Chapter 52: Starting the Extermination and Slaughter of Domestic Poultry

This finally gave the Wu City Armed Police an excuse! Wu City had a population of 4,000,000. In addition to the police forces in various districts, there were also the main contingent of the Armed Police, specialized Armed Police units, and Armed Police brigades. These totaled about 160,000 personnel, roughly 4% of the population, indicating a very robust police presence. Therefore, it was no surprise that Wu City’s major pharmacies, suppliers, and supermarkets recently had their resources silently controlled and "requisitioned." Goods were hauled away by the truckload. Sales of medicine were halted, and only small quantities of food with short shelf lives were still sold. As for the requisitioned businesses, those willing to cooperate became the country’s strategic partners, reaping both fame and fortune. Those unwilling were "invited" to military compounds for tea, where they were provided for while they waited for the Dark Day to end before any compensation was discussed. This triggered several bloody incidents and the detention of many industry leaders. Consequently, many businesses chose to cooperate under such duress. Jing Shu only learned much later in the apocalypse that various government bodies had prearranged all of this. That was why, even in the fifth year of the apocalypse, they could still distribute expired food—a direct result of their early control over resources during that period. But there were always selfish individuals who refused to cooperate. Realizing that even the government was now forcefully requisitioning supplies, they understood the situation must be serious. So, these food factories lied about halting production while actually hoarding massive amounts of food, like luncheon meat and various canned goods. These days, Jing Shu saw daily news reports: one company used clenbuterol, violating food safety regulations, and the state recalled all its products. Another company had added unapproved additives, leading to a recall of its products as well. A cannery used moldy fruit to make its goods, and all its cans were recalled, and so on. Subsequently, Master Kong received special commendation. Although their production had long ceased, their accumulated donations of 150,000,000 packs of instant noodles, as well as their subsequent donations of accompanying items like ham sausages, formed a stark contrast. Wu City shut down all disobedient food factories and consolidated the remaining processing plants. The government began slaughtering and processing chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep. 「Two months had passed.」 More than half of Wu City’s Domestic Poultry had perished, necessitating daily burials and disinfection. Previously, people had foolishly hoped the animals would survive, and no one had the heart to cull them. The high temperatures were predicted to continue for a long time. It seemed the remaining Domestic Poultry and freshwater fish wouldn’t last much longer either. It’s better to save some breeding stock and swiftly slaughter the rest to prepare cooked food, especially since there won’t be any feed for Domestic Poultry for the next two years. Wang Qiqi No.13 posted: "@everyone, the government in the west of the city is recruiting workers to slaughter Domestic Poultry, pluck feathers, process innards, and prepare cooked food. Men and women are both welcome. A meal is provided, the salary is in cooked food, settled weekly, and working hours are from 2:00 a.m. to 7:00 a.m. with transportation provided. Interested parties can register with me." Several people in the group quickly signed up for the work; after all, they had nothing else to do. Jing Shu sighed. It has come to this. A culling of this magnitude would mean that for years after the apocalypse, chickens, ducks, cattle, and sheep would be virtually unseen, a time when an egg or a cup of milk would become incredibly precious. However, even if this wasn’t done, some unscrupulous farms would hoard live chickens and pigs to sell at exorbitant prices. Domestic Poultry would die of heat and thirst, and before they could be dealt with, an even more severe epidemic and an invasion of rotten corpse insects would break out... 「And it was during these increasingly severe times outside that Jingshu’s house finally welcomed Mrs. Jing’s first opportunity for promotion!」 Just as in her previous life, Mrs. Jing clutched the stamp collection she had amassed for over twenty years, reluctant to part with it. Mr. Jing sat to one side, at a loss for what to say or do. "Our old leader loves collecting stamps, and these are limited-edition Mao Zedong stamps. Should we give them to him or not?" Mrs. Jing mumbled, hesitantly nibbling on an apple. Jing Shu slapped her forehead. I had a plan to sell this stamp collection—it was worth quite a bit! But I got so busy I completely forgot. Now that the apocalypse is here, how much could it possibly be worth? It looks like Mom will just have to enjoy it herself. "Maybe we shouldn’t give it," Mr. Jing suggested tentatively. "If not this, then what should we give? Do you think someone in his position lacks anything? All three candidates have strong connections and backgrounds. Only I don’t, and I’ve been in this position for over a decade!" Mrs. Jing glared at Mr. Jing. "Then perhaps we should go ahead and give this," Mr. Jing said cautiously once more. "But this is my favorite, and I heard that Yu Caini gave him three collector’s edition sets. Mine doesn’t really measure up," Mrs. Jing said with a sigh. "Maybe it’s better not to give anything after all." Jing Shu brought over five packs of various mushroom growing kits, two plates of lush green garlic shoots, a carton of grown soybean sprouts, and a carton of grown chives. "Mom, take these to your old leader’s house and ask him to try them. See what he thinks of the taste," Jing Shu reminded her. "Give vegetables? Although vegetables are expensive and scarce now, they have their own channels to get them. Once the Dark Day is over, these won’t be worth much anymore." Jing Shu sighed. "Mom, aren’t you involved in research and development for Dark Day agricultural crops? What does your old leader need most right now? Political achievements! You’d be gifting him political achievements! And even if he can get vegetables through his own channels, they definitely won’t be as delicious as ours." No wonder Mom hasn’t been promoted in over a decade. She has a treasure right beside her and doesn’t even know how to use it. Then again, everyone is still clinging to the dream that things will go back to normal eventually. Mrs. Jing’s eyes suddenly sparkled. Mr. Jing quietly gave Jing Shu a thumbs-up, silently thanking her for rescuing him from a tricky situation. And so, Jing Shu’s parents immediately packed the items neatly and set off in their energy car to deliver the gifts. Although Mrs. Jing lacked powerful connections, she had Jing Shu—and Jing Shu was her strongest backing! In this life, Jingshu’s house needed to secure a position within the system to gain some influence. It wasn’t about enjoying better treatment, but about strengthening their means of self-protection, ensuring they had priority access, and a stronger voice in matters. These things would significantly enhance their comfort and security in the apocalyptic world. Otherwise, a fat sheep like me would only end up being slaughtered. No matter where you are, rules are just tools to restrain the weak. Jing Shu hadn’t yet told Grandma Jing about the house situation. She was waiting to surprise her in about a week, when Wu You’ai finished his work and they could visit together. After Mr. and Mrs. Jing left, Jing Shu could finally take out the quails she had processed and marinated. She placed them on the heated kang bed behind the boiler room to roast. She could only roast about a dozen at a time. Every five minutes, she took them out to brush on a layer of oil. Soon, a fragrant aroma filled the air. Once they were golden brown and dripping with oil, she sprinkled them with salt and cumin. The delicious roast quails were ready! As she roasted and ate, Jing Shu managed to finish over a dozen when someone in the chat group started asking questions. Fat Girl No.25: "Who’s grilling meat? Could you please close your windows tight? The smell is drifting all the way to my place. Don’t you know I’m dieting? It’s so temptingly aromatic! Really!" Building No. 25 was directly opposite their villa, about 100 meters away. It seems making delicious food is going to be a big problem in the apocalypse. I’ll just have to speed things up and cook everything I can in the next few days to store in my space.