lcionline Chapter 31 Finding a Job at the Base
Chapter 31 Finding a Job at the Base
“Xiao Gu will be working with Professor Wang tomorrow, which will also earn you work points. Remember to collect the points you received today. Right now, we rely on these points for food and drinks at the base. After the pandemic is over, the remaining points can be exchanged for money.” Qin Yuan then turned to Lu Yuan and the others. “As for you guys, what are your thoughts? I still have some influence at the base. Finding you skinny college students an easy job won’t be a problem.”
Pei Sihao had originally planned to contact his brother once he arrived at the base to see how to get him and Gu Nanfeng back to Beijing, but now that Gu Nanfeng had been recruited by his mentor, it seemed he wouldn't be able to leave anytime soon, which left him feeling a bit lost.
"Captain Qin, can I be an unofficial member of your team?" Yang Xiao's bed was right next to Lu Yuan's, and he leaned over to ask.
"Kid, aren't you afraid of zombies?" Qin Yuan was a little surprised. This afternoon, he had actually noticed that Yang Xiao was not only not afraid of zombies, but was also very brave.
"Who isn't afraid? But if I go out with you guys on missions, I should get a lot of points, right?" Yang Xiao continued to ask.
“Right now, no ordinary citizens are willing to go on missions with us soldiers. I’ll have to ask our leaders.” Qin Yuan didn’t expect these students to be so bold. Recently, there have been many more civilians at the base. Some were rescued by them on missions, and some were refugees who had fled. Once they arrived at the base, no one wanted to go out again.
"Okay, if possible, I'll follow you." After resolving his own problem, Yang Xiao settled back onto his bed.
“Then I’ll follow you.” Lu Yuan looked at Yang Xiao lying next to him. Although Yang Xiao was the most violent one in the team, he was an art student and didn’t like to go out. He was pale, thin, and looked the weakest among them. He had to go out with the army to fight zombies, so how could he stay in the base and do easy work?
"Take me with you!" Zhong Qiang, who had been sleeping on the far side, mumbled in his sleep.
"If I don't go, won't I be out of place?" Pei Sihao lay back on the bed, opened a mobile game. Since he couldn't leave anytime soon, he didn't want to stay in the base alone. He might as well go out with Lu Yuan and the others to fight zombies, which would give him a temporary life goal.
Gu Nanfeng was actually a little worried about Pei Sihao going out with them. It was dangerous outside, and if something happened, he didn't know how to explain it to Pei Sihao's family. But judging from his expression, he didn't want to idly stay at the base. The base was located in the city center hospital, and as a poor medical student, he was embarrassed to take a medical position. If he weren't currently going to work with Professor Wang on base defense research, he would have wanted to go along, and he could also protect Lu Yuan.
"Alright then, I'll ask for permission tomorrow morning. Our team had a mission today and we're off tomorrow. You guys just arrived at the base and don't have any work scheduled for tomorrow either, so I'll show you around the base then." Qin Yuan sat up from Lu Yuan's bed and walked towards the door. "The team has arranged for another team to go to the factory tomorrow, so I need to talk to their team leader. I'll be going now."
After Qin Yuan left, Lu Yuan checked his phone and saw that it was almost midnight. He could tell that the soldiers at the base were having a tough time.
The next day, everyone had plans, so the five of them didn't delay their rest. They turned off the lights and went straight to sleep. It was August, summer, and although the dormitory at the base had air conditioning, the central air conditioning system wasn't very cool to save energy. There were still five people sleeping in the room, and the accommodation here was far inferior to the one at Gu Nanfeng's villa.
DAY58
Gu Nanfeng washed up and left home before six in the morning. He already had work arrangements. At this stage, the base defense was the top priority, and he couldn't afford to delay. He went to Professor Wang's place early to report for duty. He had a quick breakfast with Professor Wang in the cafeteria and then went to the laboratory.
Lu Yuan and the other four slept a little longer. After all, fighting zombies at the factory the day before had taken a lot of toll. By the time they finished packing up and got to the canteen, it was almost eight o'clock. There wasn't much food left in the canteen, just a few steamed buns and a bunch of compressed biscuits.
"In the apocalypse, there are plenty of cookies!" Zhong Qiang received a newcomer gift certificate after being asked by the cafeteria lady. There were only three small pieces of paper, which covered their three meals for the day. They had to confirm their jobs today, and starting tomorrow they would have to exchange work points for food.
The group exchanged their breakfast coupons for a bottle of water and some compressed biscuits, and sat down in the canteen to eat. Pei Sihao noticed a notice board in the canteen that listed which positions at the base were currently vacant and how many work points were awarded for each position.
"Wow, construction workers get such high scores!" Yang Xiao remarked, also watching.
"Of course, building up that outer defensive wall is the top priority right now." Lu Yuan remembered the wall pier he saw when he came in yesterday.
"If I can't go out with Captain Qin and the others, I'll go build a wall. Otherwise, the other points won't be enough for me to eat." Zhong Qiang's attention was on the resource exchange board next to the job notice board, which listed the work point prices for food and daily necessities.
“I’ve heard my grandfather say that he also lived this kind of life with work points and food coupons when he was a child.” Pei Sihao suddenly laughed. In this kind of environment, it is indeed necessary to use this work point system to motivate more people to work. “This method is really practical.”
After they finished eating the compressed biscuits, Qin Yuan rushed over in a flurry, shouting, "Something's happened! Something's happened!"
Last night, Qin Yuan told the captain of the 0922 supply team about the escaped highly intelligent zombies, so the 0922 team rushed to the factory in the early morning, hoping to take another batch of supplies before the escaped zombies returned with their team.
Around 6 a.m. this morning, Qin Yuan woke up to find that they hadn't returned yet. Logically, if there were no zombies in the factory, 0922 should have been back in four or five hours, but it had been almost seven hours and they still hadn't come back. He used the walkie-talkie to call 0922's captain, but there was no response.
Around 7:00 AM, Team 0843 also went to the factory. Based on the distance, ten minutes later, the command contacted the team leader of Team 0843, but they had also lost contact.
"The team has agreed to make you unofficial members. It just so happens that we in 0788 are a few fewer people than them, so you'll be following us from now on. Your points and benefits will be the same as ours." Qin Yuan swiped his ID card at the canteen window and bought two steamed buns. Because they were soldiers, they could also get a glass of milk. He took the food and plopped down opposite Lu Yuan, devouring it.
"It's so serious, aren't you going to help?" Lu Yuan was also a little stunned. Qin Yuan didn't seem like he didn't want to help.
"Hey, we can't go." Qin Yuan glanced out the cafeteria window. "0419 is about to set off. I just spent a long time talking to their captain about that high-IQ zombie."
Qin Yuan watched the 0419 rescue vehicle drive away before calmly turning back to explain the base's current protection mechanisms for soldiers. Because every mission is dangerous, to ensure that soldiers don't suffer accidents due to overwork, the base's supply teams are now required to have at least 24 hours of mandatory rest after returning from missions. This rule cannot be broken unless there are special circumstances, so Qin Yuan had no choice but to help.
"That's good too. A soldier's life matters too." Lu Yuan agreed with the regulation.