Wasteland Border Inspector - Chapter 964

Chapter 964: Chapter 306: Barren Predicament, Remain Reverent!

“Always maintain a sense of awe.”

Harlem put down the red pen used for correcting intelligence reports and slowly raised his head, his gaze sharp and familiar from the training camp:

“Whether you’re a Source Binder or an Extraordinary, these powers are meant to save your life, not to place you above ordinary people. As long as you cannot completely disregard technological power, even an ordinary person might hold a high-explosive bomb that could easily take you out.”

“Remember, never underestimate the means of ordinary people. Some have reached a dead end and have nothing to lose, and being able to drag you down with them would be an achievement in their eyes. But you’re different, you cannot afford mistakes and must be more cautious than anyone.”

“Thank you for the reminder, Mr. Harlem.” Cheng Ye felt a chill in his heart and quickly nodded in agreement.

Harlem and Liu Bi were almost two extremes.

The former believed that experience can avoid ninety percent of troubles, while the latter thought experience was the most harmful.

Who is right or wrong is inconclusive.

But the lessons Harlem extracted from countless intelligence reports he reviewed are indeed worth pondering.

Seeing Harlem lower his head again, Cheng Ye took the intelligence and turned to leave the room.

Just as he stepped out, he suddenly heard Harlem’s voice again:

“Safe journey.”

Cheng Ye paused for a moment, gently nodded, and then walked towards the stairwell without looking back.

Although he was curious about what had happened between Harlem and Ding Yishan that night to make him willingly retreat to the intelligence room, abandoning the power struggle at the inspection post.

But seeing the cooperation rate with Harlem already at 41% on the panel, he ultimately resisted the urge to explore.

Some things are better left unknown.

Knowing too much and insisting on perfection is the real misery.

This was already evident in Wang Kang, and because of this “confusion,” his path as an Inspector was smooth sailing.

As he went downstairs, the sky had completely darkened.

Cheng Ye carried a bag of vegetables out of the inspection post, and sure enough, Zhou Kuan was still waiting at the entrance, rushing to greet him with a slightly unnatural expression.

Cheng Ye glanced at the middle-aged man at the street corner and immediately understood.

“Inspector Cheng, let me carry it, let me carry it!” Zhou Kuan quickly reached out to take the bag, his tone urgent.

“Your uncle is here?” Cheng Ye asked casually.

“Huh?” Zhou Kuan was stunned for a moment and then awkwardly explained, “He… he didn’t trust me, said I might be deceived. No matter how I explained, it was useless; he insisted on coming to check.”

“Oh? You think he doesn’t trust you?” Cheng Ye smiled slightly.

Being able to kill a fellow scavenger for windfall gains and decisively investing his savings to let a nephew he hasn’t seen in years run a shop.

Just these two actions are enough to prove how sharp this person is at sniffing out opportunities.

Zhou Kuan stuttered for a moment and finally admitted honestly, “He… he was worried I’d take all the benefits myself.”

“Remember, be honest with me, and you’ll only gain advantages. Now, go call your uncle over.”

Cheng Ye instructed, and while Zhou Kuan went to call the man, he picked up the Defense Communication to search for information on the family.

However, looking at the expanded information list, he could barely keep his composure.

Damn.

Zhou Kuan’s uncle turned out to be… Zhou Changhai?

No way?

No wonder ancient times had taboos; this name isn’t very auspicious!

Looking further down, Zhou Changhai’s family had as many as seven members.

Besides Zhou Kuan, there were four children, three boys and one girl, all around twenty years old, right at the age to work.

“Inspector… Inspector Cheng.” The middle-aged man jogged over, his attitude tenfold more respectful than Zhou Kuan’s.

Cheng Ye looked up and assessed the man, who indeed looked no different from the scavengers commonly seen in the inspection station.

Wearing a coarse cloth coat washed to near whiteness and patched all over, his figure was slightly stooped, hair dry and disordered, clearly malnourished for years.

His cheeks were gaunt with protruding cheekbones, his skin a deep brown from years of sun exposure, with crow’s feet and forehead etched with fine wrinkles, like old bark weathered by wind and sand.

“Do you know how to farm?” Cheng Ye asked directly.

Zhou Changhai hesitated for a moment, then quickly nodded, proactively demonstrating his worth: “When I was young, I worked as a wheat cutter in Lake Province, so I know a little bit. I understand the farming process, but I haven’t done it in years.”

Wheat cutter?

That’s such an old term.

Cheng Ye vaguely recalled that it was common in the Shaanxi-Gansu region in the eighties.

When local labor was insufficient, farmers would hire external short-term workers to harvest wheat, and these itinerant workers were called wheat cutters.

With the spread of agricultural mechanization, wheat harvesting efficiency greatly improved, and farmers no longer relied on manual labor, leading to the gradual disappearance of the wheat cutter group.

Yet here it is in the Wasteland again?

“Come on, let’s talk as we walk.”

Cheng Ye led the way towards sector B7 and asked casually, “How did you get from Lake Province to Stone Province’s Yue Ye?”

“During the Great Expansion Era, I ran around with engineering teams, drifting from Lake Province to Stone Province. Later, working here provided food and shelter, with no major dangers, so I coincidentally stayed, and it’s been about fifteen years now.”

Zhou Changhai, seemingly respectful, answered, neither servile nor overbearing, always hitting the mark.

Compared to Zhou Kuan’s inexperience, he obviously understood better what Cheng Ye cared about.

“Do you have the courage to pioneer in a Satellite City?” Cheng Ye asked suddenly.

Zhou Changhai’s expression changed slightly but then clenched his teeth and said, “I do!”

“You’re someone who knows how to seize opportunities.” Cheng Ye clicked his tongue and directly said, “My name is Cheng Ye, I’m the Inspection Officer for Dapo Town. Pack your things and report to Dongping Town in a few days; the Inspector there is my close friend. Dongping Town is now massively cultivating land for next year’s planting.”

“I’m giving you an opportunity; you don’t have to slowly climb up like others. You can start by leading a team to pioneer. But whether you can achieve outstanding results and change your family’s destiny depends on your own efforts!”

…