There were many ways to serve in the military. On the surface, those who served in the military would be divided according to their physical conditions. Those who were physically weak would be assigned to places that were more relaxed and did not have to leave the planet. Just as Duan Qianji had said, those who were in poor health might only be assigned to some urban grassroots to do some relatively easy voluntary work. However, these positions were limited. Most conscripts were randomly assigned, and more than 70 percent of them had to leave the planet.
Every year, a large number of conscripts were sent to foreign planets. It was not a vacation. Besides the necessary training, they were also required to do manual labor. Therefore, most people were unwilling to be assigned to such places. Families with the means to do so would use certain means to fight for an easier assignment.
This resulted in many shady deals taking place every year, especially in remote urban areas. Small places were even darker, and it could be used as a means of revenge.
It had been more than 500 years since the founding of the New Era. Many decisions had lost their original meaning. Even the people in the Yanzhou military would sometimes turn a blind eye. After all, it was no longer the Period of Destruction. Life had to be smooth in order to continue living happily, right?
This phenomenon was not limited to Yanzhou. It existed on all continents.
Fang Zhao had not completed his military service. With these quotas, he did not need to worry about being assigned to a harsh foreign planet. Duan Qianji naturally hoped that Fang Zhao would stay in Qi 'an City. That would be beneficial to Silver Wing. The core of the Polar Light team was still Fang Zhao.
Fang Zhao returned to the 50th floor from the top floor. Taking advantage of the afternoon break, he called the rest of the team over.
"Isn't the project meeting tomorrow?" Zu Wen yawned. He had just gotten ready for his afternoon nap.
"It's not a project meeting. I received a few military quotas," Fang Zhao said.
Zu Wen's drowsiness disappeared immediately. He perked up. "It can't be what I'm thinking, right?"
"The kind... that gets preferential treatment?" Rodney rubbed his hands together, his eyes shining.
The others also stared at Fang Zhao, waiting for his reply.
Fang Zhao nodded. "That's right."
"Ah ha —" Zu Wen let out a weird cry. "Why did I enlist in advance? Otherwise, I would still be enjoying special treatment! Why would I need to go mining on a foreign planet? "
"Zu Wen, you were assigned to mining too?" Zeng Huang asked.
"Yeah, what else?" Zu Wen felt his skin tighten at the thought of his military service. But at the time, my family pulled some strings and spent a million dollars to get the person in charge of distribution to send me to a nearby planet with a mature base.
"You're lucky. The planet I was assigned to didn't have good base conditions, and the weather wasn't good either. It snowed four times a year, and every time it snowed, it would last for the next season." Zeng Huang shuddered when he talked about his military service.
"Zeng Huang and I served in the military during our third year. We completed our third year courses during our first and second year, so when we came back, we immediately entered our fourth year of studies and didn't delay our graduation," Wan Yue said. "However, Big Zhao, it seems like you haven't served yet."
Usually, when students were in university, they would take a year off from school to serve in the military. This was because serving in the military after graduation would delay their work.
When Fang Zhao's original self had been in university, he had been busy composing, striving for grades, fighting for awards, and dating, so he hadn't served.
"I've already served, but, Boss …" Fu Yingtian paused to organize his words. He had been introduced by Zu Wen, so he wasn't as casual as Zu Wen in front of Fang Zhao. Fu Yingtian called Fang Zhao boss like Zu Wen.
Seeing Fang Zhao look over, Fu Yingtian was a little nervous. "I have a younger brother who is in his third year of university this year. He only cares about coding and lacks exercise, so he's skinny. This year, his classmates have decided to take a year off for military service. He … he's very talented in Reg Space technology. It's just that when he gets busy, he forgets the time and often stays up late. That's why his physical fitness isn't that good. He even fell ill last year … Boss, you have a quota. I was wondering, could you … could you buy one?"
Fang Zhao listened to Fu Yingtian and nodded.
Seeing that Fang Zhao had agreed, Fu Yingtian relaxed. He had saved up quite a bit of money after joining the Polar Light project. If he could use that money to buy a highly credible spot, it would be worth it. He had asked around the black market, but there was no way to buy a spot with money, and he might even be cheated.
Given his younger brother's appearance, if he was assigned to a remote planet with poor conditions like the one Zeng Huang had mentioned, he might be sent back due to a serious illness midway through his military service. Military service wasn't a death sentence, but Fu Yingtian had experienced it and knew the suffering.
If it was an absolutely fair distribution, then he wouldn't have said anything. He would have just followed the rules and followed the arrangements. But since everyone was using underhanded means, why should he be so virtuous? He hadn't done it before because he hadn't had the means, but now that he had the means, he could let those he cared about suffer less.
Wasn't hard work all for the sake of creating a better life for himself and his family?
"How much …"
Fu Yingtian had wanted to ask how much a quota cost, but he heard Fang Zhao say, "Well, then I'll give you one. Anyone else? "
Fu Yingtian was dumbfounded. Zu Wen and the others were like statues, staring at Fang Zhao motionlessly.
After a few seconds, Zu Wen took a deep breath. "You mean, you're giving it to us?!" He then asked again in disbelief, "Are you really giving it to us for free?"
Fang Zhao nodded.
"Hold on, Boss, do you know what the black market price is?" Zu Wen rubbed his dark circles and suppressed his excitement. "Ten million!" Without waiting for Fang Zhao's reply, Zu Wen said, "The black market price is ten million! Even the lowest is no less than five million! Back when I was doing my military service, I wanted to get my own quota, but I didn't have the money! "
Zu Wen rambled on and on, but Fang Zhao only replied with three words: "Got it."
Got it …
That's it?!
Zu Wen stared.
Fang Zhao looked at the others and said, "How about this: Zu Wen, Song Miao, Pang Pusong, Zeng Huang, Wan Yue, Fu Yingtian, Stiller, Zhang Yu. Eight of you, I'll leave one for each of you. You decide who you want, and let me know when you decide."
"Ha —" Zu Wen laughed heartily. "Boss, I love you!"
He was about to give Fang Zhao a hug, but Fang Zhao threw him into the studio. "I've given you all the benefits. Do your job well."
"Yes! I promise I'll complete the mission perfectly! " Zu Wen didn't even want to take a nap. He was very excited. If it wasn't for the fact that it wasn't appropriate to spread the news, he would have cheered in his group chat.
Other departments gave out red packets, but their department gave out quotas!
A military quota worth tens of millions!
However, if their department needed it urgently, they wouldn't sell it to others. Fang Zhao's quota, even if they didn't need it now, would be worth it in the future.
Pang Pusong couldn't wait to call his mother. "Hello, Mom, I got a quota. Tell Uncle and Cousin not to worry!" The cousin that Pang Pusong was talking about was his uncle's daughter. She was also old enough to serve, but her health was not very good and she often fell sick. His uncle had been worrying about borrowing money and using his connections recently in order to get his daughter to a more relaxed place. Girls were not as unlucky as boys. They would suffer more if they were assigned to a place that was not as good as boys.
Pang Pusong's uncle had helped him a lot when he had been playing small roles. Back then, he had been able to practice singing at Silver Wing thanks to his uncle's access card. That was how he had met Fang Zhao. So Pang Pusong was willing to give his quota to his cousin.
Two days later, Fang Zhao received a request from Pang Pusong and Fu Yingtian to inform Duan Qianji of their decision.
Duan Qianji was a little surprised that Fang Zhao would give his quota to his subordinates, but she wouldn't interfere.
"I'll get someone to take care of it for you. So, Fang Zhao, what's your decision? When are you going to serve? Where do you want to serve? "Duan Qianji didn't care about the others. What she cared about was Fang Zhao's decision.
"I'll finish the Polar Light project first," Fang Zhao said.
"That's true. If Polar Light wins the endorsement, you'll be even busier. You probably won't be able to serve this year. But you're still young. You can serve after a few years. As long as there's a quota, you can serve anytime within the time limit. "
Duan Qianji was thinking about where to place Fang Zhao in Qi 'an City, preferably somewhere close to the company. She would never have guessed that Fang Zhao had spent the past two days looking up information on ore planets and paying special attention to the farthest ones. If she had known, Duan Qianji would surely have taken back her quota.
After returning to the department and informing Pang Pusong and Fu Yingtian, Fang Zhao filled Curly Hair's automatic feeder with dog food and was about to head to his office for a break when he received a call.
"Big Zhao, what's up?" Zeng Huang asked as he came out of the bathroom and saw Fang Zhao standing at his office door with a strange expression.
"I'll make a trip to the Qi 'an City police station in the afternoon."
"What happened?" Zeng Huang was nervous. Who would be called to the police station for no reason?
"Don't worry, it's nothing serious. I'll be right back."
Zeng Huang was relieved to hear Fang Zhao say this. "As long as nothing happened."
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