RIACMET chapter 148

 

After seeing Professor Mo and the others off, the conversation moved from the conference room to the reception area outside the office.

The atmosphere immediately became more relaxed.

“The value of the medium crystal core doesn’t need further explanation. Your contribution is undeniable,” said Minister Wang with a sigh. “But for now, we can’t announce this to the public. All we can do is keep it in mind.”

Then, he changed the topic and spoke sincerely.

“You already know the current state of the base. Right now, the only reward we can offer you is points. However, if you have any specific requests, please bring them up. As long as the cost is reasonable, I’ll approve it.”

“…”

When it came time for rewards, Jiang Nian’s eyes lit up. He instinctively looked over at Cheng Jing, who simply smiled back and said nothing.

Zhou Li, standing nearby, caught on immediately and said with a smile,
“Jiang Nian, you make the choice.

“In that case, I might be a little greedy and shameless.”

Jiang Nian straightened up. Dressed in casual student clothes, he wore the sly expression of a mischievous child about to play a prank.

Minister Wang chuckled.
“Go ahead. As long as the base can afford it and it’s not over the top, it’s fine.”

Jiang Nian asked cautiously,
“What do you mean by ‘over the top’?”

Minister Wang spread his hands and listed a few examples.
“Taking my position, changing the base’s laws, or demanding weapons from the armory to build your own faction, for example. Those are excessive requests.”

“Got it. Don’t worry; I’m not a bad guy,” Jiang Nian grinned. Then he said decisively,
“I’d like a house in the collective villa zone so I can live with everyone.”

As one of the top leaders of Nancheng Base and head of the infrastructure department, Minister Wang could easily make that arrangement.

Points could be saved up, but with the right authority, you could just get a house outright.

Cheng Jing continued to smile, secretly giving his wife a mental thumbs-up. Nian Nian actually had the courage to say it out loud. If it had been him, he would have been too embarrassed to ask.

“Hahaha…”

Zhou Li burst out laughing from the sidelines.

“Of course.”

Minister Wang nodded in approval.
“I’ll assign one to you as soon as the area’s completed.”

Jiang Nian suppressed the excitement bubbling in his heart and added,
“Our team has ten members now. I’m not sure if Brother Kai mentioned it, but with Xiaoqi included, we’ll need a big enough place for all of us.”

Since they were already talking about it, it made sense to go all in and ask directly—better now than later, when it might look opportunistic.

Minister Wang thought for a moment, then replied:
“If you trust me, I’ll take care of that. Besides your own place, you should also consider the families and friends around you, like Cheng Jing’s family and your close ties with Li Sheng and the others.”

“How about this? If you’re all okay with it, I’ll arrange for you to live in the same community. Each of you can have your own small yard so that you won’t bother one another. If you recruit more people in the future, it won’t feel overcrowded.”

The base would keep growing, but official personnel were limited. They needed to establish reliable nonofficial forces, like Cheng Jing’s team.

Orders had already been issued from higher up, and Minister Wang was optimistic about Cheng Jing becoming the leader of an auxiliary rescue team.

“…”

Upon hearing this, Jiang Nian and Cheng Jing looked at each other, their eyes lighting up with joy. Of course, they agreed.

Just imagine stepping out your front door and being surrounded by people you trust completely. That kind of safety was priceless.

“…”

After working out all the details, the housing situation was settled. There was nothing left to worry about. They just had to wait for the notice. To say they weren’t thrilled would be a lie.

Jiang Nian felt a bit embarrassed to ask for more points after receiving not just a house, but a customized collective villa complex. After all, this reward was already worth more than two million points.

You have to know when to quit while you’re ahead. Greed could become a habit.

Nevertheless, Minister Wang insisted on giving them a temporary storage card loaded with 200,000 points. Now, they had a big house and 690,000 points.

They could practically lounge around doing nothing and still live carefree lives in the base.

Although they’d guessed the reward would be substantial, they hadn’t expected this much.

Jiang Nian wanted to jump up and down, hug Brother Jing tightly, and roll around a few times in celebration. But alas, this was the boss’s office.

“All right, it’s getting late. I won’t keep you any longer. Xiao Kai told me your team is doing a team-building activity today, so go enjoy it.”

Finally, after reading a message from Yang Kai on his phone, Minister Wang wrapped things up.

After saying goodbye to Minister Wang and Zhou Li and making it down the stairs and out of the guards’ line of sight, Jiang Nian turned around and kissed Cheng Jing’s cheek.

“I’m so happy today, Brother Jing.”

For a second, he wanted to grab Cheng Jing and kiss him right there on the stairs. But Cheng Jing held back and just squeezed his hand.

“Me too.”

They had resolved a huge issue, and the reward they received was incredible.

“…”

Once they got in the car, Yang Kai called Jiang Nian and told them to head straight to the Sichuan-style restaurant, Taste of Home. Their teammates and a few friends from the Li family were already waiting there.

Jiang Nian had been to this restaurant before with Jiang Wenwen. Despite its name, the food didn’t taste like authentic Sichuan cuisine.

He figured the owner was probably just emotionally attached to the name.

Food was still scarce these days, so opening a restaurant was basically guaranteed to be a success. This one had done well for itself. They’d even added private rooms after renovating. Business must be booming.

Yang Kai had reserved one of those private rooms. By the time Cheng Jing and Jiang Nian arrived, food and drinks had already been set out, completely filling the table.

Although most dishes had been prepped in advance, they looked extravagant when plated nicely.

As evening fell, they celebrated Yang Kai’s return to the team and the day’s incredible events.

Jiang Nian didn’t hide what they had been given. He told everyone the truth.

When the Li family members heard that they would be able to live in the same villa complex as Yang Kai, their jealousy toward him instantly vanished.

Even Li Sheng, who was usually calm and composed, couldn’t hide his excitement.

His father had passed away, and his mother had remarried. He grew up at his uncle’s house. Originally, he had just hoped to use his position to help support his uncle’s family, who had treated him like one of their own.

Now, however, thanks to this team, he had met a whole new circle of friends he trusted deeply.

They might not be in the same squad, but living together made them family.

The fact that this housing arrangement was specially made proved that the base truly valued Cheng Jing and his team. This wasn’t just empty talk.

“…”

The group chatted happily until around 8 p.m., when the owner announced that it was closing time. They all got ready to leave.

What they didn’t expect was to witness a fight as soon as they stepped outside. More precisely, it was a catfight between two women, with a crowd gathered around, cheering and jeering.

Under the dim streetlights, Jian Cheng’s sharp eyes allowed them to see without getting too close.
—that the two people fighting were none other than Liang Xiaoyan and Su Jing, the ones who had tried to blackmail Jiang Nian during the earthquake.

I guess you could call them… old acquaintances.