The inspection of the underground city lasted a full three days. During this time, Perfikot not only visited every underground city and every street in Chernobyl but also spent a night in the typical residential area of the underground city to genuinely experience how ordinary people lived there, allowing her to make improvements.

Through this personal experience, Perfikot gained a deeper understanding of the situation in the underground city and made more adjustments to the details of certain policies.

"For the common people, the living conditions in the underground city are already quite good, but there are still areas for improvement in the supply of daily necessities and the collection of various municipal service fees," Perfikot noted as she sat at a plain and narrow desk, recording her thoughts.

She was still in the underground city, specifically within a typical residential area on the second level, surrounded mostly by the lower-class inhabitants of Chernobyl.

It was her second day living there, and through this experience, Perfikot indeed gained a lot.

Not to mention, merely the issue of heating made Perfikot personally feel the gap between the policies she devised and the lives of ordinary people.

She had also promoted honeycomb coal in Chernobyl. This economical and efficient fuel was indeed a boon for the common people. It's simple to produce and cost-effective, proving really beneficial for the populace.

In this type of dwelling, just one stove with a few pieces of honeycomb coal can keep the room warm all night.

Perfikot had specially designed this solution with the heating needs of the populace in mind, but on her first night staying here, she noticed that not everyone could afford to light the stove.

It sounded difficult to understand. Why not light the stove to warm up when it's cold and you have the means to do so?

The answer is simple: they couldn't bear to part with the cost.

Perfikot looked into it carefully. The residents of this area earn an average monthly income of about 2 to 5 gold pounds per family, which is considered decent living.

Typically, men earn about 20 shillings a week, equivalent to roughly 1 gold pound, while women earn about half of that.

So if both husband and wife are working, the average weekly income would be around 2 gold pounds, accumulating to 5-8 gold pounds a month, which is already quite favorable.

After all, the income of a middle-class family in Langton is only about 100-200 gold pounds annually, and slightly wealthier families make around 300-500 gold pounds.

If a woman in a family doesn't work, there's a significant loss of income, and if the man doesn't work, the family may struggle to survive.

Though many families let their children work as child laborers to supplement the household income, after Perfikot issued child labor laws, this was strictly regulated in the Northern Territory, which, in turn, reduced the income for these families.

Even though the price of a piece of honeycomb coal was only one penny, and a shilling could buy five pieces—enough for a household's daily use—it was still a considerable expense for these common people.

After all, they earn about 3-5 shillings a day, and spending a third of their entire income on purchasing honeycomb coal is certainly a heavy burden for a family.

In such circumstances, they naturally try to save as much as possible.

They have no choice when it comes to cooking because, in such cold weather, everyone hopes to have a hot meal and some warm soup to comfort their stomach and soul.

So cooking is non-negotiable when it comes to saving. What can be saved then? Naturally, it's the night heating.

Thanks to the temperature of the underground city being generally above zero, though cold, it's not unbearable.

Therefore, the overwhelming majority of common people choose to wear more layers when sleeping to avoid lighting the stove at night, saving about half of the honeycomb coal, significantly reducing their expenses.

This fact somewhat pained Perfikot but also made her realize how out of touch she was, similar to 'let them eat cake.'

Before crossing over here, she came from a time of material abundance; even the most ordinary of daily life back then was beyond what the Empire's nobles could compare to.

After all, even the nobles of this era couldn't have year-round fruits and seafood delicacies at will, or fresh vegetables in varied tastes, let alone abundant meat.

Frankly speaking, even winter watermelons and other out-of-season produce were within easy reach for the common people before Perfikot crossed over.

But in this era, even the most prominent nobles can't have such lavishness.

Out-of-season fruits and vegetables from greenhouses do exist, but they are so scarce that even the great nobles can only enjoy them occasionally, not even the Royal Family can have them daily.

So this led to Perfikot's insufficient understanding of the common people's lives since crossing over, although she wasn't exactly a great noble, being someone with land and a manor ensured her food and clothing were taken care of.

Moreover, after she earned some money, the old steward wouldn't treat her badly; while Perfikot might not get whatever she wanted, she didn't feel any lack in her life.

This led to her insufficient understanding of the living conditions of ordinary people.

She already imagined their lives to be miserable enough, but it turned out to be worse than she thought.

She thought honeycomb coal was cheap enough at a penny apiece, yet many still couldn't afford it.

She thought using honeycomb coal at night during the winter was common, yet it remained an extravagant act for most common people, only feasible for wealthier families.

"The government needs to consider raising the income levels of the lower classes, improving their quality of life. Only by ensuring that people are well-fed and clad, can their overall quality be enhanced, therefore improving the city's fundamental state," Perfikot wrote down as she rubbed her hands.

To fully understand the everyday life of commoners, she didn't light a stove that night and wore clothes no different from the common people.

Admittedly, she felt very cold, which brought back her childhood memories before she crossed over, when her hands were frost-bitten in winter.

"It's been so long since I last felt this. Looks like I should also add treating diseases caused by cold to the agenda," Perfikot jokingly remarked to herself, diving once more into her work with seriousness.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.