Resolution

Like in every cops-and-robbers movie, the security guards, sentries, public order guards, and inspectors all arrived fashionably late after the troublemakers had left.

Lin Wen didn't lash out at them. He merely issued a new order. "From now on, no matter who it is or whose written order they carry, anyone entering the Commandery Governor's office must report to me first. If I'm not here, ask her."

Lin Wen pointed at Li Xiaoli.

"If she doesn't agree, then even if the Heavenly King himself comes, keep him outside the door."

A faint blush rose on Li Xiaoli's delicate face, but Lin Wen had no interest in wasting words. With a wave of his hand, he chased them all out.

Just as he was about to erupt, he was interrupted again.

Lin Wen was already extremely displeased. If he had been an ordinary man, he probably would have gone limp by now.

But the moment he heard the news, he no longer had the mind to be angry.

The person reporting was the staff member he had sent that morning to find Fledgling Phoenix. After searching everywhere without finding her, he had only just confirmed that Fledgling Phoenix, Qin Luoshuang, had disappeared.

"What? Why didn't you report this earlier?"

Lin Wen was so furious his nose nearly twisted crooked. He immediately summoned Ma Baojia and Xu Kangxing, ordering them to dispatch public order officers and inspectors at once to search the entire commandery for Qin Luoshuang!

After thinking it over, he still felt that wasn't enough. Crouching Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix were talents he had found by spending good karma. Before they earned back tenfold the good karma they had cost him, neither of them was allowed to vanish!

Lin Wen summoned Fang Dashan again and ordered him to immediately send troops to seal every route out of the eastern side of Long Mountain Commandery. Not even a bird was to be allowed through.

The road west out of Long Mountain Commandery was long, the terrain steep and perilous, and travel difficult; on top of that, it had been hit by floods. If she went west, she probably wouldn't make it out even in a month. To the north and south stood great mountains—she couldn't escape even with wings.

Only the east offered a way out. She could leave the commandery at once, and once she did, she could immediately enter the civilized world.

So long as Fang Dashan held the east, the public order officers and inspectors would have ample time to catch her.

If they still couldn't find her in the end, then once Lin Wen had recovered, he would personally go seize her. Whether she flew to the heavens or burrowed into the earth, she would never escape his palm.

When that time came, it wouldn't be as simple as punishment.

Heh heh!

Lin Wen showed the standard smile of a villain.

But he soon couldn't smile anymore, because the problem of the disaster victims still weighed on his heart like a huge stone.

Lin Wen collected his thoughts and began truly racking his brains.

Perhaps it was because the repeated interruptions had built his emotions and inspiration up to a certain point.

The moment he began thinking deeply this time, Lin Wen hit upon a crucial point.

Could I break the entire reconstruction plan apart?

For example, the choice of reconstruction site, the way the buildings were constructed, the choice of building materials, and all sorts of things like that—then ask about them one by one.

Instead of piling patch upon patch onto the problem itself, forcibly twisting, stretching, and thickening it until it became grotesque as a monster.

After breaking it apart, even if I can't solve the entire problem, it'll be fine as long as I can solve part of it.

I'll leave the rest for other people to handle. At worst, I'll bring both Crouching Dragon and Fledgling Phoenix over to solve it together.

Even if it isn't the best plan, a pretty good plan will do.

Some pretty good plans combined with some perfect plans would still make a nearly perfect plan, no matter how you looked at it. That had to be better than humanity's mediocre plans—or the immortals' complete lack of one, right?

Having made up his mind, Lin Wen immediately got to work.

The first question.

"What is the best place for me to choose as the new home for the disaster victims?"

This question was also highly skillful. The qualifier was "for me." If it were "for the disaster victims," then naturally the best choice would be the third ring of the imperial capital, Divine Capital—better yet, they could simply live in the imperial palace. But the problem was that "I" couldn't do that, so it could only be "for me."

Cost: 33 points of good karma.

The instant he saw that number, Lin Wen's eyes lit up!

It had gone down!

At last, it wasn't an astronomical figure painful just to look at!

Without the slightest hesitation, Lin Wen directly cast the spell.

The first problem, solved!

Then came the second problem.

"How can I complete the foundation work for their new home using the funds I currently have?"

Cost: 29,083 points of good karma.

Lin Wen's heart sank. No good.

He asked the second question again.

"How should I build the houses in order to complete the plan within the limits of my funding?"

Cost: 32,831 points of good karma.

Fuck!

Why was that?

Lin Wen scratched his head again.

Why did breaking the question apart make the cost even higher?

Had he asked it wrong?

Lin Wen asked the split-up questions one after another, but each cost more than the last. None of them was normal.

He tried asking several more times in all sorts of different ways, but nothing changed much.

Why the hell was this happening?

Lin Wen was utterly baffled.

The split questions actually cost more than the main question. Didn't that mean the answer to all of them combined would cost more than ten times as much as the answer to the main question?

It made no sense at all.

If Lin Wen neither lacked nor begrudged so much good karma, he really wanted to know what kind of divine nonsense those answers were.

There was no helping it.

Lin Wen could only turn to asking how to scrape together enough money, but the cost was equally staggering.

Damn it!

I'm stuck again!

Other than solving the site-selection problem, none of the other issues had been resolved.

But that offered no real help at all.

Lin Wen was so depressed he felt like vomiting blood.

I already know so much—so much information. Why is the cost still this high?

Could it really be unsolvable?

Lin Wen casually grabbed a pen and viciously scribbled across a sheet of scratch paper, venting the frustration in his heart.

Just then, the pen seemed to slash a bolt of lightning across the paper, and a flash of light went off in Lin Wen's mind.

No!

Maybe my funding gap is simply too huge. Within the limited funds, it's fundamentally impossible to complete the plan through human means, which is why the answer costs an astronomical amount.

What if I didn't ask it that way?

For example—

"What is the plan for completing the reconstruction with the least amount of money?"

Cost: 51 points of good karma.

Hahahahahaha!

I really am a genius!

Lin Wen was so excited he nearly broke into a set of Lightning Whips.

There was nothing wrong with the method of splitting up the question. He simply had not split it correctly before. He had failed to isolate the core issue—funding—and that was the true culprit behind the astronomical cost.

As long as he separated the funding issue from the main question, everything else would fall into place.

The funding problem could be gradually solved later. Reconstruction was a fairly long process, after all; the money did not need to be available all at once. It was not like casting immortal arts—spiritual energy went in, a spell came out; money went in, homes came out.

Without hesitation, Lin Wen immediately cast the spell.

But after reading the entire answer, he nearly burst into tears again.

Holy fuck!

Lin Wen smashed his head against the ground, wishing he could just throw his whole damn head away.

The reason was simple. The core of the plan the immortal art gave him was: organize the people, mobilize the Imperial Army, and have them take part in construction.

Wasn't this exactly how things were done in my original world?

I'm a transmigrator from China, and I didn't even think of this? I wasted 51 points of good karma! I worked myself to death in Changle Town and fought like mad on that dike for so long, finally saving up this tiny bit of good karma—only to squander it like this?

Lin Wen beat himself up viciously, then still sat down and wrote out the divine plan exactly as given, organizing it carefully so that he would not miss or forget anything.

If he forgot even half a word of it, Lin Wen would feel like chopping himself in half with a blade.

To be fair, the plan produced by the immortal art was indeed beyond reproach. Every detail was incomparably thorough. But if he had thought of that central point earlier, he could at least have saved another 20 points of good karma.

After organizing the plan amid mingled regret and resentment, Lin Wen directly called the Finance Department. He learned that the liquidation of assets had already begun. With the assistance of the East Qin Province Provincial Administration Hall, the process was going smoothly. The assets were estimated at around 17.19 million, with an error margin of no more than 50,000 either way.

Huang Mingxiao had also sent over the materials list. The initial estimate put the procurement scale at around 10.6 million.

It had to be said, their efficiency was truly high—especially the Finance Department's.

Old Xie, the Finance Department's deputy director, had only just taken office. Desperate to prove his ability and ensure that Old Lei would not squeeze him back out when he returned, he was exceptionally proactive, working insane overtime every day.

During the call, Old Xie's enthusiasm practically gushed out of the phone. Lin Wen truly could not stand it, so he hung up as soon as he had finished asking his questions.

It seemed this deputy director would not be pulling any underhanded tricks for the time being.

But Lin Wen remembered Old Lei's words and decided that, to be safe, he should send someone over to keep watch.

Who should he send?

After thinking it over, Lin Wen summoned Fang Weiwei. "Go to the Finance Department for a while. Take two Inspection Guards with you and supervise them. If anyone slacks off, report directly to me."

Fang Weiwei fidgeted without saying anything. Without the authority document of the Provincial Governor, she was like Usagi Tsukino without her Moon Prism—just an ordinary little girl who loved looking pretty and was somewhat vain.

"What's wrong?" Lin Wen asked curiously.

Fang Weiwei spoke in an incredibly tiny voice. "You said you were going to promote me to secretary."

"Oh, I did say that. What about it?"

Fang Weiwei's face turned deathly pale. "B-but, it's not like I did anything wrong, right? Y-you're the County Governor. You said it yourself..."

"You fool." Lin Wen was practically pounding his chest in anguish. "Where did all your dominance go? Lately, we've worked together in perfect harmony, seamless as heaven's own garment. Don't you have any confidence yet? You've been doing all the Secretariat's work—if that's not being secretary in substance, then what is?"

"If the Personnel Section hasn't changed your position and benefits, go straight over and confront the section chief. It's just one sentence—tell the Personnel Section chief. If he dares refuse or fob you off, call me right there on the spot. I'll come over and slap his face for you."

"You don't even know this sort of trick? How are you supposed to establish your authority in the future? When you go out, people will still think you're my little mistress, tarnishing my innocence for no reason."

Fang Weiwei's face flushed scarlet in an instant. It was impossible to tell whether she was ashamed or whether Lin Wen's wolfish, tigerish words had simply been too blunt.

Lin Wen did not press her any further and waved a hand. "Go on. Go confront the section chief right now. You need the kind of presence that says you'd stomp your high heels onto his face. And remember, be more confident from now on. You have to dare to fight for your own interests."