Chapter 34: Chat Restrictions Lifted

Chapter 34 Chat Restrictions Lifted

"Xie Chi: Honey! You're so amazing! The lord just summoned me and discussed last night's blackout with me. He approved your plan. I answered his questions just like you taught me, and he's thinking about promoting me to Deputy City Lord! Honey, did you see this coming all along? That's why all the solutions you taught me had to be done by me personally."

"Xie Chi: Oh right, I saw Yan Wanqiu looked really satisfied, so I went ahead and brought you up. I told him all the ideas were yours, and Yan Wanqiu agreed to give you a promotion. I also got him to remove the chat restrictions. If he secretly messes with you again, just tell me, and I'll go fight for you!"

"Xie Chi: Honey, honey, what's my reward exactly? Can you tell me now, please? I really learned everything—a lot of the questions Yan Wanqiu asked today were ones you taught me, and I answered them so well! Too bad you couldn't see it, wuwu wuwu. You can't record video during a meeting with the lord to show you."

"Xie Chi: Honey—are you still busy?"

"Xie Chi: [Puppy sitting and waiting.gif]"

As soon as he left the palace, Xie Chi found that the message restrictions between him and Ji Chou were lifted, and he immediately sent a whole bunch of messages over.

Just as Xie Chi was starting to wonder if Ji Chou had been kidnapped by Yan Wanqiu again, a reply finally came in.

"Ji Chou: Sorry, I went to bed a bit late last night, so I was resting this morning. The lord didn't give me any trouble. I don't have any special requirements for work—just do whatever you and the lord decide."

"Ji Chou: Even though I couldn't see it, from your description, I can tell you did an amazing job. This wasn't my plan—you grabbed the opportunity yourself. Very impressive. You worked really hard."

"Ji Chou: Focus on your work and don't keep slacking off, or the lord might get mad at you."

"..."

"Ji Chou: When you get home, you'll see your reward."

As always, Ji Chou replied slowly, but he never missed a single message from Xie Chi, answering each one seriously.

Just looking at his replies, Xie Chi could picture his wife's indulgent, gentle expression as he looked down to type back, and his heart melted. He wished he could see his wife right now and snuggle back into his arms.

Looking at Ji Chou's last message, Xie Chi's heart was full of joy.

He'd get to see his wife's mysterious gift as soon as he got home!

While chatting with Ji Chou, he quickened his pace to get home.

Inside the palace.

The attendant watched Yan Wanqiu, who had been inspecting the rings. Suddenly, Yan Wanqiu pulled out his communicator to reply to messages, smiling softly as he typed. The attendant spoke up cautiously: "Your Highness...?"

Yan Wanqiu snapped back to reality, his smile fading as he gave the attendant a cold glance. "What is it?"

The attendant flinched and said anxiously, "Nothing, it's just that everything else has been loaded. Only this box of rings is left. Do you want to look a bit longer, or should I load it onto the airship now?"

Only then did Yan Wanqiu realize he'd been replying to Xie Chi's messages in public.

A bit annoyed, he put away his communicator, gave the rings in the box one last look to make sure nothing was missing, and said, "Load them all onto the airship. I'll take them to Mr. Ai this afternoon."

The attendant immediately responded, "Yes."

.

Meanwhile.

Xie Chi rushed home, full of excitement.

Ji Chou had chatted with him for a bit before saying he'd been called by the lord to discuss the job transfer and had to leave for a while. Xie Chi knew he couldn't bother his wife at a time like this, so he didn't keep pushing.

From a distance, he spotted a frail-looking alpha hanging around outside his door.

The alpha was holding a food container and smiled the moment he saw Xie Chi: "Captain Xie, Deputy Captain Nie is busy with disaster relief and asked me to bring you your meal. He said it's from the same person as before."

Xie Chi immediately got it—the "same person" the guard meant was Ji Chou.

So his wife's reward ended up being a meal.

Xie Chi was thrilled. He'd be happy with even a snowflake from Ji Chou, let alone a reward so thoughtful and free.

He accepted it with a smile: "Thanks for coming all the way. You're not from the Shadow Guard, are you?"

The frail alpha answered respectfully, "No, I'm not. I'm Andre, an accountant in the logistics department. The Shadow Guard is too short-staffed, so Deputy Captain Nie found me."

Xie Chi was surprised.

This was the very person he had briefly discussed with Yan Wanqiu today—one of the names on the initial roster for the inspection team.

This man was a native of Snowstorm City. His family had once been well-off, and he'd received basic education with exceptional talent in mathematics. Unfortunately, his parents had been killed in crossfire during a Night Owl Syndicate turf war, leaving him an orphan overnight.

Now he had a family of his own—an omega wife and two infants still too young to have undergone differentiation. To support them, he'd originally taught in Snowstorm City before leveraging his accounting skills to join Yan Wanqiu's camp. He worked diligently without a hint of impatience, even as colleagues around him got promoted one after another.

He had vulnerabilities, he had desires, and he was honest enough. Last night, when Ji Chou was coaching him, Xie Chi had followed that line of thinking and thought of this man.

This morning, Xie Chi had been agonizing over his lack of familiarity with the camp's logistics department and how to investigate these people more deeply. Now Andre had come to him voluntarily.

This couldn't be a coincidence.

Ji Chou sending food was clearly a case of "the drunkard's heart is not in the cup."

Xie Chi just wondered how Ji Chou had managed to pull strings to find Andre.

After staying up late with him last night, Ji Chou had still been thinking of ways to plan for him this morning. No wonder Ji Chou's replies had been especially slow today.

Xie Chi was both touched and pained, but he kept a polite smile for Andre: "Thanks a lot. Let's add each other as contacts? I'll send you some delivery money—it's not easy walking over in this heavy snow."

Andre opened his mouth to refuse, but then thought of his stagnant entry-level position and the two hungry babies at home.

This kind of delivery fee was actually quite common. With snow this heavy and the accounting office full of desk workers, a pickup-and-delivery service had long been established in their group chat—he just could never compete with others for the jobs.

Andre said sheepishly, "Then thank you very much, Captain."

.

After adding Andre as a contact and transferring a hundred yuan, Xie Chi chatted with him via voice-to-text while opening the food container.

The moment he saw what was inside, Xie Chi's eyes widened in surprise.

It was an entire container of braised beef, paired with a serving of stir-fried greens, and at the bottom, a bunch of fresh, washed grapes.

In Snowstorm City during the frozen season, this meal was practically a luxury.

Xie Chi deftly opened the chopsticks and found another note slip out.

"Eat well and recover well. I've obtained special permission from the lord to have three meals delivered to you. If you don't study hard or take care of yourself, I'll stop sending them.—Ji Chou"

Xie Chi was moved to tears.

So it wasn't just about connections—the food was real too. His wife still cared about him as always.

He immediately ignored Andre, opened his chat with Ji Chou, and snapped several photos to send over.

"Xie Chi: [Image: Front view of food container]"

"Xie Chi: [Image: Side view of food container]"

"Xie Chi: [Image: top view of the lunchbox]"

"Xie Chi: [Image: bottom view of the lunchbox]"

"Xie Chi: Babe, I got the food! Babe, I'm gonna love you forever QAQ (crying face). The braised beef you made is so good—tastes just like the cafeteria's head chef makes it! Babe, I also ate the food you sent last night—it was still delicious after reheating. I'll make sure to recover well. Once I become Deputy City Lord, you'll be the Deputy City Lord's wife, and we'll live in the best and biggest house!"

Yan Wanqiu, who lived in the best and biggest house in the entire camp: ...

Yan Wanqiu stared at the excited, rambling nonsense Xie Chi had sent on his comm device, and couldn't help but worry whether that dummy Xie Chi actually understood what he meant.

...Ah well, if he didn't get it, he didn't get it. After a few more deliveries, he'd eventually catch on that something was off about who was sending the food.

With that thought, Yan Wanqiu felt a bit guilty and started searching for recipes on his comm device.

Sending cafeteria food all the time wasn't a good long-term solution.

.

That afternoon.

Xie Chi, carrying his backpack, boarded Yan Wanqiu's flyer at the camp entrance.

He didn't really have much to pack—all his valuables were in his storage ring. Going home had been about chatting with his wife and figuring out how to date properly and how to not let down his wife's hard work in mentoring him.

To that end, Xie Chi had even specifically asked Andre how he'd won his wife over and how they got together.

"Andre: I'm a bit embarrassed to say, but we never actually dated... We started out as roommates to split costs. After about five or six years, he presented as an omega and went into heat. I bought him heat suppressants, and after he came to his senses, he suddenly asked if I wanted to actually be together. And that's how we've been ever since. We've known each other for almost ten years now. I hate to admit I still can't even afford a diamond ring."

Xie Chi stared at Andre's reply on his comm device, grinding his teeth in annoyance.

Whether that was modesty or showing off, he could tell the difference himself.

Yan Wanqiu noticed Xie Chi staring blankly at his comm device and spoke up: "What are you daydreaming about?"

Xie Chi quickly put away his comm device: "No, no, I was just talking to a colleague about work stuff. You asked me to form the Supervisory Team, Your Highness, and I'm already looking for candidates."

Yan Wanqiu was surprised—he didn't expect Xie Chi to actually understand what he meant.

Maybe he wasn't that clueless after all.

Xie Chi, for his part, gave Yan Wanqiu a rare second look.

Not for any particular reason—just that he remembered it was Yan Wanqiu who'd told him that throwing money at someone didn't count as dating.

His Highness probably had a lot of experience with relationships, right?

Xie Chi was itching to ask.

But then he got conflicted again.

Even if Yan Wanqiu had loads of experience, he couldn't just go asking his superior about personal matters—especially when that superior was clearly against him dating Ji Chou.

If he kept asking, Yan Wanqiu might get annoyed and have them both dragged out and beheaded.

Yan Wanqiu sat in the flyer seat, watching Xie Chi cycle through expressions of sudden realization, eager anticipation, and conflicted frustration while staring at him, and a question mark slowly appeared over his head.

What dumb thing was this guy thinking about now?

.

By the time the flyer landed near the black market, Xie Chi still hadn't worked up the nerve to ask.

The first cold snap had passed, and the snow had lightened considerably. Mr. Ai was personally at the entrance to welcome them, with Shopkeeper Wang holding an umbrella for him nearby.

Xie Chi followed Yan Wanqiu off the flyer. Seeing Yan Wanqiu walking through the snow, he quickly used his backpack as cover to pull an umbrella from his storage ring and, copying the gesture, held it over Yan Wanqiu.

Yan Wanqiu glanced at Xie Chi in surprise.

He'd thought the guy would just come back with a backpack full of guns—didn't expect him to be so thoughtful.

"Your Highness, Captain Xie." Mr. Ai had changed into a thick outer coat, wrapped in a fur cloak, holding his pipe and smiling at them cheerfully.

Yan Wanqiu nodded at him and said curtly, "Let's go inside and talk."

The teahouse.

The black market, built around the harbor, was the most energy-abundant place in all of Blizzard City apart from Yan Wanqiu's territory and the former Night Owl Syndicate. Now that Mr. Ai was cooperating with Yan Wanqiu to mine thermal ore, it had only experienced brief chaos the night before and hadn't been hit too hard.

The private room was cozy and warm. Mr. Ai removed his coat, looked at Xie Chi with his arm still in a sling and Yan Wanqiu whose face was unreadable, and was the first to apologize: "I'm sorry—this incident was my mistake. I was at the mine earlier searching for Yan Baiyue's body for you and couldn't get away, so I never managed to come apologize in person."

His words were polished, neatly skipping over the period when he'd vanished during Yan Wanqiu's breakdown and the camp's internal chaos, saying nothing about his own wavering and indecision.

Yan Wanqiu nodded slightly: "Mr. Ai is a smart man, so I won't beat around the bush. I need you to be in full charge of the thermal mine reconstruction this time."

Mr. Ai's smile remained unchanged: "That goes without saying."

Xie Chi looked at Yan Wanqiu, then at Mr. Ai, and seeing both of them wearing expressions of "no need for words," he spoke up quietly: "Um... can I have Yan Baiyue's body now?"

One of the key steps in the plan Yan Wanqiu had whispered to him earlier involved Yan Baiyue's body. He'd come with Yan Wanqiu to see Mr. Ai specifically to retrieve it.

He wanted to finish the mission quickly and get home to chat with his wife.

Mr. Ai looked at him, took a draw from his pipe, and slowly exhaled mint-scented smoke: "Captain Xie was seriously injured this time, and I feel deeply guilty about it—Wang Pingfa."

Shopkeeper Wang, standing outside the door, heard Mr. Ai call him and immediately carried a black guitar case into the room, set it gently on the table, and withdrew.

"Yan Baiyue's body is in here," Mr. Ai said.

Xie Chi looked at the black soft guitar case on the table, barely half a person's height, and confusion showed in his eyes.

Yan Baiyue wasn't tall, true, but he wasn't so short that he'd fit in a guitar case. And more importantly, per Yan Wanqiu's plan, he needed a complete body, not a pile of broken bones.

Seeing both Xie Chi and Yan Wanqiu stunned, Mr. Ai chuckled and explained unhurriedly: "This is also my apology gift to Captain Xie. I obtained this guitar case by chance—it shares the same origin as the electromagnetic gun, using spatial folding technology. Though it looks like a case on the outside, it has ten square meters of storage space inside. I noticed Captain Xie always carries a large backpack when going out, and ordinary backpacks can only hold so much. Having a storage space will make things much more convenient."

Xie Chi understood.

This was the modern equivalent of a storage ring.

Just less portable and with less storage capacity.

But it was still a pleasant surprise for him—no more worrying about pulling oversized items out of his backpack. This guitar case would be the perfect cover for his storage ring.

Xie Chi was extremely satisfied with this apology gift, but he didn't respond immediately. Instead, he looked at Yan Wanqiu.

Yan Wanqiu had already composed himself. He looked at the guitar case on the table and asked, "May I open it and take a look?"

"Of course." Mr. Ai set his pipe on the table and stood up personally to unzip the guitar case for them.

From the outside, the opening was only half a meter wide, but once opened and looked inside, it revealed a complete storage space.

The space was pure white and square, with Yan Baiyue's body stored in a transparent container in the corner.

It was clearly a body Mr. Ai had restored—the face was intact with no signs of crushing damage, only a single bullet hole remaining in the center of the forehead.

Mr. Ai volunteered to explain, "Think of the bag as a doorway into a separate space, so no matter how much you put inside, it'll always feel like you're just carrying a guitar case on your back. The space inside stays at zero degrees year-round, nothing alive can go in, and time passes at the same speed as outside. Normally, you don't have to unzip the whole thing. Once it's on your back, just open a small gap and reach in—you'll get a view of the space and can grab or store stuff easily."

Yan Wanqiu, hearing this, reached in and dipped his hand into the bag. After confirming he could actually touch that cool, pure white space, a flicker of surprise showed in his eyes.

Xie Chi, on the other hand, was way calmer.

Mainly because he already had something better—his spatial ring had time frozen inside it, which was why he'd stocked up so many supplies in there.

Yan Wanqiu pulled his hand out without saying whether it was good or bad, instead looking at Mr. Ai thoughtfully. "From what you're saying, the electromagnetic gun and this bag don't seem to be from anything I know about?"

Mr. Ai had already picked his pipe back up, looking all calm and unhurried. "What does Your Highness mean?"

Seeing Mr. Ai's attitude, Yan Wanqiu knew the guy was trying to hold onto that info to haggle with him.

He glanced up at the sky, then turned to Xie Chi. "Go out with Mr. Ai's people and unload our stuff from the aircraft, then head out. It's getting late—there's gonna be a blizzard tonight, so go early and come back early."

Xie Chi hadn't expected Yan Wanqiu to be that considerate, and was a little surprised before nodding. "Alright."

He walked out and, with Shopkeeper Wang, had the workers unload the crates of jewelry from the aircraft.

Yan Baiyue's trip to Blizzard City wasn't just to take over the thermal ore mines—he also wanted to use the chance to mock and put down Yan Wanqiu, so he'd brought along several big crates of jewelry.

The most eye-catching thing was a heavy, fancy diamond necklace displayed in its own glass case. Even under Blizzard City's gray sky, the necklace still sparkled like crazy.

Xie Chi thought it looked familiar and stared at it a few times before remembering that Yan Baiyue had once shown it off to him.

It was supposedly made by some super skilled craftsman named Edmond.

From what Yan Baiyue had said, the necklace must've been crazy expensive.

Xie Chi's brain started turning, and a new idea popped up.

Andre couldn't afford diamonds, but Xie Chi could.

A diamond necklace would look perfect on his wife.

The only thing was, Yan Baiyue had worn it before—he wondered if his wife would care.

With that in mind, Xie Chi spoke up and asked Shopkeeper Wang, "After you buy these pieces of jewelry, do you sell them to the public?"

By now, he was a regular at Shopkeeper Wang's place. Shopkeeper Wang stopped what he was doing and smiled. "Jewelry is usually handled by Mr. Ai personally. See something you like? Which one? I can take you straight to Mr. Ai to buy it."

Xie Chi pointed at the shiny diamond necklace. "That one."

Shopkeeper Wang was surprised, then praised, "Mr. Xie has great taste. This diamond necklace is no ordinary piece—just the biggest diamond on it alone is worth over ten million, and it's not even easy to find on the market. The craftsmanship is also amazing, but I noticed there's no engraving from a maker, so it's probably not from a famous craftsman, so there's no name-brand markup. The whole thing would run you around thirty million or more."

Xie Chi was at a loss for words.

Was inflation this bad?

A few days ago, he'd bought a ton of stuff for just over two hundred thousand, and now a single necklace was in the tens of millions.

And this was without Shopkeeper Wang even recognizing it as the work of some "Edmond."

As if sensing he was worried about the price, Shopkeeper Wang quickly explained, "After all, no matter where you are, there are always rich people and luxury goods. Even if we can't sell it here in Blizzard City, some city lord across the Northern Domain Star would definitely want it."

Xie Chi got it.

Jewelry at this level wasn't aimed at working-class guys like him, but at the heads of major factions.

Even though the price was way higher than he expected, he wasn't about to give up. He said to Shopkeeper Wang, "Then please tell Mr. Ai for me—hold this necklace for a few days. I'll come back to buy it once I'm done."

Shopkeeper Wang smiled. "Of course, don't worry. If the price doesn't feel right, I can also get you a discount. Mr. Xie, you and the Second Prince are definitely Mr. Ai's top priority guests."

The two of them led the workers, carrying the crates back inside.

By then, Yan Wanqiu and Mr. Ai's conversation had come to an end. The two sat in silence, drinking tea, though Yan Wanqiu's expression was clearly displeased.

Seeing Xie Chi enter, Yan Wanqiu casually explained, "These are the jewelry pieces my imperial brother left behind. I heard Mr. Ai has some knowledge of jewelry, so I brought them all along."

Mr. Ai smiled. "Thank you for your trouble, Your Highness. Since I've made a mistake, I shouldn't accept gifts without merit. Let me take a look and give you a fair purchase price."

Earlier, he had used the space-folding bag to hint to Yan Wanqiu that he possessed important information the latter didn't know, leveraging that to secure ownership of three mines in exchange.

Yan Wanqiu was already somewhat irritated, and he couldn't afford to be tactless now.

Mr. Ai glanced over the jewelry brought by Xie Chi and the others, intending to give a quick look and offer a reasonably high price.

But when he spotted the diamond necklace beside Xie Chi, Mr. Ai's usually unflappable face finally showed a look of shock.

"Slap—"

His pipe slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor.

Such an obvious reaction couldn't escape Yan Wanqiu's notice. Puzzled, he followed Mr. Ai's gaze and, upon seeing the diamond necklace, raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Ai recognizes that necklace?"

"No, I don't." Mr. Ai quickly composed himself. "It's just the first time I've seen a diamond necklace with such exquisite craftsmanship. This piece must be quite valuable."

Yan Wanqiu didn't buy it, his crimson eyes fixed on Mr. Ai, trying to find a crack in his facade.

It was just a necklace worth over thirty million—what was the man so shocked about?

Mr. Ai forced himself to stay calm, while Yan Wanqiu pressed on.

The two faced off in silence, and the room fell quiet.

Just then, a hesitant young voice broke in. "Um... Your Highness, can I speak now?"

Yan Wanqiu didn't turn around. "Go ahead."

Xie Chi relayed what he knew. "I recognize this necklace. I heard Yan Baiyue mention it before—it's the work of Mr. Edmond, and he said it was meant for his child."

Halfway through, Xie Chi caught Mr. Ai's reproachful, warning glare.

He simply stared at the back of Yan Wanqiu's head, avoiding the man's gaze.

Though Mr. Ai was gentle and easygoing, often giving him gifts, while Yan Wanqiu was bad-tempered and hard to read, often bullying him for no reason, at the end of the day, he and Yan Wanqiu were on the same side.

Only Yan Wanqiu could give him a promotion, and only Yan Wanqiu had carried him step by step out of the snowfield when he was gravely wounded.

Xie Chi didn't fully understand what was happening, but he felt like Yan Wanqiu had been taken advantage of.

He needed to say a few words for his tyrant boss.