Jing Shu's thoughts quickly drifted back to the matter at hand. Transportation wasn't really a problem; her parents could handle the logistics of getting around. In fact, she figured it was good for them to get some regular exercise. It wasn't like before, when they had been starving and still had to drag their weakened frames to work every day. Now that they drank Spirit Spring regularly, they were strong as oxen, their veins practically bursting with vitality and their skin glowing with health. Treating their daily commute like a morning run would only help maintain that newfound vigor. As for her, she didn't need to go out much anyway, preferring the quiet safety of her own space.
The Maybach's constant, rhythmic swaying made her feel slightly dizzy, a sensation that only strengthened her resolve to never modify their car. Every dip in the road felt amplified, and she gripped the leather armrest to steady herself.
The closer they got to Xishan, the fewer mudslides there were. The massive mountain range probably acted as a natural shield, diverting the flow of debris and keeping this specific area mostly intact. By the time they reached Xingfu Shiyuan, the complex stood tall against the gray horizon like a massive fortress carved from stone. The ground here wasn't buried in deep filth; it was only covered with a thin, watery layer of sludge that splashed under the tires.
She had to admit, Shiyuan really had the best of everything: timing, geography, and people.
There were more workers here than there had been during her last visit. Since last year, Qian Duoduo had been hiring over ten thousand temporary workers through official government channels. The sound of construction was constant—the heavy thud of stones being hauled and the sharp clank of metal tools as they expanded the grounds and labored on the second phase of Shiyuan.
At the time, half of that massive expansion hadn't even been voluntary.
When you are receiving that many work permits every day and handing over massive quantities of food to the authorities, you can't just do it for free. The management figured that since there wasn't anything else for the labor force to do, they might as well expand the perimeter. There was no point wasting such a large supply of free labor. That way, everyone benefited. So Shiyuan had been a hive of activity for a full year, feeding tens of thousands of mouths daily and easing the immense burden on Wu City in the process.
No one expected that as soon as the new expansion finished this year, a huge wave of migrants would suddenly move into Wu City.
And that meant something significant.
Jing Shu smiled faintly and stepped out of the car. Sure enough, she saw Xiao Cai waiting at the entrance, her boots clicking against the pavement as she stomped her feet to stay warm.
"Come on, come on, everyone is waiting for you!" Xiao Cai called out. She was wearing a thin black-and-white suit that looked far too light for the weather, her breath coming out in white puffs of mist in the biting cold air. She quickly led Jing Shu inside. The moment Jing Shu stepped through the gates, the chill of the wasteland vanished. Warm air rose from the floor, and a wave of comforting heat wrapped around her whole body, soaking into her clothes.
It was so warm.
The first thing she saw was a massive open hall. Unlike the crowded, circular rooms from the earlier construction, this space was wide enough for their voices to echo off the high ceilings. Just this section alone must have been several thousand square meters, and farther down she could see more halls of the same sprawling design. Each one could be divided into smaller, private rooms by heavy sliding doors or opened up into one enormous, continuous hall.
"You haven't seen the new expansion yet, right? Look here, this entire ground floor is a multifunctional hall," Xiao Cai said, a proud smile lighting up her face. "Normally it's used as an exhibition space, but it can turn into a cafeteria or a grand meeting room when needed. Mr. Qian plans to show a movie here every month too, to turn it into a theater for the residents. This hall can fit over ten thousand people, and if it ever comes down to it, it can even be converted into a shelter. We could put a few thousand bunk beds inside, and just this space alone could house tens of thousands."
Jing Shu nodded slowly. That wasn't wrong. The environment here was definitely better than hiding in damp underground garages or cramped bunkers. It wasn't exactly the best place for sleep, though. With this many people packed together, it would always be noisy and restless. Still, it was warm, and in this world, warmth meant survival.
"I will take you to the meeting hall on the third floor first. After the meeting, I will give you a full tour of the second-phase area," Xiao Cai said, gesturing toward the elevators. "You will find it interesting, I'm sure."
Jing Shu nodded again. She didn't bother asking what the meeting was about, sensing the gravity of the situation from the girl's focused demeanor.
The meeting hall looked more like a private, high-end bar than a corporate boardroom. The decor was vintage, with dark wood paneling and torch-shaped wall lamps casting a soft, flickering amber glow over the room.
This was likely Qian Duoduo's personal bar. The shelves along the walls were packed with rows of glass bottles containing all kinds of fancy liquor, and the air was rich with the unmistakable scent of wealth: aged cedar, expensive tobacco, and fine wine.
Around the bar sat about twenty people. Each of them looked sharp and composed, their clothes well-tailored and their expressions guarded. They were all clearly rich or powerful figures in the city. A few faces seemed familiar to her, especially one she recognized right away—the man to whom Qian Duoduo had gifted an armed helicopter.
These had to be the primary shareholders of Shiyuan.
When Jing Shu entered, the atmosphere was heavy and stifling. No one was whispering or chatting. It felt as though something serious and irreversible had just happened. Even her arrival didn't cause much of a stir; the people there only glanced at her with weary eyes before looking back at their drinks.
Qian Duoduo sat at the center of the group, wearing a thick fur coat and slowly rolling a pair of walnuts between his palms. The clicking of the wood was the only sound in the room. When he saw her, he paused and gestured for her to come in.
A man in a black suit immediately stepped forward to pull out a chair for her and poured her a glass of dark red wine. Xiao Cai quietly slipped out, closing the heavy doors behind her with a soft click.
Qian Duoduo took a slow sip of his drink before speaking. "Everyone is here. Let's get started. I'm sure you have all heard the latest government directive. They aren't just taking in residents from nearby cities; they are also merging us with Ningshan City. That means absorbing over a million people, plus merging their entire administrative staff with ours. Departments will have to downsize significantly. Wu City is about to get a flood of new power players looking for a seat at the table."
Jing Shu raised an eyebrow. All of Ningshan City's population was coming here? That was huge. And this wasn't as simple as it sounded. If departments merged too, what would happen to her mother's Agriculture Department? They couldn't have two directors. Someone would definitely get demoted or pushed aside. That would ripple through everything, even her father's Livestock Breeding Center. It would all come down to background and connections again.
A middle-aged man with a thick beard spoke up, his voice gravelly. "That's a direct order from the capital. Wu City doesn't have a say in the matter. The issue is that, aside from Ningshan City bringing some of its own resources, the smaller cities are all broke. They are coming empty-handed and putting immense pressure on the higher-ups."
"The higher-ups feel the pressure, and they dump it on us," another man said, turning his gaze toward Qian Duoduo. "So tell us, Mr. Qian, what's the deal this time? If we can give a little, we will give a little. Are they asking for another grain donation? We still have some worm patties left. We can hand those over."
"We don't even have many of those left," someone else muttered into their glass.
"As long as they don't ask for our rice, whatever," another added, leaning back.
The always-smiling Qian Duoduo wasn't smiling now. His brow furrowed deeply, casting shadows over his eyes. "They aren't asking for food this time. The higher-ups want to seize the entire second-phase Shiyuan and set up their own management team. They want to build another Shiyuan under government control."
"No way!"
"Absolutely not!"
"They have lost their minds!"
The room exploded in protest. Everyone had been prepared for the usual—donate some food, supply some labor—but this was different. This was outrageous.
"The second-phase Shiyuan was built with our own money! We even hired government labor to help. It took us over a year to finish, and it's bigger than the first one! Now they want to just take it? Are they bandits?!"
"This is robbery without a gun! We spent so much material and manpower, and in the end, we were just building it for someone else!"
Jing Shu narrowed her eyes, watching the chaos. So even before that Tyrant took power, the government had already set its sights on this fat piece of meat. She glanced around at the furious faces and quietly shook her head. By next year, every one of them would be harvested like sheep anyway, and they still didn't see it coming.
Qian Duoduo sighed, the sound lost beneath the shouting. "So that's why I called you all here. I need your opinions. Do we give it up or not? They are offering compensation—twenty thousand virtual coins a month in rent."
"Bullshit! What good are virtual coins?"