Chapter 550: Chapter 550

Jing Shu handed Aunt Wang several pieces of meat. "Sorry we don’t have any bowls, just make do for now. I appreciate your hard work over the next few days."

Aunt Wang didn’t hesitate to take the meat, thanking Jing Shu profusely. She carefully placed it into her pocket, clutching it protectively, determined not to let anyone outside see. She wanted to take it back for her daughter.

After seeing the pancakes that had been made, Jing Shu shook her head. "They’re too big and thick; eating them is like chewing on dirt. They should be about palm-sized and thinner to make them crispier and easier to bite into, like rice crusts. Remember, pinch the edges downwards so you can stack them for easy carrying."

"Oh," Aunt Wang was thoroughly impressed. She hadn’t expected someone who had been indulging in delicacies during the apocalypse to know so many survival tips. In just a few short hours of arriving in this desperate place, Jing Shu had already established her authority. Aunt Wang felt that following Jing Shu was the right decision; it meant she could survive. Before leaving, she once again promised to complete her task diligently.

Wang Dan gave Jing Shu a thumbs-up. "How do you know so much?"

Jing Shu offered a mysterious smile. "Just from living a long time, that’s all."

"You’re so young, you really know how to joke! HA HA HA..." Wang Dan exclaimed.

Jing Shu just smiled and said no more.

The meal wasn’t much. Ordinarily, such a large pot wouldn’t have been enough for a dozen adults. But since they had each drunk two bowls of milk tea and eaten a pancake beforehand, it sufficed. Everyone deferred to one another with the meat and vegetables. After much back and forth, exactly one piece of each item remained. Everyone modestly claimed to be full, yet they drank all the soup, leaving none behind.

Jing Shu gave a helpless laugh and handed the last bit in the pot to Li Dayou. "Their stomachs are still full of those dirt cakes, so they haven’t digested them yet. You eat a bit more; there’s still a lot of work waiting for you."

Initially, Li Dayou insisted he wouldn’t eat any more. But hearing there was still much work to be done, he hesitated, then polished off all the leftovers. He let out a satisfied belch, feeling it was truly good to be alive.

After the meal, everyone’s energy had largely recovered, and they no longer looked sallow and gaunt from hunger. They began to take inventory of their resources and pack things up, preparing to start transporting them once rescue arrived.

In any case, everyone became busy again. It was no longer like before, when they were all just waiting to die on the ship.

Jing Shu assigned Li Dayou an important task: to take good care of the fat chicken and watch over both the chicken and her suitcase. Follow current novels on 𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹~𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮~𝚗𝚎𝚝

"This... this is important work? And a lot of it?" Jing Shu is just looking out for me in a roundabout way, even though I’m still very weak... Li Dayou thought.

Jing Shu spoke seriously, "This suitcase holds all my family’s assets. What we eat for the next few days depends entirely on it. What if someone with ill intentions targets it and tries to steal it? Don’t you know how many people out there are envious of this chicken? What if someone tries to harm it? Taking good care of the chicken is no easy task." Her expression clearly conveyed that she trusted him the most at that moment.

"Alright." Li Dayou accepted this important duty. He turned to glance at the fat chicken, which was dozing contentedly in its nest with its eyes half-closed, looking utterly at ease. Yes, it really does need to be well cared for. If anyone gets any ideas about the chicken, I’ll have to watch it closely.

After confirming everything was settled, Jing Shu went with Wang Dan to check on the seeds.

「Inside the large ship’s cargo hold」

A gust of cold air greeted them. Large boxes, just like the ones from the United States, were neatly arranged inside. To maintain temperature and humidity and reduce the rate of seed spoilage and premature germination, Wang Dan and his team had been meticulously caring for the seeds daily.

But no matter how careful they were, there had been losses over time due to various reasons. Wang Dan was reporting on the current state of seed depletion; some were fine, while others were drastically reduced.

Jing Shu anxiously examined some of the seed batches that had noticeably diminished, her heart aching at the loss. Fortunately, even if only a tiny amount of these particular seeds remained, they still had some. As long as some existed, she could take them to the Magic Cube Space to grow and propagate, and then save new seeds from the harvest. These were from the United States seed bank, all preserved as the best quality seeds.

"There weren’t any seed varieties that were completely wiped out, were there?" Jing Shu asked cautiously.

Wang Dan scratched his head and said awkwardly, "Well, three types are completely gone. One is wheat, another is corn."

Jing Shu breathed a sigh of relief after reading the English labels on their containers; she already had both of those types. She had collected over a hundred varieties of corn seeds herself. Moreover, she loved Huaxia’s fruit corn, waxy corn, and the milk corn from the Northeast, so she wasn’t too bothered about this particular loss.

Wang Dan also let out a breath and continued, "There’s one more type, seems to be a kind of rice. When our ship struck a reef in the Canal, a whole crate got soaked and the seeds sprouted. Even though we dried and wiped them, they still got moldy... So we ate them. Um... it wasn’t tasty at all. Probably wasn’t very good seed, huh? It was dark, like black rice."

Wang Dan looked guilty.

After Jing Shu checked the English information on the box, her head started to buzz. It was wild rice from the United States! A rather famous type of rice globally, darkish in color, pointed at both ends with a round middle, very long—a slender, long-grain variety, which was my favorite! I’ve always wanted to taste this widely acclaimed rice, to find out just how good it is. What a cruel twist of fate! I might never get to taste it in this lifetime. Out of hundreds of thousands of seed types, it just had to be this one that got wiped out. Is this like hitting the reverse lottery or something?

Jing Shu’s expression turned grim. "Not even a single grain left?"

Wang Dan replied in a low voice, "Gone. They all got moldy."

"Alright." Jing Shu took a deep breath. Well, life is bound to have some regrets. I should feel fortunate that at least I have many other types of rice seeds.

Just as Jing Shu was sinking into irretrievable regret, a scream suddenly erupted from outside.

"What’s happening? Let’s go check it out!" Wang Dan turned back immediately, and Jing Shu followed, feeling extremely irritable.

The screaming grew louder, escalating from one person’s cry to the wails and shouts for help of several people. The supervisors who were overseeing the work outside and the crew members who were tidying up all rushed over swiftly. Villagers who heard the commotion also hurried over, many just to gawk at the unfolding drama.

By the time Jing Shu and Wang Dan arrived, a crowd had already gathered. Jing Shu gently pushed her way through the people, her brows furrowed. She already had a sinking feeling about what might have happened.

"It’s the village chief and Ergazi!"

"Weren’t they the ones who didn’t work and therefore didn’t get to eat? They were probably trying to steal something, right? Did someone catch them?"

"Quick, see what’s happening in there! Why are they screaming so miserably?"

"Don’t push me! I can’t see a thing!"

But when a crew member rushed over with a torch, finally illuminating the scene, everyone gasped. The buzzing atmosphere instantly turned deathly silent and icy cold. The villagers began to back away, staring in horror.

Li Dayou saw Jing Shu finally arrive and stammered, "You... you’re here! This... this... this chicken... it... it..."