Jing Shu looked at the video and cringed. She really looked so rustic! Sure, they say extreme rusticity can be beautiful, but this was way too much. She almost couldn't bear to watch. Luckily, it was dark, so her face wasn't too clear.
She tried to comfort herself, telling herself she was just keeping a low profile, and it didn't really matter. With the poor lighting, most people wouldn't recognize her anyway.
Her family didn't share that mindset. At Jing An's urging, everyone had already gathered around the TV, fully absorbed in the local Wu City news. Jing An kept pointing at the screen, saying he'd been at that exact spot. When the camera panned past him, he jumped up excitedly and shouted at it.
Grandpa Jing tapped him down with his chopsticks. "Shut up and sit down. You're too loud."
Jing An grunted.
Jing Shu drifted off in thought. She wasn't too worried, honestly. At this hour, not many people were watching TV or news anyway; most were glued to short videos on their phones.
Just then, her phone started beeping. A bad feeling hit her, and when she checked it, sure enough, her high school group chat was buzzing. The latest topic was the video of her in the big winter coat, smiling and shaking hands.
"Hey, isn't this Jing Shu? @Jing Shu, is that you?"
"Looks a bit like her, but this is on the news."
The chat was basically debating whether it really was her. Some said yes—the coat was identical to one she'd worn before, even if it was dark. Others said no, pointing out it was news footage, not the previous Xishan Corporation event.
Both sides had their arguments, but the main issue was credibility. Who could believe that a former classmate had risen to such a position? That old big-toothed guy is barely vice president of the Herb Association, and this young woman in the coat? Also a vice president.
Jing Shu had always seemed mysterious and impressive. Her family didn't seem very powerful, but she radiated a strong, enigmatic aura. She could even hang out with Su Mali, and Su Mali clearly admired her. Everyone eventually learned Jing Shu was indeed impressive, and even had a share in the much-envied Xishan Shiyuan.
Still, all that didn't explain how someone so young could be vice president of the Herb Association and get the VIP treatment of being picked up by local powers. Most people couldn't believe it.
Jing Shu shook her head. Even though many in the group chat had tagged her, and some tagged Su Mali too, she decided to just pretend she didn't know. Su Mali didn't seem around lately; her neighbors' villas had been empty, according to Grandma Jing.
She had to admit, she'd mastered the "play it cool" trick perfectly.
The chat quickly shifted to a new topic. To encourage consumption and discover new food sources, Wu City was hosting a post-apocalypse food competition. The idea was simple: if you dug in the soil, were at work, or just passing by and discovered a new Darklife species, you could submit it to the judges to see if it was edible. Or if you cultivated new foods, discovered new species, or created new recipes, anything edible could enter.
Prizes included virtual currency, a standalone house, and other smaller rewards or participation prizes.
The rewards were enticing, and people actually found lots of edible post-apocalypse species. Most weren't tasty, and some had side effects, but that hardly mattered.
The news had finished airing, and Jing Shu was finishing her second meal at home when her university group chat started buzzing again.
Annoyed, she was about to ignore it. She didn't know her university classmates well. Honestly, her class had over ninety students. Outside of large lectures, most electives were mixed with other classes, so she barely remembered half the names. After all this time, she'd basically forgotten everyone.
Since she'd joined the chat, there'd rarely been interaction. Even after the apocalypse, there wasn't much communication.
Her university was a third-tier Wu City school for performing arts. Tuition was insanely high, meaning most students came from well-off families. Naturally, there was some social comparison. They cared a lot about looks and body management, with expensive cosmetics, personal trainers, and various beauty and nutrition supplements.
The former pure "school beauties" had spent millions keeping their flawless skin and near-perfect figures. And some still believed in love, despite all the absurdity.
Jing Shu had once envied that lifestyle, but ten years of the apocalypse had wiped away all her illusions and sharpened her reality. She'd learned to live plainly.
So in this life, she didn't care about any of that.
Frowning, she saw someone had tagged her again. Curious, she opened it. It was the same news video, and it was causing a huge stir.
[Jiang Changke]:"@Jing Shu, isn't that you in the video? Looks a lot like you."
[Liu Xia]:"There are lots of people who look like her. By the way, who's Jing Shu? Don't remember."
[Cheng Long]:"No way she's from our school, let alone Jing Shu. That girl, I remember chasing her back then, haha."
And just like that, the debate erupted.
[Liu Xia]:"Cheng Long, your kid's just messing around. Tang Yuan-jie is in the chat too. Aren't you afraid she'll hit you?"
[Cheng Long]:"I was just playing, lost a bet so I chased Jing Shu. Nothing serious."
Suddenly, Jing Shu remembered this Cheng Long. He had indeed tried to chase her back then, but she had been focused on acting and had no time for him.
The memory came back because the dorm mates had tricked her into going to a dinner. She went, but only Cheng Long was there, telling her to order first and that everyone else would come later. Foolish Jing Shu had ended up eating alone.
[Zhen Hu]:"I remember now. Jing Shu became an online influencer selling products. After that, no one knows. But how could she represent Wu City's Herb Association in a competition? You don't just get in like that."
[Liu Xia]:"Exactly, Jing Shu never studied pharmacology or medicine. She switched fields completely."