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The sun was hanging at the end of the horizon. It was definitely too late to go back to the shelter now.

Chu Guang would rather stay on Bett Street for one night than rush to the shelter at night.

He who had had several unpleasant experiences was aware of how dangerous it was.

Chu Guang wrapped the iron-barreled rifle he bought in a plastic bag and tied it to the sharpened water pipe behind him. From its appearance alone, no one could tell that it was a gun.

Although Bett Street did not restrict the survivors from carrying weapons, Chu Guang did not want the town mayor's men to discover that he was trading privately with the caravan outside.historical

50g Blue Umbrella Mushroom was only worth 1 point in the town.

Those blood-sucking leeches were really greedy to be able to come up with this kind of price!

Passing through the gate of Bett Street.

Chu Guang saw that the door of the recycling station was crowded with people.They were in ragged clothes, with sallow complexions. Bags were on their backs, while they carried plastic buckets or other containers in their hands.

Their daily routine was very simple, selling the trash they picked up, and then using the chips to exchange for life necessities.

"Newly arrived soap! Produced by the Boulder City Chemical Plant, you can wash away disgusting odors with only 3 chips. Hurry up and buy one for your wife to use. There are only 30, come and get some before it's too late."

"Edible oil. It is shipped from Brown Farm and only costs 10 chips per liter... It's a bit expensive, but there are reasons why it is expensive."

"Let me see what else we got. Oh right, there is coarse salt! The thumb-sized piece only costs 5 chips... How did we get it? Why do you need to care about this? Come and get it, it will make your food delicious."

"There are also tobacco leaves, whether you smoke it yourself or use it to make smoked bacon, it is.. Forget it, come and take a look at it yourself, I'll rest awhile."

Old Charlie yelled lazily at the door, his attitude unlike a businessman's at all.

In fact, this was not really a business, but more like a charity from the master to the servant.

Not to mention Bett Street, within a five miles radius, many things could only be bought here, and the people living here had no right to choose.

Also, don't assume that five miles was very short.

Although Qingquan City was located in the Southern Great Plains, it had already become a reinforced concrete cemetery that was more dangerous than the forest...

Old Charlie wiped his sweat and handed over the collection of money to the clerk in the shop while he sat on the side, squinting his eyes to rest.

At this time, a thin young man in a gray coat waved the wooden sign in his hand, and walked to the crowd.

"Mobilization order! Town Mayor's mobilization order!"

"Before the end of the month, each household needs to hand in 100 kilograms of firewood and 2 quarter meters of fur."

"Please tell each other!"

There was a commotion in the crowd.

There were complaints, but no one came out to protest.

After all, it was the same in previous years.

Bett Street did not charge taxes, but it did not mean that living here was free. In addition to the soft exploitation of trading rights, the town mayor would always collect a batch of materials in one way or another.

The mobilization order was one of them, and it would be issued in August and September every year.

As for the refusal to follow the order?

The punishment was quite straightforward.

All unmarried men and women over sixteen in the settlement, regardless of whether they lived alone or not, would be considered a single household. After marriage, the two people involved would be considered as one household.

If the supplies were not handed in, the person in charge of the register would remove the name of the household from the register, confiscate their shack on Bett Street, and expel them from the survivor's stronghold.

In this world where life was cheaper than paper, losing a shelter was no different from death.

Especially in the cold winter.

Although Bett Street was not rich, it was much better than Brown Farm next door. At least the survivors living here still had a little bit of pitiful freedom.

‘It seems that the town mayor is planning to make a fortune before the last caravans arrive this year.'

Chu Guang thought this in his heart, but did not take this so-called mobilization order seriously.

He would leave here before winter.

When the time came, there was no need to rush, he would go by himself.

Bypassing the recycle station.

Chu Guang walked straight to his shack, but before reaching the door, he saw Yu Xiaoyu and a man standing at the door arguing about something.

The man looked about seventeen, not tall, and was a teenager. Chu Guang didn't know him well, but he remembered that he was the third son of the Wang family and his name was Wang Defu.

His shack was located at the corner of the settlement, diagonally across the Yu family and then the Wang family. Normally, they would not come there.

He didn't know what happened, and why the youngest of the Wang family would come here...

"Step aside."

Wang Defu looked impatient and stretched out his hand to push Yu Xiaoyu who was in front of him. The little girl staggered back, but she still opened her arms like an eagle guarding its chicks and did not give in.

"No, this is not your home!"

"It's not your home either."

"But he asked me to take care of the house!"

"What's the point of taking care of a dead man's house?"

"He is not dead." Yu Xiaoyu glared at him.

"Stop lying to yourself, that foreigner hasn't come back for four or five days."

Wang Defu continued impatiently, "You Yu Family just want to get a share of the pie, right? I didn't plan to take it all. How about this, the beam of the shed and this door belong to me, and you take the rest."

A dead man's house would be unoccupied and would usually be divided up by the neighbourhood.

No one would be certain that a person would be dead if he didn't come back for a few days; but when this usually happened, everyone would silently agree that the person was either caught by a slave trader or a marauder or taken by mutants to feed their cubs.

No one could survive a few consecutive nights outside.

Even experienced hunters could hardly do it.

Yu Xiaoyu bit her lower lip, and her eyes glared at the young man like a little goldfish, but she still refused to move.

Wang Defu didn't want to wait any longer. The men from the Yu family would come back soon. At that time, he would not be able to get anything, so he planned on pushing her away forcibly.

However, at this moment, a hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Who said I was dead?"

Startled, Wang Defu jumped to the side suddenly, looking at Chu Guang with a vigilant look like a wild beast. Yu Xiaoyu quickly slipped behind Chu Guang and whispered to him.

"He came yesterday and wants to tear down your house."

"Thanks."

Chu Guang looked at Wang Defu with a faint smile, and then said.

"Are you going by yourself, or do you need me to send you away?"

Wang Defu knew that he was in the wrong, so he couldn't argue with him. Then he glanced at the blood-stained steel pipe on Chu Guang's back, and finally left silently.

He was not afraid of the Yu family, nor this outsider, but no one wanted to offend a strong man.

Especially this guy that was alone and had no weakness at all.

Looking at this person'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 personally seen a mutant hyena, biting off the neck of an injured companion and eating its meat. He didn't think too much about it at the time, just treating it as the law of nature, but now he felt a little bit empathetic.

He just left for a few days, but these people were already ready to move.

Yu Xiaoyu, who was hiding behind Chu Guang, did not leave. She felt that if she waited a little longer, she might be able to eat the candy she had eaten that day.

She had never eaten something so sweet, and almost even chewed the plastic stick altogether.

Noticing the big eyes looking at him, Chu Guang fell into a daze for a moment. When he recovered, he realised what was going on. He smiled and took out a lollipop that he had forgotten to eat from his pocket and stuffed it into the little girl's hand.

"I have troubled you these few days."

"No trouble!"

Xiaoyu happily tore through the plastic paper, stuffed the lollipop in her mouth, and said vaguely, "Anyway, I have nothing else to do. When you go out, I can help you look after your house."

At this time, the men of the Yu family returned from the direction of the recycling station, carrying the spoils. It could be seen from the bulging package that they had gained a lot.

Seeing her big brother, second brother and father, Xiaoyu sneaked back into the house.

Earning candy to eat was just a sideline task, staring at this outsider was the main task her elder gave her. Xiaoyu had not forgotten the advice of her elders.

However, no matter how fast she moved, it couldn't be missed by the hunter's eyes.

The elder of the Yu family, the old man with a strong physique and wrinkles on his face, glanced at Chu Guang without saying anything and entered the house with his eldest son 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.

The people here would typically ignore him, and this eighteen or nineteen-year-old boy was one of the few people who would take the initiative to speak to him.

It was just that this person was a really outspoken person.

"I thought you were dead."

Chu Guang replied, "It seems your instinct isn't accurate."

Yu Hu was dazed, grinning and rubbing his head.

This outsider was very interesting. He spoke differently from others. He always liked to speak indirectly...

But he didn't mind it and continued. "I have to tell you. The town mayor has just issued a mobilization order, and each household must hand in 100 kilograms of firewood and 2 square meters of fur before the end of the month."

The Yu family had three adult males, which meant that they needed to pay 300 kilograms of firewood and 6 square meters of fur. They were considered "large taxpayers" on Bett Street.

The former was not difficult to get, as there were trees everywhere in the city and large woodlands could be seen in the outer suburbs to the north. Even if there was no mobilization order from the town mayor, they still had to cut some trees back to prepare for the winter.

But the latter was not so easy to deal with, 6 square meters of fur meant that they had to kill at least four, or even five mutant hyenas.

"I heard about it when I came back."

"That's good."

Yu Hu never beat around the bush and was always direct in his words..

"We were discussing this with the Li family just now. We are going to try our luck in the woodland in the north. It is said that there are traces of deer migration. If we can catch two, we can get not only the skin, but also the meat. Do you want to join us?"

"I think I will pass. I will think of a solution myself."

Chu Guang tactfully refused, but he kept his words in mind.

The scavengers on Bett Street planned to go hunting in the north, and Linghu Wetland Park was also a little west to the north. He hoped they wouldn't encounter them at that time.

Naturally, Yu Hu didn't know what Chu Guang was thinking. He just thought he was embarrassed and continued to persuade him.

"I can see that you are a capable person, but no matter how good you are, there is a limit. The Wang family dares to bully you mainly because you are alone."

"How about this, my sister can get married next year. Why don't you marry her so that we will be a family."

"If you are in a hurry, you can have the wedding ceremony tonight."

Chu Guang almost choked at these words, so he coughed and responded, "No need."

‘What the hell?'

‘How did they suddenly talk about this topic?'

Moreover, the marriageable age acceptable to these survivors was not acceptable to Chu Guang from a civilized society.

He was still young and it was still too early to get married.

"Sign, fine then."

Yu Hu did not continue to persuade, but expressed pity in his heart.

The people who came out of the shelter were very smart, just like the old man named Charlie, who had been helping the town mayor since he was young. He was a big man in the eyes of the neighbourhood.

Old man Charlie said that Chu Guang also came out of the shelter, so there should be nothing wrong with it.

If his sister could give birth to his son, the Yu family might also be able to have a big man like Charlie's old man in the future.

He even made plans to convince his father.

But now it seemed that he was thinking too much.

Carrying things back home, Yu Hu stopped his sister.

"Xiaoyu, brother wants to ask you something, would you like to marry your elder brother Chu Guang?"

Xiaoyu still had a lollipop in her mouth and muttered.

"Okay."

Anyway, his house was just opposite her house, it was not far away.

In her eyes, the so-called marrying was nothing more than sleeping in a different place, and there was nothing wrong with marrying Chu Guang. Maybe she could even get two more pieces of candy.

Yu Hu, who had planned to give up, said happily.

"Then your brother I will help you persuade him again."

"Mhm."

Xiaoyu answered casually, just eating sweets, not caring.

Yu Hu on the other hand was thinking about how to change Chu Guang's mind.

"Okay, I'll discuss it with big brother and dad, but don't just wait there. If you have time, go find your mother and learn how to make pancakes... What are you eating? Give me a bite."

"No!"

Seeing that the second brother was going to grab her own candy, Xiaoyu instantly ran away