Looks like it’s going to be a sleepless night tonight.
But one must admit, listening to the night wind of Firewood Shelter City, gazing at the distant streetlights weaving like threads.
Cheng Ye could only describe his current mood with two words.
Comfortable!
Although he’s not a nostalgic person, after scrambling around in Happiness City for three months, he’s grown fond of the stimulation of the wasteland.
But to "return" once to stability and modernity, the longing in his heart is imnsely satisfied.
"Hey."
Li Changfeng took a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket, handed one over, and this ti Cheng Ye didn’t refuse, twirling it between his fingers.
Seeing him like this, Li Changfeng lit one for himself, the fla flickering in the night.
"My parents were both grassroots workers, one carrying corpses at the incineration plant, the other working as a nurse in the community hospital, barely half a doctor."
Looking at the lights of Firewood Track Mountain, his voice suddenly lightened, "Since I was born, they spent everything to nurture , used a lifeti of contribution points on inspector training, and that’s how I barely passed to beco an inspector, assigned to the farthest E13 area."
Cheng Ye said nothing, listening quietly.
"From the age of 21 until now, it took ten years to climb to Zone B4. If I wasn’t watching screens at the checkpoint, I was on patrol, let alone other provinces, I could count on one hand how many tis I’ve been outside the city."
He chuckled self-deprecatingly, flicking away ash, "Sotis I really envy you guys, able to run in the wilderness, see different Shelter Cities, and have new stories every day."
"What about other tis?"
"Quite glad," Li Changfeng replied candidly, "Like when I heard Happiness City was invaded by the mother source, I felt standing safely on this rooftop smoking was a great blessing."
The two had no entanglent of interests, nor any conflict of positions, no need for lies.
Cheng Ye chuckled, people in Happiness City envied the stability of Firewood, and people in Firewood envied the freedom of Happiness City, but switching places might not necessarily make either live better than now.
"What about your parents now?"
"Both dead," Li Changfeng pressed his lips, "The second day I beca an inspector, my father collapsed from exhaustion due to a chronic illness, didn’t last a month. In the end, it was I who carried him into the incinerator, the one he guarded half his life, the fire was especially fierce."
"My mom went out even worse, she was just a community nurse, always ddling in others’ business, any headache or fever in the neighborhood she’d check in, ended up scratched by an Infected Body, ca back smiling saying it was nothing, started to fever the next day, I watched her eyes turn red, her mood beco agitated..."
"There was no dicine at the ti, and the rules didn’t allow leaving an infected alive, so it was who fired the shot, one shot to the head to spare her the suffering of turning into a monster."
"My condolences."
Cheng Ye paused, finally squeezing two words from his lips.
"It’s okay, it was a long ti ago."
Li Changfeng waved his hand, "People live for a thought, my parents had no other hope in their lives, just wanted their son to wear this uniform, have a stable future at the checkpoint, not suffer like they did at the bottom."
"But I don’t have big ambitions, just thinking soday I could climb to the A zone checkpoint, get the fieldwork permit, and freely leave Firewood Shelter City to pursue the freedom I want."
"Freedom?" Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, want to see the unbounded sun."
Li Changfeng’s eyes suddenly shone, like hiding a star, "I heard the stars in the wilderness are ten tis brighter than in the Shelter Cities, you can still see the traces left decades ago by giant objects approaching Blue Star, maybe there’s a way to completely resolve the infection source there!"
Saying this, he looked up, raising his chin, "Hmm, unlike us sitting here, seeing only a few sporadically twinkling stars, not even as bright as the tracks of Firewood Track Mountain."
Once the words faded.
The rooftop fell into silence for a mont.
Until Li Changfeng finished a whole cigarette, extinguished the butt in the trash bin beside him, "Let’s go, before heading back, I’ll treat you to so of Firewood City’s delicacies, unlike you guys in Happiness City, drinking only nutrient paste every day."
"Then I won’t refuse."
Cheng Ye wasn’t hungry, and having just had a good al, didn’t have much craving.
But he was quite curious about Firewood’s food conditions.
Before returning to the checkpoint, they rode the Flying Wing Assault Unit, taking off into the sky.
Though it was the core area, there were no shops open at night, but Li Changfeng skillfully brought him to the employee canteen in Zone B4.
It was sowhat like a university canteen, with four windows still open in the middle of the night.
"Auntie, give us four servings of stir-fried dishes, two big bowls of rice, and a jug of iced fruit juice."
"Alright!"
The apron-wearing auntie behind the counter responded, followed by the sound of the gas stove igniting.
So extravagant?
Cheng Ye was montarily stunned, then saw Li Changfeng’s pained expression, it seed this al wasn’t cheap?
However, as he spoke, Cheng Ye realized he’d been tricked by this guy.
"Just this al cost a day and a half of wages."
"Tsk tsk, don’t be ungrateful."
"Haha, after all, the land in our New Province can be cultivated, unlike your Stone Province, where crops can’t grow. But it was even cheaper a few years ago, now with Firewood getting bigger, everything requires talking about points. We usually just make do, only coming for a good al when craving hits."
"So... do you charge for electricity here?"
"Of course we charge, what are you thinking!" Li Changfeng laughed wryly, "It’s not like your Happiness City where residents get free electricity. Even my personal inspector electricity use, I pay at the resident rate, and it’s not cheap, one kilowatt-hour can exchange for a bowl of rice."
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