The Sun already hung on the edge of the sky, and it was undoubtedly late; there was no chance he could make it back in time now.
Chu Guangning would rather stay overnight on Bet Street than travel by night.
With several unpleasant experiences behind him, he knew all too well how dangerous it was to survive only by the grace of The Sun.
Chu Guang wrapped the iron pipe rifle he had bought in a plastic bag and tied it together with a sharpened water pipe he carried on his back, making it unrecognizable as a gun.
Although Bet Street didn't forbid survivors from carrying weapons, Chu Guang didn't want the mayor's spies to find out about his private transactions with the outside commercial teams.
50g of Blue Umbrella Mushroom for only 1 point chip.
What a rip-off these bloodsucking leeches came up with!
He passed through the gates of Bet Street.
Chu Guang saw a crowd gathered around the doorway of the recycling center, men and women, old and young.
They were dressed in tattered clothes, with yellow, gaunt faces, carrying woven bags or baskets on their backs, and hauling plastic buckets or other containers in their hands.
Their daily routine was simple.
Exchange the collected garbage for chips and then use those chips to buy life's necessities.
"New stock of soap! Produced by Huge Stone City Chemical Factory, only 3 point chips and you can wash off that nauseating stench from your bodies. Hurry and buy one for your wife; only 30 available, first come first served."
"Cooking oil, never mind what it's made from, it's all fresh and good, brought in from Brown Farm, only 10 point chips per liter... It's a bit expensive, but there's a reason for the price. You'd better find someone to split the cost with."
"Let me see, oh yes, coarse salt! A piece the size of your thumb for only 5 point chips... Don't worry about how it came to be, how much better do you expect to eat? Come buy it."
"There's also tobacco, good for smoking or for curing meat, also from Brown Farm... Forget it, just pick what you want, I need a break."
Old Charlie hawked his wares at the entrance with such a lackadaisical attitude that he hardly seemed like a businessman.
In fact, it really wasn't business, it felt more like a master's handout to a servant.
And it wasn't just Bet Street.
Within a five-mile radius, many things could only be bought here, and the people who lived here had no choice in the matter.
Also, don't think that five miles is short.
Although Qingquan City is situated on the southern plains, this place had long become an even more dangerous concrete graveyard than a forest...
Old Charlie wiped his sweat, handed over the task of collecting money to a store clerk, and sat down at the side, squinting his eyes for a rest.
At that moment, a young man, thin with a grey coat, waving a wooden plaque in his hand, came to the front of the crowd.
"Mobilization order! A mobilization order from the mayor!"
"By the end of the month, each household must contribute 100 kilograms of firewood and 2 square meters of fur."
"Pass it on to each other!"
The crowd stirred.
There were constant complaints, but no one came forward to rebel.
After all, it had always been like this in previous years.
Bet Street does not collect taxes, but that does not mean living here comes without a cost. Aside from the indirect exploitation in trading rights, the mayor always found one way or another to levy resources.
The mobilization order was just one of those methods, occurring every year in August or September.
And what if one refused the levy?
The punishment was very straightforward.
Within the settlement, all men and women over the age of 16, regardless of whether they lived independently after splitting from the family or not, were counted as individual households if unmarried; once married, two people were combined into one household.
If the resources weren't paid up, the registry butler would cross off that household's name from the registry and confiscate their shack on Bet Street, expelling them from the survivor's enclave.
In this world where life was thinner than paper, losing a shelter wasn't much different from dying.
Especially in the cold winter.
Though not wealthy, Bet Street was already better than neighboring Brown Farm—at least the survivors living here had a bit of pitiful freedom.
"It looks like the mayor is planning to make one last score before the final commercial team of the year arrives, to have a prosperous new year with the exchanged supplies,"
Chu Guang pondered in his heart but didn't take this so-called mobilization order seriously.
He would leave before winter.
When the time came, he would not wait to be driven out; he would leave on his own.
He bypassed the recycling station.
Chu Guang walked straight to his own shack, but before he reached the door, he saw Yu Xiaoyu and a guy standing at the door, arguing about something.
The guy was about seventeen or eighteen, not tall—a teenager. Chu Guang didn't know him, only remembered that he seemed to be the Wang Family's third son, named Wang Defu.
His shack was in the most secluded corner of the enclave, diagonally opposite the Yu Family, and then the Wang Family after that, usually not crossing paths with them.
Chu Guang wondered what business the Wang Family's third son could have at his place.
"Move aside."
Wang Defu, impatient, pushed Yu Xiaoyu, who was blocking his path. The girl stumbled backward, but still stood firm with her arms spread out like an eagle protecting its chick, refusing to give way.
"I won't, this isn't your home!"
"Nor is it yours."
"But he has asked me to help watch the house!"
"What's there to watch in a dead man's house?"
"He's not dead," Yu Xiaoyu glared at him, her eyes like a goldfish's.
"Stop lying, the foreigner hasn't been back for four or five days."
Wang Defu continued impatiently, "You from the Yu Family just want a share, don't you? I'm not planning to keep it all for myself. So, the crossbeams and this door are mine; you can take the rest."
The house of the deceased would usually be divided by the neighbors.
There was no set rule that a few days' absence meant death, but generally, if someone hadn't been seen for days, everyone assumed they were either captured by slavers or looters, or snatched away by Variants to feed their young.
No one could survive outside for several nights straight.
Even experienced hunters found it difficult.
Yu Xiaoyu's lower lip was bitten blue, her eyes, bright like a little goldfish, remained defiant, but she didn't move aside, nor did she take any other action.
Wang Defu didn't want to wait any longer; if he waited, the men from the Yu Family would be back, and he wouldn't gain anything alone, so he decided to push her aside by force.
However, at that moment, a hand rested on his shoulder.
"Who said I was dead?"
Wang Defu's body tensed up, and he jumped to the side. He regarded Chu Guang with a wary gaze, like that of a wild animal. Yu Xiaoyu quickly scurried behind Chu Guang for cover, whispering a report.
"He came yesterday, wanting to dismantle your house."
"Thanks."
Chu Guang looked at Wang Defu with a smile that was not a smile, then said.
"Are you leaving on your own, or should I escort you?"
Wang Defu, knowing he was in the wrong and unable to argue, glanced at the steel pipe on Chu Guang's back, the tip stained with blood, and eventually left without saying a word.
He wasn't afraid of the Yu Family, nor was he afraid of this foreigner, but nobody wished to offend a man with a sturdy physique.
Especially since this guy was all alone without any weak points.
Watching his retreating figure, Chu Guang suddenly felt somewhat sorrowful.
Some people, although alive, were no different from the hyenas and vultures outside.
He had once witnessed a mutated hyena bite the neck of its injured companion and share the flesh. At the time, he didn't think much of it, merely considering it a law of nature; now, he could somewhat empathize.
He had only been away for a few days, yet these people had already become restless.
Hiding behind Chu Guang, Yu Xiaoyu didn't leave. She thought that if she waited a bit longer, she might be able to eat the candy she had tasted the other day.
She had never eaten anything so sweet; she nearly chewed on the plastic stick too.
Noticing those big eyes staring at her.
Chu Guang was initially stunned, then realized what was going on and smiled as he fished out a forgotten lollipop from his pocket, handing it to the little girl.
"Thank you for your help these past few days."
"It's no trouble!"
Little Fish happily tore open the plastic wrapper and stuffed the lollipop in her mouth, speaking indistinctly, "It's not like I've anything else to do anyway. I can help keep an eye on things when you're out."
At that moment, the men of the Yu Family, carrying their spoils, returned from the direction of the recycling station. Judging by their bulging bundles, they had reaped a considerable harvest.
Seeing her eldest brother, second brother, and father, Little Fish promptly dashed back inside the house.
Earning candy was just a side job; keeping an eye on the foreigner was the task her elders had assigned her, and Little Fish had not forgotten the advice her elders had given her.
However, no matter how quick her actions, they could never outpace the eyes of a hunter.
The patriarch of the Yu Family—a sturdy, wrinkled-faced old man—glanced at Chu Guang without saying a word and entered the house with his eldest son, who was carrying two sacks of green wheat.
The second son of the Yu Family, Yu Hu, stopped in his tracks in front of Chu Guang.
Chu Guang recognized him.
People around here didn't interact much with him, and this eighteen or nineteen-year-old youth was one of the few who would initiate conversations with him.
It was just that the young man was always blunt and straightforward, much like his name suggested.
"I thought you were dead since you weren't around these past few days,"
Chu Guang said.
"It seems your intuition isn't very accurate."
Yu Hu paused, then grinned and scratched his head.
This foreigner was quite interesting, speaking differently from others—always liking to beat around the bush.
He didn't mind, and he continued.
"I have to tell you, the mayor just issued a mobilization order. Before the end of the month, each household must deliver 100 kilograms of firewood and two square meters of fur."
The Yu Family had three adult males and needed to submit 300 kilograms of firewood and six square meters of fur, which made them a "major taxpayer" on Bet Street.
The former was manageable. Vegetation was everywhere in the city, and further out to the north, large tracts of woodland were visible. Even without the mayor's order, they would have cut some firewood to prepare for winter.
But the latter was more challenging to deal with—six square meters of fur would mean having to kill at least four, perhaps five, mutated hyenas.
"I heard about it when I came back."
"That's good."
Yu Hu was direct.
"We were just discussing with the Li family about trying our luck in the northern woodlands. There are supposed signs of deer migration there. If we could catch a couple, not only would we get the fur, but we would also get meat. Do you want to join us?"
"I'd rather not; I'll think of something myself."
Chu Guang tactfully declined, but he made a mental note of it.
The scavengers from Bet Street were planning to hunt to the north, and Linghu Wetland Park was also to the northwest. Hopefully, they wouldn't run into each other.
Yu Hu naturally didn't know what Chu Guang was thinking and assumed he was just being modest, continuing to persuade.
"I can tell you're capable, but even a capable person has limits. The Wang Family boy dared to bully you because they have numbers."
"Here's an idea: my sister will be of marriageable age next year. Why not marry her? Then we'll be family."
"If you're in a hurry, we can arrange the wedding tonight."
Chu Guang nearly choked on these words, coughed, and said,
"There's no need."
What the hell?
How did the conversation jump to that?
Besides, the marriageable age that these survivors deemed acceptable was something Chu Guang, coming from a civilized society, could not accept.
After all, he was still young, and marriage was much too early for him.
"Alright then."
Yu Hu did not persuade further, only feeling a sense of regret.
People who escaped from the shelters tended to be smart, like Old Charlie, who had been working for the mayor since he could remember and was seen as a big shot in the neighborhood.
Old Charlie said that Chu Guang also came from a shelter, so there must not be a mistake; Chu Guang must be clever as well.
If he could have a son with his sister, maybe the Yu Family could also produce a big shot like Old Charlie.
He had even prepared to persuade his father.
But now, it seemed he was getting ahead of himself.
He took his things and returned home.
Yu Hu pulled his sister aside.
"Little Fish, tell me, would you like to marry next door's Brother Chu Guang?"
Little Fish, with her mouth still stuffed with a lollipop, mumbled,
"Okay."
It wasn't far since it was just next to her home.
In her eyes, getting married was simply about sleeping somewhere else; there wasn't much difference, and she might even get an extra piece or two of candy.
Yu Hu, who was about to give up, happily said,
"Then I'll try persuading him again."
"Oh."
Little Fish casually responded, focusing on her candy and not really caring.
But Yu Hu was enthusiastically making plans.
"Okay, I'll talk to Dad and Big Brother, but don't just sit around waiting. When you have time, go learn from Mom how to bake flatbread… What are you eating? Let me try some too."
"No way!"
Seeing her second brother try to snatch her candy, Little Fish was instantly displeased. She ducked and dodged, then vanished like a puff of smoke.