Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 145 Selected

The well-trained waiter smiled and replied, "Please rest assured, all room videos are filmed and recorded on-site by official personnel before the door is locked. What you see on the screen is exactly what you will see when you actually open the door with the key. We ensure consistency and eliminate false information." Upon hearing this, the young woman looked relieved and nodded in satisfaction.

Not far away, a couple wearing black down jackets also stopped a waiter. The man asked expectantly, "Waiter, we don't want to pay rent every month, it's too expensive. Is it possible to buy a house directly? Even one in the outer city would be fine."

The waiter immediately shook his head, speaking in a businesslike tone, "I'm sorry, sir and madam, according to the base's 'Resource Management Regulations,' all public properties are currently only available for rent and are not for sale to individuals."

At this moment, the woman in the couple seemed to have a flash of inspiration and eagerly asked, "Don't some of the original inhabitants in the outer city own private properties? Can we buy them from them?"

The waiter, clearly not encountering this problem for the first time, smoothly explained, "According to regulations, if indigenous people want to liquidate their private properties, the military can only repurchase them at a unified appraisal price. Private transactions are not allowed. This is to prevent speculation and disruption of the housing market."

"Sold only to the military, private sales are not permitted..."

Upon hearing this, Xu Xiaoyan, who had been silently observing from the side, felt as if a lightning bolt had struck her mind, instantly connecting many clues. She finally vaguely grasped the core idea behind the military's management of this base: their ultimate goal should be to "urge everyone to move" to the greatest extent possible.

For the indigenous people, forcibly confiscating all their properties would inevitably trigger large-scale and fierce resistance. The military offered a seemingly generous option, which appeased the indigenous community and provided them with a basic guarantee of survival, but cleverly sowed the seeds of "dissatisfaction".

Although the natives have free housing, they still have to leave their homes to work and earn points in order to get better food, a safer environment, or even just to pay the high rent in the inner city. Their free properties cannot be directly converted into cash, so they cannot become capital for lying down.

For outsiders like Hsu Hsiao-yen, they may initially feel resentful and unfair due to the privileges enjoyed by the indigenous people. However, through this purely point-based system and regional classification, the military has completely undermined the traditional significance of "real estate" as a symbol of wealth. As time goes by, as long as they are willing to work hard and have the ability, outsiders can obtain the same or even better living conditions as the indigenous people by earning points.

Those who remain stagnant and content with free outer-city housing may forever remain at the bottom of the survival chain. The gap between the two will dynamically change depending on individual effort and will eventually be replaced by the amount of points accumulated.

Having figured this out, Xu Xiaoyan couldn't help but feel a mixture of admiration and wariness towards the base's controllers. It was an elaborately designed system that used survival and desire as its driving forces, binding everyone together invisibly.

She composed herself, ignoring the still-debating couple, and turned her gaze to the displays representing rental listings in the outlying city. The screens lit up immediately upon sensing her approach, displaying a clear interface with simple options on the main screen: [Single Rooms] and [Family Rooms].

She chose "Single" without hesitation.

The screen instantly switched to a detailed map of the outer city, densely covered with dots of different colors and numbers, representing single rooms available for rent.

Considering the secret she possessed, secrecy was paramount. She first used the filtering function to eliminate high-rise apartment buildings with dense populations and high mobility, as those places were easily overheard and frequented by neighbors, making them far from ideal hiding places.

Then, she thought of the approaching cold and the firewood she had stored in her space. "I wonder if there are any houses with heated brick beds around here..." With a try-it-and-see attitude, she entered the keyword "heated brick bed" into the search bar.

To her surprise, five matching options immediately appeared on the screen. After carefully reading the descriptions, she discovered that all five houses with heated brick beds were brick-and-mortar bungalows built by the original inhabitants and were scattered in different areas of the outer city.

Her gaze immediately locked onto the room near the city gate, a location that indicated relatively good order and ease of movement in case of trouble.

She clicked on the real-view video of the property. The video showed a one-story brick-concrete structure, old-fashioned but very sturdy. The interior had a layout of one bedroom, one kitchen and one bathroom. The room was not big, but surprisingly, there was a small yard enclosed by a low wall at the back of the house.

Although the yard is small, it is a luxury in the prime location of the base, especially for single tenants, where land is extremely valuable.

However, precisely because it is a stand-alone "building" with a prime location, its rent is as high as 15 points per month! This price is equivalent to the monthly rent of a family room in the outer city.

"Good heavens," Xu Xiaoyan thought to herself, "They're clearly pricing single rooms like family rooms." But weighing the pros and cons, the independent space, the secluded courtyard, the usable heated kang bed, and the excellent location—all these advantages combined make it well worth the extra 7 points.

"This is it!" Xu Xiaoyan no longer hesitated. She confirmed the rental option on the screen. The rental period was one month. She raised her left arm and aligned the chip area with the payment sensor area that popped up on the screen.

With a "beep", the points were deducted.

Immediately afterwards, the outlet slot below the LED display screen made a slight sound and ejected a narrow, hard paper strip with magnetic stripes. The house number 12567 was clearly printed on the top of the paper, and there was a line of small print below that read: "Please bring this numbered paper to Service Desk No. 3 to verify your information and collect your house key."

Clutching the numbered slip, Xu Xiaoyan strode toward the service counter marked "Number Three." After verifying her information and undergoing a brief identity check, the staff behind the counter handed her a slightly worn, rusty brass key.

"This is the key to room 12567. It must be returned intact when you move out. Loss or damage will incur a 1-point penalty," the staff member routinely instructed.

Xu Xiaoyan took the key, and the cool metallic touch made her heart flutter slightly. She didn't leave immediately, but pointed to a small sign next to the service counter that read: "Convenience Service: Door Lock Replacement and Repair".