The food was great. Everyone either squatted in the corner, stood in the hallway, or sat on the couch watching TV. Grandma Jing had made scallion-and-egg pancakes, one for each person. They wrapped slices of meat, scallions, and sausage inside, then washed it all down with soybean milk from the pot. Jing Shu's portion was especially generous—she'd secretly added pork floss, chicken cutlet, fish fillet, and lettuce. Oil gleamed on her lips as she ate.
But everyone else seemed to forget the food in their hands, their eyes glued to the TV. Only Li Zhu managed to keep chewing while half-listening to the broadcast.
"Right now, the victims from Qingshui Town have all been relocated to the neighboring Zhuhuo Town. The muddy water's already flowing into Zhuhuo Town, reaching ankle height. No one knows if it'll submerge the whole place. If things get worse, the people there will have to evacuate again.
Qingshui and Zhuhuo are sending teams back to retrieve any supplies not yet buried—bedding, winter clothes, anything that can still be moved. The coming relief and resettlement efforts are going to be a nightmare."
The reporter's voice grew more urgent.
"We want to remind everyone: this disaster covers an extremely wide area. Please stay alert, pack your essentials, and be ready to evacuate at any time. Otherwise, the consequences could be deadly. Based on current data, anyone buried by the mud without immediate rescue has a survival rate of less than 0.1%. Next, we'll show footage from the hardest-hit regions."
If Qingshui Town was considered lucky, then the next few places shown were tragic. The worst was a foreign city near a volcano. A massive mudslide had erupted without warning, sweeping through with terrifying force. Just like the floods years ago, it came roaring down like a monster, swallowing everything. Hardly anyone made it out alive.
"This is worse than the floods!"
"At least when it's water, you can swim or go back for your stuff. But once it's mud like this, damn, it's like falling into a swamp—you're done for!"
Everyone's faces turned grim. For the past few days, sticky muddy water had been seeping up from their own fields. Even the roads Jing Pan and Jing Zhao took to get here were covered in that same gooey sludge. It was a bad sign. Wu City might not be spared either.
Their fears were confirmed minutes later. Wu City's local news aired similar footage, reporting that mud was now gushing uncontrollably from nearby Ningshan City. The authorities had already begun evacuating citizens.
The screen switched to live footage from Ningshan City, a place Jing Shu's family knew well. Mud poured down like waterfalls, swallowing neighborhoods near the slopes. Half the city was already underwater. People were scrambling to move supplies and daily goods. The government had sent trucks to help, but it was a drop in the bucket. Countless people ran through the freezing cold with heavy bags on their backs. Anyone who ran too slow was caught by the rushing mud.
Everyone in the room knew Ningshan City. It sat right next to Wu City and Wu County, even closer to the latter. It wasn't as prosperous as the provincial capital, but it had been a pretty decent city before the apocalypse.
If a city that big was already retreating, running for who-knows-where, how could Jing Shu's family possibly feel at ease?
Jing Pan said worriedly, "Back when the floods hit, we used to envy Ningshan City since it was on higher ground and didn't get flooded. Who'd have thought they'd be the first ones hit this time?"
Wei Chang shoved the rest of his pancake into his mouth. "No, we can't sit here. We've gotta go back right now. Wu County's closer to Ningshan than we are. If they're already in trouble, our place might be next."
Grandpa Jing frowned and pointed at the two men. "You two, stop eating. Grab the flashlights and go check the back mountain. Ask around about what's going on outside."
No one cared about the food anymore. Wei Chang jumped up, threw on his padded coat, fur hat, and thick boots. Li Zhu hesitated a bit, still thinking about his half-eaten pancake. "Don't clean up my food, alright? I'll finish it when I'm back. Leave me some soybean milk too, and add a little sugar."
"Hurry up and go!"
Grandpa Jing glared at him. "Is this really the time to be stuffing your face? Sugar's precious, you know!" He snorted, then shot a sharp look at Li Yun, who was still eating quietly. "Useless."
His gaze finally softened when it fell on Jing Shu, who was busy scrolling on her phone and eating at the same time. "Grandma, make a few more pancakes. Your granddaughter doesn't have enough. The girl's been working hard lately."
He sighed. She did look thinner. Damn, that was his fault. He'd been trying to save food these days, and now the kid was starving herself too. How silly—she'd grown or found most of their food herself, yet she didn't even think to sneak some extra for her own meals.
The room's mood stayed tense. Her parents had already gone to work, and her Third Aunt was busy in the cafeteria. Even Wu You'ai, usually calm, was furiously tapping away on her phone.
Only Jing Shu seemed unaffected. She was actually a little busy. The factory operations were now in the hands of her Maternal Eldest Uncle, so she didn't have to worry about year-end bonuses or red envelopes. But since she'd recently traded some favors to gain a bit of authority over Wu City's waste station, she was now handling cooperation between the two sides.
The Red Nematode project had grown so fast that it was starting to stretch its limits, and the biggest problem now was fuel.
The waste station had plenty of people and equipment, but it lacked food supplies and the means for self-sufficiency.
So naturally, a deal was made. The Red Nematode Factory would provide worm patties, and the waste station would supply fuel in return. Jing Shu could even stockpile a bit more for her own use.
A while later, Wei Chang and Li Zhu returned, panting heavily. Li Zhu's feet were freezing, and he stomped the floor to warm up before gulping down a big bowl of soybean milk. His face was pale.
Wei Chang reported, "It's bad. Mud's flowing down the back mountain, just like in the footage. We only got to the foot of the slope before we saw sticky mud running down nonstop. It's slow for now, but who knows? It could end up like Ningshan City."
That thought made him even more anxious.
Grandma Jing nearly burst into tears. "If our place gets buried too, where are we supposed to go? Are we really gonna end up like those people on TV, forced to leave everything behind? It's one thing to get flooded, but if it's mud, the whole house'll be ruined!"
Wu You'ai stood up. "Grandma, the ones who should be panicking right now are Auntie and Second Aunt. Their families are in Wu County, closer to Ningshan. The city's higher up, so the mud flows down faster. If Ningshan's already sinking, Wu County won't be far behind. Once it reaches there, Wu City'll be next."
"So what you're saying," Grandpa Jing muttered around his unlit pipe, "is that it's just a matter of time before we're hit too?"
He didn't light it—he was running low on tobacco.
Seeing everyone this worried, Jing Shu finally sighed and stood up. Did they really think all those big "tombstones" she'd built behind the villa over the years were just for decoration?