The coming of winter makes life difficult for many people.
Withered vegetation and cold weather, people need more food to maintain physical strength and body temperature, but food sources are becoming less and less.
All kinds of competition outside the base are more intense, and of course there will be things that people covet the base. However, within the current scope of S City, there is no force that can shake S Base.
After all, there is the original army stationed, and the weapons are incomparable to the bulk militia. What's more, the current S base has basically formed a self-supply chain.
However, after the incident of the teenagers, the army was indeed reminded. There are still a lot of refugees in City S. If they are all exiled outside, they will still pose a threat to the base. It is better to recruit some in an organized way.
About the time the chicken coops were completed and the second batch of chicks hatched, the army issued a new decree: to expand the share of the population recruited, and at the same time to expand the scope of the base.
New planning drawings are being produced, but Ji Cha knows that after the expansion, the place where they are currently located will become the inner city of Base S in the future, and it is also the most prosperous and safest place.
So for this decision, he enjoys it.
While the military doesn't encourage residents to leave the base, it doesn't prohibit them either. After all, in the current environment, there are always people who are willing to go outside to try their luck. There are also many people who cannot fully meet all their needs in the base.
For example, many traders who are active in the black market, many of them are willing to form a team to leave the base to take risks. Although this is risking life, the benefits are often objective.
For this, the control of the base is strict on the surface, but as long as adults want to leave the base, they will be allowed to leave after registering the time of departure and their identity information.
Ji Cha has never been to the black market, and even though he wants to visit it occasionally, he never finds time to spare.
Fast forward to January, and the weather is getting colder and colder. It's almost to the point where going out is torture. The wetness and coldness of southern cities are more vividly reflected in the first winter after the end of the world.
In order to prevent people from being frozen to death due to the cold, the army set up some public coal heating points, and through a chimney, many places were burned warmly. However, this is also the extreme that can be achieved under the current resource constraints.
Ji Cha now doesn't need to go to the recruitment site every day to announce job recruitment information, and can release the information through a computer connected to the Internet. However, sometimes you still have to go to the recruitment site to pick the final candidate.
It was the same on this day. After the recruitment was over, Ji Cha rode a small electric donkey to drive home. When passing by the black market, he unexpectedly found that it was very lively. This made him a little curious, and after thinking about it, he stopped the car and walked over to see what the black market looked like for the first time.
The black market is set up in an alley with twists and turns in an old rural house, and there are stalls distributed at a little distance. Each stall is watched by more than one person, in order to prevent looting and other uncontrollable situations.
There are all kinds of things sold in the black market, such as military supermarkets, but limited items can basically be bought in unlimited quantities but at double the price. There are also some things that the army does not sell, such as some small electrical appliances, small toys, precious resources, and even medicines.
Ji Cha walked around inside and found the potatoes and vegetables that flowed out from his house, which can be preserved for a long time because of the winter. It should be that some workers bought them on the black market in exchange for more food.
After looking around, Ji Cha planned to leave, but at this moment, he heard a small cry in a remote corner.
He turned his head and saw a thin girl about twelve or thirteen years old being pulled aside by a tall man.
There are basically no women in the black market, let alone such a little girl. Ji Cha instinctively sensed that something was wrong, he took two steps forward, and instead of acting rashly, he carefully observed the situation over there.
The status of women tends to decline in troubled times, and this is more vividly reflected in the last days. Compared with the outside bases, it is still better, because there are still restrictions, and people who can eat are not willing to take out the women at home in exchange for anything. Moreover, the women in the base can also find a job and be able to support themselves, so they won't be reduced to that point.
"Come with me, you don't have to be hungry in the future." The middle-aged man held the little girl, the expression on his face was not at all the kindness of an elder to a junior.
Instead... Ji Cha felt that it was a man's desire for a woman.
It made him feel a little sick.
The stall owner said viciously to the little girl, "If you are disobedient, your identity will not be registered in the base, and no one will know if you turn around and slaughter you."
Given such a scare, the little girl did not dare to speak immediately.
Ji Cha couldn't stand it anymore, he stepped forward to stop the middle-aged man who was about to take the little girl away, and said to the stall owner, "Human trafficking is against the management of the base, you can't do that."
Immediately, people gathered around and looked at Ji Cha aggressively, "Who are you?"
These people are clearly a group protecting each other. Ji Cha didn't know how many such deeds they had done. The army didn't know much about many activities in the black market, and probably thought it was just a market for selling various small products. Or what Ji Cha didn't dare to think deeply about was: the army might know that such a thing existed, but they didn't control it much.
"I'm the person in charge of the processing plant." Ji Cha frowned. There is no one in the identity base who doesn't know, but it's not necessarily possible to match the person with the identity.
The status of the processing plant in the base is not low, and the farm is also involved in this. Most people know that there is a fertilizer gap there.
Sure enough, as soon as Ji Cha's words fell, the person who was eager to try immediately lost his arrogance, but said to Ji Cha in a displeased manner, "We are here for business, what does it have to do with you, don't stop us if you are sensible. "
Ji Cha still wanted to go forward to speak, but suddenly a hand was stretched out from the crowd and grabbed him. He looked back and saw a man who had worked for him for a few days. At this time, he pulled him over and whispered, "Xiao Ji, don't be brave, these people have committed murder and arson."
After such a flash of divine effort, the little girl had already been dragged away forcefully, and she didn't even cry at this time.
Ji Cha was a little worried. Even after ten years of the end of the world, he still couldn't bear this kind of thing happening right in front of his eyes. What's more, he still feels that he should be able to change some behaviors that he was unable to change before.
"These girls were abducted from outside and brought back by hiding in the car. The army seems to be not very clear about it. Even if it is clear, it is wrong. After all, the identity certificates are not checked every day.
After these people are bought back, they will not be registered as identities, because after registration, they will be able to find a job to support themselves, and they will not be able to dominate them. "
The man told Ji Cha some information he knew.