[Wang Qiqi No. 13]: "I suggest everyone line up even earlier. Take the 9 o'clock shuttle to Ai Jia supermarket. Big supermarkets in the city center have scalpers holding places from early morning, each spot costing 500 yuan. Many people wait until closing time and still don't get their turn."
[Wang Dazhao No. 1]:"Then I'll go line up tomorrow morning. My wife is pregnant, she really wants some vegetables and fruit. If anyone has a scalper's contact, please share it. Thank you!"
[Wang Qiqi No. 13]: "Now you can only get them from the countryside, but the prices are high. I'll give you the number. Approximate prices are: apples 500 yuan per 500 g, mushrooms 200 yuan per 500 g, potatoes 300 yuan per 500 g, cabbage 500 yuan per 500 g, winter melon 400 yuan per 500 g, pumpkin 500 yuan per 500 g, carrots 600 yuan per 500 g. Buy them quickly, the prices will only keep rising."
Wang Dazhao gratefully thanked him and also advertised his car in the group chat, putting his small BMW up for sale at 50,000 yuan.
He was immediately mocked by the luxury car dealer from Building 5: "Stop embarrassing yourself with that broken BMW. I can't even sell my Range Rover for 100,000. Anyone want a Maserati for 200,000? But the car's still at the factory, you'll need to get it towed yourself. Once Earth's Dark Days end, you won't find prices like this again! If no one's interested, I'll ask again later."
Wang Cuihua sent a voice message: "Whoever buys a car now is an idiot. Without fuel, you can't even drive it home."
Jing Shu noticed that Wang Cuihua was a conversation killer. Whenever she spoke, the whole chat went silent.
"Grandma, look. Cabbage, apples, and pumpkins are all the same price now, up to 500 yuan per 500 g," Jing Shu said to Grandma Jing, who was cooking dinner.
"Quick, call your eldest aunt and tell her not to sell her apples. If the price has risen this high, it means there really aren't any left."
"Alright. But you remember when cabbage was 10 yuan, you thought it was too expensive."
Grandma Jing slapped her thigh in regret: "Back then pumpkin was only 20 yuan and I didn't buy it. Now suddenly I'm craving pumpkin cakes."
So when Jing Shu brought over four or five big pumpkins, Grandma Jing's delighted little eyes could not hide her joy. Jing Shu explained: "Two months ago I already stored a lot of vegetables and seeds. Grandma, if you want to eat something, just tell me."
"Oh my sweet granddaughter!"
…
Jing Shu calculated the timing. Not long ago, the countryside had already been requisitioned for supplies, like the apples at her aunt's house. The vegetables currently being sold were mostly from the early days of the apocalypse, homegrown crops stored in root cellars. Who knew if these people, blinded by money, would regret it later when there were no vegetables left.
Fruits and vegetables like apples, pumpkins, and carrots could last about half a year with refrigeration, but this was basically the last batch of diverse produce.
Once these were gone, only single types of vegetables would remain.
These either came from government greenhouses that consumed half the city's energy, or from locals who built makeshift plastic-covered sheds with air conditioning and irrigation, or from extremely hardy plants that barely managed to sprout. But the yield, compared to millions of mouths, was almost nothing.
In another month, even with 1000 yuan you might not be able to buy a cabbage.
Without sunlight, with drought and heat, 90 percent of vegetables had already been wiped out. Four months into the apocalypse, only a few things survived: mushrooms, chives, garlic, crown daisy, spinach. These crops didn't need sunlight, only controlled temperatures and water.
Governments across Wu City districts were experimenting in greenhouses, trying to mass-produce these vegetables. Unfortunately, results were poor, mostly because costs were astronomical while yields were minimal.
This time Su Lanzhi had been appointed Deputy Director of the Earth's Dark Days Planting Industry R&D Management Department, alongside her former superior, Yu Caini. The two of them were tasked with managing research for one of Wu City's thirteen districts.
In other words, Su Lanzhi had been promoted three levels straight to Deputy Director, while Yu Caini also moved up one level. Yu Caini, who always tried to cause trouble for Su Lanzhi, never expected that instead of getting rid of her, they had ended up on equal footing. Worse yet, they were now forced into direct competition.
Su Lanzhi peeled a grape and popped it into her mouth, fuming. "They want me to compete with Yu Caini. Whoever performs better this month will secure the position. Then the thirteen districts will compete, and the winning district will decide the site for the artificial sun project."
At that moment, Grandpa Jing, Jing An, Aunt Jing Lai, and Wu You'ai were all sitting neatly at the dining table, waiting for dinner.
When he heard this, Grandpa Jing asked in surprise: "A sun can be made? Like a real sun in the sky giving off light? My goodness, that would be something. So that means it won't matter whether Earth's Dark Days end or not?"
Su Lanzhi struggled to explain.
Jing Shu, who had been brainwashed by endless news in her previous life, explained: "Grandpa, it's not what you think. The real sun is a high-temperature, high-pressure fusion furnace, producing light energy through continuous nuclear fusion. An artificial sun is actually a superconducting Tokamak device capable of sustaining large-scale nuclear fusion reactions under extreme conditions. It's not hung in the sky. It's placed in water to generate nuclear fusion, providing humanity with endless clean energy."
Su Lanzhi nodded in relief. "Yes, that's more or less it. That's why next month, all energy may be cut off to support the artificial sun project."
"Power, gas, fuel, all cut off for this? If the artificial sun isn't in the sky, how does it provide energy?" Grandpa Jing still didn't get it.
As someone reborn, Jing Shu was finally able to show off her little bit of knowledge: "In 2018, China's artificial sun achieved a one-hundred-million-degree run for the first time, costing millions per second and consuming endless resources. But it's still some distance from fully controlled fusion.
Once artificial sun fusion is achieved in seawater, the energy can be used to simulate photosynthesis indoors to grow food. It can also help solve water shortages and even generate fuel for vehicles through electrolysis."
Grandpa Jing, Jing An, and Aunt Jing Lai all wore expressions of "we don't understand, but it sounds amazing." Jing Shu sighed and stopped explaining.
Wu You'ai, ever the little skeptic, pointed to the dishes on the table: "These fish of yours don't conform to biological logic, and these bean sprouts, even if they're mutated, shouldn't sprout so much. No, I need to call the professor and ask."
Jing Shu quickly shoved a pumpkin cake into Wu You'ai's mouth. "Eat your food. If the professor finds out you still have fish while he doesn't, think about the consequences."
"Even your pumpkins are wrong…"
That evening, the news broadcast really did cover the artificial sun and its supposed future benefits. It was just another grand promise to placate the people during Earth's Dark Days, keeping them quiet. In this life too, the artificial sun project had begun.