Chapter 259: Itching For A Fight
The woman’s eyes sharpened, and for the first time, Zhenlan saw something other than exhaustion on her face. "Yes," she said. "I can build, fix, and do whatever else is needed. Probably better than any other man."
"Name?"
"Fang Lihua."
"Good." Zhenlan looked at Chenghai. "Remember her. She’s coming with us. Rouxi will get along well with her." Chenghai nodded once. He didn’t have anything to write names down on, but he could remember them.
The man with the pipe scowled. "You taking names now?"
"I am making a list," Zhenlan said. "That is different."
"It is really not."
"It is when mine gets people food... and a hot shower."
That got another reaction, smaller this time but more useful. The crowd was beginning to understand that he was not here to drag anyone forward. They would have to step forward themselves. That made the choice theirs, which meant the responsibility would be too.
Zhenlan looked back at the crowd. "Any electricians? Anyone who knows how to work solar batteries?"
For a moment, there was nothing. Then a young woman with short hair near one of the tarp shelters crossed her arms. "What kind of batteries?"
Zhenlan turned toward her. "That depends on what we can get."
"If you are using solar panels, you need charge controllers. You cannot just throw panels, batteries, and wires together and hope the house does not burn down."
Lingyun looked delighted. "I like her."
The young woman immediately looked like she regretted speaking.
Zhenlan did not let her retreat. "Name." She hesitated for a moment before an older man on a crate spoke quietly. "Qin Fen."
The young woman glared at him, but he only shrugged. "You’re the one who opened your mouth."
Zhenlan nodded. "General electrical? Like for a house"
"Some," Qin Fen muttered. "Mostly battery systems. Backup power. Small installations. But I get the same foundations as most general electricians."
"Enough to keep a house from burning down?"
She paused for a second and narrowed her eyes. "Only if the people touching it listen."
Zhenlan almost smiled at the woman’s response. "You will get along well with the owner of the house."
"No, she will not," Lingyun said happily. "But the owner might tolerate her."
Qin Fen looked at Lingyun. "Is that supposed to make me want to go?"
"No," Chenghai said. "But our... boss... is a lot like you."
The man with the pipe looked angrier now, but not because of them. His eyes moved over the crowd as if calculating who might step forward next and how much that would cost the people left behind.
"Plumbers," Zhenlan said.
An older man with a ruined knee and a face like old leather spat to the side. "People always remember plumbers after the shit backs up."
Zhenlan turned toward him. "Can you work?"
"I can tell idiots where to dig and where not to dig."
"That seems a bit useful," muttered Lingyun. "Or not? I can tell people where to dig and not to dig. It doesn’t make me right."
"I can also fix pumps, patch pipe, set drains, and tell you when your water storage plan is stupid."
"Okay," Lingyun nodded, placing a check mark beside an imaginary clipboard. "Much more useful."
The older man grunted. "Gao Shun."
"Can you walk?"
"With a stick."
"Can you travel?"
"With a vehicle."
Zhenlan nodded. "Possible."
Gao Shun narrowed his eyes. "Possible?"
"You are not the only person deciding whether this works."
For some reason, that seemed to satisfy him.
A younger man stepped forward too quickly after that. "I can weld."
Chenghai looked at his hands. "No."
The man froze. "What?"
"You are lying."
"I can weld."
"You have never held a torch for more than ten minutes."
The man flushed. "You cannot know that."
Chenghai stepped closer, his eyes narrowing on the man. "Your hands are too wrong for someone claiming to be able to weld."
The man looked down at them, which was the worst thing he could have done.
Lingyun smiled. "Mulch. I’ll put him down as mulch." The smile on his face had the liar step back so fast he nearly tripped over someone’s foot.
Zhenlan did not bother stopping him. It was better that everyone sees what happened to liars now, before one of them lied their way into Rouxi’s yard and became a feeding demonstration.
Knowing Rouxi, there will be plenty of those demonstrations without his help.
The man with the pipe watched the exchange, then looked at Chenghai with more respect than before. "You can tell?"
"Of course," Chenghai replied with a snort.
"Every trade?"
"No."
"Then how do you know he was lying?"
"He looked too eager. Plus there were no burn marks on his hands. Who welds without burning themselves at least once?"
Zhenlan agreed. Desperate people could still be eager, but the useful ones were cautious. They knew what their skills were worth. They also knew what admitting those skills could cost them.
"Welders," Zhenlan repeated.
This time, no one rushed forward. After a long moment, a broad-shouldered woman sitting near the side of a shelter lifted one hand. "I did metal gates. Railings. Security bars. Some vehicle frames."
"Name?"
"Luo Qing."
Lingyun’s eyes brightened. "Security bars sound promising."
"They are," Zhenlan said.
Luo Qing looked him up and down. "You actually have food?"
"Yes."
"How much?"
"Enough to feed workers."
"That is not an answer."
"It is the only one you are getting here."
She stared at him for a few seconds, then laughed. "Better than a command, I guess."
The man with the pipe looked at her. "Qing."
She shrugged. "What? At least he is rude to my face."
That seemed to break something loose in the crowd. It wasn’t trust, they were far from the general population trusting Zhenlan and them, but the first layer of fear shifted into calculation, and calculation was something Zhenlan could work with.
People began speaking in low voices. A brother who knew roofing but had a fever. A cousin who had worked in appliance repair. A grandfather who could lay brick but could not lift heavy materials anymore. A teenager who knew engines but might steal anything not nailed down.
Zhenlan listened, sorted, dismissed, and marked possibilities in his head while Chenghai watched hands and Lingyun watched faces.
Commander Li remained quiet beside them, and that was probably the most useful thing he had done since they entered the outer section.
Then a soldier’s voice cut through the murmuring from behind them.
"What is going on here?"
Zhenlan turned.
Two soldiers stood at the end of the path, and neither belonged to Commander Li’s team. One had his rifle held too high for a casual question. The other looked at Fang Lihua, Qin Fen, Gao Shun, and Luo Qing like he already knew their names.
That was mildly inconvenient.
The man with the pipe stepped back half a pace, not in fear, but in warning.
The first soldier’s eyes moved to Commander Li and hesitated before landing on Zhenlan. "Civilians from this section are not permitted to leave without work authorization."
Lingyun smiled as Chenghai’s shoulders dropped.
Zhenlan looked at the four possible recruits, then at the soldiers blocking the path.
Of course.
They had found useful people.
Which meant someone was about to try taking them.
Oh well... he was itching for a fight anyway.
