Chapter 27: How Could You Eat Such a Cute Bunny?

"Dad, you finally have some time to rest properly. Don’t rush into any big ventures. Could you stay home and help me for a month? I’m really swamped, and during this time, you can also think carefully about what you really want to do in the future, right?" Jing Shu decided to secure Mr. Jing’s help by convincing him that since the apocalypse was imminent, whatever else he did would be in vain. It would be better to wait until the aftermath to work for the country from within the system. Not only would this provide him with job security, but the internal rewards would also be better, and he’d be a step ahead in getting news. "Alright, I’ll start by helping my daughter. How could I neglect my daughter’s business when it’s taking off? Especially when it’s bringing in tens of thousands a day," Mr. Jing was incredibly excited, thrilled that his daughter was more capable than him! Thus, Mr. Jing’s daily responsibilities were varied. Every morning, he drove Mrs. Jing to her government job 30 kilometers away in the energy car. He also handled after-sales, connected with buyers from Jing Shu’s livestream, and mailed packages. Sometimes, he and Mr. Jing would fix things together, only to end up arguing over their different worldviews... Time flew by quickly. Wu City still hadn’t seen snow in December; it remained as warm as spring. The whole globe was warming up, with temperatures predicted to be 9℃ higher than the annual average. Guangdong and Fujian remained at 30℃, Hainan approached 40℃, and even in Northwest Wu City, it was 21℃. CCTV spent the morning banning various celebrities and confiscating their assets; by noon, they were busy with charity work, praising those celebrities and businesses who donated money or gave away half their wealth for the public good. In the evening, they not only reported on which countries were in chaos but also broadcast the flourishing scenes of Huaxia and covered efforts to reduce carbon emissions and car usage to curb global warming. The agriculture channel reported on ways to salvage crops, as some had already started sprouting and leafing during winter, meaning they wouldn’t bear fruit in the spring and summer. The science channel boasted daily about various causes for these events, with everyone having their own justification. Jing Shu, who graduated from a mediocre art academy, couldn’t grasp such profound matters. But Jing Shu knew that after the collision of stars caused the sunlight to disappear, the Earth would continue to warm up wildly. The planet’s ecology would be thoroughly disrupted! Seasons would cease to exist, and repeated, catastrophic natural disasters would ruthlessly claim countless lives. This, coupled with the vanishing sunlight, would exacerbate the situation, ushering in an era people called the apocalypse, or the end of times. Cherish the last few days before the apocalypse arrives! After she finished pickling vegetables that filled 50 large jars, curing chicken and quail eggs with vacuum sealing, and salting duck eggs, Jing Shu slaughtered 60 rabbits, leaving only five in the space for breeding. Mr. Jing butchered the rabbits, and skinning them was a task for Mr. Jing. The skins had many uses and were hung to dry on the third-floor terrace. Jing Shu was responsible for chopping the meat into pieces, while Grandma Jing took care of frying them until golden and scooping them out. The gruesome task of skinning was left to a distant backdrop. Mr. Jing also made a point of displaying the freshly acquired rabbits in front of the camera early in the morning to educate the viewers. Apart from singing opera and sitting in the massage chair, Mr. Jing had added another routine to his mornings—showing off ingredients like one would show off photos on social media, not satisfied until he had bragged about them. The rabbits, which had drunk the diluted Spiritual Spring water, were plump and cute, fluffy, and incredibly adorable. The audience in the livestream thought there was a change in style today. "Is my Sister Jing not pickling vegetables for relatives today? Has she switched to sending live rabbits instead?" "These bunnies are so cute, oh my, how much for one?" Just after this was asked, Jing Shu changed the name of her livestream channel to: "For just 1998 yuan, you can feel so good you can’t breathe." Then the adorable rabbits were swiftly chopped by Jing Shu into diced rabbit, quickly turning golden brown, and then stir-fried with hot peppers, Sichuan peppercorns, aromatic ginger, and green onions. The bright red chili peppers paired with the golden diced rabbit were drizzled with fragrant oil and sprinkled with a pinch of sesame seeds. The mouth-watering spicy diced rabbit was ready! The moment before, people were saying, "Rabbits are so cute, how could you eat them." The next moment they had all changed to, "Give me a portion!" "My Sister Jing’s livestream uses the freshest ingredients from all over the internet, second to none!" The spicy diced rabbit was packed into sealed 2-liter containers, the air vacuumed out, and then refrigerated. This would keep the taste unchanged for six months. Rabbit meat from rabbits that had drunk Spiritual Spring water could be preserved for a year without a problem. Sixty plump rabbits filled up 125 sealed jars, and Jing Shu sold 20 of them. The next morning, Mr. Jing appeared on screen herding 50 adorable, fat ducks that filled the camera view, the big fat ducks quacking cutely. Then they quickly became smoked and marinated ducks, smoked first then marinated. When they reached a state of glistening brown, fully oiled, and brimming with fragrance, the tender and delicious smoked ducks were ready. On the third day, Mr. Jing showed off over 70 flapping chickens on camera. Then they turned into various forms like air-dried chicken, soy-marinated chicken, and vacuum-packed braised chicken. On the fourth day, over 300 quails were made into braised, fried, roasted, and air-dried varieties, and so forth. On the fifth day, when Mr. Jing led out two big black pigs, it drew countless gasps of amazement and fully satisfied his vanity. For this, he even invited a professional pig butcher. The two pigs were so large, it took two days to finish processing them. Stir-fried kidneys, spicy blood cubes, and fried pork belly served with fresh lettuce were all eaten immediately. Ever since Jing Shu had the whole family drink water from Spiritual Spring No. 4 (1 drop + 1000ml water), everyone’s appetite had increased astonishingly. Of course, the effects were even more pronounced for her, who had ingested No. 3 for strengthening and nourishing the body, so she ate even more. The big bones were used to make broth which, after cooling, was frozen. It could serve as stock or be made into meat jelly. Red-cooked pork spare ribs and mid-ribs were stored in sealed jars, along with braised pork head meat, ears, tongue, heart, stomach, lungs, and both large and small intestines. Pickled pig tails, pig’s feet, and trotters were vacuum-packed and refrigerated. The eight legs were made into smoked ham. When it was ready, slicing a piece of real ham would be irresistibly delicious... SLURP. 「Oh right, Sun Yinrui’s court verdict came through.」 Sun Yinrui’s wife tried to divorce him and get all their property before the verdict was announced, but the court rejected her request. Instead, it proceeded to confiscate all the money and immovable property in the bank accounts of Sun Yinrui and Yang Yunyun. Although the new national policies had just been implemented for government and public institutions, Sun Yinrui, being from a private company, theoretically could have exploited a legal loophole. However, the court was very assertive. It issued a direct verdict notice. The court further noted that Sun Yinrui was unlucky to have been caught during this national crackdown. Even if he appealed to the Supreme People’s Court, the result would be the same. Didn’t you see CCTV catching corrupt officials and celebrities evading taxes every day? Sun Yinrui was stripped of his political rights, had this recorded in his official record, and was sentenced to five months in prison. Yang Yunyun and Sun Zijian were stripped of their political rights, had this noted in their records, and were sent for reform for one month. Xiao Cao was sentenced as an accomplice to Sun Yinrui. The new national policy worked this way: if one person committed a crime, their whole family could suffer. The most frightening words were "recorded in the official record." This was because, after the apocalypse, those with such a record from the government would only receive the poorest quality food. The government’s aim was to prevent these people from starving and causing trouble, while still maintaining some level of a labor force.