Chapter 1113: A Place at the Table

Although Li Ziyan was asking, her tone and expression made it seem like joining the Ninth Planting Center was already a done deal for her. She’d even thought ahead about ferrying her kids to and from school.

But really, how different is an admin position at the Ability Assessment Center in Hui One from one at the Ninth Planting Center? To most people, there isn’t much distinction.

If you compare it with how things were organized before the apocalypse, Huicheng would be like a provincial-level city, Hui One the capital, and Hui Three a subordinate city. Hui One’s Ability Assessment Center acts like a provincial agency, while the Ninth Planting Center in Hui Three is just a tiny branch outside the Safe Zone under a smaller city’s administration.

For someone from a top-level agency to come work at the Ninth Center is considered ‘stepping down’—at the very least, they’d expect a director’s role out of courtesy.

Sensing Xin Yu’s gentle nudge as a warning, Xia Qing maintained a neutral expression yet still politely declined. “Your qualifications are definitely strong enough, but you don’t meet the Ninth Center’s hiring requirements: unless you’re a highly sought-after talent, the Center only recruits Hui Three veterans or military families with no stable means to live.”

The Base already announced plans to establish planting centers in four more sectors, but the Ninth Center’s expansion and recruitment continues to draw the most attention. Right now, applications for the Ninth Center are far outstripping available spots, so Yue Haiying and her team have their hands full screening candidates and picking the best.

With this latest expansion, Xia Qing’s main goal is to strengthen defenses in Section One of the North. While Li Ziyan’s education is impressive, she just isn’t considered a critical talent. Even if nobody reminded her, Xia Qing wouldn’t put her in the Ninth Center.

“Administrative talent for high-level positions?” Xia Qing has already poached ten of those from the Planting Division.

Li Ziyan hadn’t expected to be rejected, and her face darkened. “Director Xia, Zhang Yi may not have retired from Hui Three, but he served in Huicheng’s Military Command for fifteen years and left with plenty of injuries…”

Before she could finish, Zhu Li—who was sitting between her and Xia Qing—chimed in with a smile. “Sister-in-law, this is the Base Director’s rule. Qing can’t change that, even if she wanted to.”

Yuan Yan, who sat on the other side of Li Ziyan and her two children, added, “You’ve got a great education and lots of experience. Try applying within the Safe Zone—loads of departments there are hiring! Plus, schools there are much more formal than ours. The kids would get a better education too.”

Li Ziyan nodded, lowering her voice with a hint of embarrassment. “Honestly, I just don’t want to be separated from their dad again.”

“Soldiers rarely come home. Now that he’s retired, you all should stay together if you can—better for the kids too,” Madam Shi offered, trying to help. “Talk it over with him. You could both try jobs in the Safe Zone. Life’s just easier there.”

Everyone here was a friend of Huo Zhun’s—none of the lords had any ill intent. In their minds, Zhang Yi’s an Advanced Evolutionary, Li Ziyan’s at level five, and he served in the military for fifteen years, so their compensation must be more than enough. Even if they can’t live in the inner city, renting an apartment near the schools in the Safe Zone would be comfortable, no need to put up with hardships in the Territory.

As long as you have credits, you can buy top-tier food in the Safe Zone too. When it comes to safety and convenience, living there is way beyond what the Territory can offer.

Li Ziyan’s forced smile was slipping. “Thank you, Auntie. Thanks everyone. I’ll talk things over with their dad.”

Just then, Zhang Yi came over from a nearby table, beer in hand. “Honey, what are you chatting about?”

Li Ziyan answered gently, “Just small talk. Take it easy with the drinks.”

“Just one bottle for each of us—not much.” Zhang Yi grinned and raised his glass to Xia Qing. “Qing!”

Xia Qing lifted her teacup to clink glasses with him, then took a sip.

After downing his beer, Zhang Yi said, “Qing, even back when I was working missions at Lan Five, I heard all about your battle record. With migration season coming up, will you be around?”

Xia Qing nodded. As the lord here, unless there was an emergency, she wasn’t leaving during dangerous times.

Zhang Yi put out a request. “None of us guys are any good with a gun, so we can’t help there. If you happen to see any big, beautiful birds fly by, could you shoot a couple for us? I want to use their feathers to make shuttlecocks for the kids.”

Those two shy kids sitting next to Li Ziyan glanced nervously at Xia Qing. She nodded in response.

“Thank you so much, Qing!” Li Yi toasted everyone then headed back to keep drinking and joking with Huo Zhun and Tang Huai.

“Qing.” The lords all had things to do, so they wrapped up lunch quickly. As Xia Qing was about to leave with Xin Yu, Wang Man called out, “Wait up! Yan Long brought you some specialties from home.”

“Specialties from Sister Yan? Must be some giant pearls and shells!” Tang Huai, who had supersonic hearing, scooted over with a grin and stood by Xia Qing. “Jasmine’s a raven, she’ll love anything shiny. Xin Yu, you want any pearls?”

Xin Yu kept her face icy and simply ignored him.

After receiving the specialties, Xia Qing and Xin Yu started heading for Territory Eleven’s South Gate. Tang Huai, who was supposed to go north, tried to tag along again but Tang Heng stopped him. “Come on, let’s help Mingzi and the others get their place sorted.”

Back in Territory Eight, Xin Yu began briefing Xia Qing about the magnetic fields of the six adults who entered Territory Eleven that day. “Li Ziyan appeared calm after arriving but was internally agitated. After you turned her down, her frustration turned into fear. After the others tried to comfort her, her emotions were a tangled mess of fear and irritability. She genuinely cares about Zhang Yi and the two kids though. All things considered, she’s on a mission—to get into the Ninth Center for some purpose. If she fails, she’ll be punished.”

Xia Qing nodded, having caught that brief flash of fear in Li Ziyan’s eyes thanks to her sharp visual sense.

Xin Yu continued, “Zhang Yi and Wang Dashan have busy minds but nothing overtly good or bad; it’s normal adjustment for new arrivals. Di Ming and Wu Lianmin are full of joy. Wang Man’s magnetic field is razor-sharp, just like Yan Long. She’s got strong positive feelings for you and obvious anger toward Li Yi.”

After the analysis, Xin Yu summed up, “Di Ming, Wu Lianmin, and Wang Man are trustworthy. Zhang Yi and Wang Dashan need to be observed longer. Li Ziyan’s a wild card.”

“Great, thanks for your work today.” Xia Qing made plans with Xin Yu to hunt wild ducks in the swamps by Hill Fifty-Three the day after tomorrow, then drove home and opened the box of specialties Yan Long had sent.

Maybe because she’d heard about Xia Qing asking Chang Li for pearls and shells, Yan Long made sure to include some huge pink pearls—the size of pigeon eggs, likely excavated from an evolved giant clam. Each one was unique and top-grade. Polished, they’d definitely catch the eye of even the most refined wolf around.

Xia Qing lined up dozens of pearls, beautiful shells, bright clusters of coral, dried snake, seahorse, and other rare goodies on the table—when she noticed something odd: one seahorse was missing its tail.

She searched the protective packing in the box carefully and confirmed the tail wasn’t broken off in transit; it was never there to begin with. Xia Qing realized Yan Long, who was under surveillance, used this missing tail as a signal.

After everyone who’d moved into Territory Eleven had settled down, Xia Qing called Huo Zhun over to Section Three and handed him the tailless seahorse. “Among those four, who uses the codename ‘Seahorse’?”

Huo Zhun took the seahorse and coolly replied, “Zhang Yi. He used that codename a few years ago, but got hurt and switched to ‘Kelp’. I know what Yan Long means. For the safety of the Territory—and Zhang Yi’s whole family—I’ll arrange for them to leave as soon as possible.”

Xia Qing nodded. “What’s your codename?”

“…Sledgehammer.”

Xia Qing blinked.

Huo Zhun laughed after saying it. “You’re busy, Qing. I’ll drop by Section Seven and ask Third Brother to help treat Zhang Yi’s injuries.”

No matter what, Huo Zhun owed Zhang Yi his life—he had to return that debt before anything else.