Chapter 34: The communal meals are over; time to earn work points and sleep in the communal dormitory! ...

With the promulgation of the temporary management regulations for the small restaurant, which stipulated that "to survive, one must work, or one will starve," the refugee camp, which had been somewhat chaotic and restless, finally became a little more stable.

After all, being alive is good enough; who would dare to be picky? Moreover, next to that seemingly refined Lord Lin stood a burly man who looked like he could take down a wild boar with his bare hands, and a short, irritable dwarf with eyes that could kill and a habit of weighing stones.

Anyone who dares to cause trouble will likely not have a pleasant outcome.

Of course, the peace brought by a bowl of life-saving porridge was only temporary. The most urgent task was to solve the two pressing problems—housing and food.

There are nearly a hundred people, and it looks like more are coming. We can't let them sleep in the wilderness every day, can we?

Although it's summer now and you won't freeze to death at night, mosquito bites, wild animal attacks, and sudden downpours can all be deadly.

As for food… while that pot of relief porridge temporarily calmed people's hearts, it was only an emergency measure. Lin Yue had no intention of cooking large pots of porridge every day to feed so many people. Their meager food reserves simply couldn't withstand such consumption.

They must be made to support themselves as soon as possible, at least to work for their own food.

So, on the very night after calming down the first batch of refugees, Lin Yue summoned his core management team: Gray, Stone Fist, Old Bard, Amu, and Mia to attend a meeting to discuss the emergency expansion and resource allocation of the small restaurant in response to the large influx of people.

"Everyone!" Lin Yue cleared his throat, his expression serious, trying to create an atmosphere of impending doom. "As you can see, there are too many people outside. We can't keep feeding them indefinitely, nor can we let them in. But we can't let them just disperse or starve to death at our doorstep either; that would be a huge problem sooner or later."

Gray remained silent, but his gaze was focused. Stonefist snorted, "I told you long ago, we should let them fend for themselves. If this continues, problems will inevitably arise sooner or later."

“You can’t say that,” old Bud sighed. “They are pitiful people too. Sir, whatever you say, we will do.”

“First, let’s solve the housing problem.” Lin Yue pointed to the dark mass of refugees in the distance. “It’s summer now, so the nights are still relatively warm. My idea is to get them to do it themselves, mobilize everyone who can still move, and build several large… uh… dormitories outside the fence as quickly as possible.”

"A dormitory?" Shi Quan raised an eyebrow. "Just those broken logs and thatch? Can anyone live in that?"

"Of course not a deluxe single room!" Lin Yue rolled his eyes. "What I mean is, set up the simplest kind of open-air or semi-open-air dormitory that can keep out the wind and rain. Separate men and women, and give priority to the elderly and children in the better spots. Solve the problem of having a place to sleep first, and we can talk about the rest later."

He paused, then continued, “We’ll use local materials: wood, thatch, vines… Our Lin’s Restaurant can rent tools to them on a limited basis, providing axes and shovels, but it won’t be free. If they want tools, they must accept our unified command and participate in collective labor. The goal is to get most people a roof over their heads to sleep in within three days.”

This suggestion may sound crude, even somewhat inhumane, but in this emergency, it is indeed the only feasible solution. It's better than letting them continue sleeping in the wilderness.

Gray and Old Bard both nodded in agreement. Stonefist grimaced, but didn't object.

"Now that we've solved the housing problem, the next crucial issue is food!" Lin Yue's expression became even more serious. "We can't keep providing food for free, or we'll all starve! So starting tomorrow, we'll implement a system of exchanging labor for food."

He picked up a small slate and scribbled on it with charcoal: "I call this... work points! Simply put, it's how many work points you get for how much work you do. Then you use these work points to exchange for food and necessities."

"Work points?" This was a completely new concept for everyone else.

Lin Yue explained, “That’s right. For example, those who participate in building the communal sleeping area can earn 10 to 20 work points per day, depending on the intensity of their labor. Those who help reclaim land can also earn work points based on the area they reclaim. Women and the elderly who help with food preparation, sewing, and childcare also receive work points. Even children who help gather firewood or pull weeds can receive a token amount of work points.”

He pointed to the dusty menu board by the door: "Then, these work points can be directly linked to the basic food items on our restaurant's menu."

He picked up the charcoal and added a few more lines of text to the blank space on the menu board:

【Work Points Exchange Area (Exclusively for Internal Use, No Credit Allowed!)】

One serving of large pot porridge (all-you-can-eat, taste is up to you) --> Redeem: 5 work points

One medium-sized roasted potato --> Redeemable for: 3 work points

Wild vegetable soup (with added ingredients, depending on luck) --> Redeem: 2 work points

One ladle of purified water (bring your own container) --> Exchange: 1 work point

"The types of items available for exchange can be adjusted and expanded as needed based on the availability of supplies."

"See this?" Lin Yue pointed to the menu board. "From now on, if you want to eat, you'll have to use work points. The more work you do, the more work points you earn, and the more and better food you can exchange for. If you don't work or do little work, then you'll have nothing to eat."

These words stunned everyone present.

Old Bader opened his mouth, as if to say something, but ultimately remained silent. He knew that Lin Yue was forcing the refugees to become self-reliant, and also protecting their small outpost from collapse.

Gray nodded thoughtfully, seemingly agreeing with this method of distribution according to work.

Shi Quan's eyes lit up, and he stroked his beard and chuckled, "Kid, that's a ruthless and clever move. This way, those guys who want to slack off won't have any loopholes. Want to eat? Get back to work first!" He seemed to have automatically taken on the role of the foreman.

[System Notification: A preliminary framework for a [Labor Contribution Point System] (work point system) has been established. Community management efficiency has slightly improved. The fairness of resource allocation has been improved. The achievement [The Beginning of Distribution According to Work] has been unlocked. Management skills proficiency has increased.]

Lin Yue nodded in satisfaction. It seemed this work-point system had been approved by the system and… well… at least by Uncle Stone Fist!

“Of course,” Lin Yue added, “we will provide basic living support to the elderly and seriously ill who are truly unable to work. But everyone else must abide by this rule.”

"As for recording and distributing work points..." Lin Yue scratched his head; this was indeed a troublesome matter. They had neither paper nor pen, nor an accountant.

“Mia,” Lin Yue turned his gaze to the young woman who had been quietly listening, “Can you read? Can you do math?”

Mia shook her head timidly.

"Uh... then who will be responsible for keeping track of work points?" Lin Yue had a bit of a headache.

“Let me do it,” Old Bard suddenly said. “Sir, I can’t read, but I can remember simple numbers. I’ll remember who did what and how much. Or… could you teach us to remember by using pebbles or drawing lines?”

"Great idea!" Lin Yue's eyes lit up. "Let's use pebbles, with different sizes representing different work points. After finishing our work each day, we can come to Old Bard to collect the corresponding work point stones, and then take the work point stones to Mia to exchange for food."

An extremely rudimentary but barely functional system of work points banks and convenience stores was hastily established.

The next morning, Lin's Restaurant was completely transformed into a bustling construction site.

Under Lin Yue's command and the intimidation of Gray and Stone Fist, the refugees who had just escaped and were still in shock had no choice but to pull themselves together and throw themselves into the vigorous construction of the large dormitory in order to get a hot meal.

The men were organized to cut down trees with their newly forged iron axes, which were fairly efficient, and to dig trenches and build simple wooden frames.

Although many people were doing this kind of rough work for the first time, they were clumsy and made many mistakes, such as cutting wood crookedly or digging holes into rocks. However, motivated by work points and threatened with starvation if they didn't work, they still worked quite hard.

Led by Mia and several older women, the women gathered thatch and vines, or went to the stream to wash potatoes and wild vegetables, preparing for the communal meal that evening.

The children were also mobilized to help pick up scattered firewood and stones, or to hand water to the adults who were working.

Although the scene was still chaotic, it had gained a sliver of order and hope compared to the despair and loss of control of yesterday.

Lin Yue was like a spinning top, rushing back and forth between various construction sites. Sometimes he would instruct the carpenters, even though he was only a novice; sometimes he would solve material shortages; and sometimes he would deal with various emergencies such as someone suffering from heatstroke or not having enough tools.

He felt like he wasn't doing infrastructure construction, but playing an extremely difficult real-time strategy game, with a group of college students under his command who were eager to learn and whose combat strength was roughly equivalent to five.

What troubled him most was the distribution of work points and the exchange of food.

Although Old Bader did his best, he was working overtime, having to remember the work of nearly a hundred people and accurately distribute work points of different denominations.

Mia, who was in charge of exchanging work points for food, was equally overwhelmed. There were always people trying to cut in line, or trying to get more food with fewer work points, and some even trying to buy on credit…

Lin Yue had to take time out of his busy schedule to personally oversee the exchange point, putting on a stern face and explaining the rules in order to barely maintain order.

"Management... is truly a complex subject..." Lin Yue rubbed his throbbing temples, deeply appreciating the difficulties of being a leader.

However, despite the numerous difficulties, the work point system was immediately effective.

Those refugees who were previously just waiting for relief in despair gradually developed a survival instinct and a willingness to work under the incentive of exchanging labor for food.

They began to actively seek out jobs they could do, started to care about how many work points they could earn, and started to plan what kind of food they could exchange for their work points.

As evening fell, the first batch of porridge, exchanged for work points, was still potato and wild vegetable porridge. But because it was earned through their own labor, it tasted especially sweet. When the porridge was served, many refugees shed tears of emotion.

This is not just a bowl of porridge, but also the dignity and hope they earned with their own hands.

And those makeshift communal sleeping quarters, built with wood and thatch, were gradually taking shape thanks to everyone's efforts. Although they looked dilapidated and drafty, they were already a rare place to stay in the eyes of these homeless refugees.

[System Notification: Construction progress of the [Open-air/Semi-open-air communal dormitory] has increased by 30%. Community order has been initially established. Residents' enthusiasm for labor has slightly increased. The work point system is functioning well, and resource allocation efficiency has improved. Management skill experience points have been significantly increased!]

[Warning: Food reserves are being depleted rapidly! Please find new food sources or increase agricultural production as soon as possible!]

Looking at the system's notification, Lin Yue felt gratified but also felt greater pressure.

Yes, with so many people to feed, their meager resources aren't enough. We must expand production as soon as possible and find new food sources.

It seems I'll have to add a few new items to tomorrow's work plan.

Lin Yue, the "contractor," "head chef," and "neighborhood committee director" of Lin's Restaurant, felt his hair starting to ache again.