Chapter 88: How come they eat so well! Everyone's vying to join the Little River Base...
The official paused for a moment: "Oh? What are your requirements? Tell me."
In fact, bases that can accept people do have requirements regarding the people they choose, but the authorities don't mind that.
But there's also a worry: they'll definitely choose the most powerful superhumans, so what about the rest—the less powerful ones, and the ordinary people?
Therefore, the authorities also have requirements regarding this, and they must limit the ratio of people with superpowers to ordinary people that they accept.
It must not be lower than a certain percentage.
The officials thought that perhaps the Xiaohe Base was considering that the base's overall strength was relatively weak and wanted to recruit more powerful superhumans.
Just then, Cheng Zhiyu said, "For those with superpowers, they don't need to be extremely powerful, but they must have good character. The same applies to ordinary people. If someone comes to the Xiaohe Base and violates the base's rules, we have the right to expel them from the base."
The Xiahe Base now conducts daily training for people with superpowers, and it has been quite effective. It has proven that many people with superpowers have potential, but for various reasons, they cannot realize their potential.
Many bases seek out outstanding individuals, and they don't specifically train those with mediocre abilities.
However, those who have been trained in superpowers will not be weak.
Cheng Zhiyu didn't expect them to be particularly strong. With a large number of people, their combined combat capabilities were not to be underestimated.
On the contrary, those powerful superhumans, if they have character flaws, can cause trouble for the base.
Their base is small, unlike larger bases where powerful superhumans would have to think twice before causing trouble. In smaller bases, some powerful superhumans might be arrogant and prone to causing trouble.
The Xiahe base is still in the development stage, and what it needs are people who are absolutely obedient.
The officials were taken aback for a moment, then laughed. It seemed that although Cheng Zhiyu was young, he was very insightful.
Given the current scale of the Xiahe base, it is indeed more important to be cautious about the character of its personnel.
So the official said, "Sure, all the bases will come to select people, and you can also send people over."
Cheng Zhiyu smiled and agreed; it would be best if someone from his family could go.
Especially since they also have Zhou Min, a human lie detector, there's absolutely no need to worry about any problems.
The final agreement reached was that the Xiaohe base would send people over to recruit a thousand people, and the Chaoyang base and other bases could help send their people over, so that both sides could exchange supplies.
After hanging up the phone, Cheng Zhiyu had someone call Zhou Min over.
Upon hearing this, Zhou Min exclaimed, "Fieldwork? Great! I've been so bored lately, and with the snow, I have nothing to do!"
Cheng Zhiyu: "You pick some people to go with you."
Zhou Min nodded. His superpower was a support type, and he needed to choose a few powerful ones. Fortunately, the training of superpowered individuals had been quite good recently.
Finally, Zhou Min chose Sun Yu, Han Ping, and Lin Kang from the previous list. The last one was a metal-type ability user from the ability user team, a girl, who would be a good match for Sun Yu.
Lin Kang was really looking forward to this field mission: "Finally, I can go out and have some fun."
After the apocalypse, for reasons both voluntary and involuntary, he never left the Little River Base and was quite curious about the outside world.
Because of the tight schedule, they set off as soon as they had selected the participants that day.
——
The temporary settlement established by the authorities is currently housing unemployed individuals who have no base to receive them.
They mostly pitched a tent, with several people huddled together for warmth.
The hardest part of the day is the night. When I wake up in the morning, I shake the person next to me, and they're probably already hard.
No one cried; they had become numb.
At times like these, fire-based abilities are the most sought-after, almost everyone is vying for them.
I heard that all the major bases are recruiting, and everyone finally has hope in their eyes.
"I heard that people have come to Chaoyang Base, Hongri, Dongyang... all of them." The speaker was a little excited: "Let's hurry up and line up, they have a limit, once they've recruited a certain number of people, they won't recruit anymore."
"We need to go right away!"
"Let's go, let's go."
Someone passing by a recruitment point saw the words "Xiaohe Base" on the sign and muttered, "Which base is this? I've never heard of it."
"Who knows? Probably just a small base."
"My previous base was a small one, and it disbanded after I joined it for only a month."
"A large base is still more reliable. I don't want to become a wanderer again."
"But they have rosy complexions and are in good spirits. The fact that they can still recruit people under these circumstances means they might be quite capable, we just haven't heard of them before."
"How about... we go and ask?"
Then a few people asked about the size of the Xiaohe base and where it was located. After hearing their questions, they said: "This is not a base, it's more like a village."
He instantly lost interest and turned to leave.
Zhou Min, who was about to ask a question: "..."
He put down his pen, sighed, picked up his thermos, and took a sip of hot water: "Sigh, there's nobody here."
Han Ping said, "No rush, someone will come eventually."
Zhou Min clicked his tongue: "If we wait any longer, we'll be leftovers from other people's choices."
Lin Kang looked at these people and sighed, "The main thing is that they have good character. At first, they all picked out powerful superhumans, and a few of them were obviously not good people just by looking at their eyes."
Zhou Min nodded. Never mind, he wasn't in a hurry.
Sun Yu: "Isn't it time for lunch?"
After she got to know these people, she got along well with them and wasn't as resistant to contact as before.
Of course, I still feel disgusted when I see men.
Zhou Min, reminded by her, also felt hungry: "Yes, let's eat."
The group started cooking enthusiastically. Zhou Min took out meat, vegetables, and steamed buns from the carriage: "Hey, let's just eat something simple while we're out. I'll just stir-fry three dishes."
The recruiter at the nearby Chaoyang base: "..."
He glanced at the cold pancake he was eating; it was rock hard, like a broken head. Even so, when he was eating it, quite a few people were envious.
He was feeling quite smug, basking in the envious and covetous glances of those around him, completely satisfied.
One of the superhumans asked, "If I go to the Chaoyang Base, can I eat pancakes?"
He rolled his eyes: "This is made of flour, you wish."
The other party was very disappointed, and then Zhou Min and his team cooked three dishes on the spot: stir-fried shredded potatoes with meat, stir-fried pork with chili peppers, and stir-fried red cabbage.
Why is cabbage red?
Zhou Min couldn't wait to pick up some cabbage and stuff it into his mouth. After a while, he felt hot, so he unbuttoned his cotton coat. Finally, he didn't have to keep buttoning it up, which made him feel stuffy.
While they were eating, a superhuman walked over and said, "You're eating well."
Lin Kang looked up, somewhat wary. Was this person looking for trouble?
Then the superhuman said, "If I went to your base, would I be able to eat this well too?"
Lin Kang breathed a sigh of relief and told the truth: "We definitely can't eat meat every day, but there's plenty of steamed buns, and we can eat vegetables every few days."
The superhuman was instantly tempted: "I also brought my mother with me; she's an ordinary person."
Lin Kang asked, "Ordinary people can eat their fill without any problem. By the way, does your mother have any skills?"
The superhumans all doubted whether the people at the Little River Base were bragging, but when they saw Lin Kang talking, the others weren't in a hurry to eat their food and didn't seem to be fighting over it at all. Clearly, this meal was just an ordinary one for them.
Zhou Min: "Damn it, who put ginger in the shredded potatoes?!"
The superhuman said, "It's so cold outside, ginger is a rare commodity these days!" The person, however, looked disgusted.
Lin Kang looked at the superhuman who hadn't spoken for a while. The latter came to his senses and tried to think: "My mom... my mom can cook."
After he finished speaking, he seemed to think that being able to cook wasn't a particularly noteworthy skill, and awkwardly scratched his head. Then he saw Zhou Min looking at him excitedly: "Your mom can cook? Is her cooking good?"
The superhuman was startled by his gaze and took a half step back, saying, "It's delicious. My family ran a restaurant before the apocalypse, and it was very successful."
Before the apocalypse, his family was considered well-off thanks to his mother's cooking skills. But after the apocalypse, what good is cooking skills when everyone is starving? Good cooking skills are useless.
Just then, Zhou Min excitedly slammed his hand on the table: "Wow, a highly skilled talent! Quickly bring your mother over, our Xiaohe base would love to have her join us."
Before he came, the canteen manager specifically told him to hire a few good cooks. In the past, people couldn't afford to eat, so they didn't have high requirements for taste. The canteen chefs' cooking was just passable and not much better than home cooking.
But gradually, everyone will definitely start to have higher expectations for the taste. The canteen manager was very farsighted: "We also have to take on the task of earning contribution points. Think about it, now, besides the employees, who comes to eat in the canteen? It's not just because they want to save money, but also because the canteen's food doesn't taste much better than what they make themselves. Only by hiring a few people who can cook well can the canteen still earn contribution points."
Zhou Min took this to heart, because he often ate in the cafeteria, and to be honest, the taste was really just so-so.
Therefore, the cafeteria is in dire need of people who can cook.
The superhuman replied, "...My mother is just an ordinary person."
“Ordinary people with skills are also our priority,” Zhou Min said.
For a moment, the superhuman doubted whether anyone could join the Little River Base, but after hearing the other party say that after joining, one could eat white flour steamed buns every day, he swallowed hard.
Although he is a superhuman, at the previous base, he worked himself to the bone every day. Let alone eating white flour buns, even getting enough to eat was a problem because he was raising his mother. There were no jobs for ordinary people at the base, so he had to support two people on his own.
His mother always felt that she was holding him back, and once even tried to commit suicide. Many families of people with superpowers end up choosing this path, but luckily he happened to be home at the time and stopped her while crying.
His mother did not attempt suicide again after that, but she was never very happy, and there was always a faint sadness in her eyes.
The superhuman was deeply disturbed, but what could he do?
Upon hearing that the people at this base actually valued his mother quite a bit, the superhuman clenched his fist and decided to give it a try, just for his mother's sake.
If you find out later that you've been scammed, you can always leave the base.
The advantage of joining a small base is that it's much easier to leave than a large base.
Thinking of this, the superhuman said, "You wait."
As he spoke, he went to the tent cluster not far away. These wanderers had nowhere to stay and had been living in tents for the past few days.
In this cold weather, how can a tent keep you warm? His mother's health wasn't good to begin with, and she's been getting sick lately from the cold. That's why he's so eager to join a base.
If it had been any later, his mother probably wouldn't have been able to hold on.
Thinking of this, his eyes welled up with tears, and he walked to his own tent.
He could sense several pairs of eyes watching his tent intently, but they looked away when he returned.
These people wanted to rob his family because his family was considered relatively well-off among them; at least they had a quilt.
Although the blankets were dirty and torn, they were still a highly sought-after item in this cold weather.
He opened the tent a crack and immediately crawled inside to prevent the cold wind from dissipating the warmth inside, even though the tent didn't offer much wind protection.
A middle-aged woman, wrapped in a blanket with slightly bluish lips, opened her eyes upon hearing the noise: "Wen'an, have you found the base?... Don't worry about Mom, if you can find a decent base, then go..."
Ning Wen'an had heard these words countless times. He said, "Mom, stop saying these things and come with me."
Ning's mother was taken aback: "Where to?"
Ning Wen'an smiled and said, "The new base, they want to recruit you."
"Don't lie to your mother." Ning's mother trembled. "I'm just an ordinary person. Why would anyone want to mess with me?"
Previously, when Ning Wen'an visited some bases, they were unwilling to accept him because they heard that he had a child with him. They said they only wanted him, but Ning Wen'an was naturally unwilling.
After realizing she had been a burden to her son, Ning's mother secretly cried.
While packing his things, Ning Wen'an said, "It's true, people heard you're a good cook and want to hire you. Why would I lie to you? They didn't even say they wanted to hire me. If you don't believe me, come with me and see."
Ning's mother forced a smile, though she didn't believe it, she still nodded.
The two of them didn't have much stuff, which they carried in a broken bucket with holes. The tent was provided by the government, and they would have to return it if they joined the base.
Ning Wen'an packed up the tent and pulled his mother toward the recruitment area at the Xiaohe Base.
Because Ning's mother's legs were so cold and painful, she walked very slowly.
This is the receiving area at the Xiaohe Base.
Zhou Min stared at the stir-fried shredded potatoes with meat, trying to figure out which piece was ginger, but to his dismay, he couldn't tell at all.
He glared at Han Ping angrily: "Why did you put so much ginger in?"
Han Ping smiled good-naturedly: "It's cold, ginger can ward off the cold."
Lin Kang picked up a large mouthful with his chopsticks: "I think it's quite delicious."
Zhou Min: "..."
He sighed, hoping the man wasn't lying and that he could quickly find someone who could cook well and get them started.
Han Ping's cooking skills are strange; he can make some complex dishes quite well, but when he makes these simple home-style dishes, the taste is just so-so. Sigh, the rest of the others aren't even as good at cooking as Han Ping.
But after all, they were outside, and there were so many people around who couldn't afford to eat. It would be a bit much to ask Han Ping to make mixed vegetables; he might make them drool.
Although I'm really craving it now.
Zhou Min had already noticed that the people from the Chaoyang Base next door had been frequently glancing in their direction ever since they started eating.
One of them was an acquaintance of Zhou Min's, a superhuman he had met at the Chaoyang Base, named Zhang Tai.
When Zhou Min first arrived at Xiaohe Base, Zhang Tai came over and made fun of him: "Look at you, you didn't stay at such a big base as Chaoyang Base. I thought you were going to some good place, but you ended up at this... Xiaohe Base? Tsk tsk, I've never even heard of it."
Zhou Min rolled his eyes and didn't indulge him: "Indeed, Xiaohe Base can't compare to Chaoyang Base, but I don't think you're doing very well either. Look at what you're wearing, tsk tsk, sigh... poor thing."
Zhang Tai was wearing several layers of clothing, including a few pieces of clothing with missing sleeves. Clearly, he had put on all the clothes he could to keep warm.
In contrast, Zhou Min was dressed very decently, in a matching cotton coat and cotton shoes. Although the clothes were simple in style, they looked very warm, and Zhou Min's wrists were exposed because of the heat.
The rest of the people at the Xiaohe base were all dressed like this, as if they were wearing the same uniform.
Zhang Tai's expression immediately darkened. He felt that these clothes were definitely something the Xiaohe Base had pulled out with the full force of the base to make a show of itself, hoping to attract others to join their base because of them.
Even if I can wear it now, so what? I'll definitely have to hand it over when I get back!
However, Zhang Tai was unwilling to admit that even if it was just for a few days, he was still envious.
Other people's clothes were not only warm but also clean, while his were crookedly layered, not only not warm, but also dirty and torn in some places. Standing in front of Zhou Min, he felt ashamed of himself.
He hadn't noticed it before because everyone dressed like that, and he was considered quite presentable. There was someone he knew whose pants had a big hole in the butt and no fabric to mend them, so he had to just put them on.
Anyway, the underwear inside and the pants outside were both the same black color, so you couldn't tell unless you looked closely.
Compared to the respectable Xiaohe base, it seems as if they are the ones who came from the small base.
That's bad enough, but now they've gone even further. Five people actually dared to eat three dishes—three whole dishes! Do they even understand what they're eating?
Their captain kept swallowing hard.
At this moment, Zhang Tai walked over with a complicated expression and a sour look on his face: "Zhou Min, have you eaten up all the supplies you've had these past few days? Are you really that confident that you can recruit enough people to take over today? You'll be in trouble when you get back and there's nothing to eat."
Zhou Min looked at Zhang Tai with a hint of sympathy, so he stopped trying to provoke him; he was in too much trouble.
He himself had forgotten that he had once lived such a miserable life.
At the beginning of the apocalypse, things were alright, as we could find supplies everywhere. But now, almost all the supplies we could find have been gone, and since the land can no longer grow ordinary seeds, food is becoming increasingly scarce.
The situation at Chaoyang Base was even more difficult than when he left, and this was a large base; the situation at other smaller bases was even worse.
Seeing that Zhou Min ignored him, Zhang Tai was about to say something when Ning Wen'an helped his mother over.
Zhou Min's eyes lit up, and he quickly walked to the table and sat down: "Oh my, this must be Auntie? What kind of cuisine does Auntie know?"
Ning's mother was surprised that the other party actually asked her about cooking, and lowered her head somewhat awkwardly: "I don't know any different cuisines, just some common home-style dishes."
"The home-style cooking is good. If it's cooked well, that's exactly what we need." Zhou Min hadn't forgotten that this aunt used to run a restaurant. If she could run a restaurant by cooking home-style dishes, it meant that the dishes must taste really good.
The cafeteria does need to cook good home-style dishes; it's not at the point where we need to cook elaborate dishes every day yet.
"I... I cook delicious home-style dishes." Ning's mother had already observed this small river base. Although her son said it was a small base, these people had rosy complexions and were dressed better than those at other bases. The dishes they cooked were plentiful and contained a lot of oil, but they didn't seem to care at all, which meant that they were eating quite well.
Ning's mother used to work in a restaurant and had good observation skills. She immediately judged the general situation of the Xiaohe base.
They might actually get a bargain, so she tried her best to prove herself.
"Okay, you can try it later." Zhou Min saw that the aunt looked sickly and didn't dare to ask her to try it directly. He decided to let her rest.
Anyway, he's a human lie detector, so he knows the other person isn't lying.
"Congratulations, you've been accepted into our Xiahe Base." Zhou Min smiled. Hearing this, Sun Yu glanced at Ning's mother, got up and went to their truck. A moment later, he took out a bag of cotton and fabric and handed it to Ning's mother: "Auntie, you can make yourself a dress when you have time."
The base doesn't produce a large quantity of finished products, so it's impossible to provide them directly. Therefore, they decided to provide cotton and fabric for the people who join the base to make their own products.
Put on the cotton-padded clothes made of mutated cotton as soon as possible, otherwise you might catch a cold before going back, which would be troublesome and you would have to take medicine. The Xiaohe base doesn't have many medicines, but fortunately you can exchange for quite a few this time.
Ning's mother was startled, her eyes widening as she looked at her dirty hands, not daring to accept it: "This is for me?"
“Yes, all the new members of the base have them.” Sun Yu was very patient with women. Seeing Ning’s mother’s awkwardness, he said, “As long as you stay in the base, these things are yours. Of course, if you leave, you have to return them to us.”
After all, Xiaohe Base isn't a place for those who harbor resentment. What if someone cheats them out of their things, takes them, and then leaves the base?
As it turns out, they were overthinking it. With such a generous offer to newcomers to the base, who would want to leave the Xiahe Base?
Let them die at the Little River Base!
Everyone around was watching the commotion, their eyes glued to the cotton and fabric.
Ning's mother swallowed hard, quickly wiped her hands on her body, and carefully took the cotton wrapped in cloth. It was warm to the touch.
"Why...why is this hot? And why is the cotton still red?" Ning's mother unconsciously hugged it tighter; it was so warm.
Sun Yu noticed that many people were watching them, and deliberately said, "This is mutated cotton that can generate heat. You don't need much; just stuff a thin layer inside your clothes and you'll be warm. That's what we're wearing."
Whoosh—it was as if water had been dropped into a pot of oil, and everyone was in an uproar.
Mutant cotton that can generate heat! Even ordinary cotton is rare enough, but this cotton is mutated. It's a resource that everyone in other bases is fighting over, but Xiaohe Base gets it as soon as they join.
Damn, if that's the case, why even bother joining a major base? They might as well go to the River Base!
Everyone exchanged glances, and those who were originally queuing behind the base all ran to the Xiaohe base.
In an instant, the area in front of the Xiaohe base receiving point was packed with people.
Zhou Min was grinning from ear to ear. Although they didn't have high requirements for superpowers, he didn't want to accept what others had left over. They were offering such good conditions, so of course they had to be selective.
Lin Kang maintained discipline: "Please line up properly. We won't accept those who don't line up."
The authorities organized this takeover operation and naturally sent people with superpowers to maintain discipline, so there's no need to worry about any trouble.
Some people tried to cut in line, but Lin Kang asked the officials to kick them out. Seeing this, the others also quieted down.
Ning Wen'an was still in a daze when his mother quickly nudged her silly son: "Hurry up and register!"
Ning Wen'an then came to his senses. Fortunately, he was already at the receiving point table, so he quickly went over to register.
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