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Chapter 56 This is the significance of the Survey Corps

For the next two days, Jiang Yu's life proceeded in an orderly and uneventful manner.

Every morning, I would ride my bike to take my younger sister to school, then go to work, and then wander around the streets and alleys of Binhai City with Zhang Wei, sticking out detectors everywhere...

You can easily walk tens of thousands of steps a day.

Nagi has still not returned.

Lin Wei told me that she is recovering well and does not need to go to the hospital.

She'll be able to start work next week.

Jiang Yu and Zhang Wei have had no problems with their internship these past two days.

It's just that it's not natural to be with Nagi Hikari.

I'm probably more casual when talking to the goldfish master.

When interacting with a senior like Zhang Wei, it's important to be mindful of boundaries when making jokes or conversations.

However, I've gotten along quite well with Zhao Mingyuan these past two days.

Jiang Yu now understood why he had "ambushed" Zhou Zhu and Zhang Yang during the physical examination.

Zhao Mingyuan's original words were, "I was judging them at the time."

It's a lawyer's occupational hazard to want to uphold justice when they see injustice.

That's why they applied the rain and dew equally, giving everyone a fair share of the blame.

Jiang Yu initially thought the older brother was joking when he heard this.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Mingyuan is truly "fair".

Just like that day when the three of them ate beef noodles, he thought the beef noodles tasted very authentic.

So when I paid the bill, I gave the proprietress an extra 10 yuan.

He said you get what you pay for, and you must never let bad money drive out good.

The proprietress was selling the noodles too cheaply, so he gave her an extra 10 yuan to support her business.

Yesterday at noon, the three of them went to eat at Lanzhou.

Zhao Mingyuan ordered a large plate of chicken over rice, but there was very little chicken.

When it came time to pay the bill, he not only refused to pay the owner, but also demanded 50 yuan as compensation for emotional distress.

In the end, the two sides almost came to blows, and Zhang Wei called the boss out alone and said something to him.

Unexpectedly, the boss actually admitted defeat and paid 50 yuan.

Jiang Yu was very curious about how Zhang Wei had managed to do it.

However, Zhang Wei, as the master, really dotes on his apprentice Zhao Mingyuan.

Perhaps it's a case of "misery loves company".

As for work…

I haven't encountered a single "red monster" in the past few days.

Once the detector is activated, it will definitely be given the green light.

No abnormalities were observed.

The repetitive rhythm of this work is too numbing.

Jiang Yu felt like he was playing a claw machine every day.

You never know if you'll succeed next time.

But each time you insert a coin, it consumes your physical strength, energy, and anticipation.

He recalled his previous assessment of the inspection team: "Anyone with hands can do it."

What do you mean, "anyone with hands can do it"?

I'm realizing this is really hard work!

This kind of repetitive, low-level work is incredibly satisfying for people with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

But it was very painful for Jiang Yu.

From childhood to adulthood, what he hated most was meaningless repetition.

Zhang Wei smiled and comforted Jiang Yu and Zhao Mingyuan about the fact that they hadn't found anything in the past two days.

"That's how the inspection team works; 99% of the time they're doing useless work."

"You could spend a whole day, a week, or even a month searching and still not find a single unusual structure or object."

"But you can't stop running just because you can't find anything."

"Because you never know what you'll encounter in the next operation."

This is the significance of the Survey Corps' existence.

If you don't go out and investigate, where will you get "currently publicly available intelligence"?

Just like fishermen who go out to sea to fish every day.

You know there are fish in the sea, but you'll never know if you'll catch any if you don't cast your net.

You may return empty-handed many times.

But as long as you manage to hit it once, all the previous empty-handed efforts won't have been in vain.

Of course, fishermen catch fish to make money.

They work to earn a salary.

From this perspective, returning empty-handed isn't such a big deal.

Anyway, the salary will still be paid.

This explains why Jiang Yu complained about how boring his work was, but never thought about striking.

Who would turn down money?

……

Around 1 p.m.

The three had just finished inspecting the buildings in the designated area.

Zhang Wei parked his car under the shade of a tree, took out his thermos, took a sip of water, and then leaned back in his seat to doze off.

Zhao Mingyuan took out his phone to play Minesweeper during his lunch break.

Jiang Yu's phone suddenly vibrated.

He took it out and looked at it…

[Class 7-3 Parent Communication Group]

This is one of the many parent groups that have appeared on his phone.

It's supposed to be a parents' group, but it's actually for the homeroom teachers.

This group is usually very quiet, with only the homeroom teacher, Wang Li, occasionally sending out notices.

But there were a lot of messages in the group today.

Dozens of messages were posted in just a few minutes.

Jiang Yu clicked on the link and saw that the parents were discussing the afternoon's parent-teacher meeting.

Some asked about the time, some about the location, and some asked if they could arrive early...

[Teacher Wang: @All members, good afternoon, parents. This afternoon's parent-teacher meeting will start promptly at 3:00 PM. Please arrange your time accordingly and do not be late! If you have special circumstances preventing you from attending, please contact me privately in advance to request leave. The meeting will be held in Classroom 3, Grade 7 on the third floor of the teaching building. Please sign the attendance sheet upon arrival. Thank you for your cooperation!]

[Chen Zihan's mother: Received, thank you Teacher Wang! (heart emoji)]

[Sun Peng's father: Received!]

[Liu Jinliang's mother: Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Wang!]

[Zhao Yuxuan's father: Received!]

[Li Siqi's mother: Received!]

……

The rest of the message was a uniform "Received".

Jiang Yu looked at the "received" messages, but he didn't spam the screen.

Because he didn't intend to go.

Just as he was about to put his phone back, a private message popped up on WeChat.

It was sent by our homeroom teacher, Wang Li.

[Teacher Wang: Hello, could you come earlier to help today?]

Jiang Yu looked through his chat history with Teacher Wang.

He is "normal" and always goes to school in advance to help set up the classroom before each parent-teacher meeting.

Moving tables, arranging chairs, wiping the blackboard...

Hanging banners, helping teachers print attendance sheets, guiding other parents to their seats at the classroom door...

He looks like a volunteer.

But it's all for his younger sister, which is understandable.

He hoped the teacher would take better care of his younger sister in class.

I hope the teacher will put my younger sister in a good seat when assigning seats…

I hope the teacher can give my sister a chance to perform when selecting class officers…

Therefore, "he" had to appear more proactive, enthusiastic, and easy to talk to in front of the teacher.

It can be seen as both flattery and a transaction.

They used their own labor to earn "special attention" from the teacher for their younger sister.

It's the same principle as parents praising teachers and giving them gifts during holidays.

Jiang Yu, being "normal," was well-versed in this approach and executed it very well.

But Jiang Yu is "abnormal" now.

Moreover, he now has a job and is busy earning money to support his family.

He doesn't have time to waste on setting up tables and chairs.

Why bother with those pointless parent-teacher meetings?

He quickly typed on the screen to reply to the other person's message.

Jiang Yu: I'm sorry, Teacher Wang, I have work to do this afternoon and can't help you.

[Teacher Wang: It's alright, it's alright. I didn't know you found a job. Finding a job is important. Will you still be able to come to the parent-teacher conference?]

Jiang Yu was about to reply "No"...

At that moment, a text message came from an unknown number.

"Brother! You absolutely have to come to the parent-teacher conference!!! (Ｔ▽Ｔ)"

"This was sent using Chen Zihan's phone!!!"

"I left my phone with the teacher; you promised to get it back for me!"

"And we also have to be at this parent-teacher conference. There seems to be a part that requires us to be with the parents. Please don't leave me alone!"

Please!!!

Jiang Yu read the messages and remained silent for two seconds.

He switched back to Wang Li's dialog box and deleted the "cannot" he had typed.

Jiang Yu: I can come.

Teacher Wang: Okay, see you then!

Jiang Yu put away his phone.

Although...

He really didn't want to go to the parent-teacher conference.

As an orphan, he had never had such an experience.

What's more, he was the one attending parent-teacher conferences for other people.

Let an orphan participate in this kind of activity...

What's the difference between this and handing out wedding candy at a crematorium?

Jiang Yu was starting to get a headache.

He didn't know what to do when he sat in the classroom later...

I wonder what kind of expression he should make when the teacher is speaking on stage...

I'm wondering if I should talk to the teacher privately after the parent-teacher conference...

From childhood to adulthood, Jiang Yu has never had the trouble of his parents being called in by teachers.

When he makes a mistake, the teacher doesn't dare to mention anything related to his parents, for fear of hurting his "weak" heart.

Jiang Yu used this buff to have a great time during his student years.

Aside from the incident of being admitted to a mental hospital.

It's a pity that he has to go to his sister's parent-teacher conference now.

Hey…

If I don't go, will my sister lose face in front of her classmates?

Everyone else has their parents go, but she doesn't. Will she feel bad about that?

Fine, I'll go then.

Thinking of this, Jiang Yu looked at Zhang Wei.

"Brother Zhang, something urgent comes up. I need to attend my sister's parent-teacher conference, but I'll be right back, is that alright?"

"Okay, go ahead. It's not a big deal. We'll just keep strolling around this afternoon anyway. Just make sure you're back before you get off work," Zhang Wei replied casually.

The inspection team has quite a lot of freedom.

Jiang Yu was very satisfied with this.

"Thanks, Brother Zhang, I'll be back soon!"

After saying goodbye to Zhang Wei and Zhao Mingyuan, Jiang Yu hailed a ride-hailing car and headed straight for No. 11 Middle School.