Chapter 324: Chapter 324
It wasn’t just boastful to call it a VIP area; apart from this parking lot, there truly was no cleaner place in the entire park. The houses in the park had been submerged for a year and were now overgrown with aquatic fungi, rendering them completely uninhabitable. The former lawns in the open park, on the other hand, were now covered in long, hair-like seaweed. Sleeping outdoors there at night would mean freezing to death.
Wang Dongpo was a young man, 1.7 meters tall, who smiled a little shyly. He wore a tattered old military greatcoat. According to him, this was a shelter managed by the Third Team. Now, they temporarily had to merge two districts, so one could imagine how crowded it had become.
"Your spot is really nice. Once you enter the park, the large parking lot is on the right. Walking further, you’d reach the part of the park that has been submerged for a year, now just an expanse of muddy sludge riddled with deep pits. The stench is exceptionally foul, like decaying corpses. The area is too vast for us to clean up. This park was originally intended for the people from the Third Team’s Lingshan District. That’s quite a distance from here; walking would probably take them until evening, and by then, there would be no spots left." Tʜe sourcᴇ of thɪs content ɪs 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⚫𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⚫𝕟𝕖𝕥
Wang Dongpo watched Jing Shu put on a gas mask. Is it really that bad? he wondered, though he had to admit the smell was indeed rather unpleasant.
The huge recreational vehicle, parked in a corner, looked somewhat solitary. Mr. Jing passed a handful of soybeans to the young man, asking, "What are the rules here?"
Alright, Mr. Jing was learning this trick now too.
"Thank you, Uncle. But I must reiterate what we agreed upon earlier: the fee for your stay here covers one day. If there are no earthquakes after one day and you evacuate, there will be no extra charges. Otherwise, additional fees will apply starting tomorrow night. After all, this is a VIP area.
According to regulations, parking here for one day costs 100 Virtual Coins. If you’re not willing, you can go to the general area or the trash zone, which are free. After all, this place is the only truly safe and clean spot in the entire park. Look over there—that’s the general area."
Wang Dongpo aimed his flashlight in that direction. It was the park’s pre-apocalypse lawn. One could faintly make out a few benches, now covered in green, hair-like growths, and the ground was a mess of muddy concrete pits. Mr. Jing frowned. What was the difference between living there and living in a mud pit? He couldn’t imagine the scene when tens of thousands of people would surge into those mud pits.
Jing Shu blinked as the young man continued, "Now, for anyone driving to any shelter, it’s the same. There should be relevant documents in the central database; it’s not like we’re charging arbitrarily. And there are only so many good spots. Who wouldn’t want to live in the best place? This is the fairest way: those who pay get to stay. The common folk living over there also find some measure of comfort, don’t you agree?"
Mr. Jing nodded. Alright then.
In her previous life, Jing Shu hadn’t known about this rule. But she had heard that such prime locations were like the difference between sleeper cars, hard seats, and standing-room-only tickets on a train. The free areas were the dirtiest and most chaotic, while the wealthy got to stay in the good spots. Jing Shu thought it was reasonably fair. In her previous life, she had deeply envied those who could drive their vehicles into spacious, flat areas, while people like her could only clear garbage and toil endlessly just to survive.
She’d heard that a single night in a good spot cost tens of Virtual Coins. Back then, she had wondered how tens of Virtual Coins could buy more than a dozen steamed buns. Only a fool would stay there. She hadn’t even dared to imagine how anyone could be so extravagant, just as before the apocalypse, she couldn’t fathom someone spending tens of thousands of yuan for a single night in a five-star hotel.
Until this life, Virtual Coin was truly just a number to her.
However, based on Jing Shu’s experience, it seemed the authorities were preparing to harvest a batch of ’suckers’ again, specifically targeting those with money and resources to fleece them, especially now that another great disaster had struck. The earthquake today has caused truly devastating losses. She definitely didn’t want to be the nail that sticks out.
Seeing them both acknowledge his points, Xiao Wang continued, "Also, you cannot openly display food or eat in public areas, to avoid causing riots and robberies. In case of danger, please evacuate quickly. Since you have a car, you can flee faster, which also lightens our burden. However, in an emergency, the government will arrange for women and children to be evacuated in your vehicle. I am your personal attendant here at Xuanwu Lake Park, Wang Dongpo. Just call me Xiao Wang. Here’s my WeChat."
Mr. Jing had Jing Shu add Wang Dongpo’s WeChat account and casually remarked, "Wang Dongpo, that’s a good name, as renowned as Su Dongpo."
Embarrassed, Wang Dongpo scratched his head. "It’s just that my dad loves Dongpo pork elbow so much he named me this, hoping he could eat Dongpo pork elbow every day in the future."
Jing Shu and Mr. Jing exchanged a look, both momentarily speechless. They really don’t take naming their child seriously at all! How can you just pick a name so randomly? A name is for life; it’s a truly significant matter!
Fortunately, the family had brought ample provisions. Jing Shu changed into rain boots and a sealed raincoat before stepping out of the RV. The ground was all slushy mud, and worse still, there were insects; Jing Shu had already been bitten just moments before.
Mr. Jing started to shovel mud. With each dig, the shovel made a clanging sound as it hit the concrete ground beneath. Fortunately, the mud wasn’t very deep. The mud from the plot Wang Dongpo had allocated to them was all shoveled into a nearby sludge pit. This mud exuded a suffocating stench, like fermenting feces, making one want to gag.
It was now one o’clock in the afternoon. Grandma Jing began skillfully preparing lunch inside the RV. Occasional tremors still shook the ground, but since the park was situated in a flat valley, even the rumbling sounds were somewhat muted here.
Mrs. Jing and Mr. Jing were trying to send WeChat messages. Making phone calls was difficult as the connection was increasingly unclear. The WeChat messages showed a spinning icon for a while before finally sending. This was because most signal towers had been damaged in the earthquake. Although some were still operational, their distance meant the signal was very weak.
"The Agricultural Department hasn’t been hit; I want to go back and check."
"The livestock farm has been hit; everyone’s evacuating... I want to go help."
Jing Shu cried out, "Oh, my head is hurting again!"
Jing Shu knew that some places hadn’t just collapsed; entire building complexes had vanished. Whether the Agricultural Department and the livestock farm were among them would become clear in a few days. So, it was best to stay put and take shelter here for the time being.
Jing Shu was genuinely in pain. Using the Illusion Technique simultaneously on both Mr. Jing and Mrs. Jing had made her face turn pale. This convinced Mrs. Jing to abandon any thought of going to the Agricultural Department. Since it supposedly hadn’t been hit, everything there would be proceeding as usual. Her presence or absence wouldn’t really make a difference.
Jing Shu used this time to practice the Magic Cube intensely. Through her efforts over the past few days, she felt she had touched the threshold of advancement, but something always seemed to be missing, preventing her from meeting the requirements of the Magic Cube Space.
This time, Jing Shu wasn’t sure if she was lacking a crucial opportunity or sufficient control over the Magic Cube. Perhaps it was both. All she could do was continue to practice diligently, hoping to advance before heading to the United States.
However, things didn’t go as she wished. No one could have predicted that the trip to the United States would happen so quickly.