'Yan Budong's children? Placing a bet?'
Qin Siyang was somewhat surprised.
Since when had he been qualified to take part in choosing a candidate for commander?
Qin Siyang asked, "Why isn't Uncle Zhao here to pick someone?"
["He's having dinner with three commanders, two presidents, two chairmen, one cult leader, five principals, and two ministers right now. He doesn't have time."]
"All these people have already come to District 7? It hasn't even been a day since the crystal coin plan was announced!"
["Yeah, they came fast. Anyone with a way to travel quickly has pretty much arrived."]
"Then you can just pick a candidate on behalf of the Zhao family. Why are you calling me?"
["How can you not understand when someone's saying something nice to you? I'm giving you a chance to train yourself!"]
"Then I really have to thank you."
["So are you coming or not?"]
"Coming, coming. Wait for me."
———
Qin Siyang got himself ready, found a relatively presentable formal outfit, and went to the conference room.
By the time he arrived, Zhao Longfei was already seated.
Sitting opposite them were three people.
The one on the far left was a tall, slender young man, around twenty-four or twenty-five. He looked somewhat like Yan Budong, but clearly had good genes from his mother and was much more handsome than Yan Budong.
In the middle was a woman of about twenty-three or twenty-four. She wore a fitted light-purple dress. She had delicate features and picturesque brows and eyes, but seemed somewhat unapproachable.
The person on the right was slightly short and looked around twenty-five or twenty-six. He wore a simple black combat uniform.
"Little Qin is here. Sit over here."
Zhao Longfei motioned for Qin Siyang to sit beside him.
There were several documents in front of Qin Siyang. He picked them up and looked through them, only to find that they were the information files of the three people sitting opposite him.
Zhao Longfei had probably asked him to look them over now so he could prepare for the bet that would follow.
Qin Siyang raised an eyebrow.
Zhao Longfei was really too lazy to even put on an act. Not only had he brought all three of them together for an interview, he had even openly given their information to Qin Siyang.
'How arrogant!'
But Qin Siyang didn't care.
Having chatted and joked comfortably with both Chu Xiaoang and Qin Yingguang, he really had nothing to be wary of when facing Yan Budong's three children. He calmly flipped through the files.
Seeing Qin Siyang behaving like this, the corners of all three people's mouths twitched.
After Qin Siyang sat down, Zhao Longfei said with a smile, "The last time I was chatting here with Little Qin, Commander Chu Xiaoang was sitting opposite us. Today, three talented people from the Yan Legion are sitting there. With scholars coming and going and no commoners in sight, it seems this conference room of mine really is a blessed place."
He then looked at the three people opposite him, "Today, we're all gathered together, and I'll treat everyone afterward. I hope you'll do me the honor. For now, please introduce yourselves and explain why you're here."
The young man on the far left spoke first, "It's an honor to finally meet Principal Zhao, whom I've heard so much about. I'm Yan Xiaowen. I command the Fourth Sequence Brigade and a Sequence Regiment of the Yan Legion. I've come to visit Principal Zhao because I hope to receive your support and obtain an invitation to the crystal coin issuance conference three days from now."
"An invitation?", Qin Siyang looked at Zhao Longfei curiously.
"Yes. The crystal coin issuance conference three days from now requires an invitation to enter. Because the venue isn't large, there are only a limited number of invitations. The Yan Legion only has one invitation."
Qin Siyang frowned, "People without invitations can't go?"
"Mm."
Qin Siyang nodded. Thinking of something, he asked again, "Principal Zhao, with invitations in such short supply, you didn't happen to invite Jiang Hao too, did you?"
"No."
A smile appeared on Qin Siyang's face, "It's better if he doesn't come. I get annoyed whenever I see him."
Zhao Longfei gave Qin Siyang a cold look, cursing the kid for talking too much in his heart, "Although he wasn't invited, he'll still be there."
"Why? You'll let him in even if he comes without an invitation?"
"Because he's Jiang Hao."
"Oh… All right. Anyway, things in the safety zone have always been this ridiculous."
"…"
The two of them exchanged a few remarks as if they were simply chatting like friends.
The three people opposite them were secretly shocked.
They hadn't expected Qin Siyang's status to be vaguely on equal footing with Zhao Longfei's.
'Isn't that too outrageous?'
'Is the rumor that the two of them are close enough to share a pair of pants actually true?'
Zhao Longfei then said to the woman in the middle, "Sorry for interrupting your introductions. Please continue."
The woman nodded, her expression still as cold as ice, "Hello, Principal Zhao. Hello, Little Qin. I'm Yan Ran, commander of the Third Sequence Brigade and commander of the Sixth Regular Division of the Yan Legion. I'm here for the same reason as Brother Xiaowen."
Yan Ran took the initiative to greet Qin Siyang, and Qin Siyang politely returned the greeting before asking, "Sister Yan Ran, why doesn't your name have the character 'Xiao' in it?"
"Little Qin is very observant. My name was originally Yan Xiaoran, but when I was seven or eight, I thought my name sounded bad and kept pestering my father to change it. He couldn't stand my constant requests, so he changed my name to Yan Ran."
"I see. Then Sister Yan Ran must have been very favored by Commander Yan, right?"
Yan Ran pressed her lips together and nodded. A trace of sadness flashed through her originally indifferent eyes.
The young man on the far right said, "Principal Zhao, Mr. Qin, hello. My name is Yan Xiaojie, and I'm the commander of the Eighth Sequence Brigade. I've come today not only hoping to receive Principal Zhao's recognition and obtain an invitation, but also hoping to cooperate with the Zhao Chamber of Commerce and do some business."
After Yan Ran had taken the initiative to greet Qin Siyang, Yan Xiaojie went a step further and directly addressed Qin Siyang as Mr. Qin, while also greeting the other two.
Before Zhao Longfei could speak, Yan Xiaowen laughed, "Business? You're penniless. What business could you possibly have?"
Qin Siyang merely shrugged, "You never know."
Seeing Qin Siyang defend Yan Xiaojie, Yan Xiaowen turned toward Qin Siyang and said with a hint of contempt, "Even if Principal Zhao has a good relationship with you and lets you attend, you're still just an ordinary student. I suggest you listen more and talk less."
Qin Siyang wasn't angry after hearing this. Instead, he smiled slightly, "What you said reminds me of something."
Everyone looked at him.
Qin Siyang slowly said, "You may all know that I'm an orphan from a remote area. I was able to survive entirely because the United Government schools provide free meals in their cafeterias."
"But the cafeteria is only open from Monday to Friday, so I still had to figure out how to get food for the weekend. So on Fridays, I would beg Auntie Zhang from the cafeteria to give me a little extra food."
"There were many poor students at the school, but I was the only one who could get enough food for the weekend every Friday. I asked Auntie Zhang why she took special care of me."
"Auntie Zhang said it was because I was the only one who knew that when you're asking someone for help, you should have the right attitude."
After finishing, Qin Siyang calmly looked at Yan Xiaowen.