My wife is an immortal black snake.

Page 62

All the unemployed, jobless, or those controlled by unscrupulous corporations can register at the Duke's Palace or the administrative centers of their respective regions! Everyone registered will be given a job—a government-provided job!

...

work...?

...do?

The unemployed were stunned for a moment before realizing that the civil servant had indeed uttered the very term they had been longing for.

A job. A job, a job that can support a family.

But is this job real? Is it real... a job that provides funding, bread, and something else? And not drudgery? Or slavery?

"However! The government's job doesn't provide you with regular pay. Instead, it provides you with [Duke Coins] and consumer goods, which we issued to address the economic crisis. Duke Coins can be used to buy bread, tissues, and even clothes that you need to get through the summer and winter at all the Duke's directly operated stores!"

Please do not worry about the purchasing power of Duke's Coins! At least for the time being, it will be the legitimate currency that all those in need of work relief can rely on! Our Duke's Palace will prepare sufficient consumer goods, necessities, and daily necessities for everyone! This is a guarantee made by Duke Kosiché and Lord Yang Hao for everyone!

Duke's Coins? Directly Operated Stores? What are those? Bread, consumer goods, daily necessities—meaning, all these things can be bought at those directly operated stores? And with what, Duke's Coins? Ivan and the others were completely bewildered by this sudden piece of great news. They knew it was good news, but what exactly did the civil servant mean by that?

Too strange...

In a daze, Ivan only knew that he inexplicably ran with the surging crowd to the temporary platform, inexplicably pressed his fingerprint on a document, and then inexplicably received a loaf of bread—a soft, freshly baked white bread, not the hard, stale bread that Leia bought from the bakery that had been sitting for who knows how long.

He instinctively stuffed the bread into his clothes, intending to take it back so Leia could recover. But before he could do so, a friendly Ursus soldier approached and said—

"Eat, eat now! If you don't eat your fill, how will you work later? How will you earn money to support your family?"

...

What he said seemed to make sense.

Ivan lowered his head and took out the bread from his pocket. Then, he took a bite of one end of the bread.

It's soft, delicious, and has a sweet taste of sugar.

This is the most delicious bread Ivan has ever eaten.

none of them.

Chapter 138

To be honest, there was just so much information this morning.

In his dazed state, Ivan almost forgot what he had done during the entire day's work.

When he came to his senses, he was already standing at the pay counter with a bewildered expression. There, he received his first paycheck of the day—a strange green paper token called "Duke Coin," along with a basket of bread and other necessities.

"Although it's black bread, at least it doesn't contain sawdust or dirt," the civil servant distributing salaries said. "It's better than what you can buy on the street—go on, and remember to report for duty on time tomorrow morning."

“Oh, oh—”

Ivan stumbled home, clutching the basket in his arms. In his dazed state, he didn't forget to slip the ducal coins into the safest place, just in case.

On his way home, Ivan gradually recalled what he had done from morning to afternoon.

In the morning, after eating his bread, he followed the group to a construction site not far from their meeting place. Because he had been a steelworker and his years of experience moving steel made him stronger than the other workers, he was immediately assigned a physically demanding task after eating and drinking his fill: moving the building materials needed by the other workers.

Ivan noticed that his workplace was on a long-unused vacant lot near the center of the residential area. They seemed to be building a tourist attraction called the Four Seasons Gulag Hotel. How strange! In this era of economic downturn, why would anyone plan to travel and vacation in another city?

Not only that, Ivan also noticed that the building seemed to require space on the lower levels. He saw that the entire ground floor had been demolished, and some corners of the underground storage area were marked as needing the construction of "additional reinforced walls." Was this really a tourist resort hotel? Ivan was completely baffled, and even asking the foreman or police on site only yielded even stranger answers:

Only in this place would the buildings be planned this way. Elsewhere, either slums are demolished to build denser residential areas for the poor, or more practical factories are built, administrative buildings for more efficient handling of government affairs are constructed (I heard it's called the Pentagon, a Columbia-style name), or even schools.

It was all things Ivan couldn't understand. Especially when he heard that the slum dwellers who were evicted would receive temporary housing, and that they would receive additional housing once the residential area was completed, Ivan's eyes widened even more: Were those people really being evicted, or were they moving in high spirits?

He immediately wanted to go back and ask if Leia and her family were so lucky to be selected! But now that he had finally gotten a job, how could he give it up?

...Having resolved his doubts, or perhaps given rise to even more, Ivan mustered all his strength and poured it into his new workplace. His shoulders and arms were broad and powerful; while other workers could only carry six steel bars at a time, he could carry ten. Where other workers needed twenty or more hammer blows to break down a building foundation, he could hammer it down with a few muffled groans. This old worker poured almost all his energy into his work, only snapping out of it, panting, at lunchtime. He took a water bottle from a coworker and drank the clean water inside in one gulp.

He couldn't quite remember what he had for lunch, only that he seemed to have eaten meat, something he hadn't had in a long time. There was meat, vegetables, and even freshly baked bread. He recalled that during lunch, many workers secretly hid some meat, intending to take it home—but didn't they consider that hiding it in their clothes would not only hinder their work that afternoon, but also make the meat smell sweaty when they were all covered in sweat?!

So Ivan was very clever. He first borrowed two clean bags from the policeman, and after reluctantly putting almost all the meat and vegetables into one of the bags, he carefully rolled up the opening in the bag, and then put it into the other bag, repeating the above steps and carefully rolling it up.

He didn't need to eat anything fancy; bread would suffice. His elderly parents and his breastfeeding wife, Leia, needed nutritious food—with that thought in mind, Ivan put the leftover food from lunch in his pocket, ate the bread clean, and then began his afternoon work.

This afternoon's work was largely the same as this morning's. What's noteworthy is that it seems even more unemployed people have come to work here.

This made Ivan work even harder to move the building materials, since nobody wanted to be the one left behind, especially now that he finally had a job.

......

6:20 p.m.

When Ivan stumbled back to his front door with the basket in his arms, and then slammed the door shut with his shoulder a few times, the joy on his face was beyond words.

"Coming, coming. Ivan, don't knock so hard! Our sweet daughter finally fell asleep, how could you do this?"

His wife's incessant complaining sounded like heavenly music at that moment. Ivan stood at the door, not replying, only choking back a few sobs, unable to wipe away the tears on his face as he clutched the basket in both hands.

"Huh? You've been crying—...Ivan, what's wrong?"

Leia opened the door, her face gaunt and she even had to walk with her head down to avoid wasting energy. Upon hearing her husband's choked sobs, she looked up in alarm. She first glanced at Ivan's tear-streaked face, her words tinged with worry and doubt, but before she could even ask, she recalled seeing something strange when she looked up earlier.

She looked down at what Ivan was holding. It was a wooden basket lined with cloth and filled with things.

It was enough bread for the family for two days! The astute Leia immediately recognized what was inside. Not only bread, but she also saw some cloth, needles and thread, and even salt and artificial sweeteners—especially precious in times of economic downturn—as well as essential household items like paper and pens...

What was going on? Leia was stunned. She couldn't believe that this was something given to her by the kind noble maid, because they only gave out bread.

Had Ivan sold himself to those shady factories, or perhaps those hunting parties heading out of town?! In an instant, Leia's face turned deathly pale. She didn't want this. In this social upheaval, her greatest comfort was that her family was safe and sound, and could still be reunited... If Ivan had really done such a thing, what would become of her family?

"Leya, I—I found a job!" Just as Leya was panting, her head spinning, and her eyes throbbing as she considered all the possibilities, she heard her husband say, his voice choked with joy. She saw Ivan put down his basket, take out a bundle of food—wrapped tightly in two layers of bags, the contents of which were no longer discernible as meat or vegetables—and place it in the basket. Then she saw Ivan rush over and hug her tightly. "I...I found a job! Our family won't go hungry anymore!"

"...well?"

Isn't it...as I thought?

Leia breathed a sigh of relief at first, and then realized what kind of good news Ivan had just delivered!

"You found a job?"

She hugged her husband in disbelief, not even noticing that tears were already streaming down her face.

....... .......

April 4th was a good day for the vast majority of unemployed people in the Duchy of Cosice.

Perhaps these are not the best days they have ever experienced, perhaps they are still facing difficulties, or perhaps a small number of unemployed people are unable to accept the Duke's unique relief program of "work relief" due to physical disabilities or some other unspeakable reasons—but at least for the people of the entire duchy.

They received a hopeful dawn.

The same applies to Ivan's family.

Tonight, the family enjoyed their most sumptuous lunch in years.

Sliced ​​toasted white bread—though it's a bit hard from being cooled for a while, it's not bread with added sawdust.

The meat and vegetables Ivan brought back from the construction site—his thrifty wife, now back to her old self, didn't let Ivan interfere with the work at home.

She excitedly chopped the meat and vegetable mixture into small pieces and added it to the boiling water. Then she took out salt and sugar substitute from the basket to season it, and finally thickened it with some cornstarch slurry. It wasn't exactly delicious, but it did contain meat, and the fragrant meat and vegetable soup made Ivan's nose twitch incessantly.

In addition, there was a bottle of vodka that Ivan's elderly father had taken out of the cellar to celebrate Ivan finding a job. Ivan and Leia diluted it with water because he had to work the next day, and after dinner tonight, he was going to accompany Leia to the Duke's official store to see what kind of things he could buy with the Duke's coins he was carrying.

...

The family gathered around the table, wolfing down their hard-earned meal. After the meal, Leia took out the newspaper she had collected at noon and read it aloud to Ivan and his illiterate parents—things about work relief programs and the Duke's strict guarantee of economic recovery... They didn't really remember much of it! All they remembered was that it was Duke Kosiché and her man who had improved their desperate lives.

"Thank you, Your Majesty! You've given our Duke Koschche such a fine man..." Ivan's father exclaimed, before being kicked in the calf by his wife, who complained about something like "disrespect," which was another matter entirely.

After a hearty meal, it was already past 8 p.m. Ivan and Leia entrusted their infant daughter to their parents' care, reminding them to lock the doors and windows. The couple then left home with the Duke's coins and a basket, and soon after, they saw soldiers and police on their routine patrol.

After a brief interrogation by the soldiers and police about Ivan and his companion's purpose for going out that night, they pointed them in the right direction to the store. Ivan and Leia then ran there as fast as they could and found a long queue already forming at the store.

Some of the earlier arrivals wore happy smiles. Their baskets were filled with flour, bread, and even a considerable amount of toilet paper and condoms.

"It seems we really can use this..."

"Duke's Coins".

“Yes! It seems we really can buy what we need with ducal coins.” As Ivan spoke, his nose began to sting with tears again. He recalled the days when the rubles he had painstakingly earned could only buy half a loaf of bread mixed with sawdust. “Come on, Leia, let’s line up—you can choose what you want to buy later, I don’t know anything about these things.”

"Of course I will. Ivan, you can help me carry the things; I can't carry them back by myself."

His thin wife murmured excitedly. Shopping is a woman's nature; it brings them joy, especially on celebratory occasions.

...

They lined up at the end of the queue, with many more people joining behind them. Initially, they were worried that the store would sell out, but after seeing the restocking trucks arrive and unload for the fifth time from the road leading to the city's underground storage area, their worries gradually subsided, settling into their hearts and disappearing without a trace.

After about half an hour, they finally got into the directly operated store. Leia looked at the denominations on the Duke's coins while comparing the contents of the shelves on both sides. She took flour, which was easier to store than bread, a week's supply. In addition, she also took some salt, artificial sweetener, and pepper—all essential seasonings in a family kitchen.

Afterwards, L'Oréal excitedly took some cheap fabric and sewing thread from the shelf near the checkout counter—these fabrics might not be high-end, but they should be enough to patch up her family's worn-out clothes.

These items combined have already used up half of her Duke's Coins. Leia doesn't plan to spend the remaining half, because that half might be used to pay the household utility bills.

"Sir, that's all..."

Finally, it was their turn to pay. They stood nervously at the checkout counter, placing all their items on it in front of the stern-faced civil servant [Why is a civil servant doing this?] and the tall, burly guard behind him holding a battle axe.

The civil servant scanned all the labels with lightning speed, and hesitated for a moment when he took the ducal coins from Leia.

“Hey, can you just pick anything?” he said. “It’s hard for me to give change this way.”

Leia and Ivan were taken aback, then looked down and saw that the 100-denomination Duke's Coins required a deduction of 49 denominations for goods.

The couple exchanged a bewildered glance, then casually picked up a condom from the cashier—after all, it was a day worth celebrating.

Chapter 139

The night of April 4th was a tiring one for Yang Hao.

The first day of the work relief program is of great significance. Whether this program can proceed smoothly, whether it can restore the people's confidence in economic recovery, and whether it can make our territory a model for other places and gain more influence all depend on today!

So Yang Hao ran around almost non-stop that day, and apart from eating, napping, and going to the toilet, he didn't rest at all. And because Monica noticed Yang Hao's fatigue that had started this month, she decided to come back and report tomorrow—truly a cause for celebration!

"In short... our first day went well. The numerous construction sites and ongoing infrastructure projects have indeed relocated almost all of our unemployed to suitable locations, and the government's low-price purchase of surplus goods has given hope to business and factory owners. The key to all this is that our [Duke's Coin] has truly gained the people's approval," Kosiché said with a smile, massaging Yang Hao to relieve his fatigue. "I've acquired those factories in my own name that can't generate profits even in a future economic recovery. What do you plan to do with them?"

“Hmm… First of all, our industrial output here actually exceeds the needs of the people. The vast majority of the output is spent on commerce, right?” Exhausted and with no intention of moving, Yang Hao muttered to himself as he lay on the bed. “Although the commercial economy hasn’t recovered yet, it doesn’t mean we can’t take the lead… I plan to have them produce some high-tech products—like the mobile phones we have.”

“Those things? Well, I acknowledge their value in terms of civilian and commercial life, even the military, and a certain amount of good luck.” Kosiché said, a genuine smile playing on his lips as he mentioned “good luck.” “But can you first tell me the necessity of developing them, or where their value lies?”

"Well, it's actually related to derivative industries..."

"Derivative industries?"

This conclusion was actually drawn by Yang Hao based on the [Puppet Stage], his original knowledge, and his understanding of the Duchy of Kosiché, a city that was relatively well-developed. To put it another way, Ursus is different from Columbia; in most parts of Ursus, smart devices like [cell phones] are not widely available.

In most places, they still rely on newspapers and radio for information transmission. There are internal telephone lines between various administrative departments, but those telephones are just for relaying messages and do not provide the derivative industries that people expect.

The seemingly ordinary smartphone can bring a large amount of labor and value to Yang Hao's future, and even the development of certain high-tech technologies.

"Smartphones... Don't underestimate how small they are; they can create a lot of jobs for us."

To manufacture smartphones, we first need to develop processor technology called CPU—this requires not only workers but also scientists.

After completing the research on CPU processors, we still need to develop industrial lathes in order to manufacture CPUs. These high-precision lathes can not only be used in CPU manufacturing, but also to produce certain high-tech components for our new, high-performance, and extremely expensive weapons.

With the development of lathes, we will need a literate, highly skilled workforce. The schools we are currently building will train this workforce in the coming years, and some of them will be transformed into highly skilled workers—those skilled in operating and manufacturing electronic equipment, and some of them will become scientists that our territory desperately needs.

Scientists will drive the development of technology in our Duchy of Kosiché, and the development of the Duchy will improve the social atmosphere, thus giving rise to more and better scientists.

"Well, although what I'm saying might seem flawed at first glance, the logic is sound—so I plan to transform the factory you acquired into a high-tech production facility capable of creating this future for us. However, this will take several years. Do you agree?"

Simply put, what a smartphone requires is a complete high-tech industrial chain and supply chain. When the Duchy of Kosice is able to produce smartphones and develop even more advanced ones, it means it's already capable of researching more advanced smart weapons—at least it's reached a point where it can easily advance its career.

Moreover, the value extends beyond industrial and technological aspects. On a smaller scale, the maintenance personnel needed for smartphones created a number of jobs. The various software programs required for smartphones, in turn, spurred the creation of programmers. And as programmers developed software, service industries based on smartphone software and intercity networks emerged—creating even more jobs to absorb excess labor. Overall, the development of the Duchy of Kosice has been primarily beneficial.

Of course, there are downsides as well: once the derivative industries related to smartphones have largely emerged, a flood of pornographic websites, as well as some dark, even prostitution-facilitating websites, will appear on the city's network. At that point, the city's network will require an entire hacker force to monitor it, but that's probably more than a decade from now, so Yang Hao doesn't need to plan for it for now.

Following his line of thought, Kosichelle realized that it made sense: although she had lived for thousands of years, she couldn't expect this old black snake, who had lived through 1000 years of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the modern era, to understand the things on Yang Hao's home planet, the blue planet.

Knowing that you don't understand something, it's best to try to figure it out while letting capable and trustworthy people handle it slowly. Koschke smiled as he massaged Yang Hao's stiffest and slightly tired areas, then agreed to his plan.

The matter of the factory acquired cheaply in Kosiché was now settled, and the couple began to talk about their respective work that day.

“The emergence of Duke coins has caused us trouble in a way,” Kosiché said, turning Yang Hao over and stretching his sore arms and shoulders. “Some merchants with substantial assets—I mean, a group of merchants holding Imperial rubles that no longer have much purchasing power—are protesting our actions of issuing tokens as a form of work relief without consulting them.”

"Huh? Who's got the nerve?"

"It's that thing..."

"I've never heard of this name before. I'll have Snake Scales go there tomorrow."

"Hehe, what I was thinking was that since your Four Seasons Gulag Hotel is already under construction, wouldn't it be good to send them in a few years to see how it goes?"

"But we can't tolerate those naughty kids causing trouble during this critical period of our work-for-relief program. Oh well, let's just send Snake Scales directly. We can reclaim those imperial rubles later to prevent further inflation after the economy returns to normal. That's settled then."