The office was still bright and clean. Shi Yin hadn't been back for so long, but the things on the desk were still neatly arranged without a speck of dust. It was clear that Nan Zhu cleaned it carefully every day.
“I thought you would take over the reins after I left, after all, I said that if I wasn’t around, the reins would be handed over to you.” Shi Yin picked up the black tea on the table and took a sip: “It seems you’ve chosen a way that will only exacerbate the conflict.”
Nan Zhu was still by his side, with a gentle smile.
“I don’t think someone with your abilities would leave so early,” Nan Zhu said softly. “There are only two possibilities for your deliberate disappearance: you did something you didn’t want us to know about, or you made us think you were really missing.”
"Why not the first one?" Shi Yin raised an eyebrow.
“That wouldn’t be worth wasting so much time. You’re always quick and decisive.” Nan Zhu remained calm and answered fluently: “What requires you to waste your time is never your own business, but ours.”
This guy is really smart; why didn't he join the New World before?
Shi Yin carefully recalled that when Nan Zhu was given important responsibilities before, he was always an inconspicuous nobody who did the work of a cog in the machine and worked alongside everyone else.
Shi Yin had noticed him before; after all, it was rare to see someone taking care of their hair in such a chaotic apocalypse. But the truth was, this person had no connection to the new world.
This is not normal.
Shi Yin trusted her intuition. Before, when she was far away, the feeling wasn't obvious. Now that Nan Zhu was closer, Shi Yin always felt that Nan Zhu was disconnected from the old world, but its magnetic field was very compatible with the new world.
Shi Yin planted a memory seed in Nan Zhu's mind. Whenever someone from the new world appears in Nan Zhu's memory, Shi Yin will receive a response.
However, Shi Yin did not receive this sensitive information.
This time, if Nan Zhu hadn't stirred things up, joined the enemy camp, gained their trust, and incited so many people, at least half the number of people who were pinned to the ground would have been saved.
We are all from the old world. The apocalypse has been going on for less than a year, which is far from enough time for humanity to adapt. Even if the people behind the new world come out in person and offer tempting conditions such as power, fame, and money, most people will still hesitate.
If Nanzhu becomes Shiyin's spokesperson and helps the superhuman faction stabilize the situation when Shiyin goes missing, most people will still choose to wait and see.
Now, there are over three hundred middle and senior managers involved, not including any informed individuals or their families. Clearly, Nanzhu deserves much credit for this.
This can hardly be considered a merit, although they were all wavering individuals, the loss of personnel was a bit too great.
Especially for those at the high level, the handover of work and the sudden vacancy of positions are enough to give the country a headache for a while.
"I heard it's because... your zither broke?" Shi Yin recalled what Gu Changge and the others had said in the shelter.
It seems someone said that Nanzhu's defenses were breached because the strings of her zither were plucked?
"Uh, yes." Nan Zhu was taken aback, not expecting that this matter had reached Shi Yin's ears.
"Give it to me, let me see," Shi Yin said.
Nan Zhu hesitated for a moment, but still went out and soon brought in a guqin (a seven-stringed zither).
It was indeed an ordinary zither, which dispelled Shi Yin's doubts. It had a round top and a flat bottom, and was three feet six and a half inches long. Shi Yin reached out and gently touched it, and found nothing strange about it. It seemed that he had indeed been overthinking things.
Shi Yin glanced at Nan Zhu, her gentle and obedient face unusually showing a hint of irritation, like a child who had lost a hard-won candy, which finally brought a touch of life back to Nan Zhu.
This made Shi Yin reflect on whether she had been too suspicious of Nan Zhu all along.
Shi Yin didn't understand the guqin, but she could tell that it was made of high-quality paulownia wood. However, a huge crack had appeared in the center of the guqin, almost causing it to break, and the seven strings were also badly damaged.
Shi Yin would never admit that she didn't know what kind of bonus to give Nan Zhu, so she set her sights on the zither that Nan Zhu seemed to care about.
Originally, I thought that once it was fixed, I could save myself the trouble of giving out bonuses. After all, Nanzhu is a man of few desires, so giving too much would be unfair to others, and giving too little wouldn't bother Nanzhu. However, it's clear that this zither is beyond repair.
“Miss, let it go.” Nan Zhu saw through Shi Yin’s good intentions: “I had someone examine it, and it’s already… completely ruined.”
"It's nothing." Shi Yin waved her hand: "You did a good job this time, consider this a reward for you."
award?
Nan Zhu didn't expect Shi Yin to be thinking about this, but then he saw Shi Yin raise her hand and hover it over the zither. It seemed that something paused on the zither, and then the broken body and strings began to heal, automatically sticking together and returning to their original state in a short while.
Shi Yin withdrew her hand. Time reversal with such a small thing is quite simple. As long as it's not on a large scale, time-related abilities are still very useful life skills.
However, time is such a superpower that it is too difficult to control. It can easily cause the superpowered person to get lost in time, and it can also easily exceed the limits, causing the superpowered person to sacrifice themselves to time.
It's very powerful, but it's also a very deep pit.
Nan Zhu's eyes widened. He suddenly felt that his calm and composed mindset was being repeatedly shattered in front of Shi Yin. This zither was left to him by his most important relative, and it was indeed very important to him.
Hmm, this reaction doesn't seem fake. It seems that, for now, Nanzhu really has nothing to do with the New World. Shiyin took a sip of tea and thought silently.
"Zheng—"
Shi Yin paused for a moment, then turned her head to see Nan Zhu plucking a string on the zither.
Why does this sound familiar?
Shi Yin frowned almost imperceptibly.
However, Shi Yin felt a little guilty today because she had suspected Nan Zhu too much. She didn't say anything and waved for Nan Zhu to leave.
I came back in a hurry this time, I don't know if things are going smoothly at Shelter No. 8.
The stronger Lin Beiyue and the current strongest support Gu Changge have been temporarily recalled to stabilize the situation. It is unknown whether Qin Jin understands the matter of dividing the spoils of war.
With so many underlings left in Shelter No. 8, they were naturally divided up between Song Yunshan from Shelter No. 6 and the people from Shelter No. 7. The country was determined to take the lion's share of the supplies, but Shi Yin mainly wanted Qin Jin to get more while keeping an eye on Guan Nianshan to prevent him from taking too many kickbacks.
Hopefully Helmod is reliable.
"Knock knock knock".
As Shi Yin was pondering, there was a knock on the window. When Shi Yin turned around, she saw Hermod, like an Astro Boy with fire shooting from his feet, open her window.
Shi Yin: "..."
Isn't that a bit too scary? Luckily, no one saw it. Do you know how high this is? This is the top floor of the Doomsday Beacon.
"Why are you here?" Shi Yin put down her teacup, surprised that Hermod had returned so quickly.
“Yes, the latest good news is that the country will take 80% of the supplies from Shelter No. 8 this time.” Helmod sat down on the single sofa next to him: “Shelter No. 7 will take 10%, and the rest will be split between Song Yunshan and Guan Nianshan.”
"So little, Guan Nianshan is willing?" Shi Yin asked curiously, as Guan Nianshan was not an honest man.
“Those two brothers practically strangled each other to death. We had already divided everything by the time they were fighting.” Helmod spread his hands innocently: “There was only 10% left. They had to divide it whether they wanted to or not, or there would be nothing left.”
Shi Yin: "...Tsk."
I forgot about those two people.
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