"Very good." Lin Feng nodded in satisfaction.
He waved his hand, and the two guards behind Qin Lan immediately stepped forward, one on the left and one on the right, and gestured for Zhao Laosi to come in, their voices cold and hard: "Mr. Zhao, please come with us."
Zhao Laosi then got up from the ground. He looked at Lin Feng with awe, then smiled at Dr. Qian Lifang and the others with a simple and honest smile and a hint of pride. He straightened his back and strode out behind the two tall guards.
His life was completely changed at that moment.
Accompanied by Qian Lifang, Lin Feng and his entourage continued their inspection of the vast agricultural base.
He listened with great interest as Qian Lifang introduced the drip irrigation technology, nutrient solution ratio, and the results of improving alien soil.
His empire was built upon these solid grains and vegetables, with a strong foundation.
...
On the other side, Zhao Laosi's heart was pounding wildly in his chest, almost as if it would jump out of his throat.
He followed two silent guards through the clean streets and the bustling market, toward a place he had only dared to look at from afar, a place that even approaching it filled him with fear—the slave labor camp.
That was the "prison" of the shelter.
That place represents punishment, drudgery, and despair.
But today, he, Zhao Laosi, a bachelor in his forties who was just tending to the crops in the fields, is about to step into this forbidden land as a victor and a selector.
This feeling is even more intoxicating than drinking ten pounds of the strongest flamingo wine.
The guards moved very fast, and Zhao Laosi almost had to jog to keep up.
They arrived at the edge of the shelter, far from the hustle and bustle of the city center.
A tall wall made of barbed wire and stones came into view, with a watchtower every fifty meters, where armed guards vigilantly scanned the area below.
Before the massive steel gate, the guards presented a handwritten order bearing the leader's seal, personally signed by Minister Tang Bao.
After careful verification, the gate guards immediately stood at attention and saluted. The heavy gate slowly opened amidst a screeching sound.
"Mr. Zhao, please." The guard remained expressionless.
Zhao Laosi took a deep breath and stepped inside.
The sight before him made even a farmer like him, who was used to the hardships of working in the fields, gasp in shock.
This is a huge open-pit mine.
The exposed gray rocks looked particularly menacing under the pale alien sunlight.
Countless women and men in gray prison uniforms (some of whom had been arrested for crimes and sent to labor camps) were scattered like ants in every corner of the mine.
They wielded heavy iron picks, mechanically and numbly hammering at the hard rocks, loading the knocked-off ore into bamboo baskets on their backs, and then trudging along to the mine carts in the distance.
Sweat soaked through their prison uniforms, clinging tightly to their bodies.
Their faces, hair, and bodies were covered with a thick layer of dust, and only the traces of sweat could barely reveal their original skin color.
Once upon a time on Earth, sitting in a bright and clean office, drinking coffee, typing on a keyboard, pontificating, and criticizing men for not working hard enough, I was a "fairy" or "independent woman".
Today, they are using the same hands that were once only used for painting nail polish and typing on keyboards to experience the most primitive and arduous physical labor.
They were all pale and sallow, with cracked lips and eyes filled with numbness and despair.
Occasionally, someone would fall due to exhaustion, and the overseer would immediately brandish his long whip and lash out mercilessly, accompanied by sharp curses.
"Get up! Stop playing dead! If we don't squeeze out today's quota, nobody's going to eat!"
Here, there is no pity, no dignity, only cold rules and endless labor.
Zhao Laosi's arrival was like a pebble thrown into a stagnant pool.
At first, the women just glanced at him blankly, assuming he was just another one of the inspectors.
But when they saw Zhao Laosi in his ordinary, even somewhat tattered, peasant clothes, and the two guards behind him who represented absolute power, their eyes began to change.
Especially when a foreman trotted over, bowed and scraped to the two guards, and then turned around and loudly announced to all the women.
"Stop! Everyone stop what you're doing!"
The foreman shouted at the top of his lungs, "This is Mr. Zhao Laosi! He is an agricultural hero personally commended by the leader! Today, the leader has granted Mr. Zhao Laosi special permission to come here and choose a few... um, a few partners to carry on the family line!"
"Those chosen will immediately be freed from slavery and become official citizen family members of the shelter! You all better be damned! This is your chance to rise to the top!"
"boom!"
The entire mine instantly erupted into chaos.
The women were stunned at first, as if they couldn't believe their ears. After a brief silence, a barely suppressed commotion and whispers erupted.
Free yourself from slavery!
Become a citizen's family member!
These two words, like two dazzling bolts of lightning, instantly tore apart their dark and desperate world.
This means that I can leave this damn hell, I can stop wielding a heavy pickaxe every day, I can eat my fill, I can sleep in a warm bed, and I can live like a human being!
In an instant, all the women's eyes were focused on Zhao Laosi.
That gaze was so intense it seemed to melt him.
They simultaneously threw away their pickaxes, straightened their aching backs, and tried to wipe the dust off their faces and tidy their messy hair with their dirty hands.
They tried hard to make themselves look more like women than like a disheveled animal.
They began to slowly gather around the high platform where Zhao Laosi was.
Among the crowd, a woman with a fat head and big ears had the brightest eyes.
She is Fu Hancheng, a once powerful and influential boxing leader on the Blue Star Network.
At this moment, the shock she felt was more intense than anyone else's.
She knew better than anyone what this meant.
This is her only chance, her only chance to escape this hell and return to the world of "humans".
Dignity? Pride? Independence?
In the face of survival, those things are worthless.
Standing on the high platform, Zhao Laosi looked down at the faces below, which may have been beautiful in the past but were now filled with humility and longing. He felt his blood burning.
He, Zhao Laosi, a bachelor farmer in his forties, was one day treated like an ancient emperor choosing his concubines.
He was so excited that his face turned red, and he didn't know what to do with his hands.
He looked at these women, and their eyes were like those of hungry wild dogs eyeing a meat bun.
"Pick me! Pick me!"
Finally, a woman couldn't hold back any longer and took the lead in pushing forward, trying her best to make her voice sound as soft and charming as possible with her hoarse voice.
"Mr. Zhao! I...I can cook! I can do any kind of chores!"
"Sir! I'm in good health! I guarantee I can give you a big, healthy son!"
"Get out of my way, you vixen!"
The scene began to become somewhat chaotic. The women pushed and shoved each other, cursing, in order to get closer to Zhao Laosi.
Just then, Fu Hancheng pushed aside the women in front of her and stood at the very front. She raised her head and used all her strength to make her voice stand out.
“Mr. Zhao!” she shouted, “Choose me! I am Fu Hancheng! You should have heard of me! Among them, I was once the most famous! I can bring you the greatest glory!”
Her words carried weight. She believed that her "fame," even in this world, was still a form of capital. Don't men all like this kind of vanity?
Upon hearing this, Zhao Laosi immediately became interested.
Fu Hancheng? He felt like he had heard that name somewhere before.
However, before he could speak, a sharp voice rang out from the side, filled with jealousy and malice.
"Don't choose her! Mr. Zhao, don't be fooled by her!" A woman named Li Juan pointed at Fu Hancheng and loudly exposed, "She may be famous, but she's a second-hand product!"
"She was married when she was on Earth! She only managed to finish her studies and get a job thanks to her honest and simple husband! But as soon as she became famous, she dumped him! She thought he wasn't good enough for her! Would you dare to be with such an ungrateful woman?"
"She can abandon her husband for fame today, and she can abandon you for something else tomorrow!"
These words struck Fu Hancheng like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, turning his face deathly pale.
"You...you're talking nonsense! Li Juan, you bitch, how dare you slander me!"
Fu Hancheng was furious. She never expected that her former "sisters," who used to listen to her every word, would now betray her without hesitation for a chance to escape from hell.
Li Juan, however, was not afraid at all. She straightened her chest and sneered, "I'm talking nonsense? Which of the sisters here doesn't know? How did you curse your ex-husband online back then, calling him an 'ordinary man' and saying that he 'limited your pursuit of higher life values'? Tell me, is that true or not!"
"yes!"
"That's right! We've all seen it!"
"She also instigated us, saying that marriage is a woman's grave and a man is a woman's shackle!"
"Now, people are willing to spend money on a man faster than anyone else. They're shameless!"
When a wall falls, everyone pushes it down.
Suddenly, all the women began to gang up on Fu Hancheng.
They were jealous of her former status, jealous that she could still stand at the forefront and attract Zhao Laosi's attention. They wanted to pull her down and trample her into the mud so that they themselves could have a chance.
“You…” Fu Hancheng was so angry that he trembled all over, his lips quivering, but he couldn’t say a word.
She discovered that the theories and rhetoric she had once been so proud of were so pale and powerless in the face of stark reality and the malice of human nature.
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