Within just a few days of the other twelve Planting Industry R&D Management Departments in Wu City having their mushrooms eaten clean by carrion scavengers, those sites were overrun again, this time by armies of maggots. Inside all twelve departments, dense swarms of maggots were devouring the remaining carrion scavengers. A biological war was unfolding in real time.
"If we do not decide quickly, these maggots will mature into flies. Once that happens, the taste will be much worse, the texture will be poor, and the protein content will drop. The color, aroma, and flavor will all suffer. If people are going to eat this, they need to eat it tender for the best flavor."
With biologists doubling down on their recommendation, the government decisively announced that meat dishes would now be served to the public.
They even considered the issue of taste.
According to psychologists, first impressions matter, especially for flavor.
To help the public accept this easily found food source in the future, officials used the season's stockpiled spices and condiments to stage a Wugu Bugs Banquet. Citizens would sample different flavors and pick their favorites for regular rotation later.
For example, pepper-salt maggots: first deep-fry them, then shower on extra salt and chili powder. Bite down, and a burst of savory protein oozes out, fused with the roasted fragrance of the seasonings.
Or cumin-fried maggots.
Or a light mushroom stew with maggots, finished with chopped scallions and a pinch of salt.
Or stir-fried maggots with rice. They all look similar anyway, and this batch was excellent quality. Each larva was plump with nutrients, a full three centimeters long with a trailing tail. Every one of them could clear swathes of carrion scavengers.
"This batch of maggots is more than enough to replace mushroom rice. More importantly, if we do not regulate them, once waves of maggots mature into flies and lay eggs everywhere, they will eat the carrion scavengers clean and then become the next outbreak themselves. The best approach is to let maggots and carrion scavengers keep each other in check. That gives us a zero-cost solution to the food problem."
"So we should mobilize citizens to collect maggots. We can buy them with virtual currency to boost enthusiasm, then process them into cooked dishes and feed them back to the people, forming a positive cycle to get us through this tough time."
"As for grain reserves, use them only if there is no alternative. For the next two years, our country will hardly grow anything. Once the artificial sun is established, everything will improve."
…
Jing Shu soaked more than fifty kilograms of glutinous rice and washed every lotus leaf from the pond and from the Cube Space. She trimmed and stacked them. There were no bamboo leaves for wrapping zongzi, and even if she grew some, she had no good excuse for producing them. So she simply used lotus leaves, which tasted just as fragrant.
She also soaked red dates and various dried goods, prepped meat, and planned to make a lot: meat zongzi, red date zongzi, sea cucumber and shrimp zongzi, eight-treasure zongzi, red bean zongzi, and more.
Once boiled, cooled, and frozen, zongzi could keep for years.
For a foodie like Jing Shu, both the Cube Space and the freezers had to be packed full. Later, breakfast would be as easy as reheat and eat. The corn cakes from last time were already gone, so this round of zongzi had to be a big batch.
Jing Shu's favorite was the simplest classic red date zongzi. Drizzle on honey, pair it with the pure flavor of glutinous rice, bite down and it was soft, sticky, and fragrant, with honey's cooling sweetness blooming across the palate. Slurp. So good that just thinking about it made Jing Shu swallow.
[Wang Qiqi]: "@Everyone, the Dragon Boat Festival is almost here. The government has issued a benefit. Three days of buffet, 0.5 units per person, no limit on amount, but only thirty minutes each time and only once per day. I heard it tastes good. Hurry and get in line."
Wang Cuihua sent a voice message: "Did we make enough noise that they finally released food? Let's line up. We have been starving for days. What kind of mercy is the government showing this time? What are they giving us to eat?"
[Feng No. 3]: "I said as long as we dare to protest, the government will release food. With so many people, are they going to watch us die? Do we not have over three years of grain reserves in China? They should bring it out. This time I can eat my fill."
[Fat Girl No. 25]: "In the worst case, even unlimited mushroom rice would be fine. Not to brag, but I could eat the entire Ai Jia supermarket under the table."
With all the prep work done, it was time to wrap zongzi. Jing Shu read the group chat and smiled without comment. Foolish humans. What did they think was coming?
In her previous life, this had shattered her worldview. In the end she had to compromise. So as not to waste the 0.5 units, she sampled several flavors of maggots and found the pepper-salt version barely acceptable.
With a bit of downtime, Jing Shu toyed with the upgraded Cube Space while grinding more conical boulders inside. Ever since she started using the rebar-studded mace, she had thought: if there were a chance to make the conical "boulders" out of rebar, they would be reusable. But that would draw too much attention. Forget it. Use stone for now. There was a whole mountainside out back.
…
"Hurry up, all of you. Meal service starts any minute. Why are you hesitating? Headquarters said it clearly. If your dish is popular, you get promoted to group leader. If yours is not, you eat it yourself. First impressions must be delicious, or you will scar the public."
In the Ai Jia supermarket's newly converted mega-canteen, eighty cooks stood in two rows, each at a stovetop. They stared at barrels full of writhing maggots and nearly gagged. People envied them, but who knew their hardship?
These eighty-plus cooks had to prepare food for tens of thousands every day, yet they were far better off than the homeless crowd outside. They at least had a meal and earned virtual currency.
"Director, these maggots are coated with carrion scavengers and all sorts of filth. We are not washing them, just cooking straight away?"
The bald director glared. "If you have water, you wash."
However reluctant and disgusted they were, everyone pulled on gloves, grabbed maggots, and began cooking. They could not just cook randomly either. Even under such harsh conditions, it had to be tasty.
Third Aunt Jing Lai took a big packet of cumin and salt from her pocket, feeling conflicted. A few days ago, Jing Shu had given her these spices, saying she might need them. She did not expect to use them so soon.
After thinking it over, Jing Lai decided: pepper-salt maggots it is.
Coal roared, oil heated, maggots went in. At first, Jing Lai did not control the heat well and the bug juices splattered everywhere. After a few batches she found the rhythm. She sprinkled on Jing Shu's cumin, and the whole tray of maggots bloomed with fragrance.
After three straight hours of work, the cooks finished their various maggots flavors. Everyone scarfed down their own quick meal, because they were about to open the buffet and then had to sell the public on eating every last bug on their stations.
Today's staff meal was a pitiful serving of mushroom rice, but it was still much better than what the people outside had. Some mushrooms had a few carrion scavengers or maggots mixed in. Thinking about the fact that the public would be eating whole maggots, the cooks felt at peace with their lot.
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