In the season between summer and autumn, Wen Qian finally had a chance to go to the town. The Grocery Store Owner happened to need to go procure goods during this time period.
Once the weather got a little colder, he would not travel far anymore. When snow fell, the market would end, and the nearby villagers would not come to the village either.
Wen Qian did not have anything important to do, she was just curious about what the small town looked like.
After all, it had been a long time since she had seen a town that survived after the catastrophe, a place that was a small town before the catastrophe and remained a small town afterwards.
The places she had passed through before could be described as ghost towns, abandoned cities, or deserted cities. According to the Grocery Store Owner's description of the small town, there was a resolute and decisive person there who ultimately preserved the town.
After the catastrophe, the security situation was relatively good here, and the living conditions were not bad either.
Wen Qian had a limited imagination. She still envisioned cities as crowded and bustling before the catastrophe, and desolate and dilapidated after the catastrophe.
She could not imagine what a city would be like after the catastrophe.
Wen Qian first went to the store to meet the Grocery Store Owner, then the Owner's family members would send them to a distant ferry crossing.
There were boats on the nearby river, and they could take a boat to near the small town, disembark, and then walk into the town.
Wen Qian felt a bit dizzy and unsteady on the boat, and she suspected she might be seasick, as she had never experienced it before. Although she felt a bit uncomfortable, she could overcome it.
The Grocery Store Owner also brought along a Young Man from the same village, whose main role was to help the Owner carry goods.
Wen Qian enjoyed the scenery and wind along the way. Finally, the boat docked, and she thought that if the return trip were at the same speed, then going into the town would not be too difficult.
This boat was quite large, and other people would also board it along the way. The boat had a rough schedule.
It came every few days, with set times in the morning and afternoon.
The boat seemed to be burning a boiler, as she only saw black smoke coming out of the chimney, but only the crew members could enter the operation area, so she could not see anything.
When the Grocery Store Owner saw her curiosity, he told her that there were still coal-burning trains on the railroads, and larger coal-burning boats on the major rivers.
But exactly how large and fast they were, they could only imagine, as the shopkeeper did not know and could not describe it to her.
In the past, there were airplanes, high-speed trains, and cars as means of transportation, but now there was only coal-burning, a return to the steam age.
Being able to burn coal was already good. Bicycles existed but were not affordable. In this small town, they were also rare and could only be found more frequently in cities further south.
Some people had begun to use animals like oxen, horses, and mules as transportation again.
Wen Qian disembarked outside the town walls, where there were still many people and animals. She even saw an animal parking lot she had never seen before.
Apparently, some animals were not allowed into the town, so their owners would entrust them to the parking lot when entering the town.
The livestock sheds were partitioned into separate stalls to prevent the animals from fighting or mating. If the owners brought their own feed, it could be placed in the feeding troughs, or they could buy feed from a nearby stall for a fee.
The owners would register and pay a deposit, charged by the half-day. At the same time, if the animal's owner came out of the town with receipts proving they had made purchases and consumed goods inside, they could get a discount.
While queuing to enter or exit, Wen Qian observed the surroundings and noticed that everyone seemed very relaxed, indicating this place was quite safe.
No wonder the Grocery Store Owner was not worried about personal safety, only bringing along one Young Man to help carry goods. It seemed the security situation around the small town was encompassed within the town's security measures.
To enter the town, one needed to register and pay a fee. If an adult brought along a child under 1.2 meters tall, the adult would be exempt from the fee.
Pregnant women after June were also exempt.
Wen Qian queued with the Grocery Store Owner, and all three of them had to pay. When asked about Wen Qian's purpose for visiting, she hesitated for a moment.
The purpose was simply to have a look around, right? Then the Grocery Store Owner said she was there to help him procure goods, and they were allowed to enter.
Besides the registration and payment, there was also a security check where outsiders were not allowed to bring guns into the town.
The town residents also had guns, but they could not take them outside their homes. People could shoot intruders breaking into their homes, but they could not carry guns outside.
If a permanent resident of the small town violated this rule too many times, they would be expelled from the town. If they committed a serious crime within the town, they would face the death penalty.
This form of execution, like the ancient practice of beheading criminals at the vegetable market to serve as a warning to others, was meant to kill one to deter a hundred. Apparently, this practice had been in use for a long time.
There were two Inspectors responsible for body searches. Female inspectors would search female visitors. They would first ask if the visitor had any guns.
If the visitor admitted to having one, they would be given two tokens to attach to the gun, which would be stored in a holding room. Upon leaving the town, they could use their tokens to retrieve their gun.
However, if they claimed to have no gun but the Inspector found one during the search, the gun would be confiscated, and that person would not be allowed to enter the town.
Behind the Inspectors was a squad of armed Guards. The checkpoint was narrow, only allowing one person to pass through at a time.
There was a large sign in front: "Violent attempts to force through will be met with lethal force on the spot."
While Wen Qian was queuing here, she noticed that everyone followed the rules obediently. The entry fee was not high, and the town walls were not tall either, apparently hastily built after the catastrophe.
As soon as she entered the town, there was an especially large square, very spacious, with many advertisement walls on both sides. Information was exchanged by writing with chalk on blackboards.
Some were painted with oil paints, which were official announcements that could not be casually covered over.
One of the advertisement sections promoted having children, while others were about disease prevention, such as deworming medication.
As she went further in, she gradually realized that this so-called small town was actually quite similar to the towns near where she used to live.
There were single-story houses as well as two- or three-story buildings, which were the typical residences for most inhabitants.
In the distance, those buildings over ten stories high were clearly residential buildings from before the catastrophe. After being abandoned for so many years, grass and trees had grown on them.
From Wen Qian's vantage point far away, the dark openings seemed to have birds flying in and out.
The town residents dressed similarly to the villagers, but any clothes made after the catastrophe were produced by relatively primitive looms, so the colors and quality were roughly the same.
Wen Qian first followed the Grocery Store Owner to purchase supplies. The place they went to was a specialized street, where wholesalers would register their catalogs and record their minimum order quantities.
The Grocery Store Owner, being familiar with the process, went to one store and procured a batch of needles, threads, and fabrics—items that almost every household required.
There was a significant price difference between ready-made garments and raw fabrics. Thus, many households with individuals skilled in needlework would purchase fabrics and sew their own clothes.
In the past, it was not guaranteed that cotton garments were made of pure cotton, or they would be very expensive. Nowadays, however, the available fabrics were mostly made from natural materials like cotton, linen, wool, and silk, while synthetic fibers were hard to find.
After many years, Wen Qian pondered that the vast amounts of plastic waste left behind by humans could still be seen, and wondered if future generations would have plastic particles in their bloodstreams.
Next, the Shopkeeper procured some seasoning ingredients, such as oil, salt, and sugar. The grocery store sold all kinds of goods.
Wen Qian followed the Grocery Store Owner from store to store, observing the lively atmosphere and broadening his horizons.
