Yuxin had no idea about the current situation at the Market Base, nor would she know that Qiu Yiming had been brooding over her departure, even still remembering her and wanting to go to Beishi Base to find her.
Since the base began running smoothly, she had been focusing more on her cultivation. The other members of the Fang Family did the same, sadly Fang Jintang, as the deputy leader of the base, had his hands full with official duties, only having time to practice cultivation in Qingmu Spiritual Mansion at night.
This naturally slowed down his cultivation pace. As for Qu Qianhe, with her Fire Wood Dual Spiritual Roots, she was extremely well-suited for alchemy. Since she started learning alchemy with Yuxin, she not only became more proficient, but her cultivation pace greatly accelerated as well, far surpassing Fang Jintang, and even managing to establish her foundation before him.
This made Qu Qianhe anxious. She didn’t want Fang Jintang to fall behind in cultivation due to his base duties, widening the gap between them!
Although Fang Jintang later succeeded in establishing his foundation, Qu Qianhe was still wary, even refraining from cultivating deliberately just to wait for Fang Jintang, which made him feel quite guilty. Unfortunately, he had been very busy until recently when the weather grew colder, and the attacks from zombies and mutated creatures lessened, he started to relax a bit.
But being such a large base, there were always issues to tackle, and as the deputy leader, his daily duties were still plentiful.
Thus, one evening at dinner, Qu Qianhe suggested to Fang Jintang and Bai Zhengli, "Now that the base is running smoothly, you don’t need to handle everything yourselves. Why not delegate some of your tasks to others?"
Hearing Qu Qianhe, Shui Rou also became thoughtful. Though she and Bai Zhengli hadn’t pursued cultivation, and Bai Zhengli’s level was much higher than hers, spending many years as a married couple had often kept them apart due to Bai Zhengli’s military duties. Seeing Bai Zhengli getting ready to retire, they looked forward to spending time together, but then the apocalypse happened, and Bai Zhengli became busy again, keeping them apart.
Upon hearing Qu Qianhe, she nodded and expressed her support first, "Qianhe is right; everything at the base has stabilized. You two can simply act as nominal leaders. Aren’t there many others in the base who can manage? Why must you handle everything personally?" Shui Rou was ready to go all out this time to enjoy some rare moments with Bai Zhengli.
Bai Zhengli was hesitant at first, but upon hearing Shui Rou, his decision swayed towards her. The base, although important, was far less so than family. Besides, he saw some sense in Shui Rou’s words; the base was stable now, and keeping everyone fed wasn’t difficult. He really didn’t need to micromanage everything.
He thought about his superpower, stuck at Third-level Peak and unable to advance, and looked at the increasingly unfathomable strength of Bai Ye and Yuxin, his balance tipping even more.
Though he didn’t place much emphasis on force, being far surpassed by his son was unsettling. Moreover, he felt uneasy, sensing deep down that despite the seeming calm, the decreasing attacks from zombies and mutated creatures didn’t signify the end of dangers ahead!
If he couldn’t use this relatively relaxed period to maximize his strength, what would he use to protect his family and the base later on? Could he simply rely on Bai Ye, Yuxin, and Yu Yang? Even though many Ordinary People in the base had grown strong enough to battle zombies, he felt it was still far from sufficient.
So after a moment’s hesitation, he looked at Fang Jintang and asked, "Jintang, what do you think?"
This issue had been discussed several times with Fang Jintang by Qu Qianhe, and he naturally prioritized her wishes, responding, "I think it’s a good idea. I’ve always felt uneasy, sensing greater dangers ahead, and it’s necessary to swiftly bolster our strength."