Plus the starting reward of five hundred, and the manuscript fee... it's indeed almost three thousand.

However, Qu Jianlei thought, "Do I have to write about ten pages?"

To him, that word count is a bit much. Writing and organizing would take at least ten to eighteen days.

This kind of income wouldn't make Bentley nag, but the efficiency isn't great either.

Dai Xingyan replied earnestly, "That is indeed the requirement. With Central City's funding support, it can't just be one or two pages."

"And if it's rated as an excellent piece of the year, there will be more rewards."

Qu Jianlei was not really interested in awards, but it was a fact that President Dai had always taken great care of them.

So he could only express, "The length of an article doesn't necessarily represent the depth of the theory."

"Of course I know that," Dai Xingyan indicated she wasn't an amateur.

However, she had to point out, "But you have to understand, we are just people from the Gathering Area, naturally seen as inferior to Central City,"

"Short doesn't mean bad, but writing a long piece first shows a proper attitude."

"Attitude..." Qu Jianlei shook his head upon hearing this, but he didn't say anything more—it's hard to act independently in the world.

Nevertheless, he still had to consider what to write for the next task.

Finally, he decided to write "Some Thoughts and Suggestions on Garbage Recycling."

When it comes to handling garbage, no one could speak with more authority than someone from Blue Star like him.

Strictly speaking, no country delved into this more than his motherland, other strong countries simply transported the garbage abroad.

Qu Jianlei understood that the content of this article wasn't really suitable for publication in "Mechanical Mysteries."

However, he didn't really care where it would be published—even a mere five hundred reward wasn't enough to interest him.

A ten-page article, as long as it passed, he could fleece some benefits from President Dai.

Even if it was only published in "Mechanical Exploration," Dai Xingyan would still have to give him a subsidy of a thousand.

Because he was quite familiar with garbage disposal processes and concepts, the piece didn't actually take that long to complete.

In just three days, he finished writing and refining it.

On the morning of the fourth day, Bentley took the manuscript into the city.

The old man was actually quite annoyed with Qu Jianlei's return to his old trade, but this time it was short, and the earnings weren't bad, so he didn't make a fuss.

But he didn't consider it urgent, focusing on his intelligence work first. After acquiring some supplies, he went to find Dai Xingyan.

He knew full well that Qu Jianlei wrote this article too quickly, likely stirring up that little girl's ambitions again.

So delivering it later... no problem, right?

He went to find Dai Xingyan in the afternoon, but she wasn't there. He gave a nod to President Dai's assistant, handed over the manuscript, and turned to leave.

The assistant knew it was Jian Lei's manuscript, so she didn't ask much—President Dai's mood had been bad the days Jian Lei didn't submit any articles.

She glanced at the title, her lips involuntarily twitched... "Some Thoughts and Suggestions on Garbage Recycling"?

The support President Dai got for you was probably for Central City's aid, submitting to Mechanical Mysteries, and you wrote something like this?

She really couldn't understand how this kind of article could possibly be published in "Mechanical Mysteries."

However, she didn't dare question it, opened President Dai's room, placed the manuscript on the desk, then left and closed the door.

Not long after, someone else came looking for President Dai—it was Tanaka Yoshi from the Maintenance Association of Taikoo and his son, Tanaka Ichiro.

The assistant knew these two were not to be messed with, especially Tanaka Yoshi, who was himself the chief chairman of the Celestial District.

In fact, she knew President Dai hadn't been frequenting the association these days to avoid these two people.

The reason was simple—Tanaka Ichiro had his eyes on Dai Xingyan and wanted to partner with her.

But the guy was not only over twenty years older, but also a bit unattractive, not presentable.

As for him having been married before, it didn't matter in the Wasteland since his wife was already dead.

Dai Xingyan didn't fancy him, so his father Tanaka Yoshi became anxious and personally came to Houjing to negotiate with her.

President Dai didn't bother talking much with them, simply avoiding—meeting wasn't the issue, it was the hassle of the pestering.

But now that they had arrived, the assistant had no choice but to let them wait in President Dai's room.

Anyone else wouldn't get such treatment, but Tanaka Yoshi was the head of the entire Celestial District Maintenance Association.

Even with the Dai Family's deep background, they couldn't ignore these rules.

Inside Dai Xingyan's room, Tanaka Ichiro dared not touch anything, but Tanaka Yoshi rummaged through without care.

Seeing his father so boldly, the son's courage gradually grew too, and he picked up a manuscript.

"Some Thoughts and Suggestions on Garbage Recycling?" Upon seeing the title, he almost burst out laughing.

After a few glances, Tanaka Ichiro's eyes lit up, "Hmm? This thing, it's interesting."

Then he raised his hand, tucked the manuscript into his lapel, and casually tore off the author's name on top.

Seeing the end of the workday approaching with Dai Xingyan still not back, the father and son didn't want to overstay their welcome, so they got up and left.

Outside, Tanaka Ichiro took out the manuscript, "Old man... do you think this has potential?"

"You're getting bold," Tanaka Yoshi glanced at his son, "You dare take anything?"

Then he glanced at the title and sneered, "Some Thoughts and Suggestions on Garbage Recycling... trash!"

But Tanaka Ichiro insisted, "Dad, I think there's potential in this."

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