The sun is already hanging in the sky. I'm afraid it's too late to go back now.
Chu Guangning could stay in Beite Street for one night rather than catch the night road at night.
Having had several unpleasant experiences, he was too aware of the danger, and it was God's pleasure to survive.
Chu Guang wrapped the iron pipe rifle he bought into a plastic bag and tied it with the sharp water pipe behind him. No one could tell from the appearance that it was a gun.
Although Beite Street does not restrict the survivors from carrying weapons, Chu Guang does not want the mayor to find out about his private dealings with the outside caravans.
50g Blue Umbrella Mushroom for 1 chip.
How lucky these bloodsucking leeches can think of it!
Go through the gate of Bate Street.
Chu Guang saw that there was a circle of people at the gate of the recycling station, men and women, old and young.
They are ragged, sallow and emaciated, with woven bags or frames on their backs, plastic buckets or other containers in their hands.
Their daily routine is very simple.
Change the collected garbage into chips, and then use the chips to exchange for necessities of life.
"The newly arrived soap! It is produced by the Jushi Chemical Factory. It only takes three chips to clean up the disgusting smell on your body. Buy one for your wife. There are only 30. First come, first served."
"Edible oil, regardless of what it is made of, is fresh and good. It's only 10 chips per liter from Brown Farm... It's a bit expensive, but there's a reason why it's expensive. You'd better find someone to compete."
"Let me see. By the way, there is also coarse salt! The thumb size piece is only 5 chips... regardless of how it came from, do you want to eat more good? Come and buy it."
"There is also tobacco. It's good for smoking or smoking. It's also Brown Farm... Well, you can choose it yourself. I'll have a rest."
Old Charlie shouted idly at the door, his attitude was not like a businessman at all.
In fact, this is really not a business, but more like a handout from the master to the servant.
Don't say it's Bette Street.
In this five mile area, many things can only be bought here. People living here have no choice.
Also, don't think the five mile field is very short.
Although Qingquan City is located in the southern plain, it has already become a more dangerous reinforced concrete cemetery than the forest
Old Charlie wiped his sweat and handed the work of collecting money to the clerk in the shop, while he sat aside and squinted to rest.
At this time, a thin young man in a gray coat, waving a wooden card in his hand, came to the crowd.
"Mobilization order! Mobilization order from the mayor!"
"Before the end of the month, each household needs to turn in 100 kilograms of firewood and 2 cubic meters of fur."
"Tell each other!"
The crowd was in a tumult.
There were complaints, but no one came out to resist.
After all, it was the same in previous years.
The fact that Beite Street does not collect taxes does not mean that living here is free. In addition to the soft exploitation of trading rights, the mayor will always collect a batch of materials in one way or another.
The mobilization order is one of them, which comes every August and September.
What about refusing to collect?
The punishment is also quite straightforward.
All men and women over 16 years of age in the settlement, regardless of whether they live alone or not, are considered as a single family as long as there is no marriage. After marriage, the two people will become one family.
If the materials are not handed in, the registered housekeeper will delete the name of the household from the register, confiscate his shack in Beite Street, and expel the survivors from their stronghold.
In a world where life is thinner than paper, losing a shelter is no different from dying.
Especially in cold winter.
Although Beite Street is not rich, it is better than Brown Farm next door. At least the survivors living here can have a little bit of poor freedom.
"It seems that the mayor is going to make another profit before the last group of caravans come this year, and have a good year with the goods and materials."
Chu Guang thought to himself, but he didn't take this so-called mobilization order seriously.
He will leave here before winter.
No one has to rush, he will go by himself.
Bypass the recycle bin.
Chu Guang went straight to his shack, but before he reached the door, he saw Yu Xiaoyu and a man standing at the door, arguing about something.
The man was about seventeen fifty-six. He was not tall and was a teenager. Chu Guang didn't know him well. He only remembered that he seemed to be the third son of the Wang family. His name was Wang Defu.
His shack is in the most corner of the settlement, diagonally opposite the Yu family, followed by the Wang family, and generally does not visit there.
I don't know what happened. The third child of the Wang family found himself here.
"Get out of the way."
Wang Defu, looking impatient, reached out and pushed Yu Xiaoyu, who was in front of him. The girl staggered backward, but she still stretched her arms like an eagle guarding a chicken.
"No, this is not your home!"
"It's not your home."
"But he asked me to look after the house!"
"What's good about a dead man's home?"
"He's not dead." Yu Xiaoyu stares at him, his eyes like goldfish.
"Don't cheat. That stranger hasn't come back for four or five days."
Wang Defu continued impatiently, "Don't you want a piece of the cake for the rest of your family? I'm not going to eat it alone. In this way, I'll take the beam and the door of the shed, and you can take the rest."
The house of a dead person is unoccupied and usually divided by the neighborhood.
None of them said that a person would be dead if he didn't come back for a few days, but generally no one came back for several days, and everyone agreed that he was either captured by a slave trader or a predator, or picked up by a different species to feed his baby.
No one can survive several nights in a row outside.
Even experienced hunters can hardly do it.
Yu Xiaoyu's lower lip was bitten blue, and his eyes were staring like a small goldfish. He didn't get out of the way, but he didn't do anything else.
Wang Defu didn't want to wait any longer. It was time for the men of the Yu family to come back. He couldn't get any benefits alone, so he was ready to push her away.
But just then, a hand rested on his shoulder.
"Who said I was dead?"
Wang Defu was so excited that he jumped to one side and looked at the Chu light with wild eyes. Yu Xiaoyu quickly slipped behind Chu Guang and hid behind him, reporting in a low voice.
"He came yesterday to tear down your house."
"Thank you."
Chu Guang looked at Wang Defu with a half smile and then said.
"Are you going by yourself, or am I going to give you a ride?"
Wang Defu knew he was wrong, but he could not argue. Then he glanced at the bloody steel pipe on Chu Guang's back, and finally left silently.
He is not afraid of Yu Family or this stranger, but no one wants to offend a strong man.
Especially this guy is alone and has no weakness.
Looking at the man's back, Chu Guang suddenly felt sad.
Although some people are alive, they are no different from the hyenas and vultures outside.
He once saw with his own eyes a mutant hyena bite off the neck of its wounded companion and divide its meat. At that time, he didn't think much about it. He thought it was a natural law, but now he feels the same.
These people are ready to move after leaving for only a few days.
Yu Xiaoyu, hiding behind Chu Guang, didn't leave. She thought that if she waited a little longer, she might be able to eat the candy she had eaten that day.
She had never eaten anything so sweet before. She almost chewed the plastic stick together.
Notice the big eyes that look at you.
Chu Guang was stunned at first, and then came to his senses. He smiled and took out a lollipop that he had forgotten to eat from his pocket and put it into the girl's hand.
"I have troubled you these days."
"No trouble!"
The little fish happily tore open the plastic paper, stuffed the lollipop into his mouth, and said vaguely, "I have nothing else to do anyway. I can help you watch when you go out."
At this time, the men of the Yu family came back from the recycling bin with their booty on their shoulders. It can be seen from the bulging package that they have gained a lot.
Seeing his elder brother, second brother and father, Xiaoyu quickly hid in the house.
Making sugar and food is only a sideline. It's the job that the elders have given him to look at people from other places. Xiaoyu has not forgotten what the elders told him.
However, no matter how fast she moved, she could not be faster than the hunter's eyes.
The father of the Yu family, the healthy old man with wrinkled face, looked at Chu Guang and said nothing. He entered the house with his eldest son, who was carrying two bags of green wheat.
Yu Hu, the second son of the Yu family, stopped in front of Chu Guang.
Chu Guang recognized him.
People here don't pay much attention to themselves, and this 18-year-old boy is one of the few people who will take the initiative to talk to him.
However, this man always speaks straightforwardly, just like his name.
"I thought you were dead when you weren't here these days."
Chu Guang said.
"It seems that your intuition is not accurate."
Yu Hu was stunned and felt his head with a grin.
This stranger is very interesting. His way of speaking is different from others. He always likes to turn a corner.
I didn't care, he continued.
"I have to tell you that the mayor has just issued a mobilization order, and each household should hand in 100 kilograms of firewood and 2 square meters of fur before the end of the month."
There are three adult males in the Yu family, who need to pay 300 kilograms of firewood and 6 square meters of fur. They are "big taxpayers" in Beite Street.
The former is good to say that there is vegetation everywhere in the city, and a large area of woodland can be seen in the northern suburbs. Even if there is no mobilization order from the mayor, they will cut some back to prepare for winter.
However, the latter is not so easy to deal with. At least four or even five mutant hyenas must be killed for a 6 square meter fur.
"I heard it when I came back."
"That's good."
Yu Hu did not beat about the bush, but went straight.
"We were just discussing with the Li family that we were going to try our luck in the forest land in the north. It is said that there are signs of deer migration there. If we can catch two, not only skin, but also meat, would we like to get together?"
"No, I'll do it myself."
Chu Guang politely refused, but he wrote it down in his heart.
The scavengers in Beite Street plan to go hunting in the north. The Linghu Wetland Park is just a little west of the north. I hope they will not meet each other then.
Yu Hu didn't know what Chu Guang was thinking, so he thought he was embarrassed and continued to persuade him.
"I can see that you are a capable person, but a person's ability is limited. The boy of the Wang family dares to bully you because of the strength of the crowd."
"Well, my sister will get married next year. Why don't you marry her? Then we will be a family."
"If you're in a hurry, it won't hurt to serve drinks tonight."
Chu Guang was almost choked by this sentence and coughed.
"No need."
What is it?
How did the topic jump to this.
Moreover, Chu Guang from the civilized society can't accept the marriageable age that these survivors can accept.
After all, I am still young and it is too early to get married.
"Well, that's OK."
Yu Hu didn't persuade him anymore, but expressed regret in his heart.
The people who came out of the shelter had good brains. Just like the old man named Charlie, he had been helping the mayor since he could remember. He was a big man in the neighborhood.
Old man Charlie said that Chu Guang also came out of the shelter, which should not be wrong. It must be easy to use his head.
If he can have a son with his sister, maybe the rest of the family will become a big shot like old Charlie.
He even planned to persuade his father.
But now, it seems that he is self indulgent.
Carrying things back home.
Yu Hu grabs his sister.
"Little Fish, I asked you to marry you to Brother Chuguang next door. Are you willing?"
The little fish still has a lollipop in its mouth, and coos.
"Yes."
Anyway, it's at home, not far away.
In her eyes, the so-called marriage is just a change of place to sleep. It's no difference. Maybe there are two more candies.
Yu Hu, who had planned to give up, said happily.
"I will help you persuade him."
"Ow."
The little fish answered at random, just eating candy, not caring.
It was Yu Hu who was in high spirits.
"OK, let me talk about it with my elder brother and father, but don't just wait there. Go find my mother to learn how to bake pancakes when you have time... Give me a taste of what you are eating."
"No!"
Seeing that the second brother was going to grab his sugar, the little fish was not happy at the moment. The cat dodged and ran away.