Chapter 185: Chapter 185
Xie Zihao posted a video from the Wu City news in the group chat, "@All, look at this. Isn’t this Shark Submarine the same one that @Su Malie traded to Jing Shu? And it was exchanged for Honeysuckle, right?"
Big Head typed, "The voice does sound similar. The person in this video must be Jing Shu!"
Shi Lei typed, "Wow, seriously? When I saw the clip on Douyin, I thought it looked a bit like Jing Shu, but I wasn’t sure. I couldn’t believe that the person who saved over a thousand lives was actually my high school classmate!"
Big Head added, "These past two days, so many people have been searching for this mysterious person."
Liang Xin commented, "You guys were just asking where Jing Shu’s house is. She truly is a person who doesn’t reveal her capabilities, way better than some people’s shameless brown-nosing. Her house is also in the villa district. I’m not sure if you all noticed, but her roof is covered with PVC plastic sheeting from @Yao Zixin’s family’s business. Even with this heavy rain, her house hasn’t gotten wet at all. I’m so envious!"
Yao Zixin typed, "Now that you mention it, I realize it really is the PVC plastic sheeting our family produces! Jing Shu was so far-sighted. During the drought, she said the news kept warning about impending heavy rain and advised taking precautions. I never thought it would actually happen! So many people need PVC plastic sheeting now. It’s just a shame we’ve run out of raw materials."
Mu Xiaoxuan chimed in, "Anyway, watching the rescue video always makes me feel that Jing Shu is so awesome. One person with a Shark Submarine is equivalent to an entire rescue team."
As Jing Shu gnawed on a Dongpo pork elbow, she stared blankly at the group chat.
People fear fame like a pig fears getting fat. What was that Shi Jiujiu thinking, filming that video and making me so famous? I didn’t even reap many tangible benefits, and now all my high school classmates know my identity. This doesn’t suit my preference for maintaining a low profile while enjoying understated luxury.
Su Malie posted, "Haha, let me tell you all a little secret: Jing Shu’s house is right next to my villa. We’re actually neighbors! Tonight, my family is starting to pack and move; we’ll be able to move in tomorrow! We’ll hold the exchange meet at noon tomorrow, but the previous plan to treat everyone to a meal will have to change a bit."
Jing Shu let out a weary sigh. Su Malie was exactly like she was in my previous life—first-class at stirring up resentment. A couple of days ago, after I quietly gave her my address, she was thrilled for ages. She said someone who had trekked a long way was desperate to meet me and insisted I bring a potted plant to her house tomorrow. This might be an opportunity.
Zhang Lingling typed, "@Su Malie, what’s the change? Are you canceling it?"
Almost everyone in the group immediately shifted their attention to Su Malie’s message. Although they were envious and resentful about Jing Shu’s house, it wasn’t as important as a meal from Su Malie.
Su Malie sent a voice message:
"No, it’s because I’m having a housewarming party, and some friends will be there too, so I thought I’d combine the exchange meet with the party. That means this time it won’t just be an exchange among high school classmates.
"Everyone can bring their unused items to exchange. Now that Virtual Coin transactions are possible, if you don’t have anything to exchange, you can also use Virtual Coins to buy things. I’ve taken the liberty of upgrading it to a trade auction."
Shi Lei replied, "So it’s not canceled, great! Tell us the time, boss, and we’ll be there!"
Su Malie announced, "Tomorrow at 1:00 p.m., everyone come to Villa 2 in the Banana District. Just give your name to get in."
Jing Shu closed the high school group chat notifications. When I see my high school classmates tomorrow, I’d better remind them not to reveal my identity.
Not long after the Wu City news broadcast, Li Yuetian from the Second Team called. He said her commendation had been approved, along with a slew of other miscellaneous awards, all of which were officially recorded. Jing Shu didn’t care much. However, what caught her attention was Li Yuetian mentioning that the higher-ups fully supported such actions. Therefore, she was rewarded with an additional 6,000 Virtual Coins, which would be deposited into her account within 24 hours.
Alright, I take back what I thought about not getting any substantial rewards, Jing Shu decided. Virtual Coins are a solid representation of food in the apocalypse, even though they aren’t very useful to me at the moment. Maybe I can check out Su Malie’s trading event tomorrow to see if there’s anything good? Her eyes lit up.
She hadn’t been very excited about the trading event before because she didn’t want to trade too many of her own items. Not only would that expose her identity, but everything she owned was infused with a touch of the Spiritual Spring, making it precious.
Now, with Virtual Coins, it was different. See something I like, buy, buy, buy! I have plenty of Virtual Coins.
Feeling down, Jing Shu ate more than usual. To avoid leftovers, she also finished the remaining dozen or so pancakes.
But you have to have some meat with pancakes, right?
She chopped up the marinated meat, mixing lean and fatty bits with the marinade, to make a meat-filled pancake. Since a pancake with only meat wasn’t enough, Jing Shu also added cold shredded potatoes, cucumber strips, green onion slivers, and chili strips. After a moment’s thought, she figured since she was already adding ingredients, she might as well add a couple of eggs.
Thus, each pancake became a super-sized burger. Burdened with heavy thoughts, Jing Shu unconsciously polished off all dozen-plus pancakes.
"BURP." Jing Shu felt she had eaten a bit too much this time. It was a good opportunity to go for a walk with Grandma Jing to aid digestion.
At eight o’clock in the evening, the temperature in Wu City dropped to 3 degrees Celsius. It was colder than before, and combined with the chilly rain, Jing Shu could feel the cold outside even clad in a cotton jacket covered by a raincoat.
Unusually, the streetlights in the Banana District were on. Since it was the first day residents were scheduled to move in, the government had thoughtfully ensured the power supply wasn’t cut.
Su Malie’s property next to Jing Shu’s, a row of five villas, was enclosed by towering billboards. Following Jing Shu’s example, they had also erected scaffolding. A cacophony of thudding sounds emanated from within. Judging by the numerous footsteps, a large team of construction workers was clearly rushing to complete the job.
Grandma Jing was curious to take a walk outside because she heard the district would soon be full of people and very lively. She was quite excited to take an evening stroll. The elderly, after all, enjoy bustling atmospheres and chatting with others.
"Living here with you all is great in every way, except there’s no one to talk to," Grandma Jing thought. "With so many people moving in this time, there must be a few around my age, right? It would be wonderful to have someone to chat with."
Unfortunately, Grandma Jing might be destined for disappointment. The survival rate for the elderly was extremely low; most had passed away from heatstroke the previous year. Those who had survived generally came from prominent families and might not have much in common with Grandma Jing to talk about. Newest update provided by novel※fire.net
"These houses don’t have their lights on either," Grandma Jing observed after walking a large loop, feeling that the district was still very quiet.
"Grandma, they’ve only arranged for people in buildings 6 to 10 near the entrance for now. The rest are in the underground shelters. Most of these houses are still bare shells and need emergency lights installed," Jing Shu explained as they walked towards building number 6. Sure enough, three buildings were ablaze with lights and bustling with activity. The clamor of voices could be heard from afar, a testament to the vibrant human presence.
Looking up from the ground, Grandma Jing could see many figures moving about inside.
"Oh, I just counted. Some of these units have at least a dozen people in them! What a pity, not a single elderly person," Grandma Jing remarked, having searched in vain.