The sun was already hanging in the sky, and it was probably getting late. It would definitely be too late to go back now.
Chu Guang would rather stay in Bette Street for one night than travel at night.
Having had several unpleasant experiences, he knew too well how dangerous it was. It was God's will that he survived.
Chu Guang wrapped the iron pipe rifle he bought in a plastic bag and tied it to the sharpened water pipe behind him. No one could tell from the appearance that it was a gun.
Although Bette Street did not restrict the survivors from carrying weapons, Chu Guang did not want the mayor's eyes to find out that he had a private transaction with the caravan outside.
50g of blue umbrella mushrooms were only exchanged for 1 point of chips.
It's amazing that these blood-sucking leeches could think of this!
Passing through the gate of Bette Street.
Chu Guang saw that there was a crowd of people at the door of the recycling station, including men, women, old and young.
They are ragged, pale and thin, carrying woven bags or frames on their backs and plastic buckets or other containers in their hands.
Their daily routine is simple.
They exchange the garbage they pick up for chips, and then use the chips to exchange for the necessities of life.
"Newly arrived soap! Made by Boulder City Chemical Plant, only 3 chips are needed to wash away the disgusting stench on your body. Hurry up and buy one for your wife. There are only 30, first come first served."
"Edible oil, no matter what it is made of, it is fresh and good stuff, shipped from Brown Farm, only 10 chips per liter... a little expensive, but there is a reason for it, you'd better find someone to fight for it."
"Let me see, by the way, there is also coarse salt! A thumb-sized piece is only 5 chips... Don't care where it comes from, do you want to eat more delicious food? Come and buy it."
"There are also tobacco leaves, whether you smoke it yourself or use it to smoke meat, it's also from Brown Farm... Forget it, you can choose it yourself, I'll take a break."
Old Charlie shouted lazily at the door, and his attitude didn't look like a businessman at all.
In fact, this is indeed not a business, but more like a kind of charity from a master to a servant.
Don't say it's Beth Street.
Many things in this five-li area can only be bought here, and people living here have no right to choose.
Also, don't think that five miles is short.
Although Qingquan City is located in the southern plains, it has long become a reinforced concrete cemetery that is more dangerous than the forest...
Old Charlie wiped his sweat and handed the job of collecting money to the shop assistant. He sat aside and squinted his eyes to rest.
At this time, a thin young man in a gray coat waved a wooden sign in his hand and walked to the crowd.
"Mobilization order! Mobilization order from the mayor!"
"Before the end of the month, each household must hand in 100 kilograms of firewood and 2 cubic meters of fur."
"Tell each other!"
The crowd was in an uproar.
There were waves of complaints, but no one came out to resist.
After all, this is how it was in previous years.
Bette Street does not collect taxes, but it does not mean that life here is free. In addition to 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, and it will be issued every August and September.
As for what will happen if you refuse to collect the tax?
The punishment is quite straightforward.
All men and women over the age of 16 in the settlement, whether they live alone or not, are considered a single household as long as they are not married. After marriage, they will be considered a household of two.
If the materials are not paid, the housekeeper who registers the household will cross the name of the household from the list, confiscate his shack on Bet Street, and drive him out of the survivors' base.
In this world where life is thinner than paper, losing shelter is no different from death.
Especially in the cold winter.
Although Bet Street is not rich, it is better than the Brown Farm next door. At least the survivors living here can still have a little pitiful freedom.
"It seems that the mayor is planning to make another fortune before the last batch of caravans come this year, and live a prosperous year with the materials exchanged."
Chu Guang thought in his heart, but did not take this so-called mobilization order seriously.
He will leave here before winter.
When the time comes, he will go by himself without being chased.
Bypassing the recycling station.
Chu Guang walked 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 17 or 15 years old, not tall, and a teenager. Chu Guang didn't know him well, but he seemed to be the third son of the Wang family, named Wang Defu.
His shack was in the corner of the settlement, diagonally opposite to the Yu family, and then the Wang family, and they usually didn't visit there.
I don't know what happened, but the third son of the Wang family actually found me here.
"Get out of the way."
Wang Defu looked impatient, stretched out his hand and pushed Yu Xiaoyu who was blocking in front of him. The little girl staggered back, but still stretched out her arms like an eagle protecting her chicks, and didn't give way.
"No, this is not your house!"
"It's not your house either."
"But he asked me to help look after the house!"
"What's so good about a dead person's house."
"He's not dead." Yu Xiaoyu stared at him, his eyes like goldfish.
"Stop lying, that stranger hasn't come back for four or five days."
Wang Defu continued impatiently, "You Yu family just want a piece of the pie, I don't plan to take it all by myself. So, the beams of the shed and this door belong to me, and the rest are yours."
The dead person's house is unoccupied and is usually divided up by the neighbors.
There is no definite news that a person is dead if he doesn't come back for a few days, but generally if someone doesn't come back for several days, everyone assumes that he was either captured by slave traders or plunderers, or taken away by alien species to feed their cubs.
No one can survive several nights outside in a row.
Even experienced hunters find it difficult to do so.
Yu Xiaoyu bit her lower lip until it turned blue, and her eyes were staring like little goldfish. She refused to move, but she didn't make any other moves.
Wang Defu didn't want to wait any longer. If he waited any longer, the men of the Yu family would be back, and he couldn't get any benefits by himself, so he prepared to force her away.
However, at this moment, a hand was placed on his shoulder.
"Who said I was dead?"
Wang Defu's hairs shuddered, and he jumped to the side, looking at Chu Guang with fear like a beast. Yu Xiaoyu quickly slipped behind Chu Guang and reported in a low voice.
"He came yesterday and wanted to demolish your house."
"Thank you."
Chu Guang looked at Wang Defu with a smile, and then said.
"Do you want to leave by yourself, or do you want me to take you there?"
Wang Defu knew that he was in the wrong, and he couldn't argue. Then he glanced at the steel pipe on Chu Guang's back with blood on its tip, and finally left silently.
He was not afraid of the Yu family or this stranger, but no one wanted to offend a strong man.
Especially since this guy was alone and had no weaknesses at all.
Looking at the man's back, Chu Guang suddenly felt a little sad.
Although some people were alive, they were no different from the hyenas and vultures outside.
He had seen with his own eyes a mutant hyena that bit off the neck of its injured companion and shared its meat. At that time, he did not think much about it and just thought it was the law of nature. Now he actually felt a little empathy.
He had only been away for a few days, and these people were already ready to move.
Yu Xiaoyu, who was hiding behind Chu Guang, did not 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, and almost chewed the plastic stick together.
Noticed the big eyes looking at her.
Chu Guang was stunned at first, then he came to his senses and took out a lollipop that he had forgotten to eat from his pocket and stuffed it into the little girl's hand.
"Sorry to bother you these days."
"No trouble!"
Xiaoyu happily tore open the plastic paper, stuffed the lollipop into her mouth, and said vaguely, "Anyway, I have nothing else to do. I can help you watch when you go out."
At this time, the men of the Yu family came back from the recycling station carrying the spoils. From the bulging packages, it can be seen that they have gained a lot.
Seeing her eldest brother, second brother and father, Xiaoyu hid back in the house.
Earning candy is just a side job. Keeping an eye on foreigners is the job that the elders have entrusted to her. Xiaoyu has not forgotten the elders' instructions to her.
However, no matter how fast she moves, it is impossible to be faster than the hunter's eyes.
The head of the Yu family, the healthy and wrinkled old man, glanced at Chu Guang and said nothing. He went into 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 didn't pay much attention to him, and this boy of eighteen or nineteen was one of the few who would take the initiative to talk to him.
However, this man always spoke directly, as fierce as his name.
"You haven't been here for a few days. I thought you were dead."
Chu Guang said.
"It seems that your intuition is not very accurate."
Yu Hu was stunned for a moment, grinned and touched his head.
This foreigner is quite interesting. His way of speaking is different from others. He always likes to beat around the bush.
He didn't care and continued.
"I have to tell you that the mayor has just issued a mobilization order. Each household must hand in 100 kilograms of firewood and 2 square meters of fur before the end of the month."
The Yu family has three adult males and needs to pay 300 kilograms of firewood and 6 square meters of fur. They are considered "big taxpayers" on Beth Street.
The former is easy to deal with. There are vegetation everywhere in the city. There are large tracts of woodland in the suburbs to the north. Even if there is no mobilization order from the mayor, they have to cut some back to prepare for the winter.
But the latter is not so easy to deal with. At least four or even five mutant hyenas have to be killed for 6 square meters of fur.
"I heard about it when I came back."
"That's good."
Yu Hu didn't beat around the bush and said it directly.
"We were just discussing with the Li family and planned to try our luck in the northern woodlands. It is said that there are traces of deer migration there. If we can catch two, we can get not only the skin but also the meat. Do you want to go together?"
"No, I will think of a way myself."
Chu Guang declined politely, but he silently remembered it in his heart.
The scavengers on Bet Street planned to go hunting in the north. Linghu Wetland Park is also a little bit west of the north. I hope we won't meet them then.
Yu Hu naturally didn't know what Chu Guang was thinking, just 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 kid from the Wang family dares to bully you because he is in large numbers."
"How about this, my sister will be old enough to get married next year, why don't you marry her, so that we can be a family."
"If you are in a hurry, it won't be a problem to hold the wedding tonight."
Chu Guang was almost choked by this sentence and said with a cough.
"No need."
What the hell?
How did the topic jump to this?
Besides, the marriageable age that these survivors can accept is not acceptable to Chu Guang, who comes from a civilized society.
He is still young, and it is too early for him to get married.
"Well, then."
Yu Hu did not persuade him again, but expressed regret in his heart.
People who came out of the shelter are all smart, just like the old man named Charlie, who has been helping the mayor since he can remember, and is a big shot in the eyes of the neighbors.
Old man Charlie said that Chu Guang also came out of the shelter, which should not be wrong, and he must be smart.
If he can have a son with his sister, the Yu family may also have a big shot like old man Charlie in the future.
He even made plans to persuade his father.
But now it seems that he was just being sentimental.
He carried the things back home.
Yu Hu held his sister.
"Xiaoyu, I'm asking you, are you willing to marry you to the big brother Chu Guang next door?"
Xiaoyu still had a lollipop in her mouth, and she cooed.
"Sure."
Anyway, it's right in front of the house, not far away.
In her eyes, the so-called marriage is just a change of place to sleep, which is not a big deal, and you may get two more candies.
Yu Hu, who was originally planning to give up, said happily.
"Then I'll help you persuade him again."
"Oh."
Xiaoyu responded casually, just eating candy, not caring.
Yu Hu, on the other hand, was planning with great interest.
"Okay, I'll talk to big brother and dad, but don't just wait there, go to mom to learn how to make pancakes when you have time... What are you eating, let me have a taste of it."
"No!"
Seeing that the second brother was trying to grab her candy, Xiaoyu was instantly unhappy, crouched to dodge, and ran away.