vstars Chapter 195 Seabuckthorn Syrup
Chapter 195 Seabuckthorn Syrup
Next, the poster detailed the two construction plans provided by the base authorities for these expelled individuals, conveying a sense of detached observation in their writing:
Option 1: Self-reliance and building your own house. Within the "self-built zone" designated in the fourth city, find or use the extremely limited basic materials provided by the site to design and build a temporary or semi-permanent shelter that can withstand the severe cold.
Once the house is built and passes a simplified inspection, the builder and his immediate family can move in without having to return to the central heating station at night. They will have an independent, somewhat protected private space. The house is owned by the builder, but the land remains the site.
Option Two: Collective Labor and Unified Resettlement. Participants will obey the unified command and division of labor of the base construction department and participate in collective labor for public housing, infrastructure, or designated production projects in the fourth city.
Those who choose this option can live in centralized heating points at night, with the base providing basic living support. Individuals do not need to worry about their accommodation, but they also completely lose their private space and privacy, becoming fully integrated into collective management.
The comment section below the post is unusually active, with the number of replies refreshing at an alarming rate, and all sorts of questions, concerns, doubts, and calculations emerging one after another:
A netizen with the username "Elderly at Home" wrote: "OP! What about the elderly, the infirm, and the disabled? They're simply incapable of building their own houses! They can't do heavy work in the collective labor program either! Doesn't the land management company care? Are they just going to let them fend for themselves?"
The original poster, "Fourth City Observer," replied: "As far as I know, the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled who have lost their ability to work will be uniformly placed in a specific 'shelter area,' where the base will assign special personnel to take care of them. However, the conditions are definitely limited, and I heard that the number of places is tight, and the review process... you know."
Users who are "realists" are more concerned with actual choices: "Which of these two models is more popular now? What's the general consensus?"
The original poster replied: "Currently, it seems that the vast majority of people choose the second 'collective labor' model, probably more than 70%. The reason is simple: not everyone has the ability, skills, or physical strength. More importantly, they have enough materials, tools, and luck to build a house that can withstand minus 20 degrees Celsius without collapsing in a short period of time."
Choosing to work for the base meant losing freedom and privacy, but at least it guaranteed the most basic need to "survive." There was a warm place to lie down at night, and food to eat during the day. I didn't have to risk freezing to death, working myself to death, or encountering accidents while searching for materials. I could survive first and think about other things later.
A netizen with the username "Outer City Worker" keenly saw a "business opportunity": "Hey, I have another question. Besides food and lodging, do you get points for working for the base? Can those of us who live in the outer city, have our own houses, but are short on points also go there to work and earn points? We're just idling around during the day anyway."
The original poster replied affirmatively: "Yes, you can participate in the unified construction labor and get 1-3 points per day depending on the intensity and duration of the labor. People from outside the city can apply to work there, but I heard that the review process is a bit stricter. You need to verify your identity and residence information, and you have to solve your own transportation and the problem of keeping warm in the fourth city during the day. Of course, if you don't mind the crowds and are willing to stay in the air-raid shelter in the fourth city at night to 'experience life,' you can theoretically do that, but you need to apply for registration in advance, and once you move in, you may have to obey the management there."
After reading this post and the heated discussion below, Xu Xiaoyan gained a clearer understanding of the current situation of the Fourth City and the base management's thinking. The base was clearly using the most basic survival guarantee and points as the driving force. On the one hand, it forced these "unstable factors" and "redundant populations" selected by society to exchange their labor for a very simple place to stand. On the other hand, it could rapidly expand the scale and infrastructure of the Fourth City, accelerating its transformation from a temporary outlying settlement into a new urban area with certain defense, production and accommodation capabilities.
She closed the forum, put her phone aside, rubbed her slightly sore eyes, and noticed that the room temperature was a bit lower than when she had just woken up. The residual heat of the kang (heated brick bed) was dissipating. She got up, took out a hot bun from her spatial storage, and started eating. The warmth of the food helped her regain some energy.
At the same time, she began to think about the important matter at hand: she had to get rid of the mountain of sea buckthorn in the space as soon as possible!
After breakfast, she carefully washed the iron pot in the kitchen, and then moved out several 20-liter plastic water tanks filled with natural water, as well as plastic and metal basins of different sizes, and lined them up in a row.
With a thought in mind, she poured the sea buckthorn berries into the largest basin, put on rubber gloves, and began to wash and remove impurities.
Sea buckthorn berries are small, and it's inevitable that small branches, thorns, and even soil will be mixed in during harvesting. She filled the basin with cold water and carefully washed and stirred it by hand, allowing the lighter branches and leaves to float to the surface and be skimmed off, while removing the sediment by changing the water several times.
At the same time, she picked out the obviously thick branches and rotten fruits one by one. The icy water quickly froze her fingers under the gloves until they were red and numb, but she could only grit her teeth and persevere. This process was repeated countless times until several large basins were filled with the preliminarily processed and relatively clean sea buckthorn fruits, and a small pile of the picked-out waste accumulated on the ground. Her back was already a little sore.
She poured the pre-processed sea buckthorn into a large iron pot that was already placed on the stove, filling it almost halfway. Then, she slowly poured cold water from the water tank into the pot, just enough to cover the sea buckthorn.
The stove was already filled with hardwood and some coal. She lit the pine needles with a match, watching the flames gradually rise and lick the bottom of the pot. She covered the pot with the heavy wooden lid, and stayed by the stove, adding firewood from time to time, adjusting the air damper, and controlling the heat.
Soon, the pot began to bubble and boil, steam overflowed from the edge of the lid, and the unique, fresh yet extremely tart aroma of sea buckthorn began to fill the entire kitchen.
After the water boiled, she removed some of the burning firewood and turned the fire down to a medium-low flame to prevent it from burning. She lifted the lid, and steam rushed out. Inside the pot, the golden-red liquid was bubbling, and the fruit was cracking and softening under the high temperature.
She picked up a long-handled wooden spatula and began to stir and crush the sea buckthorn in the pot. The wooden spatula rubbed against the iron pot and the fruit, making a rustling sound. The pulp, juice, and peel were completely separated, and the originally plump and independent fruits were cooked into a thick paste.
She stood by the stove, stirring for a long time, her arms going from sore to numb, then to repeating the movements almost mechanically, fine beads of sweat appearing on her forehead, which were quickly cooled by the still low temperature in the kitchen.