The half-elves entered the territory, and of course they had to register first. Qin Yiyi wasn't a saint or a pushover; she was giving them food and drink now, but what would happen if they left after she gave them the things?

Forcibly keeping them is definitely impossible. These half-elves are not slaves; ultimately, they lack a sense of belonging and are subject to the suppression of absolute power.

Fortunately, winter has arrived. Half-elves are unfamiliar with the place and it's better for them to stay in their territory. They've seen the surrounding territories and cities and they're sure none are better than theirs. So, she's completely confident that these people won't run away during the six months of winter. Therefore, she needs to recoup her costs for food, drink, and clothing within six months, or even earn them back from these half-elves.

"This is the information I brought back from the Eternal City. Check with each of these elves to see if the information is correct and if their expertise is all in these areas!"

The half-elves were all literate, having received systematic training while working in the Eternal City. Qin Yiyi's task was to have them replicate all of this in Qin Territory.

"Today and tomorrow are for verifying information and assigning positions. The next two days will be a break. After the break, we'll assign positions according to their roles. Don't let them start doing things right away. For example, for planting technicians, there aren't that many vegetables to plant in the greenhouses during the winter. Let them use the extra time to write down what they've learned! The second step is to have them teach what they've learned!"

During the six months of winter, as long as she urges the half-elves to write and teach, even if some of the half-elves leave after spring, she won't suffer too much loss.

On the contrary, she only paid for food, clothing, and shelter, and in return, she received some of the planting techniques and training from the Eternal City. She really made a huge profit!

"Of course, a capable person is not necessarily a good teacher. We must discover potential teachers who can learn from capable individuals, integrate their knowledge, and then teach other orcs!"

Only the orcs who are her slaves are her true foundation; everyone else must step back.

She admired the half-elves' intelligence and abilities, but she would never entrust them with the most important positions in the territory, at least not now.

For the sake of the territory's development, she had to extract all the abilities from each half-elf. If the half-elves stayed in the territory, she would naturally provide them with good food and drink, but as the lord, she had to have contingency plans in place so that if the half-elves left, she could also ensure that their abilities remained.

As a lord, she would never be held back by any single talent.

She immediately ordered them to write down everything they had learned, seen, and knew, and to input everything they could into the crystals. She would then transmit all this information to the all-in-one machine brought back from the burial ground and teach it to her slaves.

She will make good use of those who are capable, but the only people she can trust and rely on are her loyal slaves. Although slaves also have the risk of betrayal, at present, the risk of slaves betraying is much lower than that of half-elves.

As you venture deeper into the territory, you're greeted by the aroma of meat. Dice of cured pork is being placed in a large wok. With over ten thousand people, the cured pork comes from ten pigs, yet each person can only taste a tiny bit of meat. Fortunately, since the wasteland was reclaimed, over fifty piglets, calves, and lambs have been introduced, including one hundred piglets. Ducks and chickens are also kept in sheds because it's too cold in winter. Sheds have also been built to shelter the pigs, cattle, and sheep from the wind and snow.

Qin Yiyi spent a lot of money to buy heat crystals, and she had to replace hundreds of them every month to keep the temperature in her territory around minus ten degrees Celsius. The crystals she had could only last for six months, so to prevent any unforeseen circumstances, she stored an extra month's worth of crystals in the warehouse.

The seasons are unpredictable; some arrive early, some late. So she took precautions in advance.

At this welcome party, both the half-elves and the orcs were eating. The food was low-pollution rice stir-fried with meat, and all the ingredients were low-pollution. Not everyone could get the fried rice. Those who got it first each had a few pieces of meat in their bowls, and some lucky ones even had a small piece of sausage. With a bowl of soup, their stomachs felt warm.

There wasn't much cabbage, and the cabbage soup was mostly broth; the cabbage had all been scooped out. However, the fact that salt had been added was already quite good.

The tomato and egg noodles were also very popular; only a little over a thousand people managed to eat them. Those who didn't get any later could only drink vegetable porridge, which was also quite delicious with small side dishes.

Each person can only choose to eat one thing; if they eat this, they cannot eat that.

"How is it? Is the fried rice good?" a half-elf carrying a bowl of tomato and egg noodles asked his companion.

"Of course it's delicious! It's a mix of meat, vegetables, and eggs, and everyone gets a few pieces of meat in each bowl. Mine even has a small sausage in it!"

"I really envy you for having meat. Do the people serving food see that orcs and half-elves are served the same?" Having been discriminated against for so long, this was the topic they talked about the most since arriving in the territory. Deep down, they accepted being treated differently, as long as it wasn't too much. If it wasn't too much, they would tolerate it and let it go, since they wouldn't be more unreasonable than the elves.

"It's all served the same way. Didn't you hear me say I had a small piece of sausage left? It was a tiny piece of sausage in the rice. Each person gets a spoonful, and after shaking it into our bowls, there's about half a spoonful left. Whatever's in that half spoonful is what we get."

"Huh? Why are you shaking?"

"Everyone's shaking. I asked the orcs, and they said the people serving food in the cafeteria all have Parkinson's disease! A full spoonful only gets half a spoonful in the bowl, but everyone's shaking makes it only half a spoonful, so I'm not too bothered. But you, how's your tomato and egg noodles?"

"Hehe, it's delicious. The soup is rich and it has tomato sauce in it. Each person gets a chopstickful of noodles. Maybe because it's noodles, we didn't shake it. One chopstickful of noodles with a small spoonful of soup, whatever you get is what you get. Look, I have tomatoes and eggs."

"We finished all the noodles, and these are the last things we ate."

"I haven't had tomatoes in a long time, I'll save them for last."

Although the Eternal City has everything, they can't eat eggs very often.

"You two got the good stuff. I only got the vegetable porridge. I came from the truck behind, and all that was left was porridge. But with the side dishes, and considering how tired I've been these past few days, it tasted pretty good!"

"This territory isn't as bad as we thought. At least everyone eats and drinks the same things. This is the first time I've experienced equality! I even went to get food with all the other teams!"

The younger girls found it all very novel. After all, the half-elves used to always be given special windows and the worst treatment no matter what they did in line. It was a rare treat to be able to line up with other people. Even if they were late and didn't get a turn, they didn't feel upset at all.

Since some orcs didn't get a turn, and some elves and orcs did, I can just try to get a turn earlier next time.