"Doesn't the base provide food for these people?" Chen Yuechu couldn't help asking Li Tianshuai beside her.
"Food is extremely scarce right now. The outside is crawling with infected people and mutated animals. Every time the army goes out to scavenge for food, they suffer attacks to some degree, so the higher-ups have restricted food distribution to one meal a day. Most of it is instant noodles and biscuits."
"Only soldiers and people who contribute, such as electricians, mechanics, or guards stationed outside the base, get three meals a day."
Chen Yuechu was deeply shaken. Here at the base, those supposedly wealthy and privileged people were no different from ordinary people. Without skills or anything useful to contribute, they could only beg for food like stray dogs.
Suddenly, four or five men carrying iron rods approached. Their leader swept his gaze around and shouted, "We need ten maintenance workers for the base! Three days of work, with one meal ticket per day, good for one meal!"
At those words, the entire outer section erupted. Many men rushed out of their tents and swarmed toward the group.
"Boss, let me go! I'm strong!"
"Boss, pick me, pick me! I haven't eaten all day!"
"Boss, choose me! My child hasn't eaten for a day!"
Hundreds of people shouted over one another. Their eyes were filled with longing—the longing to survive. As their only means of obtaining food, manual labor was something they could do, and the only thing they could do.
"There are so many people, but they're only choosing ten. What about everyone else?" Watching the scene, Chen Yuechu felt an inexplicable heaviness in her heart.
Behind the hundreds of men stood countless women and children, their eyes equally full of longing. But against the men, they were too weak