Chapter 2: Zero Contribution Points
Huai Yu couldn’t remember the past. Her mind was like a vast, foggy blank—aside from her name, there was nothing left.
She lined up, hoping maybe there was some record of her here. But looking around at the shabby equipment and the equally shabby hall, she didn’t even see a single security camera…
So she could only stand there, blank and silent.
The worker flipped through the screen pages.
“Which ‘Huai’? Which ‘Yu’?”
“‘Huai’ as in embrace, ‘Yu’ as in elm tree.”
The worker clicked their tongue. “Oh, elm seeds, huh? Sounds fierce. Back when I was starving, I tried eating those. Damn, one handful of elm seeds flying like flower petals almost got us all skinned alive—”
Huai Yu smiled sweetly, “That wasn’t me.”
“I know it wasn’t you…” the worker muttered, eyes scanning the screen back and forth.
“Huh, there’s no such name! Maybe you registered wrong? Bring over your residential contribution card, let me check…”
Huai Yu thought about it, then honestly shook her head. “I don’t have one.”
No card?!
All around her, disdainful glares and whispered comments started.
After plants and animals mutated, living conditions had deteriorated badly. To maintain stability, everyone had to work—and contribution points were earned through labor.
In an environment like this, someone with zero contribution points…
Tsk!
Clearly someone who just hid and survived, too cowardly to work.
Everyone here had suffered. They looked down on people like that. They didn’t even bother saying anything more.
The staff’s face immediately turned impatient. They hurriedly processed a new card for her following the rules, then tossed it onto the table.
“Alright, done. Go to the Housing Department over there and get assigned a place.”
The queue at the Housing Department was separated by steps—lining up and signing documents happened separately—so things moved fast. This time it only took about an hour before it was her turn.
But once the worker glanced at her blank contribution card and swiped it through the machine, only a few lonely options popped up.
“Allocation is by contribution points! With a score of zero like yours, you don’t get to choose! It’s that Jin Yuan Community on the edge of the wasteland. Let’s see—Building 8, 32nd floor, Room 808, no elevator.”
Three options appeared on the electronic screen, another being the 33rd floor with no elevator.
Huai Yu pointed at the very last option:
“Can’t I choose Rose Residence No. 1?”
Her eyes were innocent, her voice soft. Even though the staff disliked her type, they still sighed and patiently explained:
“Weren’t you originally from Flower City? Rose Residence was meant to be a clubhouse. They only built the foundation before the developer went bankrupt. Sure, the land’s big, but you can’t manage it.”
“Why not?” Huai Yu asked patiently.
The staff rolled their eyes. “Why not? Use your little brain! Plant and animal mutations! That place is right next to the Rose Corridor, plus overgrown weeds, trees, forests, ponds… you figure it out?”
“A ruined building gives you 100 square meters, but a deserted 600-acre Rose Residence? No one wants it! Guess why?”
“The Rose Corridor was created by our Wu Yue Major General at great cost! It’s a natural defense line with Sanqing Mountain that stops mutated flora and fauna from invading.”
“It’s fierce and dangerous. If you live next to it, you’ll die for sure!”
“An unfinished building may be tiring to climb, but at least it has a roof for shelter.”
“You choose Rose Residence—what, you gonna hold a leaf over your head when it rains? And when the plants mutate past critical mass? You wanna die?”
“But it’s so big…” Huai Yu mumbled. When she first left the mountains, she had seen a wall of roses—that must’ve been the Rose Corridor they were talking about? She really liked it.
Finally, she insisted:
“I really want to live there! Can I?”
She thought for a moment, then softly called the young woman “Big Sis.”
The worker: “…”
After a moment’s silence, the staff member darkly processed the paperwork:
“Go sign over there to transfer ownership. After that, head to the next hall to collect your relief supplies.”
The transfer process wasn’t complicated. These abandoned places had all been taken over by the state, and the spaces were pre-planned. All she had to do was sign and stamp her fingerprints.
Especially since the staff added:
“You’re getting Residence No. 1, 600 acres of land. Further out there’s Residence No. 2 and 3…”
While guiding Huai Yu through the process, the staff still sighed.
“Girl, don’t think a big place is a blessing. One person, three feet of land, two acres of vegetables—that’s enough to tire you out. Living there alone is really dangerous.”
“And land isn’t expensive now. If you took an unfinished building, managed it for a few years, settled down, had kids, the government might even reward you with a better place…”
While signing and stamping quickly, Huai Yu pushed the signed documents toward the middle-aged man in front of her, saying sweetly:
“Uncle, I’m done.”
She looked about seventeen or eighteen. The middle-aged man, weathered by years of disasters, looked more like forty even though he was only in his thirties. He stayed silent.
Forget it. Teenagers don’t think. With zero contribution points, she must’ve been overly protected before… She’ll learn the hard way.
Thinking that she wasn’t much older than his own kid, he added a kind reminder:
“If you really can’t manage, don’t force it. There’s a station of the Mutated Plant Defense Army just one kilometer away. If anything happens, go find them.”
Huai Yu smiled sweetly:
“Got it. Thank you, Uncle.”
Because mutated plants were so destructive, few paper documents were issued nowadays. Once her electronic record was filed into the big data system, Huai Yu took her empty card to the neighboring hall to collect relief supplies.
Compared to the housing department, this hall was much noisier.
“I have over 600 points, and I’m only getting two jin of soybeans, one jin of rice, and a handful of seeds?!”
“Can I trade the standard 300 bottles of nutrient solution for some actual rice…”
“You’re getting so much, what are you complaining about? I only got two jin of soybeans!”
“Pfft, you barely have 200 points! Two jin is generous!”
“Stop arguing! I heard the minimum is one jin of soybeans and a month’s worth of nutrient solution… Your 200 points are way too little. Were you slacking off and getting docked?”
“Bro, someone with 2000 points got a phone!”
“No way! Can it go online?”
“Don’t know. If I knew phones could be exchanged, I would’ve worked harder clearing houses with the reserves…”
“Yeah right, those mutated potted plants are rare, but they do exist. Better not die trying to earn a phone.”
“Wow, I just found out that if you don’t live in the central district, you can even exchange for an old electric bike if you have enough points…”
“I’m not doing that. Electricity is expensive now, too.”
“Same here. Once life stabilizes, all these things will be available anyway. But houses in the central district are already reinforced and way safer.”
“Damn, it’s heartbreaking. Watching the guy ahead of me pick the house I used to pay a mortgage on…”
“Ugh, stop showing off! When the government repossessed houses, you got plenty of contribution points, okay!”
