233 On the brink of war

Hu Shuo had been pretty joyful all day. He practiced tai chi in the morning before holding classes for the children. Ren Xiaosu wasn't around then, and oh boy, was it a comfortable day.

Just as Ren Xiaosu had guessed, Hu Shuo could have sent someone else to fetch Yan Liuyuan and the others instead. If he had done that, it would have saved him a great deal of trouble. But of course, he had his motives for doing it this way.

If he had brought back Yan Liuyuan, Wang Fugui, and the rest of them himself, how could he have sent Ren Xiaosu away with an excuse?

All other reasons aside, it was totally worth the effort to grant Ren Xiaosu the status of officer of the Li Consortium if he could send him away from the outpost for the rest of the day.

As expected, Ren Xiaosu was busy almost all day. The return journey to town alone already took six hours and could even go up to eight hours if there were any delays.

This was as good as being given a day off!

But he couldn't have expected that someone would bring a satellite phone to him by the afternoon, saying that there was a call from the head of the Audit Department who was stamping with fury.

At first, Hu Shuo did not understand the issue. But after he took the call, he realized Ren Xiaosu had involved himself with investigating smuggling in town! Within a system, there was a clear division of duty. If you encroached on other people's authority, that wouldn't be acceptable at all.

Hu Shuo was shocked to hear that. 'Didn't you go back to town to fetch your family? So why did you get yourself involved in investigating smuggling?!'

When he hung up, he looked at Ren Xiaosu. "Did you investigate smuggling?"

Ren Xiaosu laughed and said, "I was just helping your department expand into new areas. Aren't I great?"

Hu Shuo said bitterly, "When did I ask you to help us expand our area of activity? Why didn't you take on the duties of the Public Order Division as well then!"

Ren Xiaosu was not happy to hear that. "You didn't say that I couldn't do that. Before I departed, what did I ask you? You even asked me what I could possibly be capable of doing when I asked if you were afraid that I would abuse the position."

Hu Shuo's eyes looked like he was about to fly into a rage. But at this moment, Yan Liuyuan came over and smartly said, "Hello, Grandpa Hu Shuo, nice to meet you."

When Hu Shuo saw a clean-cut Yan Liuyuan speaking to him, he held back his anger and said with a smile, "Hello, nice to meet you."

"Mhm." Yan Liuyuan said, "I've heard about you from my brother. He said that you're a really great man who is so learned that you can tackle any questions that they pose to you during classes. When I grow up, I wanna be as educated as you!"

"Hahahaha, is that so?" Hu Shuo's anger immediately dissipated. "Did that kid really say that?"

"Yeah," Yan Liuyuan said, "so please don't be angry anymore. He didn't do it on purpose anyway."

"Forget it then, I won't be angry." Hu Shuo said with a cheerful smile, "Hurry up and bring your belongings into the house. We're going to start preparing meals for everyone. Oh, there are so many young ladies here as well?"

"Then let me thank you first, Grandpa Hu Shuo," Yan Liuyuan said as he turned around and gave Ren Xiaosu a wink. The argument was resolved just like that. Ren Xiaosu did not even know whether to laugh or cry at this. That Yan Liuyuan was able to become a friend of the women in town was really a testament to his talent.

Then Hu Shuo looked at Ren Xiaosu and said, "Your younger brother is much smarter than you. Go and clean up the house. I don't want to see you right now!"

Meanwhile, Chen Wudi took Xiaoyu and the others around on a tour of the outpost. It wasn't a big place, and after Xiaoyu had seen all of their houses, she said with a frown, "Why is it so dirty in the houses? Don't you big boys know to clean the place on most days?"

Yan Liuyuan whispered, "Big Sister Xiaoyu has been particularly fussy about cleanliness recently. All of us at home are quite afraid of her and we would never think to start eating without washing our hands first. Even Uncle Fugui feels the same."

"C'mon, girls, get your hands on some cleaning tools. We'll get these houses cleaned up first." Xiaoyu coordinated the female students like a steward would. The female students were also particularly obedient to her.

This outpost was occupied by a group of men. Half of them were even former refugees who had not gone through any military training and had no concept of how to keep their quarters clean. But half an hour later, the entire place looked like new again. Even Li Qingzheng and his men could not believe this was where they used to live.

Xiaoyu and the female students had even cleaned the glass windows, which led to the inside of the houses becoming brighter. Everything was in perfect order.

Ren Xiaosu sighed. Xiaoyu was becoming more and more like a housewife.

When Li Qingzheng and his men saw this group of women walking in and out of their houses to clean them up, they couldn't take their eyes off them.

Meanwhile, the female students kept showing sweet smiles whenever they saw Ren Xiaosu and Yan Liuyuan.

As the group of men sat around the campfire to barbecue the meat, Li Qingzheng lamented, "Brother Xiaosu is really too capable!"

Their eyes were brimming with tears of envy.

At this time, Xiaoyu stood in a doorway and exhaled. "We're finally done cleaning." She looked at the campfire. "How can y'all only eat barbecue? Let me cook some veggies for y'all."

Wang Fugui said to Ren Xiaosu with a smile, "Our entire family is tied together by Xiaoyu now. Without her, it would be such a mess. Xiaosu, it looks like the Li Consortium is preparing for war. Will it affect us badly?"

Ren Xiaosu said, "Have you found out where Stronghold 88 is yet?"

"Not yet." Wang Fugui shook his head and said, "But why don't you ask that elderly man? It seems to me that he should know a lot."

Ren Xiaosu looked at Hu Shuo. He used to be worried that Hu Shuo would believe him to be an enemy if he asked that question. After all, he thought that since Hu Shuo was a high-ranking officer of the Li Consortium, he would definitely take their side. But since Ren Xiaosu had obtained more information that he could judge him with, he thought he could safely ask Hu Shuo the question.

Ren Xiaosu beckoned everyone else to the campfire. Then he sat down beside Hu Shuo and asked, "Do you know where Stronghold 88 is?"

"The Yang Consortium's Stronghold 88?" Hu Shuo gave Ren Xiaosu a look. "Why're you asking?"

"I'll get straight to the point. We were actually heading to Stronghold 88 at first, but we got conscripted and ended up here instead," Ren Xiaosu explained.

"My advice to you is not to think so much for now." Hu Shuo said, "Stronghold 88 is northeast of Stronghold 108. The Li Consortium has already stationed a large force in that direction, the Yang Consortium as well. Three other strongholds lie between Stronghold 88 and Stronghold 108. If you're thinking of going there alone, you might be able to do so. But what about those with you? How are they going to make it there? This something you can rely on with your status as a member of the Office of Special Investigations."

"Is there really going to be a war?" Ren Xiaosu wondered.

"Not only that, even the Qing Consortium has deployed their troops to the borders of the three corporations." Hu Shuo looked at Ren Xiaosu and said, "The Li Consortium is trying handle the Experimentals at Stronghold 109, but we're already on the brink of a massive war. If you want to cross the battlefields and get to Stronghold 88 at this time, you had better be prepared for the death of your companions. Stray shells and bullets on the battlefield have no eyes. They couldn't care less about who you are."

Ren Xiaosu frowned. "Then will we be safe at the outpost? We can hide out here until it's over."

Hu Shuo sighed and said, "The Li Consortium does not have enough military strength yet and could deploy the private troops at the outposts to the front line as cannon fodder."