"Sorry, I got a bit sentintal out of the blue."
Ah Yue didn’t space out for too long. He quickly snapped back and smiled, "After all, I say I’m standing on the side of order, but inside the Celestial Strategy Mansion, quite a few people think I’m actually the biggest disruptor of order. So bold ones even outright say I’m a ’Sect Leader’ myself. So when this topic cos up, I can’t help but overthink."
Chen Lusi: "..."
How is one supposed to respond to that?
"What’s up?"
It’s okay.
Ah Yue didn’t make it difficult for Chen Lusi and spoke again, "What would you choose if you were in my position? I’m seriously asking you this ti."
"I would choose not to be in your position."
Chen Lusi thought for a mont and replied, "It feels too troubleso. I just want to save up to buy a house, fulfill my promise... If it really ca to that, I’d probably hide away. I’m just an ordinary person, haven’t even figured out my own life, let alone matters of a higher level."
"I see, soone completely unrestrained choosing to hide away..."
Ah Yue muttered to himself, then chuckled, "Not bad. I’ll try not to drag you into troubleso affairs, and I’ll keep Lu Hao’s matters under wraps for you. How about that?"
Chen Lusi nodded, "Mm, thank you."
"But in return, I hope you’ll agree to one thing for ."
"What?"
"Try to protect this place for , safeguard my rear."
"?"
Chen Lusi was taken aback, "Can I really do it?"
Ah Yue patted his shoulder, reassured, "You can."
Chen Lusi thought about it, "I’ll do my best."
"Thanks."
Ah Yue thanked him, then changed the topic, "Now, let’s talk about your compensation. Not reporting Lu Hao’s situation is unfair to you. What kind of compensation do you want?"
"A raise."
Chen Lusi responded earnestly, "If possible, give a raise. But technically speaking, I wasn’t the only one who dealt with Lu Hao. Wu You also contributed, so I hope you can give both of us a raise... oh, and Xia Panqiu, three of us."
"Did Wu You teach you to say that?"
Ah Yue couldn’t help but laugh, "Alright, you’re currently D-Class personnel, with a base salary of twenty thousand. I can’t raise your rank for now, but I’ll bump your salary up to sixty thousand. As for Wu You and Xia Panqiu... they’ll get an extra thousand."
Chen Lusi: "..."
"What the hell, others get triple, and I only get a thousand more!?"
Before Chen Lusi could speak.
The rooftop door was pushed open, and Wu You burst in, furious, "What kind of shady company is this? First ti seeing new and old employees’ salary backlash!"
Ah Yue saw him but wasn’t surprised, "You’re so young, what do you need so much money for?"
"I’m forty years old! And what kind of capitalist talk is that? Do I have to bring my own lunch while working for you?"
"If you want to work out a bit, it’s not impossible."
"I’m quitting!"
"Think about your mortgage and your kids at ho before you say that."
"Damn it, even though I don’t have a house or kids, I’m already starting to get pissed! I really don’t want to do this anymore."
"Alright."
Ah Yue laughed, ca over to Wu You, hooked his arm around his neck, and walked him towards the stairwell, "The weather’s nice right now. We still have a lot of ingredients from last ti, so let’s bring up the grill and have a barbecue, by the way, to welco the newcor."
"Don’t touch . First, tell clearly, can my salary still be raised?" Wu You ignored everything else and just cared about his salary.
"Yes, yes, yes, you’ll get a two thousand raise."
"...I was being childish earlier, calling you a capitalist was just a joke."
"Correction, two hundred."
"Disgusting capitalist, get away from ."
"..."
Chen Lusi stood behind them, listening to their conversation, couldn’t help but turn his head to look at the city lights just starting to shine.
If we put aside the previous unpleasantness.
This work environnt... actually isn’t bad.
"Chen Lusi, co help out."
Ah Yue turned his head to him, suddenly calling out.
"Coming." Chen Lusi replied and then followed them.
...
Nine o’clock at night.
Chen Lusi walked out of the building, still carrying the scent of cumin.
He had to admit.
Wu You’s grilling skills were quite good.
He sighed, lightly patting his clothes. Just as he was about to head ho, he heard light footsteps from behind.
"You’re heading back too?"
Chen Lusi turned his head and saw that it was Xia Panqiu, greeting with a nod.
It wasn’t surprising.
After all, they had just run into each other in the elevator this morning.
"Yeah."
Xia Panqiu nodded, realizing Chen Lusi initiated the greeting. After a brief hesitation, she hastened her steps slightly to walk just behind him.
"I didn’t see Miss Si Yujie just now. Did she go to investigate that old lady from the morning?" Chen Lusi asked as they walked.
"Yeah."
Xia Panqiu answered again, then explained, "She needed to check out the scene."
"I see."
Chen Lusi nodded, then fell silent.
He recalled that in Wucha Town, he also heard the term ’daughter’ from both Wu You and Xia Panqiu.
This ’daughter’ likely wasn’t the ordinary kind he knew of.
But neither Ah Yue nor Wu You had any intention of explaining it to him.
He didn’t bother to ask further.
Because the more one knows, the greater the responsibility, and the more one has to consider.
Like back in Wucha Town, if he had known that killing Lu Hao would completely place him on the side of the ’Handover to the Netherworld Faction’, he inevitably would have weighed the pros and cons then.
Although his choice would remain unchanged.
But it would bring a lot of needless trouble.
Adding worries for a bit of curiosity.
To Chen Lusi, it didn’t seem worth it.
On the other side.
Xia Panqiu glanced at Chen Lusi and, realizing he had stopped speaking, also didn’t know what to say, so she stayed silent.
The two quietly proceeded to Qinyuan and Mansion, and soon arrived at the scenic path where they’d t the old lady that morning.
Chen Lusi slowed his pace, eventually stopping and turning his head to look at that spot.
"Excuse ."
Then, a voice sounded.
Chen Lusi snapped out of it, realizing he and Xia Panqiu were blocking the way.
He stepped aside.
"Thanks."
A young man in a baseball cap approached, thanked him, and continued walking forward.
The two passed each other.
Chen Lusi confird the old lady was gone, stopped thinking about it, and went straight into the community.
Elsewhere.
The young man in the baseball cap continued forward. Once Chen Lusi and Xia Panqiu had entered the community, he turned, lightly tapped his cap.
But he didn’t look for long before pulling it down again, continuing on his way.
He circled half of Qinyuan and Mansion and finally left this ’Self’ designated forbidden area, heading towards a nearby elentary school.
Then he casually blended in as a regular person, getting on the subway to another part of the city.
Though each city’s housing market differs.
One thing is similar: property prices near crematoriums are generally lower than elsewhere.
Since crematoriums are usually in remote locations, and since they involve death, ordinary people find it unlucky.
Unless there’s no choice, not many would choose to live nearby.
The young man ventured from the city center to the crematorium’s vicinity, as if traveling from a bustling city to a quiet small town.
The contrast was stark.
In such remote areas, ordinary people might feel uneasy or even frightened by the nearby crematorium.
But to the young man, it was enjoyable.
The whisperings, the expressions of lingering regrets and resentnts — to him, they were far more interesting than living zombies.
After savoring it for a bit.
The young man finally left the street and approached an old residential building nearby, climbing the stairs to the fifth floor.
Unit 507.
As he pulled out his key to unlock the door.
"You’ve got nerve, ah. Xia Yue is back, and you still dare to loiter near Celestial Strategy Trading."
In the dimly lit living room.
A figure sat on the couch, rasping as they observed the young man entering.
"I’m just an ordinary person now, not a drop of spirit in . Even if Xia Yue stood right in front of , he’d still call buddy."
The young man replied nonchalantly and reached to turn on the light.
But the light didn’t switch on.
He looked at the pitch-black living room, paused for a mont, then couldn’t help but curse, "What era are we in? Still playing at being mysterious? Turn on the damn light!"
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