Besides changing the fields to provide more variety, Jing Shu reserved eight cubic meters for fish. The water shimmered in the dark grids of the storage area. She wanted to breed a large stock and turn them into ready-to-eat dishes. She envisioned them grilled, fried, steamed, or braised. This way, she could stash them in the space as midnight snacks, the fresh aromas preserved perfectly. After the upgrade, Jing Shu's appetite seemed to grow again. There was a persistent gnawing in her stomach. She got hungry easily, and hunger made her irritable, her patience thinning with every passing hour.
Last year, she had spent her time sun-drying all kinds of vegetables, and the space had been too cramped to raise more fish. This year, she had both time and room to work with. It's better to process everything into finished food. This allowed her to eat whenever she wanted without delay. Otherwise, remembering to cook only when she craved something would be a hassle and a waste of time and effort, especially when the hunger became distracting.
She also earmarked twenty-four cubic meters for poultry, doubling the flock until the sound of clucking and scratching filled the designated cubes. In about half a year, she planned to slaughter another batch and process them all into prepared foods. She had to get ready early for the great migration in year five. Once they were on the road, there will be no time to cook in bulk, only the immediate need to keep moving.
The goal for the second half of this year was simple: turn every category of food into finished, shelf-stable goods and stock them in the space. She had to make sure this big eater could stay fed and eat well, her health prioritized. Then she will pickle and cure everything that could be pickled and cured. She did this so that when she brought them out later, no one will be too surprised.
For example, she could turn fruits into canned preserves or vacuum-pack boiled corn, then take them out when there were crowds gathered. At worst, she could say they were expired pre-apocalypse foods discovered in a hidden cellar.
After the apocalypse, a single vacuum-packed ear of corn was as luxurious as a vintage from 1982, a rare delicacy from a lost era. These so-called expired foods from before the end were truly a dwindling treasure, their value rising as the world decayed.
So the space now looked like this:
One cubic meter of Spirit Spring plus twenty-four cubic meters of fields plus eight cubic meters of fish plus twenty-four cubic meters of poultry plus two hundred eighty-six cubic meters of supplies.
She hadn't filled all two hundred eighty-six cubic meters yet, with more than eighty cubic meters still free for future hauls. Setting aside the bulky gasoline, diesel, TNT, bottled water, and basement stocks of rice, flour, and oil, she also kept a small number of hammer-shaped boulders, purpose-made reusable conical steel spikes, and eight cubic meters of nuts. Almost everything else was food. Each type took up anywhere from one to three cubic meters, the neatly organized supplies stretching into the void.
When the space was closer to full, she will reorganize it. As it grew larger, she kept wishing for a video-game style auto-arrange button. That would let her sort all supplies in one click instead of slogging through it manually. Even with a 360-degree god view and see-through retrieval, one glance across all those cubic grids was enough to make her eyes swim. The sheer volume of items became a dizzying mosaic.
Her Rubik's Cube Space was currently seventh tier, and the handheld cube she needed to solve was the eighth-tier challenge, its surfaces slick and complex. At sixth tier, it had unlocked the second form. This let the virtual space overlap with reality for more intuitive management. She could even use the overlap to make tasks like slaughtering pigs or cattle much easier, her hands moving with precision as the space dictated the cuts.
At seventh tier, it had gained an illusion ability. This allowed her to control and influence creatures within the overlap range of the second form. To a lesser extent, she could even affect people in that area. The effect on people was weak, but it's still a new tool for control, survival, scouting, and tracking.
That's why she kept hallucinating during seventh-tier practice, waking up at the yin (tiger) hour (3 AM to 5 AM) every day to deal with something in the dim light of her room. Jing Shu suspected that the upgrade conditions had evolved. It was no longer just about restoring the cube to its original state. New disruptive elements will appear to slow her down and raise the difficulty. The rewards were richer too, always accompanied by new abilities that made the effort worthwhile.
So she had no choice. After studying the upgraded space, and after a pot of congee and a pile of spicy crayfish, she went back to practicing the eighth-tier cube.
She had no idea what problem she might face this time, or what new ability will spawn after the next upgrade. She only knew time was running out. She wanted to upgrade the space once more before heading to the United States next year.
That way, she could bring back even more, making the trip worthwhile for her family. Her motivation surged.
Time flew. In the blink of an eye, it was late April. The temperature dropped from 36°C to 29°C, the air losing its oppressive heat. In two months, it will plunge again. The gentle hot-spring rains will turn into killing-cold rain that will sap the warmth from the bones.
The silkworms in the space laid thousands of eggs, the tiny specks covering the mulberry leaves. Starting next month, their numbers will double again. The silkworms in the villa courtyard also laid more than a thousand eggs, their constant feeding a soft rustle in the quiet house. Grandma Jing and Zijin will be busy tending to them.
Grandpa Jing built more than a dozen racks, filling the bedrooms for silkworm trays until the house smelled of fresh leaves. If they ran out of space, they will move them to the living room, but the living room was already partly taken over by garlic, scallions, and mushroom beds. If they added silkworms too, it will be crowded.
More than a month had passed since the last incident. The bombing at Xishan was never made public, only whispered about in certain circles as a cautionary tale. Word was that Qian Duoduo had been busy building a new one-stop base to replace what he had lost. He had contacted Jing Shu a few times, inviting her to visit in a few months and promising a surprise. He even bragged that if she fancied something, he will give it to her, his tone confident despite the destruction.
As for what a one-stop base actually did, Jing Shu genuinely didn't know. In her previous life, she had been at the bottom and knew nothing about that circle of elites.
Su Xiangnan, on the other hand, had a personality all his own, his competitive streak never fading.
However many times Qian Duoduo contacted her, Su Xiangnan will always call one more time. He kept saying he was not as stingy as Qian Duoduo, his voice sharp with rivalry. Jing Shu could only sigh. Qian Duoduo was preparing a surprise for her, and Su Xiangnan insisted he was not petty either. If she waited a bit longer, he will have a surprise for her too.
She felt a little excited about all this, but also vaguely irritable and worried, the unknown variables nagging at her mind.
Because Lin Yi hadn't been executed. He was being protected. When Jing Shu heard the news, she was dumbfounded, her jaw tightening.
"Why? Someone like that should be shot immediately. Did he hypnotize your leader's leader?"
Yang Yang said helplessly, his expression weary. "After the United States learned he was captured, they sent assassins to kill him. The secrets in Lin Yi's head are extremely valuable. Until the scientists fully figure things out, not only will he not be executed, he will be guarded closely."
So Jing Shu had no idea when Lin Yi will die. As long as he lived, she couldn't rest easy, the threat of his hypnosis a constant shadow. All she could do was keep tabs on the situation through her contacts. Fortunately, his ability was now known at the top, and they had already taken corresponding measures. There's no way they will let him escape again.
A few smaller things also happened over the month. Wu You'ai finally arrested the father and son who had been occupying Zhang Bingbing's home, sending them to labor reform. After only a few days, they were said to be skinned by exhaustion, their bodies failing under the relentless work.
The torrential rains continued. The floods hadn't receded, and anything salvageable in the city had already been salvaged by desperate hands. The rest could no longer be recovered. After months of soaking in the rising water, nothing was usable.