Chapter 474: Chapter 474
"Good news? This director must have been bought off, right?" The people below were full of disbelief.
"This abandoned factory has been acquired. In collaboration with the government, we’re opening a large red earthworm breeding and processing plant right here. After my persistent persuasion, the boss has decided to hire all residents here as factory workers! Not a single one will be left out!"
This announcement caused a huge stir.
"You know, there are over two thousand of us here. What kind of factory needs so many workers? I don’t believe it. This has to be a trick, right?"
"What about women with children? Will you hire them? We promise it won’t affect our work!"
"Will childless women be given priority for jobs?"
"What are the benefits? Are meals included? How many per day? We won’t work if meals aren’t provided!"
"What? Did I hear correctly? A red earthworm breeding plant? Haven’t red earthworms gone extinct due to the Zombie virus? Any live ones found now are zombie insects! You’re not joking, are you?"
The entire factory instantly erupted with an alarming level of noise. These were the people who hadn’t dared to go to work after hearing they were to be evicted today; some had even brought their babies to get the latest information.
Good, this is still a group of vibrant people; where there’s vitality, there’s hope, not just numbly digging up corpses every day, Jing Shu thought. Meanwhile, her Uncle was nervously cramming the script Jing Shu had filled with lots of professional jargon.
This is great, Jing Shu mused. Once things here are on track, I can step back and focus on my own affairs.
Jing Shu’s eyes narrowed slightly. I’m getting closer to the truth, she thought, her consciousness exploring various methods of cultivating red earthworms within her space; she felt she was approaching the gateway to the truth.
Manager Tuo was very satisfied. After shouting for silence a few times, he said,
"Let me explain step by step. First, I’d like to introduce someone to all of you. This is the director of the red earthworm breeding plant, Factory Director Su. He will manage all future affairs. Let’s welcome Factory Director Su to tell us about the factory’s main operational scope and output value."
Scattered applause came from below; people weren’t very interested. For the common folk, only two things mattered: a place to live and food to eat.
At some point, several glass jars had been placed on the table on the makeshift stage. Su Yiyang took a deep breath and said seriously,
"Hello everyone. To put it simply, our factory will focus on two things: frantically breeding and cultivating red earthworms, and frantically processing these insects into ready-to-eat food to be shipped to various channels and markets, thereby alleviating the famine in Wu City.
"Our philosophy towards employees is even simpler: we provide food and lodging, and will distribute new cotton-padded clothes, new bedding, and various daily necessities. We accommodate parents bringing children to work, and so on. You can even hold up to three jobs simultaneously! Whether you’re a temporary or permanent government worker, you can still take on tasks at our factory. There are no fixed working hours; you can work just a few hours a day if you wish."
At first, the people below were dismissive, thinking it was just another pep talk from the leadership. But as they listened, they grew increasingly astonished.
"There were no jobs this good even before the apocalypse! Are they trying to trick us?"
"This isn’t some kind of pyramid scheme, is it? Tricking us into joining first and then making us recruit others?"
Su Yiyang continued, "Manager Tuo will explain that part to you later. I’m here to explain our core technology. Please look at these two cups of red earthworms, each containing twenty adult worms. Here, please pass them around. And be careful not to spit into them." Read complete versıon only at 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩·𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖·𝘯𝘦𝘵
After the cups had been passed around, Su Yiyang took out another small vial of liquid and said, "Over the past year, we’ve spent millions of Virtual Coin and involved many of the country’s top researchers to develop the ZS880 breeding solution specifically for red earthworms. Just one drop is enough to breed a large quantity of them. Please watch."
As a drop entered, the red earthworms in the jar immediately became agitated. Moments later, they began to lay eggs frantically, and a dense mass of tiny black dots became visible inside.
"These eggs hatch faster than those from last year’s red earthworms, developing into mature red earthworms in just one hour. However, this solution is very expensive to produce. So, we will supplement their diet with other types of feed to cultivate the red earthworms and lower costs. This was just a brief demonstration of a part of the process. The important thing is for you to know that red earthworms can be bred rapidly.
"So, what do you think? With such technology in our hands, producing several tons of red earthworms every day, will we be profitable? Wu City is just our first plant. In the future, we might expand across the entire country. At that time, those of you present today could become our core employees!
"So now, I ask everyone here: are you willing to join our factory and build a decent life for yourselves from now on?!"
Of course, breeding red earthworms doesn’t rely on ZS880; that’s just a smokescreen I created, Jing Shu mused. This way, anyone with ulterior motives will focus on ZS880 and overlook the true cultivation technique. Today’s demonstration was an excellent diversion, which will help me avoid a lot of trouble.
It’s not that I don’t want to share the method with everyone, Jing Shu thought. It’s just that this method is only suitable for someone like me, who has the Spiritual Spring, various synthetic formulas, and, most critically, the green algae provided by Wu You’ai for breeding. Lacking any single one of these components makes mass breeding impossible.
Those who steal my live red earthworms and try to breed them will find that these red earthworms will die within seven days at most. No matter what methods they try, they simply won’t be able to breed them.
Actually, by this stage of the experiment, I’ve basically mastered the method for breeding red earthworms, Jing Shu mused. It’s somewhat complicated and occasionally requires my Blood-colored Spiritual Spring and the ZS880 solution, but very rarely—they’re just catalysts. What I truly rely on is the green algae, that miraculous converter, and the vast food chain involving rotten corpse insects. The growth of most organisms relies on consuming other organisms.
To breed large quantities of red earthworms quickly, the most crucial factor is the rotten corpse insects—a populous species that dominates the apocalypse and has no natural predators!
The crowd below was buzzing with excitement. This was a surefire way to profit; they had to join!
If they produced tens, even hundreds, of tons of red earthworms daily, the factory employees would surely benefit greatly! Quite a few people with ulterior motives were already scheming. If they could get their hands on this method and start their own operations, wouldn’t they strike it rich too? In this apocalypse, anything edible could be sold for a fortune!
"Boss, when do we start? How does the room and board work? Can we start today?"
"Factory Director, with so many people, you’ll need to assign tasks. A clear division of labor is essential, and I’m well-suited to help with that."
"Factory Director, red earthworms are so valuable, you’ll definitely need security, right? My brothers and I—there are dozens of us—can be the factory’s security. We guarantee no outsiders will get in."
Factory Director Su smiled. "Well then, let’s have Manager Tuo from our Human Resources department explain the details. By the way, Manager Tuo has also joined our factory. He’ll be responsible for future job assignments, scheduling, and other personnel matters."
Another wave of murmurs swept through the crowd below.
"That son of a bitch has already jumped ship."