Chapter 297 Young man, you are not young anymore
Lin Wen decided to inspect the refugee camp first to see if there was any room for improvement.
The refugee camp is located in a wasteland in the easternmost center of Changshan County, with a population of nearly four million and an area of more than one thousand square kilometers.
The average population density is more than 40,000 people per square kilometer, which is five times higher than Xiahai City and twice that of the galactic-level capital Mumbai, but lower than the 130,000 people per square kilometer in the universe-level area of Mong Kok.
From a distance, Lin Wen saw the tents that stretched all the way to the horizon. In order not to attract attention, he got off the special car and walked over.
It was already dawn and the refugee camp was bustling with people. The refugees came out of their tents and started washing up for the day.
As I got closer, a unique smell of life hit me, very similar to the smell of a boys' dormitory in a university.
The refugees' water is distributed by the refugee management committee, with each tent receiving two buckets of clean water per day.
The tents are neatly arranged in rows. There is a partition between every twelve tents in a row, and there is also a partition between every ten rows to facilitate pedestrians and the transportation of supplies.
These ten rows and twelve columns of tents form a square formation, and the refugee management committee uses this square formation as the basic unit to manage the refugee camp.
There are 120 tents in one square formation, and the entire refugee camp has 4,000 square formations, totaling 480,000 tents.
In order to buy these 480,000 tents, Changshan County made a massive purchase and bought out the entire empire's tent market.
Later, the Imperial Ministry of Commerce directly banned Changshan County from purchasing tents, forcing Lin Wen to build the miraculous mountain building complex.
However, tents are a commodity that has a low demand and is usually not in stock. After the empire adjusted its supply rations and Changshan County resettled the refugees, the market quickly recovered and the ban was lifted.
After Lin Wen observed for a moment, the aroma of food wafted over and quickly overwhelmed all other smells.
There is a kitchen in each square, and there are cooks arranged by the Refugee Management Committee in the kitchen. They are responsible for all the meals for more than a thousand people in this square.
Dozens of men came over carrying steaming porridge, vegetables, and flatbreads. They banged on the pots with iron spoons and shouted, "Eat! Eat! Eat well so you have the energy to work!"
The crowd gathered like ants and quickly formed a line in an orderly manner.
They each came forward with a bowl and a plate in their hands. The chefs gave each of them a spoonful of porridge, a few heads of Chinese cabbage, some rapeseed, a piece of meat the size of a thumb, and half a pancake.
Although it is simple, it seems very rich and can barely fill your stomach.
This is the breakfast in Lin Wendi's 12-yuan daily meal plan.
For a moment, the refugee camp was filled with fragrance, and Lin Wen was smiling. Every bit of beauty would turn into his good karma.
"Big brother."
A little boy walked past him, looking at him with wide eyes.
"Aren't you going to eat?"
Lin Wen smiled and said, "I've eaten."
But the little boy ruthlessly exposed his lie: "I saw saliva flowing from the corners of your mouth."
Lin Wen corrected him, "That's the saliva of longing for the future."
The little boy stuffed his half cake into his mouth and handed over his porridge:
"Don't lie! You must have been slacking off and got caught by the disciplinary committee! They didn't let you have breakfast, did they?"
"Here, I'll give you mine. You'll have to work hard later. You're not a child anymore. My mother said you need to learn to be sensible and face reality. Only then can you become a man who can stand up no matter how many setbacks he has to face..."
Lin Wen smiled.
He took the bowl and chatted with the little boy while eating.
From him, Lin Wen learned that the refugee camp was in good order. The refugee management committee had various members to manage the phalanxes, and each phalanx had higher-level members to manage lower-level members. Basically, it was relatively fair.
There is no shortage of supplies. Winter is approaching and two rounds of cold-proof clothing have been distributed.
The square has a kitchen, a shower area, a toilet, a medical center, and even a barter shop and a security post. It is already the prototype of a small community.
The only problem is that it's too crowded.
There were 7-10 people living in one tent, and it was difficult to turn over in bed, which was very inconvenient. Many of them were couples and families, and it was very awkward to squeeze together.
The secondary problem is that there is not enough clean water. We only use two buckets of water a day, and it is always frugal.
After finishing a bowl of porridge, the little boy's parents called out from afar: "Xiaogang, where are you? Come back soon!"
Lin Wen, who had gotten a bowl of porridge for free, handed it back and said with a smile, "Thank you, little one. Big brother has one last question for you. Do you believe that there are immortals in this world?"
The little boy shook his head.
Lin Wen stretched out his hand: "What is this?"
"A piece of white paper that glows."
Lin Wen handed it to him: "Look at it again." At the same time, he turned off the Paper Moon Hanging in the Air.
“Wow, 20 bucks!”
The little boy's mother ran over and twisted his ear: "I've called you so many times, why don't you just answer once!"
The little boy shouted, "I saw an immortal, and he gave me twenty dollars!"
But Lin Wen was long gone.
The little boy exposed the secret instead, and the twenty yuan was quickly confiscated. Lin Wen's little trick was considered a magic trick and did not cause any waves.
Lin Wen returned to the special car and headed to another core area of the refugee camp, a miracle he had built with his own hands.
Mountain building complex.
It was located in the mountains at the southeastern corner of Changshan County. The special car drove along the mountain for a long time until it entered the mountains, and the view suddenly opened up.
It was a miraculous sight. A large piece of the mountain had been hollowed out, and facing Lin Wen was a huge gap, more than 800 meters wide. The crowd under the crack poured out like a tide.
Before the special car got close, a management committee member came over blowing a whistle.
"What are you doing? I've told you countless times that this is the 'early tide' period, with millions of people taking turns, so why are you squeezing in here?"
The driver was about to start cursing when Lin Wen stopped him. He stuck his head out and said with a smile, "Sorry, we'll leave now."
Lin Wen asked the driver to back out, got out of the car, chose a high point, and looked at the terrifying crowd.
The exit, which was more than 700 meters wide, could not accommodate them. A terrifying noise came from the crowd, which was the result of countless tiny sounds.
The management committee members carried loud speakers and maintained order everywhere to prevent stampedes.
Although the crowd is terrifying, it is actually orderly when you look closely. Several people form a line, forming a tributary. The entire crowd is made up of countless such tributaries.
The crowd lasted for more than twenty minutes before it ended, but another crowd soon started again.
They were people who had finished their night shift and were preparing to go back to rest. They gathered from all directions and rushed into the mountain.
Lin Wen noticed that in addition to a large number of management committee members holding yellow loudspeakers, there were also some management committee members holding red loudspeakers. Their eyes were sharper and they looked around like eagles.
Suddenly a red speaker raised his horn and shouted, "Stop!"
The sound was enough to burst the eardrums and directly suppressed all the noise. In an instant, the entire flow of people stopped.
The red trumpeter rushed in with a group of yellow trumpets, picked up several women who had fallen from the crowd, and scolded them harshly: "Why are you pushing us? Didn't I tell you to walk slowly and not rush?"
The women all hung their heads, not daring to speak. The yellow trumpet quickly led them out, and the red trumpet shouted, "Walk slowly!"
The crowd began to move again, but very slowly, and it took a minute for it to return to normal speed.
Lin Wen saw the women being taken aside to bandage their wounds. In just a few seconds, their legs and feet were covered with marks of being trampled on, and there were more than a dozen abrasions of varying sizes.
Lin Wen walked over and heard a man wearing a security committee armband scolding them.
"...I've said it a hundred times. This is a crowd of millions. Without a powerful voice to shock the entire crowd, it's impossible for just a few people nearby to stop it. Instead, it will cause chaos and lead to an even bigger stampede. Isn't last month's lesson enough?"
Several women lowered their heads, shedding tears. One woman said, "We are just worried about our children..."
The safety committee member earnestly advised, "We already have a kindergarten, and the teachers are taking good care of the children. Why are you still worried?"
"I, we are just worried..."
The rest is filled with gossip and family talk.
It can be heard that they have adapted to life here. While accepting it, they also keep complaining to regulate their emotions and get comfort.
The security committee member was also a woman, and was very familiar with this kind of situation. While comforting them, she told them how bad it was before and how good it was here, and that it was still just as bad outside.
Under her comfort, the women forgot their pain and started chatting about family matters.
Three women make a play, and four women make the play even longer. They kept talking until the crowd disappeared, but the exhaustion of a night and the desire to see their children still made them separate.
Lin Wen was about to go up and talk to the security committee member, but unexpectedly she jumped back and blew the whistle immediately, and several people in security uniforms ran over.
"What happened?"
"He, that's him, has been staring at us for a long time! He must be a hooligan and pervert who is up to something bad!"
The guard took a look at Lin Wen. He had a handsome appearance and was fair-skinned. His clothes were ordinary but neat. He didn't show any intention of running away when he saw them coming. He knew that he was probably not that kind of person.
But since a woman had called the police, the guard said, "Young man, come with us."
Lin Wen did not reveal his identity. He wanted to see how this refugee camp, which was in a completely abnormal state under the management of Yang Shaohu and Huang Mingxiao, was operated.
If we can find out their needs in a targeted way, then their "living and working in peace and contentment" will definitely be greatly improved.
Lin Wen was secretly delighted, but still followed the guard.
The security committee member stamped his foot lightly and grumbled softly, "Why didn't he refute it? I'll go to the guard post... Forget it, I'll just tell the neighborhood committee lady."
As soon as he passed the Great Rift Valley, Lin Wen saw the magnificent building he had built. He hadn't been there for a while and he could hardly recognize it.
Originally, the mountain building complex was a whole round mountain. Lin Wen melted all the excess rocks in the mountain, just like a giant using a spoon to dig into a cake.
But the entire building complex still retains its original rock flavor, and living in it is not much different from living in a cave.
But now, the surface of the rock wall has been completely leveled and painted white, and each floor has been equipped with glass and metal railings, shining in the sunlight, making it look like a residential building.
Following the guard inside, we could see many workers excavating the mountain, trying to expand the space outside the mountain building complex.
There are many tents of various sizes set up under the mountain building. Each tent has a sign hanging on it, which reads "Third Office", "Medical Clinic", "Sentry Post", "Management Committee Office", "Complaint Office", etc.
Lin Wen even saw a large tent with the words "Mountain Third Kindergarten" written on it. From inside came the noise of many children and the sound of teachers gently taking care of the children.
The guard stopped at a tent with the words "Third Floor, Seventh Guard Station" written on it.
"Come in, young man, don't be nervous, we'll just take a statement."
Lin Wen walked in and found that it was a very simple tent with only a table and a few chairs.
Lin Wen explained a few words to them casually and then began to ask about their recent situation.
Several guards also felt that he was not a bad person, so they simply took a statement and started chatting with him.
From the conversation, Lin Wen learned the true status of the mountain building complex.
This building complex accommodates more than four million refugees in total. Due to lack of space, the refugees sleep in two shifts: half work the night shift and sleep during the day, and the other half work the day shift and sleep at night.
The work mainly involves clearing the mountain, digging out rocks, further sorting and renovating the building, and the daily affairs of more than four million people.
Now, there is another task of playing in the mud, saying that it is to build a large factory.
Their main concern is that it is too crowded, there is no private space and everything is done in a group.
But there is no way around it. The mountain building complex is actually a large circle with a radius of 1,200 meters dug out of the mountain by Lin Wen.
A small circle with a radius of 600 meters is dug in the center of the big circle, and the remaining donut-shaped rock mass is the mountain building.
The small circle with a radius of 600 meters in the inner circle is the mountain square.
In other words, more than four million people are crammed into this area of only a few square kilometers, and the population density is sky-high.
If anyone said that this place was spacious and comfortable, Lin Wen would definitely slap him in the face.
However, this problem is difficult to solve, as Lin Wen does not have the ability to build another mountain building.
However, during the inquiry, Lin Wen learned that their real problem was that the corridors of the mountain building were too narrow, making it very inconvenient to walk. The building was also tall and there was no elevator. For people living on the upper floors, it was almost harder than climbing to the sky to go out.
I have to find a way to solve this problem, Lin Wen thought.
While they were talking, a few middle-aged women suddenly rushed in from outside.
"Where's the handsome guy?"
"Who said there's a young man here looking for a wife?"
As soon as the aunts saw Lin Wen, they swarmed over and surrounded him.
"Young man, I have more than thirty girls, all of them are beautiful, gentle and virtuous. I see that you are not young anymore, and it is time to consider getting married. Do you want to go and meet one of them?"
"I say, are you guys mistaken? This kid just wants to find a friend. What a hooligan, all he's saying is nonsense."
"It's okay to just ask, but you're really ungrateful for keeping me locked up for so long!"
"Xiao Li, let him go quickly, or I'll tell your mother."
(End of this chapter)
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