Chapter 239: Bai Guoshi's Romance
"Multipass." He swiped his card at the residential area checkpoint. Seeing people playing PSP in the square, he felt a surge of having returned to civilization. Others were playing badminton or table tennis. He wasn't in the mood to watch and headed straight for his dormitory. He shared quarters with Cui Yunhong and Dong Shiye—the latter occasionally participated in exploration team operations.
Cui Yunhong had vanished somewhere after eating, and Dong Shiye was still at work, so the dormitory stood empty. As material conditions improved, the living space had been properly furnished—in the early days, everyone had slept on floor mats. Now, freshly decorated, Bai Guoshi could almost believe he had returned to his university dormitory: loft beds with sleeping quarters above and desks below; individual storage lockers and wardrobes; racks for cups and washbasins. The most conspicuous item was the gun rack behind the door—chained to it was an SKS-D rifle with a loaded magazine. The sole deficiency was the continued absence of internet, and electricity remained rationed, supplied only from six to nine in the evening.
Bai Guoshi headed to the bathroom for a shower. The water ran cold—hot water was only available at night—but he was accustomed to it by now. Splashing sounds emanated from the women's bathroom next door; someone else was showering as well. Unfortunately, the bathroom had been designed with peculiar artistry: the male and female entrances were separated, with the women's entrance leading directly into Group 6's interior. After showering, he washed his clothes. Several dormmates habitually hoarded dirty laundry until they had nothing clean left, leaving the room perpetually reeking of stale fish. Every time Fang Yijing conducted her hygiene inspection, they received a "Poor" rating.
Dragging a pair of slippers, Bai Guoshi shuffled back from the bathhouse. The room remained empty—he couldn't even find someone to play PES with. He dug a ziplock bag from his cupboard; inside was a carton of cigarettes. In the other timeline, he had never touched tobacco, but now he desperately craved a drag. He went outside and sat beneath a tree in the square. At the first inhalation, smoke seared his throat and tears flooded his eyes. He hurriedly stubbed out the cigarette, but the tears refused to stop, pouring forth under the pretense of smoke irritation. Months of nearly uninterrupted exploration missions had numbed him, but a single cigarette released everything: parents, friends, classmates—all vivid before his eyes. I'm such a fucking idiot, running here. I don't even have a girlfriend. Haven't even held a woman's hand...
A tissue appeared beside him. Looking up, he saw Zhao Xue. "Didn't expect you to cry too. Hmph." A mischievous smile played on her lips.
"Choked by the smoke," he said, accepting the tissue. Zhao Xue's hair was still damp, and his heart stirred involuntarily.
"Who believes that? There's nothing wrong with crying."
"Is your knee better?" Bai Guoshi refused to show weakness before a woman.
"Just came from the hospital. Applied medicine—doesn't hurt much anymore." Zhao Xue unselfconsciously pulled up her pant leg and flexed her knee.
The young woman's snow-white calf, firm and smooth, and the pale skin faintly visible around her knee were exposed mere inches from the innocent university graduate. The scent of camphor tincture mingled with something delicate—orchid, perhaps, or jasmine—drifted over. "Little Bai" felt his ears begin to burn.
"Good that it's healing. That's good."
"Come on, wash your face. We need to organize the report—you're presenting tonight."
"Right, right." Bai Guoshi hadn't expected this woman to openly invite him to work on the data together. Elation swept through him, banishing his melancholy to the winds. "I'll clean up right now. Meet in the office shortly?"
"No need for that. I'll just wait for you here in the square. It's quite a walk—we can talk on the way."
Bai Guoshi was dizzy from the impact of happiness. When he stood, he actually swayed several times before walking off in a state of joy.
The report meeting for the 45th Long-Range Exploration Operation convened punctually at 19:00 in the Executive Committee compound.
Several senior figures of the Executive Committee sat solemnly behind a horseshoe-shaped table, facing a row of seats reserved for the presenters. The arrangement had reportedly been modeled after U.S. Congressional hearings.
Those participating in the presentation were Liu Zheng, Cui Yunhong, Huang Zhuazi, and Bai Guoshi. Zhao Xue and Ye Mengyan lacked the relevant professional expertise and were not required to attend.
"Gentlemen, please be seated. Captain Liu, the written report you submitted tonight is excellent and holds great reference value. Now we'd like to hear an oral presentation," Wen Desi said.
"Thank you. Which aspects should we address first?"
"Let's begin with the biological field guide."
"I suggest Guoshi present on that—he's more qualified."
Bai Guoshi commenced his report: "Creating a biological field guide is primarily motivated by repeated Ministry of Health notifications regarding accidental ingestion of poisonous mushrooms. The cafeteria has also refused to use any wild fungi for fear of toxic species. Additionally, harmful creatures in this region attack both transmigrators and our laborers. Our concept is therefore to compile a comprehensive biological field guide, initially releasing two volumes. One will cover local edible or usable animals, plants, and wild fungi for reference by various departments. The second will be a harmful organism atlas, encompassing venomous snakes, poisonous insects, parasites, toxic plants, and similar threats—this for safety awareness purposes. Work on the first volume has already begun."
"Excellent idea." Xiao Zishan, Director of the General Office, nodded. "Later we can print it in color and publish a copy for everyone." The other committee members nodded in succession.
"The future plan is to extend this identification atlas to other domains, including minerals..."
"As to matters concerning our department—regarding the Long-Range Exploration Team itself—we believe the current personnel level is grossly insufficient and requires urgent reinforcement. If only one team exists, an ambush during a field operation could cost the Transmigration Regime its entire long-range exploration capability. I personally recommend establishing at least three six-man reconnaissance squads, training them via veteran-novice pairing. We must avoid scenarios where the death of a single specialist leaves no successor—our profession carries high risks; such possibilities exist at any moment. Furthermore, three teams permit simultaneous investigation in two directions while maintaining one on standby. Regarding personnel, we need at least twelve additional individuals, ideally with outdoor activity experience. We must ensure each squad includes one person with military service background. On equipment—shotguns are scarce, so we won't request additional units, but we require at least six more steel crossbows and three walkie-talkies, ensuring each squad possesses one firearm, two crossbows, and two radios. Additionally, we wish to apply for priority power access for two laptops to support intelligence organization and guide compilation..."
Bai Guoshi spoke with increasing fluency and enthusiasm—until he suddenly noticed all the committee members staring at him with astonished eyes. Cold sweat broke out across his back. He had gotten carried away—these were Liu Zheng's talking points! How had he usurped the team leader's role and hijacked the report?
"...Uhh, I've finished... the presentation was quite incomplete..." Bai Guoshi began to stammer.
"Thank you for your report," Wen Desi said gently.
Following Bai Guoshi, Cui Yunhong presented on the mineral discoveries from the expedition, focusing on the kaolin deposit and the speculated presence of nearby lignite. Neither resource was urgently needed, and a garrison town stood in proximity—according to Yu Eshui's research, likely the station of the Rear Chiliarchy of Lingao.
"Perhaps we should simply eliminate this Chiliarchy," Ma Qianzhu suggested. "Chiliarch Liu has already accumulated considerable public grievances. Removing him could win over a significant number of military households willing to defect."
"The battle itself would be trivial—the Chiliarchy's defensive capability is negligible," Liu Zheng said. "I observed no meaningful self-defense capacity whatsoever; the specifics are detailed in the report. In my assessment, it's weaker than Lingao County—at least Lingao has higher walls."
"We'll table this discussion for now." The conservatives still harbored reservations about directly attacking Ming government installations.
"We could organize resource expeditions instead," Wu Nanhai interjected, seizing the opportunity to advance his proposal. "Use armed escorts to protect laborers collecting resources—we stay in our lane, they stay in theirs." He elaborated on the benefits of this approach.
"A single trip to Wenchang would secure all the coconuts we could want, without spending a single coin." Wu Nanhai continued his advocacy. "Currently, even when we offer payment, they won't ship them here!"
"Why is that? Our price too low?"
"We're offering double Qiongshan's rate!" Mo Xiao'an sounded indignant. Lin Quan'an, sent to purchase coconuts in the Wenchang area, had returned empty-handed, and several of his staff had been beaten and injured. The "local tyrants" that characterized the original timeline existed in this one as well—the copra trade was monopolized by several Qiongshan County merchants, and outsiders were forbidden from participating. Even at premium prices, farmers harvesting coconuts dared not sell to him.
"What does the Exploration Team think?"
"We have no objection. If the Executive Committee organizes this initiative, we'll serve as pathfinders and guides."
"Very well—we'll work out the details after the meeting." Ma Qianzhu agreed.
"Additionally, the Exploration Team requires a survey vessel. This would enable round-the-island surveys and allow us to bring the survey team along. Ships are considerably safer than overland expeditions—if something goes wrong, we simply retreat to the vessel."
The reasoning was compelling and difficult to refuse, but ships remained scarce resources.
"We could only allocate small coastal boats of ten or twenty tons, which probably aren't suitable." Wen Desi hesitated. "It will be some time before the larger ship is completed..."
"President Wen, that two-masted schooner was agreed to belong to our Maritime Power Department!" Li Haiping, the Maritime Power Department representative, hastily interjected.
Wen Desi found himself in a dilemma. The Resource Department's demand was reasonable, yet the Maritime Power Department's urgent need for new ships to expand armed capacity and transport capability was equally real.
"How about this: the ship and sailor establishment remain under the Maritime Power Department, but the Exploration Team may call upon it when needed—with priority use guaranteed." Ma Qianzhu proposed a compromise that offended neither side. "Sailors are also in short supply; centralized management under the Maritime Power Department makes sense."
"That works." Liu Zheng had known the probability of actually obtaining the new ship was low. "But I hope the Navy can help train us in boat handling, so we won't be helpless when equipped with vessels in the future."
"Leave that to me, brother." Li Haiping agreed readily.
(End of Chapter)