Chapter 388: A Place to Settle Down and Make a Living

It was not difficult for the caravan to enter the city gates!

In fact, the defenses of Fucheng were not strict, and entry and exit were free; those crowds dwelling outside the city were people who had no food, clothing, or place to stay within the city and had voluntarily left.

After passing through the gate tunnel and driving along the main street for a while, they heard that a skirmish had just occurred outside the city, leaving over a hundred people dead.

The eyes of Zuo Shier and the others were filled with shock; a single bag of grain had caused such a disaster.

Had the Hunger in Fucheng reached such a point?

Looking again at the open spaces against the city walls, one could see refugees and disaster victims "selling themselves" everywhere, either with grass stalks stuck in their hair as a sign or holding wooden boards written with their own situations to increase their selling points.

They had seen the same scene more than once in Gongliang City.

Fucheng was larger in scale, and such scenes were more numerous and visible everywhere.

"Studied boxing for ten years, have the strength of Qi and Blood Stage 1, can farm and blacksmith..."

"Eighteen years of age, unmarried; if given ten days of full meals, can recover a well-proportioned figure and a beautiful appearance, price..."

Someone in the caravan could not help but read out the descriptions of those selling themselves.

A population market had already formed here; not only were there those selling themselves, but also parents selling children and husbands selling wives. By comparison, the buyers held higher status and could choose at will.

Young and beautiful women were hot commodities, and those proficient in cooking or needlework were considered skilled labor; the hardest to sell were those who had no skills and were on the older side.

As for men, as long as they knew a move or two of boxing, there was always a place for them.

"Fighting in the black market ring, are you going? If you go, you can eat your fill, but your life is not guaranteed!"

It was clearly a death-row meal; black market boxing was bloody and cruel, treating human lives as a spectacle.

In normal boxing matches and martial arts competitions, one tried to avoid taking lives if possible, but black market boxing was the exact opposite; it wasn't over until someone was killed.

The buyers selecting the men did not waste words, directly ordering people to carry over poles with steaming hot chunks of meat, large bowls of wine, as well as steamed buns and flatbreads that could be taken in any quantity, and piles of rice packed solid.

Fighting in the black market would definitely lead to death, but it was still better than squatting by the roadside in despair, waiting to starve to death.

Many men stomped their feet, gritted their teeth, rushed to the carrying poles to eat and drink their fill, wiped their mouths, and followed them away.

"Damn it?"

Zuo Shier and the others cursed bitterly at the sight; was this still human life? It was even cheaper than the fighting cocks in a gambling den!

Fighting cocks, right, the Doujichang!

Zhou You thought of the largest underground entertainment venue in Fucheng, which also had boxing matches; Blood Tiger Jiang Hua had made a name for himself there.

"Nephew Zhou!"

After entering Fucheng, Master Shen brought his family to find him, seemingly having something to say.

"Please speak, Uncle!"

Zhou You had always treated the family of Shen Sijing with courtesy; after all, the relationship between the two families was unusual, and he had previously received much care from them.

Master Shen also trusted him very much, unconditionally leaving behind his family business to follow him, through all the bumps from Zhou Family Village to Fucheng.

He had a guess in his heart; the moment for parting had arrived.

Master Shen said, "I have a warehouse in Fucheng, so I have a place to stay. I dare not trouble you further for your previous protection; I will repay you once my business has recovered a little."

"You are too polite, Uncle."

In fact, Zhou You also knew that back in Zhou Family Village, Master Shen had sent his son and Xu Ying to contact the old staff of the trading firm and consolidate the remaining resources of the Shen Family Trading Firm. Although the result was not very good, it was more optimistic than expected.

There was a specialized warehouse in Fucheng; the place was not large, but it was no problem to accommodate the family for a comeback.

Zhou Laodie was reluctant to part, nearly stating on the spot that he would go to work for the master once the business reopened.

Just upon arriving in Fucheng, the size of the caravan had already decreased. The remainder were the die-hards following Zhou You, aiming to take root in Fucheng and carve out a piece of the world.

Although they were full of ambition when they came, after experiencing much on the road, they had gained an understanding of the difficulties ahead, but their aspirations had not changed.

"Master Zhou, let's find a place to rest and look for a house tomorrow."

Zuo Shier explained, "Too many people are entering Fucheng, so land prices are bound to rise. The location for opening a martial arts school needs to be good, and landlords will definitely raise prices on the spot. My suggestion is to rent first and buy later depending on the situation."

Opening a martial arts school was still in the future; the most urgent matter at hand was the food, clothing, housing, and transportation for the nearly one hundred people in the caravan.

Those homeless refugees outside the city had originally entered Fucheng with the same high ambitions as them, only to be forced by the hardships of life to leave the city and build shacks in the wilderness to live in.

Every inch of land in Fucheng was worth an inch of gold; this saying was not an exaggeration at all.

The people in the caravan thought of the costs of staying at an inn or renting a house and were somewhat worried; how could they afford the daily consumption of over a hundred people!

Previously in Zhou Family Village, the costs of food and housing were very low and were all supported by Zhou You, but now that they were in Fucheng, Zhou You alone could not support so many people! "How about we each find some work to share the pressure."

These words naturally did not come from Zhou You's parents, but were suggestions from the other family members.

The cost of living in Fucheng was extremely high, especially for outsiders; just the accommodation and food were enough to exhaust a young, able-bodied person.

Martial arts masters who held high status in other regions became worthless once they arrived in Fucheng.

The top priority was to find a place to stay.

"Master Zhou, we cannot go any further!"

Zuo Shier reined in his horse; it was fine just after entering the city gate. This was the outer area of Fucheng, where land prices were generally not high. Although accommodation was expensive, it was still within an acceptable range.

A dormitory-style room converted from an ordinary civilian house, the kind where a whole family sleeps on one bed, cost 10 taels per month.

At this price, Zhou You's group would need at least 100-200 taels every month, without fail, for accommodation expenses.

And this was without including three meals a day; the moment they opened their eyes and got up, they had to find work to bring in income.

The caravan should just find a place nearby; going further ahead, while more prosperous and safe, would also have more expensive and terrifying rent.

"Correct, keep moving forward!"

Zhou You gave the order as such, and the others did not dare to stop, only assuming he was going to visit some friend.

They walked all the way from the Outer City toward the inside, gradually approaching the Inner City area. The streets were wider, and the crowds in rags by the roadside were nearly extinct; it finally matched the environment of Fucheng.

The caravan stopped at a small, independent courtyard! Zhou You jumped off the carriage and went up to knock on the door; the neighbors next door poked their heads out, looking at them with curiosity.

"Perhaps there is no one at home!"

Someone in the caravan whispered that since it was getting late, if they didn't find a place to stay soon, everyone would have to spend the night on the street.

With so many elderly, weak, women, and children, plus livestock that needed to be fed and watered, they had to have a place to shelter.

As for staying in the residence right in front of them, no one dared even to think about it.

Creak—the main gate swung open, and a one-armed man walked out; seeing Zhou You, he revealed a smile, "You've finally arrived!"

The one-armed man was none other than Zhuang Tie; he had waited here for dozens of months, finally waiting for Zhou You to arrive.

"Please come in, I'll go boil some hot water and get the keys; lead the livestock to the back, there's a shed inside!"

The crowd was dumbfounded; what was going on? "What are you standing there for? This is a property under my name; from now on, we'll live here, don't complain that the place is small."

Compared to the property in the Inner City of Gongliang, the area of this residence had clearly shrunk quite a bit.

(End of chapter)