Chapter 340: Chapter 340

The students’ gazes towards Jing Shu shifted once again. And they said Director Jing was indifferent? With just one sentence, she had arranged for Polygonum multiflorum to be placed in the well-funded, leisurely herbal planting department. It was common knowledge that in the apocalypse, there were no modern medicines left; everyone relied on Huaxia’s traditional herbal cultivation. These herbs were usually boiled multiple times and not discarded until they were turned into medicinal residue for further refinement.

After some thought, Manager Li continued, "In this case, our Stone Garden is indeed in urgent need of various medicinal herbs, as well as talent with rich planting experience and medical understanding. You will start by working under Mr. Zhang as his assistant. Stone Garden has brought over all the traditional Chinese medicine preparation equipment from before the apocalypse. Now, not only do we need to plant herbs, but we also need to manufacture medicines."

"Thank you, thank you!" Polygonum multiflorum exclaimed. To follow an experienced traditional Chinese medicine doctor as an assistant—wouldn’t that be like having a master? After learning for a year or half a year, I could become a junior doctor too!

With Polygonum multiflorum’s job settled, some were envious and others jealous. Understanding some medical skills and medicinal herb management made one highly sought after, no matter where they were.

Afterward, Manager Li inquired about the specialties of the remaining few people and shook his head in disappointment. Either their professional standards were not up to par, or Stone Garden did not need them. After all, Stone Garden’s own people were more professional in economic and personnel management.

Those who were not hired felt very discouraged and simply went to move stones. Indeed, a few more people qualified. If they couldn’t be full-time workers, being temporary ones wasn’t bad either.

Soon, the temporary stone movers were also decided upon, with six individuals completing the assessment. However, one person remained in the field, still struggling to move stones, eventually slumping to the ground, gasping for breath, unable to continue.

"The stone-carrying assessment is now over. Those who haven’t passed are unqualified," Manager Li announced. "Assignments outside Stone Garden involve physical labor. If you can’t even carry these stones, you’re not suitable. Even if you somehow managed to get in, you’d likely be reported and end up working for nothing." He then declared the end of the temporary worker assessment. The rıghtful source is 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡⁂𝔣𝔦𝔯𝔢⁂𝘯𝘦𝘵

The one person left in the assessment field was none other than Wang Chao. Those who could do it had already finished; those who couldn’t had given up. Only Wang Chao refused to admit defeat.

"I... I haven’t eaten in a couple of days. I have no strength," Wang Chao begged for another chance. "Trust me, I’m really strong. Just give me a steamed bun now, and I’ll have strength right away."

Manager Li shook his head. "At 120 pounds, you’re too frail. Even if you forced yourself to do temporary work, you wouldn’t last three to five days. It’s not that I don’t want you, but you’re likely to die doing this kind of work. I can’t be responsible for that, nor can I disappoint Director Jing."

It turned out that Wang Chao used to be a chubby man weighing 180 pounds. However, in the past two years, after getting married and having children, he had given all his food to his pregnant wife. Working beyond his capacity daily had wrecked his body, and now he couldn’t even do physical labor.

Wang Chao then turned his pleading gaze towards Jing Shu. He had never been before, not even when eating the toxic red worm cake. But when it came to providing for his child, he finally succumbed to the harsh reality.

Jing Shu waved him over. "If you can’t do it, don’t force yourself," she said. "If you push yourself to death, what will happen to your wife and children?"

Wang Chao hung his head and finally nodded. "I... I don’t have any other special skills."

Jing Shu frowned. She remembered that back in high school, she had bought game scripts Wang Chao himself had made. Using them had made gaming a breeze, as the scripts ran automatically and completed all tasks. So, she couldn’t help but ask, "Wang Chao, I remember in high school you made game scripts and worked with software and systems."

Wang Chao said cynically, "Yes, but that’s utterly useless now. Stone Garden needs job skills helpful for survival in the apocalypse—food, living, that sort of thing. I don’t have hacker abilities either. Besides, the national network is down. There isn’t enough broadband for new systems, we have no servers, and the government isn’t authorizing any new network infrastructure."

Jing Shu paced back and forth a few steps. "Manager Li, does Stone Garden have an internal LAN and servers?"

"How about this," Jing Shu proposed, "I’ll privately hire Wang Chao for Stone Garden’s engineering and network department. I’ll commission him to create custom scripts and macros for Stone Garden, developing a unique network management system for us. He can apply big data templates to manage check-ins, roll calls, and the distribution of personnel salaries and benefits. It could even handle intelligent statistics and script execution for the second, third, and fourth tiers, freeing up significant human resources."

Manager Li’s eyes lit up. "I know a little about scripting. Does that mean once it’s running, it can automatically complete pre-set procedures? If so, we really need such talent. Director Jing, I hope to bring this Wang Chao into our headquarters for better management."

"Okay, no problem," Jing Shu agreed.

Another regular position was filled. Wang Chao clenched his fists in excitement, bowing silently to Jing Shu.

The remaining students, seeing that even the ’useless’ Wang Chao had found a good position, crowded forward, eagerly chattering about their own skills. Unfortunately, there was no longer any role that could utilize them.

With time pressing, Jing Shu hurriedly left with Su Malie after settling her classmates’ arrangements.

"What? You’re going to the United States?!"

Two days flew by. Jing Shu had meticulously organized everything at home. To better ensure her family’s survival, she used every trick up her sleeve. She even tirelessly found various pretexts, while everyone was home, to drag her family out to experience firsthand the booming thunder and the rumbling of earthquakes.

At last, her family was somewhat less ignorant about the earthquakes that had been occurring that year.

To ensure her family’s safety, Jing Shu eventually set up personal locators and emergency alert devices. Her family was unaware that technology had advanced to such a point that simply wearing a bracelet could solve these safety concerns. Little did they know, these were all preparations Jing Shu had made in advance at great cost.

Even Mr. Jing’s inventions had come into play, and Jing Shu’s heart could finally rest a little easier.

Next came the preparations for her trip to the United States. Jing Shu had packed her belongings early on and continued to add new items. During this time, she returned to the villa, cleared some space in her dimensional storage, and secretly stashed more supplies in a rented large warehouse. This was to ensure that even if she couldn’t return, her family would have enough food and clothing to survive the apocalypse.

Time was tight, and just as everything was finally in order, Jing Shu encountered an unexpected communication issue. She was used to being independent, so when she announced her intention to travel far, like a child seeking permission, she faced strong opposition from her entire family.

"No way! It’s the apocalypse now. The country’s trains, planes, and other transportation have all stopped. How could you possibly cross the ocean?"

"It’s too dangerous over there! The television shows wars every day, bullets flying everywhere. It’s too risky."