“Hongxia, Hongxia! I heard that the mosquitoes killed yesterday can be exchanged for points. You know? Your Sang Sang contributed the most yesterday—doesn’t that mean she’s earned an insane amount of points…”
As night fell, the Qin family was about to have dinner when Qin’s mother received a voice call from a relative in the village. The caller immediately asked about the points.
Qin’s mother politely replied, “Quite a few families in the village came out to kill mosquitoes. I don’t know exactly how many points they’ll get. As for my Sang Sang, she was just lucky. If you really want points, it’s better to kill more big mosquitoes! The risk with mutant mosquitoes is too high… I heard your family did pretty well this time. You should use the points you earned to exchange for a handy weapon in the mall! I heard…”
Qin Sang saw her mother brush off the relative in just a few sentences, cleverly shifting the topic and starting to praise the other’s son. She smiled silently.
Her mother caught her eye and signaled for her to keep quiet.
Qin’s father simply kept his head down and continued bringing out the dishes.
A few minutes later, Qin’s mother finally hung up, sat down, and started venting: “Our Sang Sang risked her life to earn those points. How dare these people ask to borrow them!”
Qin’s father nodded vigorously: “Don’t answer any calls from relatives these two days. If anyone comes to the door asking to borrow, I’ll turn them down!”
Qin Sang felt warm inside seeing her parents so protective.
The big mosquitoes killed during yesterday’s mutant mosquito raid were all taken away by official staff. The points per mosquito were slightly lower than for mutant cockroaches, but two big mosquitoes could be exchanged for one point. It was truly a good haul.
After the officials announced the exchange rate, many who had been afraid of the mosquito swarm were green with envy, regretting hiding at home instead of coming out to fight.
A few ungrateful ones even blamed Qin Sang, saying she told them to hide inside, otherwise they could have earned points too. There weren’t many of these people, just a handful. Hearing this, Qin’s mother dragged Qin’s father to their doors yesterday and tore them apart.
After that, no one dared say it anymore. But then some malicious person started a rumor in the village group chat that she had hunted and killed mutant mosquitoes and received a reward of 10,000 points.
Sure enough, relatives and friends shamelessly came asking, hoping to borrow some points to buy equipment and weapons—things that were hard to access before the apocalypse, let alone after.
“Anyway, just don’t lend them anything. If they really need points, they can go catch big cockroaches. The swarms have thinned out a lot these days. Scattered big cockroaches are easy to catch.”
The family chatted animatedly about points and new items in the point mall.
—
Many households in the village were equally lively. They were the villagers who had helped kill the big mosquitoes yesterday.
Brother Fa was at home gnawing on a chicken leg when his mother mentioned that some relative had messaged her asking to borrow points. He immediately stopped eating.
“Mom, don’t lend. New equipment that you can’t buy outside often appears in the point mall. Without points, you can’t buy anything. Our family is going out to kill cockroaches and mosquitoes. Without gear, we’d be gambling with our lives.”
Brother Fa’s mother knew this well and nodded repeatedly: “I know, I know. It’s just that with relatives coming to the door, it’s hard to refuse.”
Brother Fa: “If it’s hard to refuse, don’t open the door.”
Brother Fa had imagined that when the apocalypse came, relatives would come begging for food and water. He never expected that when the apocalypse actually arrived, they’d come not for food or water, but for points.
Now, points are life.
Big Linzi had warned him that the mall would keep adding new weapons and equipment for a while, because the number of mutant insects was increasing. If the family didn’t get a full set of gear soon, they’d die without even knowing how.
“Don’t worry about it. After dinner, our family is going to exercise.”
Similar conversations were happening in many households—those who had come out to kill big mosquitoes yesterday. They had already earned quite a few points from hunting mutant cockroaches before.
In contrast, another group of people—those who were timid or relied on the authorities for everything—hid at the first sign of danger, let alone actively fighting insects. As a result, none of them had more than two digits in points.
These families had plenty of stockpiles and basic survival supplies issued by the authorities, so they wouldn’t risk going outside.
But yesterday, mutant mosquitoes appeared right before their eyes, far more terrifying and impactful than seeing them on the news. That was why these people shamelessly went around the village trying to borrow points—to get some gear and survive.
No one was stupid; they just wanted to live.
—
Qin Sang didn’t know about the village’s twists and turns. After dinner with her parents, she went upstairs to find Qu Meijing.
Yesterday, Qu Meijing had acted out of character and come downstairs to help. Although the mosquitoes she killed could be exchanged for supplies with the authorities, Qin Sang owed her one. She went to Qu’s house personally to ask what her angle was.
People like her don’t help for no reason.
Sure enough, when she saw Qu Meijing, the woman said, “I just want to build a good relationship with your family.”
That answer made Qin Sang’s mouth twitch. “Alright, what’s your real goal?”
Seeing that Qin Sang wouldn’t beat around the bush, Qu Meijing said helplessly, “It’s just that someone from my family might come looking for me during this time. I need your help to refuse them entry to this building.”
The request surprised Qin Sang for a moment. If she remembered correctly, Qu Meijing had long fallen out with her family. And before the apocalypse, she had even screwed them over, looting a bunch of supplies.
“Does your family know you’re here?”
Qu Meijing’s face turned unpleasant: “They have connections in the authorities.”
Qin Sang found this even stranger: “If they have connections in the authorities, that means they have some power. Why would they come looking for you in a rental house?”
Qu Meijing: “Just tell me—will you help or not?”
Seeing her attitude, Qin Sang lost whatever goodwill she had felt toward her bravery from the day before.
“Fine, no problem. You’re our tenant. The landlord won’t let anyone barge in without the tenant’s permission.”
With that settled, Qin Sang turned and left.
Qu Meijing wanted to call her back and ask about the mutant insects, but seeing how cold Qin Sang was, she put her raised hand back down.
“Never mind. I’d better see for myself. What Qin Sang knows might not be accurate.”
If Qin Sang had heard that, she would have laughed herself silly.
—
Leaving Qu Meijing’s place, Qin Sang went straight home to play with the cat.
Yes, the little tabby had refused to leave since she brought it back yesterday. Qin Sang certainly wasn’t going to chase the little thing away. Not only was it a homeless stray, but it had also fought bravely against the mosquitoes yesterday—there was no way she’d abandon it.
With a cat teaser in one hand and her phone in the other, Qin Sang scrolled through the point mall. She wanted to buy gear that could protect the body.
But such equipment was in high demand—you had to camp out in the mall for a chance to grab it.
While waiting, Qin Sang took a moment to check her total points. Seeing that the points from yesterday’s mutant mosquito kill hadn’t been credited yet, she grew a little anxious. The main issue was that the mall seemed to be releasing good items today, but her points were delayed. She was afraid that if something she wanted appeared, she wouldn’t have enough points to buy three sets.
But official matters were hard to predict, and Qin Sang didn’t feel right rushing them. Just then, she saw people in the village group chat saying their points from killing mosquitoes had been credited.
This… Qin Sang frowned slightly at the lively chatter in the village group.
Meanwhile, at his city office, Xu Lin received a tip-off from a contact in the community office. After listening, he hung up and directly notified the city administration office.
Half an hour later, Qin Sang suddenly received her points from the administration. She was momentarily confused, assuming there had been some delay, and didn’t think much of it.
But at 10 p.m., when Xu Lin returned and told her what had happened, Qin Sang was utterly speechless.
“Who does that fat guy work for? He’s trying to cut off my income!”
Xu Lin nodded: “Thank goodness I have a contact in the community office. When that fat guy tried to block the management team from applying for your points, my contact told me immediately. Otherwise, even if the points were issued to you, they’d be held up for half a year or more.”
That’s how it worked. The mutant mosquitoes were taken by the administration, and the points came from the administration’s budget. To disburse them, someone had to submit a payment request. The fat guy blocked the request, so Qin Sang’s payment couldn’t go through.
“I looked into that fat guy. He has ties with Fang Ming from the Academy of Sciences.”
“That Fang Ming again!” Qin Sang cursed, then asked, “Have you found out his background yet?”
Xu Lin: “Not the full details yet. But he associates with a very complex circle. I’ve already reported this to my superiors.”
Hearing that higher-ups were investigating, Qin Sang relaxed a bit. She couldn’t possibly investigate a viper like that on her own. She’d rather just eliminate him directly—that would be faster.
“So, stay home as much as possible for now.”
Qin Sang was usually good at listening to advice. Really. But sometimes, when danger was coming, there was no avoiding it.
Sure enough, just two days after the points incident, their village was attacked by mutant insects again.
This time, it was a mutant mantis.
This thing was incredibly lethal. Those two scythes could chop down a tree as thick as a person’s embrace.
As soon as it appeared, Qin Sang had to step up again. She had no choice—otherwise, even their house might not hold up. She’d thought about taking her parents into her space. But without her drawing the fire, the mutant mantis might just wander off.
Unfortunately, when the mantis showed up, she was chatting with her parents in the open space at their doorstep.
In the end, she lured the mutant mantis to the stagnant pond and took it down with fire. The pond had dried up, but the area was surrounded by stinking mud, so using fire wasn’t a fire hazard.
But this caused a huge commotion. And since the pond was close to the residential area, and it was nighttime, people were everywhere.
So, once again, Qin Sang handed over the mutant mantis’s body. Of course, she had already dug out the energy core.
The same fat guy came to collect the body and again questioned her about the energy core.
Qin Sang firmly pleaded ignorance and left it at that.
The same scene played out again in the Academy of Sciences’ reception room. Fang Ming stared at the charred mutant mantis corpse, at the empty mantis head, his expression unreadable.
The fat guy immediately groveled: “Brother Fang, that Qin Sang is a real piece of work. How dare she hide things! I think your academy should just bring some people—”
Fang Ming raised a hand and cut him off: “Shut up, you idiot!”
Over the past few days, Fang Ming had finally managed to dig up Qin Sang’s background. He learned that she had very strong connections in the Administration, the Information Team, and the Exploration Team. So the tactics he’d previously imagined were useless.
Besides, the woman had a spatial ability. Even if she had hidden the energy core, insisting she didn’t have it was futile.
But this time, his focus wasn’t on the energy core. Instead, it was on why this woman had encountered two mutant insect attacks in just a few days.
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