After listening to Ying Tianlong's story, the helicopter was ready.
"Comrades! Board the plane, back to the safe zone!!"
Liu Tianyun's voice rang out. Lin Yuan and Ying Tianlong also got up, patted the dust off their pants, and waved the team members to board the helicopter.
"Will Minister Ying ride with us? There's just one seat left on our helicopter," he said, referring to Wu Mengyao's seat, with Wu Tian holding her on his lap.
This way, the team leader and combat personnel could get acquainted with Ying Tianlong, and upon arrival at the safe zone, they would be guided with fewer detours.
Ying Tianlong readily agreed to Lin Yuan's invitation.
After confirming everyone was on board, the helicopter took off.
Inside the cabin, there was no awkward silence. Lin Yuan, Wu Tian, and the other team members were all very curious about the safe zone.
They had only heard a little at the supply station, and Lin Yuan and Wu Tian had been too engrossed in the stories to ask for details.
Now that they had the chance, they wanted to know everything.
"Minister Ying, what's the safe zone like now? Is the environment good?"
"Yes, Minister Ying, can people eat their fill working in the safe zone?"
"What about those with children? Is the income enough to support a family's life?"
"Minister Ying..."
Ying Tianlong patiently listened to everyone's questions, raising his palm to quiet them down. "Comrades, please be patient. I will answer your questions one by one."
"First, regarding the issue of daily necessities that everyone is concerned about. If it were two months ago, everyone in the safe zone would receive a fixed amount of food at fixed times. However, the country also wants to develop productivity and implement a modified market economy system within the safe zone.
Therefore, the safe zone now operates on a system of work-point circulation, replacing the old paper currency. It's similar to the previous digital payment model. Everyone's salary will be distributed in work points, which are sufficient for personal expenses. If you have children, the safe zone also has subsidy policies that can fully cover a family's basic expenses, with some left over.
Additionally, by completing your work diligently on time and in full, you will receive meat and cigarette subsidies. This standard is assessed based on individual work completion. The evaluation personnel will change each week to ensure fairness and impartiality.
Due to the scarcity of entertainment options, and to prevent overproduction leading to idleness and security issues, the safe zone operates on a 10-hour workday, from 8 AM to 6 PM, which includes a one-hour lunch break. So, it's quite humane.
For the remaining time, various communities organize personnel for different sports activities. Combined with physical exercise, those who have had strenuous physical labor during the day can go to the safe zone library to read, or voluntarily go to the night markets in various areas of the safe zone to eat, drink, and have fun, perhaps enjoying some barbecue or playing with their children. There are enough entertainment facilities.
So, don't be nervous or feel constrained when you arrive at the safe zone. You will be assigned work based on your skills and given a card and a mobile phone. If you have a mobile phone, you can exchange it for 100 work points, which is enough for five days of meals in the cafeteria.
The assigned work will at least guarantee the nutritional needs of a family. If you have a trade, you can also open a small food stall or snack shop in the night market to sell some of your specialty dishes or snacks.
However, I must clarify that the meat and grains currently available for purchase in the official market of the safe zone are only frozen rat meat, button mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, protein blocks, Chinese cabbage, lettuce, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and various seasonings.
If you want other items like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, mulberries, or herbaceous vegetables like spinach, lettuce, and small water radishes, you will need to apply to the authorities for seeds and hydroponic equipment to grow them yourself. The seeds and corresponding cultivation manuals are provided free of charge, but hydroponic equipment and nutrient solutions need to be purchased or financed with a loan at an annual interest rate of 2%. If the cultivation fails, the fees will be refunded based on the intactness of the hydroponic equipment, and you will only need to pay for the loss and interest.
Another point is that cooking oil and salt are currently distributed at fixed times and quantities because the rapeseed fields have not yet reached their maximum yield. However, there's no need to worry, as they should be available on the market at normal prices after the Lantern Festival.
As for edible salt, it will only be available at normal market prices after the safe zone secures a large salt mine to the west.
Ying Tianlong spoke at a moderate pace, allowing Lin Yuan and the others to absorb the information.
"Minister Ying, is rat the only meat available in the safe zone's current meat reserves?" Lin Yuan asked incredulously.
"Yes, the primary source of protein in the safe zone is currently from the rats in the breeding farms and protein blocks. As for pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, and fish, they are still being bred on a small scale and have not yet reached full production. The eggs produced by the poultry farms, except for those kept for breeding, are collected daily and steamed for the students at the schools. Even the comrades in the army do not enjoy them.
Milk is even more out of the question. There are only 15 dairy cows in the entire safe zone, and it's a long way from reaching full production. The Minister of Production is racking his brains every day and is trying to trade some fruit with the comrades in the Liaozhou safe zone for cows. He's almost lost all his hair, hahaha." At this point, Ying Tianlong laughed, recalling his old brother's predicament, and then reminded them, "By the way, I'll give you a heads-up. These protein blocks are made from cockroaches."
Indeed, after he finished speaking, the team members' expressions subtly changed. Ying Tianlong chuckled inwardly.
"Feeling disgusted, aren't you? Hahahaha (ಡwಡ)hiahiahia, that's how I felt when I first encountered them.
Lin Yuan and the others were still considered fortunate. He had personally visited the breeding farms and observed the entire production line, and he had found it quite repulsive. However, when he finally ate the finished product, it was unexpectedly good. It was chewy and firm, without any strange smell, and had a faint grassy aroma. It could truly be prepared sweet, savory, or spicy.
Recalling himself, Ying Tianlong continued, "Don't be disgusted yet. This was a decision made by the National Scientific Research Group. They selected a specially cultivated species of cockroach. We received the breed in late December, and it only started being marketed this month. Rest assured, they are fed only grass, have no toxins or bacteria in their bodies, and no unpleasant odor.
Anyone who cuts corners on food safety now will lose their head. So, eat these protein blocks with confidence. Add some seasonings and stir-fry them, and they're like stir-fried jelly noodles. They taste quite good. My family cooks them in various ways every day."
Upon hearing that they tasted fine and were not harmful to the body, the team members finally relaxed. Then they thought, even if there was an odor, what did it matter? Wouldn't they still have to eat it when necessary?
The country was going to great lengths to provide them with protein, and they had made it clean, cost-effective, and of good value. What was there to be picky about?
It was certainly better than the protein blocks on that certain snow-covered train.
"Next, let me explain how to redeem military merits, so you don't forget later. When you arrive at the safe zone, you can present the heads or representative items of the high-level mutated creatures you've killed to the inspectors at the entrance. Your remaining weapons and ammunition, except for those delivered by air drop, can be exchanged for military merits, or you can let the combat department store them temporarily and retrieve them when you leave the safe zone later.
As for the specific exchange rates, you will know them once you reach the safe zone."