Chapter 89: Jiang Yan’s Whereabouts Exposed

“Damn it! They’ve got us doing this grunt work, searching for supplies—if this isn’t a waste of talent, what is?! All day long, it’s just one mess after another! What was the point of going to a top university for all those years?”

“If this isn’t a classic case of wasted talent, then what is?!” Liu Junsheng reached out to help Zhao Ziyi secure the inflatable boat, all the while venting his frustrations.

Hearing his complaints, Zhao Ziyi couldn’t help but laugh and teased,

“Come on, Liu, listen to yourself. Your IQ’s up there, but your EQ’s lagging behind! If someone overheard you, wouldn’t you be embarrassing your alma mater? At a time like this, who cares if you’re a top university grad?”

“You know as well as I do that after these two disasters, the authorities suffered heavy losses. There’s a severe shortage of both manpower and supplies—everyone’s been mobilized, get it?!”

“It doesn’t matter if you graduated from a top university, or even the ‘Galactic University of the Universe’—without food, we’ll all starve soon enough, you know? We can’t just sit in an office nine-to-five and collect a paycheck like before.”

“At least we’ve still got the authorities backing us up. Otherwise, judging by all those corpses we saw along the way, one of them could’ve been us!”

“Zhao Ziyi, you little brat, you’re in no position to lecture me! Who are you cursing, huh?” Liu Junsheng’s temper flared instantly.

Zhao Ziyi was getting impatient too, his voice rising,

“Liu Junsheng, just because I call you ‘brother’ doesn’t mean you can act like this! If you’ve got complaints, take them up with the higher-ups!”

“You’re busy all day—do you think Sister Qi and I are just sitting around? And what’s with you complaining to us the whole way? We’re not your emotional dumping ground, you know!”

After rattling this off, Zhao Ziyi grabbed the big coil of rescue rope, slung it over his arm, and with a splash, jumped into the water.

“You—!”

Liu Junsheng shot him a vicious glare, hesitated for a moment at the knotted rope on the boat, then finally gritted his teeth, grabbed a life ring, and jumped in after him.

At last, everything outside fell quiet.

Jiang Yan replayed their conversation in her mind, guessing that the authorities were probably already setting up a temporary base.

But it sounded like things were a bit chaotic internally.

Not that this was her main concern.

She glanced around the current office area, then headed deeper inside.

Generally speaking, the further inside you go in an office area, the more important the department and position.

She planned to find a spot here to rest for the night.

As for those people outside, they didn’t seem like bad guys. Even if they came in, she could just hide in her space to avoid them.

She’d originally thought about using this chance to ask them about the official base, but on second thought, since they’d already guessed someone broke the window and hadn’t seen any boats, it’d be hard for her to explain herself.

Even if she was in full diving gear, it’d be hard to justify why she came here instead of going somewhere with more supplies nearby.

Forget it. After being alone for so long, the last thing she wanted was to waste time explaining herself to others.

She’d rather use that time to get some rest.

With that, Jiang Yan continued deeper inside.

She’d already turned off her flashlight when she saw the inflatable boat earlier, and now, to avoid being discovered, she kept it off.

Luckily, it was about six or seven in the evening outside.

Although there was no sunlight and the light was dim, it wasn’t so dark that she couldn’t see her hand in front of her face.

Jiang Yan soon spotted a room labeled “General Manager’s Office,” but the door was closed.

She tried the handle, but it wouldn’t open.

With people downstairs and her plan to use this place as her base for the night, she didn’t want to force the door open.

Looking around, she noticed a partitioned desk outside the office, with a blue nameplate reading “General Manager’s Secretary.”

Jiang Yan’s brows relaxed and she quickly walked over.

The desk was tidy, with only a computer, a calculator, and two blue file trays filled with various documents and books.

She rummaged through the trays but found nothing useful.

Looking down, she spotted a three-drawer cabinet. With a thought, she took out a screwdriver.

These employee cabinets were usually low quality, and the locks even worse.

With just a bit of force—*click*—the lock popped open.

Inside, as expected, was a bunch of keys of various sizes, and a loose room key.

She picked them up and saw one was labeled “General Manager.”

Jiang Yan’s eyes lit up. She quietly closed the drawer, glanced at the entrance to the employee area, and quickly unlocked the office door.

She slipped inside and locked the door behind her.

Only then did she take a good look at the room.

It was about thirty square meters, with a solid wood desk and a black leather executive chair. On the wall behind the desk hung a reproduction of a landscape painting, giving the room a grand feel.

The feng shui was good, facing south.

Directly in front of the desk was a large floor-to-ceiling window.

Next to the window were two sets of leather sofas for guests, with a huanghuali wood tea table in between.

From the window, she could see the spot where those people had docked their boat.

Opposite the entrance was a display shelf with a solid wood section about two meters wide, the rest filled with elegant gifts and antique books.

There was also a fridge, a standing air conditioner, and several ornate ceramic planters that once held large green plants, now all dead.

A pile of dead leaves lay on the carpet.

Jiang Yan had just finished surveying the room when a blaring loudspeaker sounded outside:

“Attention, citizens! Attention, citizens!

Disasters are merciless, but people have compassion! Anming has established a temporary base. Anyone wishing to go, please make all necessary preparations!

Official boats will soon be picking up citizens along the way! Please spread the word and get ready in advance!”

“Attention, citizens…”

The loudspeaker repeated, getting closer and closer.

Jiang Yan raised her eyebrows slightly.

She couldn’t see what was happening outside and was considering whether to hide in her space, when the loudspeaker suddenly cut off. Then she heard a slightly hoarse young man’s voice:

“Sister Qi, the footprints end here, but that girl should be in this room.” It was Song Qian.

Zhao Ziyi said, “Brother Song Qian, how do you know it’s a girl?”

“Size 36 shoes—unless it’s a special case, that’s almost always a girl. But she’s strong—the glass at the entrance, she probably smashed it with one blow.

What I’m curious about is why she only took the in-date medicine and didn’t touch any of the food.”

Jiang Yan froze, then realized what had happened.

After coming out of the water, her shoes were wet.

The stairs and corridors were dry, and since no one had cleaned for ages, the floor was probably dusty.

With the low temperature and damp air, her footprints wouldn’t dry quickly.

Looking at it now, her movements had actually been quite easy to track."