Jing Shu's thoughts quickly drifted back. Transportation wasn't really a problem; her parents could handle it. In fact, she figured it was good for them to get some exercise. It wasn't like before, when they'd been starving and still had to drag themselves to work. Now that they drank Spirit Spring regularly, they were strong as oxen, bursting with energy. Treating their commute like a daily run would only help. As for her, well, she didn't need to go out much anyway.
The Maybach's constant swaying made her dizzy, which only strengthened her resolve to never modify their car.
The closer they got to Xishan, the fewer mudslides there were. Probably because of the mountain range, which diverted the flow and kept this area mostly intact. By the time they reached Xingfu Shiyuan, the place stood tall like a massive fortress made of stone. The ground was only covered with a thin layer of sludge.
She had to admit, Shiyuan really had the best of everything—timing, geography, and people.
There were more workers here than before. Since last year, Qian Duoduo had been hiring over ten thousand temporary workers through the government. They'd been hauling stones, expanding the grounds, and building the second phase of Shiyuan.
At the time, half that expansion hadn't even been voluntary. Why?
Well, when you're getting that many work permits every day and handing over so much food to the authorities, you can't just do it for free, right? So they figured, if there wasn't anything else to do, they might as well expand. No point wasting free labor. That way, everyone benefited. So Shiyuan had been under construction for a full year, feeding tens of thousands daily, easing Wu City's burden in the process.
No one expected that as soon as the new expansion finished this year, a huge wave of migrants would move into Wu City.
And that… meant something.
Jing Shu smiled faintly, stepped out of the car, and sure enough, saw Xiao Cai waiting at the entrance, stomping her feet to stay warm.
"Come on, come on, everyone's waiting for you!" Xiao Cai called out, wearing a thin black-and-white suit and exhaling mist in the cold air. She quickly led Jing Shu inside. The moment Jing Shu stepped through the gates, warm air rose from the floor, and a wave of heat wrapped around her whole body.
It was so warm.
The first thing she saw was a massive open hall. Unlike the crowded circular rooms from before, this space was wide enough for their voices to echo. Just this section alone must've been several thousand square meters, and farther down she could see more halls of the same design. Each one could be divided into smaller rooms by sliding doors or opened up into one enormous hall.
"You haven't seen the new expansion yet, right? Look here, this entire ground floor's a multifunctional hall," Xiao Cai said with a proud smile. "Normally it's used as an exhibition space, but it can turn into a cafeteria or meeting room when needed. Mr. Qian plans to show a movie here every month too, turn it into a theater. This hall can fit over ten thousand people, and if it ever comes down to it, it can even be converted into a shelter. Put a few thousand bunk beds inside, and just this space alone could house tens of thousands."
Jing Shu nodded. That wasn't wrong. The environment was definitely better than hiding in underground garages. Not exactly the best place for sleep, though. With this many people, it'd always be noisy. Still, it was warm, and warmth meant survival.
"I'll take you to the meeting hall on the third floor first. After the meeting, I'll give you a full tour of the second-phase area," Xiao Cai said. "You'll find it interesting, I'm sure."
Jing Shu nodded again. She didn't bother asking what the meeting was about.
The so-called meeting hall looked more like a private bar. The decor was vintage, with torch-shaped wall lamps casting a soft amber glow.
This was probably Qian Duoduo's personal bar. The shelves along the walls were packed with bottles of all kinds of fancy liquor, the air rich with that unmistakable scent of wealth.
Around the bar sat about twenty people, each looking sharp and composed, all clearly rich or powerful. 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 shareholders of Shiyuan.
When Jing Shu entered, the atmosphere was heavy. No one was whispering or chatting. It felt like something serious had happened. Even her arrival didn't cause much of a stir.
Qian Duoduo sat at the center, wearing a fur coat, rolling a walnut between his palms. When he saw her, he paused and gestured for her to come in.
A man in a black suit immediately pulled out a chair for her and poured her a glass of red wine. Xiao Cai quietly slipped out, closing the doors behind her.
Qian Duoduo took a sip of his drink before speaking. "Everyone's here. Let's get started. I'm sure you've all heard the latest government directive. They're not just taking in residents from nearby cities, they're also merging us with Ningshan City. That means absorbing over a million people, plus merging their administrative staff with ours. Departments will have to downsize. Wu City's about to get a flood of new power players."
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. That would ripple through everything, even her father's Livestock Breeding Center. Would it all come down to background and connections again?
A middle-aged man with a beard spoke up. "That's a direct order from the capital. Wu City doesn't have a say. The issue's that, aside from Ningshan City bringing some of its own resources, the smaller cities are all broke. They're coming empty-handed, putting pressure on the higher-ups."
"The higher-ups feel the pressure, and they dump it on us," another man said, turning to Qian Duoduo. "So tell us, Mr. Qian, what's the deal this time? If we can give a little, we'll give a little. Are they asking for another grain donation? We've still got some worm patties left. We can hand those over."
"We don't even have many of those left," someone else muttered.
"As long as they don't ask for our rice, whatever," another added.
The always-smiling Qian Duoduo wasn't smiling now. His brow furrowed deeply. "They're not 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've 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. 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. "So that's why I called you all here. I need your opinions. Do we give it up or not? They're offering compensation—twenty thousand virtual coins a month in rent."
"Bullshit! What good are virtual coins?"