Chapter 153
Editor: Sahloknir
When Shi Qing arrived, Song Xiabing was looking down from above at the people coming to receive food.
They were all people from the orphanage.
Those running orphanages even in the apocalypse were definitely 100% good-hearted people. After all, it was hard even for adults to survive now, nevermind taking care of those children.
There were many orphans right now. The majority had lost both parents, but a minority were abandoned by their parents and either found their way to the orphanage or were sent there by good samaritans.
Although everyone knows that these orphans were the future hope of mankind, not everyone had the luxury to care when they couldn’t even fill their own stomachs.
There was even a time in the past where people resorted to cannibalism. A notable number of victims were orphans like these.
That trend only stopped when the major bases joined hands and executed every cannibal they found for a period of time.
But even so, the orphans’ lives were still fraught with hardship.
Some were already out searching for work at the tender age of seven or eight. However, many were too young to work at the time when they needed food most.
And now, Song Xiabing has donated all this food in Shi Qing’s name.
Of course, he didn’t just do this purely to spite the man. This could be seen by how he didn’t just throw Shi Qing’s food out. Instead, he donated the twenty percent that belonged to him.
Although he was always angry with how Shi Qing put himself first, Song Xiabing was well aware of what would happen if he had really given out all of the grain.
Shi Qing wouldn’t just get angry, he would fight Song Xiabing to the death.
But Shi Qing couldn’t beat him, and he couldn’t bear to beat Shi Qing. What if he ended up driving the man to suicide?
Song Xiabing had barely managed to placate Shi Qing into a stalemate before.
So although he was angry, he had to be even-handed when venting his frustrations. Besides, giving out twenty percent was more than enough.
The people from the orphanage were so grateful they didn’t know what to say. Along with the kids, they kowtowed repeatedly towards him.
Song Xiabing didn’t like to see this. He asked them to get up before seating himself comfortably in Shi Qing’s tigerskin-carpet draped chair, watching them carry the grain away.
“Song Xiabing!!!”
From a distance, the angry roar of the Blazing Thunder boss could be heard.
Song Xiabing already expected his anger. He shouted down to the ma.s.ses, “Everyone, you don’t need to thank me! I was just following orders. The person who told me to donate all this food to the children is our Blazing Thunder’s boss, Shi Qing! If you want to thank someone, go thank him!!”
The orphanage and the children at the bottom instantly bombarded Shi Qng with a chorus of grat.i.tude.
“Thank you so much. You saved our lives.”
“There aren’t many people nowadays who would donate life-saving supplies like this. Mr. Shi Qing, you really are a very, very good person, ah.”
The man stormed over in a rage, but all these people thanking him made him take pause. For a moment, he didn’t know whether he should continue being angry or not.
Song Xiabing deliberately stoked the flames. He raised his voice again, “Everyone, our boss Shi Qing has always said that we should never let the children suffer no matter what hard times we fall upon. After the apocalypse came, he endured many hardships to found Blazing Thunder. But he couldn’t bear to see the children suffering around him. After all, our lives might all be difficult now, but children are our hope for the future! Without them, the extinction of humanity is not far off.”
“Who here agrees with our boss, Shi Qing?!”
The people below him, whether they were people from the orphanage, people from the base who came to watch, or Blazing Thunder’s little brothers, all shouted in unison, “Well said!!!”
“Blazing Thunder is so benevolent, ah.”
“I really didn’t expect the boss of Blazing Thunder to have such foresight.”
“What a good person, ah.”
Song Xiabing’s lips curled up even higher when he heard all the compliments from below.
He was going to put Shi Qing on such a high pedestal that he wouldn’t be able to find a single justification to be angry.
Shi Qing must be oh so frustrated right now.
As he should.
It’s about time that heartless man got to experience the same things he felt all this time.
The thought made Song Xiabing feel a little better.
He looked at Shi Qing next to him with a bit of smugness, intending to savour the pained yet stifled look in his eyes.
But his smile cracked as soon as he looked over.
The previously furious man now had a wide grin on his face after taking in how many people were praising him.
With his chest puffed out and his head held high, it was like the man wanted to proclaim to the world: “That’s right, I’m that good person! I’m the one you’re all praising!”
Shi Qing had a smug little smile on his face as he gestured humbly for the crowd to settle down.
“Everyone doesn’t need to praise me like this. Actually, this one surnamed Shi didn’t do anything truly remarkable. I just happen to be softhearted like this. It’s fine if I endure hardship, but children are innocent, ah! They are the hope of our country! I understand that many have too many problems on their plates to care for these babes right now, but—sigh. Laozi’s heart bleeds every time I see a kid starve, you know? I had to do something to clear my conscience. That’s what life’s all about.”
Song Xiabing “…”
Ah, that’s right.
Shi Qing liked it when others praised him.
Who knew how ecstatic he was right now.
Shi Qing was still blabbering on, “I did this for the sake of this country and everyone because I’m a really good person etc.”.
However, because of his lack of cla.s.s, his words were a bit all over the place.
A particularly sharp minded little brother noticed this and quickly approached while pretending he was retrieving something. Then he dove under the table.
“Boss, I’ll help you think of things to say. Just repeat after me.”
Song Xiabing took a deep breath as the man beside him got more and more into his little act.
But he had to admit that Shi Qing was pretty cute like this.
That little brother wasn’t too bad of an orator.
“Everyone needn’t applaud me. I didn’t do this for the recognition. I just saw that there were some things that had to be done and I was the right person to do them. This one surnamed Shi is, sigh. Kind isn’t the right word to describe me. How about…”
Before the little brother could think of a word, Shi Qing continued on his own. “Whatever. Laozi isn’t that cultured, so ‘kind’ will do. But really, you guys don’t need to thank me. Just take the grain home and stay healthy. Danger’s around every corner these days, not to mention the mutated beasts. We humans need to come together! We need to raise our little babes right!”
“Even if we can’t win in our lifetime, the next generation will take up the mantle! And every generation after that too!”
“Yes!!!”
Loud applause and cheers immediately came from below again.
Some people were genuinely moved, while others were purely there to support Shi Qing no matter what.
Shi Qing nodded like he was the kind hearted samaritan some of them were imagining. He shouted,
“Since you’re all gathered here already, I’d like to make an announcement! Our Blazing Thunder is open for recruitment again! I’m sure there’s no need to mention the benefits. Everyone who can fight, whether they be ability users or ordinary people, are welcome! I know that we aren’t as strong as those monsters outside if we fight alone, but that’s why we have to work together!! We’ll kill them all!! So! Anyone who’s interested, come to our Blazing Thunder and sign up!!”
By giving away so much food this time, Blazing Thunder was basically shouting from the rooftops ‘we’re so rich and well stocked’. After Shi Qing’s proclamation, many were immediately moved and went straight to sign up with the Blazing Thunder personnel.
Song Xiabing was expressionless.
He had come to give those grains out to spite Shi Qing.
But things managed to backfire. That shameless guy Shi Qing basically switched from furious to elated in the blink of an eye just because he was praised.
He even took the opportunity to advertise for Blazing Thunder.
Now that Blazing Thunder had made a name for itself by giving food away and quickly recruited so many new members, it was only a matter of time before Shi Qing’s faction would control this base.
This guy….
Sometimes he seems to only have one brain cell, but other times he’s a brainiac.
This utter b.a.s.t.a.r.d made Song Xiabing gnash his teeth.
“Song-ge…”
This little brother followed Song Xiabing back from the Song family. He was the son of one of his pre-apocalypse subordinates. Noting the ugly expression on his boss’ face, he carefully asked, “Are you alright?”
He was one of Song Xiabing’s men, so of course he knew why Song Xiabing had given away the grain earlier.
Their Song-ge was clearly trying to p.i.s.s off Shi-ge.
But Shi-ge wasn’t angry at all. In fact, he couldn’t be happier.
This little brother was afraid that Song-ge would be the one exploding instead.
“I’m fine, why wouldn’t I be? Doesn’t he like grain? Call the others. We’ll head out in a bit. I heard that there’s a granary to the west of the base that’s been abandoned due to the zombies in the surrounding area. We’ll be taking that for ourselves. Not a single grain will go to Shi Qing. Everything will be stored in our own warehouses.”
Since Shi Qing liked grains, Song Xiabing would have him experience what it was like to have grain in front of him that he could never obtain.
The little brother hastily agreed and went down to a.s.semble the troops.
Song Xiabing did not have many subordinates.
But it wouldn’t matter. Actually, someone as broken as him could probably get the job done by himself.
While Song Xiabing was coldly smiling, Shi Qing sauntered over.
He chuckled, an openly pleased expression on his handsome face. His fiery red tail was swaying to and fro in a clearly happy motion.
“Did you see that?”
Shi Qing casually sat by Song Xiabing’s side. The excited look on his face had not yet faded as he exclaimed with a slight touch of smugness, “They are all praising me.”
His big, fiery red tail spun round and round, eventually coming before the young man.
“You’ve done well this time. I’ll let you touch it as a reward.”
Song Xiabing gave him a suspicious look before reaching out for a gentle touch.
Because he barely made contact, Shi Qing didn’t feel much either. He even shot Song Xiabing a c.o.c.ky grin.
Seeing this, Song Xiabing couldn’t help but smile as well.
Shi Qing…is so cute, ah.
[Ding! Song Xiabing’s animosity value: 50/100]
The little brother ran over. He was just about to report that everyone had been notified when heard their Song-ge say, “Boss, if you like hearing them praise you, I’ll lead a team out to search for grain in the afternoon. You can donate everything I bring back.”
The little brother: “???”
The little brother: “…”
Love…is so hard to comprehend sometimes.