Calling it a VIP area wasn't an exaggeration. In this whole park, only this parking lot could be called clean. The houses inside had been flooded for a year and were full of tangled water plants and dark patches of mold, completely unlivable. The lawns of the open-air park had turned into thick, soggy mats of hairy seaweed that clung to everything. Sleeping outside at night was just asking to freeze to death.
Wang Dongpo was a tall boy, about one meter seventy, with a shy smile and a worn-out military coat that looked several sizes too large for his frame. He explained that this was the shelter under the charge of the Third Division. Now they were merging two zones together, so it was obvious how crowded things would get as more people arrived.
"You guys really picked a good spot," he said. "The parking lot is right on the right after entering the park. A little further ahead is the muddy part that has been soaked for a year, step in and it's just one deep pit after another, and it stinks like rotting corpses. The place is too big for us to clean up. This park was supposed to be for people from the Third Division's Ling Mountain base, but that place is pretty far. By the time they walk here it will be night, and there won't be any spots left."
When he saw delicate Jing Shu putting on her gas mask, he thought it was a bit much, but honestly, the smell was nasty, a heavy mixture of rot and stagnant water. The huge RV parked alone in the corner looked almost out of place against the bleak landscape. Jing An handed the young man a handful of dried soybeans and asked, "So, what are your rules here?"
He had learned the trick of greasing palms now too.
"Thanks, Uncle, but I have got to be clear," Wang Dongpo said. "Like we agreed before, entering means you cover the day's fee. If the quakes stop and you leave tomorrow, there's no extra charge. But if you stay past tomorrow night, then the extra fee kicks in. This is a VIP passage after all. According to the rules, it's 100 virtual coins per day. If you don't want to pay, you can move to the regular zone. The garbage zone is free too. But this parking lot is the safest and cleanest place in the park. Look, that's the ordinary zone over there."
He pointed with his flashlight. The former lawn was still faintly recognizable, a few benches buried in green fuzz, the ground riddled with muddy pits. Jing An frowned. Living there would be no different from living in a swamp. He didn't even want to imagine what it would look like once tens of thousands of people flooded into that pit.
Jing Shu blinked as the boy went on. "These fees are the same no matter which shelter you drive to. Big Data has the records; we're not just scamming money. And there are only so many good places. Everyone wants them. This is fair, right? Whoever pays gets to stay. Ordinary folks staying in the mud zone at least get some comfort knowing it's fair."
Jing An nodded. "Alright then."
Jing Shu didn't know about this rule in her past life, but she had heard similar things. It was like train tickets: hard seats and standing were free, while sleepers cost money. Back then, they always lived in the filthiest, messiest places for free, while the wealthy got the clean, flat areas. She thought it was fair enough. In her past life, she had envied those drivers who parked in the open fields, while she and others had to shovel garbage and work themselves to death.
She remembered hearing that one night in a good place cost dozens of virtual coins. At the time, she thought dozens of coins could buy a dozen steamed buns, and only an idiot would spend that much. She couldn't imagine how anyone could be that extravagant, just like she had never imagined people dropping tens of thousands of yuan on a single night in a five-star hotel before the apocalypse.
But now, in this life, virtual coins were nothing but numbers to her.
Still, from her experience, this was just the start. The higher-ups were sharpening their knives, getting ready to fleece the rich and resourceful. Another disaster had hit, today's earthquake had caused massive losses, and she had no intention of being the bird that stuck its head out.
Seeing both of them nodding, Wang Dongpo continued. "Also, no showing off food. Don't eat in public or you will cause panic and robberies. If danger hits, evacuate fast. You have a car, so you will move quicker, and that will ease our burden. But in an emergency, the country might assign women and kids to your vehicle for evacuation. I will be your personal manager here in Xuanwu Lake Park. I'm Wang Dongpo, but just call me Xiao Wang. Here is my WeChat."
Jing An told Jing Shu to add his WeChat. Offhandedly, he said, "Good name. It's almost on par with Su Dongpo."
Scratching his head, Wang Dongpo looked embarrassed. "My dad just liked eating Dongpo pork knuckle, so he gave me this name. He hoped I would get to eat it every day."
Jing Shu and Jing An: "..."
Treating a kid's name like it was nothing was quite casual. A name follows a person through a whole lifetime, like a book's title.
Thankfully, their supplies were decent. Jing Shu put on rain boots and a sealed raincoat before climbing out of the RV. The ground was nothing but soggy mud, crawling with bugs that swarmed near the standing water. In just a short time she had already been bitten on her ankle.
Grandpa Jing grabbed a shovel and started digging. The first scoop clanged on concrete beneath the silt. Luckily, it wasn't too deep. He shoveled the mud from their assigned plot into the swampy area nearby. The stench rising from the disturbed earth was suffocating, like fermented manure, enough to make anyone gag.
By one in the afternoon, Grandma Jing had started cooking lunch in the RV with practiced ease. The ground still rumbled now and then, but since the park sat in a flat valley, even the roaring of the quakes was faint.
Su Lanzhi and Jing An fiddled with their patchy phones, trying to send WeChat messages. Calls were impossible to hear, and even messages took forever to go through. Most of the signal towers had collapsed in the quake. The ones still standing were too far to reach properly.
"The Planting Industry Department is still intact. I want to check it out."
"The Livestock Breeding Center collapsed. Everyone is evacuating. I want to go help."
"My head is killing me again!" Jing Shu suddenly complained.
She knew some places hadn't just collapsed; they had vanished altogether. For all she knew, the Planting Department and Breeding Center were gone too. In a few days, the truth would be clear. For now, the smartest thing was to stay put.
The headache was real. She was burning mental energy using her illusion to steer both of her parents' thoughts at the same time. Her face even went pale, which finally convinced Su Lanzhi to drop the idea of checking on the Planting Department. If it hadn't been hit, then things would go on as usual, with or without her.
During the downtime, Jing Shu threw herself into practicing the Rubik's Cube. After days of effort, she was brushing against the threshold of advancement. She could sense the shift in the air but still couldn't meet the Cube Space's demands. Maybe she lacked the right trigger. Maybe she lacked control. It was probably both. All she could do was keep training, hoping to advance before heading to the US.
But things didn't turn out the way she wanted. No one expected their trip to the US to come this fast.