Jing Shu still loved drinking soups, so she cooked 1 cubic meter of seafood shrimp porridge, 1 cubic meter of carrot corn mutton soup, 1 cubic meter of mushroom chicken stew, 1 cubic meter of pork rib and lotus root soup, and 1 cubic meter of crucian carp tofu soup.
To save on electricity, Jing Shu also fried her own late-night snacks of steak and sausages and stored them to fill another 2 cubic meters.
Anyway, whenever Jing Shu had free time at home, she would cook all kinds of food, then hoard them like a hamster into the Cube Space. She even planned that when her grandparents came over, she would grind soybeans to make all kinds of tofu.
Su Lanzhi was still going to work every day, and every day she would complain that the Earth's Dark Days had not ended yet. More than 30 days had passed already. She also made Jing An go to the wholesale market to buy more supplies every day. Recently, everyone was anxiously waiting for the Earth's Dark Days to end while secretly hoarding more food.
As for fresh vegetables and fruits, that was impossible. Prices had soared to over 100 yuan per 500 grams, and there were no fresh ones left.
Bottled water, beverages, and cold drinks never reappeared on shelves again.
The shelves once packed full of snacks, condiments, grains, and cooking oil were quietly emptying out, and there never seemed to be any restocking. Now, each person was limited to 200 yuan worth of purchases, which was not much, but even a mosquito's leg counted as meat. Unless you went to scalpers and paid sky-high prices.
But since many small supermarkets were caught and had their hoarded goods confiscated for raising prices too much, scalpers became fewer. Ordinary citizens had no idea where the seized supplies went, but Jing Shu knew. Later, when people were nearly starving, those seized goods were redistributed as lifesaving relief.
Some shopkeepers thought that if raising prices was not allowed, they might as well close and hoard goods. But the very next day, two armed officials would be stationed at their doors like gate gods, forcing them to keep selling.
At Wu City's largest farmers' market, seafood, dried goods, grain, and oil sales were suspended. The authorities quietly took control. Jing Shu only found out later. Prices there had gone beyond outrageous, so the authorities directly confiscated everything in one sweep. To put it politely, they called it "requisitioning."
As the Earth's Dark Days showed no sign of ending, the authorities grew anxious. By calculation, after more than 20 days, there should have been faint light returning. But after so many days, it was still the same. Experts estimated at least another month. So the massive machinery of the state began to act.
Today was February 5, 2023, the Lantern Festival. Originally, the Spring Festival that should have been celebrated on January 22 was postponed to February 5, after the Earth's Dark Days were supposed to end. The plan was to have the reunion dinner on Lantern Festival. But no one had expected the Earth's Dark Days to still not be over.
To stabilize morale, the Spring Festival Gala and Lantern Festival program was broadcast live at exactly 20:00. This year, all the hosts wore their real clothes: dirty, wrinkled suits, scruffy beards, faded dresses, weary faces, and greasy hair. No makeup, no grooming.
"Sorry, dear viewers, I haven't taken a bath in half a month," said the female host, still carrying herself with elegant poise despite being bare-faced.
"What a coincidence, I haven't bathed in a month either," the male host added with a microphone in hand. Thus, the opening began.
That evening, power supply was guaranteed nationwide so every household could enjoy a reunion dinner and happily watch the Lantern Festival Gala.
Jing Shu and her parents went to her eldest uncle's house for the reunion dinner. This was their family tradition: New Year's Eve at her grandparents' house, Lantern Festival at her eldest uncle's.
Since vegetables were scarce, Su Lanzhi brought some dried goods, eggs, tomatoes, bean sprouts, cabbage, garlic shoots, preserved pork, and even a 2-liter bottle of Sprite.
Ordinary things in the past had now become treasures in demand.
Jing An even wanted to bring two fish. Their pond had bred another batch, and Jing Shu had fried many crispy fish with plenty left over. Jing Shu had been about to refuse, but Su Lanzhi refused first: "That's enough already. If my sister-in-law knows we have so many good things and don't share, she'll whisper complaints again."
The truth was that Su Lanzhi bore grudges like a small-minded woman. She still resented how her sister-in-law had acted when they borrowed money.
Jing An drove, and the three of them arrived at her eldest uncle's in the afternoon.
Her eldest uncle's home was in the old district of western Wu City. It was crowded, low-rise, with poor living conditions and yet high housing prices. The floods of the second year had not reached here, but in the third year, an earthquake buried her uncle's whole family of three under the rubble. Their end had been extremely tragic.
To prevent Su Lanzhi from reverting into a doormat again, Jing Shu had resolved that she must keep her uncle's family alive this time.
When Jing Shu's family arrived, there were already two other groups there.
"Oh, you came, but why bring so many things? That makes us feel embarrassed! Still, you're much better than certain people who freeload for free."
Her aunt Wang Fang opened the door and quickly took the things from Jing An's hands. When she saw the tomatoes, cabbage, and preserved pork, her eyes lit up. She could not stop smiling. Finally, for New Year, they could eat fresh vegetables and even save some for later.
"Come, come, hurry inside. This year, my eldest brother Wang Gang is celebrating with us. This is my sister-in-law Liu Shufen, you know her, and their daughter Wang Can. She's already 25, and thanks to my brother, she got a small leadership post up above." Wang Fang boasted proudly, then realized it sounded a bit inappropriate.
For the holiday, her aunt's family had carefully cleaned themselves up. They wiped down with water, washed their faces, and changed into clean clothes, but had not dared waste water on washing hair. Who would have thought that Jing Shu's family, apart from a little dust on their clothes, were spotless. Their hair was not oily at all, and they even smelled faintly of Blue Moon laundry detergent.
Compared to themselves, no matter how they dressed, they still carried a rustic air.
Jing Shu's family greeted them and stepped inside. The three-bedroom, two-living-room apartment had been finely decorated back when Jing An paid for it. Now it had grown shabby and carried an unspeakable foul odor. Containers of water were everywhere, and the small bedroom had been crammed with a freezer. Through its glass door, one could see it still held half a load of frozen meat.
Only the kitchen light, the living room TV, and the air conditioner were on, leaving the place a little dim. Every household now had a power quota, and if you exceeded it, the electricity would be cut off.
"Sprite! Jing Shu, you actually brought a 2-liter Sprite? That's amazing!" Su Long, her eldest uncle's youngest son, rushed up with eyes shining like a hungry wolf, trying to snatch it away.
Su Long was 17, wore glasses, and was short and skinny from snacking too much since childhood. He was the very brat who, in the previous life, insisted on returning home during the earthquake, dragging his family into their tragic death.
Jing Shu held him back with a finger on his forehead. "This is for everyone to drink together with the meal. Not now." In fact, Jing Shu had not wanted to bring the Sprite. Sprite was too versatile: Sprite with lemon, Sprite with sour plum juice, Sprite with milk—each mix had its own unique, refreshing flavor.
"Tch, what's the big deal," Zhang Hanhan sneered, hugging Wang Can's arm and glaring at Jing Shu with hostility. She whispered something into Wang Can's ear. Neither of them seemed to mind the heat, even though the air conditioner was set only at 28℃ to save power. Outside was still a blazing 47℃.
Zhang Hanhan was Su Meimei's daughter. Today, she had purposely worn a red dress, tied her hair in a bun, put on makeup, and sprayed perfume to mask her odor. Jing Shu thought art academy girls all ended up with the same influencer-style face after dressing up. Ten years ago in her past life, Jing Shu had also liked to dress this way.
Unexpectedly, Su Meimei and her husband Zhang Zhongyong were also here. Weren't these two supposed to have fallen out? Zhang Zhongyong had even wanted to trap Su Meimei in a pig cage…