"Team S? Not Team L?" Xiao Qiqiang asked with a surprised voice.
For what reason was Xiao Qiqiang so shocked about? To answer this question, learning about the two teams was essential.
What was Team S and Team L?
Team S stood for Team Shadow. Like their name, the people who were in the team lived in the shadows and worked in the shadows - being someone different in daylight and someone different in nighttime.
Team L stood for Team Light. Like their name, they were people who could openly show off their jobs and not have to live in disguise; unlike Team S who lived a completely different lifestyle.
However, despite the difference, the two teams were extremely close to each other. Being trained at a young age, they all lived, breathed, and ate together - suffering all the same with no inequality.
For what reason did Team S and Team L form for?
Many years ago, Peng Mingzhu was caught up in a clan war between the old generations of the military and the underworld. Being targeted by the military as a traitor and by the underworld to marry their emperor, she was trying to protect herself. Of course, she could not die.
Not letting people know that she was invincible to death was what she was trying to protect herself from. However, in the end, she did become harmed enough that both sides of the world started getting suspicious about her.
In order to alleviate their suspicions, she decided to form two groups: Team Shadow and Team Light.
She would show Team L to outsiders and make people think that this team was the main group protecting, safeguarding her while she maintained a wounded image. Contrary to what those outsiders thought though, she would have Team S follow her every step to guard her at a farther distance while Team L maintained a close distance to her.
In this way, she could get rid of people who decided to attack her upfront or close to her while also getting rid of the people who decided to assassinate her using snipers or bombs instead.
Even though the image seemed to be that the two teams worked differently and did not have contact with each other, that was completely false. Their communication happened so frequently that they could be considered family with each other.
How many people were in each team?
Each team had an even amount of people: 6 on each team.
This means that she recruited 12 people in total. However, there was a very specific reason as to why she recruited specifically 12 people.
That was because in the western horoscope, there were 12 zodiacs - and according to their birth month, she designated them their zodiac which in turn was their nickname that they used whenever working for her.
Where did Peng Mingzhu find the people to recruit for Team S and Team L considering that she did not want people knowing that she could never die?
When she first set up the Peng Corporation, she did not have much money on her. However, as the business expanded and the richer she got, the more she saw.
She used to think that her life was horrible and that there was probably not a single person on earth who could understand her, but one day...a child appeared in front of her.
A child so cute and innocent that she did not expect him to know of her mentality.
"You don't have a mom? It's okay, I also don't have one!" the boy innocently said with a bright smile, not knowing that his smile made her feel empathy for him. "But, if I'm only wanted for one reason, I'd rather never be wanted again."
The last words that he left her, hit her emotionally hard.
His age, she did not know. His life, she did not know. However, his words, she knew.
Ever since he left a mark on her, she began to become close to him; feeling as though he was her own kin.
Eventually though, he disappeared. Disappeared without a trace, leaving her all alone.
She thought that she would cry, that she would suffer, that she would be depressed. Different from her expectations, not a single tear fell from her eyes - only a relaxed smile on her face.
Since then, she set up an orphanage that she named "Beatus Puer Natus" or "Youfu De Haizi," meaning "Blessed Child."
As the sponsor and person who initiated the plan to build the orphanage, she was very responsible. When the architect of the building was first shown to her, she improved the layout in order for the children and staff to enjoy a more comfortable environment.
Different from many other orphanages, this one had many technologies, rooms, and things that others did not have. This included having the best cooling and heating system.
There were one hundred rooms built specifically for the children to live and another 20 rooms built for the staff in case they did not have a house already. Aside from those rooms though, she also made sure to include a laundry room, kitchen, dining area, lobby for adopters, and many more necessary rooms.
Of the one hundred rooms, 5 rooms were specifically set for babies or infants - she also made sure to set a play area right next to those rooms for the babies to crawl around. Another 10 rooms were set for toddlers, also with their own playroom right next door.
There were also 20 rooms committed to children with each room housing enough for 5 children. As for the play area, she invited an architect to build a playground, a soccer field, basketball court, and many other activities for the children.
With sixty five rooms left, she used 40 rooms for teenagers - each room housing 2 teens - and twenty five rooms for the adults that decided to stay at the orphanage to work there.
Of course, she did not entertain the idea of having people living off of the orphanage and wasting their money, so she made up a rule: Once an individual has turned 18, they must make a choice to work for the orphanage to continue staying there or they would have to move out within a year of becoming 18.
However, there was an exception: Joining the Peng Militia.
Once an orphan turned 13 years old, they had two choices they could make: continue attending normal public school, or join the military school that she created to enlist in her militia.
This recycle system that she created greatly contributed to the success of the Peng Corporation and made sure that the company would never fall down. At the same time, making sure that no secrets would ever be leaked since the majority of the people were either morally bound to not speak secrets or signed a contract to not snitch.
Through this orphanage, she scouted for members of Team S and Team L. Many of them were already in training to join her military or some of them were already working for the military and she pulled them into the team.
Over the years, as the people she scouted trained together, they gathered a sense of camaraderie and made all of her plans a great success. Along the same lines, she also trained with them once in a while and maintained a friendly relationship with them, making them extremely respectful and loyal to her.
"Team L should stay there," Peng Mingzhu answered the question that Xiao Qiqiang asked. "If I bring them over, the military and the underworld will start to get suspicious of my activities."
"How about I make a decoy team and bring over Team L?" Xiao Qiqiang suggested.
Peng Mingzhu shook her head even though she knew that Xiao Qiqiang could not see her do so, "No, only Team S will come. Nobody knows of their identities and of their existence. Not only that, Team L is equal in terms of protection with Team S, so they will be useful for when you come over."
"You're going to leave Team L with Ah Fang?" Xiao Qiqiang questioned in a serious tone.
"Yes," Peng Mingzhu nodded with equal seriousness.
"Xiao Nai, there's no need to leave them with her. Not only does she have the other team that you've left her, she also has my people. She doesn't need anymore," Xiao Qiqiang reasoned to Peng Mingzhu.
"No, I have a gut feeling that once the Emperor knows of my disappearance… he will cause problems," Peng Mingzhu tried to explain. "Only by having Team L by her side will he know that I'm still nearby, just not publicly showing myself on the stages."
"You want him to believe that you are still in the country?" Xiao Qiqiang asked with a shocked voice.
"I can't go back until the 3 months timeout is over," Peng Mingzhu expressed with a sigh. "So, until then, I want to hold him back from doing anything that could harm Song Fang and the company."
"I see…" Xiao Qiqiang sighed while closing his eyes to just comprehend everything that she was saying since he knew that her gut predictions always hit the nail in the head. "How about I just bring Team S then? All of the roles that you've listed to me, I think they'll do a good job."
"I didn't think of that," Peng Mingzhu laughed at herself. "Yes, let's do that. The less people coming, the better. Oh, wait…"
"What is it?" Xiao Qiqiang tensed his brows when she seemed to have forgotten something.
"Don't forget to also bring Chang-gege," Peng Mingzhu told him with a relieved sigh since she almost forgot about the most important person to her.