Chapter 161: Protest

Hearing their conversation, Lu Yucai glanced toward the nearby food distribution area.

Fair Shallow Land had clearly won over many of its residents through affordable food and fair treatment.

He felt proud of her.

At the same time, his heart ached.

’She’s been doing all of this while hiding her identity?’

Managing the base, protecting its secrets, creating equipment, and arranging resources...

’She’s taking on far too much by herself.’

Ni Mengxue had no idea what Lu Yucai was thinking.

By the time she arrived with the newly completed solar panels, most of the permanent shops had already been constructed.

However, a temporary market still occupied one of the open roads.

Dozens of makeshift stalls and wooden carts had been squeezed together beneath patched cloth canopies. The crowded market blocked several paths and made it difficult for residents to move freely between different areas.

Ni Mengxue frowned.

She hadn’t approved those stalls.

After considering the situation, she opened the system interface and typed an announcement.

A notification immediately appeared before every registered resident.

[Base Announcement: All residents operating stalls in the makeshift market must remove them immediately. Fair Shallow Land does not permit unauthorized roadside stalls.]

At first, most residents didn’t pay much attention.

The stall owners, however, immediately became agitated.

"What does this mean? The base leader is clearly biased!"

"They just want to force us into those shops so they can take our profits!"

Someone else shouted angrily, "This is getting ridiculous! How is this place any different from those large bases?"

"It’s not even that big yet!"

Arguments quickly broke out.

However, the more sensible stall owners didn’t join them.

They quietly packed their merchandise onto their carts and moved away.

Once several stalls disappeared, the road immediately became wider.

Ordinary residents could finally walk through the area without squeezing between carts and crowds.

Many people immediately realized why the rule had been introduced.

Ni Mengxue ignored the remaining complaints.

She transported the solar panels into one of the newly constructed shops through her space.

The shop was still mostly empty, with bare walls and rows of sturdy metal shelves waiting to be filled.

She began arranging the solar panels one by one.

A short while later, Lu Yucai entered.

He saw Ni Mengxue struggling to organize the heavy equipment.

Without saying anything, he rolled up his sleeves and walked over to help.

Ni Mengxue immediately stopped him. "You don’t have to do this. I can handle it."

Lu Yucai shook his head. He took one of the solar panels from her hands and looked at her seriously.

"I know, but I still want to help where I can."

His voice softened. "You don’t need to do all the hard work by yourself."

Ni Mengxue looked at Lu Yucai with affection in her eyes.

"All right, then. I won’t do everything by myself next time."

With that, she turned and walked away.

Lu Yucai watched her leave, a faint smile appearing on his face.

However, when he looked at the solar panels stacked beside him, he couldn’t help wondering whether she was planning to introduce electricity throughout Fair Shallow Land.

He had already noticed that the residential buildings didn’t even have basic electric fans.

With the approaching heat wave, this could become a serious problem for the entire base.

Fortunately, the arrival of these solar panels suggested that she was already making preparations.

Meanwhile, Ni Mengxue had selected an electrician to handle the installation of the base’s electrical network.

The electrician was an experienced worker who had previously maintained electrical systems in Silent Knight Base.

Using the ready-made cables and equipment provided by Ni Mengxue, he began connecting the solar panels to the buildings.

However, the source of the electricity was generators that she had bought previously from other bases.

Solar panels can generate power, but eventually the heat waves would be over and then the citizens would start to clamor.

Hence, she added the generators as the backup option.

Even though it wasn’t feasible and it would take time before the electrician could make enough changes to showcase that the base was taking the matter of electricity seriously, she was extremely satisfied.

She immediately hired the electrician to handle daily maintenance and future installations.

Afterward, she began promoting the solar panels to the residents.

At first, hardly anyone showed interest.

Most survivors had grown accustomed to living without electricity after the apocalypse.

In their opinion, electricity was a luxury that ordinary people could no longer afford.

However, they soon realized that the base leader had no intention of restricting electricity to a handful of wealthy residents.

Instead, anyone who could afford a solar panel would have an opportunity to enjoy electricity in their own home.

As the weather grew increasingly hot, more residents began considering the purchase.

Some could barely sleep at night because of the heat.

Eventually, several people visited Ni Mengxue’s shop to inquire about the prices.

However, not everyone was satisfied.

"The boss is charging too much!"

"How are ordinary people supposed to afford this?"

Hearing their complaints, Ni Mengxue’s lips twitched.

She was only charging one mid-tier zombie crystal for a solar panel.

Considering the cost of producing and installing the equipment, she didn’t think the price was unreasonable.

Nevertheless, a few residents began stirring up trouble.

Before long, the first organized protest in Fair Shallow Land started taking shape.

The person leading it was a woman named Strawberry Lee.

Strawberry had ten husbands and had been one of the more influential women among the former residents of Silent Knight Base.

Originally, she had planned to establish a roadside stall in Fair Shallow Land.

She wanted to earn enough money to improve her family’s living conditions and eventually move into a better residential district.

Unfortunately, shortly after arriving, she discovered that the base didn’t permit unauthorised roadside stalls.

Her plans were ruined before she could even begin. Strawberry was furious.

Without hesitation, she began gathering the other vendors who had been affected by the new regulations.