Noon in Linghu Wetland Park.

Due to the heavy snowfall last night, the pine trees were covered with white snow that gleamed in the midday sun.

Carrying a hemp rope on his left shoulder and a hunting bow on his right shoulder, the young man breathed out a cold breath of white mist and looked up at the south gate of the park.

The twisted steel bars were covered with icicles, and at the top was a table-wide wooden board with a series of numbers engraved on it.

"404." Staring at the wooden sign for a while, Yu Hu whispered the number quietly.

That was a habit he’d only picked up recently, and it was the method Old Charlie taught him.

He was told that as long as he kept reciting the words he saw out in a low voice, and imagining writing them in his mind, he would eventually be able to become familiar with the meanings of those words and would never forget them.

This method was quite effective. Recently, he had learned to write the names of himself, Xiaoyu, his father, his mother, his older brother, and his sister-in-law. He had also learned basic numbers and addition and subtraction.

If it were a few months ago, that would make him a knowledgeable man on Baker Street.

It was nothing special at the moment.

Recently, the enthusiasm for learning in the town was outrageously high, especially among the young boys. Since everyone heard about the treatment in the new industrial zone from Li Niu and a few other people, all of them have become regulars in the literacy class; they almost wanted to live in it.

Of course, that may also be partly because the castle was relatively warm, and no one would want to leave once they’d been there.

Taking a break at the entrance of the park after getting through the most dangerous section of the journey, Yu Hu tightened the rope on his shoulders and continued to walk forward on the snow that was knee-deep.

Waddling through the snow with prey was not an easy task, but for the seasoned hunter, it was not a problem.

He made a raft out of wooden boards, tied the mutant wild boar he killed on it, and dragged it away with ropes.

In this way, there was no need to worry about the prey getting stuck in the snow, which was much easier and safer than dragging it by itself.

As long as he was careful with his steps and didn’t take the roads he wasn’t familiar with, he wouldn’t run into any huge problems.

After passing through the woods for several hundred meters, he suddenly arrived at an open clearing.

There were rows of wooden piles covered with snow standing on the open ground outside the trench. In front of them were the wall and the south gate of the outpost, and behind them were the houses built by the blue coats, and then the house of his Big Brother Chu.

Compared to a month ago, the changes were simply incredible.

The tall chimneys behind the wall, and the metal-hitting sound had disappeared along with the trees outside the wall.

Instead, there were now houses with unique styles, straight streets paved with stone bricks, more and more people, and more and more things sold in stalls.

Yu Hu didn’t know many words. He had only recently started to learn to read. So he couldn’t come up with beautiful words to describe those houses.

Some were square-shaped and had upturned eaves; they were built with brick and wood, looking very majestic. Some others were cylinder-shaped, made of stone and bricks, looking sturdy and mysterious.

Although the styles were different, the houses were all neat and uniform in height, and none of them exceed the roof of the house in the center of the settlement, the nursing home.

Yu Hu didn’t know what those houses were for. He only recognized the warehouse and the elegantly decorated log cabin with the plaque wrapped around rattan.

He had bought clothes there once, and two meters of cloth for the family. What’s more, it seemed that his younger sister’s scarf was also made there.

Occasionally, when he got some prey with beautiful fur, he would ask about the price there first. The shopkeeper who looked like a child would pay a little more than the warehouse not far away.

Anyway, according to Chu Guang, as long as he brought things to trade, he would be helping the outpost. As such, Yu Hu didn’t need to worry that he sold his prey to other shops instead of the warehouse.

However… Boar skin seemed to be a too crude if he brought it over.

Yu Hu felt that the cute little shopkeeper should not need such rough leather, so he dragged the wild boar directly to the warehouse.

The rope was left at the door, and just as he was about to ask the person in charge to help weigh the prey, he suddenly saw a familiar face from behind the wooden table.

When the man saw him, his face instantly lit up. "Yu Hu?"

"Zhao Rat?" Yu Hu looked at him in surprise, "Aren’t you working in the brick factory?"

While speaking, Yu Hu glanced up and down at the fur coat the fellow was wearing, with a hint of envy on his face.

This guy is doing really well. He even got new clothes!

Seeing the surprised expression on the town fellow’s face, Zhao Rat smiled and said pridefully. "Recently, there have been many major construction projects in the outpost. The warehouses and dormitories are being expanded, and there is a shortage of manpower. I think the treatment is good, so I took the initiative to request to be transferred from the brick factory!"

Actually, he didn’t wish to be sent back to the outpost.

Although the brick factory would earn him a few silver coins less, it was warm like spring, and there were always people with stories sent in to work.

Those old brothers were all very eloquent. Not only did they have many interesting stories, but they also liked to brag.

Whenever they felt like telling a story, they would begin with the same few phrases. ‘

Back in those days’

...

When they didn’t wish to say anything, they would simply brush it off by saying that it was a long story and left it at that.

When asked where they came from, the answer would either be a mercenary from the Wandering Swamp, or a brigade commander from the far west... In short, it was all places he had never heard of.

Zhao Rat had never left Clearspring City in his entire life. The dungeon of Bloodhand Clan was the furthest place he had been to. He vaguely remembered that the leader of the Bloodhand Clan seemed to be known as a Company Leader to some.

At his peak, that bear-like man with about a hundred people under his command was dominating the northern suburbs of Clearspring City, doing all kinds of evil deeds.

But… What was the point of that now?

In the end, they were still taken out by the blue coats, and now they were probably still working in the mines of Red River Town, struggling to stay alive.

So... The brigade commander manages 1,000 people? What a load of bullshit!

Zhao Rat pondered that all the people he had seen in his life might not reach 1,000! It would be a headache for him to remember the names of just dozens of people. If those people really managed so many people, could they even remember who they were?

All in all, Bull And Horse Brick Factory was a good place. Even if he didn’t believe the bullshit the brothers there said, Zhao Rat liked to listen to them bragging.

If he hadn’t planned to move his family to the outpost from Baker Street next spring, and buy a house while the base was expanding northward, he really wanted to spend his life in that wonderful place that was like summer all year round.

It was just heaven there.

"... Don’t just talk about me, how about you over there? Is the street much affected by the blizzard? Also, is my family okay?" After talking about his situation, Zhao Rat asked Yu Hu about his family affairs.

The blizzard the night before blew away another temporary shed. Worrying about the shack at home, he couldn’t fall asleep.

"We’re doing well there. Your father asked me to give you a message yesterday, saying that you should not worry about them and take care of yourself..." Reciting the message that the father of Zhao Rat had asked him to bring, Yu Hu and this fellow continued to talk about the recent situation of Baker Street.

Although the winter was colder than everyone expected, and the blizzard made people tremble, thanks to the help of those blue coats, they lived in brick and wooden houses with the same style early on, so the situation was not as serious as last year.

If it was the shack before, it was difficult to say if the situation would be the same, and it was estimated that many people would’ve died.

During the hardest days, Old Charlie let the poor people whose houses were blown away by the blizzard live in the former mayor’s castle, while arranging for people to repair the damaged houses.

Under the organization of the Subdistrict Office, everyone was united in the face of difficulties.

It turned out they would only be better off without the old mayor’s rule.

After listening to Yu Hu’s description, Zhao Rat’s face was full of emotion. "This is unimaginable in previous years."

Yu Hu nodded in agreement. "Yes."

When the old mayor’s family was still in Baker Street, they had to try their best just to survive; they were nowhere near being as comfortable as they were now.

Not to mention opening the gates of the castle to let the victims in.

Even if the victims gathered together to save themselves, he would send his lackeys who were willing to bully their fellow survivors to drive away those who had gathered.

"Speaking of which, Yu Hu."

"Yes?"

Zhao Rat hesitated for a while, then said. "Why don’t you come here too?"

Before Yu Hu could speak, Zhao Rat continued to persuade, "Life here is much better than on Baker Street, and there’s a shortage of people everywhere. You’re so good at hunting, so you will definitely find something to do here. You will definitely get a better job than me."

To be honest, seeing the changes, Yu Hu was also really moved.

Anyway, he wasn’t married, and if he moved out of his family, it would also reduce his parents’ burden.

But after thinking about it, he finally shook his head. "... Forget it."

Zhao Rat was dazed, obviously not expecting that You Hu would refuse. He hurriedly asked. "Why?"

Yu Hu said frankly. "As you said, I’m only good at hunting, but the weather isn’t helping at all. I may not catch anything for a few weeks. So it’s better to stay at home and learn more than to come here to cause you trouble. Maybe the knowledge I learned will come in handy in the future."

What kind of reason is this?

Hearing Yu Hu’s words, Zhao Rat was dumbfounded. "What are you talking about? See the granary next to you? It is almost full. Do you think they are short of the game you hunt? Besides, you don’t have to be on Baker Street to study. The factories here also have night classes just like the one you have in the guards!"

"No, I can’t do it," Yu Hu said stubbornly, "Big Brother Chu has already helped our family so much, how can I take advantage of him?!"

Seeing that this guy was as stubborn as a stone, Zhao Rat shook his head and sighed. "You... Forget it, I can’t change your mind."

Yu Hu scratched the back of his head and said with a smile. "You don’t need to persuade me, I know what to do. Besides, Big Brother Chu has already asked me to come next spring. He said he will find something for me to do. So I will just come back when the time comes."

Such a smart person as Big Brother Chu must have arranged everything long ago.

So there was absolutely nothing wrong with following his instructions.

The two then stopped talking about moving. With the help of Zhao Rat, Yu Hu weighed the mutant wild boar and quickly sent it to the slaughterhouse.

The blue coats with a slaughter knife stood in front of the chopping board, skillfully peeling the skin and taking the meat, throwing the bones and organs into the bucket. His movement was so swift that it almost dazzled their eyes.

Now the price of prey was much higher than before. The purchase price of mutant boar skin had risen from 10 silver coins to 20 silver coins, which was worth a full 400 grams of coarse salt!

In the past, although the price of salt was also cheaper, at most it could only be exchanged for 300 grams of coarse salt.

The same was true for the price of meat. The price of everything sold here had almost doubled, but the price of the prey had also risen with the trend, so the price increase did not affect him very much.

Actually, it was actually a good thing that prey could be exchanged for more things.

The skins were put into storage. A tanner would come to pick them up shortly. The raw meat was divided into two parts, the larger part was for Yu Hu, and the smaller part was the slaughter’s reward, which would be returned to the outpost warehouse according to the agreement.

Zhao Rat took out the account book, made a mark on it, then counted 20 silver coins from the drawer seriously and placed them on the table. "Here you go, your 20 silver coins."

Looking at the silver coins on the table, Yu Hu picked one up and looked at it, weighing it in the palm of his hand, and asked curiously. "Why are these silver coins different from before?"

It was much heavier than before, and it looked new.