Xie Zihao dropped the Wu City News clip in the class group chat: "@everyone Look, this shark submarine is the one @Su Mali traded to Jing Shu, right? And she swapped it for honeysuckle?"
[Datou]: "Sounds like her too. The person in the video should be Jing Shu!"
[Shi Lei]: "Whoa, for real? I thought it looked like Jing Shu when I saw it on the short-video app, but I wasn't sure. I never dreamed the one who saved more than a thousand people would be my high school classmate!"
[Datou]: "These two days everyone's trying to find that mystery savior."
[Liang Xin]: "Last time you all asked where Jing Shu lives. This is what 'real ability, low profile' looks like. Better than certain people who kiss up to everything. Her family lives in the villa area too. Did you notice they covered the villa with PVC plastic sheeting from @Yao Zixin's family factory? With rain like this, her place isn't getting soaked. I'm jealous."
[Yao Zixin]: "I only noticed after you mentioned it. It really is our PVC cover. Jing Shu's got foresight. Back during the drought she kept saying the news was warning of heavy rains. Prepared ahead of time, and it actually happened! Tons of people want PVC covers now, but we're out of raw materials."
[Mu Xiaoxuan]: "Whatever the case, that rescue video is wild. Jing Shu is amazing. One shark submarine equals a whole rescue team."
Jing Shu gnawed on a dongpo pork elbow while staring dead-eyed at the chat.
"Fame fattens pigs and ruins people." Why did that Shi Jiuyou have to record a video? Now she was famous, without getting any real benefits out of it. And now the whole high-school group knew it was her.
That did not suit her preferred style of low-key luxury with inner substance.
[Su Mali]: "Hehe, a little secret for everyone. Jing Shu's house is right next to my villa. We're neighbors! I'm moving and setting the place up tonight, and I should be in by tomorrow! We'll hold the swap meet tomorrow at noon, but the treat-everyone dinner plan needs a tweak."
Jing Shu exhaled helplessly. Su Mali was the same as in the previous life, a first-rate aggro magnet. Two days ago, after Jing Shu quietly shared the address, she got excited for half a day and said someone had crossed mountains and rivers to meet her. She told her to bring potted plants to her house tomorrow no matter what.
Maybe it was an opportunity.
[Zhang Lingling]: "@Su Mali What's the change? Don't tell me you're canceling?"
The whole group's attention snapped over. Envy aside, a meal courtesy of Su Mali outranked everything.
Su Mali sent a voice message: "Not canceled. Since I'm hosting a housewarming party and some friends are coming, I'm merging the swap meet with the party. So this time it won't just be between high school classmates.
Bring anything you don't need and trade. The virtual coin system is open now, so if there's no good swap, you can buy with coins. I, uh, upgraded it on my own. It's now a trading and auction event."
[Shi Lei]: "As long as the big shot sets the time, we'll be there!"
"Tomorrow at 13:00. Banana Community, Villa Building No. 2. Just give your name at the door."
…
Jing Shu muted the high-school group. She figured she should tell them tomorrow not to expose her identity.
Not long after Wu City News aired, Li Yuetian from the Second Unit called. He said her commendation had gone through, along with a jumble of other awards to be filed on record. She didn't care about the certificates, but one thing did matter: he said the higher-ups fully supported her actions and were awarding her 6,000 virtual coins, to arrive within 24 hours.
Alright then. She took back what she said about getting no tangible benefits. In the apocalypse, virtual coins were real food in disguise, even if for now they weren't very useful to her.
"Maybe I can see if there's anything good at Su Mali's exchange tomorrow?" Her eyes lit up.
Before this, she hadn't been excited about the swap meet. She didn't want to trade too many of her own items. That would expose her identity, and besides, most of her things had a bit of Spirit Spring on them. They were precious.
Now it was different. With virtual coins, if she liked something, she could just buy it. Spend, spend, spend. Plenty of coins.
Because her mood had been sour, she ate more than usual. She also hated leftovers, so she finished off the dozen or so flatbreads.
And flatbreads needed meat.
She chopped the braised pork, half-fat half-lean, mixed it with sauce to make meat-filled buns. Meat alone wasn't enough, so she added cold shredded potato, cucumber, scallions, and chilies. She thought for a moment, then tossed in two eggs.
Each flatbread turned into a super burger. With heavy thoughts weighing on her, she polished off every last one without noticing.
Burp.
She had to admit she was stuffed this time. Perfect excuse to take a walk with Grandma Jing and digest.
At eight in the evening, Wu City's temperature dropped to 3 degrees, colder than before. Add the icy rain, and Jing Shu could feel the chill even with a cotton jacket under her raincoat.
Banana Community, however, was unusually bright. The streetlights were on. Since it was the first night of move-ins, the government thoughtfully hadn't cut the power.
Next door at Su Mali's row, five whole villas were wrapped with huge billboard frames. They had also copied Jing Shu's method of putting up scaffolding. Inside came the steady thump-thump-thump of frantic work. Judging by the footsteps, an army of decorators was racing the clock.
Grandma Jing headed out, curious and eager. She had heard the community would soon be full of people and lively, and that excited her. Elderly folks liked bustle and loved to chat.
"Everything's good here," Grandma Jing thought, "except there's no one to talk to." With so many moving in, maybe there would be a few around her age. Then they could chat together.
Sadly, disappointment seemed likely. The elderly survival rate was terribly low. Most had died of heatstroke last year. Those who survived usually came from extraordinary families. They might not have much to say to her.
"These houses aren't lit either." After a long loop, Grandma Jing still felt the community was quiet and cold.
"Grandma, they've only arranged move-ins for the front row, Buildings No. 6 to No. 10. The rest are down in the basement garages. Most units are bare shells and still need emergency lights."
They reached Building No. 6. Sure enough, three towers blazed with lights. Noise rose like steam, lively and loud, the chatter audible from far away.
Looking up from the ground, Grandma Jing could see silhouettes moving in many units.
"Oh my, I counted. Some apartments have a dozen people at least. It's a pity though. I still haven't spotted an elderly neighbor."