Jing Shu suddenly remembered something. Wasn't Zijin especially skilled in handicrafts?
The first year of the apocalypse was marked by scorching heat and drought. With ninety percent of plants withered away from lack of water, famine soon followed. The second year, torrential rains came instead, bringing floods that destroyed seventy percent of homes and daily necessities. Even though the government salvaged what they could, most supplies became soaked, moldy, and unusable. From that year onward, people's lives regressed into something resembling the primitive era.
By the third year, cotton, linen, and all kinds of fabric became scarce. As the temperature dropped, people needed more clothing and bedding, so when earthquakes struck, many would strip garments off corpses just to stay alive.
Everyone wore as many layers as they could. To keep out the cold, they piled on mismatched clothes, regardless of style or fit.
Jing Shu, however, always washed the clothes taken from the dead before giving them to Zijin. She would then unravel, stitch, and reweave them into warm, thick garments. Only then did Jing Shu learn that Zijin had grown up poor. She had been abandoned by her parents and raised by her grandmother, who raising silkworms, spun silk, and made handmade clothing to support them. It was from her grandmother that she inherited this skill.
Zijin once said she had no surname. Since her birth parents had discarded her, if she had to take one, she would follow her grandmother's surname, Ali. The name "Zijin" was given to her by her childhood sweetheart. After her grandmother passed away, she was left with only a given name, no family name.
When Jing Shu spoke of this, Zijin's eyes lit with sudden realization. "That must be me. Everyone in the family compound knew I was good with handicrafts. I've been doing this since I was little. Thank you for helping me today. If you ever need something made, I'll do it for you."
As she spoke, a red nematode slid down from her hair to her nose, wriggled into her nostril, and burrowed in. Zijin deftly plucked it out, twisted it into a tight knot with her nimble fingers, and flicked it away, as casually as rolling up a bit of snot and snapping it off.
Fortunately, she had a cherubic, baby-fat face that made her look cute. If she had been an old man with a weathered face, Jing Shu might have kicked her on the spot.
Jing Shu's expression twitched. No matter what, she couldn't bring herself to accept this side of Zijin.
It seemed her "reform plan" would have to begin.
Zijin was insecure, lacking both confidence and a sense of safety. If someone suddenly treated her too well, she would only grow suspicious. Then again, that was only natural. Even normal strangers would be wary if someone went out of their way to be overly kind.
Step one of the reform plan: dislike her, and dislike her openly. Only then would Zijin think Jing Shu was normal, not someone approaching her with hidden motives.
"You're filthy from head to toe. Even if I wanted your help, what if one of those red nematodes on you jumped into my silk? That would be worse than useless."
Zijin bit her lip and lowered her head. Moments ago, this person hadn't seemed to mind at all. She herself had almost forgotten about it. But of course—how could anyone truly not care?
Step two of the reform plan: don't pity her or lower your standards as if doing her a favor. Instead, make her feel that her abilities were genuinely needed, and set high expectations. That way, she'd believe she earned her place through skill, not charity.
"Here's the deal. I needed a worker anyway, so helping you was incidental. If you really want to repay me, clean yourself up and use silkworm cocoons to make some face masks. Show me your speed and craftsmanship.
If your work is good, I might consider hiring you to boil cocoons, reel silk, make quilts, even clothes. But my standards are strict. If you can only reel two or three jin (1–1.5 kg) of cocoons a day, I don't want you. As for pay, it depends on your skill, but it starts at four virtual coins a day."
Jing Shu's Rubik's Cube Space still had some cocoons stored from last year. They were too few to use for anything big, so she had kept them aside until now.
Today was the perfect chance to use them to make silk face masks. She didn't need face masks herself, but Su Mali, that walking fortune magnet, had posted in her friend circle that she'd run out of masks and was offering a high price for any. The only requirement: pure, natural silk masks without hormones. That single line eliminated ninety percent of the masks still left on the market.
Silk proteins contained eighteen amino acids beneficial to the human body. With excellent breathability and water absorption, silk was even used in surgical dressings and burn treatments, helping wounds heal faster. It was known as "artificial skin."
Jing Shu wasn't just thinking of face masks. This could expand into a full industry. People still wealthy enough to afford surgeries would certainly be eager to use silk dressings for recovery.
"Four… four virtual coins?" Zijin was startled. That was practically on par with a government official's salary. Just what was this person planning? Did she really have that many silkworms? Silkworms were notoriously hard to raise these days. What was she up to?
Zijin kept stealing glances at Jing Shu. She had just seen her hand Captain Li a bottle of liquor and heard rumors that her family raised snakes. Clearly, this wasn't someone short on money.
"What are you so worked up about? I haven't even seen your handiwork yet. Just tell me whether you can do the job and meet my standards." Jing Shu rolled her eyes.
Yes, she had the air of someone with money.
Zijin bit her lip again and admitted regretfully, "I do want to clean myself up, but the government-issued plastic raincoats always let water seep through. The red nematodes cling to me nonstop. I don't even have salt to wash my hair, and cocoons attract even more bugs. I'm afraid I'd only contaminate them. So I probably can't help with this. But if you need help with something else, I'll do it."
"My house is in the villa district. There's a saltwater pool at the entrance. I'll take you there to wash your hair. Once you're clean, make me those silk face masks, and then we'll discuss the rest."
Jing Shu led Zijin to the salt pool outside her villa. The girl's hair, which she hadn't cut in over ten years, hung down to her ankles. It was crawling with who knew how many red nematodes, clinging like a living python whenever she walked.
Not just worms, but their feces and eggs too.
Jing Shu poured in a few more bags of salt and changed out the water. It took half an hour to wash away all the filth. Finally, she let out a breath. "Here. A waterproof rain cap. Tie up your hair, wrap it tight, and wear this properly."
Zijin shyly gathered her freshly cleaned hair, twisted it into a bun, and tucked it under the cap. She felt light as air. If only she'd had something like this earlier, she wouldn't have spent three months suffering everyone's disgust.
Jing Shu then set up racks and tools under the canopy by the villa's gate, preparing the workspace. Zijin stepped forward to begin her demonstration.
"First, boil the cocoons. Once the oil is removed, the silk won't need to be flipped. The boiling has to be just right. Too soft, and the mask will fall apart. Too raw, and it'll clump." Zijin expertly scooped out the cocoons and began reeling silk.