The Benefits of City Life

The morning sunlight shone brightly on the water's surface.

From afar, the water glistens; up close, the blue sky, white clouds, and the blazing sun are all reflected in the water.

The rain has completely stopped, and tents of all sizes have sprung up along the riverbank, stretching out into the distance.

New tents are still being pitched.

The elderly and children stayed in the tents that had already been set up, while the able-bodied young people from each family, and even some elderly people who were still strong, went to other families to help set up new tents.

In the aftermath of the disaster, Jinling gradually came to be known as a megacity. The area within the city limits did not simply encompass a single urban district.

It is the sum of multiple urban areas and many desolate areas, a vast expanse of land encompassing roads, fields, mountains, rivers, and lakes.

As fortified strongholds on the city's borders, new ones are constantly being added, encroaching on land plots outwards, while the old ones are not removed.

For many years, people have been stationed in these places, supporting each other and defending against various threats from the sky, the ground, and the waterways.

The channels for arms outflow have been tightened, primarily because the newly constructed fortifications Zhongdu large stockpiles of weapons.

When Chu Tianshu and his group traveled from South Wind Building to this riverside area, they encountered another line of defense.

For people who live in cities, these defense lines located in the interior areas have come to resemble highway toll booths.

When Yannian and the others got off the car, more than a dozen people rushed over from a distance, their Shangdu full of excitement.

These men were truck drivers among the migrating population, and also one of the backbone of the entire group, responsible for managing the stockpile of firearms and ammunition.

Chu Tianshu got out of the car with an umbrella. After listening for a moment, he knew they were happy that someone had delivered ammunition so early in the morning.

People from the South Wind are quite efficient.

Chu Tianshu strolled towards the tents and noticed that many of them had been stocked with supplies.

"Grandma, thank you for your umbrella!"

Chu Tianshu returned the umbrella to the old man who had given it to him. This family consisted of four or five able-bodied adults and even more children.

Two children were holding sausages in their hands, pinching them in the middle and twisting them hard until the sausages broke in the middle.

"Yes, yes, that's how you do it."

The old lady beamed, turned around to take the umbrella, and said, "You're welcome."

Chu Tianshu found some candy, half-squatted down and distributed it to the child, saying, "Were these sausages and flatbreads also delivered by people from South Wind this morning?"

Chu Tianshu had been observing the group carefully during their migration.

The food supplies that everyone had consisted Shangdu rice and dried meat; there was almost no flour at all.

Forget about any other vacuum-packed fast food products.

More than 20 years have passed since the disaster, and the various supplies in supermarkets and stores have either been looted or have long since rotted and turned green.

The various settlements in the wilderness, apart from exchanging necessities such as guns, ammunition, gasoline, and liquefied gas with caravans from megacities, avoided everything else if possible.

For them, exchanging the Borderland Species for other resources was simply too uneconomical.

However, many households now have brightly colored items in plastic packaging.

"No, we replaced these ourselves."

The old woman smiled and remarked, "It's so nice living in the city; a couple of pieces of dried meat can buy a lot of things."

"Back then, the goods brought by caravans were valued at more than ten times the price in the city. We really couldn't bear to change them."

"But for so many years, it's been either dried meat or brown rice, it's really unpleasant to eat. The dried meat is either too tough to chew, or it's stewed until it's like cotton wool..."

The old lady grabbed half a starch sausage, took a bite, and said, "These things are still the best."

Chu Tianshu nodded as well.

Only in such mega-cities, where a large number of people gather, categorize themselves, and cooperate with each other, can productivity be distributed to various places like flowing water.

On their way here, Chu Tianshu and his group also saw a Coca-Cola factory.

He had eaten a full breakfast and didn't feel much for cola or soda.

Then it suddenly occurred to me that I could bring over more Coke later and share it with everyone; that would be quite fun.

Hey bro!

Hou Jian jumped over, "Uncle Yannian called this morning and said you're coming to stay with us too. I specially picked out the best tent for you, come on in."

He led Chu Tianshu through the many tents, finally arriving at the easternmost part of the tent camp.

There stands an exceptionally tall tent here; it's hard to say if it's the best, but it's definitely one of the largest tents.

The tent's top is more than seven meters above the ground, with four corners, and when the top is opened up, it resembles a house.

This is much more luxurious than the tent Chu Tianshu stayed in on Tianshan; it's more like an ancient military tent.

Hou Jian lifted the curtain and waited for Chu Tianshu to come in.

There was a thick layer of canvas on the ground, stretched flat. It had rained yesterday, and the grass on the riverbank was wet, but there were no wet marks on the canvas, which meant that there were several layers underneath.

This tent has a door and windows, both of which are two-layered. The outer layer is made of hard plastic that lets in light, and the inner layer is made of cloth.

If you only use the inner layer and not the outer layer, the tent will be very breathable, but it will be dark and suitable for sleeping.

If only the outer layer is used, the tent will be bright and airy when the sunlight shines in.

Inside the tent were some tables, chairs, and cushions, and some fresh fruit from who-knows-where.

Hou Jian said, "Take a look, is there anything else we need to buy?"

Chu Tianshu unfastened the long sword from his waist, placed it on the table, and sat down in the chair, completely relaxed.

"Good."

He leaned back and patted the armrest of the chair, a vintage red-lacquered seat with many mottled marks on the paint.

In his hometown of Hailing, there seems to be a factory that specializes in producing these kinds of chairs, so when he was a child, whether at home or visiting others, these kinds of chairs were a common sight.

The factory's slogan at the time was, "If you don't break it, hit it, or chop wood, you won't need to replace it for fifty years."

I can't believe how high the quality of this thing is. More than 20 years have passed since the cataclysm in this world, and the chair is still so sturdy.

"Hou Jian, are you all from Hailing?"

"Hailing? I don't know. I only know that in our area, it's called Shashang, I think?"

"That's part of Hailing."

After chatting for a few minutes, Yannian walked in.

"Ha, it seems you're quite satisfied with this place."

Yannian patted his chest, deliberately as if he were letting out a sigh of relief, "Our place is a world apart from South Wind Building, so I can only hope with my mediocre sincerity that you feel it's alright to stay here."

Hou Jian secretly slipped out.

After lowering the curtain, he realized something was amiss; Chu Tianshu was a young man.

However, when Chu Tianshu was with Uncle Yannian, he felt that he was of the same generation as those other uncles and elders.

"A person who has nothing might think that other people's sincerity is worthless, but a person who lacks nothing will think that sincerity is very important."

Chu Tianshu smiled and said, "I have always used the latter kind of life as my goal and demanded it of myself. In fact, I am getting closer to that goal."

Yannian Nian laughed heartily, "Alright then, you rest first, I'll go out..."

"Etc."

Chu Tianshu adjusted his posture, resting his elbows on the armrests. "Brother Yannian, do you think the person who tried to assassinate you will make another move?"

Yannian paused, the joy fading from his expression, but there was no obvious worry on his face. He simply took off his scarf, as if to get some fresh air.

"South Wind has provided us with a lot of support, and outsiders can probably guess that my treatment methods are quite effective."

"But since they weren't forced to stay in South Wind, they should know that I'm no longer the key to curing the illness."

In fact, if Chu Tianshu hadn't displayed an aura that was no less imposing than Yu Nanfeng's,

Before Yu Wanzhuo is fully recovered, the doctor will likely be forcibly detained by the South Wind Group.

"Don't think of the enemy as too rational."

Chu Tianshu said, "Anyone capable of raising such assassins must be very cunning, but also possess an extremely strong desire for control."

"We ruined his plans, and there's a 99% chance he'll retaliate."

"So..."

As Yannian's expression also turned serious, Chu Tianshu changed the subject.

"So, Brother Yannian, how about learning some new tricks?"

Yannian was taken aback. "Ah, now?"

"Isn't this a bit too much of a last-minute effort?"

Chu Tianshu stood up and waved his hand.

"Learning new techniques on short notice could be a sign of accumulated strength finally coming to fruition. Whatever other tricks they have up their sleeves, we just need to focus on becoming stronger. That's what you call brute force overcoming all techniques."

Yannian smiled wryly, "The wisdom required to become stronger is much deeper. At my age, how much wisdom can I still digest?"

"But since it's what my savior said, I'll give it a try!"

(End of this chapter)