Li Dacheng smiled slightly and said, "I have a feeling that you have a problem with me."

I smiled and said, "Secretary Li, you're overthinking it. This is our first meeting, so why would I have a problem with you?"

Lu Jing looked at me with a surprised expression, clearly not understanding what I meant. She probably really wanted to stay here, after all, Zhang Zhihao was here, and it was safe here, with a guarantee of survival.

If I didn't know the situation, I would naturally be willing to stay.

But after learning about the situation, I had no good feelings towards this place.

If we stay, we probably won't have a good life.

Li Dacheng crossed his legs, tapping his fingers on his knees, and said, "Let's not talk about whether you stay or not. Before that, can you tell me about your experiences? After all, you're new here. Even if you're Xiao Zhang's friends, I still need to find out your identities, right?"

I nodded. "Secretary Li's words are sincere. I think you should know something about our affairs, otherwise you wouldn't have asked this, right?"

Li Dacheng chuckled, stared at me with an unfriendly look, and said, "I know a little, but not in detail. I want to know some specific things."

I said, "Okay, so it's about specifics, but which aspect specifically? I can't possibly tell you everything from beginning to end; I'd talk until dark and still not finish."

Li Dacheng chuckled twice, pointed at me, and said, "Young man, you're not being honest."

I stared at him, a mysterious smile playing on my lips.

Since you want to play Tai Chi with me, I'll play Bagua with you too, and see who admits defeat first.

Li Da slapped his thigh and said, "Alright, then I'll ask you about the specifics. How did you survive in the beginning?"

"Me?" I feigned surprise, then shook my head and said, "How did I survive? It's embarrassing to admit. When the zombie outbreak happened, a close friend of mine shielded me from it. As a result, I survived, but he died. To be honest, I miss him a lot now. If it were possible, I would really like to switch places with him."

"You're pessimistic, young man."

Li Dacheng picked up a water bottle and took a sip, then asked, "What happened next? How did you survive?"

I chuckled. "Later, I was taken to an air-raid shelter and stayed there for a while. Then the shelter fell, so I ran away. After that, we wandered around and met a lot of people along the way. That's when I met Zhang Zhihao. We found a place to live together, but it turned out to be unsafe because there were too many zombies. So we decided to leave, but something went wrong. Zhang Zhihao got separated from us, and some of us died. We've been wandering ever since, and that's when we finally met Zhang Zhihao."

I said all of this in one breath.

After hearing this, Li Dacheng was stunned for a moment and asked, "That's it?"

I nodded and said, "Yes, that's all."

Li Dacheng stared at me, a forced smile on his face, and said, "Young man, you're not being honest. You're making this up, aren't you?"

I laughed out loud, "Secretary Li, you're so funny."

Li Dacheng shook his head and said, "Young man, you can't just make things up like this. You should at least tell me the truth so I know what kind of person you are. Otherwise, how can I feel at ease leaving you here?"

I stared at him, and I already understood what Li Dacheng meant.

His words were quite clear; although he didn't say it explicitly, his tone implied that he didn't want us to stay.

Since that's the case, there's no need for me to continue playing along with him.

Because if you keep playing, it really gets boring.

I laid my cards on the table and said, "Secretary Li, do you not want us to stay?"

Li Dacheng shook his head and said, "I didn't say that!"

I said, “Yes, you didn’t say that, but you’re saying I’m making things up, Secretary Li. Let me put this to you, everything I said just now was the truth, but you’re saying I’m making things up without even thinking about it. Do you really think I’m stupid? If you don’t want us to stay, just say so. There’s no need to beat around the bush and waste everyone’s time for no reason. Don’t you think so?”

After hearing what I said, Li Dacheng's smile disappeared, and he shook his head, staring at me. "Young people like you just have no patience."

I smiled and said, "I guess so."

Li Dacheng said, "First of all, I never said you couldn't stay; that's what you thought. I only said that to test you. Since you're unhappy, I won't test you anymore. Let me put it this way: you can stay, but before you stay, we need to talk about the fees."

"Fees? What fees?" Lu Jing asked from the side.

Li Dacheng said, "You stayed here for a day, and the cost of your food and drinks, plus the bullets and time that Xiao Zhang wasted rescuing you, is all due."

I frowned and asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Li Dacheng laughed and said, "Young man, this is not a charity, not a place where you can come and go as you please. Since you've eaten and drunk here and wasted my bullets, you should pay some price. If I just let you stay like this, I'll be losing out big time. So, you should give me something as an admission fee."

We looked at each other, and Fei Lichao was about to curse. I quickly stopped him and asked, "What do you want?"

Li Dacheng glanced down at my left hand and asked, "Your watch."

I frowned and glanced at the watch on my wrist. It was a gift from Wu Shuang, worth only two or three thousand yuan. What would Li Dacheng want with this worthless watch?

I glanced at his hands and realized he didn't have a watch, and that made sense to me.

He took a liking to my watch; although it's not valuable, at least the workmanship and design are good.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

Li Dacheng laughed and said, "Besides this watch, after you come in, you'll have to work for free for a month. This month is a probationary period. If you don't meet the requirements, we'll fire you. During this month of working for free, you'll have to take care of your own food and lodging; we won't be responsible for anything."

"Are you out of your mind?! Do you think this is a palace? Who the hell wants to stay here?" Fei Lichao started cursing.

I stopped him and asked Li Dacheng, "Are you sure you want to arrange things this way for us?"

Li Dacheng nodded, "Yes, it's the same for everyone, no one is an exception, that's the rule, don't you think?"

I then asked, "What if we don't stay?"

Li Dacheng laughed and said, "You don't have to stay, but you have to pay a price. My men saved you, is it appropriate for you to just leave without a word? So, leave your watches, work for me for three more days, and then I'll let you go."

I squinted. "What if I don't agree?"

(End of this chapter)