The Natives of This World Are So Fierce - Chapter 31: Shut Out and Stuck Working Overtime
Although what had happened was thrilling enough, not much time had actually passed.
So the evening rush hour still wasn't over when they headed back.
The van still took a winding series of shortcuts to avoid the congestion.
The driver, Lao Guo, was in a completely different frame of mind from when they had arrived. He even obeyed the traffic rules more carefully.
Since none of the three passengers in the back had given him a new address, Lao Guo continued toward downtown Qiantang, planning to ask exactly where they wanted to go once they reached the city.
Only after the van came off the elevated highway did Lao Guo ask.
"So, are we heading back to the barbecue shop to eat some more, or should I take you somewhere else?"
Doudou's eyes immediately lit up at the suggestion of going back for more barbecue.
"No need. I imagine you're eager to get back and see your son. Su Su, where are you going?"
Su Su had been trying to listen carefully for where Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou were going. The sudden question startled her, and she answered with a guilty air.
"Huh? Me? Uh, take me to the amusement park. I need to go back there."
"All right. Lao Guo, head to the amusement park first."
After that, Qin Xiaoxia fell silent, showing no intention of revealing his own destination.
This made Su Su secretly grit her teeth, though she couldn't very well show it.
"Sure thing."
Lao Guo naturally had no objections. He stepped on the accelerator, and the battered van immediately picked up speed.
The barbecue shop was near the amusement park to begin with, relying on the crowds in the area for business, so he knew the route well and made excellent time. Less than twenty minutes after leaving the elevated highway, they were nearing their destination.
"Which entrance?"
"The main entrance is fine. I'll walk in myself."
Su Su's reply sounded listless.
She felt that perhaps she still hadn't made a strong enough impression on Qin Xiaoxia-at least, not enough to make up for her earlier rudeness.
Although the amusement park itself was fairly quiet at dusk, the area outside was already growing lively.
When the van stopped, Su Su reluctantly climbed out, looking thoroughly dispirited.
"Miss, whenever you come to my place for barbecue, it's on me. It's not far, so stop by anytime!"
Lao Guo sounded relaxed and had stopped calling her "Master."
"Mm..."
Su Su murmured an acknowledgment, but showed no intention of turning to leave. She kept looking at Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou without even shutting the door.
"Mr. Qin... could I..."
"No!"
Doudou answered faster than Qin Xiaoxia could.
But the moment he finished, Qin Xiaoxia rapped him on the head.
"Want to add me on WeChat?"
"Yes!"
Su Su's expression instantly brightened. She whipped out her phone at lightning speed and only relaxed after personally watching Qin Xiaoxia scan the code and add her on WeChat.
Then Su Su happily said goodbye and happily headed toward the amusement park's staff entrance.
Watching the young woman walk away, humming a tune, left Lao Guo feeling rather reflective.
He was an old hand at life. If he still couldn't tell that she was trying every possible way to latch onto Qin Xiaoxia, he would have lived all those decades for nothing.
Lao Guo waited until Su Su disappeared from view before starting the van.
"Master, where are we going?"
Lao Guo dared not act overly familiar with Qin Xiaoxia, a benefactor he both respected and feared.
"To the Fragrant Moon Residential Complex in XS District."
"All right. Sit tight."
Qin Xiaoxia wasn't wealthy and naturally owned no property in the Fragrant Moon Residential Complex, but Huang Jiutian rented a place there.
Tonight, he planned to take Doudou over and seek refuge with Jiutian.
At the entrance to the complex, just before they got out.
Lao Guo once again thumped his chest and promised that whenever Qin Xiaoxia or his friends ate at Haohao Barbecue or any of its branches, their meals would be free.
Qin Xiaoxia accepted, but what interested him more was whether Haohao Barbecue actually had branches.
He casually asked the older man, who confidently replied, "It will someday!"
That also dashed Doudou's plans to look for a Haohao Barbecue in Yue City.
Presumably, Haohao Barbecue wouldn't be opening tonight.
Five minutes later.
Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou stared at each other, both dumbfounded.
Because the visit had been spontaneous, they hadn't had time to notify Huang Jiutian before coming. They therefore had no idea that, thanks to an urgent project, young Huang had barely left his office chair since returning to work. Practically everyone in the company's design department was racing against the clock, even when eating or going to the bathroom.
Only after finding themselves shut out at Huang Jiutian's door did they remember to call him.
"What? Is it really that bad...? Then when are you coming back...? Damn, what do you mean you might not come back?"
Qin Xiaoxia instinctively exchanged another glance with Doudou, whose expression was rather helpless.
"What's your office address? Doudou and I can at least come get the keys... All right, all right, I'll call when we arrive. Eleventh floor, right? Okay, I know your company's name... Sure!"
With that, Qin Xiaoxia ended the call.
"Let's go. It's only a fifteen-minute walk... We'll get dinner on the way and pick up a portion for Jiutian."
Doudou had actually wanted more barbecue, but he switched sides within a second of discovering braised chicken.
Every restaurant owner loved customers who ate enough for six between the two of them, especially when they also ordered a portion to go.
After leaving the restaurant, Qin Xiaoxia instinctively pressed a hand to his wallet, even though he no longer kept cash in it.
Doudou was small, but he was a true bottomless pit. Qin Xiaoxia had long since learned that. Yet his own body was getting stranger too, and his appetite was growing by the day.
Food might become his biggest expense in the future!
Rather than calling Huang Jiutian when they arrived, Qin Xiaoxia went straight into the office building's elevator and up to Jiutian's company on the eleventh floor.
It was already past office hours, and no one was at reception.
He gave the company door a push.
"Delivery, delivery! Huang Jiutian's delivery! Where's Huang Jiutian?"
That shout immediately drew everyone's attention and left Huang Jiutian sweating.
"Over here, over here!"
Huang Jiutian's slightly embarrassed voice rang out. He hurriedly got up from his seat and went to the entrance to fetch them.
Once they came inside, everyone realized that this "delivery guy," who had a child with him, was actually Huang Jiutian's friend.
All thirty-odd people in the company's design department were working overtime, and a few small groups were eating takeout they had ordered.
Apart from the restrooms, hallway, printing room, and design department, most of the company's lights were off.
Huang Jiutian had intended to give them the keys and send them home first, but Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou's curiosity had been piqued. They insisted on seeing how a building's later-stage design and detailing were done.
He dragged two chairs out of the conference room and seated Qin Xiaoxia and Doudou beside him. Even while eating his takeout, Huang Jiutian occasionally had to adjust a model or send a file to print.
"Are you really this busy? What are you designing here? It looks nothing like the buildings I'm familiar with..."
To be honest, Qin Xiaoxia only knew buildings through photographs and renderings. He couldn't connect those at all with the detailed drawings and intermediate models Huang Jiutian was working on.
Jiu Tian spat out a chicken bone, then picked up a piece of chicken for Doudou, who was watching longingly, before answering the endlessly curious Qin Xiaoxia.
"This isn't an ordinary commercial building. Never mind you-even people in the industry might not understand it unless they're designers."
"Oh!"
Qin Xiaoxia only half understood.
"Then what is it?"
"Ever heard of a civil defense project?"
"Something underground? A parking garage under a high-rise, or an air-raid shelter?"
Huang Jiutian couldn't really be bothered to explain much to a layman, but since Qin Xiaoxia wanted to know, he said a little more.
"It's certainly not that simple. This is a completely new system design, and the scale is substantial. A lot of the functional structural features inside aren't labeled. I reckon other organizations are responsible for those!"
"Actually, several of my old classmates who work in architectural design have privately mentioned that their firms have received similar projects too. Honestly, the scale of all this has me pretty puzzled!"
There were other things Huang Jiutian didn't say, since they touched on a confidentiality agreement.
Namely, for these projects, they were generally only told the soil types at the sites, the bedrock conditions, the surrounding environment, and the load conditions. They were never told the locations, which made it all rather mysterious.
Qin Xiaoxia had keen instincts to begin with, and he had experienced far more than ordinary people during this recent stretch.
The moment he heard this, a host of connections sprang to mind.
Looks like our government isn't entirely in the dark either!
As for whether precautions on this scale were excessive, that was a matter of opinion. Qin Xiaoxia didn't know how much they actually knew, or how their knowledge compared with his.
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