In the open space next to the slums, the strange RVs have been moved away, and a simple but not shabby small house has risen up on the open space. Within one night, a sign was hung on the house and it was even painted, as if it did not suddenly appear overnight, but had always existed.
The woman came out of the tin house, rubbing her shoulders tiredly, and prepared to get some water and food, and then rest after eating.
As she walked outside, she noticed a strange noise coming from the slum which was usually very quiet at this time of year.
During the day, people in the slums don’t talk much even if they don’t sleep - talking and moving consume physical energy, so they would rather lie on the ground and try not to lose their energy too quickly.
The woman staggered towards the crowd in front.
It is truly a wonder in the slums to see so many people gathered together instead of lying down to sleep.
"I saw it! They brought in food!" An elderly man with sparse gray hair stood in the middle of the crowd, gesticulating and saying, "There must be food!"
The old man looked like he was in his seventies or eighties, but the woman knew that this "old man" was actually less than forty years old.
But few people in the slums even live past the age of 25, and if they live past 30, it’s considered a rare event.
The woman was even a little surprised. Are there so many people in the slum?
She was kidnapped from another base by Zhao Qing's men when she was less than fourteen years old. She was later ended up in the slums. Compared to most people who were kidnapped, she was luckier because at least she was not dissected and her organs were sold.
Some large bases still have medical facilities, but they are only available to the top bigwigs.
As long as the big shots in each base can afford it, they can go there to get their organs replaced when they have problems.
The people in front were crowded and huddled together, a group of people with only their ribs left were standing with their bones touching each other, shouting for the people around them to stay away because their bones were hurting them.
"People nearby said it was built last night." Someone in the front was discussing in a low voice, "It's very open, made of wood, you can't tell, right? I thought it was made of cement, it shouldn't be a house? Who would build a house here?"
"I don't know what it is."
"Shouldn't a house like this be built here?"
The woman also stood on tiptoe and stretched her neck to look at the place blocked by the people - but it was too far away and she was too short to see the house that people were talking about.
Due to hunger and malnutrition, the woman was less than 1.5 meters tall and her hair was as sparse as that of an old man, but she was not bald yet.
She was petite, like a handful of bones sticking to the skin, with a chin so sharp that it seemed like it could pierce through her chest. Her eyesight was also poor, and even if someone walked up to her, she couldn't see the other person's face clearly.
But relying on her short stature, the woman squeezed into the crowd and slowly moved forward as the crowd became more crowded.
She was sweating profusely and was about to collapse from exhaustion when she was finally pushed by someone behind her and came to the front of the crowd, where she saw the strange house.
She opened her mouth involuntarily.
The house before her was beyond her imagination. It had smooth, flat walls painted white. The roof and the house were integrated into one, like a square box. Only the glass door on the three steps allowed one to distinguish the front and back of the house.
The sunlight falls on the house, making it look like it is glowing.
With houses like this next to it, the slum seems even more cramped and dirty.
"Someone's coming out!" someone screamed.
The woman looked toward the man.
He was a man leaning on a crutch, and his figure was as thin as her. There were many men like him in the slums. Due to congenital or acquired reasons, they could not be thugs. Those who were ugly might be able to do manual labor in the slums, but those who were slightly good-looking could not escape the fate of selling their bodies.
But they charge less than women, are more likely to be beaten, and encounter clients with special fetishes.
So most of them either use crutches or stay in the house without coming out.
The woman recognized the man. He and she were from the same base. He was working in an underground plantation at the time. Although he was thin, he could still make a living. It was said that he had saved some things before he was robbed and was preparing to get married.
After taking a look, the woman turned her head.
She didn't want to recall the past because it would make her current life seem even more unbearable.
But I don’t dare and don’t want to die, so I can only try hard to forget the past.
The woman squinted her eyes and looked towards the house, and sure enough, someone came out from inside.
It was a woman, not very old, probably less than twenty years old.
The woman was wearing a white short-sleeved shirt and a pair of denim shorts. Her long, slender legs were not as skinny as dead wood. One could see that there was flesh between her bones and skin, and quite a lot of it.
Her face had a healthy blush. She wasn't pretty, but because she was healthy, one glance at her made people think she was "beautiful".
From the moment she came out, the people in the slums seemed to be strangled by the throat. No one spoke. They looked at this woman as if she were a forgotten sculpture, a state of existence that was out of reach.
It was the first time that Cao'er took on the responsibility of giving an opening speech. She was a little excited, but she still remembered the script she had memorized two days ago.
She cleared her throat and picked up the loudspeaker. The moment she picked up the loudspeaker, she felt like running to the toilet. However, she thought that this was her first time doing this job and she must not embarrass herself and let the immortal think she was incompetent. So she took a deep breath and shouted to the people in front of her: "Be quiet, be quiet."
The people, who were already silent, became even quieter at this moment.
Cao'er: "..."
They seemed to be quiet before she spoke.
Oh, never mind.
Cao Er continued with the loudspeaker: "You can see it all. The sign has been put up. Behind me is Longsheng Supermarket."
Although it is a bit small, the immortal said that the supermarket will not be moved here directly, so this small supermarket can only be built on the spot.
"Do you know what the supermarket is? Raise your hands if you know!" Cao'er shouted.
The people in the slums looked at each other and no one raised their hands.
"Supermarket means supermarket. You all know market, right?"
Now someone raised his hand.
Cao'er breathed a sigh of relief and continued, "Our supermarket is not very big right now. We only sell food and daily necessities."
"You can come and get an appraisal for any unused items you have. We support bartering."
"There are many kinds of food, including bread, noodles and instant noodles, and the prices are very affordable. However, the space is limited now, so when there are many people, you have to queue up consciously. We will kick out those who don't queue up."
"We are now officially open for business." Cao'er said, "You can go back and see if there is anything you can exchange."
"The business hours are from 9am to 10pm every day." Cao'er said, "You guys should buy according to your ability and don't stock up too much. Our supermarket will be here for at least two years."
But the buying spree that Cao'er had imagined did not come.
She finished her presentation, but even until noon, no one came.
The crowd gathered at the supermarket entrance dispersed within half an hour and continued their boring and painful lives day after day.
Cao'er even saw some people sleeping directly on the side of the road, curled up on their sides, trying to avoid the direct sunlight on their faces. These people had almost no clothes on, not even a complete pair of underwear.
"I feel a little uncomfortable." Cao'er said to Wu Yan, "Brother Wu, I feel uncomfortable."
She thought she had escaped and seen the worst suffering in the world, but she still felt sad when she saw these people who were half-naked, being baked in such a scorching sun, and who had given up all hope.
She even felt that they were worse off than herself, after all, she was with her family when they first fled!
At least in the end, she still had her mother by her side.
But these people are all alone, living a hard life, and they don’t know why they are living, as if living is just an instinct.
Wu Yan felt bad too. They had lived without worries about food and drink for many years and had seen so many small worlds. As a result, an oasis appeared in the barren land of their hearts and their sympathy grew more and more. In the past, they would not care whether others died or not except for themselves and their families.
"Why doesn't anyone want to come in?" Cao'er looked at the tin houses.
It’s bad enough that people sleeping on the roadside can’t afford to exchange things, but why don’t people living in tin houses come over?
Wu Yan thought about it and came up with a more reliable reason: "Maybe it's because... they feel that this kind of place is not something they can come to?"
Cao'er finally understood. She sighed and said, "You're right. In the past, I didn't dare go to those big grain stores when I went to the market. They were not places that we tenants could afford to go to."
So they had no idea how much the food in those grain shops sold for, they just knew that they definitely couldn't afford to go there.
Those are places that city people can enter.
"Let's wait a little longer." Wu Yan said, "If no one comes today, let that woman go and persuade them tomorrow."
Cao'er: "She looks much better and can move around, but she still has to wear a mask."
The woman was blind in one eye and her face was disfigured. She was afraid of her face and of scaring others, so Zou Ming gave her a mask that could cover half of her face so that she could at least walk out of the room.
It has been nearly half a month since she was able to get out of bed. She eats well, sleeps well, and her spirits have improved except for her face. Cao'er said, "She even laughed when I took her to see a skit last time."
I started crying while laughing.
Cao'er: "The immortal said that we should find her a job. Otherwise, if she doesn't work, she will start to think about other things and get stuck in a dead end."
Wu Yan nodded: "Aren't those people crying and shouting in the Daliang Dynasty all literati? They don't have to worry about food and drink, and they have no place to display their ambitions, so it's easy to, easy to...depressed! Is that the word?"
Cao'er: "Yes, that's the word. The immortal said it last time!"
They still have a little bit of rural accent now. Cao'er whispered: "The immortal also said that this is not whining without illness. This is human needs. The most basic is physiological needs, that is, whether you can fill your stomach or not. The needs of each stage are different."
If it really doesn't work, we can only let the woman persuade him. After all, she came from the slums and is not a child like Zou Ming. Someone should believe her, right?
·
In the empty living room, all the furniture that might cause tripping or bumping was moved in. The woman held on to the handrails temporarily installed on the wall and moved forward step by step with difficulty. But compared to the first few days, she could now walk around and then stop to rest.
Since waking up, the woman still hasn't completely recovered from the shock. Sometimes she would even slap herself or pinch her thighs, leaving bruises all over her legs. It was obvious that she had put in a lot of strength.
It was not until Chen Shu, who lived with him, found out and scolded him that he finally stopped.
She lives in a cool room, so big!
She also has her own room with a bed and a window. There is a small table and a lazy sofa beside the bed, and a lamp on the bedside table that is not harmful to the eyes. Apart from eating, she exercises every day and then sleeps.
Occasionally she would wake up in the middle of the night, but as long as she saw the light that was always on at the bedside, she would calm down.
But she didn't dare talk to the people here, for fear that she would be kicked out if she said something wrong.
During this time, she finally realized that she was able to come here and be rescued because of that boy.
The woman didn't quite understand - she didn't think she was that good to the boy, they were just a partnership.
Although she thought about letting the boy be her son, he did not agree.
She didn't understand, so she became more cautious.
She had been a little better before, and even hinted to the only man in the house that he could touch her.
Then he was scolded righteously.
This made her more careful.
She didn't know how to pay her medical bills and rent. She had nothing. Only her body had some value, but the other party didn't want it.
She had nothing. Even if the other party took her in because the boy saved her, he would definitely kick her out later!
No one wants to support someone who eats for free.
The woman was uneasy. She walked around twice and finally sat down on the chair.
She looked in a trance as Chen Shu came out of the kitchen, holding tonight's meal in his hand.
There are both meat and vegetarian dishes, but the staple food is porridge.
"Not bad. How many laps did you walk today?" Chen Shu put the dishes on the table.
Three women and one Zhou Yuanhe lived in this house.
When the woman is fully recovered, Zhou Yuanhe will move into the man's house.
After all, this is not their territory, so there is no family unit here.
Some people who couldn't accommodate here went back to the supermarket. They still preferred to stay in a familiar place. After all, there were employee dormitories in the supermarket. However, those who went back were the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled, and those who stayed would be a drag.
The woman quickly said, "Eighteen laps."
Chen Shu walked over to her and helped her sit at the dining table. Chen Shu patted her shoulder and said, "Not bad. If you keep going like this, maybe you'll be able to move freely by the end of this month."
Hearing the word "freedom", the woman immediately grabbed Chen Shu's hand that was about to be retracted. She said nervously: "I, I can work. I can do anything. As long as I have food to eat, I can live away from home. I can do anything."
As long as there is water and food, she can do anything.
"Don't worry." Chen Shu had already comforted her countless times, and said naturally, "I will definitely arrange a job for you when you get better. You can barely walk now, so let's talk about it after you get better."
But the woman was still uneasy, and she looked at Chen Shu with envy.
He is so tall and strong, and you can tell at a glance that he was raised with good food and good nutrition since childhood.
Here, good health is capital, and most people do not have such capital.
Chen Shu discovered that the woman had become much more polite when eating these days - at the beginning, the woman didn't eat the food, but poured it into herself without chewing it at all. Several times when Zhou Yuanhe was not around, Chen Shu let her eat a little more out of sympathy, and the woman ended up vomiting.
He vomited on the ground, slapped himself, and cried while trying to eat the vomited food again.
Chen Shu felt very uncomfortable seeing this.
Recently, when eating, the woman would at least chew her food twice. Although she was just pretending to chew, at least Chen Shu wouldn't feel that she was going to choke him to death.
After dinner, Chen Shu asked the woman to watch TV with him.
After watching for less than half an hour, Chen Shu's intercom rang, and she went to the bathroom with the intercom.
When she came out again, the woman immediately looked at her.
For some reason, the woman felt that the content of their conversation must be related to her.
"Don't be nervous." Chen Shu sat back in her original seat. She smiled and said as gently as possible, "There is something we need you to do. Apart from you, we can't find a more suitable person."
The woman quickly said, "I can do it. I definitely can."
Chen Shu: "It's like this, our supermarket is open. I told you what the supermarket means before, so I won't say it again."
"It opened this morning, but there have been no customers. No one wants to go in and buy anything."
"If you know anyone in the slums, I'll go with you there tomorrow during the day and you can go and persuade them."
The woman whispered, "They have nothing. Nothing to exchange."
Chen Shu looked at her strangely, "Why not? There must be tables and chairs, right? There must be cloth, right? Ragged cloth will do, and there are also hair bands. There must be potatoes, right? Without potatoes, I would have starved to death and would not have survived until now."
The woman was confused: "These things are worthless and can't be exchanged for anything."
How can something that everyone in the slums own be valuable? Maybe it can be exchanged for other things, but how can it be exchanged for food?
Food is the most expensive thing besides water.
Chen Shu sighed. This was fixed thinking. To break it, he really needed a middleman.
"You know us, we're not bad people." Chen Shu persuaded, "They won't lose anything if they try, right?"
"You persuade people to go, and if they go and can really exchange for food, you have saved others."
The woman turned her head and looked at Chen Shu in a trance.
Saving people? She had never thought about it. She just wanted to avoid being kicked out.
But she still nodded vigorously: "I will do it."
She had to prove herself useful, worthy of this room and this food and water.
She had never taken a bath since she was born. Only after she came here did she know what it felt like to take a bath and what it felt like to have water flowing through her body. The first time she took a bath, she drank water while taking a bath because it was too wasteful.
So now she still doesn't want to take a shower and is only willing to wipe her body with a towel dipped in water.
"Then it's settled. I'll go with you tomorrow." Chen Shu solved the problem. She replayed the TV series, crossed her legs on the coffee table and said, "Watch TV. This drama is really good."
The woman stared at the screen not very attentively, wondering who she should look for tomorrow.
In fact, she didn't know anyone very well in the slums, but she didn't dare to say it.
The next morning, while it was still light and a little cooler than at noon, Chen Shu took the woman out.
The woman's name was Yang Yue. She didn't know how to write her own name, she only knew it was "Yue" (moon).
The people here give very simple names because most of them are uneducated and only a few can read, so they name their children either after mountains, rivers, stars or the sea. Yang Yue also said that she knows three people, all named Shi Tou.
Chen Shu also put on close-fitting adjustment clothes for the woman, and in order to prevent her from walking too much, he also found a wheelchair to push her.
Yang Yue was carried down from upstairs by Chen Shu. She was a little frightened, but also inexplicably felt happy.
It was her first time to come to the area where the upper class lived. She sat in a wheelchair with her neck shrunk, but she soon discovered that those who looked over were not looking at her, but at Chen Shu.
But Chen Shu ignored all the gazes. She even asked when she noticed Yang Yue turning her head to look at her: "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"
Yang Yue shook her head and turned back, her hands trembling slightly.
She had seen too many mean people, and for the first time she discovered that there were people like Chen Shu in the world.
The slum was still quiet. At this time, many people had packed up their things and returned to their tin houses to sleep. Some people were also sleeping on the roadside. The person in the cage was still half-dead.
Yang Yue said in a hoarse voice: "I know the person living in that house."
Chen Shu asked, "Male or female?"
"It's best if it's a woman." Chen Shu explained, "If a woman goes in first, the man will dare."
"But men go in first, and women may not dare to do so."
Yang Yue was confused, but still said: "It's a girl, it's a girl."
Chen Shu pushed her to the tin house and knocked on the shaky wooden door.
It took a long time before any sound was heard from the tin house.
A woman trembled inside and said, "I paid! I paid for both days."
Yang Yue explained to Chen Shu: "It's protection money."
Chen Shu nodded, and Yang Yue raised her head and said loudly, "It's me, Yang Yue!"
After a few seconds, the person inside opened the door.
In fact, there is no lock on the door, but there is something propped up inside. If you really want to open it, you can just kick it open.
But Chen Shu couldn't do that.
The woman first saw the tall Chen Shu. She screamed and was about to retreat. Yang Yue immediately said, "I'm here. I'm here."
The woman then looked at Yang Yue with her hands covering her chest in fear.
"You, why are you like this?" The woman swallowed, but there was no worry about Yang Yue in her eyes, only fear. "They, they all said you were dead."
"Your house was bought by Zhao Hua." The woman refused to bother, "Don't look for me, look for her if you want to."
Yang Yue: "I have a place to live now, I won't... I won't be back for a while."
The woman breathed a sigh of relief, but immediately asked cautiously, "You're not going to ask me for anything, are you?"
Chen Shu didn't understand what it meant at first.
It was not until I entered the woman's tin house, saw Yang Yue's expression, and heard their conversation that I realized that this woman had actually taken advantage of the chaos to move all of Yang Yue's few furniture in.
Although there were only two chairs with broken legs and a table made of thin wooden boards.
Chen Shu: “…”
So is their relationship good or bad?
She couldn't understand it and was greatly shocked.
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