Chapter 530: Warmth, Departure, The Journey Forward!

“It’s really cold tonight, I feel like the temperature is about to return to the previous blizzard!”

“I doubt so. I remember it was around -20 degrees during the last blizzard? However, at that time we stayed indoors every day. The body temperature seemed similar to right now.”

“Hehehe! I’m going to get some hot water later to wash my face and soak my feet! It’s going to be good!”

“D*mn it, Xu Jingming! You’re really a strange one, aren’t you! I was wondering what you were doing secretly these nights. Turns out you’ve been out getting warm water!”

“Hmph! I already told you before! You didn’t go the last time and now you’re just jealous, right?”

“F*ck it! This won’t do! I have to go to exchange for some water tickets tonight and get some hot water. I can’t even feel my feet because it’s so cold!”

The group of seven hurriedly marched across the vast field toward the village with the help of the moonlight.

The workload in the basin had been adjusted because of the drop in the weather conditions.

The earliest batch had been shifted from nine-thirty to eight o’clock which was a full one-and-a-half hour reduction.

The last batch was shifted from ten o’clock to nine o’clock, an hour earlier!

The adjustments did not seem big but as long as the day’s work was done, you could get off work early and return to the village to do whatever you wanted at eight o’clock.

Given the chance, when the eight o’clock bell rang in the center of Hope Village, more than 90% of the people happily packed their farming tools and started returning with their torches.

“Don’t you think life has been getting more and more exciting? I heard that our very own first batch of cotton shoes will be released for sale in two days. It’s going to be a major event!”

Xu Jingming, who was called “strange” glanced at the fire in the basin from a distance and slowed down his steps, welling up with emotins.

“Cotton shoes? Those things are too expensive! I haven’t even gotten anything good these days so I won’t be able to afford them!

“However, I did hear that… the heating system… is about to run?”

The construction of the boiler was a scene that everyone witnessed together after Ai Jianfeng joined the village and established a mechanical team.

They watched as the pipes were laid from scratch and the boiler room built from the ground.

Since three ago, when everyone’s sleep started to be disrupted by the cold, they would start to fantasize about how wonderful it would be when the heating system finally started.

It was common for people to unconsciously think that they rather freeze to death than stay in such hot weather.

The same went for when it was cold, and it was even worse.

Not to mention that it was not just cold, but the the air humidity also increased and the cold weather was the type to freeze you to the core like in the south!

It would be impossible to survive even if you had thick skin!

“Really? I’ve heard people say that a two-ton furnace required half a ton of coal daily. We acquired two tons of coal not too long ago. How long will that even last?”

“That’s true. The boiler was obviously built for the -40 degree weather in the future. We’ll be in trouble if we use it right now!”

“We should stop thinking too much. Maybe if we conquered the dwarf camp then we could dream about it. As for now, the hot water is also quite comfortable!”

“We’re lucky to be in the basin. Nothing can topple us over! The temperature here is definitely warmer than on the fields. That’s good enough!

In the dark, the warmth of the village could be felt as they approached closer.

Everyone had dismissed the thought of the heating system, and naturally comforted themselves with the thought of being able to return “home” and the soothing feeling of the hot water.

As usual, a booth had been set up in the room directly facing the main entrance of the village, with the words “Resource Department” written on it.

The villagers that returned from their work posts quickly started running after seeing the long queue already lined up, scared to fall behind others.

After about ten minutes of queuing, Xu Jingmin’s group of seven arrived at the front of the line.

“Manager Su, this is our task list and completion details for today. Here are our farm tools, please inspect them!”

The two who sat at the table were Shen Ke and Su Yuan.

Currently, the construction tasks in the basin had yet to be delegated due to the low productivity and were handed to the overall management of the village.

Every morning, after the villagers formed their teams, they would report to the resource department to receive their tasks corresponding to the number of people and the corresponding difficulty. They also received the farming tools required to go out to work.

Depending on the difficulty, the rewards for the missions varied.

For example, the group of seven were tasked with pioneering tasks, and were responsible for repairing a piece of the wasteland that spread out to about three acres to meet basic cultivation needs. The reward for the task was 30 labor points to be shared among themselves, which could be used to exchange for resources and pay for meal fees.

The patrol mission that Xu Jingming took up the night before rewarded him with a hot water ticket per hour, and each could be exchanged for one liter of hot water.

Whenever their working hours were finished and they had completed the tasks they had received in the morning, everyone would return to the resource department to turn in their task reports and farm tools.

The reward would be automatically reflected in the villager’s account and became their fixed assets after the resource department checked through their work.

The whole process was similar to a task in an RPG game, and brought great convenience to the villagers.

Therefore, as the director and assistant director of the resource department, the two’s prestige had risen with the reform during this period.

“Have the three acres of land been cleaned up?” After reading the report submitted by Xu Jingming, Su Yuan raised his eyebrows slightly.

“Yep! We’re done! Both quality and quantity assured! We didn’t just clear the stones, we even trimmed the grass. You don’t have to worry about the task that our team completed!”

Xu Jingming was very confident about their performance and patted his chest proudly.

“Good job! This is the reward issued to your team. However, the rules are still the same. If we are to find out that you’ve lied, not only will the reward be deducted by double the amount, your whole team’s reward for the next seven days will be deducted by 30%. That won’t be a problem, right?”

Xu Jingming took the note that had their reward and replied, “Not at all! Not at all!”

The establishment of rules was not easy in an apocalypse, especially when the number of people kept increasing. It was likely that “slackers” would appear.

Su Mo had given instructions very early on regarding the issue.

There would be rewards for completing tasks and punishments for mistakes. There was no exception even for the leadership!

The strict regulations however had not caused anyone’s dissatisfaction and instead brought a wave of “gratitude.”

It was evident that these people who had been tortured by capitalism in a civilized society were tired of all kinds of empty promises.

They slacked off because they were not rewarded accordingly and not because they were unwilling to work hard. It was their way of silent resistance.

The group left the resource department and glanced at the long queue behind them. They were instantly excited after they left their tools and tasks behind, and looked at the reward note in Xu Jingming’s hand.

They walked briskly and their faces were full of smiles. They familiarly walked back to their spot to “divide the spoils” and began to laugh.

“Quick, quick, quick! Hurry and divide the reward, Jingming! There’s going to be a long line if we’re late to wash up!”

“Ah, right! I need to do my laundry when I get back! Hurry up!”

The note in Xu Jingming’s hand was a reward for everyone. They would allocate the reward again among the team, according to the time and task each person had performed.

However, Xu Jingming was extremely slow today.

He looked like he was under a pertification curse as he stood under the torch and froze like a sculpture.

“Jingming, Jingming, don’t scare me, what’s wrong?”

“D*mn it! Don’t tell me the reward became less? That’s impossible! I even double checked in the morning and the reward was the same!”

“Just tell us if it’s it’s lower than expected. We’ll just have to bear it together. Don’t act so scary!”

Xu Jingming did not move despite the repeated urging of the group.

On the contrary, when he heard the others’ voices, his hands trembled, and there was even tears in the corner of his eyes!

The middle-aged man beside him could not take it any longer, grabbed the note from his hand and anxiously looked at the note.

However, just like Xu Jingming, he was stunned in place.

The small note seemed like it had a magical power that could make someone lose their soul after glancing at it.

The remaining five people could not hold back their curiosity after seeing the two being completed stunned.

“April 10, Team Jingming, seven people. The pioneering land task No.32 has been completed.

“Reward: 30 labor points (seven per person)

“Reward:7L share of hot water (seven per person)

“Reward: Heating system usage time 45min (per person, time can be accumulated)

“Dear villagers, this is a warm reminder that the Hope Village’s heating system will be having running a test run on the Month 4, Day 10, from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. the following next day.

“The official opening time is set to be 10:00 p.m on Month 4 Day 12 and the estimated daily operating time is six hours!”

“Another reminder that heating system is our common property. Please do not maliciously damage or vandalize it. The village aims to provide more public welfare in the future. Thank you for your efforts for the village!

“Respectfully, Su Mo!”

The neat signature placed on the small piece of paper, and the pale black handwiritting on the paper was slightly deformed after being smudged by Xu Jingming’s tears.

Their voices gradually grew quieter as they read from the top of the note, starting from the 30 labor points, all the way to the bottom of the note with Su Mo’s name.

Their voices were replaced with the sound of tears.

Natural disasters were ruthless, but people were affectionate!

They were surrounded by the cold environment yet their hearts were warm!

They cried like children returning home to their parents after being bullied.

Most of the people in the group were older than Su Mo, some even two decades older!

However, the could not hold back the feelings that welled up in their hearts after being suddenly broken down. They used their tears to release the pressure that had built up in their hearts for a long time.

A tenth-level gust of wind mixed with a storm with 800 millimeters of precipitation could turn the dry land into an ocean in one day!

A snowstorm with a snowfall of 500 millimeters in a single day, a terrifying natural disaster with a cumulative snowfall of more than two meters in seven days was unheard of on Earth.

The extremely cold weather of -40 degrees, 99.9% of people had probably never experienced such a thing nor did they have this concept in their minds at all.

The three disasters that were about to come one after another, it was impossible to say that they were not afraid or panicking.

Every night, there were several suppressed cries in the prefabricated houses, and many people went to sleep when they were tired, crying when they woke up.

The current prosperity was really maintained by those who had strong mentalities.

However…

Those who were strong had their walls broken down after they realized that someone would support them even when the sky fell. They finally opened their hearts, and began to pour out the feelings and relieve the pain of the past few days!

Even in the cold winter, there was someone above holding the skies up with his own body!

And in the cold future, there would be someone who would storm ahead to pave the way!

“Let’s go. Let’s wash up and sleep afterwards!”

Xu Jingming’s words fell, and the other six nodded.

In other parts of the village, just like the seven of them, there were countless people who were excited and rushed to the interior of the prefabricated house!

Different from the cold before, now as soon as you opened the door of the prefabricated house, you could feel it was hot and dry inside like summer.

The pipelines made of high-quality ore from Rock Iron Mountain had strong heating energy, and the previous special heating units also played a big role.

The two worked together, and the load of the boiler was on the lower end, yet the room temperature was as high as 25 degrees!

As for the top of the heating radiator, the temperature was even higher. It was more than 40 degrees which was extremely hot!

For a while, the southerners who had just entered the door were still in a daze, while the northerners moved quickly.

Some of them warmed their quilts, some made hot milk and some were even outrageous enough to take out their own pots and heated water next to the heating radiator to make supper.

A small iron sheet carried the dreams of thousands of people.

The heat warmed the hearts of thousands of people.

Su Mo, who stood on higher ground at the back of the basin, saw the scene clearly.

However, the faces of the few people standing beside him did not show much excitement. Instead they were full of worry.

“Shelter Leader, why don’t you wait till tomorrow since it’s such a festive day?”

“That’s right! It’s inevitable that we’ll encounter an accident when traveling at night, especially when it’s really cold. Why don’t you consider leaving tomorrow morning?

Su Mo stood in front of the group with his hands behind his back and he looked down. Veside him was Hao Qiang who carried a marching bag half the size of a huma.

At the rear of the group were Chen Shen, Li Hu, Pei Shao, Qi Qin, Lu Kuan and other “free” people.

After making a plan and confirming that there was no problem with the heating, there were actually not many things to worry about in the basin.

So after thinking about it, Su Mo immediately decided to set off at nght and arrive in Freedom City tomorrow morning!

“You can rest assured. I was able to go in and leave in one piece the last time. This time won’t be any different.

“On the contrary, it’s the family side. After I leave, the things that I’ll explain to you must be done as soon as possible, and one day’s delay will lead to another day’s trouble!”

Su Mo glanced at the people that he had delegated their respective tasks to and watched them nod solemnly.

He shrugged his shoulders and glanced over his head.

The next moment, in everyone’s sights, Su Mo’s temperament suddenly changed, and at the same time as his body was raised, gray light spots suddenly seeped out.

Hao Qiang, who had been looking at the bottom, did not fall behind. He activated his mark transformation at almost the same time.

It only took five seconds for the gray light spots to dissipate, and a magical scene happened.

Where Su Mo was standing, the man had disappeared, replaced by a swift road lizard that was somewhat similar to the coolie lizard, but with extremely terrifying thigh muscles.

Where Hao Qiang was standing, his figure had also disappeared, replaced by a mechanical person whose thighs shone with metallic luster, and his body felt very cyber-like.

“Let’s go. Lu Kuan, Chen Shen, remember to help me keep it a secret from Su Chan!”

“Okay!”

Su Mo glanced at the moonlight above his head and realized that he had nothing left to worry about after explaining everything. He nodded and turned away from them.

The speed of the swift road lizard was slow, but it had higher endurance

The speed of a transformed human was fast but had lower endurance.

The two were equally balanced and could take short breaks to rest on the way. They would reach Freedom City at eight o’clock in the morning.

After they sped up, the human and lizard figures got farther and farther, eventually turning into small dots that slowly disappeared at the end of the horizon.

“Let’s go. The shelter leader did not stop even when the blizzard is so close, so we have no reason to stop too!

“The dwarves stole from us and now it’s time for payback!”