novelraw Chapter 745: Grandpa Wants to See the Yellow River
Chapter 745: Grandpa Wants to See the Yellow River
Jingshu couldn’t help but feel that, without the Five-dimensional power, the terrifying monsters from her previous life had become even more frightening. Without them eating each other to keep their population in check, their numbers had grown excessively large. They devoured anything they came across, utterly ferocious. But such creatures were just what the Hulk needed—perfect replenishment in the form of Experience Pills. If she encountered any more on her way, Jingshu felt she had to eliminate them all.
It wasn’t just about saving on the Hulk’s food expenses. The key was to eliminate a menace for the people and be a righteous person with a sense of justice. Hmm.
Now that she knew the origin of the black liquid, Jingshu sent the Hulk to the outermost perimeter of the encirclement to look for target hosts. As for the rotten mermaids, she had been a bit worried at first, but after some experiments, she found:
The skin of the rotten mermaids was as thick as city walls. Perhaps because they were made of mud, the black liquid wasn’t interested in them at all.
Nevertheless, Jingshu still needed to give Xiao Wei a heads-up. The black liquid could pose a threat to the Insect Clan. After being out of touch for so many days, she had no idea where Xiao Wei had taken her people.
The convoy had arrived in Liudao Bay and was set up in a tunnel for repairs. Jingshu was informed that she needed to attend an emergency meeting as the person in charge of the Insect Cake Factory.
At this moment, Mrs. Jing, who had heard the news, and the heads of various departments from the Food Department were already waiting in the cleaned-up warehouse.
Xiao Lu, full and content, stopped in front of the warehouse. When it opened the door, it thoughtfully lowered its master gently to the ground, exhibiting impressive grandeur. This display naturally stunned the male secretary who had come to welcome them, causing a bit of embarrassment.
Luckily, the male secretary didn’t say much, just, "Get inside quickly, the meeting has already started."
The warehouse had undergone a complete makeover. The Ministry of Agriculture had moved its vegetable greenhouses inside, and the livestock transport trucks from the breeding farm had also made their way in. It was supposed to be a meeting, but it felt more like being in a vegetable market. There were no tables or chairs—just one’s own resilience and some foot-stomping to keep warm. For those who had one, sipping hot water from a cup, perhaps with a couple of goji berries thrown in, was the epitome of chic.
"Minister Su, your suggestion is good, but Xinlan is even tighter on food than we are. I just contacted their person in charge, and they completely ignored us. Sigh."
"Food prices in Xinlan are high; we might as well wait a few days for the logistical food supplies. Let the people go hungry for these few days..."
"The higher-ups want us to solve this, but they’re not giving us any money. How are we supposed to solve it?"
Finding a corner, Jingshu cozily sipped her fragrant taro ball milk tea from her thermos, half-listening to the dull meeting and feeling a bit sleepy, until she heard Mrs. Jing announce, "The person in charge of the Insect Cake Factory is my daughter, and she also has a branch in Xinlan. We can temporarily transfer stock. Each department should pay according to Wu City prices, and once the supply arrives in a few days, it can be returned."
The scene grew noisy.
"Minister, you should have said so earlier!"
"That simplifies things! Ah, Minister, we’re lucky you have this connection. Everyone saves on expenses, and we get to eat."
If it weren’t family, who would lend you their food for a few days? The key was avoiding high prices. This saved each department a lot of money and spared them considerable trouble.
As a ’tool person,’ Jingshu was well aware of her role. She had to help her mother, especially since it was just a simple stock transfer. Once Mrs. Jing displayed her characteristic casual and effortless demeanor, Jingshu contacted the manager of one of the eight branch factories, instructing them to prepare 10 tons of Insect Cake for Mrs. Jing to collect.
With the issue resolved, everyone relaxed. Jingshu found Mr. Jing in the warehouse, giving massages to cows.
Mr. Jing was teaching two apprentices, "Just like this, massage the cows’ udders well. This way, they’ll yield more milk."
The two apprentices imitated diligently.
Jingshu asked with a baffled expression, "Dad, who did you learn this from?"
Mr. Jing replied earnestly, "From your grandpa. I’ve watched him massage Da Hua like this for the past few days, and each day she produces a lot more milk."
"Err... Well, come back early for dinner after you finish your work," Jingshu said, deciding not to reveal that the real reason their family cow, Da Hua, was producing more milk was because it had drunk from the Spiritual Spring.
"Got it."
With the borrowed food, people at least received some rations. Plus, Huaxia people always tended to keep a hidden stash of food, so even though the distributed portions were small, at least no one went truly hungry.
As for the loss of life and supplies, Mrs. Jing whispered that evening that a certain important person had become very angry, and the consequences could be severe.
Could these losses even be reversed? Jing Shu sneered inwardly.
The next day, the migration convoy set off again, its destination Xinlan, 30 kilometers away.
The further south they migrated, the higher the temperature. Xinlan’s temperature hovered around minus thirty degrees Celsius and was continuously dropping. No one knew whether Xinlan would be the next to reach minus sixty degrees Celsius and then become the second city to evacuate—only Jing Shu knew.
It was reported that Wu City had already plummeted to minus seventy degrees Celsius, with the snow still falling madly. The Underground City had been completely sealed off. All the residents of Wu City who stayed behind were now trapped underground, though reportedly without any major problems so far.
Grandpa Jing said, "Jing Shu, I’ve always wanted to visit Xinlan. I’ve heard it’s a city built on both sides of the Yellow River. ’Have you not seen the waters of the Yellow River come from the sky, rushing into the sea, never to return?’ I haven’t even laid eyes on the Yellow River..."
"Always making a fuss about nothing! With the world as it is, what’s there left to see? You’re not allowed to go," Grandma Jing interjected with a glare.
"If we happen to pass by, we’ll just take a look. If we don’t, then forget about it," Jing Shu said, mediating.
"Good, good! We’ll see the Yellow River then! And we can explore Xinlan a bit when we get there," Grandpa Jing exclaimed.
Grandpa Jing had a strong curiosity about the Yellow River. He wanted to personally experience nature’s grandeur and also longed to see a new city.
Tan Ke led the way at the front of the convoy, each vehicle following the one before it. With yesterday’s incident fresh in everyone’s mind, no one dared to be careless. However, the presence of Tan Ke significantly boosted their sense of security.
The journey was very smooth.
"Announcement, announcement! After passing through one more tunnel, we’ll arrive at the Xinlan Service Station. We will extinguish our fires and camp for the night in the next tunnel. Everything as usual."
No sooner had the message come through the walkie-talkie than the convoy came to a halt.
The vehicles behind braked hard, one after another, emitting harsh, grating screeches.
Jingshu’s family’s RV also came to a screeching, emergency stop.
"What happened up front? Why did we suddenly stop?"
"Don’t know. Could it be robbers?"
Grandma Jing’s tray of sun-drying food scattered everywhere. The fat chicken, quick-eyed and quicker-beaked, immediately started pecking at it. In the fat chicken’s mind, any food that fell on the ground was meant for it. Grandma Jing slapped the fat chicken away and, with a pained expression, began gathering the remaining food. If it’s dirty, it can only be fed to the old man, she thought. Ai, what a waste.
Grandpa Jing grumbled, "So, I only deserve to eat what’s fallen on the ground, huh?"
The shout, "A tank ran someone over! It crushed them!" echoed through the tunnel. Chaos erupted as a cacophony of sounds filled the air.
"Grandma, Grandpa, don’t get out of the car. I’ll go check it out," Jing Shu said.
"Take a weapon with you," Grandma Jing urged.
Jing Shu pushed the fat chicken, which was trying to hop out for a stroll, back into the vehicle. She then boarded her miniature Hulk alone, though accompanied by three or four Hulk bodyguards. After all, Jing Shu cherished her life dearly (meaning, she was terrified of dying).