In Calais Town, another group of new residents was relocated here.
Henry looked at these new immigrants and couldn't help but worry, wondering if there were still enough houses in the town.
When the residents of Lankeng Town were moved here initially, there were still plenty of vacant houses in the town, though most of them were located deep in the underground shelter. But at least they were places to live.
Even though they lacked furniture and household items, at least they were houses, places where a family could stay, providing shelter from the wind, snow, and cold.
But after the people from Lankeng Town moved in, Calais Town successively welcod populations from three or four surrounding villages and towns, quickly filling up all the vacant houses in the town.
Now, there are still more people coming in, inevitably raising concerns that there won't be enough houses in town.
Although after the blizzard subsided, so of the town's residents gradually moved back to their above-ground hos, freeing up part of the underground houses, it was obvious that these houses could at most be temporarily lent to the relocated people, who would soon need to find places of their own.
As for Henry himself? He was allocated a one-bedroom apartnt for resettlent, not a large place, but it was a house belonging to him.
This made Henry, who wasn't much into tidying up before, beco more diligent, cleaning his little ho spick and span every day.
Of course, a significant factor is that Henry doesn't have to worry about making a living every day now. The town arranged a job for him, and although the work is still hard every day, he gets paid weekly and receives enough daily rations to fill his stomach.
Moreover, the key point is that workers in the Northern Territory work only 10 hours a day, and in addition to their allotted grains, they are provided with a al.
Not everyone can have this benefit, but at least the workers employed by the Northern Territory's official sectors are guaranteed this basic treatnt.
This drastically changed Henry's life, allowing him not only ti to tidy up his ho after work each day but also enough energy to work harder with a full stomach.
During this ti in Calais Town, Henry's once visibly ribbed stomach beca rounded, no longer looking like skin and bones.
This made Henry cherish his current life even more, eager to do more for the town.
He even thought, if the town didn't have enough houses for these people, he could squeeze a little at ho to accommodate soone.
However, it was evident that the authorities had considered the housing problem when deciding to move the people to this town. A giant piece of machinery, which Henry had never seen before, was transported into the town by a restored running train and assembled in the underground shelter.
"What is that? It looks huge!" Henry asked his fellow worker, lifting a large package concurrently.
Henry's current job was still similar to that of a laborer, but unlike before, he loved this job and was full of enthusiasm.
His fellow worker glanced at the machine, disinterestedly saying, "That's a tunnel boring machine, used for excavating the underground shelter. The underground shelters are all dug out bit by bit by that thing."
While speaking, the coworker hoisted a large wooden crate onto his shoulder and walked forward with Henry, continuing, "It's just that Calais Town isn't large enough, nor does it have a big enough population. Otherwise, I hear that in those big cities or larger towns, they have one of those things permanently installed underground.
Once the city's housing runs low, they start up the machine to dig new spaces and then build more houses!
I wonder if, with so many of you migrating over this ti, the officials will make any new arrangents. If only we could keep this big guy here!
Then we could operate it ourselves to dig out more houses, and I wouldn't have to squeeze into the small apartnt with Fanny when I get married."
Listening to his fellow worker's life aspirations, Henry couldn't help but feel envious.
Henry had also t Fanny, the person his coworker ntioned. She was the daughter of the town's baker, quite pretty, with striking golden hair.
On several occasions when Henry and his coworker encountered her, upon hearing that Henry had co from another place and led a frugal life, she gave him plenty of bread.
Though the bread was just the left-over unsold goods from the bakery, it was still precious support for Henry.
This made Henry very envious of his coworker having such a beautiful girlfriend. However, he didn't fancy himself finding a pretty girlfriend too; as long as the partner was hardworking and healthy, that would be fine.
After all, his coworker's family also ran a grocery store and matched well with the baker's family, while he was just a regular single guy.
Therefore, Henry didn't have any extravagant wishes. He just hoped to maintain the good life he had now.
The two carried their loads to the designated place and, after offloading, turned back to walk again. However, they hadn't walked far before soone called out to Henry.
"Hey, Henry! I rember you're single, right?" It was the town's commissioner who called him, the sa person who had handled Henry's identity registration, allocated his house, and arranged his job when he first arrived.
Precisely because of this, Henry respected the commissioner and greeted him eagerly when called upon: "Hello, Commissioner. Yes, I'm still single. Why?"
"Oh, nothing much, just wondering if you want a wife?" The commissioner's words left Henry stunned.
"Ah?" Not only Henry but his coworker also fell into a state of surprise.
"Ah, what? I'm asking if you want a wife. This ti, quite a number of single folks have migrated in, and considering the current housing shortage, I thought I'd introduce so single girls and guys in town to pair up, saving so trouble." The commissioner explained succinctly before asking Henry again, "So, do you want a wife? If so, I can introduce you to one."
"Yes! But I have no money! I can't afford a wife..." Henry appeared quite embarrassed.
Although he quickly got a job after coming to town and his wages were settled weekly, Henry, who almost had nothing when he first arrived in Calais Town, needed to purchase many things, leading to expenses everywhere and resulting in no spare cash in hand.
"That's not a problem! I'll lend it to you first!" The coworker promptly held onto Henry, expressing that he could help: "I've saved a sum for the wedding with Fanny, but since we haven't been allocated a house yet, I can lend it to you first."
"How can I take that!" Henry didn't want to take this money, considering his coworker also needed it for the wedding with Fanny.
"You don't need to pay. I'll handle it," the commissioner interrupted the coworker, smiling as he assured Henry he had a solution.
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