Volume 2, Chapter 23 – Within one day, I want results

“I… me?”

Chen Jing froze, curling her fingers and pointing at herself.

“Yeah.” Bai Xiang nodded first, then frowned.

“No need to ask what you think… Here’s how we’ll do it: in a bit I’ll go talk to Teacher Ma and tell him you’re skipping afternoon classes to come to the dojo with me to register.”

Wait, I don’t remember agreeing to this…?

Chen Jing felt a little dizzy, head heavy and feet light, as she followed Bai Xiang out. She watched Bai Xiang say something to Ma Bolan, and at once his eyes went wide as he looked over at her.

“So that’s how it is…” Ma Bolan rubbed his chin. “All right, I’ll report this to Principal Zhang.”

“Sorry to trouble you, Teacher Ma.”

“Oh, no trouble at all, no trouble at all.”

They stood together chatting for a bit more before Bai Xiang took her leave. Ma Bolan insisted on walking them to the car, and before they left he reminded them several times, “Don’t worry about Chen’s luggage. I’ll have some of the girls watch it for her. Once everything’s arranged, she can come back to pick it up.”

Chen Jing said gratefully, “Thank you, Teacher Ma!”

“Oh, no need to thank me, no need.”

Watching the car roll farther and farther away, Ma Bolan wiped the sweat from his brow, the corners of his mouth lifting.

Word of Chen Jing’s situation had been circulating around the school these past few days. He knew that her father was missing.

People sighed, sure, but if he claimed it stirred up any great waves in his heart, that would be a bit shameless.

No special reason—he’d just seen too much.

Chilong Circuit was anything but peaceful under the surface. Especially at night, you never knew in which hidden corner someone would end up dead.

Over the years, Ma Bolan had seen several cases even more tragic than this—families wiped out in one go, kids dropping out on the spot. One student had refused to accept the news and gone mad right in class, nearly causing a fatal incident then and there.

Everyone naturally assumed these kids’ futures were cut off. Who’d have thought there would be a sudden turn—and that Bai Xiang would insist on pulling this one back up.

“A gentleman understands righteousness; a petty man understands profit.”

Staring up at the slogan hanging over the passage of the main gate, Ma Bolan smiled, clasped his hands behind his back, and headed upstairs again.

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“Eh? Eh? We’re not going to the Jobs Directorate?”

In the car, Hu Hu was horrified by Bai Xiang’s new plan.

She’d thought they were going to do something big—turned out it was to pick up a Little Junior Sister!

Hu Hu wouldn’t get to spend as much time with her idol now. Hu Hu was not happy. Hu Hu stuck her lower lip way out in a pout.

Her head was still stretched toward the back when Bai Xiang, unable to help herself, lifted a hand and flicked the bit of forehead she was sticking out.

“Ow, that hurts!” Hu Hu yelped and shrank back at once.

“Take her back first,” Bai Xiang went on. “Then come out with me again.”

She didn’t waste the ride, already pulling out her phone to text Zhang Daoming, asking whether there was more to this case.

This time she had the deskmate angle as a way in, so she could ask with a clear conscience.

Zhang Daoming replied quickly:

[This is a tricky one. Chen Zhien isn’t the only person to go missing from Qingyun Pharmaceuticals. I’d planned to merge the cases, but I still haven’t been able to get a search warrant approved.]

He didn’t mind Bai Xiang coming to him with questions all the time. In fact, he was secretly delighted.

If he could hook her interest in investigations and drag this great genius into the Inspectorate, then that would really be his big break.

Bai Xiang: [Does the search warrant have to pass Governor Fang’s desk first?]

Zhang Daoming: [The Inspectorate and the Supervisory Directorate are both special departments. Ever heard the phrase “the court’s hunting dogs”? That’s us. If we go strictly by regulations, Governor Fang can’t actually interfere here.]

Trying to close the distance between them, he’d even started poking fun at himself.

Afraid Bai Xiang might misunderstand, he added the serious explanation: [A circuit-level Inspectorate reports to the state-level Supervisory Directorate. Right now I’m waiting on Monitor-Judge Lu of Qizhou to approve the warrant. Without that, we can’t dig into Qingyun any further.]

Texting was inconvenient, so Bai Xiang told him they’d talk more later and set her phone down, falling into thought.

She didn’t know that Zhang Daoming was thinking hard on his side as well.

Search warrants weren’t usually hard to get.

Even if Qingyun Pharmaceuticals was a joint venture, Great Yu was domineering to the point that if it decided to investigate you, then it investigated you. No amount of connections would help.

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So why was it stuck this time?

What the hell was Lu Xueling playing at?

Back at the dojo, Bai Xiang first took Chen Jing to see Bai Lianzhou.

Only then did she tell him what had happened to Chen Jing’s family. Hu Hu, listening at the side, stared wide-eyed—so Little Junior Sister was that pitiful!

Since Bai Xiang had personally brought her, Bai Lianzhou directly wrote Chen Jing’s name into the rolls and said, “As long as you have this well in hand, I’ll keep an extra eye on her too.”

Meanwhile, Hu Hu had already grabbed Chen Jing and was whispering her head off.

“You like… Sister Xiang’er too?”

Chen Jing’s eyes were still a bit red, and with that baby-fat little face and twin ponytails, her timid posture was truly heart-tugging. Hu Hu’s heart melted on the spot.

“Of course I do!” She slapped her chest—which was as flat as her wallet—and gave a thumbs-up. “I’m the very first president of our ‘Universe’s Ultimate Gorgeous-and-Cool Shenming Senior Sister Fan Support Club’! President, okay?”

Oh…

Chen Jing’s mouth fell open.

She didn’t remember that whole string of titles, but it sounded incredibly impressive.

And she did like Bai Xiang too—almost at a fangirl level. No wonder she and Hu Hu had plenty to talk about; the two of them hit it off in no time.

“Huh? Where’d Senior Sister go?”

It took a while for Hu Hu to come back to herself, and when she turned around, she realized Bai Xiang was gone.

“She left with Ma Yue already,” Bai Lianzhou said, blowing on the hot tea in his cup.

“Perfect. Since you like Little Junior Sister so much, I’m assigning you to teach her the sword.”

“Ah—!!!”

Hu Hu clutched her head in despair and dropped straight to her knees.

Youth…

A rare smile flickered across Bai Lianzhou’s face.

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The dojo finally had some real energy to it.

Good. Very good.

Elsewhere, in Qingyun Pharmaceuticals’ production workshop, a group of people were on an inspection tour.

If Bai Xiang had been there, she would have immediately recognized the man in the middle as none other than Xu Zhe, the Watchman of the Roads Directorate, also known for his “nice guy” reputation—Lord Xu himself.

“Lord Xu, this way.”

“All right, all right. No need to stand on ceremony, Dr. Huang.”

They toured two production workshops in succession, watching groups of robotic arms arranged in rows, moving in perfect coordination. From preparation to sealing to packing, there wasn’t a single step that needed human hands.

“Amazing!”

It was Xu Zhe’s first time seeing such a modern, fully automated production line. Stroking his beard, he turned to ask “Dr. Huang,” “And this batch of medicine is for…?”

“It’s for a Black Collar Co. order,” Dr. Huang nodded. “This is only the first batch, and it’s already worth over six hundred million. From what they say, they want to make this one of their pilot zones. The other two will be in Xuzhou and Luezhu.”

Xuzhou and Luezhu were both on the eastern seaboard. That was a natural advantage you couldn’t compete with…

Xu Zhe’s mind spun quickly.

This was indeed a rare opportunity—for Chilong Circuit, and for him personally.

“Lord Xu.” Dr. Huang waved the others away and lowered his voice. “Just give me a straight answer… What’s the attitude from up top?”

“The Imperial House’s intentions aren’t something we dare to guess at lightly.”

Xu Zhe shook his head, still unwilling to loosen his tongue.

“Lord Xu, I suddenly remembered something,” Dr. Huang said with a smile. “I was mistaken just now. That order should be three hundred million, not six hundred.”

Xu Zhe’s expression changed sharply, his breathing turning just a bit too fast.

Dr. Huang only smiled at him, waiting for his final decision.

“It’s hard to say.”

Xu Zhe frowned, answering slowly.

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“The new-affairs faction took a nasty fall, but that battlesuit’s power is still recognized by quite a few high officials and aides…”

“And the latest news from the Central Court is that Tao Xingxuan has been formally censured—his rank cut by half a grade, salary docked for five years, and he’s to spend a year at home reflecting on his mistakes.”

And how is that any different from letting him off?

Dr. Huang’s eyes lit up. He instantly understood what stance the Central Court was taking.

“And the approval for the Marrow-Cleansing Pill?” he asked hurriedly.

He really had been out in the field too long; he’d lost his ability to sit still.

Xu Zhe didn’t like how blunt he was, but he still nodded. “There’s resistance in the middle, but I think it’ll be through soon.”

After seeing Xu Zhe off, Dr. Huang stood at the console, checking the data.

Just then, his phone rang.

“Hello, it’s me.”

“Is that so? Good.”

“Hm…?”

“She still likes sticking her nose into this kind of business?”

“Xiang Xian? No wonder… So they’ve got a Divine Fetus cultivator holding down the fort at home.”

“But clearly, these people don’t understand what we mean by the tide of the times.”

“…Was that not clear enough for you? You’re scared already?”

“Can you guarantee that Chen Zhien never took any files home? That he didn’t say a single word about them?”

He grew more agitated as he spoke. Finally, Dr. Huang set his work aside altogether and yanked off his tie.

After calming himself, he turned halfway around, held the phone to his mouth like a walkie-talkie, and enunciated each word to the person on the other end. “I don’t care what problems you have.”

“Within one day, I want results.”