Chapter 109: Jiang the Master Deceiver Goes Online (Extra-Long Chapter)

Below the mountains, in other cities and survival shelters beyond the reach of Jiang Huan and her group, extremists had already emerged. They incited unrest and stirred up trouble, cunningly evading detection while using rumors and gossip to disturb the hearts of the people.

Various shelters were experiencing problems to varying degrees, and in the most severe cases, entire shelters were under the control of these cult-like individuals.

When Jiang Huan’s satellite phone suddenly rang, she was momentarily stunned. It had been a long time since she had received a call.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Miss Jiang." The caller correctly identified her.

His voice sounded vaguely familiar, but the poor sound quality of the microphone made it fuzzy, and she found it difficult to distinguish which person she had met it might be. Fortunately, the caller identified himself: "I am Captain Wu. We’ve had a few dealings in the past."

Jiang Huan made an "oh" sound. "Oh, the one who stalked us."

Captain Wu gave an awkward laugh. "Didn't I compensate you later? Calling it 'stalking'—that’s not a very good way to remember things."

Jiang Huan remained silent, waiting for him to state the purpose of his call. She never believed that slapping someone and then offering a sweet was a form of mutual aid, nor did she think it could offset the initial offense. Her silence forced Captain Wu to lose some confidence in the speech he had carefully prepared. He had originally hoped to get Jiang Huan to come to the city’s shelter to help.

"It’s like this: the capital has developed a new type of material that provides thermal insulation and cold resistance. It’s very lightweight and can be manufactured using recycled building materials. Recently, taking advantage of the night, they have begun using sea, land, and air transport to distribute aid to other city shelters. Because your city has a port, the process is relatively fast, and the volume of supplies is quite large. However, they encountered trouble while docking at the port and need reinforcements."

Jiang Huan was puzzled. "Doesn't the shelter have its own armed forces? How much use can I be, just one person?"

"It’s like this: recently, there have been discordant voices in shelters everywhere, and your local shelter has also seen some extremist factions. Under these circumstances, if the armed forces were to withdraw, it would pose a huge risk to the shelter. Yet, that shipment of materials cannot wait. Therefore, we reached out to you, Miss Jiang, hoping for your assistance."

As for Jiang Huan thinking she had no power, he insisted, "You underestimate yourself, Miss Jiang. You are very capable and have quite a reputation in the shelter. Otherwise, those extremists wouldn't be using you as a gimmick to incite others. You probably haven't been to the shelter in a while; you don't know that people there are saying the reason you don't live in the shelter and chose to be independent is because of the shelter's unfairness and inaction. If you can cooperate with the shelter to stabilize everyone's mood, we will certainly provide generous compensation."

He added the bit about compensation because he had initially intended to use moral encouragement as the reward, but given Jiang Huan’s uninterested tone, he had to offer something tangible.

Jiang Huan was silent. She had never considered herself inadequate; she was simply keeping a low profile and avoiding trouble. However, if there was compensation, she didn't mind making the trip. "How long will it take?"

"Three days."

Jiang Huan asked if the compensation could be the new material. Captain Wu pondered for two seconds before agreeing. "It's possible. If Miss Jiang can reduce the casualties at the shelter to almost zero, or even zero, we can grant you up to one-tenth of the new material. That should be enough for your shelter on the mountain." He then boasted that, under the protection of this new material, even if it were seventy or eighty degrees outside, the indoor temperature would drop by at least half.

Jiang Huan understood. Since the material was that effective, it was no wonder they were so anxious about the shipment. "I understand. I hope you keep your word regarding the material; otherwise, there won't be a next time for us to cooperate."

Captain Wu agreed heartily and made solemn promises.

Jiang Huan hadn't yet figured out how to keep the shelter quiet for three days, but this news needed to be shared with her group. When they learned that Jiang Huan had to go to the shelter to earn the new materials, everyone expressed a desire to go.

But Jiang Huan didn't take everyone. "If I take everyone, the reward will be spread too thin. Just a few people to assist me will be enough. The rest of you stay at the air-raid shelter to maintain our refuge. How about this: Uncle Kui, Old Zhang, Wang Ping, and Monkey—you guys come with me."

A few of the men from the Xie family felt this was inappropriate. "You're taking a kid like Monkey to be your muscle? Aren't we stronger than a kid? We're going too. There's no reason for a kid to go out when there are a bunch of grown men here."

Jiang Huan silenced them with one sentence: "If you all go with me for three days, who will help if the women and elderly left behind run into trouble?"

The men went silent.

"I know you are all good men, capable men, which is why I need you to stay and protect our refuge. If someone with bad intentions sneaks in while we're gone, who will protect the elderly and the women?"

The men stopped insisting on going. Jiang Huan found it slightly amusing; having been a leader by default for a while, she had actually learned how to say things that boosted morale.

After pacifying them, Jiang Huan took her "entourage" aside for a small meeting to assign tasks. "Let me be brief. This mission is happening because some people are using the fact that I don't live in the shelter as an excuse to stir up internal chaos. This indirectly proves that in their eyes, I'm someone who is living quite well. Since that's the case, I'll take advantage of this. I chose Monkey because having an extra person helps establish my persona. Once we get down to the shelter, no matter how ridiculous the things I say are, you just nod and act as if I'm right and telling the truth. Don't say anything else. I'll distribute sidearms to you. If the situation is under control, we'll talk; if it's not, just shoot at the feet of the most agitated people."

As long as casualties were kept to a minimum—almost zero—it wouldn't be unreasonable to have one or two minor injuries given the sheer number of people.

After agreeing on the plan, they went home to change. As Jiang Huan had instructed, everyone washed their hair, showered, and put on their best clothes. Jiang Huan herself dressed neatly and professionally. By 7:00 PM, when the temperature had dropped to around thirty-four or thirty-five degrees, she opened her parasol and slowly headed down the mountain.

Reaching the flat ground, they checked the neighborhood, only to find the tires of their tricycle had melted, so they had to resign themselves to walking. Arriving outside the shelter, they checked their appearance, made sure their guns were visible, and then strode into the shelter's air-raid tunnel.

Since the heat had become so severe that temperatures reached sixty or seventy degrees, everyone had moved from the shelter buildings into the underground tunnel. Even though it was nearly 10:00 PM, the sound of clamor could still be heard at the entrance.

A team was ready to depart at the entrance. Seeing Jiang Huan arrive, Captain Wu hurried over to welcome her in.

As soon as Jiang Huan entered, she was almost overwhelmed by the stench. Although the tunnel was large and better equipped, there were too many people and not enough water. The smell of people who hadn't showered in half a month but sweated profusely every day was like salted fish stuffed into the socks of someone with athlete's foot, left to ferment in a 1990s public restroom for forty-nine days. It was a smell that hit you the moment you walked in.

Seeing them arguing noisily, Jiang Huan ignored what they were saying and stepped onto a high platform. Some people noticed her, but not everyone was willing to quiet down to listen.

Jiang Huan didn't care; she wasn't some big celebrity or leader, so this was normal. She calmly took a bugle horn out of her backpack. Yes, it was the same one she had given her younger brother when they went out to scavenge for supplies and she had to leave him in the car.

"Doo-doo-doo-doo-doo!"

The sound of a bugle, often heard in war movies, blared out at an extremely high volume. With the help of the tunnel's natural acoustics, it instantly suppressed all the shouting. Jiang Huan thought to herself that it lived up to its reputation as a valuable musical instrument once used for exorcisms; the effect was quite good.

Without waiting for them to recover, Jiang Huan switched the horn to amplification mode: "Quiet down, everyone. I am Jiang Huan, the one who donated a ton of supplies to this shelter. Because I was lucky and found more supplies, I've come to evaluate the situation and pick a few people to take with me. Three meals a day, plenty of water, a shower every three days, free medical care, and private rooms for specialized talent."

The crowd erupted in an uproar. Captain Wu's soldiers were anxious. What was going on? The higher-ups said Jiang Huan was here to help. Why was she poaching people the moment she arrived? Wouldn't this just cause more unrest?

Jiang Huan blew the bugle again, and as if they had been tamed, everyone stopped once more.

Jiang Huan continued: "The reason it's an evaluation is because there are limited spots. The people I'm looking for must first catch my eye, then catch my eye, and finally, catch my eye."

The crowd: "..."

That was a lot of words that meant absolutely nothing.

Someone raised a hand, and only after Jiang Huan permitted the question did he speak. "I want to know, what does it mean to 'catch your eye'?"

Jiang Huan gestured, and Monkey brought over some water; his backpack was filled with mineral water. "You're good. You know to raise your hand to ask a question. This is for you."

The man who had raised his hand was bewildered. He got a bottle of water just for doing something even a preschooler could do? And it was 550ml?

The man gripped the bottle tightly, wishing he could wait for Jiang Huan to finish explaining so they could have another round of hand-raising; he promised he would raise his hand high.

Using this action, Jiang Huan instantly cured the chaotic bickering. "That's also a good question. What does it mean to catch my eye? There are three requirements: first, obedience; second, values; and third, keeping your mouth shut. Obedience means listening to me. Having the right values means listening to me. Keeping your mouth shut means not worrying too much about what others say, only what I say. Because these requirements might not be apparent right away, I will stay here for a few days to select people who catch my eye to leave with me. Those who like the treatment I mentioned can start showing me what you've got. It's bedtime now, and I'm tired. Everyone, can you manage to return to your sleeping areas within ten minutes?"

With that, Jiang Huan scanned everyone. She was actually observing them, trying to see if she could spot anyone secretly inciting the crowd. Usually, those who caused the most trouble were the impulsive and reckless ones; the masterminds never acted as the vanguard.