"Wen!" Tang Shaoyang called out the Jade Eagle, "Note their name!"
"Yes, My Lord!" The Jade Eagle took the pen and opened the notebook.
Taking a deep breath, he continued, "I will not punish you now, but after this Survival Game!" It took a lot of willpower to hold his impulsiveness to beat these people.
He scanned them one by one, none of them dared to justify their party or did something similar stupidly. They still had the conscience and knew what they did wrong, maybe?
Tang Shaoyang shook his head and turned around. He approached Kang Jiayi, "Do you know where Hu Jianjun and Han Guiren's family are?"
The old man nodded their head and led the way to a house. The house was not that far, two houses away from where the fools were partying.
"You manage to hold back, I am surprised," Zhang Mengyao approached Tang Shaoyang from the side and remarked with a smile. Kang Xue who followed Zhang Mengyao immediately nudged the latter quickly. Kang Xue was afraid that Tang Shaoyang would turn around and beat those people. Clearly, this was not good as they still had the last gate to face.
Tang Shaoyang glanced at the girl and shook his head, "Be serious, we are going to visit the dead's family!" He scolded the girl with a stern tone.
"Yes, Sir!" Zhang Mengyao's expression suddenly turned. He knew that she was teasing her, but they arrived in front of the house, "Hu Jianjun's family live inside and Han Guiren's family live there!" Kang Jiayi pointed to the next house.
"Can you call Han Guiren's family?" He was asking Kang Xue. He intended to talk with the two families at the same time. Kang Xue nodded and headed to the next house.
"What do you want to talk about?" Kang Jiayi was about to knock on the door but stopped midway after hearing Zhang Mengyao's question.
"Compensation! I am going to compensate for their loss, granting the kids protection and education for free until they can live by themselves, also providing their mom a job to sustain the family," Tang Shaoyang's answer was quick.
"Protection? Education? What–" Zhang Mengyao's words were cut midway, "This is not the time for discussion, I will do the talk," Tang Shaoyang gestured to the old man to knock on the door.
Kang Jiayi nodded and knocked on the door three times. A few seconds later the door was opened by a boy around twelve to fourteen, "What's your name, boy?"
The boy looked a bit scared at the sight of Tang Shaoyang, but then he braced himself and stood in the door, "Hu Longwei!" The boy raised his voice slightly.
Tang Shaoyang was about to say something until a woman came out and pulled the boy into her embrace, "I am sorry for my son's rudeness, Boss. I am sorry, please don't do anything to him," a scared voice came from the woman.
He was surprised by how the scared woman was. He thought that he had not done something bloody recently, so why was the woman so scared of him? This was something he needed to know later, for now, he needed to talk with the family.
"It's okay, I don't plan to do anything to him either," Tang Shaoyang peeked into the house, there were a few people inside, "Are you perhaps Hu Jianjun's wife?"
The woman looked up toward him, her eyes were red. He could also see her eyes were still wet. The woman did not know why he asked that, but she nodded her head, "Y-yes, my name is Q-Qian Meirong."
From her appearance, she looked in her early thirties and fear was apparent in her eyes. Her pupils were shaking as their gazes met.
"Can I enter? There's something I want to talk about with you," the woman had no way to refuse the Boss to enter of course. After a moment of hesitation, she nodded and let them in.
Kang Jiayi and Zang Mengyao asked the others to leave the house. Leaving Hu Jianjun's wife and her children, a son and a daughter. While waiting for Han Guiren's family, Tang Shaoyang had a chat with the boy.
Only then did he find out he was just nine, but the boy was tall for someone his age. As for the girl, she was five, and her name was Hu Lihua. She was sitting on his lap after a few moments of chatting. She was not shy and afraid of strangers.
Qian Meirong looked at her daughter and the cruel boss. She was cautious and a bit disbelieving. People were talking that the Boss was merciless and killing people without batting eyes, but here he was smiling and playing with a little girl.
Thanks to this, the situation was less tense. Soon, the door opened. Kang Xue brought Han Guiren's family with her to the living room.
Han Guiren's wife was younger, a few years younger than Qian Meirong. She had a five years old son and two years old son. Her name was Hou Mingzhu.
Tang Shaoyang put down the girl and let her return to her mother. The two families now sat across him while Zhang Mengyao, Kang Xue, and Kang Jiayi stood behind.
"First, I will offer my deepest condolences for your loss," Tang Shaoyang broke the silence, "And, I am deeply sorry for the behalf of my people who did something stupid."
He bowed his head slightly to the two families, "It was a damned act for celebrating amidst your loss, I am sorry. They will be punished for their behavior."
Qian Meirong and Hou Mingzhu's eyes started to fill with tears. Hou Mingzhu held her two years old son tightly.
"I can't bring your husbands back to life, but The Empire will do the best to help their families to pass this difficult time. We will offer protection such as shelter and food for free. We will give your children the best training for their future too!" Tang Shaoyang stated his purpose of visiting the family.
"Training? What do you mean by training our children?" Qian Meirong found something off with the wording and immediately questioned back.
"We have a school for six years old and lower, but we have also prepared a training program for the children in ten and above…" Tang Shaoyang had not finished his words as Qian Meirong pointed her finger at Tang Shaoyang's face.
"So you just want more soldiers!? You want our children to replace their fathers to battle for you!? Is that what you want!?" She raised her voice as she said that accusingly.
Zhang Mengyao was about to reach the finger, but Tang Shaoyang was faster. He pulled her hand back.
"More soldiers? Yes. But training them to fight zombies is not only for our benefit but for your family's benefit. You should know by now that we are living in a world where we have to fight against monsters to live. I am training your son so your family could survive in this harsh new world," Tang Shaoyang did not lose his temper because she knew that Qian Meirong was mentally unstable. He also knew this was not the right time to bring this up, but he had said it anyway.
"But if you don't want your son or your children to fight the monsters, it's okay too. The Empire plans to build a farm, we can train your children to do farm or meaningful things in the training program. There's no need to hurry to decide," he smiled at the two families and the children.
"But in this new world, people with a fighting capability are more appreciated. The Empire will treat the soldiers better than a normal profession, more privileges than just a farmer of course. We are offering you the training program because of your husband, but again the decision is yours, not mine. They are your kids," Tang Shaoyang got up from the chair and bowed his head once again, "I am sorry for what happened just now, I will make sure to punish them. And I am sorry for your husbands too."
He turned around toward the two families, "Oh, I forget to tell you that not all children can enter or choose the training program, your children are an exception. So please think carefully," Tang Shaoyang was about to open the door but a boy rushed to hug his thigh.
Hu Longwei was the one who hugged his thigh. He looked down and the boy looked up to him, "I want to be a soldier like my father too! I want to be strong to protect my mother and my sister!"
Tang Shaoyang smiled and rubbed the boy's hair, "Good boy, but you have to discuss it with your mother first. You can come to me anytime if you get your mother's permission," after saying that, he left the house.