Inside the Rubik's Cube Space, the precious ginseng and other rare herbs were still thriving, but all the ordinary medicinal plants had already matured. Back when the weather was scorching, Jing Shu had already dried, air-dried, or oven-dried them according to their properties and stored them neatly in the space.
She had also transplanted several herbs into pots in the flower room on the second floor. With regular watering using diluted Spirit Spring, they were growing lush and vibrant.
Jing Shu often brought a few pots out to show her family, a way to prepare them for the future. That way, when she needed to present these plants again later, no one would question their origin.
Now, she had replanted another batch of herbs for preventing and treating rheumatism. She planned to brew more medicinal wine, as such remedies would become incredibly popular and in high demand in the apocalypse's second year.
Having these medicines on hand gave her a sense of security and bargaining power. Moreover, having her family drink this wine would strengthen their bodies and ward off ailments like rheumatism and chronic cold legs. She remembered all too well the pain these illnesses had caused in her previous life.
By next month, when these common herbs matured, she could start brewing medicinal wine based on her recipes. Adding ingredients like snakes and scorpions would make it even more potent. Jing Shu knew that five-snake wine, for instance, was especially effective.
If only she could get her hands on some snakes now.
Oh, and the bodhi tree she planted months ago was nearly mature. She was already considering saving a few branches to transplant into pots once it fully matured.
That way, she could present them publicly, sell them at a premium to wealthy buyers, or even trade them with the government for other resources. The rest of the bodhi tree's yield could be kept for her family's use.
While tending to the farmland inside the Cube Space and practicing her fusion ability with the Rubik Cube, Jing Shu suddenly noticed one of the Rubik colored squares flicker.
"Was that just my imagination?" Jing Shu frowned, rotating the Rubik quickly. She remembered restoring the color at position X2Y3 earlier. Why had it reverted to its original color?
Solving the Rubik Cube followed a set formula, starting from the central squares on each face, restoring each ring in sequence.
That applied regardless of how many layers the Rubik Cube had.
But now one of the squares in the middle ring that she had just solved had changed back.
"Did I miss something earlier?" Jing Shu retraced her steps, spending eight minutes to solve the seven-layer Rubik Cube again.
She shook her head. "Still doesn't add up. Could the Rubik Cube be changing colors on its own?"
Jing Shu solved it a few more times, but nothing unusual happened. She could only set the thought aside.
"Maybe it really was just my imagination."
Once she finished practicing, Jing Shu did her usual inspection of the villa. All dehumidifiers were running, the central air conditioning was set to dehumidify, and the underfloor heating was on, filling the villa with warmth. Even the torrential downpour outside couldn't disturb its comfort.
She then organized the frogs she planned to bring to the Agricultural Department the next day and finally went to bed.
Su Lanzhi was right: this heavy rain had come at just the right time. The temperature had dropped, water shortages were no longer a concern, and Jing Shu, the once "glorious frog farmer," was essentially out of work now.
She sent off the final batch of several thousand frogs to the Agricultural Department, even returning five frogs to her mentor Wu You'ai.
Jing Shu only kept two horned frogs at home, the ones she had raised with Spirit Spring. She named them No. 6 and No. 7.
That's right, your guess is correct. After all, No. 6 was the frog she had nurtured with Spirit Spring, and now it ruled its own territory under the pond's lotus leaves, daring to snatch food from piranhas. Such a frog deserved a proper name.
Jing Shu officially registered these two frogs as her pets. From now on, no matter the bitter cold or blazing heat, even if she had to relocate to the ends of the earth, she'd take them along.
Ahem, sentimentality aside, their true purpose was to guard against parasitic leeches and bloodsuckers.
Jing Shu wasn't sure if she'd have pets named No. 2 and No. 3 in the future. She'd leave that to fate.
The next day, before the whole family left home, she insisted on giving each of them a homemade rain hat. "If you don't want to shave your head bald when we get back, wear these at all times."
These hats weren't just waterproof; they also blocked red nematodes. Though they looked a bit ugly, they were extremely comfortable.
Su Lanzhi once greeted someone at work in the Agricultural Department, only for a red nematode to leap onto that person's head in an instant. The parasite latched on so tightly that even dodging was impossible, and the two ended up stuck together.
That wasn't even the most awkward scenario. Imagine Jing An at the Livestock Breeding Center, bending down to look at a pig, only to get tangled up with it. That would be far more embarrassing.
Out in the apocalypse, you had to protect yourself. These were lessons written in blood.
Once everyone left, Jing Shu threw herself into preparing for the incoming flood.
Wu City's terrain was a basin surrounded by mountains, which meant that when this year's floodwaters came, the entire city center would be submerged. The surrounding outskirts, however, would remain largely intact.
The old district of Xishan, though located on higher ground and safe from flooding, was densely populated, filled with aging buildings that couldn't be renovated to hold more people.
Jing Shu's community, on the other hand, was a newly developed district. It had vast open land, low population density, and many newly built apartment complexes that were still unoccupied, most of them hoarded by real estate speculators. Entire blocks stood empty.
That was why seven of the city's thirteen district governments had relocated to this area.
Her community had now become one of the most desirable community in Wu City, thanks to its superior elevation, large size, and villas, making it the most prestigious and sought-after residential area in the city.
When half the city was submerged, chaos would be inevitable. Opportunistic looters would thrive in the confusion, and her villa would be left unattended while her family evacuated.
Jing Shu's first priority was to strengthen the villa's security.
The villa was enclosed by tempered glass walls, surrounded by surveillance cameras and traps, making it nearly impossible for thieves to break in by scaling the walls or smashing through the glass in a short amount of time.
The main weakness was the front gate. It only had a restraint trap. If someone bypassed that and managed to pick the lock, there would be nothing to stop them.
To fix this, she relocated the electrified fence to cover the front gate. That way, even if someone unlocked the gate, they'd be electrocuted upon entering.
Her second line of defense was a set of automated crossbows she built herself. She positioned six or seven of them at the villa entrance. Opening the front gate would trigger the mechanism, unleashing a volley of arrows. Anyone not killed outright would be gravely injured.
If that still wasn't enough, the steel spikes she had installed last year above the courtyard entrance would finish the job. Anyone who dared step foot inside would be turned into a human pincushion.
Finally, she would monitor everything through surveillance cameras and return before any intruder could make it past all these traps.
Her second major preparation was sleeping arrangements.
The original plan was for Heng Jin's logistics transport to arrive in Wu City by late December. That way, she could take possession of the RV. No matter how badly damaged it was, her family could squeeze inside and survive the flood evacuation days.
But Heng Jin was delayed for more than ten days en route. When he finally sent a message, it was to say he had gotten lost and couldn't find his way back.
Jing Shu: "???"
"It's not our fault. It's the road's fault."