All the way back home, Su Lanzhi couldn't stop blaming herself.
"If I had known earlier that Yu Caini was such a shameless person, I should have been prepared. The look in her eyes yesterday was already off, but I never thought anyone could be this malicious! I guess I really think too kindly of others."
Humans always seem to learn only after suffering losses. No amount of lectures can compare to a single harsh fall. To toughen up Baozi's parents, you have to let them get burned badly. Once isn't enough? Then let it happen twice.
Spirit Spring water, poured generously over the garlic shoots and mushrooms, caused them to shoot up again in just a few hours, growing even more lush than before. Jing Shu hesitated, worried that such experimental crops would draw suspicion because their yield far exceeded normal levels, only to realize she was overthinking it.
At the same time, Jing Shu understood why she had survived in her previous life. She thanked the heavens for sparing her and for letting her live ten years into the apocalypse despite eating so many unknown substances.
The thirteen district governments of Wu City were like birds competing to sing the loudest with their experimental crops. Spinach injected with a certain chemical matured in two days, and garlic, grafted and dosed with experimental agents, could produce six or seven bulbs from a single plant. Whether those freakishly large garlic bulbs were edible was still unknown.
Even though Su Lanzhi's oyster mushrooms were exceptional, her work only earned third place in the final evaluation.
First place went to a genetically modified oyster mushroom developed in the Xinshi District of Wu City. The mushrooms were injected with dozens of types of mold and chemicals, then soaked in a stinking green liquid. Each fungal bag could grow over a dozen bundles of oyster mushrooms, with layers of moss-like green mushrooms sprouting from them. The sight alone was nauseating. Jing Shu finally realized this was the vegetable she had once eaten until she vomited and swore off for good. To think it had been developed this early. It was like forcing a chicken to grow four or five wings.
A single fungal bag could feed twenty people in one meal.
The pros were obvious: high yield, low cost, easy extraction, and scalable production. The cons? Terrible taste, and mold residues that failed to evaporate fully would leave dangerous deposits in the body.
Second place went to genetically modified corn, altered into a new species that didn't require sunlight. It had high yield and minimal growing conditions, but it was still under study. Because of its immense potential, it ranked second.
Su Lanzhi was proud of her third-place ranking, especially after the leaders sampled her vegetables and lavishly praised them. In the end, her development zone was officially designated as "government-supply-only" farmland.
From now on, the other twelve districts would provide food for the general population, while Su Lanzhi's development zone would exclusively supply vegetables to the entire Wu City government. It was both a promising opportunity and an incredibly dangerous assignment.
As for Yu Caini's entry, it performed poorly. Her vegetables lacked the exceptional taste of Su Lanzhi's crops and fell short of the low-cost, high-yield model of the first-place mushrooms. Her work was no better than the other districts' experiments, which mostly relied on pouring in costly catalysts for mass production.
The result? She ranked seventh.
Yu Caini exploded on the spot. "She cheated! Her lab vegetables were all eaten by bugs! She must have stolen them from somewhere else!"
And so it proved again: winners write history, losers get ignored. The winner's words were taken as truth, while the loser's protests fell on deaf ears. Director Chief Niu Mou saw the matter was settled and stepped forward to resolve it perfectly.
Yu Caini was stripped of her title as "Deputy Director," demoted three ranks, and ordered to undergo three months of retraining under the Planting Industry R&D Management Department. If she refused, she would be sent home to "wait for reassignment," which was essentially the same as being fired in government units that almost never used the term "dismissal."
Clerk Liu, accused of "gross negligence" that caused heavy financial losses, was demoted by one rank and also sent for three months of retraining, with the same "wait at home" penalty if he refused.
"See? Evidence doesn't always matter. If someone wants to crush you, they can find any excuse." Jing Shu pointed out Niu Mou's ruthless tactics to Su Lanzhi. "In just one day, he wiped out all of Yu Caini's supporters, clearing every obstacle in your way before he officially took office."
Not only that, Niu Mou left her a "gift" by hiring Jing Shu as an honorary advisor to the development zone's management department. Her task was to oversee the frog-breeding insect control program without pesticides, with her pay determined by the area cleared and the effectiveness of her work.
In the days that followed, Su Lanzhi became busy with the transition and handover with Director Chief Niu.
Meanwhile, Yu Caini and Clerk Liu were forced to continue retraining every day. Their mornings were spent memorizing regulations, and their afternoons doing grunt work under the supervision of trainers. The dirtiest, hardest tasks—like spreading manure evenly to dry—fell to them. Within days, Yu Caini had lost weight and grown calluses on her hands.
On Monday, May 1st, 2023, as in Jing Shu's previous life, the government confirmed the artificial sun project would be built at the reservoir in Xinshi District and officially launched construction. The plan was to finish in four months and begin trial operation in early October, restoring water, electricity, and gas supply to the city.
At the same time, news spread that artificial suns would soon be built in other cities as well. Timelines varied, but the message was clear everywhere: "Hold on a little longer. When the artificial sun goes live, everything will be better. Whether or not there is sunlight, whether it's scorching in the day or freezing at night, there will be an endless supply of energy!"
But by this point, the people, who had endured five months of hardship, and those with ulterior motives, could no longer suppress their ambitions. Tensions began to stir.
Starting that day, all natural gas service in Wu City was shut down. From now on, cooking meant either using a rice cooker, an induction stove, or going back to coal and firewood.
Thankfully, no one had fresh vegetables, dried goods, meat, or frozen food anymore. Stir-frying was a luxury, and even cooking oil had long been depleted.
The only staple foods left were steamed rice and boiled noodles.
As long as families cooked a day's worth of food within the two-hour daily power window, the impact was minimal.
But a new problem arose.
A family of three now consumed 1.5 kg of rice a day. In the past, a 10 kg bag of rice lasted several months. With no side dishes now, a 10 kg bag lasted only six or seven days. Families that had a dozen bags last month suddenly found themselves with only a few bags left this month.
Even if a family queued at the supermarket daily, they often had to camp there for two days just to get a spot in line. And each person was limited to buying only 0.5 kg of rice, far less than their daily consumption.
That was still better than the situation for those who hadn't stockpiled enough grain. What about those families? What about the ones who had been living off charity since last month, while communities grew more insular?
And so, the first sparks were lit.
"Cheers!"
"Cheers!"
"Today, we celebrate three things! First, the official launch of the national artificial sun project! Second, Lanzhi's promotion to Director! Third, Jing Shu's respectable new job!" Jing An raised his glass of red wine.