Chapter 158

“Six groups came by during the day, twenty-one people in all. They’d all seen us on television and come looking for us,” Song Jingshuo briefed Jiang Cheng on what had happened in the complex while she was away. “They’ve all been settled in.”

“Two superpowered people came over from Jixiang Jiayuan—one metal-type and one electrical-type. The metal-type one is decent. The electrical-type one is mediocre.”

“But he’s got a good head on his shoulders,” Song Jingshuo added approvingly.

He had come over from there first thing in the morning, which showed that he was quick-witted.

“I didn’t deal with them right away. I left them waiting,” he said. “We shouldn’t go looking for them. We need to make them come begging to us.”

Master Luo had been brought over first thing that morning because there were too few wood-types. With so many people waiting to be fed, they couldn’t work Song Jingshuo to death, so they had recruited him in an emergency.

None of the other superpowers was particularly indispensable.

Jiang Cheng smiled.

She and Song Jingshuo were perfectly in sync.

Song Jingshuo handed Jiang Cheng a stack of printed pages.

Jiang Cheng quickly skimmed through them, then handed them back. “Looks good. I have no objections.”

The performance-assessment system Song Jingshuo had spent a whole day and night designing had been approved by the two of them just like that.

The second floor of the clubhouse had also been cleared out, and the people staying behind were helping move things in.

The team had brought back a great deal of supplies: padded coats, quilts, all kinds of clothing, snacks, drinks, and chocolate.

It was impossible not to sneak a piece of chocolate or open a bottle of soda while carrying everything in.

Everyone understood that these things were meant to become benefits for everyone in the future. If an organization couldn’t offer decent benefits, how could it motivate people to work?

The people from the Youth Apartment weren’t worried in the slightest.

There were no idle people in the Youth Apartment. Nearly everyone had something to do.

With so many people living together, there were endless little matters to deal with. People were needed everywhere:

Cleaning, repairs and maintenance, helping in the cafeteria, keeping order, looking after children, fertilizing the fields, and harvesting ripe crops.

The cafeteria alone required a great many people now.

And they were different from everyone else. The status of “Youth Apartment homeowner” had already begun to carry an air of something like official tenure.

Now that so many outsiders were arriving, the entire Youth Apartment had effectively become Jiang Cheng’s inner circle.

Jiang Cheng never let her own people suffer losses, and everyone felt secure because of it.

Song Jingshuo and Jiang Cheng went upstairs to the clubhouse together.

The metal-types had built a great many shelves. The young people were orderly and efficient, and all kinds of items had been sorted and stored neatly.

Once everyone had gone downstairs, Jiang Cheng began taking things out.

Song Jingshuo watched her.

She had already taken out a large amount of frozen meat in the cafeteria.

Now she was taking out clothing, bedding, and daily necessities.

She kept taking things out.

And taking things out.

And taking out more and more.

She continued until Song Jingshuo went from completely composed to visibly stunned.

“Jiang Cheng,” Song Jingshuo finally asked, “how big is your storage space now?”

Everyone knew that as long as a person was willing to work hard and endure the physical pain, a superpower could be improved.

But quite a lot of people couldn’t withstand the physical agony of breaking through their limits. It was truly unbearable. Some had tried pushing themselves until their eyes began to hurt, feeling as though they were about to go blind.

If they didn’t stop, it felt as though their eyeballs were being gouged out alive.

The clearest example was Li Jiangbing.

Li Jiangbing’s water-type superpower wasn’t like those of Zhou Wang, Guo Jun, or Aunt Pan, whose abilities had been powerful from the moment they started. When he first awakened, his superpower had been very ordinary, no different from everyone else’s.

But now, he could manipulate water with astonishing skill.

A few days earlier, his eyes had been bloodshot every morning when he showed up. All the medicine was with Zhang Lesi, and he had asked her for several boxes of eye drops. Song Jingshuo knew all about it.

It was just that water-type abilities were noncombat abilities, so after everyone grew accustomed to them, they no longer seemed particularly impressive.

Unlike Guo Jun and Aunt Pan. Whenever either of them made a move, everyone would let out a collective gasp of admiration.

“I don’t know,” Jiang Cheng said. “There’s no way to quantify it.”

At first, the storage space Jiang Cheng could “see” had seemed about the size of a bathroom. But that was merely a visual projection produced through her mental link.

Jiang Cheng soon discovered that the space couldn’t actually be measured by volume.

The visual projection she could see hadn’t changed much over the past few days, but her spatial ability had continued to improve.

Moreover, Jiang Cheng had noticed something rather incredible.

Today, her storage space seemed to have reached a breakthrough.

She wasn’t entirely sure.

The space’s capacity increased every day, and she hadn’t deliberately kept track of how much it could hold before the previous two days.

Compared with what she could “see,” the sensations she received through the mental link were closer to reality.

By the time the two of them went downstairs, the complex’s core staff had already gathered in the lobby.

Song Jingshuo explained the performance-assessment system he had designed.

Someone listened with a blank stare. “Why does this feel like I’m back at work?”

Everyone burst out laughing.

Put simply, the system meant that there could be no “egalitarian pot.”

The consequences of everyone sharing the same pot had already been proven by history. So compensation would be based on work performed.

Of course, the first priority was to guarantee everyone’s basic survival needs: they would be fed.

Song Jingshuo said, “As long as conditions allow, we’ll do our best to guarantee everyone’s meals.”

He also guaranteed that all Youth Apartment homeowners, along with those granted equivalent homeowner status, would receive fruit every day as a fixed benefit.

However, the snacks, drinks, clothing, and other supplies collected from outside would all be placed under rationing and control starting tomorrow.

Every position would generate performance points, whether it involved going out with the team to rescue people or performing various kinds of labor at home. Every job would earn performance points.

Naturally, the rescue team would earn the most. No one objected to that; everyone considered it reasonable, since they faced danger.

Performance points could be used like wages to “purchase” any controlled supplies.

Someone immediately said, “Isn’t this the same as the work points used in rural areas decades ago?”

Song Jingshuo: “...It’s not that old-fashioned.”

Song Jingshuo had always projected an upscale, cosmopolitan image, so it couldn’t be called work points. They had to be performance points.

Only then would it sound sophisticated, cosmopolitan, and suitably in line with his personal style.

Everyone roared with laughter.

That night, after washing up, Jiang Cheng lay in bed with her eyes closed, concentrating as she seriously tried to sense her storage space.

If she had done this the night before, she could have confirmed the unusual change that had appeared early that morning. But since she hadn’t paid attention at the time, she couldn’t confirm it now.

She would have to wait until tomorrow.

Mr. Xu and Director Yu returned to their “home” in Jixiang Jiayuan.

As soon as they stepped through the door, they found everyone gathered in the four-bedroom apartment. The moment they saw them, the group surged forward.

“You’re back! You’re back!”

“Mr. Xu, Director Yu, you’ve worked so hard!”

Everyone hustled the two men over to the sofa and pressed them down onto it.

Some brought tea, others massaged their shoulders, and everyone fussed over the two men with excessive warmth and concern.

Mr. Xu/Director Yu: “...”

“All right, all right. Enough with the act.” Mr. Xu waved them off and handed the plastic bag in his hand to one of the employees. “These are for you.”

“Wow, strawberries!”

“They’re huge again! Hurry up and divide them!”

“As expected of Mr. Xu. Where did you get these?”

There were eight strawberries in the plastic bag.

For the past two days, everyone had been free to pick strawberries, and some people at the Youth Apartments had ended up eating so many that they were sick of them. At dinner, even one strawberry per person felt like too much.

As it happened, two newcomers had arrived: Mr. Xu and Director Yu.

Mr. Xu worked diligently, earnestly learning from experience and humbly listening to everyone’s advice.

Director Yu, a chubby middle-aged man, was also going all out to improve his fitness, running laps alongside the younger people.

Everyone had a good impression of the two of them. They had heard the pair say that there were still more than twenty people in their “home,” all of whom had shared hardship and risked their lives together. Once they had gotten familiar with a few people, those people gave their own portions of strawberries to them.

Everyone cut the strawberries into pieces with knives and shared them around.

“Eat up,” Director Yu said. “Starting tomorrow, things will get difficult. They aren’t going to provide fruit for us anymore. It’s going to be rationed.”

No one was surprised. They had already been told that morning that potatoes would be the only food provided in the future.

Something as luxurious as fruit was bound to be placed under control.

Everyone gathered in a circle around the sofa. “Mr. Xu, what did you find out today? Tell us about it.”

Mr. Xu and Director Yu straightened up and grew serious. “All right, then. We’ll tell you.”

“The Youth Apartments are at the very heart of this provisional government’s organizational structure. All the authority—command, personnel, and administration—is concentrated there.”

“Old Yu and I have successfully integrated ourselves today. Although we haven’t entered the management level yet, the path upward is very clear, and there’s plenty of room for advancement.”

Mr. Xu paused, then took a reserved sip of tea to moisten his throat.

Everyone applauded.

Mr. Xu set down his teacup and continued. “The difference in treatment between the two sides is obvious. For now, it looks like they’re still in the early stages of setting up this makeshift organization, so there may be a period when things aren’t very rigorous. But the few young people over there seem genuinely capable. I expect they’ll adjust and get everything on track soon.”

“We’re classified as refugees right now. No, more accurately, you are. You’re currently considered refugees, and in the future you’ll only receive the minimum resources necessary to survive. Your food allowance will be potatoes.”

“But don’t panic. Given the current situation, they can’t rely solely on the few hundred people next door. The core team is certain to expand. If everyone wants better treatment, you need to seize the opportunity. The moment they begin expanding and recruiting, join immediately.”

“Seniority. Remember this: seniority is very important in any collective. From what I can tell, the provisional government is preparing to go into the city every day to bring people back. There will be more and more people in the future. The earlier you join a collective, the more benefits you’ll enjoy.”

Everyone asked, “Mr. Xu, why are only we considered refugees? What about the two of you?”

Director Yu spread his hands. “We’ve already integrated ourselves.”

Everyone fell silent.

“Oh, right,” Mr. Xu said. “Don’t prepare meals for the two of us. We’re already signed up for all three meals over there.”

Zhou Wang returned from the Youth Apartments with Little Huang. Xiao Dan had been waiting for him at the entrance, peering into the distance.

When she saw the two of them, Xiao Dan went to meet them. “Why are you back so late? Our girl already went back to sleep.”

“We had a meeting,” Zhou Wang said.

Little Huang stayed by Zhou Wang’s side. Although he was young, his superpower was far too unusual, so he was completely different from Wang Yunya and the other children.

He was counted as core personnel.

Xiao Dan gave Zhou Wang a report on the day’s work. “Twenty-one new people arrived today. I got all of them settled.”

“They made all sorts of demands. There’s no way we can satisfy them all.”

“There was even a fight. I had to call people over from the Youth Apartments before we could stop it.”

Zhou Wang was surprised. “How did they end up fighting?”

Xiao Dan was exasperated. “Don’t ask. They said they were coworkers from a television station and had some old grudge between them. Then they happened to be assigned to the same apartment, and they started fighting today. We’ve already moved them to separate rooms.”

As soon as people saw that someone had been given a room change, several others who weren’t satisfied with their accommodations also demanded to be moved.

“I refused them all. We can’t open the door to that sort of thing. They have somewhere to live and food to eat—what more do they want? Do they think we’re a wishing well?”

Zhou Wang praised her. “You handled it well.”

Xiao Dan hadn’t held a regular job in many years. After her daughter grew up, she had run a few small businesses and even sold insurance. Though she hadn’t made a fortune, she had earned a modest income—no less than she would have from a regular job.

Overall, she was quite a capable person.

Zhou Wang handed her several sheets of paper. “Take a look at this.”

Under the streetlamp, Xiao Dan quickly flipped through them.

A complete system had been established, and it was fairly comprehensive. Every aspect had been taken into consideration. Even the calculations and distribution of performance points appeared reasonably balanced and acceptable.

Zhou Wang specifically pointed something out to her. “You’re in a management position. Management positions are classified as fixed posts, so the benefits are quite good.”

Xiao Dan knew that she couldn’t have come up with such a detailed plan in such a short time. In truth, she had no experience managing people. She simply liked taking charge and organizing things.

She considered herself a very energetic person, but by the end of the day, she felt utterly exhausted.

Managing people really was exhausting. It was no easier than fighting zombies.