CHAPTER 114: CONSOLATION TALK COMMISSIONER

Wang Fang’s eyes itched as she glanced at the kitchen door. During that time, Jing Shu had gone in to add a few dishes. All Wang Fang could do was peer through the crack in the door at what seemed like a dazzling array of items inside. Jing Shu turned a blind eye to these small actions. Thankfully, I had the foresight, she thought. Couldn’t Aunt just eat what’s on the table without trying to emulate Su Long? What kind of schemes might she have in mind?

"Big Brother, you haven’t mentioned how you handled the black pig last time. Did you give it to Sister-in-law’s brother?" Mrs. Jing asked.

Mrs. Jing also harbored her own suspicions, concerned that Sister-in-law might be funneling all the benefits to her own family.

Uncle chuckled. "She pulled some strings through her brother, which allowed both my wife and me to get into government units. We are now in charge of community visits, with the job title Visiting Specialist. It’s a new government occupation. As you know, your sister-in-law was a lawyer, and right now there’s a shortage of such talent."

Jing Shu narrowed her eyes. In my previous life, Aunt couldn’t get into the system even by excessively flattering her own brother. This life, because of one pig, both of them managed to get in.

Community visits, to put it bluntly, meant being the government’s informants. This was a job many people envied, one that wielded considerable power in the mid to late stages.

Their upward tasks involved tracking the living and dead population and understanding the situation of every household within their jurisdiction. This included identifying which families might commit a crime by monitoring their daily activities and then reporting this information to be matched with big data. If both the big data and the visiting specialist determined someone was likely to have committed a crime, the individual was almost certain to be convicted, and it wouldn’t take long for them to be branded.

Their downward tasks involved visiting each household to comfort people, assuring them that the world would get better and urging them to have faith in the state’s power. They guided citizens not to harbor thoughts of unrest and to obey the government. Those who disobeyed would starve.

Their routine job was also to act as an online "water army," guiding public opinion in a positive direction.

In ancient times, it was said that to hold the hearts of the people was to hold the dynasty; today, to control public opinion is to hold the lifeline of the state. Remember this after the apocalypse: what you can see online is generally what the government allows you to see.

With the rise of big data surveillance, it wasn’t long before the government would announce that everyone must carry a mobile phone with GPS activated—partly for their protection and partly for monitoring. Thus, the power of visiting specialists grew even more.

I had always wanted Dad to become the visiting specialist for our district, Jing Shu thought. It would make many things more convenient in the future. Though Domestic Poultry breeding isn’t bad, visiting specialists will eventually crave meat too.

"Visiting specialist? That’s a good position too," Mrs. Jing nodded. "Government jobs are now all filled internally. It’s not to say that people are corrupt, but they need to find trustworthy individuals. Plus, you need a recommender, and if anything goes wrong with the person recommended, the recommender is also held responsible."

That’s just how things are in our country. If you have to choose between hiring someone you know well and can trust, and a complete stranger, you’ll definitely pick the one you know. But if a problem arises, the recommender can’t escape responsibility.

Wang Fang fiddled with her messy hair and said excitedly, "Exactly! While everyone else’s relief food is moldy oyster mushrooms and maggots, we get some vegetables daily, plus our work points. It’s enough to scrape by and keep warm and fed."

Uncle remarked, "A pig in exchange for a secure job—it’s a worthwhile trade for long-term stability." Uncle is quite visionary.

See, this is the difference between those within the system and those outside it. The distinction is slowly becoming apparent, which is why countless people are desperate to get a job within the system rather than toiling endlessly each day for mere Virtual Coins.

Seeing it was getting late, Uncle urged them to head back. He was worried that the frogs they were given last time, still at home, might die in the heat if left unattended—frogs were now treated like treasures. "Ah, Lan Zhi," he said, "thanks to your frogs, we managed to save the last bit of our food."

"We’re all family," Mrs. Jing said, still having Mr. Jing escort them back. On the way, he also dropped off some zongzi, pickles, and stewed meat at Jing Shu’s elder aunt’s place.

Of course, there was nothing for Jing Shu’s second aunt.

This was done according to Grandma Jing’s wishes. "My eldest son still thinks of me, his old mother, and invited me over for rice zongzi for the Dragon Boat Festival. That ingrate, the second one, didn’t make a peep! So, don’t send her anything. Let her sulk and get through it on her own!"

「When he returned」 Mr. Jing brought back all the frozen pears and homemade rice zongzi from the elder aunt’s house. Jing Shu had tasted them last time and found them delicious, so her elder aunt had kept this in mind.

Jing Shu’s elder aunt was also a sensible person. She understood that even with relatives, relationships require give and take to last. One can’t just keep taking from the people they love most without giving anything in return.

This was a principle for interacting with others, and indeed, a principle of life.

During the Dragon Boat Festival, Jing Shu gave some of her elder aunt’s rice zongzi to the Armed Police in the patrol car. They were quite ordinary, but Jing Shu could sense that the patrol car team became even more dedicated afterward. However, there was still no news about Zhetian, which made me very anxious, as if eyes were watching me from the darkness.

「In mid-June」 the patrol car stationed at Jingshu’s house finally left. Around the same time, Yang Yang arrived with Wang Dazhao.

"Let’s just talk at the door; I’m dirty," Yang Yang said, squatting down to examine the trap in the pit.

The Zhetian matter remained unresolved. According to the latest news, all the spies with national codenames had fled to the United States.

"Are you really sure you want to go to the United States?" Jing Shu asked, looking at Wang Dazhao. He had drastically changed for the third time.

The original Wang Dazhao was a sunny, cheerful young man, brimming with the joy of soon becoming a father. Then, after his pregnant wife was tragically killed, he lost his will to live, consumed only by thoughts of revenge. After successfully taking down a dozen or so people, he had said his life was now mine. At that time, he seemed like a walking corpse. He went after Zhetian when I told him to, probably just living to obey my commands. After Zhetian was eradicated, I had Wang Dazhao follow Yang Yang. To my surprise, in less than a month, he had become dark and scruffy, growing a small mustache. But he also appeared much more robust, and there was a new spark in his eyes. The spark of life.

Wang Dazhao looked over at Yang Yang, his eyes gleaming. "Although pursuing Zhetian is part of the mission, the Lieutenant Colonel also has some major business in the United States. How could I miss out on that? Don’t worry, I will definitely get revenge for you."

Yang Yang stood up, his military boots crunching, and snorted. "Don’t think only the United States can stir up trouble in Huaxia. This time, I won’t come back until I’ve turned their country upside down! I’ll teach them what ’an eye for an eye’ truly means."

Jing Shu gave him a thumbs-up. "That’s the spirit."

"Wang Dazhao mentioned you’re looking for a motorhome? We have a lead on one, but you’ll have to transport it back yourself. Also, you’ll need to do me a favor." Yang Yang coughed, finally revealing the purpose of his visit.

"Where is it? What model?" Jing Shu asked immediately. I’m not interested in just any motorhome, but judging by Yang Yang’s expression, my intuition tells me this won’t be good news.