"But I have one extra condition." Jing Shu's lips curved into a faint smile. The original terms had only been to break even. After all, the Spirit Spring was precious, and she had wanted to leave a few more seeds for the Capital. Back then, she didn't have any other demands anyway.
Now, though, the situation had shifted.
"An extra condition? Well, that's fair. As long as it's not over the top or makes the higher-ups bleed too much, they will probably agree. But you had better keep it within reason," Tank said, his expression becoming serious. He knew that if she handled it right, people would respect her more. If she didn't, she would make enemies fast.
Jing Shu raised an eyebrow and asked slowly, "The national functional zoning plan—it's already been released, right? And it's about to start nationwide?"
Tank blinked in confusion and nodded. That was the biggest news recently, circulating through every official channel. But he couldn't see what that had to do with what she had just said.
Before he could ask for clarification, she continued. "My extra condition is simple. I want the planning and management rights for Wu City's waste station."
In other words, from now on, the city's garbage would be under her control.
"Huh??" Tank looked stunned. He stammered, his eyes wide as he processed the request. "You... you want to be the director of a garbage station? Why?"
She coughed lightly, looking away for a moment. "Don't say it like that. Garbage is actually a good thing, you know."
Who would have thought that one day trash would become a treasure more valuable than gold?
Jing Shu rubbed her chin, her eyes gleaming with a calculating light. She really hadn't wanted to rely on scavenging, but she was running out of fuel. As her factories expanded and natural gas became scarcer, the cost of trading energy with Xishan would inevitably rise. When the temperature dropped to minus seventy degrees, the factories and their workers would need more fuel just to stay alive. She would have to look out for her relatives too, such as Su Yiyang's family and Jing Pan's family. Her own supply of gas and coal was already tight.
There was always more than one way to solve a problem like this.
Time really flew. After professions like maggot breeder and insect diver, the next booming career across the continent would be the scavenger. People who picked through trash would become the backbone of the economy.
This all started five years ago with the push for garbage sorting. Back in the day, the viral campaign "What kind of trash are you?" had swept through Shanghai and all of China. It made newcomers shiver as they learned to sort their waste properly. Years had passed since then.
People had come to understand garbage a lot better over time. But who could have guessed that, in just a few years, how well you sorted your trash would determine whether you would be eating bugs or patties?
In the apocalypse, scavengers were those who could instantly tell the difference between dry and wet trash. They could gauge how much energy it could release and search tirelessly for anything flammable or reusable in the coming Ice Age. They roamed through the darkness of the city, collecting greasy scraps that could be exchanged for food at the waste station. Corpses, rebar pulled from walls, rotten wood, doors, windows, and even plastic flooring were all fair game. Anything but stone could be salvaged.
The latest big news was that the government had launched a new urban-rural construction plan. This officially marked the rise of scavengers as a recognized class.
With dwindling energy resources, the state had gathered the population together to conserve fuel and build self-sufficient communities. They aimed to form independent ecological systems that produced and consumed locally. To do that, the old waste recycling stations had to come back to life. Lumber, coal, and natural gas were simply too expensive to rely on anymore.
So the government decided to move waste stations right into residential areas.
Recyclables would be sent to higher-level stations. Meanwhile, all non-recyclable but flammable trash would be burned as fuel to provide heat, boiling water, and communal meals for the residents.
It wasn't so much a waste station anymore as it was a massive boiler room. It functioned as a grand heating center. The combustion temperature inside those furnaces could exceed seven hundred degrees Celsius.
In this freezing apocalypse, living near a waste station meant living in heaven. The warmth alone could keep you alive when the frost began to bite.
At first, plenty of people were against the idea of moving a waste station into their neighborhood. But when the weather got cold enough to kill, everyone was fighting to sleep next to one.
Too bad that in her previous life, the waste station hadn't been near Banana Community. This time, she would make sure that sweet spot ended up right next to it. Of course, she wanted both the planning and management rights. There was also a personal reason for this; she knew the waste station could help stabilize the ground and prevent the massive mudslide expected in the fourth year. She wanted her villa safe when that time came.
Tank looked half-convinced by her explanation. "You're serious?"
Jing Shu nodded. "While people still don't really understand this stuff, and since the plan is from the Capital, this request isn't too much, is it? It's just like building schools or hospitals before the apocalypse, or deciding where to demolish and where to rebuild."
The man hesitated. "That's a bit tricky. You know anything related to energy has already been reserved. Energy is getting tighter by the day, and even garbage that can be burned is turning into a resource."
Seeing her expression darken, he quickly added, "But Wu City is easier to deal with. Your request isn't excessive. As long as your method can make the seed germination rate recover, this will be easy to push through."
It was as she expected. While the poor struggled just to survive, the powerful were already dividing the spoils of the new world. It seemed she had better start stockpiling more trash to survive the coming snowbound world.
"I will be waiting for your good news, then."
Jing Shu smiled as she saw Tank and the stuffed Xi Xi off. Another friendly deal was sealed.
"See you in three months, Sister Jing!"
"See you."
~
"Hey, did you hear? They're building a waste station right in Banana Community! The old site's machines are already being moved over. It's going to start running soon." The rumor spread quickly through the halls.
"Yeah, and apparently they have made new rules. Everyone has got to use the waste station for their business now. There are separate spots for pee and poop. They're collecting it for materials or something, and you get 0.1 virtual coin each time."
"No kidding, give me enough water and I will make them bankrupt in a day."
"Don't say that, man! You think they're going to recycle our crap into food or something?"
"Shut up already. No way. It's not like we're starving that bad yet. The government still has reserves, and we've got worm patties now. They're probably studying fertilizer or something."
"By the way, have you heard about the new scavenger profession?"
"Nope. What's that?"
~
Jing Shu hummed a cheerful tune, swaying lazily on a rocking chair in the warm courtyard of her villa. Every now and then, she picked up a piece of fried chicken from the table and took a bite. The meat was crisp and savory.
Grandpa Jing had built the rocking chair just recently, and she had fallen in love with this peaceful, elderly kind of life.
Everyone in the family was busy with their own things. Grandma Jing was feeding her mutant chickens, Grandpa Jing was tinkering with his woodwork, and Jing Shu narrowed her eyes, wondering if there was anything she had missed.
"Granddaughter, let's go back to Wu County for the New Year this year," Grandma Jing said suddenly, turning while feeding the chickens.
===
Author's Note:
A while ago, Grandpa passed away.
The whole family kept it from my father. The good news was, they'd used every possible treatment, and the illness had stabilized.
Oh, right—and thank you all so much for your love and support. I really mean it. Love you all!