On the way to the center of Origin Territory.
Su Mo did not speak of whatever happened or what was said, nor did Huang Bing. It was as if nothing had ever happened.
Huang Bing faithfully completely his duty as a guide. He brought Su Mo to two big and two small markets in the territory.
Then, the group returned to San Yuan Hotel.
Huang Bing bowed and rushed back to his main post to earn his living before noonday.
After walking around Origin Territory for more than three hours, everyone watched Huang Bing leave.
Not only did Su Mo slightly sympathize with him, but even the two soldiers were speechless. The two soldiers secretly thought to themselves how fortunate they were to have ended up in Heaven’s Origin.
Huang Bing’s life was, in a sense, the everyday life of ordinary people in Origin Territory.
Most people had to work three to five jobs daily to save a few supplies while ensuring they were well fed every day before the next disaster struck.
Very few of the people here were able to accumulate supplies with only one job.
Compared to Hope Village’s residents in Heaven’s Origin, the people here had a very hard life.
For example, the small vendors in the market who bought and sold stuff did not have an official job in the territory. This meant that they had to work at least six days per week.
Within these six days, the territory only distributed three days’ worth of meals.
They would have to find other means to source food for the remaining four days.
They either lived on the bare minimum and only ate one meal a day to save up as many rations as possible to survive, waited for an opportunity like the “welfare disaster,” or picked up more jobs and used up every bit of strength and time to earn themselves enough food.
They did not want to die, nor did they want to get weaker from starvation.
Therefore, most people started their days at five in the morning to plan their busy days.
After washing up in the morning, most would eat some “Hua bark” from the mountains.
This kind of tree was large in size and could grow tens of meters. It was a special plant grown in the Great Mountains of the wasteland.
The bark was dry and hard as a stone. It took more than ten strokes to cut it off with a knife.
After being boiled in water, it would slowly soften and become very chewy.
Although the bark contained a small number of nutrients the human body needs, it had many plant fibers.
These hard fibers were indigestible in people’s stomachs in civilized ages.
In the long run, it would only accumulate in the abdomen and gradually cause various complications.
The good news was that after the bark had been boiled for an extended period, the digestible shorter soft fibers that would seep into the soup.
There were still potential risks in the long run, but these risks were not worth mentioning compared to living.
After consuming their bark soup and slightly filling their stomachs, these people would head out with the things they had prepared the previous night.
First, they departed from their residences on the mountain and headed to the territory square to grab an advantageous location and set up their stalls before others.
Fortunately, there was a curfew at night and strictly enforced closing and opening times.
This prevented malicious conflicts between small vendors and the phenomenon of vendors staying late at night to occupy a location.
From half past six to half past nine in the morning.
These three hours were their free time.
It would be fortunate if they could sell off some stuff.
However, if they could not sell anything, there was also nothing they could do.
When their free time was over, everyone could only quickly pack their stuff and return to their territory to complete the work arranged the day before.
They worked a full eight hours shift from ten in the morning to six in the evening.
The whole day, they would only consume roughage that even the homeless in a civilized era disliked.
Fortunately, they did not have much to do because of the disaster. Otherwise, Su Mo doubted that their weak bodies could handle heavy labor.
These were the lives of those better off in the sub-territories ranked ahead.
Ordinary refugees in the lower-ranked sub-territories and refugees that had not joined the territory could barely obtain basic food and clothing.
The conditions made Su Mo and the others speechless.
However, compared to the refugees who still had no home and wandered around, these people in Origin Territory were satisfied, hoping for new chances in the future.
Huang Bing was a prime example.
Despite having to work four full-time jobs during his day off, he never complained of the hardships or tiredness.
“Both of you, go get busy. By the way, take this money and buy some food.”
Having understood the internal situation, Su Mo took out all the Origin coins in his pocket and handed them over to the two soldiers behind him.
In terms of food, the soldiers were not worried at all.
Each soldier carried at least ten days worth of dry food with them.
Additionally, they had large amounts of food supplies in the storage space, with the supporting team still camping on the mountain.
Considering that they were in Origin Territory, Su Mo thought it best to put on a pretense at least.
He knew that the new lord of Origin Territory was monitoring the territory and wanted to be careful not to make careless mistakes.
The two soldiers immediately left after receiving the order.
