The first day was a hellish experience for Zhao Delong.
Lin Feng assigned him directly to the most tiring and dirty work: carrying heavy stones and mixing viscous "cement".
Zhao Delong was used to a life of luxury and had never experienced such hardship.
Several times he tried to slack off and take a break when Lin Feng wasn't looking, but he was stopped by Lin Feng's merciless whip.
Lin Feng showed him no mercy; if he slacked off even slightly, the whip would lash his back without hesitation.
Although the whip did not cause fatal damage, the excruciating pain and humiliation made Zhao Delong feel like he was dying.
He was burning with rage, but dared not show it, and could only bury this resentment deep in his heart.
He considered running away, but Lin Feng's rules and the patrolling horned wolves made him hesitate.
Outside the shelter at night, the howls of horned wolves echoed intermittently, reminding him that leaving this place meant certain death.
Over the next few days, under Lin Feng's harsh pressure, Zhao Delong finally came to terms with reality.
He no longer dared to slack off, and he did every job with trepidation. Although he was still full of complaints, at least on the surface, he had become a qualified worker.
Li Xiangbin, on the other hand, has completely adapted to life here.
He came from a rural area, and hard work and endurance were second nature to him.
With Lin Feng's trust and care, he worked exceptionally hard every day.
He is very strong and can carry the equivalent of five women's loads by himself, making him extremely efficient.
He not only completed his own tasks, but also took the initiative to help women who were physically weaker.
This gave Xiaomei, one of the women, a new idea in her mind.
Xiaomei is a college student, educated, but with an average appearance and a slightly plump figure, she is not outstanding among many beauties.
She had long seen through Lin Feng's coldness and power, knowing that she could never catch his eye. But in such a cruel environment, how wonderful it would be to have a man to rely on, a partner to trust?
She discovered that although Li Xiangbin was dull-witted, he was honest, strong, and loyal to Lin Feng, qualities that were rare on this alien planet.
More importantly, he didn't have Lin Feng's aloofness, nor Zhao Delong's greasiness and greed.
So, Xiaomei began to deliberately try to please Li Xiangbin.
Whenever Li Xiangbin takes a break, she brings him a bowl of hot water or hands him a cloth to wipe his sweat.
She would proactively ask him if he was tired and chat about everyday things.
Li Xiangbin rarely interacts with girls, let alone receives such care.
He always blushed and felt flustered, but he felt a warmth he had never felt before.
He responded somewhat awkwardly to Xiaomei's kindness.
The women around them also noticed this.
Although Qin Lan, Su Wanqing, and the other six women admired Li Xiangbin's honesty and strength, their eyes and thoughts remained focused on Lin Feng.
After all, Lin Feng was the true master of the shelter and their only means of survival.
No matter how good Li Xiangbin is, he is just a laborer controlled by Lin Feng, and his personality is too dull, not their type.
Therefore, every now and then, Xiaomei would take advantage of Li Xiangbin's rest time to go over and chat with him, "Brother Xiangbin, are you tired?"
This made Li Xiangbin feel flattered and surprised, as he felt that finally there was a woman here who genuinely cared about him.
On the contrary, Zhao Delong, this greasy man, has completely lost his former "charm" ever since he was slapped by Lin Feng and forced to do heavy work.
After losing his identity as a "landlord," he was just a balding, obese, greasy middle-aged man in his forties who constantly complained.
He tried to strike up a conversation with women, but Tang Bao and Shen Jiaqi only felt disgusted and annoyed.
Zhao Delong's situation was even worse than that of a strong and honest young man like Li Xiangbin.
This infuriated him. He watched as Li Xiangbin was treated so attentively by Xiao Mei, and his heart burned with jealousy.
He couldn't bear the thought of going from a powerful and influential person to being surpassed by a "poor boy".
He wanted to escape more than once, to break free from Lin Feng's control and this hard labor.
Unfortunately, the entire shelter was extremely isolated, and the towering steel walls filled him with despair.
Moreover, even if they escaped, they would only be in a vast snowfield.
There was absolutely no sign of life.
Since he had nowhere to escape, Zhao Delong decided to deliberately curry favor with Lin Feng in order to lower his guard and then seize the opportunity to take power.
He began to work even harder in front of Lin Feng, and even offered to work overtime.
He was plotting in his mind that as long as he could make Lin Feng lower his guard, he could find an opportunity to kill Lin Feng and turn this sanctuary into his own kingdom.
Unfortunately, Lin Feng had already seen through his little trick.
Instead of letting his guard down, he directly assigned Zhao Delong the most tiring and dirty work, leaving him exhausted every day and without even the strength to speak.
Finally, Zhao Delong could no longer tolerate it.
That day, Lin Feng asked him to clean up the sheep pen's manure. A stench hit him, making his stomach churn.
The anger and humiliation that had been building up inside him finally erupted.
He threw down the shovel and yelled at Lin Feng, "I'm older than you! You want me to do work that only migrant workers can do?! I used to be a rent collector! This isn't my job!"
He was panting heavily, his obese body trembling with anger, completely forgetting his surroundings.
Upon hearing this, a hint of coldness and disdain flashed in Lin Feng's eyes.
He walked up to Zhao Delong, looked down at him, and said in a tone that sounded like a pronouncement: "You're nothing but a piece of trash, all you can do is this."
Zhao Delong completely lost control. He pointed at Lin Feng's nose and shouted angrily, "I own more than a dozen houses! All in first-tier cities! I collect hundreds of thousands in rent every month! Who do you think you are?!"
He tried to use his former wealth and status to suppress Lin Feng and regain his lost dignity.
Upon hearing this, Lin Feng merely sneered, as if he had heard the funniest joke in the world.
He slowly raised his hand, pointing to the towering steel walls around him and the sturdy houses under construction not far away, his voice cold and mocking: "Where's your house now? Look around, these houses are all mine. I can let whoever I want live there live there."
Zhao Delong's roar abruptly stopped. He stood there dumbfounded, his obese body stiff.
He followed Lin Feng's finger and looked at the impregnable wall and the house that was about to rise from the ground. His eyes gradually became empty and desperate.
Lin Feng continued to mock, "You can take advantage of being born a few years earlier and benefiting from the times to occupy a lot of real estate. You do nothing but rent it out to young people and make money while lying down, exploiting the fruits of our labor."
He looked at the dejected Zhao Delong, his tone full of disdain: "But it won't work here! Because this land isn't yours, and this house isn't yours. You can't be a landlord here."
Lin Feng's gaze pierced Zhao Delong's heart like a sharp sword.
He said, word by word, "You can't exploit us anymore. Do you understand? Everything here belongs to me!"
Zhao Delong was completely distraught. He opened his mouth, but couldn't utter a single word.
Everything he was once proud of has vanished here.
His dozen or so properties, and the hundreds of thousands of yuan in rent he collects each month, are nothing here.
Here, he was nothing more than a penniless laborer, manipulated at will by Lin Feng. He felt an unprecedented sense of powerlessness and despair.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com