"Never mind. Just ignore what I just said. Next week, I''ll send you a detailed plan from Luoping on how to solve this.

And Li Miao, make sure your soldiers are ready to leave. You''re going to become a colonel next."

Xiaoyun and Kate left the room, leaving the two a little confused about what had just happened.

Still, Lu Ming was confused because he had to wait for the plan, while Li Miao was confused as to why he was getting promoted out of nowhere.

"Congrats, Li Miao. I didn''t expect you to be promoted when you haven''t done anything good for the army," Lu Ming joked, as he was the one who tried to tell Li Miao to stop in the past.

"Shut up... I''m so fucked if I''m getting sent to Dongguan... Fuck! I knew I shouldn''t have tried to earn those extra food stamps."

Li Miao stomped on the ground in anger, but there was no one else to blame besides himself as the two watched the car drive off into the distance.

---

After driving for ten minutes at full speed, the two finally arrived at Luoping before the sun had set on the horizon.

As the two pulled up to the newly set-up security booth next to the entrance, everyone looked a little shocked.

"What are you guys waiting for?" Xiaoyun asked as he noticed the soldier seemed frozen.

"Oh, sorry, sir. We just haven''t seen you for so long." The soldier apologized as the bridge lowered.

"No problem."

As Kate drove the car into the trading zone, the two were both shocked to see how much it had changed.

From stores to four-story tall hotels to even asphalt roads and proper car lanes, the development in just a single month was extremely impressive.

Not to mention the number of people walking along the sidewalk, with a fully developed sewage system across the entire sidewalk.

But just as they arrived at the inner wall that separated the trading zone from the outside, it was no longer there, with only a single trace of it ever existing before them.

It was replaced with several metal gates scattered down the left and right sides, with a long metal fence in between.

Two police officers stood by as they checked the people and the car going inside. But they both stopped as soon as Kate parked the car to be checked.

"M-Mr.Mayor?" One of the police officers nervously asked.

"Just do your job. Pretend I''m just an average passenger."

The two offices quickly recovered as one headed to the back of the car, with the other going to the driver''s seat for an ID.

"Your passport, ma''am?" The officer standing next to the driver seat asked.

"Passport?"

Kate turned over to Xiaoyun, who shrugged his shoulder as if he didn''t even know that existed.

"What''s a passport?" Kate curiously asked.

"It''s a document for people who wanted to enter the inner city from the outside. It''s given at the entrance office on the right after finishing checking the full requirement check." The officer explained.

"Oh, I see... Well, can we get a pass just this time?" Xiaoyun asked this time, as he didn''t want to waste any more time.

"Of course, sir. But I recommend that you update your ID... All inner citizens'' IDs are used as passports and free entry. You can head to the Department of Welfare to update it."

"My bad, my bad. I really need to be more careful now in the house, don''t I?

"Yeah, or else our kids are all going to learn the bad words from you," Yueyue added as she lifted Qiaolan into her arms.

"What''s a bad word?" Qiaolan curiously asked.

"Something that you shouldn''t say." Wuli lectured as she booped Qiaolan''s nose.

"Mom! Mommy Wuli booped my nose again!" Qiaolan complained, with her face about to tear up.

"Wuli, stop bullying my daughter."

"Okay, I was just playing with it."

Seeing all the girls looking so happy with each other, Xiaoyun couldn''t help but smile at the harmony in the atmosphere.

"Kate, how was the trip outside?" Anna quietly asked on the side.

"Worst trip I ever had. I wish I had just stayed in the factory with you. I almost died out there."

Seeing Kate looking a little sad, Anna hugged her as she gently patted her on the back.

"It''s okay. You''re home now."

"How did you guys almost die?" Tianci curiously asked, causing all of the girls to turn their heads towards the two.

Xiaoyun turned his head to Kate for a second, making some sort of agreement before turning around to face the girls.

"It''s a long story. You guys sure you want to hear it?" Xiaoyun asked.

"Wait, let''s talk at the dining table. You two haven''t eaten yet, right? We just finished cooking dinner."

"Sure."

As everyone got up from the sofa and headed over to the kitchen, Xiaoyun encountered some difficulty, as there were still a few seats open.

"When did we get a new table so big?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.

"When you guys left, we did a little reconstruction of the house again... So where are you sitting?" Yuqi asked, with all of the girls looking at him as if he was picking his poison.

In the end, Xiaoyun chooses to sit between Wuli and Shuli, picking a more neutral side compared to the older girls and the newer girls.

None of them complained, as the two of them only had two more months before going into labor.

"Okay, so this story begins with Kate and me all the way back to when we first left..."

A few hours later...

"So yeah, we got the hell out of that rubble and made that deal with the zombie.

Sounds pretty crazy, right?" Kate asked as she had filled in the second part of the story.

"I still can''t believe you guys got an invisible cloak out of that lab..." Nami pointed out that it sounded too unrealistic to her mind.

"I don''t know... I feel like a zombie that can talk is kinda more crazy." Yuqi raised her concern.

"Same... Also, I feel like we shouldn''t have sent that zombie to head up like that. Even if it is probably better for us." Leyan added.