On the first day of June, Jing Shu received her first paycheck.
Su Lanzhi also got her first salary since the apocalypse began. It was not much, but the significance was immense.
And now, even though money seemed nearly useless, it could still be traded for daily necessities at high prices. That was better than having nothing.
Third Aunt Jing Lai, after deducting the meals she packed every day, was still able to exchange her remaining wages for some food and water. Last time Zhetian attacked the petroleum community, they had also planned to raid the Ai Jia supermarket, but Ai Jia was now occupied by government forces and remained completely untouched.
The government's strategy had been in place for exactly a month. After a month of internal employee testing, the virtual currency system was officially launched. For now, virtual currency could only be used to purchase food and water, while other goods still required paper money.
Thus, the era of virtual currency in the first year of the apocalypse had begun. It would slowly replace cash, marking the quiet arrival of the era of big data and zero privacy.
Normally, a transitional period like this would have caused a massive upheaval of interests. But the truth was, the upper classes had already divided the cake in advance.
From this day forward, virtual currency officially entered the apocalypse economy.
In her previous life, Jing Shu's perspective had been far too low to notice these changes. In this life, she was finally witnessing every detail unfold around her.
Reports of robberies could now earn a reward of one to one hundred units of virtual currency. This policy kept eighty percent of Wu City's citizens watching their surroundings closely, ready to report at the first sign of trouble.
With armed patrols and satellite surveillance verifying reports, the new big data analysis system tracked every individual's daily movements and assessed the likelihood of their involvement in crime.
When the government later announced that Jack Ma had been appointed as the CFO of big data, along with its capabilities, everyone understood. That was why, even in areas without patrols or cameras, certain people were caught simply by showing up at meal distribution centers. Big data was that powerful.
These days, only a fool would openly talk about having food at home. A single mention would put a target on your back.
Grandma Jing, who once liked to chat with other elderly women in the community, now no longer stepped out of the house. The sight of boxes of supplies in the kitchen and five fully stocked refrigerators filled her with a deep sense of security.
Meanwhile, Wu City had gone without food for three days because the carrion scavengers had devoured most of the mushrooms.
To be precise, mushroom rice, which had been the staple supply, was gone. Only plain white rice remained, priced at two units of virtual currency per serving. Many families had exchanged everything they had for only ten or so units, barely enough to cover water and food for a few days. Before, mushroom rice had cost only 0.5 units, just enough for a household to get by.
There were also plain buns and shrunken meat portions, but those could only be obtained in exchange for kitchen knives or other weapons.
By the fourth day, carrion scavengers were rampaging through the city, devouring crops and everything edible. At this point, most households had already traded away their clothes and scavenged weapons for food, and had eaten through their stockpiles. Now, they not only faced starvation but also the danger of being bitten by carrion scavengers.
On the sixth day, Wu City rolled out a new food option at 0.3 units per serving, cheaper than mushroom rice had ever been.
The Dragon Boat Festival was just around the corner. After delivering food to Wu You'ai, Jing Shu began preparing ingredients for zongzi with Grandma Jing.
Jing Shu knew something major would happen today, an event that had shattered her worldview in her previous life. When the entire city was rioting over the lack of food, Wu City somehow delivered yet again.
Yes, the science channel's prediction that carrion scavengers would dominate the world and sit atop the food chain had been utterly disproven. A few days earlier, a new natural enemy of carrion scavengers had appeared: Wugu bugs.
Commonly known as maggots.
In this scorching heat, maggots were thriving everywhere, especially now that the high temperatures were peaking.
Jing Shu guessed that the carrion scavengers had initially caught the maggots off guard, overrunning their food sources and leaving flies with nowhere to lay eggs. Any fresh food would be overrun by carrion scavengers almost immediately.
But now, maggots seemed to have evolved a new survival strategy. Even if carrion scavengers occupied the food first, flies would simply lay eggs nearby and slowly encroach on their rivals.
Flies began to display their astonishing adaptability, laying eggs in strategic positions around carrion scavenger nests.
Although they developed more slowly than carrion scavengers and would still lose food at first, once the maggots hatched, they grew much larger and could crawl over to devour carrion scavengers.
Wherever there was food and carrion scavengers, there would soon be swarms of hungry maggots, ready to clean up the infestation once they hatched.
Jing Shu recalled a saying: Life is like chess. I am willing to be a pawn. Though I move slowly, have you ever seen me take a step back? Wugu bugs arriving at the battlefield in three seconds!
Jing Shu thought maggots were brilliant biological strategists, like a commercial competitor. Just as where there is Vivo there will be Oppo, now wherever there are carrion scavengers, maggots will follow.
After the mushrooms cultivated by the other twelve Planting Industry R&D Management Departments in Wu City were completely eaten by carrion scavengers, swarms of flies miraculously arrived, laying eggs and breeding large numbers of larvae.
While everyone was panicking and out of ideas, biologists spoke up.
Fly larvae were rich in protein and, when processed, actually tasted good. They could satisfy those constantly clamoring for meat.
In fairness, the authorities were doing their part.
At first, people complained there were no vegetables, so vegetables were provided. Now, with complaints about the lack of meat, they were being given plump, nutritious, protein-rich meat substitutes. Technically, it was still meat.
So what was there to complain about now? Those who kept making noise should remember: just because the government wasn't retaliating now didn't mean they wouldn't settle accounts later. That, however, was a topic for another day.
For now, fly larvae were about to officially join the apocalypse dining menu.
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If you forget, in here "五谷" is being used not in its literal, historical sense (insects in grains), but as a vivid, colloquial term for maggots. Next, mostly I will write Wugu Bug as maggots, just like how I write "静爸" Jing's Dad, and "静妈" Jing's Mom with their name.
"Wugu" (五谷) is a profound classical Chinese concept meaning "the five grains" (rice, two kinds of millet, wheat, and pulses). It represents staple crops and, by extension, agriculture and sustenance itself.