Chapter 42

The Shen sisters originally thought that those people at home would talk for a long time, but in fact they finished very quickly. After talking for about an hour, those people came out together.

When they entered the room, they looked like they were at loggerheads with each other, but when they came out, they were arm in arm, like good brothers.

Chen Xi has been abroad for a long time, and when he sees this kind of scene, he feels... speechless.

I didn't feel anything when I was deep in the silence.

——Anyway, now as long as it doesn’t interfere with their normal life and doesn’t affect their meals, she won’t feel too much about what those people do.

Judging from the current situation, the result of this negotiation is relatively successful and everyone is satisfied.

The people of Yingshui Village agreed to withdraw to a location one kilometer away from the community.

The land within this distance belongs to the community.

Regardless of whether this land is reclaimed or left vacant as a defense line for the community, the people of Yingshui Village promised not to covet it, let alone secretly occupy it.

At the same time, the people in the community also promised that villagers can use and circle the area beyond one kilometer as they please.

Apart from leaving access passages for residents in the community and leaving space for future road construction, people from other communities will not rush to occupy the land.

In addition to the division of territory, both parties also agreed to provide each other with certain assistance based on the principle of friendship and mutual assistance.

For example, Yingshui Village is now separated from the community by a mountain, and it is difficult to transport vehicles here.

Moreover, it is very inconvenient to travel back and forth, so those who are clearing the land here must build houses and establish temporary residences here.

People in the community agreed to lend them the repaired shared bicycles in the yard so that they could use them to transport goods.

In addition, they also promised that if the flatbed trucks and tricycles were not in use in the community, they could be lent to them.

Don't underestimate these tools, which people don't take seriously in times of peace and prosperity.

The people in Yingshui Village who were able to stay and reclaim wasteland and cultivate the land, and even those who built houses must be the elderly and the weak, and their young and middle-aged people also had to go out to find work.

Although the village certainly had more grain than the community because of the summer harvest, who would have given way to a prodigal son like Xu Liang?

By the time he took charge, half of the village's grain had already been sold.

In exchange for a bunch of banknotes that are now like waste paper.

If the villagers don't go out to work, they will also go hungry.

At this time, having a bicycle to help carry sacks and heavy objects would be a great help to these elderly and weak people.

In return, the people of Yingshui Village promised to provide free guidance to residents in the community if they encountered problems growing vegetables and crops.

This is also very useful for people in the community.

Although some of the people living in the courtyard now originally came from the countryside, not all children from the countryside know how to farm anymore.

Anyway, when we counted the numbers before, even a half-baked person like Shen Jianyi was considered very experienced in the community.

With such a mutually beneficial plan, the relationship between the two parties seemed to become harmonious all of a sudden.

The conflict with Yingshui Village was resolved in this way, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

I thought that as long as I worked hard from now on, everything would go smoothly.

But who would have thought that this peace of mind wouldn't even last until the evening.

Shi Lei and his group who had gone out to work came back and told everyone some bad news.

As expected by Shen Jianyi yesterday—

There are too many people waiting for work in this town!

Because people in the community were busy building houses before, they didn’t know much about the situation outside.

They didn't even know that the town had already set up a reception point at the passageway of the high-rise building, specifically to receive people coming from the community and Yingshui Village.

And there are far more than one such reception points. It is said that there are five or six in the entire town.

Shi Lei and his team set out at six in the morning. It was not yet seven when they arrived at the passage, but the place was already crowded with people waiting.

Many people came the day before because they lived far away.

Some people have even been stationed there for many days.

These people are familiar with the job, so they just find a place to live nearby and take on both long-term and short-term jobs, ready to come at any time.

Moreover, these people were even divided into shifts, with some going to work and some staying behind to queue.

After finishing the work, I ran back to queue up again...

The advantage of this division of labor is that they will not miss more opportunities.

As a result, the people in the community were at a particular disadvantage when they went there. They had no experience and no strategy, and they couldn't find any decent work at the end of the day.

The people in the community stayed there for a whole day, and only about ten people found decent jobs, the kind that could earn them five steamed buns (half a pound of dry food) a day.

But these people all have some special skills.

For example, two people used to be electricians in the community, and a few others learned a little from other masters when they were building houses, so they can do some masonry work.

Dozens of other people went to a construction site in the morning to carry garbage, and came back after finishing the work. They only earned two steamed buns in a day.

Not to mention bringing some for my family, I can’t even eat enough myself.

Shi Lei and several people in charge of the community did not line up to get work. Instead, they went to the town to inspect the situation while everyone was lining up.

The more I look, the more serious the disaster outside seems. Because of hunger, many people's mental state is even worse than when the earthquake just started.

This immediately made them feel pressured, and after discussing it, they decided that this was not a good idea.

So they did not stay there and wait like the others, but all came back first.

That evening, the heads of various residential areas in the community gathered together again for a meeting.

This time, Shi Lei and his team did not ask everyone to brainstorm again. Instead, they directly told everyone the plan that they, the management team, had discussed on the way out today, and asked everyone to discuss it.

Their plan is actually very detailed.

The plan is divided into several parts.

Article 1: Encourage residents in the community to form their own teams as they did in the early days of the earthquake, and then go out to take on work as a team.

The community doesn't care what kind of work these teams find or how much food they earn.

Each person only needs to hand over 20% of the food ration distributed by the government to a strong laborer every day to the community.

This kind of ration has a fixed amount, usually half a pound per person per day.

Then each person only needs to pay one or two taels of grain a day, and the rest of the profit is yours.

The advantage of this is that because it is a team collaboration, when everyone forms a team, they will look for people they are familiar with, understand, and have similar abilities to cooperate with.

This is a strong alliance, so when you are outside, you will definitely be more competitive and have a greater chance of getting a job.

At this time, it is natural that whoever is stronger will benefit, and there is nothing wrong with that.

Of course, there will inevitably be some people with poor strength who no team is willing to accept.

The community also provides these people with another opportunity to earn a living.

This opportunity was discovered by Shi Lei.

When he was walking around the town, he saw many women, elderly people and children picking through the ruins.

Some used iron hooks, and some even used their hands. Regardless of the danger, they picked out useful things from the construction waste and then sent them to government collection points.

This can also be exchanged for corresponding dry food.

When Shi Lei came back, he told the management this information. After some discussion, they decided to open up the high-rise residential area to anyone who was willing to go in and pick up trash.

The high-rise residential area was previously designated as a key epidemic prevention site and was sprinkled with a thick layer of disinfectant powder.

Because those drugs were too irritating, and coupled with the pollution caused by the corpses over there, the stench was unbearable.

So after everyone inside moved out, they locked the doors.

Although it cannot be said that the community has been closed, the actual situation is that no one would go there.

But now the situation is pressing and there is no other way out, so we have to consider the surplus value over there.

After the building over there collapsed, all kinds of steel bars, door and window frames, waste wood and even some relics can actually be recycled.

The community now promises that if they wish, everyone in the yard can go there to collect debris and transport it to the town to sell.

The community can provide transportation, but of course you can also solve it yourself.

The collected debris must be weighed before leaving the community gate, and 20% of the dry food obtained after selling must also be paid as emergency supply reserves.

In fact, everyone is used to handing over 20% and there is no objection.

After all, up to now, the managers of the community are still relatively public-spirited and have no selfish motives.

From the time when the team first went out to look for food to when planes later dropped relief supplies, everyone has been paying this 20%.

If everyone eats one bite less, there's nothing wrong with it once you get used to it.

But when they are put together, the effect comes out.

After the disaster, the community was building houses, resolving disputes, and now that everyone was out of work and out of food, all they were using were the previously stockpiled materials.

Even if it's for their own benefit, everyone is willing to hand over this little bit of food.

In today's dangerous environment, the community is a harbor, a home, and a last resort for everyone living in it.

Everyone cherishes such an environment.

The community also has requirements for those who have to stay at home and cannot go out to earn food.

That is - reclaim land and grow crops!

This time they adopted Chen Cong's original proposal and temporarily stopped considering the one kilometer of land outside.

They were just discussing finding someone to go to the high-rise building and get some large pieces of concrete garbage and pile them on the side as boundary markers, at least to show that the community occupied this place.

What everyone really wants to plant is the open space inside the community.

Although the villa area suddenly had more than 200 people, Shi Lei and Lao Liu had planned it well, and all the houses were designed to be small dormitories similar to single apartments.

Each building has three floors, with fifteen apartments on each floor. Each apartment is a small two-bedroom apartment with an area of ​​about 60 square meters.

Six such buildings have been planned in the community, and two of them have been almost completed, with a total of seventy units.

These seventy houses are for people living in high-rise buildings, and are more than enough for less than two hundred people. We have no plans to build any more houses for the time being.

There was no need to consider any greening for the two buildings being built, and they wanted to save as much as possible, so the total space required is not even as large as the area occupied by the previous four stand-alone buildings.

In addition, the community itself was built in the suburbs where land is cheap, and its small floor area ratio and large green area were used as selling points for external publicity.

Therefore, even if there are two hundred more people, the available land in the villa area is enough for each person to get a decent-sized piece of land.

This time, the community’s leadership was very resolute.

They would divide the land according to the number of people.

We will try our best to divide the land of family members or familiar people together, and allow free internal adjustments after division.

But once it is finally decided, the allocated land must be reclaimed.

Whether the residents open the fields themselves or hire someone to do it with their own money, the community will conduct inspections at regular intervals, and the land allocated to individuals cannot remain uncultivated.

The community will then go to the town to provide a unified guarantee for everyone in the community to borrow money to purchase seeds.

After the crops are harvested, they will be sent by the community to the government for sale.

The food obtained in exchange will be distributed among the residents in proportion.

As for the distribution ratio, this is yet to be determined.

After all, the managers of the community themselves don’t know how to farm, so they need to explore and then discuss and decide.

After this plan was put forward, it was unanimously agreed upon by everyone and finally passed with a unanimous vote.

Only when the meeting was about to end did Shen Cong raise his hand and ask two questions.

She said: "Two captains, I would like to ask, if you are not collecting garbage from the high-rise buildings, but you want to sell your own waste, do you need to pay food to the community?"

As soon as she raised this question, she received an immediate response from the original residents of the villa area.

Because when the people from the top management came, they were all alone and had nothing with them, but they all had houses.

If the broken doors and windows at home and the smashed furniture that cannot be reused can be sold for money, everyone is willing to make this trip.

Shi Lei and Cao Hongmin immediately thought of the smashed steel frame house in the backyard of the Shen family, and they felt a sudden pain in their hearts.

The two of them didn't even exchange opinions, and immediately expressed their agreement at the same time.

He also said that apart from their own garbage, the 20% would not be collected unless it was picked up within the community.

We also encourage everyone to go out more.

After all, the government does not have the capacity to do so now, and there are still a lot of ruins around, especially near the cracks. It is not impossible to find things to sell if you really look around.

In a nutshell, as long as it can be exchanged for food, everyone can think of any method they can.

The community will certainly find ways to provide whatever help it can.

After hearing what the leaders said, everyone became more excited.

Then Chen Cong raised the second point: "Captain, the food and vegetables grown on the land allocated to us by the community must be handed over, so do we also have to hand over the food and vegetables grown at home in proportion?"

At this point, she explained: "I want to explain this. In fact, many people in our community know that my family bought an extra piece of land at the beginning, and it was for my father-in-law to grow herbs. But the earthquake happened before the herbs were planted.

We are definitely going to use this land, so do we also have to pay for the produce from this land?"

"No need." Cao Hongmin answered straightforwardly.

"Not only you, but anyone in our community who grows vegetables and crops in their own house will own it privately. If you have the ability and spare capacity to be self-sufficient, everyone can go ahead and grow it. We support you!"

He paused here and his tone became heavy.

“We don’t have any leaders in our community. To put it bluntly, we are just a group of disaster victims working together to fight against God!

You can try every self-help method you can think of.

As long as people can survive and no one else is harmed, we will help wherever we can and support wherever we can."

Although these words were very inspiring, they also made everyone feel the pressure behind them.

Everyone feels heavy in their heart.

After the meeting, Shen Cong and Shen's father returned home and told everyone the content of the meeting.

Then Shen Jianyi asked his daughter: "Congcong, what do you mean by garbage? Are you going to sell our steel house?"

"No, it's just a reason."

Chen Cong explained: "I have been thinking about what to do with those steel racks. How about taking them all back into the space? There must be an explanation for such a large pile of things suddenly disappearing. But leaving them there really takes up space.

And after a long time, I am afraid that things will get damaged.

Now that the community has agreed that we can sell the waste, we can cut it up and transport it outside the community, and then I will store it in the space.

Anyway, no one will bother to ask whether we sold it or dealt with it in some other way. I asked today just to get an explanation from the public.”

"That's what I thought." Shen Jianyi nodded.

But Chen Cong was thinking about something else.

She said, "Dad, let's make use of solar energy and stop hiding it. Everyone in the community knows about our solar installation and the solar energy you and Gu Kai later installed. There's nothing to hide.

In the past, I didn’t dare let anyone see us using it because I was afraid that it would lead to comparisons and make the neighbors feel unhappy and uncomfortable.

But now I think about it, in fact, our own home does not need that much electricity, let alone so many energy storage devices, it would be a waste to store it.

In this case, it would be better to send one copy out specifically for people in the community.

This way, even if we use a cutter or an electric drill during the day and turn on a light at night, no one will say anything, and our efficiency will also be improved.”

"Take that high-power outdoor power supply out to the property management and let them use it. Deliver it in the morning and bring it back in the evening to charge it." Gu Kai suggested.

"Okay, give them the 2,000-watt outdoor power supply, which also has solar panels. With the sun now, even if the power runs out, it won't be long before it's replenished. One machine can do a lot of work."

Seeing that the whole family nodded in agreement, Chen Cong took out the outdoor power supply from the space, touched it with his hand, and added: "However, this thing cannot be given to the property for free."

Shen Jianyi frowned immediately.

"For using this, do you still want to ask our community for compensation?"

Although matters concerning the space at home cannot be discussed outside, the three elderly people in the family feel uncomfortable whenever they hear people talking about how difficult life is for people outside.

They are all old, and they all can't bear to see the younger generation suffer.

Reason told them that they must keep their mouths shut, but deep down they always hoped that the disaster would pass quickly so that everyone could return to normal life.

So I always want to help others when I can.

"What kind of reward do you want?"

Chen Cong glanced at his father and said, “I just want to use this to discuss with the people in the community whether we can avoid having to reclaim the land.

We can't even farm all of our own land. If the land is really divided up and divided according to the number of people, we will definitely get a lot of land. Who will farm it then?

If we don't plant it, we will be regarded as an example by the community. Not to mention, what about us having to use the grain we grow ourselves to share the burden?

If both sides delay, neither side will benefit.

Even if we said in the meeting just now that we can give or rent the land to someone else, Dad, what if the river dries up? Who will take over other people's land if the water is not enough?

I can't even manage my own land.

What's more, you heard what Lao Cao said just now. The community does not take a commission on the things you grow in your own home. All of them are your own.

Who is stupid?

If you have the time and energy, who wouldn’t want to grow vegetables at home first?

Rather than dividing the land and then being embarrassed about not being able to rent it out, we might as well take the initiative to talk to the community about this matter.

We use electricity as public grain, and don't allocate land to us. In return, we will supply the community with 2,000 watts of electricity every day.

I think Lao Cao and the others will definitely agree."

"Of course we agree. That land won't produce any harvest for a while, but this electricity can be used immediately. There's no reason for the community to disagree."

Chen Xi said: "I agree with Congcong's opinion. We are not negotiating with the community. Our family is really in a special situation. We have a backyard and our own land is too much to grow. This is something everyone can see.

I thought that after we have electricity, no one would be able to say anything to us.”

"I'm not afraid of being told so. If someone really says so, he's brainless and won't amount to anything." Cheng Ru also expressed her agreement.

-

The next morning, Chen Cong and his wife took the outdoor power supply to the property management, and then told Cao Hongmin about their family's plan.

When they went there, there were a lot of people from the property management company. They were basically calculating the area and then going out to measure it and divide it up to each household.

Chen Cong took a glance and his heart skipped a beat.

If she hadn’t seen it, she wouldn’t have realized that the community was so large!

Even if there is an extra crack in the middle, the public park areas, children's activity areas, fountains, and pedestrian streets have all been destroyed in the earthquake and will have to be put together and distributed to everyone this time.

Just by looking at it, Chen Cong felt that if he really got his own house, the area would be much larger than the backyard.

The more I look at her, the more I feel that I should get rid of this burden as soon as possible.

In fact, this is not a question of whether or not one is willing to contribute to the community. It is because Chen Cong knows that the drought will continue in the future.

She understood that no matter how excited everyone was now, it would all end up in nothing in the end.

As long as it doesn't rain for one day, the water problem cannot be solved.

After a while, there won’t even be enough water to drink, so who will be able to water the fields?

But there is no way to tell you about this kind of thing in advance. You have to wait until it actually happens for everyone to believe it.

Otherwise, how can she tell everyone that everything she is doing now is in vain?

Fortunately, the community has formulated very good policies. It has already stated that everyone should explore on their own, and it also does not mention how much grain should be handed over.

In this way, even if it cannot be implemented in the end, at most it will be a waste of individual energy and the foundation will not be changed.

It is much better than the initial approach of investing a lot of manpower and resources to open up wasteland outside the community.

Knowing that the Shen family came to donate electricity to the community, many people present cheered.

In modern life, who can endure life without electricity unless it is absolutely necessary?

The sense of happiness and security that electricity can bring to people is often no less than that of food!

Although 2,000 watts of electricity per day is not even a drop in the bucket for people in a community, it is far, far from enough.

But it can indeed solve some practical problems for everyone.

For example, an emergency light that can be used for both battery and rechargeable batteries can save a lot of dry batteries for emergency use.

Not to mention that in this case, the computers in the community can also be used.

One can imagine how much convenience this will bring to demographics and the processing of some transactional work.

Cao Hongmin took the mobile power bank and was reluctant to let it go.

I touched it and it felt like I had seen some rare treasure.

He immediately agreed without any hesitation to Chen Cong's suggestion of using it to pay the public grain tax in the future.

The author has something to say:

Thank you to the little angels who voted for me or irrigated nutrient solution during 2022-07-13 00:58:45~2022-07-13 23:01:05~

Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: 5 bottles of green olive trees; 2 bottles of koi;

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!