Humans at the end of the world knew how to seize opportunities. They started to clear the fields and wanted to plant like the camp. At this time, they were embarrassed because they did not have any seeds. They regretted so much that they wanted to rush to the lake and uproot all the seedlings in the camp. If they could not have hope, they would allow others to have it.
It was as if God was looking after the camp. Overnight, the market at the entrance of the camp started to trade seeds. It was like a desert traveler who was about to die of thirst getting the sweetest dew. They stopped spending lavishly. They did not ask for luxurious tobacco and alcohol anymore. Women's pleas could not move them. Could cosmetics be used as food?
During the first reclamation, the waiting before the harvest was the most urgent. Seeing the green seedlings burrowing out of the ground, the man squatting in the field every day could not get enough of it. The seedlings were like his children. He was waiting for them to grow. He could not wait to pour his heart and soul into them. That was his hope.
It was not only the hope of one person, but the young sprouts were the hope of everyone. The poor people who were driven out of their shacks slept in the fields. Perhaps the place they slept in was their previous nest. They were driven out of their homes, but they got jobs. Would they slowly starve to death in their nests, or would they get a hope of survival through work?
There were no holdouts here. They were afraid that others would not want their nest.
Today was a new day. It was also a day of hope for the people who were busy in the field. They received their breakfast, a square of rice. They held it in their right hand and carried it in their left hand. They sat on the ridge of the field and carefully ate their only meal of the day.
The rice was just a little more than two taels. They ate it by counting the rice grains. Every grain was precious. They could not eat their fill. Compared to the past when their stomachs would burn and they would want to take a bite of mud, this was already good. At least they did not have to worry about their corpses being thrown into the river to rot and wash away.
These people ate very carefully. In the periphery of the field far away from them, there were some thin, skinny people wandering around the white boundary line. The boundary line was sprinkled with lime. It was more than 30 centimeters wide. It formed a circle and surrounded the entire field. The white lime line was dotted with other colors.
There were some dark brown spots mixed in the white. The dark brown spots were irregular and uneven, and they could be found all over the ring belt. After Limestone County, there was a three-meter-tall barbed wire fence. The barbed wire was covered with metal boxes, and when the wind blew, the metal boxes would jingle.
There were armed men carrying rifles patrolling the field. Every time there was a sound, they would raise their rifles and check carefully. They were on guard against those who did not know how to farm and could only wait to starve to death. After they went crazy from hunger, they would do everything they could to rush in and eat everything they saw. The stains on the lime line were dyed with their blood.
These cold-blooded people might have been the elites before the apocalypse. They had the knowledge of long-range ordinary people, and they had rich operational experience. They could easily make a draft plan, and they could easily make a project worth millions. But here, they were nothing. Their white-collar career did not give them any commanding heights. They lived above ordinary people. Perhaps, they were not as good as ordinary people. At least ordinary people knew common sense, but they did not even know common sense.
It was not easy for these people to survive until now. When others were in despair, they did not think of anything else. They just waited to starve to death. When others had hope, they were still in despair. Their despair turned into the desire to destroy everything.
Unfortunately, they did not even know how to destroy. Other than being resentful all day long, they could only wait to starve to death or rush into the lime line to be killed.
They knew that it was useless to wander around here. Looking at the tender green nursery, their stomachs would twitch even more. Even their intestines felt like they were being torn apart. It was an unimaginable torment. People would go crazy under this kind of torture. What dignity, what humanity, what etiquette, and what quality would all be damned.
They were also a group of strong-willed people. They had not given up and were still persevering. They persisted in struggling in this hopeless world. Perhaps even they themselves did not know why they persisted. They had tried their best. No matter what opportunity presented itself, they threw themselves into it. Unfortunately, their efforts did not succeed.
"Creak …" A Fierce Soldier stopped beside them. "Hua La" ~ The muzzle of the gun was aimed at them. They stared blankly at the muzzle. Their numb expressions did not change. They were like skeletons. Only their skulls were covered with a layer of skin. They shook slightly. It was not because they were afraid, but because their bodies could not support it.
The heavy machine gun did not fire at them. The door opened, and a fully armed team member got out of the car. He raised his chin and looked at them. He seemed to be sizing up this group of people but did not think that they were of any value.
The scene was silent. Those people all stood obediently in front of the car. They tried to look more energetic. In their hearts, this might be an opportunity.
"Who has gone to university …"
As soon as he finished speaking, more than ten men raised their hands.
"Who has obtained a higher degree or studied abroad?"
Just like before, all the men raised their hands.
The team member was a little hesitant. He was just a technical secondary school student. How would he know if they were the real deal?
"Who has obtained a doctorate?"
This time, no one raised their hands. Not a single one. The team member nodded in satisfaction. If someone else raised their hand, he would ask who was the academician of the Academy of Sciences.
A plastic bag was thrown at the men's feet. Two pieces of wrinkled and burnt bread rolled out and stopped on the muddy ground. The men looked at the food on the ground together. There was only food in their eyes. They could not see anything else. If it was not for their willpower that pulled them back at the last moment, they would have rushed forward to snatch the food.
"One piece each. After eating, go to the camp by the lake to write a book. Write down all the knowledge you know. This knowledge can be exchanged for food. It can be exchanged for food to survive."
The military vehicle kicked up a cloud of dust and turned to leave. The men could no longer control themselves. They let out beast-like roars and threw themselves to the ground. They grabbed the fallen bread and mud and stuffed them into their mouths …
The activities of the camp stirred up another storm in the colony. The market area was expanded, and a long single-story house was built. There was plenty of light inside, and there were rows of tables and chairs, boxes of papers, and rows of bookshelves.
A house was opened as a shop for purchases. The shop only bought one type of product, books.
Not all books were bought. There were professional books and books on various basic subjects. There were also various technical books. The purchase price was not low. A book that was approved could be exchanged for at least five kilograms of rice.
It did not matter if they did not have books. As long as they remembered what they had learned, they would get a job. They were writers. They sat in a brightly lit room. They used pen and paper to slowly write down what they had learned. After editing and summarizing, they would form a separate book.
These people might be very tired, or they might scratch their scalps in order to recall something that left a mark in their hearts, but they couldn't grasp it no matter how hard they tried. More often than not, they would be rejected because their narration was repetitive. At least they could eat their fill. The camp was not stingy with them. A bowl of corn rice cooked with salt water was the best delicacy in their hearts.
Among these people, the scholars who used to hide at home and study had the advantage. They casually reorganized some knowledge and compiled it into a book. In the past, no one would care about their work, but now they could exchange it for ten jin of rice stamps. Moreover, they were paid for it. When they were writing their books, they were provided with food for free.
The people in the gathering place could not understand. They did not know why the camp was being silly again. There were no books. If they could find a school, there would be plenty of all kinds of books. Was there a need to use food to exchange?
The more books there were, the more rice tickets they could give out. Rice tickets could not only be exchanged for rice, but also for all kinds of supplies. Clothes, shoes, daily necessities, and solar powered notebooks.
One scholar gritted his teeth and exchanged fifteen kilograms of rice tickets for a notebook. The speed at which he wrote his book increased rapidly. Then, he printed it out with a printer. The profits he obtained made him smile from ear to ear. Just like that, the circulation of rice tickets led to the development of the market. Some small powers also began to exchange their own food for rice tickets to buy some products they fancied. Unknowingly, the camp slowly eroded the gathering place's economy.
However, regardless of whether it was rice tickets or something else, purchasing books and recruiting writers were all incurring losses. The food that Yellow Springs had gone through so much trouble to obtain was quickly being consumed. This kind of consumption made Zhang Huai An's heart ache.