Chapter 34, a beam of light
Oceana looked around and saw a large construction site.
The Governor's territory, the 'land of salvation' claimed by the good man, seemed to be different from what she had imagined.
After the end of last winter, a large-scale wave of mutated monsters broke out in Oceana's hometown, a place called the 'Southern Provinces' by people in Fuxing City.
It was a huge disaster and many gathering places were completely destroyed.
The wave of mutant monsters has finally passed, but it does not mean that the disaster has subsided.
There was no time to sow seeds in the spring, they had to spend a winter, they were fighting alien monsters... various factors caused people to lose a lot of food stocks. Hunger and material shortages plagued the southern provinces.
What do people who can't live anymore do?
Will turn into an evil spirit.
Oceana and her brother originally lived a very comfortable life. The land in the southern provinces is relatively fertile and is relatively lightly eroded by waste energy storms, so there are many gathering places here that can make a living through agriculture. In fact, the southern provinces are originally very important food producing areas. Fuxing City, which connects the inner city with hundreds of thousands of people in the outer city, mainly relies on food imported from the south.
Oceana's father was a plantation owner. Before everything collapsed, their family's plantation had a population of tens of thousands. When the harvest was good, it could not only feed everyone, but there was also a lot of wealth that could be sold in exchange for industrial products.
It is conceivable that Oceana's living standard is like that of a little princess, far exceeding the vast majority of people in this wasteland
But it all collapsed at the transition between spring and summer.
A large number of raiders from outside laid siege to the plantation; riots ensued inside.
Under the protection of the guards, the family tried to break out and escape from the plantation at the last moment. Also trying to escape were many people who did not participate in the riot.
But in the chaos of war, she became separated from her father.
Be anonymous, plaster your face, cut your hair...
She took her younger brother and followed the group of refugees, arriving at Fuxing City in a daze.
In the meantime, she suffered too much.
In order to have a bite to eat, she is willing to do anything, even a little bit of trivial work, if she can get a little food, that is enough. What's more, go begging, go bite and fight with people, go steal things, go lie to people...
Before everything collapsed, she was taught to be a lady. She never thought she would look like this.
But she persisted.
In the past few months, she had been starved to death, and her brother, who was just in his early teens, was malnourished.
But at least, they are all still alive.
However, she often gets confused.
If you have never seen beauty, you may remain in darkness. But a few months ago she was a little princess, the apple of her father's eye. Her daily worries were appraising and restoring pre-war artworks purchased at high prices, and helping her father manage the estate and calculate the accounts.
Now she was hesitating about what to eat tomorrow.
What's more important is that this kind of life has no end in sight, no hope, no light.
She felt like she couldn't hold on any longer.
She had thought more than once, living in such a bad world, would it be easier to die?
But every time she saw her brother's eyes, she would push back the thought, grit her teeth and continue to suffer.
Strangely enough, in the past, she was not very close to her brother, who was seven years younger than her, and she often found this naughty kid really annoying.
However, during these few months, she would rather die with her brother. Once when his brother was abducted, she bit him like crazy and did not let go even after being beaten to the point where his head was bruised and bloody.
She herself doesn't know why, she only knows that she will fight with anyone who dares to harm her only remaining family member.
But she still sadly understood that they were about to die. The chaos in the southern provinces had a huge impact. Insufficient food imports have caused food prices in Fuxing City to continue to rise. She relied on doing odd jobs, and it became increasingly difficult to feed herself and her brother.
Recently, even worse news came: it is said that the largest grain merchant in Fuxing City has disappeared. Immediately afterwards, urban food prices became more volatile.
At this time, a businessman opened a free porridge shop in a slum outside Fuxing City.
Anyone can receive a piece of hot porridge at the porridge shop, provided that they listen to the declaration made by Mr. Gu Hang, the governor of the planet, on his first day in the wasteland.
She had a fight with someone before she and her brother got a seat.
The so-called Governor's declaration contained a long paragraph. At that time, she just wanted to read a few sentences and start eating quickly. She could no longer remember much of what the Governor's declaration said.
There was only one sentence that she remembered clearly: the Governor would let everyone who surrendered to him live a good life.
The next day, when the porridge shop was still open, she came again. But this time I was told that those who had eaten once were not allowed to eat again unless they were willing to follow the caravan to the governor's camp and become his subjects.
Without much hesitation, she pressed her fingerprint on the paper.
After waiting for a few days, when the caravan set off, she came here with her brother.
Following the caravan to the governor's camp, it was true that life forced us to do so, but why didn't we have the idea of changing the status quo and seeking some light and hope?
She thought she would see a well-developed city, but instead she saw large tracts of dust. There are many simple cement buildings that have been built here, but more are still under construction.
However, looking at the large-scale construction projects throughout the camp, at least there should be no shortage of job opportunities.
But with my small body, can I be a construction worker?
Oceana, whose mind was in turmoil and didn't know what the future would hold, took her brother's hand and followed the team's arrangements to the registration place.
After her turn, the person registering asked for some basic information.
Name, age, what you are good at, what you want to do...
She answered matter-of-factly.
"Huh?" The person registering opposite suddenly said, "Are you literate?"
"Uh...yes."
"That's great!" The man was overjoyed, "Hurry up to that table and fill out the form. Congratulations, you will get good treatment."
Oceana went over in confusion.
There was no one at that table.
She filled out a form and was then assigned two jobs: working as a clerk in a textile factory that was about to be established during the day, arranging and executing production plans, counting production results, and managing production processes...
The second job is to be a teacher in a night school literacy class.
The work content made her feel relieved a lot. This was something she was really good at. When she was at the manor, she would assist her father in some management work. Although I was engaged in agricultural production management at that time, and now I am working as a clerk in a textile factory, I am still better at it than doing physical work with my own hands.
Especially after hearing the treatment, she became even more excited.
According to the calculation of work points, the material rations she can get every day are more than enough to support herself and her brother, and she can also save a lot.
Although everything was incomparable to when she was a little princess, it was the only light she saw during the months of wandering around.
(End of chapter)