Simple Tent

In the office at He Ling, as soon as she entered the office, Lu Ping, who seemed to have seen a savior, invited her inside.

"Let me introduce you to everyone. This is Special Assistant Ning from the headquarters, who will be working with me on this project. Please welcome her." Lu Ping introduced Ning Zhi to the others.

Ning Zhi also confidently introduced herself to everyone.

She did so while scanning the people in the meeting room. The group was small, but she recognized most of them.

There were Li Mu and Zhang Li, and the rest were probably their subordinates.

Li Mu approached her happily and extended his hand to Ning Zhi. "Special Assistant Ning, welcome to the branch office."

"No need for such formalities. We're all here to work," Ning Zhi lightly shook Li Mu's hand and retracted. "Do you have the records? Let me take a look."

Ning Zhi did not want to engage in small talk with them.

She sized up Li Mu, noting that he was dressed decently but not extravagantly. He looked like an ordinary person.

Turning her gaze to Zhang Li, she noticed that he no longer had that unpleasant smell. It seemed like he had taken a shower. His clothes looked average, but she recognized the style, and it certainly wasn't cheap.

"Everyone, take a seat. Don't be so formal." She said as she took the main seat.

Lu Ping sat beside her and asked Li Mu to brief her on the current situation.

Ning Zhi flipped open the report, which contained information about several troublesome natives who seemed difficult to handle.

Li Mu's smile stiffened for a moment, but quickly he returned to his usual refined demeanor as he began to present.

After listening to Li Mu's presentation, Ning Zhi had a rough idea of the situation. Li Mu's side of the information was not as much as what she knew before.

She closed the documents and prepared to leave the office. "Let's go."

"Where are we going?" Lu Ping was confused. From the moment Ning Zhi came in, he had been in a daze.

Ning Zhi rolled her eyes at Lu Ping. "Where else? To the construction site!"

She glanced at everyone again and then motioned for Li Mu and Zhang Li to join her, along with their respective subordinates.

The group arrived at the construction site, and as she stepped out of the car, she looked around. It was evident that the site had been abandoned for a long time, with garbage scattered everywhere. Flies and insects buzzed around, creating a foul odor.

The smell was unbearable, and Ning Zhi wrinkled her nose, trying to fan the air in front of her, but it didn't help much.

Lu Ping couldn't bear it any longer and squatted down to vomit.

Li Mu handed her a mask, which she gratefully accepted and put on.

"Where are the people?" Ning Zhi asked, referring to the natives.

"Over there." Li Mu took the lead and pointed to the corner ahead.

Ning Zhi followed his gesture and saw several tents in the distance. Although the project had not yet reached the vicinity of these natives' homes, they had moved their families to the site to obstruct the project.

A young child, covered in dirt, crawled out from one of the tents. He looked to be around five or six years old, an age when he should be attending elementary school. However, he was now confined to this makeshift camp.

The child held a pot in his hands and ran towards the water pipe nearby.

Since the site had been abandoned for a long time, a stream of yellow water gushed out when he turned on the tap. After a while, the water gradually became clear, but the flow diminished, indicating that they had secretly connected to one of the water pipes.

Once the boy saw that the water was clear, he filled the pot. However, upon noticing Ning Zhi and her group, he got scared and accidentally dropped the pot, spilling the water all over the ground.

Hearing the commotion, a pregnant woman emerged from the same tent.

"Lil' Mu, what's wrong?" The woman was heavily pregnant.

Ning Zhi noticed that the woman discreetly glanced at Li Mu several times, and the boy kept looking shyly in Li Mu's direction.

"Special Assistant Ning, this is one of the natives. Her name is Hu Fei. That child is her eldest son, Hu Mu." Zhang Li approached and started introducing. However, as he came too close, Ning Zhi frowned and took a step back.

"She's also an unfortunate person. She has been squatting here for several months, and her belly gets bigger daily. But we haven't seen her husband," Lu Ping added.

"Hu Mu!" Hu Fei gestured for Hu Mu to come back to her side. Then, the mother and son turned around and headed back into the tent, no longer giving Ning Zhi and the others a glance.