Chapter 112
Lu Shiyu glanced around, making sure there were only three of them in the room, and pointed at himself uncertainly.
"I?"
What did the base commander want her to do?
Wu Xi chuckled and nodded: "Yes, it's you. I have something I want to talk to you about."
A storm of thoughts suddenly started in Lu Shiyu’s mind. What could Wu Xi have to say to her?
Did they do something bad and Wu Xi was discovered and came to settle accounts with them? No, no, if there was any account to be settled, it would be Tang Zeyu. Was Wu Xi trying to recruit her to be the cook? No, Wu Xi probably didn't even know she could cook.
Lu Shiyu thought about it over and over again but still couldn't figure out what Wu Xi wanted from her.
Tang Zeyu: "Can't we just explain it here and now?"
Wu Xi looked at Tang Zeyu and said, "This is a private matter between her and me, and it's not something that can be heard by outsiders."
Outsider? Tang Zeyu frowned slightly. How could he become an outsider?
Lu Shiyu pondered for a moment and asked, "Is it something important?"
Wu Xi: "It may not be important to others, but to you and me...if you care about it, then it should be important."
Wu Xi's answer was ambiguous, but Lu Shiyu still agreed.
"I might have to go back later," Lu Shiyu said to Tang Zeyu, "You should go back and talk to the other people about this first, so they can prepare first."
Tang Zeyu: "If you don't want to stay, you can just leave. They can't stop us."
Lu Shiyu found it a little funny: "Why are you taking things so seriously? Well, I believe the base commander has no ill intentions, you can go back first."
Tang Zeyu walked away, looking back every few steps. After the office door was closed again and the room returned to silence, Lu Shiyu asked:
"Base Commander, what do you want to talk to me about?"
"No rush." Wu Xi walked up to Lu Shiyu, patted her shoulder gently and said, "You haven't had lunch yet, right? Do you want to go eat together?"
Lu Shiyu glanced at the wall clock. The hour hand pointed to 12 o'clock. It was time for lunch.
They spent the whole morning running on the road today, and then watched the video. They were so engrossed in it that they even forgot to eat. After Wu Xi mentioned this, Lu Shiyu also felt hungry.
Wu Xi took Lu Shiyu to the cafeteria of the General Affairs Office. Unlike the previous reception by the fake base commander Zhang Manwen, Wu Xi did not choose to go to the private room, but took Lu Shiyu directly to the cafeteria window to queue for food.
Lu Shiyu looked at the place that was originally damaged by Tang Zeyu and Zhang Manwen. A new wall had been built there, and the cement had not even dried yet, obviously it had just been built.
As a man in a hard hat stood behind the brick wall, he spread cement on the bricks and then laid them on the brick wall.
That person was Zhang Hezhi.
When Lu Shiyu saw the man's face clearly, his glasses widened, and he even began to wonder if Zhang Hezhi had a twin brother who worked in construction.
"Base Commander, look over there..."
Wu Xi looked in the direction of Lu Shiyu's finger, and couldn't help laughing when he saw that it was Zhang Hezhi working hard.
"Nothing, he's just doing one hour of labor reform every day," Wu Xi said, waving his hand and smiling. "After all, he's also responsible for the collapse of this place, so he and Zhang Manwen each need to come here and do an hour of labor. It's not difficult, just building walls and mixing cement. In fact, most of the work is done by professional construction teams."
"If you can avoid punishment just by spending money, then rich people will be able to break the rules at will."
Lu Shiyu looked at Zhang Hezhi who was diligently building the wall. Although she heard Zhang Manwen complain to her that she needed to be punished, she didn't expect that these two people would actually do such physical work.
Zhang Manwen and Zhang Hezhi's positions were obviously not low, and Lu Shiyu thought that a fine would be enough. After all, the punishment policy of the Shuguang Base was fines and imprisonment. It was just as Wu Xi said, rich people could break the rules at will. They had plenty of money and power, so they didn't have to worry about not being able to pay the fines or really having to go to jail.
After making such a comparison, Lu Shiyu suddenly felt a little envious of the Dawn Base. At least here, if you made a mistake, you would really be punished.
The team advanced slowly and finally took pictures of Lu Shiyu and Wu Xi.
"Hey, Base Commander, what would you like to eat today?"
The auntie who was serving food at the window was smiling so hard that her mask couldn't cover it. She shook the big spoon in her hand and enthusiastically asked Wu Xi what he wanted to eat.
"Well, give me a plate of stir-fried vegetables and a plate of scrambled eggs with tomatoes. Oh, and I also want a plate of stir-fried chicken!"
"Okay."
The aunt brought a plate that was already filled with rice and poured rice into Wu Xi's plate one spoonful at a time according to his order. Each spoonful was a large, solid spoonful. The plate was almost full of two meat dishes and one vegetable dish.
After Wu Xi swiped his meal card, he gave up his seat to Lu Shiyu. Lu Shiyu ordered the same meal as Wu Xi, and used Wu Xi's meal card.
The two found a deserted corner and sat down facing each other. Wu Xi pointed to a line on the other side and said, "You can get free refills over there. If you don't have enough, remember to go get more. The one next to you is for free soup. The spare chopsticks and bowls are in the disinfection cabinet over there."
Lu Shiyu glanced around and saw that although there were many people in the cafeteria, no one cut in line and the queue was very orderly.
Lu Shiyu: "I thought someone would give you a seat."
Unexpectedly, even Wu Xi was obediently queuing up to get his meal.
Wu Xi paused with the vegetables between his fingers. After hearing Lu Shiyu's words, he seemed to have thought of something and couldn't help laughing. He said, "Actually, quite a few people did think so at the beginning."
When Wu Xi first took office, he smashed the base commander's special canteen and went to eat in the canteen himself, which scared everyone else.
When the staff in the General Affairs Office cafeteria saw Wu Xi actually coming to eat there, they greeted him with great fear and trepidation, helping him to get food, pass water, and wipe the tables and chairs. This immediately infuriated Wu Xi, who had just taken office and had a bad temper. He thoroughly investigated all the officials who had flattered him at the time, and punished all those who had problems. As for the person in charge of the cafeteria, Wu Xi just gave him a warning and told him not to do unnecessary work.
After that, some people tried to flatter Wu Xi in various ways, but they were all blocked by Wu Xi. After so many times, those people calmed down, and Wu Xi was able to queue up for food like a normal person.
However, one thing did affect other people who ate in the cafeteria. That was that after Wu Xi came here to eat, the food in the cafeteria improved significantly, not only in terms of hygiene and quantity, but also in taste. It was said that Wu Xi drove away the people with connections in the cafeteria's purchasing department and replaced them with her own people.
Lu Shiyu put the scrambled eggs with tomatoes on the rice, mixed it a little, and then shoveled it into his mouth a few times.
The sweet and sour vegetable juice seeps into each distinct grain of rice. The fried eggs are fluffy and tender, like a sponge, perfectly absorbing the sweet and sour juice of the tomatoes and the salty and fragrant seasonings, with a tender and rich taste. The soft and glutinous tomatoes contain rich soup, and the soup wraps the eggs and tomatoes, forming a perfect blend with the rice.
Seasonal fresh vegetables have a refreshing grassy aroma and a light sweetness. They are crisp and not limp, tender and crisp. High-temperature stir-frying gives the vegetables a unique "wok-flavor" aroma and an oily and shiny color.
The chicken should be marinated to remove most of the fishy smell and lock in the moisture to increase its tenderness. Stir-frying over high heat keeps the chicken tender and smooth, then putting it back into the pan to make it more flavorful. Combined with various seasonings, it finally presents this cleverly flavored stir-fried meat.
The two chatted about things in the base while eating. Lu Shiyu was very interested in the Dawn Base, mainly because the humanities and management here were very different from those in the Shuguang Base.
The gap between the rich and the poor in the Dawn Base is not as big as that in the Dawn Base. Some people are not so poor that they cannot afford to eat, and some people are extravagant. Most people have a decent job, and the Dawn Base has very strict requirements for various companies to avoid the use of illegal workers.
Wu Xi has put a lot of effort into various small things. It is not that Wu Xi does not attach importance to big projects and only pays attention to small problems, but Wu Xi feels that big projects have more professional people to look after them, so they should be handed over to professionals with full responsibility, instead of joining in the fun herself. Instead, it is the people's livelihood that needs her more concern.
The two of them got along very well, and Lu Shiyu gradually let down his guard. After lunch, they took a walk and chatted, and the topic ranged from management to hobbies, and then to trivial matters in life, and the topic kept going further and further.
It was almost dusk when the two of them sat on a park bench, holding popsicles they had bought from the nearby convenience store.
Wu Xi suddenly asked, "Lu Shiyu, where did you live before?"
"Before?" Lu Shiyu was puzzled: "How long ago?"
"Where did you live ten years ago, before the aberration apocalypse began?"
Lu Shiyu recalled and said, "I used to live near the Shuguang Base, so after the base was built, I moved into the Shuguang Base to live. Where exactly... I can't tell you for sure."
"Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"
Wu Xi looked at the setting sun in the distance and said, "Actually, my hometown is not here at Dawn Base, but around Dawn Base."
Lu Shiyu was surprised: "So we are from the same hometown, but why are you at the Dawn Base?"
Wu Xi chuckled and continued, "I was just traveling with my parents back then. We were only planning to be back for a week, but we encountered the distortion disaster."
"Because the city was locked down, my parents and I couldn't go home. We were trapped in a completely unfamiliar environment and had no one to help us. We had to stay in a shelter for the time being."
"Later, when the Dawn Base was built, I was in the front of the queue because I was young, but my parents were in the very back because they weren't locals. Locals usually queue higher than outsiders, so they were pushed back. Before I entered the base, they gave me all their valuables and told me to keep them. They told me to meet them inside."
Lu Shiyu could already guess the outcome. Wu Xi's parents probably didn't make it to the base, and they knew it themselves, so they gave all their belongings to Wu Xi, hoping that she would have a better life in the base.
Lu Shiyu also felt deeply about this. Although her parents were at the front of the line, they still could not enter the base because there were too many people wanting to enter the Dawn Base. Therefore, except for children and special groups, it was even more difficult for ordinary people to enter the Dawn Base.
"From the day I entered the base, I lived alone in a foreign land, without any friends or family. The most important thing every day was how to fill my stomach, and I put a lot of effort into it."
It was hard for Lu Shiyu to imagine how Wu Xi had worked his way up to the position of base commander in an unfamiliar place. Thinking of this, Lu Shiyu couldn't help but feel sorry for Wu Xi. Surviving and living well are two completely different things.
"I thought I would never see the people I used to know again in this life," Wu Xi smiled and turned to look at Lu Shiyu: "Xiaoyu, I'm glad you're still alive."
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