Chapter 91 Recruiting

At that time, Madam Rao and her son, Rao Junyu, were eating plain porridge and side dishes. The simple fare made the young master frown repeatedly. Hearing that the group from the Hotel had come up, he furrowed his brows and tossed his bowl aside. "What are they doing coming up all of a sudden?"

Madam Rao saw his wasteful behavior; normally, she wouldn't have even spared it a glance, but now...

The visitor said, "They say they have something important to discuss with Madam."

"Let's go and take a look." Madam Rao's expression darkened as if she had thought of something. She put down her chopsticks, stood up, called for the Bodyguards, and headed out.

The person in charge of the Hotel was a middle-aged man in his forties, surnamed Wen, named Wen Jianhua. Usually, everyone called him Manager Wen.

The two parties met across a half-open iron gate. There weren't many people on either side. The Hotel group consisted of over ten people, while the Rao Family only sent the mother and son along with two inseparable Bodyguards. The two Bodyguards were dressed in black and held black umbrellas; others couldn't tell who was carrying a gun just by looking at them. This sense of the unknown kept people from acting rashly.

As soon as they met, Wen Jianhua shared the news that a woman had come up from the foot of the mountain with a gun last night and entered the Villa Area. This news stunned both mother and son; the Villa Area's Patrol Team had not spotted her last night.

Seeing their stunned expressions, Wen Jianhua couldn't tell for a moment if they were being genuine or just acting. He made a gesturing motion, indicating he wanted to step aside to speak with Madam Rao privately.

A look of confusion appeared on Rao Junyu's still somewhat youthful face. He wondered why it felt like The one surnamed Wen and his mother had suddenly become so familiar.

No one knew what the two discussed; they only knew that after a brief conversation, they both stepped back and departed.

"Mom, what did The one surnamed Wen want with us?"

"I'll tell you later. For now, send someone to find that woman. Once she's found, don't act rashly; invite her to the villa first. I want to talk to her." Madam Rao glanced at her somewhat impatient son, ignored his question, and instead gave instructions to the Bodyguards nearby.

Thus, while Bai Xiao was tidying up in the living room, someone came knocking at her door.

The Rao Family's villa was in the last row. This row of detached villas formed its own cluster, distinct from the smaller ones in front. These were clearly larger, with three floors, and the interior decor was understated yet luxurious, exuding an air of great expense everywhere. It was completely different from the rental villa where Bai Xiao was staying.

When Bai Xiao arrived, she was wearing only a black waterproof hardshell jacket set paired with matching wading boots. Her attire was completely out of place with the luxurious decor here.

Inside the villa's hall, there was only a black-clad Bodyguard standing by the door. Other than him, there was only a middle-aged woman. Bai Xiao thought this person must be the owner of the villa who had invited her.

The woman wore a sand-colored cashmere knit sweater paired with gray wide-leg pants. The pants had an excellent drape, with layers of folds gathering at her ankles. She sat poised on a moon-white leather sofa, appearing quiet and gentle.

Seeing that Bai Xiao was such a young girl who looked like she couldn't even lift a chicken, with rainwater still dripping from her jacket onto the light-colored carpet beneath her feet, the woman showed no sign of disdain or surprise. Instead, she stood up gracefully and reached out her hand. "I heard from Old Wen that a delicate girl like you actually managed to wade here from the city alone. Truly impressive."

Before Bai Xiao could answer, she continued warmly, "I should have visited you personally, but since I didn't know where you were staying, I had to send people to search house by house. Please don't take offense at the liberty of inviting you over like this."

Bai Xiao didn't know her intentions; she only felt the woman before her was kind and gentle, but perhaps excessively so. "It's fine."

The woman didn't mind her bluntness and coldness at all, remaining as friendly as ever. "My name is Qian Shumin. My husband's family name is Rao, so people usually call me Madam Rao. You're about the same age as my daughter, so just call me Auntie Qian. How should I address you?"

Bai Xiao just smiled and declined politely, "Madam Rao is too kind. My name is Bai Xiao. Please speak plainly if there's something you wish to say."

Madam Rao had intended to pat her shoulder affectionately to tell her not to be so formal, but seeing that she was covered in water, she discreetly lowered her hand just as she was about to raise it.

She gestured toward the back, indicating for her to take a seat on the sofa.

Once they were seated, a Nanny brought up two cups of hot tea at just the right moment.

Bai Xiao thought that being able to drink hot tea in this situation and weather showed they were indeed a wealthy family.

Seeing that she remained neither humble nor arrogant and didn't really pick up the conversation, Madam Rao decided to get straight to the point. "Miss Bai, as you know, those of us on the mountain have been trapped here since the heavy fog began and have never gone down. The environment here is both simple and complex. I'm sure you got a general idea yesterday. After a month, everyone's supplies are mostly exhausted. This mountain can no longer support so many people."

At this point, she looked Bai Xiao up and down as if searching for something. "Since you've come to our Villa Area, we're essentially in the same boat. I heard you also have a lethal weapon, which would truly be a great asset to our Villa Area. This morning, the group from the Hotel below came to us, saying that as long as we're willing to help them deal with the group from the Food Street area, they're willing to give us half of the food they get. I wonder what your thoughts are."

Seeing that Bai Xiao seemed a bit overwhelmed by this sudden influx of information and hadn't replied for a long time, she didn't mind and continued listing the benefits. "Of course, the weapons from our two families will certainly play the biggest role, so we will definitely take the lion's share of that half of the supplies."

Bai Xiao hadn't expected the competition on the mountain to have reached such a fever pitch. However, when she first came up the mountain yesterday and encountered the first two groups, their words and actions were full of indifference, not looking like they were about to come to blows. This was evident from the fact that they didn't extend an olive branch even after seeing she had a gun. Could it be that the people below didn't know about the plans of those above?

Madam Rao felt that people ultimately need to eat to survive, and having heard that she only carried one bag up the mountain, she believed no one would refuse such a great benefit.

"I've just arrived and don't quite understand the situation on the mountain yet. Plus, the journey here through the water was quite difficult, so I plan to rest for a couple of days first."

This was a refusal.

Her original thought was that, in the worst-case scenario, she would have a conflict with the people in the Villa Area, but she didn't intend to expand the scope of that conflict.

Firstly, she had plenty of food and no need to plunder others' supplies.

Secondly, her core demand was to settle down early to train and prepare for the game. If she rashly joined a struggle between two areas, the intensity would certainly not be small, and there's no telling how much time would be wasted.

Additionally, she had no grievances with the people in other areas. Since they hadn't actively provoked her, and she wasn't the type to be a cold-blooded killer, why bother with endless fighting? It would be much better to use that energy in the game.

To her surprise, Madam Rao's expression didn't change at all upon seeing her refuse without a second thought. Her voice remained as gentle as ever: "In that case, we won't force you. However, since you're living here, we have to arrange for people to take turns patrolling and keeping watch every night. This is to protect ourselves as well as everyone's safety. I don't think Miss Bai would disagree with that, would you?"