Grandma Jing finally relaxed, the worry lines smoothing from her forehead.
"Everyone should just stay home. Don't go anywhere in this weather unless you have to. It's too scary out there." She laid down the new house rule.
Jing Shu handed one of the spare raincoats to her father. "Dad, we should also install a fine mesh collection bag at the downspout filters to catch these bugs, and clear it regularly. Otherwise they will clog the water purifier system." She thought of the next practical step.
"You're meticulous as always, girl. I will get on it right after we eat." He took the raincoat, nodding.
In the second year, as she knew, there would be no water shortage in terms of volume, but the water itself would be full of red nematodes and their tiny, sticky eggs. If the eggs were not filtered out, they would hatch into new red nematodes in the pipes or storage tanks in no time, an endless cycle.
So she had invested early in a six-stage filtration system for their home supply, with filters fine enough to strain out microorganisms and produce drinking water that met pre-apocalypse international standards. The downside was the very short lifespan of the filter cartridges under such a load, which needed frequent replacement.
Fortunately, Jing Shu had planned ahead and stocked a small closet full of replacement cartridges, buying out a supplier's remainder last year.
The entire system had cost two hundred thousand yuan in the old world, a huge sum, and today, as the first worm-filled rain fell, it finally proved its worth, justifying the expense.
In this life, she was determined to keep every single red nematode outside the villa walls. Not a single one was allowed in, no matter what. She had suffered enough from red nematode infestations in her previous life. The memory of the constant itching, the feeling of things moving in her hair… Emmm. She shuddered internally.
For her family, this was a minor, quickly resolved episode. They had the PVC waterproof canopy as a primary shield. If anything did get tangled up, salt was an effective, available weapon. Even Jing Lai, who worked outside, had a sealed raincoat in her bag.
The family, still a bit shaken, returned to the dining table and finished their interrupted hot pot mutton meal, the comfort of hot food soothing nerves. Afterward, they went about their usual tasks, the rain a new background noise.
The community group chats on their phones, however, were exploding with panic and pleas. Wu You'ai, tasked as community liaison, rubbed her temples while staring at the frantic stream of messages. Jing Shu, sitting beside Wu You'ai on the sofa, kept tossing out practical ideas for her to relay.
Fatty Niu sent a long, sobbing voice message. "What do I do? I can't get these bugs out of my hair. My scalp itches so bad, like tens of thousands of ants are crawling and biting all over it. I'm going mad!"
Yes, that feeling was accurate. The eggs had already hatched from the initial contact, and the party had begun on her head. They would settle on her scalp, tangle completely with her hair follicles, and slowly grow into a brand-new brood of red nematodes, feeding on skin oils.
[Chou Chou]:"Thankfully I have got short hair, so there aren't too many tangled in it. But my blanket and my only spare set of clothes are ruined. I only had one set, and now my bedding is full of these bugs. They are jumping all over my bed. I'm going crazy. I can't sleep."
[Wang Qiqi]:"@Wu You'ai, can you report this up to the higher-ups? What are we supposed to do? Is there an official solution?"
[Wu You'ai]:"They're working on it. Initial advice is that salt can quickly kill soft-bodied bugs like these. Apply a strong salt solution."
Wang Cuihua sent a frustrated voice message. "But we already traded all our extra seasonings, including salt, for work points months ago! We have none left!"
[Wu You'ai]:"Then use scissors and cut your hair off. Shave it."
[Fatty Niu]:"We traded the kitchen cleaver and the big fabric scissors for work points too! The little nail scissors can't cut through this mess!"
[Young Madam]:"I have got electric hair clippers, but we don't have power right now, and the battery is dead."
[Luo Zhu]: "Going bald will look awful. Is there no other way? What about vinegar? Or alcohol?"
While everyone argued over solutions in the chat, a new, urgent distress call came in.
[Zhang Bingbing's Husband]:"Help us, please! The three of us are tangled together by our hair and can't get free! Zhang Bingbing is heavy pregnant and about to give birth! We need help now!"
[Wu You'ai]:"Stay put. Don't struggle. I'm on my way right now."
A pregnant woman's needs came first, a non-negotiable priority. Even if Zhang Bingbing and her husband were generally disliked, even if their choices were foolish, they had to be taken care of in an emergency.
Jing Shu and Wu You'ai quickly put on the sealed, ugly yellow raincoats and full hoods, grabbed the household manual hair clippers and a pair of heavy shears, and headed out into the rain toward Zhang Bingbing's apartment unit.
Their rubber boots squelched on the slick, wet ground, which emitted faint, squeaking sounds underfoot. That meant they were stepping on masses of red nematodes. No need to worry about killing them. Red nematodes had silky, flexible, resilient bodies. A few stomps would not kill them, they would just writhe and continue.
Wu You'ai eyed Jing Shu's identical raincoat for a long moment as they walked, then said through the hood, "Your luck, or your preparedness, is ridiculous. It's like heaven favors you specifically." There was a note of awe in her voice.
When they arrived at the open door of the ground-floor apartment, the three people, Zhang Bingbing, her husband, and his younger brother, were twisted together in a bizarre, stuck pose in the middle of the main room, with the heavily pregnant Zhang Bingbing wedged awkwardly in the middle, her belly protruding.
Zhang Bingbing made a rough, huffing sound as she casually grabbed a clump of red nematodes from her own head and popped them into her mouth, chewing and laughing with a strange delight. "They tickle!"
"Beast," Wu You'ai spat under her breath, disgusted.
None of the three could move without pulling the others' hair painfully. The red nematodes in their hair had woven together, binding all three heads into a single, writhing knot.
Jing Shu, practical and unsentimental, used the heavy shears to first cut the worst of the tangled hair masses to separate them enough to work, then used the clippers to shave Zhang Bingbing's head first, working quickly and carefully around her ears. Then she shaved the two men. Only when all three heads were bald and slick, the red nematodes falling away in lifeless clumps, was the problem solved, the people freed.
"Don't throw those hair-tangled red nematodes away. Collect them. Take them to the supermarket tomorrow and trade them for work points," Wu You'ai told the two shamefaced husbands on the way out, relaying the new policy. "The announcement just came down. They have officially named it the red nematode, and they have started a collection program. Probably for protein."
"I got it. When Zhang Bingbing is about to deliver, I will call you again." The husband muttered, not meeting their eyes.
Wu You'ai muttered a quiet curse about the pair under her breath. After Zhang Bingbing gave birth, she would call Li Yuetian and have the whole shiftless family taken away for assessment, she decided.
Back at her own post, Wu You'ai typed in the community chat: "@Everyone, I have got manual hair clippers in the management office basement. If you need a shave, come down and I will shave you bald. Also, fresh policy update: the bug is officially named the red nematode, and starting tomorrow, the supermarket will accept cleaned red nematodes in exchange for virtual currency. Rate to be posted."
[Fatty Niu]:"Oh no. If the government is collecting them, does that mean our future meals will be… red nematodes?"
[Luo Zhu]:"The temperature has been dropping lately. The maggot breeding pits aren't as active. We have been relying on stored, dried maggot supplies. I think it's very likely our protein will switch to these red nematodes soon."
Correct. Very clever deduction.
[Fatty Niu]:"Ugh, these worms are as thin as hair. They don't even look edible. I finally got used to maggots. At least maggots have more body, more meat. I don't know if these red nematodes taste any good. Either way, I hate them."
===
I'm not sure if you'll get what I mean, but for me, the introduction of the red nematode in these chapters was hilarious. Yes, it's supposed to be terrifying—and if I translated it as "bloodworms," the sense of horror would definitely be stronger.
But reading it as red nematode just gives the whole thing a completely different flavor. Instead of pure terror, it almost feels like comedy. I couldn't help but feel delight and laugh every time it showed up (≧▽≦).
Don't you think so?