Lan Jin hesitantly raised her hand. "I want to ask something… where did these bugs come from?"
She was right. In weather this cold, even the rats and cockroaches they mention before were nowhere to be seen. So where could insects suddenly appear from?
Lan Jin's question made everyone pause and think. Looking back, the thought inevitably led to that period everyone hated—the time of the insect plague. But that had been some time ago. Before the great cold set in, they had endured several months of heavy rain. At the start of those rains, any surviving insects had been drenched by the acid rain.
Of course, these bug powders could not possibly be from those same insects. The acid rain back then had been so corrosive that any bug caught in it died almost instantly, their bodies quickly eaten away until there was nothing left. Even if someone had wanted to make powder from them, there would have been no source to collect.
If it wasn't from those insects, then it could only have come from an even earlier batch. Which meant that during the time of the insect plague, someone had already started preparing these powders, waiting for the right conditions later to bring them out and sell.
Right now, all of this was still just speculation. There was no proof. But the possibility was high.
Thinking about the flour being made from bug powder, and that it had been stored for so long, left an instinctive sense of disgust. What people chose to sell was their business, but if it was put in front of her to eat, she certainly would refuse.
"We don't even know if it has harmful substances. My advice is not to eat it. Just thinking that the bugs might have died, rotted, and been mashed together into powder makes me sick. We're not short on food. I think there's no need."
Ling Jiang, who had already been feeling queasy, set down her food at Lan Jin's words. "Stop, stop, I was still deciding. Now I don't even dare take a bite."
But if she didn't eat it, all the food she had traded for it would go to waste.
Lao Gao chuckled. "You'll only know if it's harmful after eating it. From what I just tested, it's fine. In fact, the insect content is high, which means it's rich in protein. If you all won't eat it, I will. Grandma Ling can join me. It's very nutritious."
Grandma Ling wrinkled her nose immediately. "Oh no, who's eating with you? I don't care how nutritious it is, it's not like we've never eaten good food before. If you want to eat it, you eat it. I won't."
Lao Gao looked genuinely surprised by her disgust. "It really is nutritious. I just didn't want it to go to waste. Speaking of that, you really should talk to your granddaughter about what kind of things she's trading for."
The less said about that, the better. The pancakes made from the bug powder were barely edible. Without mentally preparing themselves in advance, no one could get them down. Otherwise, they might just vomit everything back up.
If Lan Jin had to choose, she would rather spit it out than force it down.
The flour was so unappetizing that even Lao Gao, stubborn as he was, could not manage to eat it twice a day. A week later, more than half of it still remained.
But in Lao Gao's mind, the bug powder's nutrition had been proven. Not only had it caused no harm, but he even felt less sensitive to the cold. The main benefit seemed to be the protein, and all of it came from the bugs. "Really, this bug powder is good. Ever since I started eating it, I feel warm every day. Especially the last two days—I don't even need to burn charcoal during the day. I think you should all join me."
During the day, they were already warm from making charcoal together, so there was no need to burn it at home.
But even in a warm room, everyone else still needed their heavy coats. Lao Gao had been the same before, but after eating the bug powder for several days, his body temperature seemed much higher. One by one, he shed his layers, until after a week he was down to just long pants and a short-sleeved shirt, standing comfortably in minus thirty degrees.
Even Grandma Ling could not ignore it anymore. She whispered to the others, "This isn't right with Xiao Gao. Don't you think something's wrong?"
Of course they thought so. They had already talked about it. But Lao Gao simply brushed it off. That made things difficult. As for Lao Gao himself, he only felt hot. So hot that no matter what, he could not bear to put more clothes on.
It was at this point that Huang Jinghe came to Lan Jin in private. "Sister Lan, no matter how nutritious protein is, it shouldn't make someone heat up like that. These last two days, I can't shake the feeling that something bad is coming. And last night… did you hear those thumping sounds? I don't know where they came from. Sometimes it even sounded like zombies calling. Gave me chills. I even heard it during the day today. I didn't mention it in front of Lao Gao."
Lan Jin had not heard any zombie-like noises, but she had heard the thumps. They had definitely come from somewhere in their apartment complex.
"Just be careful. I feel like nothing is right lately." She glanced at the thermometer on the balcony—it was exactly minus twenty-nine degrees. "In this weather, even a battle-hardened X-clan fighter wouldn't be in short sleeves. Let alone Lao Gao, who's lived his whole life in the south."
Lan Jin frowned. "Has Lao Gao noticed anything wrong? Is he still eating the bug powder?"
"At first, no, but we kept warning him, so he kept eating anyway. Now I think he's realized something. He didn't eat it last night, but with the reaction already showing, stopping won't help now." Huang Jinghe's tone was tense.
There was nothing she could do. The best option was to watch out for her own safety. "You're on the same floor as him. Pay attention. If you hear anything strange, act like you didn't. Don't open the door. Lao Gao isn't stupid—if something's wrong, he'll tell us over the intercom. If there's real trouble, he'd look for me or Ling Jiang before coming to you."
She added, "And when we make charcoal together, keep your eyes open. I really don't think this is simple."
The truth was, all these strange things seemed to start after people began eating the bug powder. And in this area, almost everyone had eaten it. They needed to be cautious not only of Lao Gao, but also of anyone else in the complex who had eaten it.
With all these thoughts in her mind, Lan Jin stopped bringing Qiao Qiao to the charcoal-making sessions.
Seeing this, Ling Jiang said, "You're right not to bring Qiao Qiao. I don't think Lao Gao is acting normal. Don't let anything happen that could hurt the child."