Cave Refuge

Although everyone was collecting the snake skins in the front yards of their homes, the simple act of picking them up from the ground could take a considerable amount of time.

The reason people did this was if they cleaned up the snake skins in their own yards, they would need to start cleaning up the snake skins on the streets. It's worth noting that although the snake skins might not look very appealing, they were indeed a food source at this time.

For those lacking food, this might be a lifesaving sustenance, but for the survivors living in the villa district who did not lack food, these things were like the empty drink bottles commonly found on the streets before the natural disaster. Although accumulating a lot could indeed be exchanged for money, each bottle would not fetch much.

And the families living in the villa district, like the moderately well-off families before the disaster, might see a pile of unclaimed empty drink bottles on the street that could be worth thirty to fifty dollars if taken away, but when it came to this unexpected wealth, few people would go to the trouble of removing it.

Many neighbors who lived close by, seeing that others around them were reluctantly lingering in their yards, unwilling to go out and pick up more snake skins, would silently slow down the rate at which they gathered snake skins in their own yards, even if some households wanted to collect more.

After all, the survivors who could live in the villa district were essentially of some status, and since they hadn't fallen into a desperate situation at this point, they needed to maintain face. So even if they really wanted more, they needed to keep pace with the others.

This was actually the culture of the circle. If your behavior does not conform to the values and cognizance of the majority in the circle you are in, you will gradually be ostracized over time.

Unless you wanted to break away from this circle, you could act according to your own desires. Otherwise, if you wanted to stay in this circle for a long time, you must adhere to the invisible rules within it, which is the so-called principle that one is influenced by one's environment.

Of course, the snake skins on the streets still needed to be cleaned up, so the families who genuinely did not want them maintained the same unhurried pace in cleaning up the snake skins on their property. Those families who actually wanted the snake skins would slowly start to speed up.

If there were no external disturbances, those snake skins on the streets of the villa district would still be cleaned up and collected by the families who really wanted them. This was also an invisible rule within the circle.

After all, within any circle, there would exist a hierarchy. The resources produced within the circle, if not desired by the upper tier, would be consumed by the lower levels.

Indeed, if all resources were monopolized by certain individuals, no circle would form; a circle is like the food chain in the ocean.

Food that the big fish do not eat will be consumed by medium-sized fish, and the remnants produced by the big fish, which the medium fish overlook, will be eaten by smaller fish. The remnants produced by the medium fish, which the small fish disregard, become the scavengers'—those that eat just about anything—food on the seabed.

However, although everyone knew about these invisible rules, for the sake of maintaining the face of certain individuals, some superficial efforts still had to be made. As a result, compared to the straightforward actions in other areas of the camp, the clean-up work in the villa district seemed somewhat lackadaisical.

Some survivors who lived in other areas passed through the villa district while collecting snake skins in the camp. Although they were somewhat envious of the snake skins on the streets of the villa district, they tacitly ignored the situation there.

It was understood that if they truly entered the villa district to clean up those snake skins on the streets, nobody would stop them on the spot. But this could not withstand the potential settling of accounts by those who lost benefits.

If they were now facing starvation, they might very well rush into the villa district and collect the remaining snake skins on the ground, regardless of the consequences. After all, compared to starving now, who would care about possible retaliation later?

Snake Skin was now ubiquitously found within the camp, similar to fresh long beans in the market – everyone coveted it yet knew about its production, so even upon its market introduction, there was no scrambling for it.

Circle culture protected the interests of those within the circle, but it also restricted their behaviors, so all the survivors in the camp understood that while they couldn't enter the villa district to collect Snake Skin, the survivors residing in the villas wouldn't leave their area to compete for Snake Skin in other parts of the camp.

Compared to the villa area, which was less than one-sixth of the camp, there were plenty of other areas where no one was tasked with clearing the Snake Skin. Given this, no one would risk retribution by venturing into the villa area to gather it.

Mrs. Thompson had initially wanted to collect more Snake Skin. Although the Thompson Family didn't lack food now, they had been just an ordinary family before the Natural Disaster, not even reaching the so-called well-off level.

So, in her free time, Mrs. Thompson liked to learn through videos how to cook dishes with common ingredients. She had also learned how to make dishes like aspic, which required simple ingredients.

While she had never made aspic with other animal skins, she had made Donkey-hide Gelatin with donkey skin and often made aspic with pig skin.

Though donkey skin was somewhat expensive, an ordinary family could afford it in small quantities without much pressure, and with pig skin, if one had a good relationship with the butcher, it could be free – like the butt of a roast duck; you just needed to let go of your pride and ask, and most vendors wouldn't charge for such off-cuts, typically giving them away.

However, Mrs. Thompson had efficiently cleared all the Snake Skin in the yard. Before she had time to head out, Mr. Thompson grabbed her and dragged her directly into the villa that now resembled ruins.

Seeing his father dragging his mother into the villa, Zachary didn't say much and followed the two of them inside.

Mrs. Thompson, realizing her husband's action, knew he must have something to say that couldn't be said outside, so she let herself be pulled into the room. Once the three of them were inside, she asked puzzledly, "Why did you drag me in here?"

Seeing his wife's confusion, Mr. Thompson felt helpless and glanced at Zachary, who seemed like an outsider, and answered with a hint of annoyance, "Why I brought you in here? Just ask your son, and you'll know."

Hearing Mr. Thompson trying to pass the buck, Zachary wasn't about to take the bait. Before his mother could say anything, he interjected, "I have no idea why Dad dragged you inside – I followed you because I was worried you might face danger in there."

Sensing his mother's gaze returning to him, Mr. Thompson knew his son had grown smart and wasn't going to be the one used as a mouthpiece; there's an old saying that good advice is often harsh on the ears, meaning that the truth isn't always pleasant to hear.

Even if the reminders given were correct, the person being reminded often feels unhappy and subconsciously might blame the one who gave the advice.

That's why Mr. Thompson knew Zachary understood why he had stopped Mrs. Thompson from going out; he wanted Zachary to voice the reminder, so even if Mrs. Thompson felt resentful after hearing it, it would be directed at her son, Zachary, and not himself.

When he was younger, many times Mr. Thompson would cleverly use Zachary's voice to convey messages; after all, mother and son wouldn't fall out over such well-intentioned advice, and it wouldn't create an inexplicable rift between him and his wife.

It's like how adults often say children are picky eaters, yet they claim not to be picky themselves. In reality, adults are picky too; it's just that they do the grocery shopping, so they only buy the food they like, avoiding ingredients they don't, which naturally means they don't show their pickiness during meals.