Chapter 254 Chapter 254 Heavy Fog
It will be sunny today
Good for going out
As usual, He Junxia brought a group of children out to pick mushrooms, and there were crowds of people around.
Zong Yipeng and Zhang Lingjia, the two naughty monkeys, always run around as soon as they get on the ground, but this time they followed him obediently, squatting down and digging stones half a meter away.
Even though more than forty days have passed since the last ant swarm, the fear and terror in people's hearts have never disappeared.
The young couple Zhang Shuhui and Zong Kangping even warned their two children in person, making sure they remembered the tragic consequences of running around without listening to adults.
Hide and seek or something
The two children never dared to play again.
He Junxia ignored the muddy "little black chicken claws" beside him and released his mental power to search for the small gray mushrooms hidden in the hidden corners.
"Stones. There are several in the cracks of the wall over there."
"Lulu, on the rock to your left."
…
He Junxia was like a general giving orders, directing the soldiers' actions in an orderly manner.
"Uncle Zong, you have good eyesight. You can see the mushrooms in every corner."
"I'm five years younger than you, and my eyesight isn't as good as yours. I'm nearsighted and presbyopic. I can't see far away, and I can't see close up either."
The person who was speaking was Aunt Gan, a woman who would go out to pick mushrooms for money regardless of wind or rain.
As we met more often, we naturally became familiar with each other and sometimes even chatted about some family matters.
He Junxia said with a hint of pride, "When I have time, I do the eye exercises my granddaughter taught me. If you have time, try it too. It feels very comfortable after doing it."
Aunt Gan smiled and said, "Girls are better. They're considerate. Unlike my grandson, he doesn't even bother to teach me eye exercises. He even thinks I'm nagging him."
He Junxia smiled but said nothing.
Family members should just talk among themselves. It is tactless and annoying for others to join in the criticism.
He Junxia pointed to the ground and said, "Look, there's one in the grass at your feet."
Following his instructions, Aunt Gan bent down to search, and after digging through the dense grass, she saw several gray mushrooms growing together. They looked quite large.
"Thank you. I think your eyes are good. I'll do some eye exercises tomorrow too."
Aunt Gan skillfully picked the mushrooms and put them into the backpack, then wiped the sweat off her face with the towel around her neck.
"It's very strange. What's going on recently? There are fewer and fewer mushrooms outside."
Another older woman joined in, “Yeah, there were quite a few here a few days ago, but today I had to strain my eyes to find them, and they hurt, but I still haven’t found much.”
Another person interrupted and said mysteriously, "My niece's boyfriend's brother works at a mushroom farm and said that the mushrooms there are also becoming scarce."
He Junxia listened to the conversation between the few people and remained silent. It was not that he didn't want to talk, but that he didn't know how to talk.
Everyone has witnessed the decreasing production of gray mushrooms in the wild, and the reason is easy to guess.
These mushrooms are a new species that appeared after the arrival of fog from another world. The thicker the fog, the faster they grow and the greater the yield.
Nearly three months had passed since the last red fog dissipated. Without the nourishment of the fog, and with humans and mutant insects harvesting the food in large quantities, it was only natural that the mushroom population was dwindling.
But it is useless to talk about this situation. Even with human intervention, the growth and reproduction rate of mushrooms will gradually slow down.
The only way to completely solve this problem is to wait for the fog from another world to arrive.
But by then, the tentacle monster will appear again, and the mutated insects and animals may also undergo a new round of mutations, resulting in a situation similar to an ant tide.
It is a blessing
Is it a disaster?
No one can guarantee it.
…
Another half month passed.
The bad situation still happened
The number of gray mushrooms in the wild has dropped significantly, and the mushroom production in mushroom factories has also decreased sharply, so that the price of mushrooms in canteens has continued to rise.
And this is just the most basic impact.
Gray mushrooms have gradually become a staple food like rice and noodles. A considerable number of people even eat them for a long time because they are cheaper than rice and steamed buns.
Now that the production of gray mushrooms has dropped significantly, more people have to buy staple foods such as rice and noodles, so that the stocks of rice, flour and other foods in the shelters are rapidly decreasing.
The inventory of these materials was originally limited, and after more than a year of consumption, there was little left.
Even if there are farms and planting bases inside the shelter, it will be difficult to sustain the sudden surge in demand.
To this end, the shelter came up with a new solution - expanding the scope of the safe zone and encouraging people to form material collection teams to go out and collect supplies.
Not only that, the shelter also allowed them to follow the official supply collection team to pick up leftovers.
Although there are considerable risks in doing so, fortune and wealth are sought through risk, and there are many people who have the courage to want to make more money.
In other words, even if you don't want to make money, you can store the food you bring back and eat it yourself, so you don't have to worry about food problems in the future.
As soon as the news came out, people gathered to respond.
He Junxia is one of them.
The dormitory assigned by the shelter was too small, and with five people staying there, there was no room for much. A large part of the supplies he had collected was stored in several safe houses.
Nowadays, the shelter encourages everyone to go out and collect supplies, and several safe houses are not far from the shelter, so they are likely to be discovered by others.
He Junxia didn't want the safe house and various supplies he had worked so hard to prepare to be taken advantage of by others, and it was time to stock up on food for his family.
Zong Kangping listened to his father's detailed arrangements, thought for a long time and said, "Dad, why don't I go with you?"
He Junxia: "Aren't you going to work?"
Zong Kangping opened his mouth with some difficulty: "I... I want to quit my job and work with you." This was an idea that came to him on the spur of the moment, but it was also the result of careful consideration.
Zong Kangping had long since given up on doing this.
Although they are a dual-income family, which makes people envious, they are actually able to maintain their current standard of living thanks to their father.
Admittedly, in the original shelter, farm worker was a pretty good and stable job.
But now is different from the past
The economic climate in the shelter is changing so rapidly.
A huge business opportunity has emerged since specially processed gray mushrooms were found to be edible for a long time and have great benefits for the human body.
The first person to take the plunge and pick mushrooms on the ground made huge profits in a short period of time. The money he earned from picking mushrooms in a day could even be equivalent to several months' salary.
If he was lucky enough to pick a yellow or green mushroom, he would earn more than his salary from a year's hard work.
What is even more unbearable is that as the number of points on everyone's cards increases, the prices of various items in the market also rise.
Only his salary has not changed!
Not only are there fewer vacations, lower wages, and longer working hours, but even the benefits that were canceled during difficult times were not returned when the economy improved.
Zong Kangping does not reject a low-paying but stable job, otherwise he would not have become a primary school teacher and lived an ordinary life.
The problem is that no matter how low the salary is, it should at least be enough to support people. What can you buy with that little money after losing the benefits of free meals and eggs?
Can’t buy anything!
There is not much to check about the legendary paid work.
Even though mushroom production has dropped sharply, his treatment has not improved, and has even gotten worse.
Because gray mushrooms are an extremely important source of feed, when production decreases, there will be even fewer gray mushrooms available for use as feed.
Chickens and ducks that cannot get enough feed are forced to eat frugally, lose weight, and become less active in laying eggs.
You don't know until you calculate it, and you'll be shocked. The so-called stable job is not only unstable, but also carries the risk of starvation.
The more Zong Kangping thought about it, the more he felt that resigning and finding another way out was the right choice, even though he had missed the best time to go out picking mushrooms.
He Junxia ignored his adopted son's expectant and pleading eyes, thought for a moment and said, "You go and explain it to your wife yourself."
Is this an agreement?
Zong Kangping's face lit up and he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. He believed his reasoning could convince his wife.
Indeed
Zhang Shuhui was persuaded
But she only agreed with Zong Kangping's resignation from the farm, and did not support him going out with the public to look for supplies.
The reason is simple
My father-in-law has the ability to practice, so he is not afraid of the mutant creatures outside. If he can't defeat them, he can escape.
He was powerless, and even though his physical fitness had been greatly improved by the gray mushrooms, those mutant creatures were not vegetarians either.
Besides, if the only two adult men in the family risked their lives and something happened, how would she and her two children survive?
"Zong Kangping, it's not that I don't want to support you, but you also know what life is like for those children in the orphanage."
Zhang Shuhui's eyes reddened. "Can you bear to see your precious son and daughter living a life of wanting more than one meal?"
Zong Kangping was silent.
As a parent, how can we bear to give up?
Zong Kangping reached out and hugged his wife: "I'm sorry, I didn't think it through. I won't resign for now."
At least you can earn some small points.
Zhang Shuhui wiped her eyes and said, "I know farm work is hard, and it's okay to quit and take a break. But you are the pillar of the family. If something goes wrong, the family will fall apart.
He Juanxia looked at the young couple hugging each other with tears in their eyes, paused, and said, "Actually, Kangping can give it a try."
He is already a third-level mystical power master, and has the support of mental power. Not to mention how many mutant creatures he can eliminate, he will have no problem escaping before danger comes.
Besides, Zong Kangping should also accumulate some experience in dealing with mutant creatures, otherwise he will have to cram at the last minute in the future.
If it weren't for the fact that she had two children to take care of, Zhang Shuhui, who was used to a safe life, might not be happy about it. He even hoped that Zhang Shuhui would quit her job.
The emergence of mutant creatures shows that in the future, a person’s fighting power will only become more and more important, and this small shelter may not be able to protect them for a lifetime.
Yue City is just a small city on the 18th tier. It has very few armed resources and weapons, and the ecology within the shelter is as fragile as window paper.
The slightest fluctuation will make people panic
No one knows how long it can last.
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