Chapter 12: Work is the Most Important Thing

Wandering aimlessly on the dilapidated street, Lu Xin realized it had been a long time since he had really looked at it closely.

The street was covered in pits and dust, along with stagnant water left over from a few days ago.

Blinding neon lights were everywhere, intertwining into tangled balls of chaotic and dazzling color.

After the Crimson Moon Incident, the surviving humans within Highwall City seemed to have split into two distinct types.

One type was extremely busy, walking hurriedly, too occupied to spare a glance at anything.

The other type was distinctly unbusy. They either sat listlessly on either side of the street with a bundle spread in front of them, or had a table set up, displaying things like wild vegetables, unidentified meats, roughly forged knives, or worn trinkets and unknown tech items scavenged by hunters who explored the ruins Outside the City.

Many more simply gathered in small groups of three or five, smoking cigarettes and whistling at the women passing by.

There were still many Maniacs outside. In the early years after Highwall City was built, there had been a time when even getting enough to eat was difficult. But perhaps because the number of mouths to feed had drastically decreased overnight, easing resource pressure, or maybe the speed of rebuilding civilization surpassed everyone’s expectations – in just thirty short years, famine or starvation deaths had become extremely rare within Highwall City…

…Simply put, in Highwall City, getting enough to eat wasn’t difficult.

…The hard part was making one’s life better!

These people idling aimlessly on the streets were like that. Many hadn’t even obtained recognized residency in Satellite City No. 2, couldn’t enter specialized training schools or universities, and had no hope of ever moving to the Main City to live.

So they gave up on all pursuits, didn’t work, and didn’t even think about tomorrow’s survival.

They just wandered the streets daily, watching everything pass by with dull eyes, empty expressions, with no one knowing what thoughts filled their heads.

…

Lu Xin walked along the street this way, scrutinizing everyone.

He was looking to see if among these people, anyone was dangerous like that street corner cafe clerk had been.

Catching just one could earn him a lot of money and save many people.

The figure of his Little Sister would always appear beside him unexpectedly. Sometimes she’d show up on the roof of a tall building beside him, sometimes lazily crawling along the power lines crossing above his head, and sometimes perched right on some bald guy’s head.

The siblings earnestly patrolled the street like this.

Yet they encountered nothing.

“This city is too big…”

Patrolling through seven or eight streets until his legs grew sore, Lu Xin squatted by the roadside, smoking a cigarette while eating a boxed meal.

He summarized his experience mentally: “Although Highwall City’s population was small when it was first built, the numbers swelled over these decades, exploding. Satellite City No. 2 alone has over a million people. The police complain constantly about manpower shortages… So it’s perfectly normal to bump around randomly like me and find nothing…”

“A few more patrols, I’m sure I’ll find one…”

…

Lu Xin finished his meal, patrolled a bit more, then went home to sleep and went to work the next day.

He kept this up for several days afterwards.

Only, this excessively normal city rather disappointed Lu Xin. It stubbornly produced nothing strange.

“If this city is too safe, if there’s no place for me, would they take back my allowance? Colonel Cheng? Chen Jing?”

Lu Xin couldn’t help but worry.

However, he didn’t expect that his other job would run into trouble first.

“Little Lu, well, you won’t need to come in to work tomorrow.”

The Director, half-bald but still meticulously combing what remained, pushed a termination contract across the desk towards Lu Xin.

“Why?”

The Director’s words shocked Lu Xin; he couldn’t quite understand them.

He hadn’t even made the first job permanent yet, and now this one was gone? How could this happen?

Even in this post-Crimson Moon Incident world where unstable economies made job losses common, especially for cushy jobs like his – ones requiring only sitting in an Office using one’s brain instead of endless toil at the docks or factories – which attracted fierce competition since so many people coveted them, Lu Xin hadn’t expected it to happen to him.

He worked diligently. Over so many years, there had never been any slip-ups.

He was even a model employee; that commendation banner still hung in his cubicle.

If they had to cut someone, why him?

…

“Well now, Little Lu, you have to understand…”

The Director forced a smile onto his face, pulled out a cigarette, and offered it to Lu Xin while revealing yellow-stained teeth. “The company… it’s not doing well. One job can’t support too many people. Comparing you and Xiao Lv, your professional capabilities are similar. But, Xiao Lv’s work attitude is much better than yours. Look at yourself lately, leaving early every day, vanishing long before quitting time…”

“Lv Cheng?”

Lu Xin recalled the young man who used to always smile flatteringly, asking him to explain how to handle the work. He fell silent.

He knew what the Director meant by his “leaving early.”

Actually, he didn’t leave early; he just didn’t voluntarily stay late to work overtime.

“Director, could you just give me another chance?”

Lu Xin had much more he wanted to say, but in the end, he only asked softly.

The Director’s face twisted into a look of awkwardness. “Aiya… You’re a senior employee. I hate to lose you. But you know how it is in our company. It’s one job per desk; we can’t carry anyone extra. When ability is the same, attitude matters so much…”

Lu Xin stopped listening to the rest; he knew it was all lies.

Leaving the Director’s Office, he saw all his belongings had already been packed into a box.

Someone had been very kind.

“It was Lv Cheng who packed it for you. He’s been itching to move into your spot…”

Auntie Sun, with her permed hair, across the cubicle partition from him, whispered: “Little Lu, not that Sister Sun enjoys saying this, but you’re too naive. I always told you, don’t teach people everything! Look what happened? He snatched your rice bowl right out from under you! I hear… this kid’s sharp, he’s going out with the Director’s daughter! Someone as shrewd as the Director, of course he’d give the job to family!”

Lu Xin silently looked at the commendation banner in his box, reached into his backpack, and felt the gun within.

But in the end, he did not draw it. He went downstairs first, lit a cigarette, and started walking slowly.

He thought of what Chen Jing had advised him.

Three suggestions if he ever ran into trouble in life:

The first was to call the police.

The second was to call her.

The third was to use the gun.