Chapter 21: Extreme Heat and Rat Plague

Jiang Si took off her sweat-soaked protective suit, and Shen Baoying handed her a washcloth, her face showing a hint of surprise.
“The peppermint-vinegar insect repellent really works! With all those rats, we haven’t found a single flea in the house so far.”

Jiang Si wiped her face and looked around at the wrecked state of their house, letting out a deep sigh.
“We still have to hurry and repair the house today.”

Jiang Linhai leaned in.
“The rat swarm might come again tonight. How about we leave the repairs for later?”

Jiang Si shook her head.
“What if something worse than rats, something not afraid of fire, tries to get in? Plus, without repairs, the ice melts quickly. With the heat this intense, we won’t last long.”

Jiang Chengwu nodded.
“Whatever Si-si says. The days are long now—let’s eat breakfast, clean up the rat droppings and urine, and then get started.”

“Alright.”

Shen Baoying cooked a steaming pot of dumplings, served each person a fried egg, a sausage, and three side dishes.
While their family ate heartily, the rest of the village had no food left—nothing that could even fill their stomachs.

Last night, the rat horde had nearly devoured them. Who had the luxury of saving food?

They tried fishing, but the dried-up Longquan River was filled with sticky worm eggs.
Even the rare fish they found had their bodies, mouths, and guts filled with that slimy goo—just looking at it made one gag, let alone consider eating it.

The Longquan Forest Reserve had once been home to many poachers, which meant plenty of wildlife.
But stepping in there? If you got lost, couldn’t find water, or didn’t secure shelter before nightfall—you were done for.
Only a few dared to venture in.

As for robbing others? That was out of the question.

Jiang Si’s family had guns. Trying anything with them was suicide.

Zhao Yun had tightly strapped a month’s worth of food onto her husband, son, and in-laws’ bodies.
They were thrilled to survive the night—at least their lives were safe for now.

But then, they were robbed.

Nearly lost their lives, too.

Zhao Yun collapsed into Zhang Jinghuai’s arms, bawling.
“How are we supposed to live now?!”

Zhang Dingtian wiped away her tears and looked in the direction of Jiang Si’s house.
“I’ll go beg Linhai to give us a month’s worth of food.”

Zhao Yun shook her head.
“Jiang Si’s heartless. She won’t let Jiang Linhai give us anything. And I heard they’ve got guns now. What if she kills you? Then we’re truly finished.”

Zhang Jing stomped his feet in frustration.
“Mom, if we don’t go to them, are we just going to stay here and wait to die?”

He hadn’t eaten all night and had even been slashed during the robbery. He’d lost a lot of blood.
If he didn’t eat something soon, he’d starve to death in three days.

Out of the corner of her eye, Zhao Yun spotted the scorched corpses of last night’s rats. Her chest tightened.
Hearing Zhang Jing’s whining, she finally made up her mind.
“We won’t die. We’re not dying!”

Zhang Jing lit up.
“Mom, you’ve got an idea?”

Zhao Yun stood up, lifted a dead rat, and said:
“Thirty li southeast of the forest is the Salt Well Scenic Area. If we can get salt from there and cure the rat meat, we won’t have to worry about food.”

Those dead rats from last night—enough to feed their entire family for a lifetime.

Back in the old days, people only ate rats when they were truly desperate.

And how was now any different?

Zhang Jing stared at the burnt rat in Zhao Yun’s hand, the aroma of meat wafting off of it. He gulped.

Zhang Dingtian frowned.
“These rats are weird. They might carry disease. We shouldn’t eat them. I’ll go beg Jiang Linhai.”

Zhao Yun scoffed and pointed toward Jiang Si’s home.
“If they give us some food, it’ll last a day, a week, maybe a month. But what then? Do you think they’ll keep feeding us?”

Zhang Jing scowled.
“Even one day’s worth would be great!”

Zhang Dingtian looked down at the dead rats, still unsure.

“You’re so stubborn—go try, then! Let’s see how much food you can bring back.”

If real food were an option, no one would choose to eat dead rats.

Zhang Dingtian didn’t want to beg Jiang Linhai, but he also didn’t want his family eating rats. He sighed heavily.
“Fine. I’ll try. If it doesn’t work, we’ll go with your plan.”

He hadn’t even reached Jiang Si’s door when he heard shouting halfway up the hill.
Zhang Mayi was there with his whole family, yelling:

“Zhang Qingfang! I’m your brother—we grew up together! Jiafu and the others, you watched them grow up too! Every New Year we came to call you Grandma. Are you really going to just let us die?”

“Zhang Qingfang, open the door!”

“I said OPEN THE DOOR!”

“You’re heartless! Worse than an animal! Jiang Chengwu—!!! Is it you stopping them from opening up?! You’ll be cursed to die without descendants if you keep this up—OPEN UP! We’re going to die from the heat out here! Even strangers save lives when they can—don’t be so selfish!”

Luo Fengjiao knelt on the ground, sobbing with her child in her arms:
“Baoying, please! Just a little food for my son! You’re his aunt! Baoying, I’ll kneel to you—please!!!”

Zhang Mayi’s voice was hoarse, Luo Fengjiao’s forehead was nearly bleeding from kneeling—but Jiang Si’s gate stood firm, unmoved.

Many others were also watching in the shadows, waiting for their chance.

But Jiang Si and her family? They weren’t opening that gate—not under these circumstances.

Zhang Dingtian saw the hopelessness of the situation and trudged back in defeat.
Zhao Yun couldn’t help but snark,
“I knew Jiang Linhai was just pretending to be a decent person. When you really need him, he’s useless!”

Zhang Jing finally lost it. He picked up one of the charred rats, chopped off its head, skinned it, skewered it on a stick, roasted it over the fire, and sprinkled it with a bit of salt.

Soon, the crispy, tender smell of roasted rat meat filled the air.

Without even hesitating, Zhang Jing took a big bite.

And surprisingly—it was pretty tasty. Chewy and savory.

Seeing how much he enjoyed it, the rest of the Zhang family couldn’t hold back either. They grabbed the rats and started eating.

The aroma wafted over the wall and caught others’ attention.

When people saw them eating rats, instead of being disgusted, their mouths started to water.
They began scavenging for the rats that had died the night before.

Back at home, Jiang Si watched through binoculars.
She saw people going mad with hunger, eating rat meat like it was a delicacy—and a terrible sense of foreboding rose in her chest.

Eating rats was the fastest way to get the plague.

If the plague started spreading in the village, even staying at home wouldn’t protect them—it was an airborne disease.

Frowning, Jiang Si mentally checked the inventory in her space.
They still had plenty of medical-grade protective gear and preventive medicine for plague.

That was the only thing that gave her a bit of peace of mind.