The grand moving journey began.
Many of the employees in the supermarket had never lived in the base before. After learning that Ye Zhou would stay here for a month, they all excitedly moved into the 276 base with their luggage.
"It's really hot here!" Aunt Li wiped the sweat off her face and looked up at the sun. "How do people live here?"
Cao'er hugged the mattress, wrinkled her nose and said, "Mom, you don't know, the sun is so strong, if you stay in the sun for an afternoon, you will become dark."
Aunt Li glanced at the residents who were "watching" them not far away and found that they were indeed darker than each other, and many of them were as black as charcoal. She glanced at Cao'er and was relieved after confirming that Cao'er was not as black as charcoal yet: "You must apply sunscreen. We have a lot of salary and we can't save money on this."
"Mother is still hoping that you will find a man!" Aunt Li pulled Cao'er aside, "If you meet someone you like, don't be shy. It's okay to ask."
Cao'er didn't blush, she responded with a few "hmm" and "ah".
Aunt Li could see that her daughter was just trying to put her off, but she wasn't angry and didn't urge her. After all, their appearance and bodies hadn't changed over the years, and Cao'er still looked like a girl of sixteen or seventeen years old.
It's just a little bit firmer.
"You still have to pay attention to it!" Aunt Li whispered, "Even if we don't get married, at least we have to have a child."
Cao'er glanced at her biological mother. She looked at her mother's face in shock. After looking from all angles, Cao'er was finally sure that this was indeed her mother.
Aunt Li said proudly: "Don't underestimate your mother."
However, Cao'er was still not very interested in this proposal. She was interested in everything except starting a family.
"Let's talk about it later." Cao'er immediately diverted Li Gu's attention, "I think the immortal will return to Daliang Dynasty after this time!"
Aunt Li was stunned, her expression was a little complicated, but she knew that Cao'er said this because she must want to go back.
"What are we going to do if we go back?" Li Gu advised, "We are following the immortals now. This is a blessing that many people cannot obtain even if they pray to Buddha for eight lifetimes. Following the immortals, we are all useful people. What is the point of going back?"
"If you go back, you'll still be a peasant woman." Aunt Li, "You said you don't want to get married or have children. If you go back, will you be able to choose?"
"You didn't see much before, so you didn't know that those orphans and widows were spit on by everyone. You had to be the last in line when fetching water. You couldn't get water during droughts. Men broke into your house, and no one in the village cared about you."
"Without a man, you are not a human being!" Aunt Li said anxiously, "You can't even think of going back. Wu Yan and the others have a child, so they have to go back. You don't have a child, so what are you going to do when you go back?!"
"Why are there no children!" Cao'er suddenly shouted.
But her voice quickly became softer, her lips trembling: "And my sister."
When the word "sister" came out, Aunt Li was stunned. She hadn't thought of her youngest daughter for a long, long time.
She couldn't think about it. If she did, she would feel short of breath. Even when she was sleeping at night, she could hear her little daughter calling her mother.
Her little daughter, who was her most precious child, had been well behaved since she was young. She stopped crying when she could call her mother. Even if she wanted to abandon her, she would sit obediently in the pile of dry grass and say obediently, "Little Ni knows. Little Ni won't move. Little Ni is waiting for her mother here."
"You blame me, don't you?" Aunt Li looked at Cao'er, her voice a little shrill, "You blame me for abandoning her, don't you?!"
Cao'er didn't say anything. She lowered her head and said after a long while, "Mom, I don't blame you."
"Raising my sister will waste food. She can't run fast, and we don't have the strength to carry her anymore." Cao'er was trembling all over. "I can't blame you. If you had taken my sister with you, our family would have been gone long ago."
"But mother..." Cao'er said, "but that's my sister..."
Cao'er finally couldn't hold back her tears: "That's my sister..."
Aunt Li did not shed tears. She had shed all her tears in her life when she first fled from the famine. She did not dare to cry when her husband died. At that time, she was the backbone of the family. Anyone could fall down, but she could not.
She cried when her son died, but not for too long. Even though her son was dead, she still had several daughters, so she had to hold on.
She didn't cry when she sold her second daughter, because she knew that her second daughter could survive. Instead of feeling sad, she felt fortunate.
At that time, the only thing that made her suffer was that Cao'er didn't want to follow the human toothbearer, so Cao'er hid herself and only came out after the human toothbearer left.
She only had a little daughter, and she almost cried her eyes out after throwing her away.
She could not prevent the death of her husband and son due to natural disasters and man-made calamities, but she was responsible for the death of her youngest daughter.
Aunt Li was a little dazed. She remembered how she used her last bit of strength to carry her little daughter away, and how she coaxed her to wait there. She thought she had forgotten it, but in fact it was still as clear as yesterday.
"Mother, let me go back." Cao'er said, "I want to go find my sisters, both the older and younger sisters."
Aunt Li still shook her head, her old face full of sadness and determination: "I will go back, you follow the immortal."
"I can still walk." Aunt Li looked at Cao'er.
This daughter who grew up by her side and had never been separated from her.
She is already much better than Li Gu had ever imagined.
Aunt Li smiled and said, "They are my daughters, the flesh that fell out of my belly. Why should I ask you to look for them?"
"You are the eldest sister." Aunt Li's eyes softened, "I am their mother."
Aunt Li: "Mom, go find them. Mom, find them."
"This is my mother's fault."
Just as Cao'er was about to stop her, Aunt Li had already walked ahead.
Cao'er stood there, feeling a little confused and thinking that she had done something wrong.
If she didn't tell her mother and quietly went with Wu Yan and the others, her mother would not know anything and could still stay with the immortal.
But since she said it, I had to go.
Mom might die there.
Cao'er's whole body began to tremble. She had done something wrong!
She wants to ask the immortal for help! She can't let her mother go!
However, Ye Zhou was already in the house. He was walking around the base with Zou Ming. There were not many people on the streets during the day. After all, the glass cover for regulating sunlight was not enough for planting, so how could it cover the entire base?
Ye Zhou also knew that people must be able to survive in such sunlight, otherwise the entire base would be covered with a glass cover. Once it was lost, no one in the base would survive.
The employees he brought with him also had to apply sunscreen and wear conditioning suits to be able to move around in such an environment.
"Is there enough water?" Ye Zhou asked.
Zou Ming held Ye Zhou's hand, he seemed to be trapped in another world, until Ye Zhou asked, Zou Ming came back to his senses and said: "Enough, now this area is the only one where our base produces the most grain, it's enough to exchange."
In fact, Base 276 is now the wealthiest base known.
Ye Zhou: "That's good."
"How many people are there in the base now?"
Ye Zhou found it incredible that there was water here. After all, according to Zou Ming, there had not been a drop of rain before and after he left. Without rain, where did the groundwater come from? All the rivers on the surface had dried up.
Zou Ming: "I heard that it will rain in some places, but no one knows exactly where they are. Even if we know, it is difficult to move there."
“There’s not that much transportation.”
In such an environment, large-scale migration is more difficult than fleeing famine. Even if preparations are made in advance, the risks are still beyond the reach of most people.
But Zou Ming is now the ruler of the base, and he cannot do whatever he wants.
He already had the responsibility on his shoulders.
Ye Zhou sighed: "Maybe it will rain here one day."
That’s all I can think of.
"I want to buy some saplings that can grow in this environment," said Zou Ming.
Ye Zhou nodded: "I'll go back and look for it. By the way, I've looked for the high-yield crops you mentioned before. I think there is one that is more suitable. It doesn't need to be saved for seeds and can grow in any environment."
This crop leaf boat was seen among the commodities for sale in a plane called Koria, and its name was Katuo.
There is no need to save seeds. Once planted, it will continue to grow in that land. It looks a bit like sweet potatoes, but is larger than sweet potatoes. The leaves are a bit like potatoes, but are purple-red.
The detailed introduction also says that this crop has a very high flour yield and can be eaten in many ways. The leaves can also be eaten, which means that you can harvest several kinds of vegetables by planting it. Moreover, it has been improved, and the leaves can be used to feed livestock, which will help the livestock grow meat faster.
After Ye Zhou talked to Zou Ming in detail, he smiled and said, "The plane called Koria must be very wealthy."
With this kind of crop, as long as the ruler is not a fool, the people will not be too poor. Once they have filled their stomachs, there will be fertile ground for construction, whether it is education or other things.
Zou Ming: "Kolya? I've been there."
Ye Zhou looked at Zou Ming: "Is he rich?"
Zou Ming thought for a moment and said, "It's rich, but a little strange. When I was there, Emperor Chi Yan was in power. It was a plane with a Western background. His name was too Chinese, and the development speed was a little too fast. They started laying tracks in the first year I went there, and they started building wind turbines in the second year. I heard from the local natives that several countries on the same continent had just been unified ten years ago and slavery was abolished."
Ye Zhou was stunned for a moment, then said: "Maybe he is a time traveler? Or is he a supermarket owner like me? But he chose another track? If he is really a native, then he is a genius, a hunk sent from heaven."
Zou Ming said with a complicated expression: "His queen is a man."
Ye Zhou: "...it adds luster to us."
Ye Zhou smiled and said, "It sounds quite interesting. Maybe we will have a chance to go there again in the future."
Zou Ming also said: "It's very open there, same-sex people can get married."
Ye Zhou understood Zou Ming's hint. They had just established a relationship, and Zou Ming was already asking for an "identity".
But Ye Zhou didn't give him a perfunctory answer. Instead, he said seriously, "Let's talk about it after I go back and see my parents."
As for holding a wedding banquet with Zou Ming in his original dimension, he should wait until that time comes and give Zou Ming a surprise.
If you say it too early, there will be no surprises.
·
The slums in the base have been abolished by the plantation, and the people who originally lived in the slums have moved to the second circle. Now there are three circles in the base. Those living in the center are basically administrators and those who have made great contributions to Zou Ming. Then there is the second circle, which is inhabited by ordinary civilians.
Although the positions are different, the treatment is not much different. Because resources are limited, in order for everyone to survive, the resources are now almost equally distributed. Although it is not a big pot meal, it is almost the same.
Everyone's job is assigned, with the largest number of people doing planting, followed by food processing.
To prevent spoilage, crops must be dehydrated immediately after harvest.
Meat is made into smoked meat. Although this reduces the weight and consumes firewood, it is a torture for the workers, but for people, suffering is better than having nothing to eat.
Water plants also need employees, and ordinary water needs to be filtered before it can be used as drinking water.
In order to save firewood, and because the water could not cool down after boiling, Zou Ming spent a lot of potatoes to exchange for several filtration systems from other bases and produced direct drinking water for the base.
After all, people are still alive today, so bacteria and microorganisms must still exist.
The rest is to maintain law and order and maintain street life. There is no carpentry work, and if people want any tools or furniture, they can only make them themselves, or find someone they know who can do this job to help them after get off work.
Although life is still hard and the spiritual world is still poor, people have jobs, food to eat and water to drink, and compared with their previous lives, they are very stable.
"Some people have started having children." Zou Ming was quite proud when he mentioned this.
It’s not that people didn’t have children before, but they were forced to do so. After getting pregnant, they didn’t dare to have an abortion because there was no medical care. If something went wrong, they would die, so they had no choice but to give birth.
And more people, who have a little bit of means, will try every possible way to prevent pregnancy.
Most people who don’t have the conditions to use contraception cannot get pregnant because their health is too poor.
Now that people are in better health, have more stable lives, and some have even started families, they are willing to have children.
"This is the best." Ye Zhou also smiled, "This is the only way the base can continue to develop."
Without newborns, what would happen to the population of the base in the future? Steal from other bases? Kill other people's relatives and friends, and then let them come here to make this their home? That's unrealistic.
They soon arrived in front of a small building. Zou Ming said, "The people living here are all elderly people who are no longer able to work, and some children without parents."
This small building is very old. The windows have been repaired, but they are all wooden windows, and the wood is not good either. Some of them will break into pieces if you touch them with your hands. But at least it is a place where people can live.
Zou Ming: "Everyone gets two potatoes and half a cup of water every day."
This is just enough to avoid starvation.
But Ye Zhou just sighed and said nothing.
It is already very difficult for the base to support these people who have lost their working capacity.
"Yang Yue is in charge here now." Zou Ming walked in with Ye Zhou. "I want to find them some work they can do, but I just can't think of it."
Most of the work at the base now is physical labor, which is difficult for adults to do, let alone the elderly.
Especially the elderly here have difficulty even walking.
The reason they are still alive today is mostly because they are lucky.
And even more people who lost their labor force, both young and old, died before Zou Ming seized power.
Ye Zhou also felt that it was indeed difficult to come up with jobs for the people here. After all, there was no shortage of simple handicrafts here. After all, every household was still self-sufficient. Apart from working to earn money, they had to learn to make the rest by themselves. It was obviously unrealistic to ask them to pay for them.
But the things that are difficult and that people have to spend money to buy are things that the elderly cannot do.
But Ye Zhou still comforted him: "Don't worry, we will definitely find a way later."
Zou Ming just smiled.
They walked into the small building. The decoration inside was very simple, or even without any decoration. The first thing they saw when they entered was the lobby. The load-bearing walls could not be demolished, so the lobby seemed cramped, with only a few tables and chairs.
There were several old people sitting on the chairs. They occasionally said a few words, but more often they closed their eyes to rest, or even fell asleep.
Someone saw Zou Ming and squinted his eyes to look at him for a long time. After confirming that it was Zou Ming, he grabbed the handrail with both hands and prepared to stand up and say hello to Zou Ming. It was only after Zou Ming waved his hand that the old man did not stand up.
Life here is indeed not good, but fortunately it is cleaned fairly well and there is not much dust and sand.
There is no electricity in the base during the day, and lights are only available at night, so the door must be opened to let the sunlight in.
The windows cannot be opened, otherwise the room will be filled with yellow sand.
The wind may be a little cool at night, but the hot wind carrying yellow sand during the day is definitely torture.
When Yang Yue came down, Ye Zhou was observing the interior of the small building accompanied by Zou Ming.
There is actually everything in the small building. It was originally used to house Zhao Qing's confidants, so it has everything that is necessary.
Later, it was distributed to the elderly because other people preferred single-family houses. There was no choice before, but after the choice was available, people still preferred to have an independent space, at least to store their few possessions.
Yang Yue came down in a hurry, her mask was a little crooked. Because she was missing an eye, she sometimes had trouble balancing and almost fell down when going downstairs. It was her quick reaction that helped her grab the handrail to avoid falling face first.
"Boss." Yang Yue stopped and greeted Zou Ming very respectfully.
Ye Zhou looked at Zou Ming and found that Zou Ming was already used to it. Zou Ming just nodded: "We just came to take a look."
Yang Yue then looked at Ye Zhou. She was confused for a moment, and then shocked. She recognized Ye Zhou and was stunned for a while before she shouted in disbelief, "Boss Ye?"
Ye Zhou smiled at her and said, "It's me. Your mask is damaged. I'll bring you a few new ones tomorrow."
Yang Yue was still standing there stupidly.
"Boss Ye...you haven't changed at all..."
Ten years, not ten days. How could someone not change at all in ten years?
She didn't know how much older she had become, but Ye Zhou still looked young.
Is it true that there are people in this world who are favored by God to this extent?
Ye Zhou didn't know what Yang Yue was thinking, he just asked: "Are you the only one taking care of this place?"
Yang Yue almost didn't react, but she answered subconsciously: "There are others, but I live here."
Of course, she couldn't take care of everything by herself, but everyone else in the base had work, so they would wait for them to get off work and come over to help clean up. But this care was actually very limited, and Yang Yue only cooked and changed clothes for the elderly.
They did not yet have the luxury of being able to bathe with water, so washing consisted of wetting a towel and wiping their bodies.
But even so, it would have been impossible in the past. After all, there was little drinkable water back then, let alone filtering it, even the dirtiest water could be drunk.
"Boss Ye...will you stay here in the future?" Yang Yue looked at Ye Zhou.
There was expectation and pleading in her eyes that she herself was not even aware of.
For so many years, she always knew who Zou Ming was thinking about. At that time, Zou Ming was always busy and never complained to anyone. No matter how hard or tired he was, he would grit his teeth and bear it alone. Only on the night of Zhao Qing's death, after everyone's revelry, Zou Ming looked into the distance and said: "No matter how much I do, he can't see it."
He gritted his teeth and did everything he could. So many people cheered for him, but the person he really cared about and wanted to show it to couldn't see it, or even know anything.
Yang Yue had been moved before. After all, Ye Zhou was out of place here. He was rich, capable, and elegant. It was hard for anyone to dislike him after dealing with him. But the brief attraction was just attraction. Yang Yue knew it was impossible from the beginning, so she never had any hope, let alone fell deeply in love.
So when she looked at Zou Ming, she just felt sad for him.
She thought about persuading Zou Ming to accept the reality. Ye Zhou had been gone for so many years. If he wanted to come back, he would have come back a long time ago. How come he was nowhere to be seen until now? People should not dwell on the past and should always look forward.
But every time she wanted to persuade him, she couldn't open her mouth.
This place is too barren, so barren that it seems difficult for people to develop any feelings other than interests.
Liking someone, thinking about someone, even if you can't meet them, even if the other person doesn't know anything about them, but along with the pain, there should also be some sweetness.
If this is the case, why should we advise him? There is no benefit in forgetting it, so it is better to remember it.
Ye Zhou didn't know why Yang Yue looked so hopeful and pleading, but he still answered readily, "Yes, I will stay here forever."
Yang Yue breathed a sigh of relief instantly. She grinned happily and said, "That's good, that's good."
"By the way, if you have time, you can go to the temporary hospital. It will probably be set up in the next two days. Let's check on your physical condition." Ye Zhou felt sorry every time he saw her.
Yang Yue didn't think it was a big deal. She smiled and said, "I'm in good health now. I can eat, sleep and work. Besides, I have the boss to take care of me!"
Zou Ming: "If you have nothing to do, go check it out."
Zou Ming spoke, and Yang Yue immediately said, "Then I'll go over and take a look when I'm not busy."
Ye Zhou smiled and gently nudged Zou Ming's waist with his elbow.
Zou Ming calmly grabbed Ye Zhou's hand from behind.
Ye Zhou was stunned, because Yang Yue was standing in front of him, and this intimate action suddenly had a bit of the excitement of an affair.
Yang Yue didn't see it, she was still saying: "It's good that Boss Ye is back, is the branch still open?"
She said a little embarrassedly: "There is still not enough meat at the base now, and the purchase is limited. Sometimes I can't eat it once a month."
She expressed a simple wish: "I want to eat meat."
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