Chapter 497: Chapter 497

Jin Tianci felt a piercing light penetrate his back. It was as if... there was something demonic!

She should thrive in wealth silently yet strikingly. She should possess the ability not to instigate trouble yet be fearless when faced with it, and have the strength to handle anything. This truly should be Jing Shu’s life goal in the apocalypse.

Jing Shu had now passed the initial stage where she had to carefully protect everything around her due to her vulnerability. She now had the capital to seek better living conditions. Jing Shu had her trump cards and resources, and also the power to stand alongside the Government on the same united front of interests. Since ancient times, the most reliable loyalties have been based on mutual interests.

"I hope by then, you won’t be gone. My villa estate, and my employees’ luxury suite dormitories, all depend on you!"

This wasn’t without reason. After the fourth year of the apocalypse, a single meal could be exchanged for a house. This was especially true in the fifth year, which was the most food-scarce year in the entire decade of the apocalypse! It was also the year with the highest number of deaths from starvation and cold.

In Wu City, even the moguls, the real estate tycoons from before the apocalypse, began to sell all sorts of luxury villas and movable houses to recover their capital and exchange for food.

Large numbers of Domestic Poultry also began to go extinct around the fifth year, with very few remaining. In the third year, a middle-income family could at least keep a chicken or grow some garlic sprouts and lettuce, as they were, after all, official workers. However, by this fifth year, like ordinary people, they could only rely on the Government digging deep into its grain reserves to survive.

One can only imagine how difficult life became. From this year onward, people resorted to eating corpses, rotten corpse insects, digging up tree roots, and some even consumed Guanyin Soil. Yet, during this very year, Stone Garden expanded even more. No wonder people were envious. The tyrant even seized Stone Garden directly during the nationwide famine of the fifth year.

Of course, Jing Shu and Stone Garden were fundamentally different.

First, Stone Garden was easily replaceable; a change in ownership wouldn’t significantly harm it.

But Jing Shu’s Red Worm Processing Factory was different.

Jing Shu held the most confidential formula (the Spiritual Spring). Without Jing Shu, the factory couldn’t breed red earthworms in large quantities. Her opponents were unlikely to get hold of the method, nor could they easily coerce Jing Shu. Doing so risked a mutually destructive outcome where the Government would suffer even greater losses.

After all, it was like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. Jing Shu was the only such goose. At most, they could pressure her to lay more eggs—to refine the formula and breed more red earthworms.

Any wise person would cherish the only egg-laying goose as if it were an ancestor, much like Grandma Jing treasured her fat chicken.

Second, Qian Duoduo’s resources were too vast, encompassing not only Stone Garden but also oil reserves and numerous other assets. The tyrant wanted it all, as these resources could potentially feed hundreds of thousands of people.

Jing Shu was different. Besides the factory, she had supplies at her estate and those shipped from the United States. Jing Shu also prioritized quality over quantity. At her house, Domestic Poultry was precious. She had chickens, ducks, cows, sheep, pigs, an assortment of fish, and a diverse range of food, including various vegetables, fruits, hundreds of types of snacks, pickled mustard, radishes, and Dried Vegetables.

However, the quantity of each item was limited.

Combined, all these resources might save how many people? A thousand? What use was that to Wu City’s population of several million? The bigger picture had to be prioritized; small contributions like hers were insignificant in comparison.

Third, by confiscating Qian Duoduo’s assets, the tyrant could boost his prestige. Seizing Stone Garden and all its resources would allow for better management and distribution, helping more people. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ 𝗇𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗅•𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾•𝗇𝖾𝗍

But what was the use of taking over the Red Worm Processing Factory? Could it increase red earthworm production? If they couldn’t obtain the formula, a facility that once provided food for hundreds of thousands daily would produce nothing. With Jing Shu there, stable production could be maintained. Why would the Government want to seize it?

To take a step back, red earthworms were created to serve everyone, especially during disasters like these, to prevent more people from starving. With that rationale, any ruler of Wu City would have to have lost their mind to shut down this processing factory.

Only by aligning her interests with the Government could they become true partners, standing on common ground in an equal relationship. This was the basis of Jing Shu’s confidence; she wasn’t afraid of the Government causing trouble.

Qian Duoduo’s previous rapid development was due to aligned interests with the Government, but interests can always diverge and collapse. Managing this balance was crucial.

Jing Shu’s eyes darted around for a moment before she rapidly wrote down her new plan:

14. During the food shortages of the fourth year, exchange red earthworms for luxury villas and staff housing.

She had been wondering what red earthworms could be exchanged with the Government for, and now, she had a target. She knew that in her previous life, the Government had auctioned luxury villas. Surely Jin Tianci could procure movable luxury villas.

Living in the Banana District villas wouldn’t be an issue until after the fifth year, but it would become dangerous after the seventh. Jing Shu was preparing an escape route for herself. There was no rush for now; securing a good deal was what mattered.

The staff dormitory situation was a bit urgent...

"As everyone can see," Factory Director Su began, "the red earthworm residue is cooked into a mush, then dehydrated. Workers then add salt, dissolving and stirring it in. At this point, I must take a moment, live on television, to thank our sponsor, ’Deadly Salty Salt Merchant,’ for providing our factory with salt residue. My sincere thanks to you!"

"Next is the final stage. Workers strictly adhere to a 100-gram dosage for each cake, placing them into molds embossed with the ’Eat Your Fill Insect Cake’ label. Oh, and I must also thank the master craftsmen of Wu City for creating these iron molds for us. They’ve been instrumental in building our reputation and streamlining the workers’ process."

"Once the stamped Insect Cakes are made, they are transported on a conveyor belt to baskets outside. There, they freeze solid almost instantly. In this weather, they’ll keep for several years without spoiling."

The group followed him outside and was immediately hit by a blast of cold wind. They saw workers bustling about, carefully separating the still-steaming Insect Cakes to prevent them from sticking together, while others moved the already frozen cakes into the warehouse.

"This is the red earthworm storage facility."

Dim lighting illuminated a massive storage chamber, a palpable chill hanging in the air.

Everyone present gasped in admiration; even Jin Tianci was taken aback.

It was so neat! So magnificent!

A classic grid layout came into view. Half the shelves were made of sheet iron, the other half of stone. Regardless of the material, they were all impeccably organized, holding countless Insect Cakes of uniform size. What was particularly satisfying, especially for anyone with OCD, was that all the stamped ’Eat Well Insect Cake’ insignias faced outward, creating a vast, orderly display.

Each iron rack contained ten compartments, and every compartment held precisely 1,000 Insect Cakes—no more, no less. Therefore, a single iron rack stored one ton of red worm cakes.

Factory Director Su proudly said, "This is the masterpiece of Gu Yiyi, one of our employees who has OCD and insists that everything be perfectly aligned and symmetrical. He will be in charge of this warehouse from now on. See that young man over there? The one with the center-parted hair and two pockets that he insists must be identical plastic bags? That’s Gu Yiyi. I’ll go get him."