Would it really be like this?
Jing Shu shook her head. The ones who had just robbed food were still riding the high. Their grain was not finished yet. They had tasted the thrill of getting food easily. After choking down the government rations they could not swallow, they would return to their old trade and look farther afield for prey, people like her, a fat sheep.
There was also a group like First Aunt Jing Pan who had stored plenty of grain, and even a batch of young people who had read too many apocalypse novels and stocked up early. They were not out of grain yet and had not reached the end of their rope.
That meant the robbers would always find something to seize. Add in the manipulation of forces behind the scenes and those gangs that killed purely for killing's sake, and Wu City would only grow more chaotic.
Still, for a city that had been in turmoil for half a month, this news undoubtedly lifted spirits. The group chat instantly erupted.
[Luo Zhu, No. 9]: "I heard that after they start distributing cooked food, each person will get even less water. With days this hot, I do not know if it will be enough to drink."
[Fat Girl, No. 25]: "My relative works for the government. I heard they will have fresh vegetables every day starting tomorrow. I do not know what the rest of us will get."
[Zhu Fan, No. 7]: "Whatever it is, as long as there is food, I will take it. I am sick of eating tree bark. I used to turn my nose up at plain white rice. Earth's Dark Days have lasted half a year already. When will the sun return?"
Wang Cuihua sent a voice message: "We plan to bike to Ai Jia at 3 a.m. to line up. Anyone coming along?"
[Feng, No. 3]: "Auntie, take me with you."
Wang Cuihua said, "How many times have I said do not call me Auntie. I will only recognize grandsons, not nephews."
Feng was left speechless again. Wang Cuihua ended the thread as usual.
Jing Shu's family set out at 4:30 a.m. the next day. They dropped off Su Lanzhi at work first, then the two elders, Jing An, Jing Shu, and Wu You'ai continued by car to Ai Jia. They were truly grateful to have bought the seven seat BYD Song Max. The space was huge.
All the way there, Wu City was pitch black. Even the dedicated shuttle buses had stopped running lately, but the dust was quietly lessening. They simply kept the energy car's wheels along the curb.
The energy car's shattered window had been replaced by Jing An with a panel cut from discarded glass. Jing Shu thought about where she might get bulletproof glass and how to raise the chassis. The roads would only get worse. An off-road vehicle really was better.
Third Aunt Jing Lai now got up at 3 a.m. daily to catch the government shuttle to work, especially busy lately. She had been assigned to Ai Jia to prepare cooked food.
Even Jing Shu had not expected that Third Aunt Jing Lai would, through her, enter the system job that in her previous life she had thought so highly of.
Wu You'ai, with dark circles under her eyes, refused to get up for the supermarket. "I would rather not eat or drink than leave my bed."
She was finally defeated by a bowl of tangyuan from Grandma Jing. Wu You'ai loved tangyuan. Jing Shu ate three bowls in a row and still did not understand the appeal.
Jing Shu understood how Wu You'ai felt. She used to love sleeping in, but ever since drinking Spirit Spring she no longer felt drowsy. She could not remember what a deep, satisfying sleep felt like. She closed her eyes and fell asleep, opened them and it was time to get up. She did not even dream. The sleep experience was terrible.
On Monday, May 22, at exactly 5 a.m., after dropping off Su Lanzhi, the family arrived at Ai Jia.
The place had changed enormously. Jing An parked the energy car along the road. Armed with sticks and makeshift weapons, carrying four liter mineral water bottles, they moved into the flow of people.
Because of the robberies, everyone carried both weapons and bowls or chopsticks. It looked ridiculous. Against that backdrop, Jing Shu's family looked like they were out for a stroll.
The supermarket was now ringed by high walls. The entrance had offset channels to prevent a rush like the last attack. Bright lights shone over the long line at the gate.
A row of armed police stood at the door with guards behind shields. Searches and security checks were mandatory. Any weapons had to be stored on the side. Jing Shu's family turned back to put their weapons in the car.
At five in the morning, the temperature was 2°C. It was cold.
Her grandparents both wore padded coats and pants. Jing Shu wore coral fleece pajamas under a one piece suit and still felt the chill. Even after drinking Spirit Spring for half a year, she still could not withstand cold or heat. She should have brought a hand warmer. Of course, compared to the minus forty degrees to come, today was a drizzle.
The people in line wore filthy heavy clothes. Their hair was a matted mess with chunks of dirt clinging from sweat and dust.
By Jing Shu's estimate, at least half a year without washing their hair. In her previous life, she had simply shaved it off rather than breed a nest of lice.
Each person held a bowl in one hand and a stick in the other like a band of beggars. Yet in their eyes you could still see hope, unlike the numb indifference ten years later. Everyone imagined that once the artificial sun was complete, energy problems would be solved.
They cleared security quickly. The former parking lot had been converted into a temporary armed police base.
Just then the national anthem began to play. A flag raising squad in uniform marched in step and raised the flag. Everyone stopped instinctively and saluted.
Under dim lights in the dark night, Jing Shu watched the flag rising and felt a swelling pride. Whatever else, during ten years of apocalypse, the Chinese had the largest number of survivors and lived the best. There were many bad people, but many also gave everything for the country.
If she had to sum it up in one line, it would be this: in this life, no regrets to be Chinese.
"There is no sunlight, but we still raise the flag every Monday. Each day at five in the morning we will distribute free food until the artificial sun is completed.
The country will not watch its people starve. Everything will get better. We will punish criminals severely. Those with recorded robberies or murders will not receive food. Please think carefully before you act," the loudspeakers repeated.
This was the gentle policy in the early apocalypse, meant to reduce robbery and murder. In the end it failed, because people did not cherish what was free.
Jing Shu knew that free food would not last long before another reform. Want food? Fine. Then work for it. Or exchange something for it.
The old supermarket had been emptied and divided into two sections.
One was the water distribution area.
The other had ten former cashier stations turned into meal windows. Everyone filed through an S shaped path. One ladle per person. Take it and move on. If you had a bowl, use it. If not, use your hand or the front of your clothes.
"What are they serving today?" Grandma Jing asked, peeking ahead.
"Rice boiled with mushroom," Jing Shu said, face tightening.
The heap of unwashed mushroom boiled with rice into a black green mash sent moldy fumes through the entire supermarket. It made her stomach turn. In her previous life she had eaten it for ten years and had vomited from it.
Some people crouched in the corners scarfing it down, too hungry to care.
Others took two bites, then tossed it. Jing Shu could only sneer at the waste. "Today's meal is the good stuff. In a while it will be maggots. There will not even be rice. Let us see if you regret it then."