Jing Lai quietly took out a big bowl of rice and began eating. She could not help but recall what Jing Shu had said: "Third Aunt, you have not been eating well these days. Grandma made food for Mom, and she made some for you too. Mom cannot finish hers, so take this. Otherwise, it will go to waste."
Jing Lai's eyes grew wet. Jing Shu was sharp, but she had said this just to spare Jing Lai's pride.
Otherwise, her sister-in-law got four dishes every day, while Jing Lai's meals were mixed into a single bowl to avoid standing out.
This was clearly food prepared specially for her. Jing Lai treasured this kindness deeply. At the end of the day, it was blood relatives who truly cared.
"Jing Lai, your family gave you food again? You're really lucky. You get food at work and still bring your own. Look at me, I save half a meal every day to bring home. My entire month's wages go to buying food for my child."
Jing Lai had hidden herself in a corner, but a few colleagues still noticed.
"It smells so good. I think I smell ribs. Let me see!" someone with a sharp nose came closer.
"No, look. It's just moldy brown rice." Jing Lai handed the bowl over generously. In the dim light, it was just a dark lump of rice.
"I swear I smell potatoes too."
"You're hallucinating. At this point, even shit would smell good."
Jing Lai quietly swallowed a piece of boneless meat, along with the braised ribs and potatoes she had hidden under a layer of sesame seeds mixed into the rice. She finished it all quickly. "Come on, eat up. We have to get back and finish those maggots."
Those working in the canteen were lucky to occasionally get white rice. The government was tightly controlling grain. Ordinary people could only trade work points for a cheap ration of relief meals.
…
That afternoon, Jing An drove to pick up Su Lanzhi after work and took the whole family to Ai Jia supermarket to collect their water quota.
The five tons of water they had traded for previously had gone to watering crops and feeding poultry. After daily use, only three tons remained. In this extreme heat, Jing Shu's villa also needed constant ice production to cool the courtyard.
Without the ice, even with a canopy, the heat would have been suffocating, and the fish in the pond could not survive. No matter how little water was distributed, they had to collect it.
When they arrived, the area was already packed with S-shaped lines of people. Their lips were cracked, but their eyes were bright with anticipation. Everyone knew that to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, there would be three days of all-you-can-eat buffet meals. That news had sent waves of excitement through the city.
The line for water stretched long as well, but ten more water taps had been opened, so people quickly got their share and rushed to join the food line.
Tall iron fences separated the two areas. Under the dim lights, the dining hall was bustling.
The government had spared no effort this time, using every spice they had collected. The entire hall was filled with a rich aroma.
From a distance, Jing Shu saw two rows of steaming pots neatly lined up, each with a server calling out:
"Try my Kung Pao maggots! Tasty and delicious!"
"Dry-fried maggots! Worth every bite, take as much as you want!"
"Cantonese-style deep-fried maggots! Come try, one scoop is not enough, here's another! Eat up!"
The lunch ladies no longer skimmed off most of each scoop with a shake of the ladle. Instead, they heaped servings into bowls enthusiastically.
Those who had come in excitement expected the worst-case scenario to be mushroom dishes. But when they saw the pots of writhing larvae, they froze. Some dishes still had bugs moving—they were clearly undercooked.
Other pots held minced bugs turned into paste, looking revolting. Most of the maggots were their natural dirty color, with no sign of cleaning.
"This is not what I imagined."
"They call this a banquet? They're feeding us this garbage? Did they scoop this out of a latrine?"
"I'm going to throw up."
But some people had been starving for days. The smell was too tempting. They picked out the least terrifying dishes and began to eat.
Then the loudspeakers came on:
"Take only what you can finish. Each person has thirty minutes. If you report someone wasting food, you will earn two virtual coins. The waster will be fined five coins. Anyone with a negative balance of ten coins or more will be sent for labor reform.
To celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, Ai Jia supermarket will host a Wugu Bug Banquet for three days. Each person only pays 0.5 virtual coins. Each day, ten citizens who eat the most will each receive ten virtual coins.
In addition, Ai Jia supermarket has set up a Wugu bug collection counter. We will pay 0.5 virtual coins per kilogram, with no limit. Citizens can collect maggots to exchange for coins, then trade for water and white rice."
This was not like the early days of the apocalypse, when muddy water was undrinkable and people grew sick of plain white rice.
After one or two months of hunger, even though the idea of eating maggots was sickening, most people hesitated for only a few minutes before eating.
What choice did they have?
With hunger gnawing at them, every decision was a trade-off. If they spent two coins on rice, they could not drink water. If they chose more water, they could not afford food. Every 0.5 coin was precious. Clothes and bedding had been traded away long ago, and even raided houses had nothing left. Starve or eat—it was not really a choice.
Survival was all that mattered.
One of the canteen ladies, seeing no one at her station, gritted her teeth and stuffed a handful of maggots into her mouth. "Look, it's delicious! Come try this!" She had to eat them anyway if no one else did.
With their hard-selling and enthusiastic scooping, most diners began to accept the food. But before they could eat their fill, time was up.
The bald director surveyed the bustling hall and the long lines outside. He grabbed the microphone: "Time's up for this batch! Next group!"
"This pepper-salt flavor is amazing!"
Whether it was superior ingredients, fragrant seasonings, or expert cooking, Jing Lai's pepper-salt maggots became an instant hit.
Her line stretched the longest. While other stations still had food, Jing Lai had emptied seven or eight pots. Diners left wanting more.
"There's no more for today. Come back tomorrow!" Jing Lai wiped her sweat, satisfied.
The bald man clapped her shoulder. "You did well. From today, you're promoted to group leader. Keep it up!"
…
Watching the familiar scene, Jing Shu saw in the people's hesitant, fearful expressions her own face from her past life. But now, she had changed her destiny. She would never have to eat maggots again. It felt good.
"Let's finish collecting our water and head home to wrap zongzi," Grandma Jing sighed. "Back during the famine, we were like this too. We ate whatever we could."