Longyang County City was one of the five major cities in Seongma Province. It had a population of hundreds of thousands and various industries were developed. The industrial zone under its jurisdiction could produce advanced steam railcars and super cannons. It was the most important industrial town in Seongma Province. The county city was adjacent to the Reverse Dragon River and had excellent commercial docks. Freight transportation was also very developed. It could reach the entire Seongma Province.
The whole city was surrounded by a huge wall that was about ten meters high. The streets in the city were crisscrossed and high-rise buildings were everywhere. Being in the city made people feel as if they were in another world.
Luo Kai was dozing off under a bridge. Next to him was a worn-out second-hand tricycle. This was his tool for making a living. He couldn't stand the constraints of factories or other units. If he wanted to support himself, he could only make a living by himself. He spent two hundred star dollars to buy this tricycle. It could be used to transport goods and people. If he was lucky, he could earn more than a thousand star dollars a month. With his appetite, this amount of money could barely fill his stomach.
He had been in this city for more than two months. He wanted to go directly to Shangjing City in Higashimogami Province. However, he found that it was not easy to travel long distances in this world. Seongma Province was very strict on the flow of people. If one wanted to go abroad, he had to apply for a pass, which was the passport in his previous life. This passport could only be applied for by people working in large business groups. It was extremely difficult for ordinary people. Of course, if one had money, they could get anything. Ordinary people could entrust some business groups to apply for a pass, which cost about 100,000 star dollars.
Star dollars was a common currency in human countries after the catastrophe. It was issued by the most powerful country, Higashimogami Province. In order to prevent the economy from being controlled by Higashimogami Province, other countries also had a metal currency, which was a mixture of gold and iron coins. It was also a common currency.
This was actually a kind of financial plunder. However, other countries were often in turmoil and were not stable enough. Their credibility could not support a trustworthy currency like paper money, so they could only accept it.
The annual income of a middle and low-level family was between 20,000 to 30,000 star dollars. This meant that an ordinary family would have to starve for years to earn enough money to apply for a passport.
The transportation in this world was extremely developed and was not inferior to that in his previous world. All kinds of railways, roads, and waterways were well connected between human countries. Of course, there was also air transportation. Large steam airships could transport hundreds of passengers at a time, and they were not affected by the terrain or other factors.
Traffic was developed, and correspondingly, there were many different kinds of bandits and highway robbers. Among them, the South China Sea pirates were the most famous. Seongma Province's navy was not strong, and after a big defeat last year, almost all of the coastal shipping was controlled by pirates. Every time, merchant ships had to pay a huge toll to pass through.
The main means of transportation in the city were rail cars, a small number of steam-powered taxis, and the rest were man-powered tricycles. Luo Kai was a coachman in this line of work. He was too lazy to solicit customers, so his business was very bad. It was difficult for him to even support himself.
Of course, if it was too difficult, he could go to the wharf of the Inverse Dragon River to carry bags and work as a porter. He could earn a hundred or eighty yuan a day. It was not a big problem for him to survive.
The sky gradually darkened. When night fell, the luminous stone lamps emitting white light at the various streets of the city began to light up, causing the entire city to be shrouded in a hazy white light. It was extremely beautiful.
…
Unknowingly, he slept for another day. Luo Kai stretched his body, got on the tricycle, and rode towards the house he rented. Along the way, he looked at all kinds of people on the street and finally felt that he was still alive in this world.
He did not know why, but since he used the ability of qi and blood last time, he had become very sleepy. His head was in a groggy state all day long, and it had lasted for more than two months. Recently, it had begun to ease a little. This was also one of the reasons why he did not work hard to make money.
He lived in a place called Lobster Alley in the outer ring of the main city. It was an area near the city and was surrounded by all kinds of small industrial workshops. The housing there was cheap, and a lot of low-wage workers like him lived there.
After passing through the gate of the city wall, he came to the outer city. An hour later, accompanied by the clanking sound of the old tricycle, a dilapidated street appeared in front of him. There were large pits everywhere on the cement road. There were all kinds of shops on both sides of the street, including hair salons, restaurants, bathhouses, clinics, and so on. The shop fronts were all half-old iron doors. The fluorescent stone lamps were dim due to being covered in mud. All kinds of stray cats and dogs ran around the street.
This was the southwest corner of Longyang County City. It used to be a graveyard, but in recent years, with the expansion of Longyang County City, it had become a distribution center for all kinds of handicraft workshops.
After walking into the depths of the alley, a small two-story building appeared in his sight. Four old ladies were playing mahjong in the corridor on the first floor. Nowadays, mahjong had become the most important entertainment for modern humans. At night, the whole street would be filled with the sound of mahjong. People could not help but sigh. Even if civilization changed, this sport would not disappear.
Luo Kai greeted one of the old ladies with a large mole on her forehead. He then struggled to carry the tricycle on his shoulder. Accompanied by a series of complaints from the old ladies, he locked the tricycle in the small courtyard and walked up to his room on the second floor.
This two-story building was a self-built building for the residents. There were a total of 30 rooms, and each room was about 40 to 50 square meters. There was no toilet, and of course, no kitchen. The ceiling and walls of the room were blackened by smoke and smoke. However, the residents did not mind. Because it was cheap, the rooms here were only about 100 star dollars a month.
Luo Kai naturally did not mind. Compared to the prison on South Tooth Island, this place was much better. At least there was a bed, a broken coal stove, and a long chimney that led outside. The coal stove was a cooking tool. Now that it was winter, the small coal stove still had the function of heating.
He started the fire to cook. Dinner was very simple. He simply made a big pot of noodles and sprinkled some vegetables, oil, and salt. The tasteless noodles were eaten by him with loud slurping sounds. His appetite was very big, and he would often feel hungry after eating for less than an hour. When he was hungry, any food would become delicious.
After eating, he fell into a deep sleep. The only good thing about being sleepy was that he was no longer dreaming.
Early the next morning, Luo Kai came to the market not far away to line up. He was here to buy meat. Speaking of which, it was strange. Meat was very expensive in this world. The price of ordinary pork was about 80 star dollars per catty, and it was limited. Each person could only buy 1.5 catties per catty. The price of other beef and mutton was even more expensive. The market only had a small supply every month, and all of it was reserved by some large restaurants.
Of course, if one had the money, they could go to the restaurants. Those large restaurants had connections with the farms. As long as one had the money, they could eat unlimited amounts of meat.
Luo Kai's current body needed to eat meat that was high in energy and high in protein to ensure that he was full of energy. Therefore, he had to buy the cheaper meat every month. If there was no meat, he would have to eat large amounts of rice, white flour, and other carbohydrates to replace the protein. To him, living in this city was not easy.