As soon as the words were spoken, the previously tense atmosphere in the room visibly relaxed.

There was no issue with men going out on expeditions, but no one wanted their families exposed to the threats of infection sources and mutated creatures.

If the factory was within the Buffer Zone, this job would no longer have "life-threatening worries," only tangible benefits.

Cheng Ye observed this and continued to ask, "I just heard Elder Song say that the community has already taken over the vacant area near the Vegetable Market?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

"Yes." Elder Zhou nodded and explained, "We contracted the entire fruit and vegetable market from the Civil Affairs Bureau. The price is indeed cheap, but there’s a condition attached: we have to take on all the basic maintenance work in Zone B-7, like street sweeping, garbage collection, and pipeline repairs. Most of the work isn’t heavy, and it’s suitable for women and children."

"The income isn’t high, right?"

"That’s right." Elder Zhou showed a bit of embarrassment on his face, "We need two hundred people to work in shifts, and each person’s monthly salary is 10 Happiness Coins."

Monthly salary, 10?

Earn just 5 packs of Nutrient Paste in a month?

No wonder Elder Zhou was embarrassed to mention it. This is hardly a salary, at most a symbolic subsidy to alleviate some pressure on the community and families.

However, he didn’t dismiss this arrangement. Instead, he nodded, "The layout of the Vegetable Market is indeed good, it’s spacious, and it still has the ventilation and drainage facilities from the old times."

"But the processing plant definitely can’t be placed in the Vegetable Market — too many people with mixed purposes, and waste water and fish scales from processing are hard to manage. I plan to set up the processing plant in the South Suburb, find a vacant lot to contract, and that way it’s convenient for future expansion or production line increases. As for the Vegetable Market, a few fish stalls can be set up for retail, making it convenient for residents to buy fresh fish products."

As he spoke, Cheng Ye stretched out his hand, showing a "2" gesture with his fingers: "For this processing plant, initially I need to hire at least this many."

"Twenty people?" Elder Zhou guessed instinctively.

In his mind, most workshops within the Buffer Zone were ten to twenty people in scale. Two hundred people seemed overly exaggerated.

"Wrong, it’s two hundred!" Cheng Ye shook his head, speaking seriously, "You might not realize how amazingly abundant the fish stock in White Water River is. As long as we organize the fishing teams properly, catching thirty to fifty thousand fish a day is no problem. Calculating with each person processing two hundred fish a day, two hundred people is just enough for rotation. If we expand the fishing scale later, we’ll need to hire more."

If each person processes two hundred, then two hundred people are needed to start with.

Elder Zhou calculated this in his heart and cautiously said, "Inspector Cheng, in the community, there are over eight hundred women, elders, and children who can work steadily. Even if you exclude the two hundred responsible for Zone B7’s basic maintenance, selecting two hundred from the remaining six hundred plus won’t be an issue. I’m just wondering... what’s the specific income from this processing plant?"

Compared to Elder Song’s emotional and sentimental style, Elder Zhou was clearly more pragmatic, shrewd.

But that was exactly what Cheng Ye wanted.

He did not want to create an image where people felt obligated to repay favors, but genuinely hoped for a partnership with the Celestial Essence Community that was equal and mutually beneficial, making sure everyone knew what they would gain, allowing the cooperation to last long-term.

"Initially, the income is based on piecework, with 1 coin for every 20 fish processed. Once the fish market opens up and the production line smooths out later, it will switch to a daily wage of 10 Happiness Coins per day per person, guaranteed to not be less than that."

Ten coins a day?

*Hiss.*

A chorus of gasps filled the room.

This income isn’t much, but that’s when compared to the men doing dirty, exhausting work in the Buffer Zone.

It should be compared to Zone B7’s basic maintenance work, which pays only 10 coins a month, a difference of 30 times.

"Perhaps just the numbers might not provide a clear picture to everyone." Seeing some disbelief in their eyes, Cheng Ye turned to Long and said, "Kang should have had people complete the fish processing mostly by now. You go fetch a couple of the workers, let them speak about the difficulty and time needed to process a fish, so everyone can have an understanding."

"Alright! I’ll go right away!" Long responded and walked off quickly.

Within less than a minute, he returned with two young women from the back of the shopping center. Their hands were still covered with fish scales and water droplets, and their fingertips were frozen red, yet smiles were on their faces.

"Sir, this is my wife, Bai Qiao, and that is Er Long’s wife, Jiang Lalan." Long introduced the two with a simple smile and pushed his own relatives forward without hesitation.

Though in other places, this might be seen as nepotism, the atmosphere in Celestial Essence Community is different. Having family speak firsthand actually made it more convincing for everyone.

"Hello, Inspector Cheng." Bai Qiao and Jiang Lalan quickly greeted, somewhat restrained yet fairly poised, without any awkwardness or dodging.

"Thanks for your help, I’d like to ask, is it difficult to process a fish?" Cheng Ye asked gently, trying to help them relax.

"Not too bad, not too difficult." Bai Qiao spoke first, her fingers unconsciously rubbing against the corner of her garment, "We’ve processed fish outside before, just that we hadn’t done it for years, hands got a bit rusty, but as we get used to it, it gets quicker."

"How long does it take approximately to process a fish?" Cheng Ye asked again, looking towards Jiang Lalan.

"Hmm... never timed it specifically." Jiang Lalan thought for a moment and answered earnestly, "If including descaling, gutting, removing innards, then cutting it into pieces and washing clean, one fish takes at most about five minutes? For bigger fish that take a bit longer, maybe six minutes, but for smaller fish, it can be done in three minutes."

This time was faster than Cheng Ye had anticipated.