Getting rich quietly at home and living like royalty was already enough, but raising livestock to sell? That's just asking for trouble! Jing Shu sat in the villa, the quiet air of the room feeling heavy with a peace she knew was temporary in this world.
She had seen what the fifth year of the apocalypse looked like, when people were so hungry their eyes turned green, reflecting a primal and hollow desperation. The moment someone collapsed on the cracked pavement, that meant they were dead, and their bodies would get dragged away into the dark, shadowed corners to be secretly eaten. The government sometimes pretended not to see, looking the other way because even the national reserves had been emptied and there was nothing left to hand out to the starving masses.
If back then her family had chickens and ducks running around the yard, making noise day and night with their incessant squawking and flapping, she wouldn't have worried about thieves stealing them. No, she would have been scared of having to kill desperate people in self-defense, only to end up being made an example of by the remnants of the law. She could already imagine the headline printed in a ragged newspaper: "A Certain Miss Jing, overwhelmed by guilt after accidentally killing a starving citizen, donates all her food before taking her own life to atone for her sin…"
Luckily, it was still only the third year of this crumbling world. The people her mother chatted with were mostly talking about raising chickens, ducks, or planting crops in whatever soil hadn't gone sour. It had even become a trend to apply for official livestock licenses. The bumpkins envied the rich folks with their BMWs and Benzes, watching the luxury cars gather dust in driveways, but their eyes hadn't turned green yet. After all, killing or stealing a licensed chicken meant hard labor until death in the mines or fields.
"Still, it's not like we can't raise them," her mother said, smoothing her apron over her lap. "We just need to follow the proper regulations, raise them for the government, not for ourselves."
Jing Shu's eyes narrowed as she considered the possibilities. She was determined to raise those Lion Head geese anyway, no matter the bureaucratic hurdles. She needed more space, and she had been thinking about it on the long way home. Sure, she could raise a batch inside her Cube Space, where the air was always still and controlled, but she also wanted some at the villa. Now that they had the land, it was perfect.
She smiled, the expression not quite reaching the cold focus in her gaze. "Alright then, if everyone wants to raise them, let's finish fixing up the yard first. I just hope we don't attract people like last year who threw Molotovs when they couldn't steal anything. Or worse, have officials come confiscate everything under a new decree."
Grandma Jing's face turned pale, the color draining from her wrinkled cheeks. "Let's not rush. We will talk again once your dad and grandpa finish fixing up the courtyard," she said quickly, her feet already backing out of the idea as she turned toward the kitchen.
Jing Shu began organizing all the supplies she had brought back, the heavy bags thudding against the floor as she moved. Some went into the cool darkness of the basement, some into the humming fridge. She even took out a few things from her Cube Space, though she didn't mention that to her family. She liked to keep a trump card hidden. Later, if she took out something weird or unexpected, she could just shrug and say, "Oh, that? I brought it back from America ages ago. You didn't know?"
It was her habit to record where every item was stored in a neat log, whether in the basement or her Cube Space. It made things easier to find later when the world got even more chaotic. But after that trip to America, her stockpile had both shrunk and expanded, and everything was now a mess of mismatched crates and jars.
"When I get the chance, I will swing by Li Yuetian's place and pick up the rest of the supplies from America, then redo my inventory," she muttered to herself. Jing Shu was basically a hoarder hamster. She didn't just love stockpiling, she loved counting it all over again every now and then; it gave her a sense of security and a deep, grounding satisfaction.
Within a short time, she had drawn up a half-month plan on a scrap of paper. Once she completed that, she would start prepping for the fourth year—solving the landslide problem that she knew was coming—and then move on to migration plans for the fifth. Busy, busy, busy!
Soon after, her Maternal Eldest Uncle's family arrived, their boots scuffing the floor as they entered, and her Paternal Third Aunt, Jing Lai, finally came back from the cafeteria. She was looking exhausted with deep circles under her eyes. Even her long-lost cousin, Wu You'ai, looked drained, her shoulders slumped. It was obvious work had been rough lately.
Grandma Jing had already prepared a welcome dinner at the villa, the smell of hot food filling the air. Originally, they hadn't planned to invite her Maternal Eldest Uncle, Su Yiyang, today; it would have seemed a little sudden. But since Jing Shu wanted to discuss something important, it turned out to be perfect timing.
Her uncle chuckled, the sound dry in the quiet room. "Little sister, we have gotten quite a few nice things lately. Here, these plums are for you to try. They're a bit sour since there's no sunlight to sweeten them. Oh, and a pack of Yuxi cigarettes for Father and your husband, for when they want to relax a bit."
"Come on, you didn't have to bring anything!" Su Lanzhi said with a broad smile, her hands reaching out for the gifts. It wasn't about the gifts, really, but the thought behind them. These were the same polite words said since ancient times, echoing even in the middle of a dying world.
"Jing Shu, I heard you came back, so I brought something special for you. Hope you will like it," Wu You'ai said, tossing over a small glass bottle. It was filled with a dark green liquid that looked exactly like filthy drain water, sealed tight with a small wooden cork.
Jing Shu took a sniff after pulling the cork, and her face immediately twisted in disgust. "Holy shit! It really is drain water! What the hell is this?"
"It's a new project my mentor and I developed, called Spirulina algal bloom. It's an algae species, now classified under cyanobacteria. It was one of the earliest photosynthetic oxygen-releasing organisms, responsible for transforming Earth's atmosphere from anoxic to oxygen-rich," Wu You'ai explained, her chin lifting slightly.
Yep, this was exactly the kind of conversation that gave Jing Shu headaches. Ever since she was reborn, not understanding a word out of her genius cousin's mouth had been one of her biggest frustrations.
Wu You'ai sighed, the sound faint. "Basically, it's that green layer floating on the surface of drain water. Before the apocalypse, during summer, frogs and tadpoles loved swimming in it."
Now that, Jing Shu understood. She nodded seriously, the glass bottle cool in her hand. "Right, I know this stuff. I have seen it a lot; it's disgusting! Especially after floods, you see thick layers of it everywhere. It smells awful, and sometimes even stinks of rotting corpses. So, what is it good for?"
In all her ten years of surviving the apocalypse in her previous life, she had never seen that slime do anything useful. Was Wu You'ai messing with her, or testing her intelligence?
"It can fix nitrogen from the atmosphere and convert it into protein. It's useful as fertilizer for rice paddies and as feed for fish. It also absorbs harmful substances and purifies water," Wu You'ai said.
Ah, now she got it. Fertilizer and fish feed. But the fish in her Cube Space and ponds had all drunk Spirit Spring water; they would eat anything. Fertilizer or not, algae or not, it didn't make much difference to them.
Jing Shu shook the bottle, watching the dark liquid swirl against the glass. "That's all? It's kind of little."
Wu You'ai shook her head. "This is the concentrated raw form. My mentor and I spent half a year restructuring its composition. It can be cultivated and expanded easily. Just pour it on carrion or any protein source, and it will multiply rapidly. Theoretically, it can reproduce infinitely. You can use it as fish feed or fertilizer. Though, I would suggest you test it first. Our test subject, Fish No. 101, is still alive."
Jing Shu rested her chin in her hand, her eyes lighting up as the potential hit her. "So you're saying I can use corpses or bugs to grow tons of this algae, and it will basically become free feed?"
If that was true, she had just struck gold! Feed in this apocalypse was as precious as food itself. This could solve half her problems. A self-sustaining, lossless production cycle; it was absolutely perfect!
Wu You'ai nodded. "In theory, yes. But there are still many uncontrollable factors."
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The original text is 螺旋藻藻华 (Luóxuán zǎo zǎo huá), which refers to a large, concentrated accumulation of Spirulina in a body of water.
Spirulina: This is the scientific name for the genus "螺旋藻 (Luóxuán zǎo)".
Algal Bloom: This is the term for the phenomenon of "藻华 (Zǎo huá)" (algae multiplying rapidly and forming dense, visible patches).