Xie Ning was truly angry now.
Ever since the apocalypse began, she had actually been cultivating her temperament and was quite good-natured.
When she encountered those insufferable relatives, she would mostly just watch them with a cold gaze, never wasting her breath on them.
But now, these clueless people had truly provoked her!
Half an hour later, Base Chief Zhang Defan rushed over, his head beaded with sweat.
He spotted Xie Ning in the crowd at a single glance.
The young woman was too eye-catching!
Despite having a clean, makeup-free face, she was so beautiful that it was hard to look away.
She was holding a parasol, sitting in a chair with a backrest.
She just lifted her eyes and gave him a cold look, and in that instant, even an old fox like Base Chief Zhang couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine.
The chair had been brought out by the mall manager. Next to it was a small table with several chilled drinks meant for VIPs.
"Miss Xie, I presume? I heard that..."
"Base Chief, don’t give me that bureaucratic nonsense. I’m not buying it." Xie Ning didn’t even give him a chance to finish, cutting him off with a raised hand and a cold voice. "Your base issued the points. Now you’re telling me you don’t have enough goods? What’s the meaning of this? Are you trying to go back on your word?"
"No, no, that’s not it." Zhang Defan’s face instantly burned with shame.
"While the food in the base isn’t critically scarce yet, if you redeem all one million points for food supplies at once, Miss Xie, it will be very difficult for everyone else in the base for the next couple of days..."
"And I should care why?" Xie Ning cut in coldly, her tone deceptively calm and her words light.
"My entire family is about to be kicked out of the base. If I don’t redeem these points now, when will I?" Xie Ning shook the flyer in her hand. "Convert all of it into food. I don’t want anything else."
"No, no, that’s not it! Miss Xie, please listen to me, no one is kicking you out of the base!" Zhang Defan was now growing frantic.
Ten minutes ago, his subordinate had reported that Dr. Yu was leaving the base with someone. He nearly had a heart attack and almost passed out on the spot...
Without a heaven-sent genius like Dr. Yu, how would they ever cultivate the vegetables in the base’s greenhouses?
Besides, Dr. Yu’s medical skills were superb. Keeping him at the base was a huge asset!
Did he, Zhang Defan, still want to live a good life?
Did the base still want to have sustainable development?
"Miss Xie, this is all a misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding?" Xie Ning scoffed. "We were just trying to have a nice day at the mall, and we get accosted by troublemakers just walking around the base, then surrounded and stared at like monkeys in a zoo."
"Base Chief Zhang, how could we dare to stay in a poorly managed base like this?"
"You indulge your subordinates, who can’t tell right from wrong, and they immediately try to interrogate us with torture. What great power you have, how impressive! You think a little bit of authority in your hands means you can boss everyone around like you’re their father, is that it?"
"No, no, no, I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare." Zhang Defan’s face was beet red from the scolding.
Seeing this, Zhang Biyun shouted through her tears, "H-haven’t you had enough? You’re in the right, but why must you be so unforgiving? Dad already told you it was a misunderstanding."
"Shut up!" Xie Ning turned and shot the woman a glare so sharp it felt like it could rip a person to shreds.
It instantly frightened Zhang Biyun into silence, unable to even cry.
Zhang Defan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief, then turned and roared at Wang Ao, "Wang Ao! Look at this mess you’ve made! Get your ass over here right now and apologize to Miss Xie! Beg for her forgiveness!"
Captain Wang was completely numb.
’How was I supposed to know this Xie Ning would be so difficult?’ He was filled with a deep sense of regret. ’If only I hadn’t tried to take them back to the City Defense Team, none of this would have happened. But she’s just too reckless and impulsive. If she had just obediently come back with us, how could I have been forced into this situation?’
Cold sweat streamed down Captain Wang’s face.
It was the middle of summer, yet a chill pierced him to the core.
Xie Ning raised her hand. "Don’t play these games with me, Base Chief Zhang. I’ll make myself clear. Over the next two days, convert all my points into food. Don’t be short by a single point."
Clutching his chest, Captain Wang scrambled to his feet in a panic and bowed low, his face a mask of humiliation. "Miss Xie, it... it was my fault. I didn’t understand the situation and acted rashly against you. I’m sorry. I sincerely apologize."
The moment Captain Wang apologized, a wave of shock rippled through the crowd of onlookers.
The way everyone looked at Xie Ning’s family was now different, as if they were staring at a group of menacing overlords.
Those few who had been tailing them earlier were now so panicked they wished they could drop to their knees.
’Just how many heads did we think we had, to dare and provoke such a powerful figure without an ounce of fear?’
"Miss Xie, Captain Wang has already apologized. Can we consider this matter settled now?"
Zhang Biyun’s words made Xie Ning laugh.
Everyone watched as the young woman lifted her gaze, her lips curling into a cold, thin smile as she scoffed.
"You apologize, and I’m supposed to immediately accept it?"
"Is that you, Miss Zhang, trying to tell me what to do?"
"Do you think you’re qualified?"
"Who do you think you are?"
"You’re just hiding behind the big mountain that is your father."
"Don’t you dare order me around. I’m not buying what you’re selling."
"And don’t cry! Your tears are useless on me. Put away that frail, delicate damsel act. I don’t want to see it."
In the crowd, the neighbors from Song Family Pavilion who were watching the drama unfold also felt like they could kneel before Miss Xie.
Only now did Zhong Shichong and his sister realize just how good-tempered Xie Ning had truly been with them!
It was probably out of respect for her grandparents that she, while not exactly warm, had been incredibly patient with the group of neighbors from Song Family Pavilion.
Zhang Biyun stood frozen on the spot, her face stiff and blurred with tears.
"I had no idea Captain Wang was capable of such a performance." Gu Chen’s deep voice, tinged with a hint of coldness, carried from a distance.
The crowd hastily parted again, scurrying to the sides like frightened quails.
"Captain Wang, is your memory poor? Should I remind you?"
"On September 24th, during the supply run at the docks outside the base, it was Miss Xie who cut through the mess and saved you all. Are you repaying kindness with enmity so soon?"
Wang Ao’s face alternated between green and purple. Feeling the curious gazes from all around, he wished a hole would open up in the ground and swallow him.
"If we had known Captain Wang was so ungrateful, we’d realize saving you was a waste of effort."
Wang Ao kept his head down, not daring to make a sound. Zhang Biyun silently shed tears, casting a pitiful, aggrieved look in Gu Chen’s direction.
But Gu Chen wouldn’t even spare her a glance from the corner of his eye. He walked straight to Xie Ning’s side and took the flyer she was shaking in her hand. "Base Chief, just prepare the supplies on this list. Ningning will be returning to the Capital with us. We leave in two days."
Xie Ning tilted her head and glanced at him.
He gave her a happy smile.
’God knows how happy I am to hear such great news upon entering the base. Ningning is actually moving out of the Lanshan Lake Base! This is truly fantastic news!’