I Am Cultivating in the Apocalypse

Chapter 695: The Last Day of the Fifth Year

These mutant rotten corpse insects were truly the most bothersome creatures from the previous migration. They had no natural predators, reproduced everywhere, and were fond of burrowing and biting. If one wasn’t careful, they would get bitten and have their blood sucked, leaving the skin full of bumps.

After some thought, Jing Shu contacted the Medicine Association and offered a high Contribution Value bounty for a batch of Mugwort cultivation, hoping it would be very useful in the future.

Wind Oil Essence was strong and even better at repelling insects, but she lacked the formula and wasn’t skilled in its production, so she dismissed that idea. Mugwort, however, had been brought from the Imperial Capital. It could be planted in large quantities, and Mugwort smoke could prevent people from being bitten by the rotten corpse insects.

There were now thousands of employees in the factory, and the Bone Powder Factory was also on the right track. More importantly, Jing Shu was determined to take care of her employees during the migration.

Speaking of the Bone Powder Factory, Jing Shu’s expression turned somewhat strange.

She remembered that during last month’s experiment with the long-haired balls, one of them had been inserted into the body of a rotten mermaid.

Although she always kept records, it initially showed no reaction, so she had simply left it in her space without paying it further attention.

It was only a few days ago that she had time to summon that mermaid. Upon inspection, she discovered the poor creature’s body was covered with densely packed long-haired balls.

The originally massive rotten mermaid had shrunk considerably. This creature had almost no intelligence, but now it looked quite pitiable.

Jing Shu removed the long-haired balls, counting over a hundred of them, each the size of a fist. Their fur wasn’t usable yet and needed more time to grow.

Through over a month of experimentation and record-keeping, Jing Shu had discovered the breeding and raising methods for the long-haired balls.

To breed them quickly, she would insert the long-haired balls into the rotten mermaid’s body, where they could rapidly reproduce by absorbing Dimension Energy.

For them to grow quickly, Spiritual Spring water was naturally ideal, but Jing Shu didn’t plan to use it. The most cost-effective method was using Bone Powder mixed with feed.

It seemed that the rotten mermaid’s flesh finally had a use!!

Jing Shu was excited; this also counted as recycling waste. She had been wondering how to use the rotten mermaid’s muddy flesh, and unexpectedly, its flesh could stimulate the rapid reproduction of the long-haired balls!

Without delay, Jing Shu arranged for the rest of the long-haired balls to be placed on the rotten mermaid.

It looked like she would be able to gather a collection of long-haired products before the migration!

The building’s seven floors weren’t fully occupied. Uncle had arranged for some high-performing individuals to move in, which eased the crowding at the Insect Cake Factory.

Therefore, the third and fourth floors were still empty. Jing Shu planned to open her own long-haired clothing factory. As the amount of long fur would increase, sending it all to the Township Government’s clothing factory would incur processing fees, which wasn’t cost-effective.

Most importantly, she didn’t want the detailed data to be known by the Township Government.

In her own clothing factory, she could keep it off the official books, secretly reserve a batch, and be prepared for any eventuality.

Nevertheless, this matter couldn’t be rushed. It was the New Year holiday, and the Township Government offices were closed. It was best to wait until the third day of the New Year to bring it up again. In the meantime, Jing Shu had Liu draft a business plan for the factory and intended to start recruiting slowly.

This year’s New Year was a bit livelier than the last, as Jing Shu gathered all the relatives from both the Jing family side and Mrs. Jing’s side together. Otherwise, they would have had to hold separate feasts on the first and second days of the New Year.

Nowadays, there were quite a number of relatives present. Aunt Jing Pan’s entire family, Aunt Jing Zhao’s family of three, Third Aunt Jing Lai’s household of two, and Uncle’s family of three were all there.

It was worth mentioning that Jing Shu had sent several freight trucks from the Insect Cake Factory to pick up Aunt Jing Pan’s entire family and had also moved all their furniture and household items.

During the mudslide, Aunt Jing Pan’s family had been blocked outside the city without a migration permit. Jing Shu had originally planned to get them permits, but then she had to rush to the Imperial Capital for a competition. Later, since Wu County hadn’t been flooded after all, the matter was dropped.

"This time, I’ve made it clear to Jing Pan that, no matter what, we need to move inside Wu City. Wu County is too dangerous!" Grandma Jing said, a lingering fear still in her voice.

Arrangements were also made for Second Aunt Jing Zhao to move in. As long as she didn’t cause any trouble, Jing Shu wouldn’t bother them.

"As it happens, I’m planning to open a garment factory. Elder aunt, you and Qiao Lian can work there," Jing Shu offered.

Elder aunt was very ashamed. "You went to so much trouble to get us all permits. How can we possibly ask you to find us jobs too?"

Jing Shu didn’t mind. "I need to hire people anyway. The factory operates on merit and performance. If you don’t perform well and are let go, it would reflect poorly on me."

"Ah, Jing Shu, don’t worry, Mom and I will certainly work hard!" Qiao Lian exclaimed excitedly. She had never imagined that the wealthy Jing Shu wielded such influence.

How difficult was it to obtain a Wu City ID card? Hundreds of thousands of people were desperate to get in, and those who succeeded often toiled at hard labor daily.

Yet, Jing Shu had managed to make so many of them official Wu City People!

Not only that, but she had also found them jobs. The benefits and conditions at that factory were rumored to be even better than those for official Township Government workers!

Qiao Lian felt that severing ties with her birth mother and dutifully serving her husband’s family was the right choice!

"Cousin and Uncle, you can go work at the Insect Cake Factory," Jing Shu said. "I’ll arrange for you to be minor team leaders. You’ve done this work before; how far you can climb will depend on yourselves."

Second Aunt Jing Zhao stayed behind to look after the children, which was still considered working for Jing Pan. Jing Shu didn’t need to concern herself with their arrangements.

After finalizing these matters, the conversation turned to this year’s New Year’s Eve dinner.

"There’s simply no space at home anymore..." Grandma Jing lamented. "Given the current tense situation, we’ve slaughtered much of our livestock, preserving the meat as jerky, bacon, ham, or sausages.

"And with Jing Shu planning to process so many ingredients into finished products," she continued, her voice heavy with worry, "the villa is even more cramped. There simply isn’t enough room to seat so many people.

"My apartment in Building 25 has been given to Elder Aunt’s and Second Aunt Jing Zhao’s families, and it’s nearly full with their belongings. With Uncle’s old house submerged, his family now lives in a dormitory in the new building, thanks to Jing Shu’s connections.

"Most critically," Grandma Jing concluded, "the situation is tense this year, and all the food at the villa would be too conspicuous."

Therefore, Jing Shu clapped her hands and declared, "Let’s have this year’s New Year’s Eve dinner at the West Mountain Stone Garden. They have chefs there, so we don’t need to cook ourselves, which is convenient."

Coincidentally, Jing Shu also needed to go there to recruit some people. West Mountain Stone Garden had gathered many skilled individuals. Compared to posting job openings publicly and dealing with untrained applicants, it was much more convenient to poach a few people directly from West Mountain.

"How expensive would that be?" Grandma Jing asked, looking pained. She had rarely dined out even before the apocalypse.

"It’s no charge. The owner still owes me money, so we can use that to cover it," Jing Shu patiently explained.

"Even if it’s covering a debt, it’s still money. Don’t ask for too much; we don’t want people thinking we’re overly wealthy."

Jing Shu nodded with a smile. It was true; after buying the helicopter, she was poor again.

So, for New Year’s Eve this year, Jing Shu reserved a table for an apocalypse-style feast at the West Mountain Stone Garden.

It was the same large private room as before, featuring an enormous table in an incredibly cozy, sunlit conservatory—very classy and spacious.

Manager Cai, who was now quite familiar with Jing Shu—oh, he’d been promoted to Director Cai—personally arranged for a high-definition projector so everyone could watch the Spring Festival Gala.