Chapter 85 Polar Night [VIP]

Because Tang Tian had been to the base gate once, which was equivalent to being there before, she drove the vehicle to the base smoothly.

But compared with the last time, the gate this time looked more majestic and solemn, with a long high wall built all the way around it.

There are also barbed wire, monitoring equipment and other items on the top, and a huge and sturdy metal door at the entrance.

There is a sentry guarding the gate in front, and there is a room similar to a security room next to it. There is a light on at the highest point, which makes the entrance as bright as day and makes it more convenient for people to pass through.

Tang Tian also discovered that there were more people and vehicles appearing at the door.

Most of the time, you even need to queue up and register one by one before you can enter and exit. The gate will only open after a car or a convoy can enter.

Tang Tian drove slowly forward, and suddenly someone called her near the open car window:

"Tang Tian!"

This voice seems a little familiar.

Moreover, she took the initiative to tell Shen Boyun the license plate number of the car she was going to drive.

Tang Tian stuck her head out to take a look, and saw that person getting closer and closer - it turned out to be Chen Yaoyue.

"You're finally here. I was just missing you guys."

Chen Yaoyue got into the car with a smile on her face, and she seemed quite familiar with the place, and she immediately started to make charcoal.

Tang Tian glanced at him and curled her lips:

"It seems that you are the guide this time."

Chen Yaoyue rolled her eyes and suddenly smiled:

"Of course not! My brother said we must be prepared to welcome them, otherwise he will be worried!"

Tang Yi smiled, her lips pursed. Wei Mingxia adjusted her glasses, seeming to sense something was amiss. Tan Tan, on the other hand, stuck out his tongue and tilted his head slightly.

Tang Tian sighed.

Finally arriving at the guardhouse, Tang Tian registered the entire family.

The staff are no longer surprised by this kind of people moving to the base, and they let them pass after registering them.

Finally officially entered the base!

Tang Tian stepped on the accelerator and came inside, only to find out what was different about the officially established base.

In fact, this is still the site of the former S District Shelter, but she vaguely remembers that when she first came to the shelter, it was still in ruins, with damaged buildings all over the street and almost no people on the road.

But now it's different: the streets have been tidied up, and although many shops are closed, some are open for business. The roads have been redrawn, and street signs and traffic lights have been put back in place.

There were many pedestrians on both sides of the street, and especially on the road, the number of vehicles also increased, casting dark shadows under the platinum street lights.

However, there are not many street lights, so many people have their own lighting tools in their hands, and most vehicles also turn on their own lights.

Chen Yaoyue was also performing her duties as a tour guide well, introducing the places to the people in the car.

After the S, Q and U areas were merged into a flat base, the living areas were moved to the central area, and the other areas had other uses. They were not as scattered as before, and the population naturally looked denser.

Since the base was completed, the authorities have been working tirelessly to issue the latest currency system in preparation for subsequent trade activities.

Before the end of the world, people were accustomed to online payments, and few people used cash.

After the end of the world, fewer people will have cash on hand, and it will become worthless, so the government must introduce a new currency.

However, this monetary system is still in the trial stage, and it will take some time for everyone to get used to it. In private, people are still accustomed to bartering.

Chen Yaoyue even took out a few for them, which was part of what she earned from her work.

Nowadays, the remuneration for work in the base is roughly half supplies and half this currency.

Tang Yi and Wei Mingxia took it and checked it, and found that it was not much different from the cash before the end of the world, except that the pattern on it was replaced by a lonely number, and the value was almost the same.

Today, this currency is called [points voucher].

Promoting a monetary system is still useful. Barter is a last resort, and if a suitable standard is never found, it's likely to be unacceptable to both parties. Having such a standard will allow for unified planning in the future.

…

"Let's find a place to stay first. There are three options: buy a place, rent one, and stay in a hotel, where the fee is charged by the day."

Shen Yaoyue said in a questioning tone.

Tang Tian slowly took the steering wheel and answered without hesitation:

"Just buy it. But...if it's a house, should we use supplies or points coupons?"

Chen Yaoyue seemed to have known that Tang Tian would make this choice. She first led her in a certain direction and then said with a smile:

"Buying a house is considered a valuable item nowadays, so coupons are often used. Although you don't have coupons when you first arrive, it's okay. The exchange center can exchange supplies for coupons. Although the quantity is fixed, a little bit adds up to a lot."

"That's the path for me then."

After Tang Tian arrived at the shelter, the place she went to most often was the exchange center.

, the exchange center has also moved?

“Yes, there was an expansion there, but I didn’t know that someone had chosen to buy more properties and then rent them out to more people. Later, the authorities discovered it.

, and said with a sly smile:

"And to be honest, I really want our two families to be neighbors, just like we were in Hexinyuan."

Tang Tian had no objection to continuing to be neighbors with the Shen family.

From what we saw when we first came to the shelter, we could see that everyone in the Shen family was talented, and they had people in every field in the shelter. Hmm... how could this not be considered a connection?

The final address was a street, but there was a parking lot nearby, so Tang Tian parked the car there first.

There was also a patrol team in the parking lot to prevent robbery and theft. Tang Tian, ​​Tang Yi and Wei Mingxia got out of the car with Tan Tan and followed Chen Yaoyue.

Leaning against the sparse street lights, Tang Tian discovered that the shops on that street seemed to be real estate agencies like those before the apocalypse.

At this time, there were also groups of people coming in and out of the store.

Chen Yaoyue took them to one of the stores with ease.

There was only one small light on in the store, so the lighting was dim.

The layout is also simple, with only a front desk and tables and chairs on both sides, where people are sitting and talking, probably salespeople and customers.

When seeing Chen Yaoyue, a middle-aged man's voice sounded:

"Xiaoyao, why are you here?"

After the introduction, Tang Tian understood that the man in front of her was Shen Yaoyue's uncle Yan Lei.

Yan Lei worked in real estate sales before the end of the world, and now his job is truly a match for his profession.

Although it is not a half-establishment like the armed forces medical station or logistics department, at least it is a stable job.

Moreover, after the base was built, the number of people living in the area increased and the real estate business also soared, so he was able to be busy as hell.

"Uncle, of course I'm here to introduce you to business!"

Shen Yaoyue said with a smile, and after introducing the Tang family, she said:

"We were neighbors before, and they helped us a lot. They just joined the base, and I thought it would be best if we could continue to be neighbors. Uncle, you have to be more generous."

While listening to Shen Yaoyue's words, Yan Lei had already looked at the Tang family without making a sound.

The current temperature is suitable for wearing sweaters and coats, and people who are afraid of cold even wear down jackets.

But many people have been displaced because of the previous extreme heat and sandstorms. Some people even threw away their cumbersome thick clothes. Now the price of a piece of warm clothing on the market is not cheap.

There was even a situation of clothing price speculation, which meant that the rich had no worries about warm clothes, but the poor couldn't even afford a coat. In the end, it was only after the government intervened that the situation was barely stopped.

However, this family was almost all wearing brand new cold-resistant clothing, and they looked much better than ordinary people.

Especially the big guard dog, it looks like it is an adult, even the official may not know about it.

Yan Lei used to be the best at observing people’s expressions when he was a salesperson, and this person was brought by Chen Yaoyue.

In fact, he had also heard the Shen family say a few words about the Tang family, and he was even more determined not to neglect them, so he smiled and said:

"Of course, then let me introduce you first!"

…

It turns out that living areas are also divided into high and low. There is the inner core residential area, the middle area, and the outer civilian area.

The residential area consists of those towering high-rise buildings and the villa areas that are just enclosed within them.

The place is not open to rent and can only be purchased, so the occupancy rate is not high, but the people who live there must be rich and powerful.

The middle-level area is one level lower and can be rented or purchased. It is mostly composed of apartment buildings with a medium occupancy rate.

The Shen family also lives in this area, but many poor survivors still cannot afford to live there.

The rest is the civilian area, which is mostly bungalows and low-rise buildings, as well as the infamous pigeon cages, where several people can live in one room.

But the advantage is that the prices and rents are very cheap, which is also the norm for most survivors.

Previously, some people had their eyes on this civilian area, bought it, and then raised the price to exploit the survivors. It was later discovered and stopped, and the person in charge of organizing this was arrested and sent to labor camp.

As for the hotel-like residence that Chen Yaoyue mentioned, it was called the Beehive Hotel by the people in the base. It was filled with large bunk beds and drawer-like beds, which were simple and narrow.

Although the payment needs to be made on a daily basis, it is cheaper than houses in civilian areas and is almost the same as the wall-mounted houses before the apocalypse.

After Tang Tian understood, she asked directly:

“How do you calculate the price for the mid-level area?”

It's not just because of the Shen family. If I go to the core residential area, although the conditions will be better and quieter, there may not be anyone I know around me, and people will be watching me everywhere, so it's better to take a step back.

Yan Lei flipped through the information in the folder and said:

"Xiao Yao said so. Our floor is the 10th floor. There are four households on the first floor, so there's still space. Do you want to take a look?"

After he finished speaking, he handed the information to Tang Tian.

Although Wei Mingxia present was of the same generation as him, for some reason, he believed that the right to speak in the Tang family lay with Tang Tian.

Tang Tian looked down and saw that the communities in the base no longer had names, only code names. This was Community Number Six in the middle-level area.

Of the four households on the tenth floor, three have been sold and rented out, leaving only one room with an area of ​​about 90 square meters. It was obviously a standard commercial house before the end of the world.

If you rent it, you will need 3,000 points coupons per month. However, since the currency system is not yet mature, you can also use corresponding materials, either as collateral or by handing them over.

If you buy a house, the price will increase several times and you will need more points coupons. If you rent a house, you can live there for several years, so ordinary people rarely buy houses.

The most important thing is that the jobs that currently receive the most points coupons are still those with a regular job, while ordinary and low-level jobs still receive more supplies.

Yan Lei suggested:

"Why don't you rent it first, Miss Tang? Xiaoyao's family and ours are both renting. After all, the price was confirmed when the points coupons were first issued, but no one has that many points coupons at the moment."

Although the supplies can be exchanged for points coupons, the required quantity is extremely large. If Tang Tian takes them all out at this time, she will definitely be discovered by more people.

So she nodded:

"Okay, then let's rent this room for three months. I'll go to the redemption center to exchange for points."

…

After making a temporary agreement, the four of them got back into the car and headed for the redemption center, and Chen Yaoyue also told them other things about the base.

In addition to the central hub and this living area, there are other areas:

For example, resource production includes agricultural areas and livestock areas, which are built on the open space outside the living area, while the research institute is still located in that building and managed by Lin Zhiqiu.

Research can continue in the building, and soilless, hydroponic, greenhouse and other planting areas can be built. Outdoors, land reclamation is also a job.

In addition, there are ranches and orchards, most of which were built with the help of Area Q and Area U, and they also try to raise animals in them.

Further out are septic tanks, which can not only treat excrement but also process it into fertilizer.

Next comes resource management, including water towers, underground wells, and reservoirs.

Now that it's polar night, power generation has become a crucial task. Solar power is no longer available, so other power generation facilities must be used. Therefore, electricity use at the base is currently limited.

In the industrial zone, factories are built one after another, and tools, equipment, vehicles, weapons, medical supplies, and even food are produced in an orderly manner.

Living facilities are also in place: for example, patrols are stationed in front of the strategic material warehouse. The medical station continues to expand, and the staff there remain busy.

Most of the shops open on the commercial street are canteens, supermarkets, hotel dormitories, bathrooms, etc., and some are community-supplied. In a divided community, there is usually only one such shop.

Just as Tang Tian thought, this base has already formed a world like a town.

However, after Chen Yaoyue finished speaking, she sighed helplessly and said:

"Due to the rush to meet deadlines, these were all completed in a very short period of time. Many of them are still immature, and I don't know how they will fare in the future..."

The five bases in Chuncheng can accommodate a total of tens of millions of people, and each base has at least one million people.

It was built at a very fast speed, and we don’t know whether those key things that are indispensable for human survival can be supplied smoothly.

The carriage fell silent, and Tang Tian quietly came to the exchange center first.

…

Tang Tian winked at Tang Yi and Wei Mingxia, and the latter understood what the former meant.

After parking in the parking lot, Wei Mingxia took Shen Yaoyue and said she would leave first to reminisce about the past. Tang Tian and Tang Yi immediately took out a few storage bags with supplies in them, preparing to take them to the redemption center to exchange for points coupons.

But this time, Tang Tian would not take anything as obvious as food. Instead, she planned to exchange tobacco, alcohol, tea, seasonings, Chinese medicine, tree sap, and other supplies.

Carrying two full storage bags, Tang Tian and Tang Yi entered the redemption center.

As the currency system was issued, the expanded exchange center became even more crowded.

And after listening to it for a while, I found that many of them were here to exchange for points vouchers.

But they were generally civilians, who came to exchange the supplies they had worked so hard to get. There were also many windows in front, and people had to queue up and wait for their number to be called, just like in a bank.

However, the authorities have to limit the total amount, and the issuance of currency must be less than the stored materials. Fortunately, ordinary people do not need to exchange much, so it can still be controlled for the time being.

After the exchange center expanded, Yan Huai was promoted and was almost a lobby manager.

What's more, he is a relative of Shen Yaoyue. After learning that the latter brought the Tang family here, he immediately came out to greet them in person.

"Miss Tang, let me exchange it for you so you don't have to wait in line."

People who come here basically only do one thing, Yan Huai patted his chest and said, handing over another document:

"This is the current exchange value at the exchange center. Take a look."

Tang Tian took it and took a look, but she didn't find that it could be exchanged for gold, which made her breathe a sigh of relief.

It seems that gold is still not as important as supplies at present, but in order to obtain more supplies, people who still have gold around will definitely take it out to trade, and then they will have a chance.

You know, she also saw the words "Trading Market" on the road sign, which means that the market is still there.

Looking up further, one kilogram of food can be exchanged for more than ten points, which can be increased or decreased according to the quality of the food. The compressed biscuits produced in the base are the cheapest;

A pound of dried meat costs 20 to 30 points. Clean water is even more expensive than that.

As for medicines, fuel, weapons, and tools, they suddenly became more expensive, but most people hardly have these supplies, let alone exchange them.

Seeing Tang Tian's expressionless face, Yan Huai reminded her:

"Ms. Tang, once the official currency system matures, the exchange center will no longer accept material exchanges. Instead, everyone will use points vouchers, just like before the apocalypse, and purchase materials on their own."

Tang Tian responded and opened the storage bag, ready to replace all the supplies.

The first thing Yan Huai saw was a small bottle of wine. Most importantly, it was white wine. He couldn't help but show his joy and said in a low voice:

"Ms. Tang, this wine is a true luxury these days. Even though ordinary people can't afford it, if it were sold in a community supermarket in the core area, people would be scrambling to get it."

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw other objects and was so surprised that his eyes widened.

Not to mention the drinks, everything else is top quality!

Even Chen Yaoyue was surprised and delighted when she saw it.

The surprise was that the Tang family actually had so many supplies. But the good news was that the Tang family probably didn't have to worry about their life in the base anymore.

You have to know that even if the base is built, the people at the bottom will still be at the bottom, worrying about how to survive all day long, and they have to live one day at a time.

…

"Please count the points for me."

Tang Tian said calmly.

Beer, rice wine, fruit wine, and especially wine, all have expiration dates, so she opted for small bottles of liquor, each of which could earn her 800 points. A large bottle would likely double that.

One cigarette is worth 20 points, which is equivalent to a pound of dried meat, and a normal pack of cigarettes contains 25 cigarettes!

Oil, sugar, sauce, vinegar, especially white sugar, which are consumed by many people and temporarily not produced by factories, are much more expensive than normal food.

In particular, there is Chinese medicine. Although it is not Western medicine and not as expensive as antibiotics, it can also cure diseases, and medical stations are in short supply.

The temperature was only five or six degrees that night, but Yan Huai was typing on the computer, but sweat inexplicably appeared on his forehead, which made people extremely envious.

It turns out that getting rich overnight is not just a dream!

"Miss Tang, what is this?"

Yan Huai asked, pointing to a bottle containing a light-colored liquid. There was also an amber-colored liquid that looked more viscous.

"This is birch sap, and this is maple syrup. I collected them outside. They can replenish energy to a certain extent. Maybe someone in the wealthy area would like them."

"Maybe, but we've never exchanged for something like this before..."

Yan Huai scratched his head, and finally decided to compromise between the birch sap and maple syrup for Tang Tian's sake.

Finally, it was finalized, and the former looked at the number above and took a breath.

Forty thousand points coupons!

With these points, you can definitely live in the core residential area!

Tang Tian glanced at the number. With that amount of points, let alone renting a place, she could probably buy a house in a residential area.

In fact, these materials do not consume much of your own resources. As long as you wait a little longer in the system, you can harvest the raw materials and make supplements.

Maybe at that time I just need to apply to go out, and then pretend to get a batch of supplies, and then I can continue to redeem points!

Yan Huai came to his senses and hurried to get the points coupon.

This was the first time someone redeemed so many points coupons at once, so it took several attempts before a stack of points coupons was delivered.

And because the largest denomination is also 100, it feels about the same as the 40,000 yuan before the end of the world.

Putting it in the backpack also stored it in the system. Tang Tian and the others left the exchange center and headed back to the real estate agency.

The house will be rented for three months first, but no deposit is required. This means 9,000 points coupons, and a quarter of them are gone.

Therefore, not everyone can afford to live in this middle-class area.

After delivering the points and signing the contract, Yan Lei handed Tang Tian the key and the spare key, and Chen Yaoyue took them to do the final work - handling the formalities.

Most of the survivors in the base have lost their ID cards and must apply for replacements.

Of course, if your ID card from before the end of the world is still there, as long as it is verified, the validity period can be extended to ten or even several decades.

There are also some certificates belonging to the internal personnel of the base, which all three of them need to handle.

The Tang family was one of the last to arrive at the base, so there were not many people in the administrative hall and the process was naturally fast.

They had all the necessary documents, so it didn't take long for the mother and daughter to complete the formalities and officially become members of the base.

Driving again, Chen Yaoyue brought them to the central living area.

Compared to before, there are obviously fewer people here, and the road seems quieter.

Occasionally, you can see patrol members passing by vehicles.

Community No. 6 is not far away, and it seems to be one of the first communities to be arranged.

Each building is 12 stories high. Although it is shorter than Hexinyuan, Tang Tian was distracted and actually remembered the past when she was still in Hexinyuan.

After passing the gate at the guard room at the main gate, there is an underground parking lot in Community No. 6, and the parking spaces are not full.

However, compared with ordinary residential areas, the community does not have any green belts. It looks empty and desolate. Only the buildings are still standing, and only a few windows have faint lights on.

Tang Tian and others carried their luggage in large and small bags, and Chen Yaoyue also helped.

They still need to climb stairs because of unstable electricity or elevators damaged by natural disasters that have not been repaired.

Fortunately, the few people with strong physiques were able to withstand it and reached the tenth floor in one breath.