Chapter 506 is just the prelude to the storm
The end? This is just the prelude to the beginning of the storm, the real suffering is still to come.
In her previous life, she naively thought that it was about to end. Everyone thought that it was about to end. Everyone believed that the darkness had been coming for too long, and that everything that goes up must decline. It has been declining for so long, for three whole years, it should be over.
Jingshu showed an imperceptible smile, which was a bit sarcastic. Although she didn't want to undermine the family's confidence in life, if they really thought so, then she would also pull these lost sheep back. Regardless of whether the end of the world ended or not, they had to live their own lives well.
Jing's father nodded vigorously. "I think so. Although food is becoming increasingly scarce, the documents from above are encouraging us. They have issued new instructions, strengthened poultry breeding efforts, and allocated a batch of feed. In recent years, people have barely had enough to eat, let alone raise poultry. It seems that the higher-ups have made up their minds."
Even Jing's mother agreed, her face brimming with hope: "The weather is getting colder, making it difficult to grow vegetables and grains. The pressure on our Ministry of Agriculture is increasing, but we've got a new plan requiring us to plant more vigorously while there are no disasters.
We've even used artificial suns in the past few months, and the first batch of corn, potatoes, and soybeans are about to be harvested. Although food is still scarce, I believe that as long as no natural disasters occur again, we will gradually recover."
The third aunt wiped her hands and sat down. She drank a few sips of milk tea and rubbed her hands before she said with a sad face:
"The food allocated to the cafeteria is getting less and less, but at least we still have insect cakes in Wucheng, so fewer people are starving to death. Other places are in dire straits. But after all, nothing has happened in the past few months, and everyone is holding their breath, waiting for the dawn to come. That's why these rumors are spreading more and more."
Seeing that everyone was looking forward to the end of the apocalypse, and even believed that it was about to end, Jing Ye couldn't help but sigh, shook his head, and smoked his cigarette again. He turned around and asked Jing Shu and Wu Youai, "What do you think?"
Wu Youai was happily chewing a fish ball. After hearing this, she said nonchalantly, "I think it's difficult. Everyone should not be too happy too soon."
Grandpa Jing turned his gaze to Jingshu. The quality of life the whole family has today in the end times depends on Jingshu. His granddaughter's words are quite insightful.
Jing Shu shook her head: "My cousin is right. As long as there is no sun, the apocalypse will not be over. We cannot let our guard down. Instead, we must make all kinds of precautions and plans. The reason why our family is living well now is because we made preparations early on.
As for what they say on TV, it is true that in this situation we do need to boost morale and give everyone hope to survive, but that should not be taken seriously;
In my opinion, this situation will become more and more serious. Just think about it, there are so many sequelae caused by the lack of sunlight, and there may even be a snowstorm next.
So, Mom, you have to take it easy during this period, don’t spread it out too much, or you won’t be able to close it when something happens later.”
Jing Ma nodded, clasping her hands together in worry, and said, "No matter what, please pray for a good harvest this time and store some food for Wucheng so we can all take some time off."
Jingshu couldn't be too prophetic and could only say so much. She could only take things one step at a time with Jingma's affairs.
Grandpa Jing finally nodded in satisfaction. His granddaughter's words really touched his heart. He nodded and began his usual venomous remarks:
"You're such a grown-up, but you still don't see things as clearly as a child."
Then he sighed again and said, "We held this family meeting today to remind everyone that the new year is coming soon. Although there have been no unexpected events in the past few months, Jingshu is right. From our old farmer's point of view, this is the prelude to a snowstorm. We have to prepare."
Jing's father frowned. "Dad, we've finally had a few months of peace and quiet, and everyone really doesn't want another disaster... But have you discovered anything?"
Master Jing shook off the ashes from his cigarette and pointed at the yard, saying, "The yield of our crops has decreased! Haven't you noticed that we've been eating less vegetables lately?"
Everyone looked at Master Jing, and Grandma Jing shook her head and muttered, "What a sin!"
Grandpa Jing continued, "In the past few years, you have been busy working on the tomatoes, peppers, and apple trees in the yard.
The Chinese cabbages, spinach, etc. on the balcony on the third floor are all taken care of by her and me. We pay so much attention to them. We didn’t lack water even in the driest time. We applied fertilizers even during the floods two years ago. We turn on the lights for four hours every day. So the growth of our vegetable garden is so gratifying, and the yield is amazing.
The only thing is that the production has been declining drastically recently. It took me several days to find the reason.
Jingshu touched her chin and thought. She always provided spiritual spring water for the vegetables in the yard on time. In order not to attract attention, she provided very little, just to make the output reach the level before the end of the world, but the output should not decline.
Then I saw Master Jing had stood up and taken out a lump of soil from the yard.
Jing's father scratched his head awkwardly. "Dad, tell me what's going on. The rest of us don't farm and don't understand these things. Is there something wrong with the soil?"
Master Jing nodded and said seriously, "If her grandmother and I hadn't gone to dig a hole to save seeds, we wouldn't have noticed this kind of silt seeping into the soil in the yard. If it were ordinary silt, it would at most affect the harvest, but I don't know what's in this silt, it's very sticky and has greatly affected the growth of crops. I went to other places and found that there is naturally no such silt in places with concrete, but this kind of silt has appeared in places like the mountains. It looks similar to ordinary soil, but it is not."
Grandma Jing cried out, "How could our good land have turned to this muddy sand? Luckily, the soil on the third-floor balcony doesn't have this kind of muddy sand. I wonder if it's seeping from the ground. I don't know if it's just our land or everyone else's. I've secretly asked around, but firstly, there are too few people growing vegetables, and secondly, the harvest hasn't been good due to various reasons like the weather, so I don't know if it's just our harvest that's been affected."
Since no one grows vegetables in the fields, naturally few people care whether there is any problem with the soil.
Jingshu frowned. In her previous life, she was at the bottom of society, so she had never grown vegetables. She didn't care that the soil in her yard was full of mud and sand, there was no electricity for lighting, and the temperature was so low that she couldn't grow anything. So she didn't expect that the mud and sand that erupted from the ground, which might have been washed by magma and other chemicals, could seep out of the ground and affect the crops.
But she overlooked it. It seems that the plan needs to be adjusted.
"This matter cannot be ignored. Our family's livelihood depends on this. By the way..." Jing Ye asked Jing Ma, "You have a lot of that kind of stuff, have you found this kind of mud and sand?"
Jing's mother frowned and shook her head. "To maximize resource utilization, we generally practice soilless cultivation and space-saving frame cultivation. However, we do plant some cold-resistant species around the artificial sun. I guess I'll have to check it out tomorrow. If there's any impact, we'll have to find a solution soon."
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