Apocalyptic Hoarding Diary

Chapter 533 New Policies

The rules in the satellite city are simple: all newcomers to Qing City, regardless of age, gender, or occupation, must first reside in the satellite city for a full year.

After a year, only those who pass a comprehensive physical examination and multiple levels of approval can obtain a "City Entry Permit" stamped with an official seal and officially begin living in Qing City.

The new regulations have sparked public outcry.

Some people compare this system to a new era's "travel permit," jokingly saying that in ancient times people needed a travel permit to enter the city, while today people need a license to enter the city; history really is a circle.

Some people sarcastically call it "health slavery," saying that it is clearly about locking people up inside walls as experimental subjects, and then using a year as a pretense of a "transition period."

But there are also people who genuinely support it; most of these people are survivors who personally experienced that catastrophe.

For them, freedom, rights, and dignity are all nonsense when it comes to survival.

"You think the wall is too high? Go ask those 48,000 people if they would trade a year's worth of wall life for their lives."

A man who had lost his family stood at the entrance of the trading center and said these words, which were later quoted by many people on the internet.

After all, the cost of 48,000 lives was far too heavy, too heavy for this city to withstand a second such blow.

As the days went by, the outline of the satellite city gradually became clear in the wilderness.

The towering gray walls had a protruding sentry post at intervals, where soldiers with steel guns sat, watching everything inside and outside the walls day and night.

The era when one could freely enter and leave Qing City is gone forever.

Shortly after the satellite city was built, Qing City introduced a new policy to encourage original Qing City residents to relocate to the satellite city.

Almost overnight, the topic of conversation throughout the city changed completely.

On the streets, in markets, in elevators, and in neighborhood WeChat groups, everyone is talking about the new government policy.

Anyone willing to relocate to any satellite city can obtain permanent farmland for free.

Moreover, the options are very flexible. If you choose farmland within the satellite city planning area, you can get 400 square meters.

If you want land that's even more remote outside the city, you can get a full 600 square meters.

What's even more appealing is that all properties can be built by the owner.

Within their own land area, residents can build as large or as many stories as they want, as long as it complies with basic building safety regulations; Qing City will not interfere.

The only condition is that you must live in the satellite city for at least three years. After three years, you are free to leave or stay, but the land ownership still belongs to you.

The policy caused an uproar.

Some people at the dinner table slapped their thighs and cheered, saying this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

In the past, you couldn't afford a house even if you saved your whole life. Now the government is giving away land for free and letting you build your own house. Where in the world is there such a good thing?

Some people shook their heads coldly, saying that there's no such thing as a free lunch, and that the government's sudden offer of such a large incentive clearly indicates that they are exchanging land for population.

The satellite city was deserted when it was first built and needed someone to fill it. After three years, when the satellite city prospered, who knows what new tricks they might come up with to take the land back.

Another group of people remained silent, sitting at home, thinking over and over again until their hair turned gray, still unable to make up their minds.

If they move, they'll miss the hard-won foothold in Qing City; if they don't move, they're afraid of missing the only chance in their lives to own their own land.

But many people are taking a wait-and-see approach. They are waiting for the first person to take the plunge and see how those who moved there fared before making a decision.

Xu Xiaoyan didn't hesitate at all; she didn't even pause for a moment before directly clicking on the official website of the Qing City online trading platform.

After selecting and opening the vector image of the satellite city, a detailed planning map will be displayed on the screen.

The map shows the topography, river courses, road network, and locations of satellite cities that have been built or are under construction around Qing City.

She counted and found that there are currently eight satellite cities around Qing City, four of which are near the river, located to the north and south of Qing City respectively.

Xu Xiaoyan stared at the map for a few seconds and had already made a judgment in her mind.

There are four satellite cities near the river. She prioritized the two upstream, and then, based on the terrain, she set her sights on the fifth satellite city, which is at a higher elevation.

This satellite city is built on a hilly plateau northwest of Qing City.

The terrain is significantly higher than the surrounding area, with better drainage, a better view, and faster air circulation. In the event of any future epidemic or disaster, higher ground will always be safer than lower ground.

Xu Xiaoyan didn't hesitate and clicked on it directly.

After the page redirects, a clear selection interface appears, offering a choice between farmland inside the city and farmland outside the city.

Xu Xiaoyan noticed that the entire map of Satellite City No. 5 was clearly marked, with the farmland areas inside the city marked in light green and the areas outside the city marked in dark green.

Currently, most plots of land are shown as "available," indicating that, as she had predicted, the vast majority of people are still observing and not many are actually making a purchase.

She secretly breathed a sigh of relief; thankfully she had arrived early and still had choices.

Xu Xiaoyan carefully examined the map of the fields within the city and found that there were still twelve fields available for selection, each marked with a number on the map.

She thought that if she really moved to live in a satellite city in the future, the land should not be too conspicuous, and the more inconspicuous the location, the safer it would be.

So they avoided the fields near the two city gates. Those places were bustling with people and vehicles, with soldiers changing shifts and people coming and going every day. They were too conspicuous and not good.

After eliminating these, only seven of the twelve fields meet the criteria.

They then zoomed in on the map to its maximum scale to carefully examine the surrounding environment of each candidate field, paying particular attention to the location of the sentry posts.

She didn't want to be exposed to the sentries' binoculars every time she went out to farm; the thought of being constantly watched made her very uncomfortable.

She used her finger to look at the icons on the map one by one, crossing out all those that were too close to the outpost.

Good heavens, after this screening, there really was a piece of land that perfectly met all her requirements: it was neither near the city gate nor inconspicuous.

It is also at a reasonable distance from the sentry post, and is not within direct line of sight.

She decisively selected the field and chose to confirm.

After selection, a confirmation window popped up with several lines of eye-catching red text:

You have selected plot number 073 within Satellite City No. 5. Please confirm the following information:

The plot of land covers an area of ​​400 square meters and has permanent ownership. Owners must build their own houses within the designated area and are not allowed to encroach on public roads.

To confirm, please click 'Next'; to cancel, please click 'Back'.