CH 161

Chapter 161 - She really wasn't taking it too hard (2)

As the team walked further out, there were no more stalls or single-story homes. Not far away, at the foot of the mountain, they saw a strange place. It was a shanty town built a distance away from the crowded market. The place didn't have a semblance of order. There were no houses, only dwellings made of wooden sticks with ragged cloth or large leaves from the island plants draped over them. They could barely be called shacks. There were also people inside the dwellings.

It was currently morning. There were people running stalls in the market and laborers who had gone out to work, but there were still many people lying in those shacks.

Their clothes were tattered, and they had a deathlike pallor. They were motionless, and it was hard to tell if they were still alive.

Du Ruo was curious. "What is this place? What's wrong with these people?"

A person carrying a basket on his back passed by here on his way up the mountain and answered, "That's a pit for F's."

"A pit?" Bei Nuan didn't understand.

"It's a group of F's that gathered together and are waiting to die."

"But why do they want to live in a place like that?" Bei Nuan didn't get it.

"It'll take a long time to save enough money to build a house. They're people that will die at any time, so they just make do."

The man didn't explain any further. He hurried up the mountain to work.

Bei Nuan glanced at the pit of F's. Wow, the people on the island really took these metal tags seriously.

Bei Nuan didn't have the appetite to eat the barbecued sparrows in her hand while contemplating the metal tags.

Du Ruo saw that she wasn't eating and hastily asked, "Are you not going to eat it? Can I have it?"

Bei Nuan generously offered him the barbequed sparrow.

Du Ruo tore off the sparrow's thin leg and had a taste. His eyes lit up.

"Bei Nuan, this is so good! Little Shao really knows how to barbecue. It's tasty, crispy, and tender. The seasoning she added smells especially good."

Bei Nuan didn't believe him. "Really?"

"I won't lie to you. It's really good, fragrant and crispy. You'll regret it if you don't try it."

Bei Nuan hastily tore off the other leg on the bird. It really was very tasty. The sparrow meat had a good chewiness and crispness and smelled very appetizing. It was a pity that it didn't have much meat.

Under Lu Xingchi's speechless gaze, Du Ruo and Bei Nuan scrambled and jostled each other to scarf down the bird.

Du Ruo wanted to eat more. "How much does Little Shao's barbecued sparrows cost?"

Bei Nuan quoted the price, "A small skewer for one dollar and a big skewer for two dollars. You don't have any money. But, I don't think we need to buy them from her. I think she'll definitely agree to trade them for our beef jerky."

Du Ruo thought it over, "That's no good. She might be harmed if someone sees that she has beef jerky. It's better to use their currency to buy them. She'll be able to buy whatever she wants with money, and it won't be conspicuous."

Du Ruo paused. "Where do you go to work as a laborer on the island?"

Everyone else was speechless. It was easier to sell some of the unremarkable items from Bei Nuan's pocket space to get foreign currency. They didn't know if Du Ruo really wanted to eat barbecued sparrows or wanted to play around as a laborer.

Du Ruo patted Lu Xingchi's shoulder. "We don't have anything better to do anyways. We'll go find a place to earn money. You can go off to take care of your business. Don't worry about us."

Bei Nuan understood. Lu Xingchi definitely wanted to leave the group to check the symbol on the van. If he left the team alone, they might end up getting too bored and causing trouble. It was better for them to find work to do to kill time. Du Ruo's idea was good.

Lu Xingchi readily agreed.

There were many places to work on the island.

At the foot of the mountain, there were large tracts of land being cultivated into farmland. The process required a large number of laborers.

Land was also being opened up for agriculture on the mountain. Large tracts of trees had to be cut down, and the cut down trees had to be transported down the mountain to be used. However, newcomers generally didn't have the required skills to do those tasks, so they could only do work that required greater use of strength.