Anxi Province, Xijing City.

Inside a noodle shop.

Yang Fan took a few bites of ramen and suddenly felt a gaze from beside him.

He instinctively turned his head and immediately saw a male customer at the neighboring table quietly sizing him up.

Yang Fan immediately smiled and nodded to greet him.

The male customer's gaze locked onto the phone on the table and asked, "Buddy, is that a Super Crystal Battery phone?"

The so-called "Super Crystal Battery" is a kind of black technology battery developed from a primordial material called "Energy Copper," obtained by Great Xia from mining the Celestial Mountain.

Phones equipped with Super Crystal Batteries were officially launched and sold not long ago.

The biggest selling point of this new generation of phones is the battery life; even the entry-level version boasts an astonishing one-month duration.

Yang Fan nodded and said, "Yeah."

The male customer gave a thumbs-up: "Awesome!"

Everyone knows that the lowest configuration of the Super Crystal Battery phone costs as high as 8000 Xia Yuan.

Due to limited production capacity of the phones, purchasing them requires special shopping vouchers, so those who can get the new phone now are really something.

Yang Fan casually came up with an excuse: "The company's benefits are pretty good."

The male customer curiously asked, "Buddy, how does the Super Crystal Battery feel to use?"

Yang Fan smiled and said, "It beats the whole world!"

He didn't elaborate on how exactly it "beats" the world.

Because there are a ton of review videos online, it's hard for ordinary people not to see them, so he didn't bother to jabber on.

For example:

A guy with too much free time put his newly acquired Super Crystal Battery phone in a freezer at minus forty degrees.

And froze it with water for a whole day and night.

Then when he took the phone out to thaw, the battery still had 100% charge, not a single bit less.

This shows that aside from the battery, the other phone components were also specifically designed for low temperature environments.

The male customer also looked proud: "Great Xia technology leads the world!"

Ever since the Age of Calamity arrived, this phrase has been mentioned more and more often, and more and more people agree with it.

Yang Fan skillfully changed the subject: "I often travel on business to various cities, and I feel like there's more snow accumulation in Xijing City, unlike other cities where snow removal is more diligent."

This is a slightly sensitive topic.

The male customer chuckled: "Buddy, you have a good eye, you quickly spotted the problem."

This guy paused, then answered the question: "Because the waters here run deep."

Yang Fan speculated: "Is someone making money?"

The male customer nodded vigorously: "Our City Hall outsourced the snow removal work."

Yang Fan instantly understood the implications.

Take Linjiang City as an example.

Linjiang City adopts a unified official arrangement method.

That is:

The officials release temporary snow-clearing positions through mini applications to the entire city, organizing citizens to sweep the streets.

Participants can receive some compensation; though not much, it at least solves the problem of basic needs.

This way, on one hand, officials have enough workforce, and on the other hand, many unemployed people can find work.

Xijing City, however, is different.

This city adopts the outsourcing method, providing room for manipulation.

In certain stages, some people can reap substantial profits.

And in the actual execution stage, it means some of the funds intended for snow removal are embezzled.

With less money, fewer people are hired, and naturally, the snow removal efficiency decreases.

This is the fundamental reason why the city is filled with snow everywhere.

Yang Fan couldn't help smacking his lips: "At this time, these people have some nerve."

The male customer shook his head: "The people here have never been cowardly."

Yang Fan asked again: "So, does that mean many people are involved?"

The male customer made a gesture: "A lot of them, almost every community has several labor companies."

Yang Fan nodded lightly.

It's conceivable that the controllers of each labor company are all so-called connected individuals.

Some layers of this city have already completely rotted.

The male customer seemed to have opened a soul box, suddenly asking a question: "Buddy, in your city's community, there isn't a snow removal fee, right?"

Yang Fan's eyes flickered for a moment, shaking his head: "No."

The male customer pointed downward: "Here, every household is forced to pay thirty yuan a month for the snow removal fee, it's disgustingly annoying."

Yang Fan agreed: "Their manner of doing things is indeed too unsightly."

He asked: "Isn't anyone dealing with it?"

The male customer retorted: "Who would deal with it? Many people have complained, but the City Hall says funds are seriously lacking, yet they are actively collecting money."

Yang Fan remained silent.

Thirty yuan is a rather clever figure; the amount isn't much, and most residents wouldn't fuss over it.

However, with so many people in a city, it adds up to a large sum of money.

The person who devised this money-making scheme was indeed quite sly.

He thought of things in the Dream Realm and muttered to himself: "No wonder Xijing City would cause such a mess, resulting in the deaths of so many innocent people."

The reason he came to this city wasn't to whimsically eat a bowl of ramen, but because of a tragedy that occurred in the Dream Realm.

And the root of the tragedy was directly related to the snow removal fee.

Yang Fan asked again: "What would happen if you don't pay the snow removal fee?"

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