Chapter 151

Besides Tang Jing, probably no one took the matter of establishing a company too seriously; they just regarded it as another joke to relieve the busy work. Even Dong Junwei, when exercising her authority as chief decision‑making officer to approve the establishment of Qiming Architectural Design Ltd., did so with a joking attitude.

Despite that, Qiming's construction work suffered no delay; it continued to proceed vigorously.

After Dong Junwei finished organizing the second cardboard box as well, the floor environment became even cleaner, and the usable area increased considerably.

Although the room is already large enough, for living purposes there are actually not many spots that get sunlight; the sunshine that comes in through the window spends little time on the floor.

When the conditions are ripe, it would be best to move our room to the third tier of the shelving, near the window.

Tang Jing looked up at the high place and pointed with her hand to the spot she had mentioned.

There the sunlight was bright; the silver‑white painted metal shelving reflected the sun's rays, dazzling the eyes.

"Is this shelving stable?" Chen Mu asked first, concerned about safety.

"No problem; I observed earlier that the inner side of the shelving is fixed to the wall with expansion bolts. Unless the building collapses, we can stay here indefinitely—our weight and the room's mass are as light as a feather to the shelving.

"I just thought of a question." Chen Mu asked, "This storage room should be fine for several decades, right?"

"I understand your concern. A brick‑concrete structure usually lasts about fifty years; without external blows or other erosion it could stand a century. But don't forget we will need to remodel this place later—at least we'll have to chisel ladders into the walls and erect mezzanines. Without maintenance, there will be considerable wear.

"In that case, will it reduce the building's lifespan?

"You're probably overthinking it." Tang Jing laughed, "Do you think we'll be living here for decades?

"That's true." Chen Mu slapped his forehead, getting caught up in a nitpicky train of thought.

"In fact, if nothing unexpected happens, we can settle Yi Zhong and Qingbei within at most a year and smoothly leave the campus.

"Then what?" Chen Mu asked.

"Then what?" Tang Jing tilted her head to look at him.

"Exactly—after we leave campus, what should we do?" Chen Mu asked again.

Tang Jing laughed: "I originally thought you'd ask me how to get out of campus.

"Since you're so confident, I think asking would be pointless." Chen Mu spread his hands.

"I still have to ask, otherwise how could I brag to you guys?" Tang Jing gave a sly smile.

"All right."

Chen Mu said, half‑amused and helpless: "Then I'll ask—how are we supposed to settle Yi Zhong and Qingbei within a year?

"Actually there are only two options: either destroy them or win them over." Tang Jing said in a very casual tone.

"Why not the other way—why aren't we the ones being won over?

Tang Jing was about to speak when Du Jia Jia's voice came from behind: "Chen Mu, why are you always so negative?

Looking behind, Dong Junwei and the others had all gathered over.

At that moment, right after lunch break, everyone would normally gather near the towels to chat, since there were no recreational activities; this was roughly the most anticipated relaxation time of the day for everyone, but today they discovered Tang Jing was absent.

Although Tang Jing's lecture‑like nagging usually gave everyone a headache, when she wasn't there people found the chat atmosphere much poorer.

A few people turned around looking for them, only to find Tang Jing and Chen Mu chatting while pointing at the shelving in the distance, so they all came over.

Before Chen Mu could answer, Dong Junwei laughed first: "Don't you guys know what Chen Mu is like? He always makes the most pessimistic plans but carries out the most proactive actions.

Du Jia Jia gave a hehe laugh and passed by.

Dong Junwei asked again: "Are you discussing Yi Zhong?

"And Qingbei as well." Tang Jing said.

"Qingbei… we're not hostile toward them; do we still need to target them?

"Speaking of which, Yi Zhong and we aren't hostile either; in fact we were the ones who first stole their vehicles and people." Tang Jing laughed.

"Well…"

"Actually, whether we're enemies or not doesn't matter; since we've chosen independent development, we will inevitably clash with other organizations. At the start we didn't join anyone—would we, after getting stronger, then go and rely on others?

Tang Jing said this while scanning the crowd with her gaze.

Wei Dalei, Du Jia Jia, Lu Shanshan and the others almost all showed an air of taking it for granted, agreeing strongly with Tang Jing's words.

Only three people were exceptions.

Chen Mu, Dong Junwei, He Ying.

Chen Mu also realized this, but he clearly understood that it was precisely because others didn't need to consider the big picture that they could face things with pure optimism.

While Dong Junwei, He Ying and the others had more to consider, they naturally had to think more about what to do if they failed.

Tang Jing, hands clasped, continued: "Qingbei bears no ill will toward loners, because for now we pose no threat to them; once we grow to a certain level, they certainly won't remain indifferent.

"Actually, in terms of resources, things are now even more abundant than before, so peaceful coexistence isn't impossible, right?" He Ying sighed.

Tang Jing said: "Having abundant resources is one thing, but being able to make use of them is another. To exploit resources, humanity now relies on Special Ability, but the diversity of Special Ability needs a population to support it, so Qingbei's keen interest in finding survivors is understandable.

"If that's the case, should we take the initiative to attack?

"For now it's not necessary, but even if we don't target them, we still need to be on guard.

On this topic, everyone has discussed it more than once, but when it comes to putting it into practice, we still can't come up with any idea.

……

Evening.

All sounds ceased.

The two Yi Zhong captives remained separately detained, and Tang Jing kindly prepared a small piece of towel for each as a makeshift mattress.

When they first arrived, these two were full of vigor, as if ready at any moment to die heroically as martyrs; although they never spoke, looking at the eyes of the Qiming crowd one could see undisguised contempt and scorn.

However, Tang Jing deflated their spirit with just two sentences during a single meal delivery.

Both of them thought their companion was tougher than they were; feeling ashamed, they became a bit discouraged.

Chen Mu somewhat understood Tang Jing's point.

Put simply.

This is the opposite version of the prisoner's dilemma.

They all exploit the two's inability to communicate, but Tang Jing does the opposite—not only does she not urge them to pursue their own greatest benefit, she constantly praises how tough your companion is, even revealing admiration in her speech.

Chen Mu initially had some doubts about the effectiveness of this approach.

But on the second day.

Tang Jing easily got their names.

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