Silence fell all around. The employees at the Planting Industry R&D Management Department were all civil servants with families and connections. Su Lanzhi had never struck them as forceful, but today, more than half the staff saw another side of her.
As soon as they reached the department, the staff gossip circles were already buzzing about what happened: Director Su's daughter shot people and possessed terrifying strength, Director Su's husband ran over a dozen robbers with the car, and those robbers had been summoned by Yu Caini. Director Su was going to bring Yu Caini to heel, and so on.
Among the thirteen districts of Wu City, only the development zone's Planting Industry R&D Management Department was responsible for vegetables for all civil servants in Wu City.
As director, Su Lanzhi's duty was to provide 500 kilograms of vegetables daily to 5,000 civil servants, and 500 kilograms of vegetables daily to 500 leaders, with custom selections for certain leaders according to their tastes.
That meant every official employee could receive 100 grams of fresh vegetables per day. Compared with other departments that had to cultivate hundreds of thousands of tons of mold mushroom to feed hundreds of thousands of people, this was the difference between a small communal pot and a big communal pot.
The department pooled resources to cultivate vegetables with twelve hours of uninterrupted power. In a few days, they would begin supplying the first batch of greens.
From a distance, Su Lanzhi watched Yu Caini making fertilizer and munched on almonds. The big floodlights drew swarms of flying bugs that circled around Yu Caini.
Even with rain boots and a mask, the stench could not be blocked. Yu Caini stood in the dung pit, mixing manure with ash, Epsom salts, and dry grass with farm tools. The manure had to be crushed and fully aerated. At first, Yu Caini stomped with angry vigor, but soon she ran out of strength.
Before long, it was lunchtime. The department provided one meal per day. Lately it was rice mixed with soil, plus a simple dry-fried lettuce. A meal with vegetables was rare now, so security guards fought for the chance to get assigned here.
"If you do not finish that today, you do not eat, and you do not clock out," Su Lanzhi called from afar.
Yu Caini threw down her tools in fury and stomped over.
Jing An had just set up a small table and stools. Jing Shu opened an insulated box and took out a towering stack of beef steaks drenched in black pepper sauce, a dish of sweet-and-sour pickled radish, a big bowl of crispy fried fish, a big bowl of bean sprouts stir-fried with pork, and a simple spinach-and-dried-shrimp soup.
"What, planning to strike?" Su Lanzhi frowned. The smell coming off Yu Caini was overpowering.
Jing Shu lifted a steak with her chopsticks, bit off half in one go, followed with a bite of bean sprouts, then sipped soup. Yu Caini had marched over ready to argue, but the sight and smell derailed her completely.
In the blink of an eye, Jing Shu had eaten three steaks, half a bowl of fried fish, and most of a bowl of soup.
Breathing in the aroma, Yu Caini swallowed hard again and again, especially at the steaks. She recognized them all: the ones with bone were T-bone, there was also eye of round, and two precious sirloins she had saved in her own freezer long ago, which had later sprouted maggots and been eaten by carrion scavengers.
The last time Yu Caini had eaten meat was two months ago, when that old man had given her some frozen pork.
With a wail, Yu Caini burst into tears, gulping back saliva and brimming with grievance. She wanted to snatch the food, but Jing Shu kept the gun casually trained on her. She did not dare come closer.
There were sixteen steaks in total. Jing Shu ate ten while Yu Caini watched from start to finish, mouth unconsciously opening and closing as if she could taste it. She had nearly forgotten what meat tasted like, only that it smelled so, so good.
Life should have style. As for enemies, Jing Shu's favorite sight was watching them drool while she ate steak. Too pleasing.
"I can find people too. The ones I find are not so gentle. Ever heard of the Zhetian Gang? Their hobbies are torture and rape," Jing Shu said idly, letting the words chill Yu Caini.
Jing Shu had decided not to let Yu Caini die easily. Sometimes, living was the harshest punishment.
The third robbery attempt came right after Jing Shu's family finished eating. While Yu Caini's stomach rumbled loud with hunger, sirens and gunshots sounded outside.
The two sides were not even in the same league. Dozens of men and women charged with cleavers, only to be met by standard-issue police rifles. The officers fired precise shots, and the battle ended in under a minute. The attackers did not even make it over the gate before they broke and scattered into the night.
One thing was now certain: the ordinary people of Wu City had no food left at home. Some chose robbery. Others stripped bark from trees or looked for bugs to eat. Wild greens did not exist in this deadly heat that barely spared humans or animals. Only weeds still clung to life.
That night, back at home, Jing Shu learned that First Aunt Jing Pan's family had been robbed. All they knew was that First Aunt Jing Pan's leg had been slashed. With the county hospital closed, they could only bind it with cloth and hope it did not fester in this brutal daytime heat.
Grandma Jing packed her things to go check on them the next day. Jing An could not dissuade her, so he planned to drive Grandma Jing to visit First Aunt Jing Pan.
The next morning, after dropping Su Lanzhi at work, Jing Shu returned with three black pigs, lashed inside the big cargo box on the car roof. The whole family stared, jaws dropping.
"Where did you get so many pigs?"
"From the same man who sold me the black pig last time. Someone tried to rob his home the day before yesterday. I saved him, and these are his thanks. Grandma, we still owe First Aunt and Third Aunt one hundred thousand yuan. Money is worthless now. Let us settle the debt with a black pig. Meat is more precious than gold. You could not buy this for hundreds of thousands."
Jing An scratched his head. "How do you always stumble into everything?"
Grandma Jing gripped Jing Shu's hand, full of love. This clever child always knew what she worried about. Her eldest daughter's home had been robbed and had no grain. Grandma Jing was terrified her daughter would not have anything to eat. Jing Shu brought a massive pig to ease her fear.
"Meat is too precious. Why not send a few sacks of rice to settle the debt? There is no rice for sale outside either. Keep the pork. I will braise it for you," Grandma Jing said, her heart still biased toward Jing Shu. She knew her youngest son's household did not lack vegetables or rice.
To Jing Shu, the Thai jasmine rice in the basement was far more valuable than pigs. A black pig could produce ten piglets in half a year and needed little care. Rice had to be planted, harvested, and hulled. It was maddeningly troublesome.
Besides, a few months ago First Aunt Jing Pan had risked herself to bring them three crates of apples. They had borrowed her money and she had never asked for it back. Jing Shu could not pretend there was no debt. It was with borrowed money that they had bought so many supplies and built this good life. The extra black pigs were part of the plan anyway.
In the end, Jing Shu insisted. They kept two boars and strapped the sow to the car to visit the wounded First Aunt Jing Pan in the countryside. Jing Shu also brought Yunnan Baiyao and antibiotics.
They sped along the road. With Jing Shu, Grandma Jing, Grandpa Jing, and Jing An escorting the fat pig, they finally reached First Aunt Jing Pan's courtyard at the county seat, only to find a crowd gathered at the sealed gate, shouting about seizing a landlord's property and dividing his grain.