Chapter 117 - In Short Supply

“Why don’t we tally up energy cores instead?” Wen Jifei randomly suggested.

Listening to all those stories about masters had the opposite effect of leaving a person gloomy and small—especially when that person was a Dice.

He Tangtang started, “Mine are easy to count. Just the two I got last time. I’ve already absorbed two-thirds of one. Haven’t touched the other.”

“I’ve got the one Little Qing gave me a while back, and it isn’t used up yet.” Wen Jifei hadn’t taken a share of the last haul, so he was still living off the one Han Qingyu had handed him early in their training period.

Liu Shiheng had one as well, about half used.

The common pool held six.

It had originally been seven after divvying up the spoils, but Shen Yixiu had needed to swap out her energy core, so Han Qingyu let her take one from the common reserve. Nobody objected, as she had fought without a combat allocation and had been burning her own energy core.

Once they joined the platoon, training and combat allocations wouldn’t be a problem. Those came down automatically from the army and the regiment.

The ones for tempering, though...

For those, they could only hope a Sharpie appeared. They would hack it apart and hand in everything, including the raw metal core. After that, they would get a set share returned, build up merit, and collect rewards.

“What if it never comes?” He Tangtang asked, peeking at Shen Yixiu out of the corner of his eye, not quite daring to look at her directly.

“They say a district used to only get one or two a year, but this year has been unusual. Lao Jian’s district had four in eight months. The platoon with the most in the whole army is up to seven by now.”

That wasn’t a good omen, yet for them, it turned into something to hope for. Han Qingyu’s gaze shifted straight to Shen Yixiu as well.

For everyone else, it was a matter of tempering. For her, it was staying alive.

“I... I have nine left besides the two on me. The ones from our split, the ones I earned sparring, and what we already had at home, all added together. Nine that I can bring.”

That meant her family had been down to under two before. Setting aside the cores she could get from training and combat allocations, and counting the rest at minimum consumption, nine energy cores would last a little over four months.

Would a Sharpie come within the next four months? How many times? The army and the regiment would certainly hand a newly formed platoon a few cores as reserve, but those obviously couldn’t all go straight to Shen Yixiu.

“Why not just kidnap Captain Qin?” He Tangtang proposed.

Everyone laughed. The captain had openly announced that he had six on him. While borrowing two or three would certainly work, it wasn’t a long-term solution.

“It’s already a lot,” Shen Yixiu said earnestly.

“I’ve got twenty full ones on hand,” Han Qingyu said, counting what he had on hand and leaving out the quarterly payouts from his medals. “The bulk came from the medal. The rest came from... all over the place.”

“Conned, robbed, swindled...” Wen Jifei helpfully summed up.

Han Qingyu glanced at Shen Yixiu. “I get four more every quarter going forward. If you really run short, I can lend you mine. That isn’t a long-term fix either, though.”

Borrow? Should she really borrow? Everyone knew Han Qingyu had talent and was actually most in need of energy cores to grow quickly.

Shen Yixiu was slow to answer. “I wonder if there’ll be a chance to earn merit.”

“Hmm... It’s probably more realistic to sniff out a Wiper nest and raid them,” He Tangtang said bluntly. “That kind of thing isn’t only about being strong. You need to be in the right place at the right time. Let’s put it plainly. Even a Gold and a Silver like Little Qing’s wouldn’t add up to enough energy cores for you.”

The room went cold.

Wiper hideouts weren’t easy to find. Even if they found one, it likely wouldn’t be as abundant as the last. They had simply gotten lucky that time.

If only we could use those undercover leads from the Refusers. Maybe they could fake my death and collect the bounty for us? There’s no telling what proof they’d want, though. Han Qingyu turned it over in his mind.

He was in a bit of a dilemma of his own. After all, if he wanted to let the assassins of City of Sin come after him in half a year, he would have to get stronger fast. But that meant he needed a great many cores himself, which meant he couldn’t do much for Rust Girl.

It was a rotten spot to be in.

“How about this?” Liu Shiheng suggested. “Why don’t we set up an investment scheme?”

“A what?”

Nobody understood what he meant.

“An investment scheme.”

“In what?”

“Platoon 1777. Or just Little Qing and Rust Girl,” Liu Shiheng said seriously. “Everyone’s betting on you two right now; we could put word out. One-year term. Put in five, get back six, or put in five, get back seven. Somebody might go for it.”

“Oh, so it’s lending at interest. Why call it an investment?” Wen Jifei asked, mulling it over. “It’s worth considering, though. The question is whether the army allows it. Commander...”

Only when the title left his lips did everyone notice that Shen Fengting hadn’t said a word since they started counting energy cores.

This was something he likely cared about more than any of them.

“Here’s the thing. There’s something I need to think over, and I’ll decide tomorrow whether to tell you,” Shen Fengting said with a small smile.

“Grandpa, you’re not...you’re not planning to sneak off to the City of Sin after I leave to earn energy cores, are you? The way you used to talk about?” Shen Yixiu asked in alarm, a sob creeping into her voice.

The old man had entertained that idea back when he was out of options.

“No. I couldn’t go anyway, and I wouldn’t dare put you through the worry. Relax. Your grandfather can see hope now, so he’ll take good care of himself.” Shen Fengting patted the back of her hand. “Let me think it over. You lot talk about something happier.”

***

They talked and watched television at the Shen home until past eight at night. When they got back to the dorm, Wen Jifei walked into the room, took one look around, spun back, and bolted.

Han Qingyu caught him by the arm. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s the wrong room! This is the women’s dorm. Run! Before somebody makes an example of us on our last day.” Wen Jifei squirmed in his grip.

Han Qingyu checked the room number. “Twenty-two. This is right.”

Only the four of them had come back to Dormitory 22, and they were now standing in a ring around an unfamiliar comrade.

“You’re a girl, right? What are you doing up in our dorm by yourself?”

They were interrogating the person Wen Jifei had run into at the door, the reason he thought he had wandered into the women’s block. Their hair wasn’t long, but plenty of female soldiers kept their hair short. Their skin was pale and clean. Even the shape of their brows, the look in their eyes, and that figure...

The dubiety of their sex was still up in the air while they were quiet.

Then the person spoke. “I’m a man.”

“I can’t take this, this is killing me!” the guys whinged.

The person’s voice was feminine. Extremely feminine.

“Come on, Miss, quit messing around.”

“I’ll say it one more time,” the person said stubbornly. “I’m a man.”

The group fell silent.

“I didn’t come up here on my own either. Platoon Leader Mira brought me. I’m one of the veterans she contacted earlier, and I came back specifically for this. I want to join your platoon.” The person held a list out to Han Qingyu. “Mira said I need your approval. Have a look.”

“You don’t have to pretend to be a man, though. It isn’t as if we don’t take female soldiers,” Wen Jifei said.

“Right, you’d be welcome either way,” He Tangtang agreed.

“I really am a man!” the person snapped. The dubiety of their sex was only growing murkier. “I studied opera from childhood and trained in the huadan role.[1] I was the young female lead, and my master said I had to carry it into daily life, so I took that seriously for fourteen years.”

“So, what’s your name?” Han Qingyu asked, looking at the list.

“See for yourself.”

“There are more than ten names here.”

“The last one.”

“Qi... Qi Rourou?”[2] Han Qingyu read out.

“Mn.”

“And you’re still claiming you’re not a girl?” He Tangtang asked.

Qi Rourou let out a long sigh. “My master gave me that name too! Fine, I’m not joining anymore. This is ridiculous.”

With that, Qi Rourou stomped off toward the door.

“What’s going on?” Mira asked, appearing in front of him.

Glancing into the room, she held him back to get a rundown of the situation.

A moment later, she came in and said gravely, “He really is a man. It’s true. A female soldier in our old platoon dated him. They broke up because she couldn’t get past having a boyfriend gentler, paler, and prettier than herself.”

1. Huadan is a role type in traditional Chinese opera, a branch of the Dan (female role) category, specializing in portraying young female characters with lively and cheerful personalities (pulled from https://baike.baidu.com/en/item/Huadan/1466759 ) ☜

2. This is an exceptionally feminine name, as 柔(róu) translates to soft/gentle. ☜