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“This is my backup plan.”
Huo Yuhao's eyes darkened as he said calmly, "Dai Hao should be thankful that he made timely remedial measures and did not cultivate an enemy beyond common sense."
"I think Sun Moon will welcome immigrants like me very much, because I am not here to make money, but to seek political asylum."
Tian Meng asked weakly: "Well... Yuhao, what is political asylum?"
Huo Yuhao did not explain, but gave her an extremely simple example: "It's very simple, Tianmeng, why did you leave the Far North?"
"Ah... I remember that I fled into the sea because Bingbing wanted to eat me..."
“This is political asylum.”
"..."
Tian Meng gently opened her little mouth, and at this moment, she felt that she had matured a lot.
She turned slowly and looked at Bingdi eagerly.
The Ice Emperor froze, turned his head, and snorted, "It was my fault in the beginning. I apologize to you. Is that ok?"
"I know Bingbing, you are the best."
Bingdi sighed helplessly. Even though they were once natural enemies, they were now companions on the same path.
At this time, Huo Yuhao suddenly fiddled with his storage belt, trying to take out something.
Huo Qiuer asked in confusion: "What are you doing?"
"When I meet fellow villagers, I have to get to know them better and learn about their lives and the conditions in the mining area. I heard that prices here are quite expensive, so I can give them some benefits."
Huo Yuhao laughed evilly and took out a long oven from his belt.
"Show your talent."
Chapter 444: When fellow villagers meet, they get shot in the back
At dusk, the miners in the mining area go home from work.
There are almost no night shifts in the southeast mining area. These mines are like the last bit of toothpaste left, and they may be mined out one day. The major mine owners are gradually losing interest in the management of this area. Every day of mining means one more day of profit.
A strong adult miner works hard for a day and hands over the ore he digs out to the minions of the big mine owner. Although as immigrants, these miners sell their labor at a much lower price than the people of Mingdu, and they also have to pay a considerable commission, they can still keep a considerable income.
Soul guides are the foundation of the Sun-Moon Empire. As a link in the source of the soul guide industry chain, the salary of miners is correspondingly higher than that of other civilian occupations, which is enough to attract immigrants from foreign countries to gather here.
Such income was not very attractive to the people of Mingdu. Most of them looked down on this dilapidated mining area and went to other large mining areas to do the same work and get higher wages than here. Over time, the main miners in the southeast mining area became immigrants from Xingluo and Tianhun.
Their relatives gathered around the mining area and formed an immigrant community.
At this moment, a small barbecue stall was set up at the intersection of one of the few wider streets in this residential area and another small path.
Huo Yuhao stood in front of a long grill, his hands slowly but rhythmically flipping the wooden skewers on the grill. On each skewer was a processed, plump herring.
Each black carp is as long as a forearm, and its skin is covered with a thick red sauce, which makes it a dark brown color, but it is very appetizing.
The rich aroma slowly drifts away into the distance with the breeze under the roasting of the charcoal fire.
Huo Yuhao was wearing sunglasses and grilling fish leisurely. Next to him was Tian Meng, staring at him with shining eyes. Huo Qiuer and the Ice and Snow Emperors were acting very reserved.
Huo Qiuer frowned and observed his movements and techniques carefully, with a puzzled look on her face.
Soon, the first batch of fish was grilled. Before Huo Yuhao even opened his mouth, Tian Meng couldn't wait to grab one and took a bite.
"Delicious! Today's grilled fish tastes different."
The rich aroma burst out from the fish covered with thick sauce, and Tian Meng, a veteran grilled fish critic, immediately noticed the difference.
"Today's grilled fish is obviously more fragrant than usual. Bingbing, Sister Xue'er, Xiaoba, you can try it too."
Bajiao was silent for a moment, then declined, "I can't eat it."
After taking a bite, Bingdi nodded slightly: "It is indeed different. There are too many ingredients, so it is salty, and the heat is stronger than usual."
Xue Di couldn't help but sigh: "Come to think of it, Yu Hao hasn't baked anything himself for a long time."
It seemed like one thing after another had happened during this period of time. Since when did Huo Yuhao no longer have a peaceful time to have a barbecue?
The rich aroma also attracted Huo Qiuer. She took one and took a bite, savoring it carefully, trying to find out what the secret was.
Although she had received Huo Yuhao's memories and was not unfamiliar with her cooking skills, after spending so many days together, this seemed to be the first time she tasted the grilled fish freshly made by Huo Yuhao.
"What went wrong?" Huo Qiuer muttered to herself.
She has the same memories as Huo Yuhao, but using the same steps, she cannot bake food to the same taste as Huo Yuhao.
Bingdi elegantly held the grilled fish that he had only tasted a bite of, and asked, "Yuhao, is it because you haven't grilled for so long that even your style has changed?"
"How is that possible? What do you take me for?"
Huo Yuhao did not stop what he was doing and started another round of grilling fish.
"Today's target customers are mainly middle-aged miners. After a day of mining, they will definitely want to eat something heavy in oil and salt. I am precisely targeting their pain points."
While they were talking, several figures walked towards Huo Yuhao's barbecue stall together.
It was located at the intersection, and with its tempting aroma, it naturally attracted the attention of the residents.
However, these residents are not the dusty miners, but some women.
Huo Qiuer said slowly, "Why do I think your target customers are all middle-aged and elderly women?"
A middle-aged woman holding a child came forward and asked in surprise: "Young man and young lady, you look very unfamiliar. Where are you from?"
She also has a very obvious Xing Luo accent.
Huo Yuhao smiled and replied, “Auntie, I heard that miners in the Sun-Moon Empire earn a good income, so I came to the mining area to make a living.”
He didn't have a very obvious accent originally, but now he has a slight accent.
"Are you from Xingluo too?" The women couldn't help but feel delighted when they heard that.
They also could not see the fluctuations in Huo Yuhao's soul power, so they naturally regarded him as a member of the Xingluo immigrants.
A woman in her fifties was very enthusiastic and asked, "Young man, how did you come to the Sun-Moon Empire?"
Huo Yuhao answered naturally, “We were originally working in a small caravan, but we felt that the treatment in Sun Moon was better than that in Xing Luo, so we stayed in Mingdu. Auntie, it seems that all the people here are from Xing Luo and Tian Hun. How come there are so many Xing Luo people?”
He asked curiously.
The arrival of strangers stimulated the desire of these middle-aged and elderly women to communicate. They didn't care about the barbecue and just started talking at once.
The woman in her fifties shook her head and sighed, "In recent years, most people like you have come here to make a living. Mining in Mingdu, some diligent men can dig up a gold soul coin in a day."
"But there are also many people like me who have to stay here because of the war between the Sun-Moon Empire and the Star Luo Empire."
This reason was somewhat beyond Huo Yuhao's expectations. He was stunned for a moment and asked hurriedly, "Auntie, can you tell me in detail?"
The middle-aged woman smiled and said, "My husband and I live on the border between the two countries. The Sun-Moon Empire and the Xingluo Empire often fight on the border. I remember that one time the fight was quite fierce and even reached the vicinity of our village. We had no choice but to flee into the Mingdou Mountains. When the fight was over, we came out and found that we had entered the territory of the Sun-Moon Empire."
Huo Yuhao asked, "Auntie, how long have you lived in the Sun Moon Empire? And how did you come to Mingdu?"
"It's been so long, I've forgotten everything, but it's been at least thirty-four years." The middle-aged woman laughed, "Young man, you don't know how hostile the Sun-Moon Empire is to us. They try to make things difficult for us everywhere. When they hear our Xingluo accents, even the vegetable vendors charge us a lot more."
"For ordinary people like us, the only way to live a decent life is by doing hard work like mining. Fortunately, my husband has plenty of strength and can mine several Gintama coins a day."
"We went around looking for miners to mine, but ordinary people like us could only mine poor ores that the soul guide masters didn't even look at. About 20 years ago, after the last mine closed, we came to this mining area in Mingdu."
Facing a young man who had just arrived from his hometown, she showed a strong desire to talk.
Huo Yuhao listened carefully to the middle-aged woman's story and was filled with emotion.
Huo Qiuer asked: "You left your hometown and came here, have you ever thought about going home?"
The middle-aged woman did not feel sad at all about this topic, but said optimistically: "Why would I miss anything? My hometown was destroyed a long time ago."
"Besides, I have been in the Sun-Moon Empire for much longer than in Xing Luo, and I have lived a good life here. There are no mines in the Xing Luo Empire. How many bronze soul coins can I earn if I go back?"
Huo Yuhao fell silent after hearing this.
In fact, many ordinary people like the middle-aged woman in front of them do not have a deep sense of family and country. They naturally think that where life is better and they can earn more money is better.
But should we blame them for that? Who made them homeless?
The middle-aged woman had a very proud smile on her face. In her eyes, she and her husband, who were born in a common family, had completed a trivial yet great class leap through mining, which was something worth boasting about.
However, just as she was laughing smugly, another woman next to her poured cold water on her: "Alas, I don't know how long this mining area can be mined. I heard that there will not be enough rocks to mine in the southeast mining area in a few years. Then we will have to look for the next mining area."
"You're such a jinx, can you say something nice?" Her lament immediately caused complaints from other women.
The middle-aged woman looked at Huo Yuhao again and advised, "Young man, you are still young, so why not go to other mining areas?"
Huo Yuhao smiled slightly: "Auntie, you misunderstood. I am not here to mine. I am here to provide supporting services."
"You think, miners like your lover must be starving after a day of mining, and they will definitely want to eat some delicious barbecue."
As he spoke, he turned over the grilled fish in his hand.
The middle-aged woman asked curiously, "Young man, how much do you sell this grilled fish for?"
Huo Yuhao smiled and replied, “Two bronze soul coins for one.”
"so cheap?"
Not only the middle-aged women, but even Tian Meng and others who were eating grilled fish nearby were shocked.
"Yuhao, you didn't set the wrong price, did you?"
"Are you here to make a fortune?" Huo Qiuer looked at him with great confusion.
She clearly remembered that in Shrek Academy, Huo Yuhao sold one soul for five bronze coins.
Huo Yuhao nonchalantly transmitted his voice: “I’m not interested in making money from the poor.”
The middle-aged woman said in disbelief: "Young...young man, it costs at least five copper soul coins to buy such a big fish in our mining area, and you only sell it for two copper soul coins, this..."
Huo Yuhao interrupted her with a smile: "Auntie, my fish are purchased in bulk from the market in Mingdu. One fish only costs one copper soul coin, which is very cheap."
"How did you get the fish so cheap, young man?"
The middle-aged woman looked surprised, but she knew that as soon as they spoke with the Xingluo accent, the small vendors in Mingdu would sneer and immediately raise the price, and it would be impossible to buy such cheap fish.
Just then, several rough voices floated from a distance.
"What smells so good? Damn, I'm so greedy."
The few people who spoke were all dirty and grimy, and it was obvious that they were also a group of miners.