"I... I'm here," a middle-aged woman said nervously, her wrinkled face tense.
Jing Shu looked her up and down. The woman was tall and thin, and among this starving group, she was actually one of the cleaner ones. Jing Shu nodded slightly. "Captain Li told me you've been cooking for everyone lately, right? I'd like to hire you as the camp cook for the next few days. Your pay will be two meals a day."
A smile spread across the woman's sallow face. "Ah, thank you! I have a daughter. Could she help me out? She's a hard worker, and cooking for so many people takes more than one pair of hands."
The daughter looked to be around seventeen or eighteen, but her body was so frail she looked more like a child. She stood there clutching her sleeves, watching Jing Shu with nervous eyes.
Jing Shu thought about her plan for a moment, then nodded. "Alright. You can pick a few more women to help you. You'll be in charge of all the cooking. Before each meal, check the headcount with Wang Dan, then come to me to get the ingredients. Today we'll eat early. Once Wang Dan finishes counting, come find me."
Every person's portion would be fixed. No one could eat to their fill, not when there was only so much to go around. Jing Shu planned to save the better portion of the compressed biscuits for the convoy and mix the rest with soil to make "mud patties" for the villagers.
Auntie Wang looked surprised. For this many people, the cooking didn't seem complicated. Why would they need so many helpers? Wasn't it just dissolving compressed biscuits in water? Still, she didn't say anything.
Once Jing Shu finished speaking, the others who had been kneeling and crying scrambled to their feet. They didn't hesitate anymore. They rushed off to register with Wang Dan. Who cared what the job was? As long as it meant getting food, that was all that mattered. If they were too slow, there wouldn't be any left.
No matter what it was, it had to be better than eating dirt every day.
After tallying the numbers, Wang Dan scratched his head awkwardly. "So... what do we have them do? I can't trust them with the seeds or guarding them. If they steal or eat any, we're done for."
Jing Shu's lips curved slightly. "Take apart every house in Gashan Valley. Collect all the burnable materials and bring them to us. We'll need them for cooking and keeping warm these next few days. Have them dig large mud pits around the area and gather the fine soil from the bottom. Filter it and give it to Auntie Wang to start making mud patties. Before the rescue team arrives, we'll store as much as possible for the road ahead."
She paused, then added, "Set a daily workload for everyone. Pick two who work best as group leaders. They'll watch over the others. Anyone who slacks off doesn't eat."
Jing Shu's plan was simple: make them feed themselves. Everyone outside was already working hard just to survive. Why should these people sit around doing nothing and still expect to eat?
In this apocalypse, if you want to live, you work for it. Counting on government aid or on her generosity? Forget it.
The convoy members and the villagers of Gashan Valley, who had all been in a daze before, suddenly had a purpose. Order replaced chaos, and for the first time in a long while, there was a faint sense of hope and motivation in the air.
Wang Dan moved quickly. Some grabbed shovels from their homes to dig mud pits. Others filtered the fine soil just like Jing Shu said. Another group began dismantling the houses in Gashan Valley, carrying back beams, wooden posts, and bed frames—anything that could burn went straight to the convoy's side.
The village head and a few idlers stood aside, laughing mockingly. "Idiots. You're working for free, and who knows if you'll even get food."
Near the ship's hull, a deep pit had formed, filled with murky water. That was the only water source everyone had. Next to it stood a rough twin-stove setup.
Auntie Wang arrived with her daughter and two other women. They glanced nervously at Jing Shu as they explained how they'd been cooking lately. Wang Dan, who'd just finished his headcount, added,
"Our convoy and Gashan Valley got shoved here when the tectonic plates shifted. We already ran out of food. It was Auntie Wang who gathered bits of leather and tree roots from everyone's homes, chopped them up, boiled them, and even dug up soil to mix with spoiled seeds. She ground it all into paste, and somehow, it kept us half-fed."
Jing Shu nodded. "Smart. Staying alive is what matters most. Leather's made from animal hide, it's got protein in it, just hard to chew and harder to digest."
Li Dayou really was an idiot. If he'd done that, he wouldn't have gotten sick from overeating.
Auntie Wang smiled shyly. "My parents' generation went through famine. That's how they survived. Back then, at least we still had grass roots and bark. Boil them long enough, and you can eat them."
Wang Dan looked at his notes. "There are thirty-five workers today. The filtered soil and fuel will be here soon. When do we start making the mud patties?"
Jing Shu took ten compressed biscuits and three eggs out of her backpack, handing them over. "Start with something better this time. Boil the biscuits into porridge and stir in these three eggs. After everyone eats, Auntie Wang, you'll lead your team to start making the mud patties. Mix the biscuit porridge with the soil, shape it into patties, and roast them dry over the fire. They'll be crispy and flavorful. Better than leather at least."
"Alright!" Auntie Wang agreed immediately. Just the thought of eating soil mixed with biscuits was enough to make her content. That girl's right, she thought. Staying alive is what matters.
She looked over at her daughter. So many kids in Gashan Valley had already died. She'd do whatever it took to keep hers alive. If they lived, there'd always be hope—one day, they'd see the sun again.
Once everything here was settled, Jing Shu and Wang Dan boarded the big ship. According to him, the canal they'd been on suddenly dried up, trapping the ship on land. Then the moving plates carried it here, slamming it into a row of Gashan Valley's houses.
The ship was spacious, but every sealed compartment was packed with seeds. Only the bathroom, control room, two sleeping cabins, and a small kitchen were still usable.
Jing Shu had Wang Dan fetch a few buckets of water to the ship's kitchen. She took out a portable filter and began purifying the water.
Wang Dan clicked his tongue in amazement. He never thought she'd carry such equipment around. Who even bothered with filtered water these days? But then again, she wasn't an ordinary person. Of course she'd be particular.
He followed her eagerly. "Are we eating biscuit porridge too? With egg flowers?"
"I can't stand that stuff," she said flatly.
Before he could ask what she meant, Jing Shu clapped her hands. "Come on, let the filter run. We'll cook once it's done."
"Where're we going?"
"To find your captain."
Five minutes later, Li Dayou stared at the bowl in Jing Shu's hand. Inside, a handful of live bugs wriggled around. He swallowed hard. "You're serious? Eating those will really cure indigestion?"