Chapter 129 The Enthusiastic Principal Li

"Eat rice?"

Chen Yu looked at him. "Are you sure?"

Wang Xingde nodded hastily. "Yes, yes, yes. Our Principal Sun, from Haicheng Vocational College... He said he wanted to invite you to a meal and have a chat. He doesn't mean anything else by it."

"What was your principal's name again?"

"Li Guohua."

"I remember him being quite old, right? How did he end up in our Living Area?"

"Oh, you're asking about that. Principal Li is fifty-six this year. When the apocalypse arrived, he was leading a team of students from our Vocational College to participate in a provincial skills competition."

Hearing Wang Xingde's explanation, Chen Yu thought for a moment. "So the Information Sharing Center isn't some union of students from the three schools, but something Li Guohua took the lead in organizing?"

Cui Yan nodded quickly. "Pretty much. Principal Li said that in the apocalypse, information is more valuable than supplies. We can only survive longer by banding together and sharing, so he reached out to students from the other two schools."

"What is his Talent?"

"Uh, we aren't sure about that."

Chen Yu narrowed his eyes and remained quiet for a few seconds.

Wang Xingde felt a bit nervous, unsure if he should continue speaking.

Until Chen Yu slowly spoke, "Where is he?"

Wang Xingde whispered, "Area A, Building 8, Third Floor..."

Chen Yu nodded. "Lead the way then. Since he's even prepared rice, he probably has something to say."

Wang Xingde hurriedly agreed, said a few words to Cui Yan, and quickly led the way in front.

Leaving the Information Sharing Center, they walked along the gravel road toward Area A.

The afternoon sun was a bit dazzling. Wang Xingde looked back from time to time. "Brother Chen Yu, if you want to know any information next time, you can directly private message Sun Haiyu. He's the information head for the Film Academy..."

"Mhm."

Chen Yu silently noted the name.

But then again,

In the Living Area, there were three schools and three independent regional chat channels.

People from the Film Academy could only see the Film Academy's chat box, Polytechnic could only see Polytechnic's, and the Vocational College could only see the Vocational College's. The three schools chatted amongst themselves without interference.

It seemed reasonable, but in reality... it was somewhat inconvenient.

But this was only temporary.

Chen Yu remembered clearly that after the first Living Area station ended, two major events would occur.

First: The merger of regional chats.

Film Academy, Polytechnic University, Vocational College, and so on—one hundred nearby independent regional chat channels would all be connected in an instant.

A hundred regions, ten thousand Vehicles, hundreds of thousands of people, all flooding into the same chat box at once.

That scene, just the screen-scrolling alone would be enough to make one nauseous.

So from then on, regional chat gained a featured filter function.

But that wasn't the main point...

Second: The Highway Leaderboard would go online.

Road to Survival would launch its first ranking, the Vehicle Comprehensive Rating List. It would update in real-time and refresh every day at midnight. Based on the rankings, extra supplies would be issued directly to the Vehicles.

Most importantly, the list only displayed the top 100.

In other words, out of a hundred regions, only the top hundred could make the list.

However, as the highway progressed, more and more lists would appear: Weapon Rankings, Item Rankings, Kill Rankings, and so on—all sorts of variety, with different rewards for each.

But that was for later.

The immediate priority for Chen Yu was to keep the appointment and find out information about the Rice Awakened.

"Brother Chen Yu, our principal said he's grateful to you for maintaining order in the Living Area. He said with you around, those messy people don't dare to mess around anymore."

Wang Xingde chuckled as he led the way.

Chen Yu glanced at him.

Wang Xingde felt a bit unnerved by that look, but he braced himself to finish: "Um, the principal really did say that. I'm just passing it along..."

After speaking, he quickly turned back and continued leading.

Turning into Area A, several buildings stood quietly.

In front of Building 8, Wang Xingde suddenly stopped and looked up at the Third Floor.

"This is it, Room 302, where Principal Li lives."

"Um... I won't go up. I have to go back and keep an eye on the information center. You can just go up."

Chen Yu nodded. "Mhm."

After seeing Wang Xingde off, Chen Yu climbed the mottled concrete steps, floor by floor.

In front of Room 302, he knocked on the door.

"Coming, coming!"

A girl's crisp voice came from inside, followed by hurried footsteps and the sound of a lock turning.

The door opened.

A girl with a ponytail poked her head out, a smile on her face.

"Brother Chen Yu! Please come in, please come in!"

She opened the door fully and stepped aside to make room.

Chen Yu walked in. The interior of the apartment was the stereotypical look of an old residential complex.

Currently, a long table was set against the wall, already covered with dishes.

Several people were standing by the table.

The man in the middle was in his early fifties, with a few white hairs at his temples. He wore a dark gray shirt with sleeves rolled up to his forearms, standing there with an indescribable composure.

This man of an incongruous age was indeed Li Guohua, the principal of the Vocational College.

To be honest, he looked quite a bit younger than the rumors suggested; he didn't look that old.

Beside him stood three boys and two girls, all around the same age as Chen Yu.

Seeing Chen Yu enter, they all stood up straight in unison, smiles plastered on their faces.

"Hello, Brother Chen Yu!"

"Brother Chen Yu is here!"

"Sit down, sit down!"

They all chimed in to greet him. Someone pulled out a chair, someone handed him chopsticks, and someone was busy pouring water.

Chen Yu just scanned the room but didn't respond to any of them.

Li Guohua took a step forward. "Chen Yu, welcome. It's a bit simple, please don't mind."

Chen Yu spoke flatly, "You know what I want to hear, right?"

Li Guohua was taken aback.

The faces of the Vocational College students nearby also stiffened.

They had rehearsed for a long time—how to exchange pleasantries, how to build rapport—but they hadn't expected the other party to get straight to the point.

Li Guohua coughed. "Student Chen Yu is indeed a straightforward person, ahahaha."

He laughed and enthusiastically pulled out the chair next to him.

"Please sit, please sit."

"Rest assured, Student Chen Yu. Whatever you want to ask, I will tell you everything I know."

"But we can't just talk standing up, can we? Sit down first, let's eat and chat. These dishes were specially prepared by us. Although simple, it's the thought that counts."

The students nearby snapped out of it and hurriedly chimed in:

"Yes, yes, yes. Brother Chen Yu, sit here!"

"I've wiped the chair for you!"

"How about some water first?"

They were all talking at once, their enthusiasm a bit excessive.

But Chen Yu didn't move; he just quietly looked at these people.

Li Guohua's tone became even more sincere. "Student Chen Yu, I know where the person you're looking for is. But since you're already here, you should at least give us a chance to talk, right?"

After two seconds of silence, Chen Yu sat in the chair without even glancing at the food on the table.

"My patience is limited. Exchanging information is fine, but don't deceive me..."

"Don't worry! We are definitely not enemies!"

"Mhm. Then you can speak. What do you want to know from me?"

"Ahem, Zhang Zixuan—what's her situation now? I heard there was quite a commotion at Villa No. 6 that night, but she..."

"You seem quite concerned about her."

Li Guohua's expression changed, and he waved his hands frantically. "Not close! We're really not close!"

The Vocational College students nearby also shook their heads vigorously, their movements synchronized as if they had rehearsed.

"Student Chen Yu, don't misunderstand. I was just asking casually! People like her—our Vocational College can't avoid them fast enough. How could we possibly be involved with her?"

Li Guohua wiped the sweat from his forehead and gave a couple of dry laughs.

"Um..."

"I'll take the liberty of asking: what kind of grudge do you have with the Four Great Societies? Why did you kill them all?"