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墨書 Inktalez
Liu Tao was currently chewing on a dry, yellow blade of grass. The troops in the Safe Zone had all been controlled by that old scoundrel, Jiang Yuan, which forced them to act with extreme caution.
Liu Tao let out a bitter smile. The District Chief had been too soft-hearted back then; Jiang Yuan's ambitions had long been evident. Yet this old man still stubbornly brought his group to Xinfeng Town during the apocalypse, refusing to be crushed by the harsh realities of the world. However, the brothers he trusted ultimately betrayed him without hesitation when faced with personal gain, and that was what truly broke him.
“Captain, we found the location. It's in the basement of Jiang Yuan's room,” Yin Le said excitedly. The reason they stayed behind was to find out the whereabouts of the District Chief, and it turned out he hadn’t died in the earthquake after all.
Liu Tao nodded, confirming this. “Good. From now on, no one is allowed to act without my orders.” He spat out the bitter grass and his eyes grew serious. “We must wait for an opportunity—a foolproof opportunity.”
The people in the room exchanged glances and eventually nodded in agreement. Yes, waiting was necessary; they had already waited for over four months, so a few more days wouldn’t matter.
Li Yan could understand the thoughts of the Safe Zone; he and Zhou Miao had visited that place at night. It could be said that bureaucracy existed everywhere. The hierarchy within the Safe Zone was clear-cut; aside from Li Jingfeng and his father-in-law, who were considered leaders, everyone else was treated like commoners. There was no sense of family; it resembled military management. Clearly, from the very beginning, Jiang Yuan aimed to control these people.
As for the food that had been collected earlier, it would not be distributed to ordinary people unless they reached a critical point. After all, with the current weather and geographical conditions being poor, even sweet potatoes wouldn’t be ready for harvest for another two or three months. At this time, it would be better to toss out a bone; many were terrified by this winter, and when that time came, the Safe Zone would simply wait to reap the benefits.
“The person who came up with this idea is ruthless,” Zhou Miao said while sipping hot soup nonchalantly. “Not to mention our village; many nearby have died this winter. A single spot in the Safe Zone is worth its weight in gold—people would sell everything just to get in. When everyone hands over their food, there’s only one spot available. For others, it’s as good as giving it away; they’ll end up dying faster.”
Yu Tian also thought about this and sighed helplessly. In the past, he might have tried to persuade everyone otherwise, but now he understood that standing out at this time wouldn’t earn anyone’s trust; they might even think you were hindering their chances of survival. “Old man, drink some more meat soup,” he said as he served another bowl to the elderly man. Even though spring was approaching and it was almost April or May, the weather remained surprisingly cold. Although the old man had drunk water from their supplies and his health was relatively better than most elders, he still couldn’t compare to younger people.
“Clearly not going to the Safe Zone,” Li Xiaoming said with wide eyes as he clung to Li Yan's side obediently. “Just now Sister Zhao Di said that those who go are all bad people.” The child seemed quite proud; he wanted to be a good boy. “Sister Zhao Di also said that food going to the Safe Zone could feed many people.”
Li Yan gently patted the child's fluffy head and smiled warmly. “You’re right; the Safe Zone is making a big show just to stir people's emotions. Yu Tian, tomorrow you should post a notice on the bulletin board: we will not hand over food, but anyone who wants to do so must first leave this village.”
“Why?” Yu Tian frowned; wouldn’t that cut off their escape routes?
“Do you think why the Safe Zone is doing this? They collected so much food before and now they want more? And they’re only offering one spot?” Li Yan snorted coldly. “This is laying groundwork for future actions. The Safe Zone isn’t far from several nearby locations; even walking would take at most half a day. Once we hand over food for the first time, it becomes a ‘rule.’ It creates a mindset where everyone feels that the Safe Zone still has authority over us.
In the future, whenever there’s a shortage of food, they can demand supplies from every village. This is both a test and a declaration; once we hand over food, we become the weaker party and they will naturally treat us as reserves. I established this village so that our family could live more comfortably. If anyone likes causing trouble, I’m more than willing to oblige.”
"That's right, this Jiang District Chief is probably thinking along those lines. Wife, look at me—I'm practical, hardworking, and reliable. I'm an honest person and don't have any hidden agendas," Zhou Miao said, thick-skinned as he leaned toward Yu Tian, feeling quite pleased with himself. Look at him; he is a real man, pure and straightforward.
That night, many people couldn't sleep. Everyone was pondering the present, the future, and everything else they could think of. Zhang Sanye got up early; as he aged, he needed less sleep. He wondered if Heavenly Father had given him more time to observe the world.
"Dad, are you still thinking about what happened last night?" Zhang Mo also couldn't sleep and followed him outside. "Dad, stop thinking about it. I don't think the Safe Zone is that great. Li Yan and Zhou Miao seem fine; let's stay here."
"Mozi, you really don't want to go? This time we don't have to pay so much in grain. The people who stay behind don’t have much food either; we'll be safe this winter, and our family won't lose anything if we stay. If we..."
"Dad," Zhang Mo interrupted him, "don't say anymore. I know what you're trying to say. If the Safe Zone were truly safe, why would they still be collecting grain? Don't even mention that we might not get a spot; even if we do get in, it might not be good for us. Our village hasn't suffered much compared to others this winter. Think about how many other villages have lost so much! When I went out with Li Yan and the others, I saw a lot and realized that there’s no truly safe place in this world. Besides, we used to be in the Safe Zone too; when it was gone, we were still asked to provide grain.
Dad, you shouldn't worry about it. I've made up my mind not to go there. The village may not be that safe, but we don't have so many rules here. Right now, I just want our family to live together safely. Also, I trust Li Yan; he seems thoughtful and wouldn't want to harm anyone."
Zhang Sanye sighed and shook his head; he knew his son's words all too well. But... never mind; Mozi was right. Just then, it seemed someone next door had also gotten up, and shortly after that, there was a knock on their door: "Is Zhang Sanye home?"
Zhang Sanye was taken aback for a moment before heading back to his room. Zhang Mo opened the door with a smile: "It's Uncle Guo! My dad is still asleep; he's been unwell lately and just fell asleep. If you have something to discuss, please wait until he wakes up..."
Li Yan's family slept soundly until dawn. Ever since the wall was built, the village only needed three or five people on night patrol each night. After all, the wall was so high and solid that unless someone had a cannon, it wouldn't be easy to break in.
The next day, Yu Tian announced the news early in the morning, sparking discussions throughout the village. Ever since Li Yan had driven out a few instigators and troublemakers, no one had openly acted as a "spearhead." However, this announcement did make many people feel dissatisfied privately—just because you don’t want to go doesn’t mean others can’t go? If they paid their grain taxes, there might still be hope; without paying grain taxes, there would be no hope at all.
In the end, it was Zhou Laoyezi who stepped forward to clarify things in detail. The main point was clear: Bright Village belonged to its rightful leaders; if anyone wanted to rely on the Safe Zone, they were absolutely welcome to do so. The only condition was that they must not belong to Bright Village; then they could do as they pleased. The old man also mentioned that since the new Safe Zone was established, Bright Village had become an independent entity. If the Safe Zone wanted to control this place? Not a chance: Bright Village would not give even a grain of rice or a blade of grass.
This rule was also incorporated into Bright Village's regulations; dissenters would find their objections invalid.
Damn it! Is this really called rightful leadership? Many young people were discontented and felt that Li Yan made decisions without consulting anyone—it just didn't make sense. But what could they do? They would still remain where they were supposed to be. In fact, they also felt that the Safe Zone wasn't reliable; Li Yan's reasoning made sense too—even though their place was small, they couldn't show weakness either. So after being abandoned by the Safe Zone while still being asked for grain contributions? No way! As Zhou Laoyezi put it: not a chance.
After several days of debate, a few households decided they wanted to provide grain but didn't want to be driven away. If they couldn't do it openly, they'd do it secretly—what did Chinese people start with? Guerrilla tactics! With just some millet and rifles, they had managed to take down Little Japan; what did Li Yan count for?
On the first day itself, someone hid grain in their clothing seams and mobilized their entire family for several trips—it would be enough for them. However, this family was rather unfortunate; perhaps they weren't cut out for thievery—their nervousness was evident enough for anyone with eyes to see.
When that family was expelled, Li Yan specially organized a farewell for them, as is the custom in Bright Village. Whenever someone is kicked out of the village, the whole village sends them off; after all, they were once "revolutionary comrades," and we still maintain a sense of camaraderie.
Afterward, those people became even more secretive, hiding in carts and bamboo tubes, employing various methods and small actions that fully demonstrated modern ingenuity and... advanced wisdom. Li Yan also said: if you weren't caught, consider it luck; if you were caught... well, you understand.
By mid-May, it was heard that someone had indeed moved to the Safe Zone. It was Huo Yan from Flower Fragrance Village, the first person to deliver supplies this time. To be honest, even though transportation is not very developed now, some people can still get firsthand information. Moreover, there is always a basic connection between villages.
When Huo Yan entered the Safe Zone, she was almost in tears, overwhelmed with emotion. She had finally escaped from her suffering. When she was a star before, she had a high profile; men had to check if she was available before approaching her. But after the apocalypse, the men she associated with became increasingly inferior, and in the end, she lost track of how many men there were just to secure a meal of coarse bread. Finally, she could rest for a while; she heard that as long as one was willing to work here, they could support themselves.
However, what was happening now? What was this? In this room of less than thirty square meters, there were about ten strikingly beautiful women, most of whom had vacant and despairing expressions. Some even looked at her with an indescribable mix of mockery and... sympathy?
"New here?" A woman around twenty stood up and scrutinized Huo Yan critically. "You're not bad-looking. I'm the leader here; you'll have to listen to me from now on. Understand? We are the lucky goddesses here; you should know what this job entails since I heard you did this outside too. However, everyone here is from Zone One. To put it bluntly, every week in Zone One, the top five skilled workers are chosen; they can select five people from us. So this job is relatively easy..."
Huo Yan could no longer hear what she said afterward; she was completely stunned. She had worked so hard to get in here. No... it couldn't be true. Huo Yan rushed at the woman like a madwoman, gripping her neck tightly as blood almost burst from her beautiful eyes. "You're lying! I brought supplies! You're lying." No, she didn't want to do that kind of work again.
In an instant, the two were entangled in a fight; perhaps due to long-term repression, the others in the room joined in as well. The entire room descended into chaos. The woman who spoke first slowly stepped out of the fighting circle and pulled out a key she had stolen earlier from her pocket to unlock the door. "Sisters, let's rush out! We've lived enough of this life!!" The fire ignited fiercely in the hearts of the others; yes, some of them were originally good girls who had been deceived into coming to this Safe Zone. Just because they were attractive and alluring meant they deserved misfortune? What lucky goddesses? If they weren't going to live today, they would take these people down with them!!
Liu Tao received a report from below and immediately walked in; his usually rogue face turned serious. "Go." He said as he led everyone in the room out with guns in hand.
Suddenly an alarm rang out within the Safe Zone. Jiang Yuan alertly grabbed the gun hidden under her pillow. As soon as she opened the door, a sharp pain shot through her head; she couldn't believe she would die just like this.
The author has something to say: I know many people are asking why Mei Mei hasn't appeared; Mei Mei has gone to have a baby. After more than twenty hours of labor, Mei Mei finally gave birth successfully to Little Bun, who weighed seven pounds and came out as a chubby little dumpling. To commemorate this great day, Little Bun's nickname will be Shunshun. Mei Mei is also celebrating double full moons—meaning she will be resting for two months postpartum. So updates during this time will be slow and steady; it's been too long for this story. Mei Mei feels quite embarrassed about it but assures everyone that this story will definitely not be abandoned. You can read it after it's finished... please don't throw things at my little bun!
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