Chapter 223: Chapter 223

"Xiao Xiao said she was specially recruited by President Zhou, but even she doesn’t have the nerve to simply hold a title without showing up for work, right? Xiao Xiao is such a diligent person, yet because of *her*, she lost her official position just like that. Chairman Tie, you need to stand up for her," Jiaojiao said, crossing her arms over her chest, accentuating her curvy figure.

The previously desolate Medicinal Materials Association was bustling today, as the surrounding houses seemed to be occupied. It must have been the people Zhou Bapi talked about, those who had migrated from other places. After all, Wu City was not too badly affected; only half the city was flooded. Some places had their entire cities submerged, hence the migration to adjacent cities with better conditions.

The government wanted to consolidate the population in the Northwest due to its remote location; it was too dispersed and difficult to manage otherwise. Wu City was relatively far from the border. Unlike areas close to it, many foreigners had been fleeing to Huaxia recently. It was said this was because there was a lot of food in Huaxia! Cough, cough, actually, the food that Huaxia had was available all over the world.

Speaking of which, Jing Shu had to admire the foreigners, who started living off their reserves in the year when food was most abundant. Each country had enough reserves for one to three years to feed their populations.

The United States is known as a major food producer with a developed economy. Unlike Huaxia’s state food reserves, the U.S. mostly has private and voluntary reserves, which also contributed to the chaos there. Now, if you had food, you were a big shot, and that had created factions. They were probably distributing food everywhere now to recruit people.

The United States might be chaotic, with daily gunfights, but their food storage was genuinely impressive. Their people were at least eating grains every day. They also had emergency military rations prepared by the U.S., which were said to last thirty years, not to mention various canned goods that could be stored long-term. They lived for today with no regard for tomorrow, indulging in all sorts of extravagance and flaunting it on Twitter, making the people of Huaxia envious.

So even if Jing Shu planned to go to the United States next year to make a fortune, food would still be essential. She might even bring back more and be able to do so openly. But the U.S. is a classic case of sweetness followed by bitterness. After a few years of indulgence and dwindling production, even a large supply will eventually run out. Not like in Huaxia, which doles out its supplies grudgingly, releasing a bit only when the situation seems dire.

Oh right, in 2000, the United States secretly prepared for the apocalypse with strategic reserves. That’s a rich cache of supplies right there. It’s said to contain everything: high-calorie foods, survival equipment for the apocalypse, and various kinds of emergency supplies, Jing Shu’s thoughts raced. Just like Wang Congsi had prepared by digging into the secret reserves, so too did the United States. If she could bring these supplies back from the United States, it would be a windfall.

The Medicinal Materials Association had built its own large canteen. Now, at seven in the morning, when it was time to eat, an endless stream of people were lining up for food. Jing Shu saw that breakfast consisted of a porridge-like mixture and the usual green vegetables with cold mixed mushrooms. Indeed, it was much better than the food available to the general public.

Jing Shu was just at the entrance of the canteen when she encountered this group and heard them mention Chairman Tie. She knew that person must be Xiao Xiao’s backer who had returned.

Chairman Tie, unlike Zhou Bapi with his hairstyle of a few sparse strands reminiscent of Evil God Huoyun, was truly bald. He had three or four layers of fat folded at the back of his head.

Bald and bald-headed are not the same. The bald-headed can grow hair, but the bald have greasy heads that shine like braised eggs and cannot grow hair.

Chairman Tie was truly as fat as an iron ball, panting with every step. He was even fatter than Fatty Girl from Building 25, who had already slimmed down.

Every fat person in the apocalypse was surely a wealthy individual.

Chairman Tie spoke, his voice soft and gentle, "Since she was specially recruited by Chairman Tie, and has such great ability to come and go as she pleases, she naturally possesses exceptional skills. Perhaps she is the heir to a family of medicinal herb masters.

"You all need to keep your eyes open and not offend someone you shouldn’t.

"I know Jing Shu; she’s the most talented cultivator I’ve ever seen. President Zhou has already alerted me about her; he intends to groom this young woman named Jing Shu for the vice presidency. She’s even been offered a spot in an All-China competition.

"Just think, this genius solved problems that even President Zhou couldn’t. She grew what President Zhou couldn’t. Isn’t her ability great? If I ever hear anyone speaking ill of Jing Shu again, be careful, or I might have to punish you."

Chairman Tie walked over with a smile. "Jing Shu, I have high hopes for you. In the future, if anyone has any questions, they should learn from Jing Shu. Listen to her advice because she is a proper representative from our Wu City. She can’t be compared to those others from outside." After finishing, he walked away, belly protruding, looking as if he truly admired Jing Shu.

Jiaojiao snorted softly, "You won’t be proud for long. We aren’t finished with my sister’s matter." The most update n0vels are published on novel~fire~net

It’s hard to imagine... how could Xiao Xiao, black as charcoal and manly, and this delicate woman be sisters? But... this was indeed a set-up—a blatant one at that. Well played. She had thought Chairman Tie would take advantage of Zhou Bapi’s absence to trouble her. Unexpectedly, he did nothing of the sort. Instead, in front of so many people in the canteen, he praised her—a sinister move.

What time was it now? It was the time when talents from other cities wanted to showcase themselves. By doing this, wasn’t Chairman Tie directing all the animosity towards her?

Sure enough, after Chairman Tie left, Jiaojiao quietly embellished her stories, effectively helping Jing Shu make a notorious name for herself.

"She’s a privileged person now, comes and goes whenever she likes, very impressive. We work over ten hours a day, while she doesn’t have to do anything and still gets paid."

"Out of the seven official workers in Wu City, including the president, she managed to oust one. She has a lot of clout; President Zhou didn’t hesitate to accommodate her wishes."

"She’s already cultivating several varieties, and she boldly claims that the vice presidency is hers for sure."

Even a clay figurine has a bit of temper, let alone Jing Shu with her fiery disposition. The world is so bizarre. Keeping quiet and staying out of trouble doesn’t mean you’ll avoid it. On the contrary, troubles will come looking for you.

But at this moment, Jing Shu couldn’t afford to be impulsive. She couldn’t arrogantly say, "I actually said that, and believe it or not, I can take you down too." Although she indeed had the capability to be that arrogant.

"Nonsense, it was clearly Xiao Xiao who made the mistake!" Wang Danai ran over at the crucial moment, the vigorous bounce of her ample chest nearly blinding Jing Shu.

She’s been drinking papaya milk, hasn’t she? Jing Shu sighed deeply, envious.

As a senior employee, Wang Danai still had some influence. With her vivid description, she successfully started an argument with Jiaojiao. Meanwhile, Xiao Xiao had yet to show her face, and it was unclear where she had gone.