“You scoundrel! Didn't I emphasize before that you must strictly follow our requirements?
Old Tao, why are you so insensible? Hurry up and apologize to everyone, and promise not to make the same mistake next time.” Old Wu, leaning on his crutch, pointed at Captain Tao and cursed him fiercely.
He was so angry that Old Wu even threw his crutch, hitting Captain Tao.
Captain Tao stood there with his head bowed, not uttering a sound, as if he truly understood his mistake.
Listening to Old Wu scolding his subordinate, neither Hua Chuanlong nor Ke Hanyu spoke.
For them, Captain Tao’s actions actually harmed their interests. Although they returned to Safe City without having to pay protection fees, they were also the ones who collected protection fees.
Lao Zhuang watched Old Wu scold Captain Tao with cold eyes. He really wanted to retort: Just a few curses and an apology, and it’s over? There’s no actual punishment.
Firstly, there were no punitive measures, and secondly, he wasn't made to hand over the things he had embezzled.
What kind of act is this?
Heh heh, he had seen this routine countless times many years ago.
The stick was raised high, then gently lowered, causing no pain or itch.
But Lao Zhuang was also very helpless internally; their commoner group was very disunited.
Many people actually had an ostrich mentality; as long as they could survive, as long as they weren't pushed to the very last step, they were willing to endure bullying until the very end.
Alas.
Lao Zhuang sighed deeply. If these commoner groups could be more united, they wouldn't be so passive.
So he said, “I won’t say anything else. Many places near Safe City have been searched by us. Now, finding supplies is not as simple as before.
At least we must ensure we can survive, so one-third is definitely impossible. One-sixth, that's our bottom line.”
Old Wu, Hua Chuanlong, and Ke Hanyu exchanged glances.
Hua Chuanlong suddenly said,
“Lao Zhuang, Brother Sun, Old He, what do you think? It’s such a big fuss now, and everyone is losing face. Can you ask the brothers to go back first? We’ll go out to search for supplies tomorrow and discuss it when we return.”
Lao Zhuang felt a bit unconvinced hearing them say this, so he said, “No, we need to clarify this now, or we won’t leave.”
Old Wu frowned upon hearing this, ignoring Lao Zhuang and instead speaking to Brother Sun and Old He:
“Brother Sun, Old He, persuade Lao Zhuang. Our stalemate here is just a waste of time. The top priority is to go out and find supplies.”
Brother Sun and Old He exchanged glances, remembering what Old Wu had privately discussed with them earlier.
Their eyes flickered.
Brother Sun slowly approached Lao Zhuang and said, “Lao Zhuang, Old Wu also has a point. Before this cold weather, everyone was very safe. Now, the most urgent task is to go out and find supplies.”
Old He also echoed, “That’s right, Lao Zhuang, we are just wasting time here.”
Lao Zhuang widened his eyes, looking at the two with some disbelief and saying, “What are you two doing? What’s going on?”
Old He stopped Lao Zhuang, walked closer, and said, “Lao Zhuang, I’ll tell you something later.”
Old Wu saw that the commoner group was communicating and couldn't reach an agreement for a while, so he said, “How about this, you all communicate first and reach an agreement.
We will come back for a meeting in half an hour.”
Brother Sun quickly said, “Okay, then we’ll have the meeting in half an hour to discuss.”
Hua Chuanlong and Ke Hanyu exchanged glances; they didn't care much anyway. Old Wu was the one who cared the most about this, being an old fox.
Just let him take the lead and solve these problems.
Everyone dispersed.
Inside a room.
Brother Sun, Old He, and Lao Zhuang were having a discussion.
Brother Sun closed the window, then peeked outside to see if anyone was there, and then turned back to Lao Zhuang and said,
“Lao Zhuang, I won’t hide it from you anymore. You know the current situation very well. We, this group of people, don’t have guns.
Although there are many of us, we can't beat them. Besides, we also need their protection now.
What’s more, Old Wu and the others won't treat us few badly.”
Old He also walked over, patted Lao Zhuang’s shoulder, and said,
“That’s right, every man for himself, or heaven and earth will destroy him. What’s more, they promised to give us half of the distribution.”
Lao Zhuang looked at the two with disbelief, a surge of anger rising, and he said indignantly, “The four of us were originally elected to be commoner representatives.
Our duty is to protect the interests of the commoners. How can we stand on their side and bully our own people!! You have truly disappointed me!
Besides, don't you know what kind of people they are?
Old Liu was killed by them before, have you all forgotten?
If we don't unite and band together to fight for our interests, then we will be the ones who die later.
Brother Sun, Old He!”
His words were impassioned, filled with the bitterness of disappointment.
Brother Sun sighed upon hearing this and said,
“I say, Lao Zhuang, to be honest, the reason we were chosen as representatives is simply because our families have more people. The rest are all refugees, scattered individuals with groups of fewer than 5 people.
If you don’t consider yourself, consider your family, consider your brothers.”
Old He, on the other hand, didn't have such a good temper and directly spoke with sarcasm:
“I say, Lao Zhuang, we’ve said all the good words. I’ll say it again!
Just now, Old Wu sent someone to convey that if we pay one-third of the protection fee, our three families—your family has over ten people, and our three families combined are less than fifty people.
Now, our commoner group, after this cold weather, has an estimated 800 people from over a thousand.
In the future, when we enter Safe City, the protection fee will be waived, and we will also be able to enjoy 5% of the supplies that the remaining 750 people pay.
Think about it, if it’s like this in the future, how comfortable our lives will be.”
Lao Zhuang looked at his face, feeling a sudden urge to vomit, and said angrily,
“I don’t care what you do, but I disagree. I would rather die than agree.
Have your consciences been eaten by dogs? Conspiring with them to bully your own people—it’s because of people like you that they exploit us so thoroughly.”
“Lao Zhuang, don’t be ungrateful.”
Seeing that Lao Zhuang remained unyielding.
Brother Sun’s eyes flickered, and he walked straight out the door.
Five minutes later.
Brother Sun returned with Lao Zhuang’s two brothers and his son.
Lao Zhuang’s brother said as soon as he entered, “Big brother, Brother Sun just told me, and I think it’s acceptable. If you don’t consider yourself, at least consider us brothers.”
Lao Zhuang’s son, who was 19 this year, also stepped forward and said,
“Dad, Mom isn’t well. She hasn’t had enough nutrition these past few days. Look at her now; if she doesn’t get supplements soon, I’m really worried about Mom’s health…”
Lao Zhuang had anticipated this scene from the moment his brothers and son entered. Human nature is to seek profit.
Even if he wasn't greedy himself, as long as he had family, people he cared about, he had a weakness.
For others, there was a breakthrough point.
Lao Zhuang closed his eyes in pain, letting out a long sigh. He hadn't expected his own brothers and son to try to persuade him, which made him feel desperate.
If he didn't have their support, if even they didn't support Lao Zhuang's decision, then what was the point?
Moreover, if he stubbornly insisted on his previous decision now, his brothers and son might harbor great resentment towards him in the future.
It could even lead to his family breaking apart.
Lao Zhuang was like a castrated bull, completely powerless after being struck heavily by a hammer.
He slumped onto the stool and said, “Alas, since that’s the case, you all decide.”
Most of the time, people do not have freedom.
Unless one is indifferent to everything, everyone has vulnerabilities.
Half an hour passed quickly.
Mr. Wang didn't leave; he simply stayed in the plaza, observing everyone.
When he saw Lao Zhuang’s state, he felt something was wrong.
He stared intently at Lao Zhuang, Brother Sun, and Old He, and suddenly, he seemed to understand something.
It was always like this when doing business in the past; at critical moments, negotiations would break down, not due to superficial or company-level interests, because no one was that selfless.
Rather, it was simply that their own interests were involved and not agreed upon.
Mr. Wang murmured sarcastically, “Heh heh, people, huh.”
The meeting reconvened.
The atmosphere in the room was much better. Old Wu spoke again:
“Just now, Hua Chuanlong, Ke Hanyu, and I discussed it.
Reducing it from the original one-half to the current one-third is already our greatest sincerity.
Hua Chuanlong and Ke Hanyu are also taking risks by coming to guard our Safe City.
There’s no such thing as a free lunch. We are protecting Safe City and your safety. It shouldn't be a problem for you to provide some sponsorship fees, right?
Brother Sun, how was your discussion?”
Brother Sun took over Old Wu’s question and said, “We went back and thought about it. We feel that now that the temperature has risen, there will be more zombies. Yesterday, I even saw two zombies at the entrance.
Therefore, after internal discussion, we accept your distribution ratio.”
Lao Zhuang opened his mouth upon hearing this, but his sleeve was tugged twice.
Lao Zhuang turned around and saw that it was his son pulling him, with pleading in his eyes.
His son resembled his mother greatly. Lao Zhuang immediately thought of his wife, realizing she had indeed aged a lot. She often went out to find supplies, then came back with insufficient food, and now...
Alas.
Lao Zhuang closed his mouth again, unable to speak.
He still had family, after all.
After hearing Brother Sun’s words, Old Wu saw that Lao Zhuang seemed to have something to say, so he directly asked, “Lao Zhuang, what do you think?”
Lao Zhuang swallowed and said, “I have no problem.”
Mr. Wang stood among the crowd, observing this scene like an outsider. He was certain they had reached a private deal.
What they didn't realize, however, was how many of these ordinary commoners would remain this time—that was an unknown.
No one knew.
Hua Chuanlong laughed heartily, “Hahahaha, alright, then we’ve happily settled this.”
Old Wu also smiled and said, “Alright, then the issue of sponsorship fee distribution is settled.
Next, let’s discuss where to search for supplies, to avoid arguments and conflicts from everyone searching in repetitive areas.”
Hua Chuanlong, Ke Hanyu, Brother Sun, and others fell silent upon hearing this.
There were many miscellaneous things among the supplies outside now, even some complete industrial equipment.
But were they useful to them?
Useful, but not the most useful.
For them, the most valuable thing was food!
They had once planted some crops in Safe City, but due to drought, they later had no harvest.
Then they encountered heavy snow, and their population was large.
They simply couldn't feed so many people.
Moreover, Safe City was originally transformed from a residential area, so there wasn't enough space for planting.
And what was planted outside Safe City had been trampled by zombies after several zombie waves.
Food was the biggest problem!
They had searched the areas surrounding Safe City and found a lot of food, but it had all been consumed.
Now, the food that could be found in the vicinity was becoming scarcer, and the shelf life of these foods had passed. Although expired food could still be eaten, some things had literally turned into a pile of shit.
Therefore, they needed to go further to find it.
Hua Chuanlong said, “Old Wu, you rarely go out to find supplies, so you might not be aware, but there’s less and less edible stuff to be found outside now.”
Ke Hanyu also added, “That’s right, we still need to figure out a way to grow some crops ourselves.”
Brother Sun, upon hearing Ke Hanyu’s words, said, “It’s not like we haven’t planted before, you haven’t experienced that drought, have you? It didn’t rain for so long that people were dying of thirst, let alone crops.”
Old He also said, “We definitely need to plant, but everyone’s food is almost depleted now. Not to mention whether there will be another major drought like before,
Even if there isn't, and the weather is favorable. But by the time these crops we plant are ready, we would have already starved to death.”
Old Wu frowned upon hearing this.
Everyone fell silent for a moment.
And Mr. Wang, who had been observing with cold eyes from the side, was utterly speechless by now.
Did they only just consider this problem?
Food, food, food.
He was running out too, but he had some hidden near Safe City.
At least enough for two more months.
Thinking of this, Mr. Wang suddenly felt a sense of superiority.
However, he quickly wondered how he had fallen to such a state, to feel superior just because he had two months’ worth of food hidden outside.
He recalled what his life was like a few months ago.
He had a stack of subordinates and could eat whatever he wanted.
Reaching this point was all because of the people from Xin City.
Suddenly, a thought flashed in his mind:
Xin City?
Safe City, out of food?
The idea in his mind instantly excited him.
Since there were conflicts, they could be exploited. He alone couldn't cause trouble for the people of Xin City, but there were so many people in Safe City.
Create conflict!
