Chapter 19 And you, how long have you lived?
This was the first time Hao Zhenye had spoken so much to Fu Qing.
Fu Qing gestured for him to let go with her eyes. He hesitated for a moment before releasing her, but his eyes were still on her, with an unusual anxiety in them.
It turns out he wasn't as cold as he seemed.
When she first hired a few people and explained the situation to them, Fu Qing didn't mention much about herself. She only said that it was a year before the virus outbreak, and she had gathered a group of students to teach them how to cope with the apocalypse.
It's not surprising that Hao Zhenye didn't react quickly enough due to a lack of intelligence.
In addition, he has a quiet personality and doesn't interact much with others, so even if he has a problem, he probably just keeps it to himself.
Bai Tang and the other two usually inquired about things from Fu Qing during mealtimes. Only Hao Zhenye was like a silent gourd, and his personality had caused him to miss out on many things.
Without much thought, Fu Qing decided to tell the truth: "As far as I know, humanity only lasted for five years."
Without any embellishment or euphemism, she simply and directly presented the facts to Hao Zhenye.
The latter was stunned for a full five or six seconds: "...Really?"
Fu Qing waited patiently for a while: "Are you done asking?"
A flicker of hesitation crossed Hao Zhenye's face, so quick it was almost an illusion. He quickly regained his composure: "No, you haven't answered my first question yet."
What about you?
How long have you lived?
“Five years,” Fu Qing said, noticing Hao Zhenye’s barely concealed astonishment, but still patiently asking, “Any other questions?”
"..."
Hao Zhenye looked at the young principal with a complicated expression for a while, then slowly released his hand: "That's all."
Fu Qing nodded, picked up a peach hanging on a branch, and prepared to leave.
What's the point of living for five years if you're still just a wage earner even after being reborn?
How exactly do you earn points? It's a headache.
She absentmindedly took out a peach, wiped it casually on her hoodie, and was about to take a bite when her vision was suddenly blocked by a large, pop-up screen.
[Completed: Side Quest "Improving Interpersonal Relationships - The Fierce Physical Education Teacher"]
[Requirement: Obtain approval from "Hao Zhenye". (Completed)]
[Reward: 150 Teaching Points]
Fu Qing, who almost bit her tongue, thought: "...?"
She looked over hesitantly and found Hao Zhenye with his hands behind his back, his gaze fixed on the students who were jumping and chasing each other, seemingly not looking at her at all.
His taut profile regained the cold, stern look of a devilish instructor.
Apart from Fu Qing, no one knew what kind of changes had quietly taken place in his heart.
Fu Qing looked at him for a while, then turned around and took a big bite of the peach.
The abundant juice of the peach splashed everywhere, and she suddenly felt good.
*
[Building Upgrade]
Should "climb safety devices" be added to all buildings?
[Cost: 100 Teaching Points]
Click "Yes" to support youth.
The 100 teaching points in her account disappeared instantly, which made her feel extremely distressed.
At a time when no one was paying attention, in everyone's blind spot, a dozen or so fixed stakes suddenly appeared on the top of every building on the Fangzhou University campus.
They resemble saplings sprouting and "growing" from the ground. Around the roof, several fixed posts are distributed on each side, with safety ropes already pre-attached to them.
The other end of the rope hangs to the ground at a height that is specially treated by the system, making it stronger and more reliable than the safety ropes used in ordinary outdoor mountaineering. It can withstand long-term wind, rain and sun exposure and still maintain its high toughness.
The system also reminds you:
[Received: Wearable Seatbelt *100]
[Already added to system space]
Upgrading the safety equipment of a building will earn you 50 free seat belts. Since you are upgrading all at once, you will also receive an additional 50 wearable seat belts, for a total of 100.
These items are placed in a system space similar to a game backpack, which Fu Qing can access at any time when needed.
It's worth mentioning that only items purchased from the system store and related to the system can be placed in the storage space.
The ten lifelike zombies that Hao Zhenye suddenly took out earlier were also previously stored in the system space.
Fu Qing took out a safety belt and found that its design was much lighter than the safety belts commonly used in rock climbing and mountaineering, which required both legs to be wrapped around the belt, and it would not affect running activities when worn.
All students need to do is put it on before each physical education class, and when they run downstairs, they can simply snap it into the buckle at the end of the safety rope.
Once you get the hang of it, it won't take you more than three seconds to complete this action.
With system backing, there's no need to worry about security.
After confirming the details, Fu Qing found Hao Zhenye, explained how to use the safety ropes, and put the remaining safety ropes into the gymnasium's storage room so that Hao Zhenye could organize the students to use them.
When Hao Zhenye received the safety rope, he seemed a little stunned, as if he didn't understand where she had gotten it from in just half an hour.
But perhaps still immersed in the shock that Fu Qing had just brought, he didn't say much this time, only giving a complicated "hmm".
Each class at Fangzhou University lasts two hours and is divided into two sessions with a ten-minute break in between.
At the end of the first half of the physical education class, Hao Zhenye had the students assemble, put on their safety belts, and then randomly found a building to demonstrate how to use the safety rope.
...
*
After resolving the unexpected incident, Fu Qing returned to the principal's office and began to think about what to do with the remaining 100 teaching points.
After thinking for a moment, she took out the paper and pen she had bought on her weekend outing from the drawer, thinking it was necessary to make a serious plan.
Having not written for a long time, I was a little hesitant at first, but soon, the strokes came back to shape and flowed smoothly.
Fu Qing had almost forgotten that he had practiced calligraphy for a long time when he was a child, under the urging of his parents.
She glanced at the first half of her crooked handwriting with a self-deprecating smile, and continued writing.
...
First, there are the expenses.
First, not counting herself, there are currently four faculty and staff members on campus, and the monthly salary for each teaching point is 13.
This portion isn't large, and there are still nearly three weeks until the first payment, so it doesn't need to be considered for now. However, as the number of employees increases in the future, this will become the only fixed expense in the operating system, and it's important to remember to set aside the corresponding points in advance each time.
Second, the cost of building the campus.
In addition to completing teaching within this year, Fuqing also needs to renovate the school campus to prepare for the apocalypse. This renovation involves a large number of students and their parents who will live there, so it will have to be done through the system. In other words, it will consume a large amount of unpredictable teaching space.
Fu Qing paused, then drew a highlight mark on this line.
If she didn't consider the students or parents, she might be able to save a lot of points, but Fu Qing ruled out that possibility without even thinking about it.
As the virus progressed to its later stages, the number of infected people increased, and the evolution accelerated. The characteristics of the zombies became increasingly bizarre, and they even developed an instinct to chase after human presence within a certain distance.
One person's strength is simply not enough to fight this disaster.
With the addition of students and parents, the number of people, numbering in the thousands, is sufficient to form a small community, where a harmonious division of labor can be achieved, effectively increasing the ability to cope with risks and extending the community's resilience.
Although a few thousand people may seem insignificant on a world map, like a drop of water in the ocean, Fu Qing had a premonition that what she couldn't do alone might be different with the help of other people in Fangzhou.
The system chose to bind her to restart, isn't it because this might change the outcome?
Third, preparations for the end times.
In other words, it's about hoarding.
This is the first thing most protagonists in post-apocalyptic stories do after being reborn, and Fu Qing naturally wouldn't overlook it.
She mainly planned to stockpile food, clothing, consumables, medicine, generators, radios and other equipment, common tools, energy, and weapons.
Students don't need to be considered for this part.
Once the warehouse is established, she will allocate a portion for students to use and remind them in advance to stock up on supplies and then find a way to bring them to school.
In addition, Fu Qing will also prepare some extra supplies in advance for unforeseen circumstances. Currently, there are quite a few items in the system shop and task rewards related to this, such as the 100 medical supply boxes that are rewarded in the "Establish School Hospital" task.
Completing these tasks as much as possible can save you a lot of money.
Teaching points are extremely valuable, and during the stockpiling process, she does not plan to use points unless absolutely necessary, but instead uses her savings to make purchases privately.
In addition, Fu Qing also reminded himself to pay attention to whether there were any large-scale weapons of mass destruction such as gunpowder guns or rifles for sale in the system store.
Protecting a shelter housing thousands of people requires far more than just melee weapons. And it would be impossible for her alone to find large quantities of gunpowder or chemicals and bring them to the school without attracting the attention of the authorities.
If not, we can only wait until the apocalypse breaks out and social order is in chaos before we can think of a solution.
Finally, the fourth expense is teacher recruitment.
The pencil twirled nimbly between his fingers before Fu Qing stopped, looking troubled.
Although the class schedule for this semester has been arranged, Fuqing does not intend to continue using this schedule until the end of the semester.
Time is far too precious. If you're just stockpiling courses, the content simply can't support "half a year," or even a whole semester.
The initial plan for Fuqing was to change or add some courses as appropriate after the midterm.
Therefore, when recruiting teachers, she hopes to find all-round teachers or those with at least two or three skills, otherwise the monthly expenses for hiring them will become a burden once the course ends.
And she would never fire the teachers after the course ended—that would be no different from killing a donkey after it has done its work.
The higher the requirements, the harder they are to achieve.
And since gacha games rely on luck, it's impossible to predict the costs involved.
Fortunately, the students are currently in the adjustment period of the new semester and do not have an urgent need for new courses.
...
Fu Qing used the "delaying" tactic, emphasizing a dot after the fourth point, and then started a new line, drawing a dividing line.
After expenses come income.
Aside from savings, Fu Qing's remaining income mainly comes from tasks, various types of tasks.
According to Fu Qing's observations, although the system's task assignments are random, they are not without any pattern.
It can be roughly divided into several categories: main storyline (which is expected to be released randomly at special points), campus infrastructure, interpersonal relationships and teacher evaluation, student education (showing results through assessments, etc.), and daily emergencies.
It cannot be ruled out that there are other types of tasks that she has not yet encountered.
Furthermore, what concerned Fu Qing the most was the system's "unintentional" mention: "Any action that helps to change the outcome of human extinction and the collapse of the world may be rewarded."
So far, Fu Qing has made no progress on this matter and has not been able to find any clues.
When the system was first bound, it said that the virus outbreak was the destined end point of this retrospective.
Since we cannot change the outbreak of the virus, all that remains is to provide relief after the outbreak.
—But wouldn't it be too late if we waited until then to do it?
Since the system is saying this now, it means there must be something that could have been addressed immediately a year ago at this time.
We can't reveal anything about the apocalypse to anyone outside the school...
Fu Qing unconsciously twirled the pen rapidly, suddenly remembering her previous suspicions.
But until she had more evidence, she decided to write this down and pay more attention to unusual things in the news.
As for what can be done now...
Fu Qing's attention was briefly drawn to the noise of the physical education class outside the window, and she made a decision in her mind.
...
When listing the tasks, Fu Qing was reminded by these two words and checked her teacher page again.
Student approval rating jumped a little higher, from just past midnight to over 5%.
What happened again?
Fu Qing was baffled.
She racked her brains, but could only think of the stair-climbing demonstration earlier, and she really didn't understand why it was worth adding to her favorability rating.
Unbeknownst to her, during the ten-minute break between classes, a student from the previous PE class had already quickly posted a message on the forum.
—[Suddenly I feel a little sorry that the principal didn't teach the classes herself; I wish I could take her class.]
The post was quickly flooded with question marks. Some asked if the poster had lost their mind due to a fever, while others asked if the poster had masochistic tendencies...
Only a few scattered students who were also slacking off during PE class came out and agreed with the original poster's idea, thinking that Fu Qing's statement was easy to understand. Some even said they were encouraged by her and suddenly felt more confident.
Recognition of educational level is also part of the criteria for measuring liking.
Fu Qing had no self-awareness about the impression he had of the students and could only judge based on his past experience playing games.
Following the typical pattern of this type of game, favorability is usually divided into different milestones. Since the system specifically issued a task emphasizing 20%, let's take 20% favorability as the first special milestone.
Will the subsequent nodes also be differentiated by 20%, such as 20%, 40%, 60%, 100%, and so on?
Fu Qing wrote down four words on the paper: recognition, respect, liking, and trust, and then mapped them to the four nodes.
From initial recognition of strength and character to willingness to place complete trust, this is her speculation on the emotions represented at different stages.
It seems we are not far from the first node.
Fu Qing felt quite pleased with the thought that 1,000 teaching points were waving to him.
Having clarified the current situation, she made a decision and put away the notebook.
The school currently lacks many facilities, but there are few that are urgently needed. In addition, she had just purchased realistic zombie simulation and building safety equipment upgrades, so she decided to keep the remaining 100 teaching points for future use.
Fu Qing poked her cheek with the eraser at the end of her pencil, looked at the office in front of her, and felt a sense of peace and tranquility.
Being able to sit undisturbed in a room and write down future plans with pen and paper—this ordinary daily life is what so many people dream of after the apocalypse.
Only by losing something can you truly appreciate it.
But a few seconds later—
"Smack!!"
A sharp slapping sound, accompanied by the violent shaking of the glass panes, abruptly shattered the tranquility of the office.
Fu Qing didn't need to turn around to feel something slap against the window.
She slowly turned around from her office chair and saw a horrified face that had been flattened.
The safety rope hanging overhead swayed in the wind, securing him firmly at the height of the principal's office window.
But judging from his expression, he seemed to prefer that he just fall.
Fu Qing: "..."
The boy was heartbroken, his eyes losing their light: "Principal, would you believe me if I said I didn't mean to, I just suddenly slipped?"
Fu Qing paused for a moment, watching him cling to the glass with both hands and feet, then hesitated, "Are you planning to stay in this position and talk to me?"
Boy: "No no no no—"
"I'll leave now, no, I'll crawl away now."
After saying that, he adjusted his posture, stuck out his buttocks, and tried to find a foothold by looking down with his toes, almost missing a step once.
After finally finding it, the boy breathed a sigh of relief: "Then I'll go first..."
"Wait a minute." Fu Qing pointed to the face-shaped stain. "Wipe the window before you leave."
Boy: "..."
Fu Qing watched as he desperately wiped away the stain that perfectly matched the shape of his face with his sleeve, and crawled away flat.
Very good, she can already foresee that Fangzhou's future "unique scenery" will probably have another one added.
Besides the ubiquitous "uppercut," the late-night reading of satisfying face-slapping novels, there are all sorts of people swinging and crawling around like monkeys in the jungle...
She comforted herself: at least this shows that the newly purchased safety device is indeed reliable.
The 100 points were well spent...
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