342, March 16th, 7:00 AM.
Despite sleeping late the previous night due to laundry, Tang Guo woke up early this morning.
First thing in the morning, she went out to buy breakfast and inquire about the requirements for long-term residency procedures.
While Tang Guo was out, Tang Li took breakfast from her spatial dimension.
After all, her appetite was astonishing, being 3 to 6 times that of a normal person. The food brought back by Tang Guo would definitely not be enough.
She could only secretly replicate pre-packaged food from before the apocalypse from her dimension when Tang Guo wasn't paying attention.
Tang Li also continued her daily routine of exercise.
However, the strengthening effect of her current exercises was diminishing, seemingly reaching its limit, and she couldn't improve further.
Tang Guo returned from her trip with only two bowls of plain congee, along with some pickled mustard and tea eggs.
As soon as she got back, Tang Guo complained to Tang Li, "Not only is food rationed now, but it's also outrageously expensive!"
"The prices for staple foods like rice and flour are still normal; 1 credit can exchange for enough to fill a meal. But meat, vegetables, eggs, and milk are too expensive; I can't afford them at all!"
Tang Li shook her head and smiled, "Be content! At least you still have enough rice and flour to eat, and you can still get vegetables and eggs. In a few more months, you won't be able to get them even if you want to!"
Thinking of the future Tang Li had described, Tang Guo couldn't voice any more complaints.
Last year's crops had been completely wiped out by the great flood, and this year would see a great drought.
In the post-apocalyptic world, large-scale grain cultivation was impossible.
The national grain reserves were sufficient for over a year. Combined with the grain forcibly requisitioned by official authorities nationwide after the state of emergency, it could last for two years if well-preserved.
Although many places' grain reserves were damaged by the previous great flood and thunderstorms, many people had also died due to natural disasters.
Therefore, overall, the nation's grain reserves were considered sufficient.
However, in the coming years, grain that spoiled due to high temperatures, froze due to low temperatures, or was contaminated by solar storm radiation would also be inedible.
Thus, starting from May of this year, along with the great drought, there would also be a great famine!
Tang Guo carefully ate the congee in her bowl and asked, "Lili, I heard you mention rice worms before..."
"What exactly are these rice worms and worm cakes? Are they food for people in the post-apocalypse?"
Tang Li explained, "Yes, rice worms, and worm cakes made by grinding rice worms and other ingredients into powder and compressing them, are the most common foods in the post-apocalypse."
"Besides rice worms, there are also various flavors of vegetable worms and meat worms. However, rice worms have the widest diet, are the most adaptable, have the highest conversion efficiency, and are the easiest to preserve, making them the most common."
"These rice worms and various flavors of vegetable worms and meat worms are all genetically modified organisms, developed by scientists from Country R in September of this year."
"Their bodies are very small, occupying less than one-tenth of their entire form. The majority of their bodies consists of cereal grains, vegetable sprouts, or minced meat that grows from their backs, with the latter two even coming in various flavors."
"They can convert various spoiled foods, inedible plants and animals, corpses, and even undigested... well, well, into food that can satisfy hunger."
Because they were eating breakfast, Tang Li used "well, well" to substitute for "feces."
At this point, Tang Li fell into deep thought.
Speaking of which, she felt a bit awkward about her corpse being used as feed for rice worms, but she could still accept it.
After all, without cremation, corpses would be absorbed by various microorganisms even if not eaten by rice worms, and then move up the food chain layer by layer...
What she cared about was whether her corpse was treated with respect during this process.
Being directly disemboweled after being stripped naked, like those cannibals, was absolutely unacceptable.
Any act of directly consuming human flesh was barbaric, uncivilized, and showed no respect for fellow humans being consumed.
But if it wasn't directly consumed by fellow humans, but used as fertilizer for planting or as feed for rice worms and the like, this problem might not necessarily exist.
Of course, it was only a possibility.
Tang Li didn't know what the process of raising rice worms in the underground city was like, nor did she know exactly what happened to her corpse when it was sent to feed the rice worms after her death.
It was possible that some unacceptable things might happen during this process.
"If I have the chance in the future, I can ask Song Pinxuan about it..."
While Tang Li and Tang Guo were eating breakfast, Song Pinxuan also woke up.
He was woken up by someone opening his door.