Chapter 931: Deep in the city (please vote for the big chapter)
Pushing open the car door and stepping into the muddy water with her Martin boots, Yi Ni opened the mechanical umbrella with difficulty, raised her head and looked at the scene ahead.
Huangye Song Street was much wider than she had imagined. Most of the street lamps on the roadside were rusty, with only three or two dim lights on, shining a faint light on the ground.
The entire street was unusually deserted, with only violent and roaring sounds coming from the dimly lit building next to it.
Stepping onto the sidewalk with broken stone bricks, Yi Ni raised her bracelet and crossed out the credit card deduction notice from Nord Bank. Then she clicked on the forum software again and looked at the 'netizen' who had sent her a message not long ago.
Come's 'address'.
Near No. 72 Huangye Song Street.
It's not far ahead.
Clicking on the navigation software, holding an umbrella, Yi Ni took a deep breath, looked at the tall buildings around her, and walked forward along the sidewalk step by step.
At the same time, her mind began to recall the information she had just searched for in the taxi about Yellow Leaf Pine Street.
This street belongs to the industrial zone of Ningwis District, which contains many heavy industry factories and is one of the oldest industrial bases in the entire Ningwis District.
Corresponding to its "old" name, the factory building here is the youngest industrial building. It has been in use for more than sixty years and has exceeded the maximum design service life of fifty years stipulated by the federal government. It is old and
Danger.
Yi Ni raised her head and glanced at the tall buildings beside her. Amidst the flowing raindrops and violent roars, she seemed to be able to see those buildings shaking under the weight of the night.
She lowered her head, moved a little away from the building, and quickened her pace along the sidewalk.
The darkness before dawn was especially deep, the gray sidewalk was eerily silent, and the cold wind accompanied by moist raindrops blew across the woman's back.
This reminded Ini unconsciously of the plots of those free, low-cost horror movies she had watched.
These horror films are usually very short, the cost is very low, and they cannot afford to rent large venues, so most of them are shot in old buildings in the city. The scene on Huangye Song Street now is very similar to the scenes in those horror films.
The only difference is that the situation on Yellow Leaf Pine Street is darker than in horror movies.
After all, in addition to pop-up ads, those free horror movies are always filled with various product placement ads.
The neon lights and exaggerated advertising graphics of these product placements are always difficult to match the depressing and terrifying atmosphere.
For example, in a horror movie that Yi Ni once watched, a terrifying evil spirit that played out for more than ten minutes was knocked down by the protagonist with a mechanical toilet in only ten seconds. The protagonist then stood there and chanted the mechanical toilet for nearly three minutes.
Advertising slogan for toilet scraper.
The comedy effects of these horror films are sometimes stronger than real comedies. After all, free comedies are mostly filled with advertisements, making it difficult to have a complete experience.
However, the real-world Ponderosa Street seems much scarier than those free horror movies.
Yi Ni raised her head and glanced at the billboard hanging on the wall of the building in front of her. The entire billboard seemed to be no longer lit due to disrepair.
The posters and main structure of the billboard were also dismantled in pieces. Only some sturdy rusty parts embedded in the wall still maintain the general frame of the billboard.
The weak light shone on the dilapidated billboard, leaving only a few broken corners of the posters fluttering in the night wind, and a few splashes of bright red swaying on the faded poster surface.
Although they are in the same city, this dim street is completely different from the bustling St. Ilan district, which is full of neon lights.
Yi Ni once heard a teacher at school say that most companies now prefer to use Internet software for precise advertising, and the offline display advertising market is no longer what it used to be.
In some areas where the return on advertising is not high, the profit from advertising cannot even cover the electricity bill, so advertising companies have stopped maintaining and using billboards.
Obviously, this is a place where even roadside advertising cannot make back its money.
Some news about someone being tricked into a remote place by a strange netizen and then disappearing flashed through Ini's mind unconsciously.
She moved her eyes away from the poster cloth stained with bright red marks, tightened her clothes, took a deep breath, lowered her head slightly, and quickened her pace.
The dim streetlight shines on the woman's path.
With splashes of water splashing on the bricks, after passing two or three buildings, Yi Ni, holding a transparent umbrella, slowed down.
Some figures vaguely appeared in front.
They seemed to be people getting off work after working the night shift. Most of them looked haggard and walked out one after another from the gate of an old factory building.
Many people were slightly stunned when they saw the rain outside, and then quickly rushed through the rain curtain and rushed to a nearby bus stop with an awning. This was also the only place to take shelter from the rain besides the factory building.
.
This bus platform seems to have not been repaired for a long time. The awning is full of rust and cracks. People are crowded under the awning, staring expectantly into the depths of the night.
Yi Ni moved her eyes away from the bus stop and looked at the door number of the factory building.
No. 72, Huangye Song Street,
It's here.
Ives Space Systems Foundry
She mentally recited the name of the factory after the house number.
Is the netizen with the alphanumeric nickname in this factory?
She raised her bracelet and was about to open the forum software and ask where the netizen was when a cold, hoarse voice suddenly sounded behind her,
"You are late."
"ah?"
Yi Ni was startled and quickly turned around.
A boy wearing white short-sleeves and light brown wide-leg trousers, with a skinny body like a hemp pole, walked out of the shadowed corner of the wall behind Yi Ni.
His hair was messy and completely wet. What seemed to be a thermos water bottle hung on his chest and was stuffed into his collar. At this moment, he was raising his head and looking at Yi Ni with his dark eyes.
"You are the···"
Yi Ni looked at the boy in front of her, took a step forward, slightly covered the boy with her umbrella, and then paused for a moment.
That netizen's nickname was all numbers and letters, and she couldn't remember it at all.
"Are you here for the mayor's photo?"
Just when she raised her bracelet and was about to continue opening the forum, the boy took over her words.
"Mayor photo?"
Yi Ni was stunned for a moment, then a hint of surprise flashed across her face, "Did you take a photo of the mayor?"
"I wonder if it's the mayor,"
The boy shook his head, "If those mechas in the photo you took are the mayor's subordinates, they should be the mayor."
"He flies a police aeroplane?"
Yi Ni lowered her head and asked quickly.
"Huh? Is that called a floating fighter plane?"
The boy groaned, then nodded slightly, "If that's the case, then that's it."
"Where is that photo now? Can you share it with me? Is it on your bracelet?"
Yi Ni lowered her head and looked at the boy's wrist, only to find that the boy's hand was empty except for a light-colored stripe, which seemed to be the mark left by wearing the bracelet for a long time.
“The camera function of my bracelet is broken,”
The boy looked up at Yi Ni, turned around and walked towards the other side of the building, "Follow me."
As he walked forward, he took out an old bracelet with a scratched metal strap from his pocket. He reached out and touched it to make sure there were no water droplets on the bracelet and that it could be used normally, and then he sighed.
tone, said,
"It's raining too much. My bracelet is second-hand and has been dismantled, so it's not waterproof."
After a brief hesitation, he did not put the bracelet on his hand, but put it back in his pocket and quickened his pace.
Yi Ni also quickened her pace and tried her best to cover the boy with her umbrella. Two bright lights shone in the darkness in the distance. From far to near, they were an old and wide bus.
Driving slowly along the dilapidated streets.
"Aren't we taking the bus?"
Yi Ni glanced at the bus and asked in a low voice.
The boy glanced sideways at the bus, took Yi Ni into an alley, and said quickly, "It's faster to take the alley."
"oh."
Yi Ni nodded slightly. As she moved forward, she looked back in the direction of the factory building behind her, "Are you playing around there? The Ivis Space System factory?"
"I work there."
The boy said quickly.
"work?"
Yi Ni was stunned.
She lowered her head, glanced at the boy's size, and couldn't help but ask, "How old are you?"
The boy in front of him is not tall, a head shorter than Yi Ni, only 1.4 meters.
When she was working in the news before, she checked the height information published by Irons. With adequate nutrition, the average height of a ten-year-old boy in the Federation is about a little over 1.4 meters, and the average height of a twelve-year-old boy is about
1.5 meters is closer to 1.6 meters.
The boy in front of me looks to be less than ten years old.
"Eleven years old at the beginning of the year."
The boy replied quickly.
"Eleven years old?!"
Yi Ni raised her voice slightly. She looked at the thin boy in front of her who was obviously malnourished, paused for a moment, and then continued, "Why do they want to recruit people your age? They..."
"There are some remote machines with small entrances for maintenance and operation. It is easier for people to get in and control them,"
As the boy walked forward, he quickly replied, "It's hard to find a job now. My figure is just right. If I grow up a little, they won't want me."
There are no federal age restrictions for employees.
But this was the first time that Yi Ni intuitively realized the legal meaning behind this sentence.
Yi Ni opened her mouth, but she didn't know what to say, but she didn't know what to say. Finally, she sighed softly, "You are so young. I was still in fifth grade when you were here. If you don't finish elementary school,
?"
"There are a lot of jobs around here at my age,"
The boy shook his head, "But most people will choose to finish elementary school, and some people will work after graduating from junior high school. The result is the same. It's hard to find a job. People like me who are young and small can still
To find some special jobs, those who are older can only compete with adults for jobs."
Listening to the boy's natural and accustomed words, Yi Ni suddenly felt confused and fell into a brief silence.
She didn't ask again, and the boy didn't take the initiative to speak.
The two continued to move forward, and the rain still did not stop. Yi Ni followed the boy's pace and quickly walked through the narrow alleys.
After a while, Yi Ni broke the silence and asked slowly, "What did you mean when you said 'it's late' just now?"
"That's what it means literally."
The boy shook his head. At this time, he stopped and looked up ahead.
At this moment, the two of them were at a higher position. Looking around, a series of low old buildings appeared in Yi Ni's field of vision.
These old buildings seem to have been abandoned for a long time. Even the glass in the windows has been completely broken. Some windows are open, while others are sealed with boards and faded posters to prevent the wind and rain from entering.
"Look there."
The boy pointed to the roof of an old building. Under the dim light of the morning sun, there were faint figures walking there.
Yi Ni immediately raised the camera, pointed it there, and zoomed in. The distant scene appeared on the camera screen.
A huge piece of blackened metal was falling on the roof of the building. Several bright yellow isolation belts surrounded the metal. Several people in city defense uniforms were dismantling and recycling the metal.
Some people dressed as journalists took photos outside the isolation zone.
Yi Ni even saw the emblem of the largest media in Yilan City, Yilan Morning News.
"Someone has already come first."
She raised her head and spoke in a slightly lower tone.
"So you came late. Someone came when I was at work, and now I'm off work."
The boy shook his head and quickly went down the blackened steel stairs, "But you're lucky, I have photos here that no one else has."
Yi Ni raised her head, put down her camera, and quickly caught up with the boy.
The two walked around the low buildings and entered a narrow old building. Then Yi Ni followed the boy up the stairs with broken handrails.
This building has a total of five floors, and there seem to be residents on four of them. Some rooms have good doors, but no locks, and some rooms have no doors at all, with only some large plastic boards used to block the wind.
Soon, Yi Ni followed the boy to the top floor.
An unlocked red door was hidden in front of them. An iron wire passed through the holes in the door and the door frame, connecting the door and the door frame. The iron wire was then locked by a dark padlock.
.
The boy took out the key, unlocked the padlock, and pushed the door open.
The room was a little dark, and some worn plastic posters were sealed on the windows to block the wind and rain from the outside, but the whole room was still much damper and colder than a normal room.
"Jerlin, are you back?"
A hoarse voice sounded from the corner of the room.
Yi Ni looked up and saw only a small bed made of cardboard piled in the corner of the room. A vague figure was lying on the bed, covered with a thick quilt.
"Well, Mom, I'm off work."
The boy skillfully clicked on a charging chandelier at the door.
With the light shining on the whole room, he walked to the small bed, reached out and touched the forehead of the figure on the bed, then quickly took out a medicine bottle from a small plastic box on the bedside, and poured out a few pills from it.
Then he pulled out the thermos water cup that was stuffed into his clothes, unscrewed the lid, and rich heat rose from the water cup.
Looking at the steaming steam, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
“The water is still hot,”
He stretched out his hand to help the figure on the bed up and leaned against the wall, "Mom, take the medicine first."
The figure took the pill and looked up at the door, "Are there guests coming?"
"Well, you came to me to buy photos."
The boy nodded and gave his mother water to swallow the medicine.
"Hello, aunt."
Yi Ni stood at the door and said hello in a somewhat reserved manner.
"Hello,"
The woman on the bed smiled hoarsely, "Welcome, our place is a bit rough..."
"Okay, stop talking, she bought the photo and left."
The boy put the steaming glass of water into his mother's arms, then raised his head and looked at Yi Ni, "Wait a moment."
He quickly walked into a pile of debris in the corner and groped around inside.
Yi Ni walked over carefully and cautiously. The pile of debris seemed to be very messy, with various worn-out electronic products piled up. There was also a plastic flyer in the very corner.
On the edge of the leaflet it says, [Health Care Code]
Most of the contents of the code are covered by debris, and only the bottom one is fully exposed, [Drink more boiled water and less raw water, patients should pay special attention to it.]
At the bottom of the code is a cartoon doctor’s avatar, labeled with artistic words, ‘Dr. Linn’.