I Am Cultivating in the Apocalypse

Chapter 678: Qian Duoduo’s Banquet Hall

"Wu City is much better off now. No one starved to death this time, but we dare not bring out any more food. We’ll have to cut our meals in half going forward, or who knows when this disaster will end. It’s too difficult to grow rice and grains now."

Jing Shu felt a bit distressed because she hadn’t given proper instructions before she left. Additionally, her family considered the basement their last lifeline and was reluctant to unlock it unless absolutely necessary.

"Grandma, we should eat. Our family eats a lot; we can’t cut it in half. Don’t worry about the food. You’ve seen the basement before—there’s a lot of rice and flour there." Jing Shu then carried out a large quantity of rice, flour, and oil from the basement.

Peanut oil, olive oil, and rapeseed oil—Grandma Jing, after all these years, knew which oil made which dish tastier and had refined her methods to enhance the food’s flavor.

Jing Shu began to consciously guide her family to prepare everything as semi-finished products or fully cooked meals, which they then froze outside. When they wanted to eat, they could simply heat them up.

Although the texture might not be as good as fresh, most of it was blessed by the Spiritual Spring, so it was still quite good.

This approach had many benefits: it integrated various ingredients, made storage more convenient, took up less space, and was easier to transport.

The current weather acted as a natural deep freezer, making it difficult to enjoy more complex dishes while traveling.

We should indulge while we can, Jing Shu thought. She took out the complete cookbook for Grandma Jing, deciding to go through the dessert section once more before expanding to other categories.

To dream was essential. Drinking coffee in snowy weather, eating desserts, and warming herself by the stove—that was her greatest dream during this lifetime’s migrations.

Whether it was milk from the villa’s cows or the space’s cows, there was plenty left. They started with durian mille crêpe, matcha mille crêpe, and chocolate mille crêpe. She had already eaten many of the sweets brought back from the United States, and eating a slice of cold durian mille crêpe in the frigid weather was simply delightful.

These days, Jing Shu was engrossed in making various desserts, using a lot of dairy products and sugar. Of course, she offered everyone a sound justification: as the weather grew colder, having a slice of cake to add calories and fat was the perfect winter meal.

A week after returning to Wu City, Jun Jia called. He said he had finished writing the report on the building’s drifting, compiled all the data on losses and promised merits, and that in ten days, they would re-auction and handle the building’s subsequent matters at the Township Government Building. He hoped she could be there.

Jing Shu had to go. After all, if the building had drifted somewhere else, it would be one thing, but now that it had drifted back to Wu City, she definitely had to deal with it.

The Red Worm Factory had also successfully resumed operations. Jing Shu had been hands-off for a long time. After giving directions this time, she could leave matters to her subordinates. However, she specifically promoted the driver three levels to commend his actions during the incident.

As for Liu, Jing Shu said nothing. She had other plans for him.

Zhu Dazhi had everything handed over the next day. On the third day, Jun Bao invited her to dine with him. Regarding this man, who appeared gentle and amiable but whose methods were frightening, Jing Shu felt she could only agree.

The dining location was the banquet hall in West Mountain, a place Jing Shu had never visited before.

The host was Jun Bao, but West Mountain Qian Duoduo provided the food and venue. Crucially, Qian Duoduo hadn’t arrived yet.

The banquet hall, used to entertain VIPs before the apocalypse, was located on the second floor of a garden building. The original flowers and plants of the Ancient Garden were all gone, leaving the grounds stark. Only the ’indoor garden,’ with its completely enclosed system, remained.

It was said to have formerly been used for nurturing valuable plants. Enclosed with tempered glass to better receive sunlight while remaining fully sealed, it was much larger than Jing Shu’s villa.

Now, this place had become Qian Duoduo’s private vegetable garden. Under a constant temperature system, it boasted plentiful fresh vegetables and fruits.

Jun Bao plucked a cucumber, bit into it with a CRUNCH, and casually plucked another one for Jing Shu. The two sat at the large 16-person mahogany round table eating cucumbers, as Jun Bao began to enlighten Jing Shu.

"Do you know how expensive this set of table and chairs was before the apocalypse?"

"Just one of these Taishi Chairs we’re sitting on could be exchanged for a villa."

Jing Shu shifted uncomfortably. She was not used to the Taishi Chair, which was taller than her and hard. It was too high to lean back against properly; if she tried, her legs would lift entirely off the ground.

Ever seen a chair one meter deep? Well, this was it.

"Qian Duoduo is a cunning person. Later, we’ll go somewhere else and take a look," said Jun Bao, surveying his surroundings with a smile, his thoughts seemingly indecipherable.

Jing Shu was startled. She continuously pondered how to shift Jun Bao’s apparent intent from killing Qian Duoduo. Due to the butterfly effect in this life, she had established the Insect Cake Factory, involved the insect woman Xiao Wei, and now Qian Duoduo had also played a part. Thankfully, Wu City had so far managed to prevent anyone from starving to death.

Jing Shu was still deep in thought when Wang Dazhi arrived with his boss and a group of inspection team members. She was even mulling over the rotten mermaid issue and how to properly introduce it as a new food source for everyone.

"Jing Shu, Jing Shu? What do you think?" Jun Bao asked her several times with a smile before Jing Shu finally snapped back to reality.

"Ah?" Jing Shu raised an eyebrow, saying indifferently, "I don’t think Brother Zhou’s actions were very ethical. You mentioned that the technology wasn’t even fully stolen before they opened so many factories nationwide. Did they ever consider the consequences if it failed? Look, now they can’t produce. What use is there in coming to me? Why don’t you just kill me? My blood alone could provide several tens of kilograms, barely enough to cover the raw material needs for your first batch of factories."

Zhou Yun and the other members of the inspection team awkwardly touched their noses. Zhou Yun, Wang Dazhi’s boss from the Imperial Capital and a legitimate third-generation official, felt deeply ashamed, thick-skinned as he usually was.

The idea of using a person’s blood as raw material was unprecedented. Such a task was indeed beyond the capabilities of the entire nation; their boasting had gone too far.

Jun Bao, maintaining his good nature, said, "This is also my fault. It was my suggestion at first. Look, Brother Zhou also mentioned that their inspection team members come from all over. He wants to open an Insect Cake Factory in the Imperial Capital. When the others return to their hometowns, they’ll surely want to open their own Insect Cake Factories too. So, there you have it—one factory per person, technology shared, just perfect..."

Jing Shu picked up a type of food she had never eaten before, tasted it, and furrowed her brows. It tasted strange.

Qian Duoduo was still generous, serving a table full of dishes supposedly meeting Michelin three-star standards. The only complaint, if any, was the minuscule portions.

One dish consisted of a carved radish, a sprig of cilantro, and a dark lump topped with a bit of caviar.

It was hardly enough to get stuck in one’s teeth.

Apparently, that single dish involved 36 preparation steps, though Jing Shu couldn’t discern any particular complexity from its taste. The inspection team members, however, seemed quite satisfied.

Zhou Yun finally had to speak. "Miss Jing Shu, what’s done is done. We’ve come today to discuss a possible solution."