An Yang's plan was quickly finalized. It was meticulously detailed, based on the amount of arable land and stored food within Wenqing's Space.
By the third month of the famine, the university had essentially run out of food. The students were starving, with not an ounce of sustenance left in their bodies.
To placate everyone, the meal distribution was changed from once a day to twice. The daily ration was still limited to one steamed bun, but now vegetables could be provided as well.
As for water, each person would receive half a bottle's worth. Wenqing wasn't sure her own estimate of the pond's size in her Space was accurate, and once it was gone, it was gone. It was better to conserve it—better safe than sorry.
In the current environment, the food would rot too quickly if taken out all at once. So, they decided to keep everything in Wenqing's Space and only take out what was needed each day.
"Wen, what do you think? Any problems with this plan?"
The university officials reviewed the plan from An Yang first. Only after they deemed it acceptable did they present it to Wenqing.
"We can do it your way, but I have one condition."
Wenqing got a headache just looking at the proposal. 'The food in the Space is renewable anyway; I couldn't care less about these details.'
"There are some people at the university I don't get along with. I don't want to give them my food. That's not a problem, is it?"
"No problem. It's your food, so you naturally have the right to decide who gets it," An Yang replied directly.
In his mind, Wenqing was just acting like a spoiled little girl, on bad terms with two or three people at most.
But to his surprise, Wenqing pulled out her phone, added him as a contact, and sent him a list of over thirty names.
Seeing that the list included men and women, teachers and students, An Yang was left speechless.
Nevertheless, he agreed.
All he could do was try to figure out a way to compensate the people on the list behind the scenes.
The meeting lasted a full five hours. It wasn't until nine o'clock that night that the university made an official announcement in the group chat.
A few brief sentences described the situation with Wenqing's Space, followed by an announcement about the changes to the food distribution.
Two meals a day?
And half a bottle of water?
Everyone grew ecstatic when they saw the news.
Some people's eyes welled up...
'Are we... are we really going to be saved?'
An Yang tagged @Wenqing in the chat. "From now on, all of our supplies will come from student Wen Qing. It is thanks to student Wen Qing's selfless dedication that we will be able to survive."
You had to admit, An Yang had an exceptionally sharp grasp of human psychology.
The chat flooded with messages of gratitude. Now that a tangible benefit was coming their way, who cared if Wenqing had some ulterior motives?
"I never would have guessed. Wenqing is actually pretty selfless."
Li Lanlan's eyes were glued to the words "two meals a day" as she joined the army of people flooding the chat.
Song Qing and Tang Mo remained silent. Having been in the same lab, Song Qing had a clear picture of what kind of person Wenqing was, and as for Tang Mo, that went without saying.
'Selfless? Perhaps. But she's probably not that noble.'
'Wenqing is doing this for her own vanity, to enjoy the feeling of being the center of attention. It has nothing to do with whether the rest of us live or die.'
'Lanlan is being a bit naive. But regardless of Wenqing's motives, Tang Mo was still grateful that she was willing to share her resources.'
'Not everyone would be willing to reveal such a secret just to gain a good reputation.'
'If it weren't for Wenqing, not nearly as many people at the university would have survived in her past life.'
The next day, however, Tang Mo's good mood vanished, replaced by a sense of true exasperation.
"Did you make a mistake? We're short one portion," Song Qing, the dorm leader, said as she checked the food they'd been given.
"There's no mistake." The student in charge of distribution flipped through the list in his hand.
Food was too precious now; they wouldn't get a single portion wrong.
"You have someone named Tang Mo in your dorm, right? There's nothing for her."
"On what grounds? Is our Tang Mo not a T University student? Why is she being treated differently?" Li Lanlan was the first to fly into a rage.
"How should I know? If you have a problem, go ask An Yang yourself." The boy gestured toward the flagpole platform.
"Thanks, I get it." Tang Mo pulled back Li Lanlan, who was about to charge forward and argue.
"Let it go, Lanlan. It's not their fault. The food is Wenqing's, so this must be her doing."
In her past life, Tang Mo hadn't known Wenqing, so she'd never been shorted during food distribution.
This time, the butterfly effect had caused them to meet earlier in the lab, and for some reason, Wenqing had taken a disliking to her.
Tang Mo thought hard. 'But we've barely interacted, haven't we?'
She knew how Wenqing operated from her past life. Anyone who offended her got nothing during distribution. Complaining to An Yang was useless; after all, the food didn't technically belong to the university but was Wenqing's private contribution.
Tang Mo never would have guessed that she had offended Wenqing simply because she was too eye-catching and received more attention from the senior male students in the lab.
"This is outrageous! You didn't even do anything to her. Don't tell me it's because she's jealous of how pretty you are."
Li Lanlan pouted, unintentionally hitting the nail on the head.
"Here, take mine. They're giving out more now anyway. I'll split it with you when we get back to the dorm."
"I'll share mine, too," Song Qing added. "If Lanlan and I both pitch in, we can split it three ways."
Tang Mo still had her own food and wasn't short on water, but the food being distributed now included green vegetables.
Green vegetables! How long had it been since they'd eaten any? Their skin was already as dry as could be.
"Alright," Tang Mo said with a smile. "In that case, I'll be counting on you. I'll have to start worshipping the both of you."
Tang Mo accepted with a smile. Her relationship with her roommates was one of mutual support; she could accept this small favor without feeling burdened.
Tang Mo felt a brief flash of exasperation at Wenqing's hostility but didn't dwell on it.
She was a level-headed person. It was Wenqing's food, and it was her right to give it to whomever she pleased.
Besides, both in her past life and now, she was benefiting from the food in Wenqing's Space. She was indebted to her. And while she couldn't condone Wenqing's personality or her methods, she couldn't bring herself to speak ill of her either.
'She's not evil, just childish at worst.'
'With a personality like that, the apocalypse will teach her a lesson or two.'
Ever since the existence of her Space was announced, Wenqing had stopped going to the lab. Instead, she would stroll around the athletic field twice a day during distribution, always followed by two male students from the physical education department.
The two boys had been assigned by the university administration, who claimed that with the campus in disarray, she needed protection.
She was the entire university's mobile granary; who would dare to be careless?
It was called protection, but in reality, it was no different from surveillance.
Wenqing herself didn't seem to mind. She strolled about gleefully, and when she was in a particularly good mood, she would even stop to ask people questions.
"Is the food tasty? Is the water good? Are you all happy with life these days?"
The people she asked could only look on with strained expressions. It was like a government official making a condescending inspection tour of the countryside.
They would flatter her to her face but curse her in their hearts.
Everyone was grateful for the food, but her high-and-mighty, godlike attitude made it impossible for anyone to truly respect her.
But they could only gripe silently behind her back. If she found out, they'd end up on her blacklist, too. And right now, no one could afford to offend Wenqing.