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The twelfth day of Christmas, sunny, 25 degrees Celsius.
The territory was bustling with activity from early morning. Although they had stayed up most of the night, they still started work on time at nine o'clock in the morning.
The territory has now cleared a patch of weedy land and built a paved area around it so that people who don't have houses and still live in tents can put their tents in rows without getting wet when it rains. Each tent has a nameplate, and a water room has also been built in the open space near the tents.
The new water supply room has two rows of faucets, fifteen in each row. In addition, the men's and women's restrooms and shower rooms have also been built. The construction workers and plumbers worked busily and quickly connected the pipes and the water supply, so it can be used officially now.
This area was officially designated as the tent area, which is generally for newlyweds to stay in.
There are currently two public water stations in the territory, one in the newbie area and one in the existing newbie area. However, now that the newbie tent area has been separated, the original public water station seems to be used by the entire territory. It's used for temporary work or by outsiders temporarily entering the territory, such as the Kad family.
On the other side, the residents either already lived in the territory and had houses, or they had saved up enough money in the past two months to rent a place. Those who had houses no longer needed to go to the public water room.
The hotel currently has only two floors at most, with few people and a relatively small footprint. It has been completely renovated inside and out, and no outsiders are currently staying there. There is also a tent area outside the hotel, which is for outsiders to set up their own tents. However, if they need water, they have to go to the public water room. The advantage of this is that they only need to pay the basic head tax for entering the territory, and do not need to pay hotel rent, which saves them some money.
On Christmas Day, most people choose to walk or take a black cab to the nearest city to buy winter supplies. After buying them, they will choose a temporary territory to live in. As a temporary resident, they can pay by the day or by the month, or if they really have no money, they can find a territory to work as laborers. As long as they can withstand the intensity of the work and are physically strong enough, they should be able to survive the winter.
The adults worked hard, and the children were self-reliant. The tailor, who had just integrated into the life of the territory, taught how to knit sweaters and trousers every morning, and prepared winter clothes for the lord in the afternoon. In addition, he also had to complete other tasks assigned by the lord.
Her days were fulfilling, and most importantly, her rations were never withheld. Because of her teaching duties, the lord had increased her rations from two ounces to three ounces. Every day when she went to register, no one openly or secretly deducted anything from her. She had never imagined that life could be so easy. As for her daughter, who was originally very timid and always cautious outside for fear of causing trouble, she had only been here for two days and quickly integrated into the group under the guidance of the other children.
"Mom, I knitted three yesterday! The lady who was receiving the packages said I'm really talented, and all the other girls begged me to teach them!"
The little girl touched her chin.
"But if I teach them, I won't have time to do it myself, and it will interfere with my ability to earn a living!"
Children have to exchange ten small items for one or two ounces of low-pollution rice.
Their family was not well-off, but the seamstress mother did not let her daughter refuse her friends.
“You’ve only been in the territory for a few days, so you should get along well with the other kids. Look at Kani, he’s the oldest in your group and as the group leader, he always takes the initiative to help the other kids. He was the one who helped you integrate into the group when you first came in. And Rabbit is your favorite friend. Last time, she even gave you half of the pancakes her mother made. You don’t have to teach them every day. There are only a few people in your team, so it will only take two or three days at most to teach them. It won’t affect anything!”
She cherishes her life in the territory and wants her daughter to make more friends. After all, there are nearly a thousand people in the territory now, and it's impossible for everyone to be harmonious. There will inevitably be some conflicts. However, she tries her best to be kind to everyone. In the current atmosphere of the territory, even if there are some minor squabbles, no one dares to go too far. Once the lord discovers and investigates, everyone involved will be held jointly responsible. She is very kind to people, but she is absolutely lenient in her management methods. She is like a mountain, pressing down on everyone, making them happy and content but not daring to harbor any ill intentions.
Only when she is on top will the people below not dare to move.
Therefore, as long as the lord is around, she can spend the day in peace, and she is willing to devote some of her energy to maintaining this situation, including her daughter.
She's grown up now, and seeing other children being taught by their parents to be loyal to their lord, she thinks she should start teaching them too, and sharing love is a sign of loyalty to the lord.
To her surprise, her daughter shook her head.
"Mom, I was going to teach them, but they offered to teach me so that I wouldn't learn for free. They said that if I teach them for a day, they'll pay me with a finished product. I'm teaching five people a day now, so I can earn five finished products a day without doing anything myself. That's enough for a meal every two days. And because they're paying for it, they'll learn faster, more carefully, and be more eager to graduate! Yes! Graduate! That's what the lord said!"
"The lord said that all labor should be rewarded. Even among close sisters, brothers, and friends, this should be agreed upon beforehand. That way, everyone will be in their proper place and do their job well, and no other conflicts will arise!"
"Kani is our team leader. He does his job diligently because the lord gives him an extra two ounces of rations every week. The lord said that if the effort and reward are not commensurate, it can easily lead to conflict!"
The seamstress mother was stunned by what her daughter said. She still held onto some ideas from other places and completely forgot that in the current territory, the lord handled everything according to a work model. This division of labor ensured that everyone knew their own role and did their job well. Now, even a three-year-old child who had only been here for two days knew what to do.
That's terrifying.
"Okay, Mom, I'm not talking to you anymore, I have to go to class. I have class this morning. Today, Uncle Bobby will teach us to identify flowers and plants. I can go to the oasis area with the group to pick some wild vegetables in the future!"
"Mom, next time you can take some flour, and we can save it up so we can make pancakes wrapped with wild vegetables!"
Three-year-old Ningning quickly became familiar with life in this environment and settled into her routine.
It is said that children have the strongest learning ability.
As the seamstress mother felt gratified, she seemed to see a different world.
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