Kong Xiuyao was chased into his room by his parents to rest. He inexplicably sat by the bed amidst the commotion outside and the clinking of bowls and chopsticks.
The room was indeed as Kong's father had said. It was very clean. The windows were all open, and the wind blew the curtains like a young girl's skirt. There were a few textbooks neatly arranged on the bookshelf, looking pitifully barren.
Perhaps in the 10 years that he was not around, his mother relied on tidying up his room every day to think about her.
Kong Xiuyao's heart felt like it was stuffed with a huge rock as he thought of it, making him feel uncomfortable. Moreover, when he mentioned the future just now, his parents' attitude was very strange.
He looked down at his dressing and suddenly understood why.
He was wearing an old robe and looked like a useless scholar from ancient times. If his parents saw him, they would definitely feel that he had not lived well outside for the past ten years. They were afraid of mentioning sad things, so they did not mention anything about the past ten years.
Kong Xiuyao was amused by his parents' painstaking efforts. He wondered if his parents would faint from excitement if they knew that he had nurtured a hundred disciples who were all big shots in the industry.
Thinking of this, Kong Xiuyao had different expectations for his future life. He dug out his old clothes from the closet and realized that the clothes from ten years ago could no longer be worn. He could only wear this poor long robe first.
After walking around the unfamiliar yet familiar room, Kong Xiuyao indeed felt a little sleepy. The commotion outside gradually decreased, and the sound of quarreling could be heard further away.
Kong Xiuyao lay on the bed and slowly closed his eyes.
...
On the other side, in the Heart of The East Building in Shanghai.
Kong Xiuyao's 72nd disciple, Qiu Lingruo, was sitting in the office with a cup of iced milk tea in her hand. She was leisurely sipping it. The four screens in front of her flickered, and words kept popping up and refreshing.
"You have received 100,000 yuan in your account. Please take note."
"You have received 30,000 yuan in your account. Please take note."
"You have received 250,000 yuan in your account. Please take note…"
The phone was broadcasting the payment message like a recorder. If not for the difference in the amount every time, people who heard it might have thought that the phone was broken.
"Knock knock—"
There were two knocks on the door. A woman with short hair and gold-rimmed eyes walked in with a thick stack of documents in her hand and placed them on Qiu Lingruo's desk.
She wasn't surprised by Qiu Lingruo's bomb-like collection of text messages. She adjusted her eyes with a straight face and said, "Boss, Epstein's money has been transferred to our company's account…"
"Heh! He dragged on for so long with such a small sum of money. He wants to dig up dirt on others to clear his name. He's really bad and stingy. Return the money to him!"
"This…" The female assistant was in a difficult position." If you refund the money, he might not be able to sleep for a few nights. You dug up the Lolita Island incident when you were helping him find the other person's dirt after all. Could it be that you want to… "
"That's exactly what I'm thinking. I find the money of such a person dirty! Return it immediately!"
"Yes!" The female assistant took out a small notebook and noted it down seriously.
She added as she wrote, "Boss, the Far East isn't peaceful. There might be a war soon. They all want you to help intercept each other's information. Which side do you want to take the order from?"
Qiu Lingruo took a sip of her drink. The Far East was far away from the Dragon Kingdom. If they fought, it wouldn't affect this side. It didn't matter who she helped. "I'll help whoever pays the most. Do you still need me to teach you this? The oil dealers over there don't lack money at all. Raise the price as high as possible."
"It's already been raised to 10 million. Are you satisfied with this price?"
"Let's make do. Then I…"
Before Qiu Lingruo could finish speaking, the message notification suddenly interrupted her.
"You have a message from 'Eldest Senior Brother'. Please check it."
The message that was supposed to be the background music suddenly sounded very abrupt.
Qiu Lingruo did not suspect anything. She picked it up and her eyes lit up!
"72nd Junior Sister, Master has returned to his hometown. He needs someone to take care of him now. Please come quickly."
It was a simple row of words. Qiu Lingruo held her phone in surprise and repeatedly confirmed it.
"Boss, I'll prepare the ten million yuan mission immediately?" The female assistant repeated when she saw that she was silent.
Unexpectedly, Qiu Lingruo turned off her computer, grabbed her small bag, and ran out of the office.
"Boss?" Seeing this, the female assistant hurriedly chased after him. "They're still waiting for our reply. Where are you going?"
"No, no. I still have other things to do. I might come back sometime. I'll leave the company to you during this period of time. Do whatever you want," Qiu Lingruo said perfunctorily.
The female assistant immediately panicked. "Only you can take over the intelligence competition between countries. Besides, it's 10 million yuan! What exactly is more important than 10 million yuan?"
"Aiya, aren't you annoying! I want to see my master! Don't mention ten million, even a hundred million can't stop me! That's it, I'm leaving!"
The female assistant was dumbfounded when she heard this. She thought to herself, 'Boss is so anxious. Is her master about to pass away and is rushing to see her one last time? But she doesn't look like she's going to a funeral from how excited she is.'
Just as the female assistant was feeling puzzled, Qiu Lingruo had already quickly entered the elevator and pressed the button on the first floor like a woodpecker. Just as the elevator door was about to close, she said goodbye to the female assistant with a smile and left mercilessly.
Qiu Lingruo's company was at the top of the building. There was a dedicated elevator with only the buttons for the top and first floor.
But even so, the Heart of The East Building was 300 meters tall and was currently the tallest building in the Dragon Kingdom. It took six minutes to take the elevator from the top floor to the first floor.
In this inconspicuous six minutes, a message came from Qiu Lingruo's phone and quickly spread everywhere. Many people's phones rang at almost the same time.
"What? Master has come out of seclusion?" The mafia boss excitedly overturned the chips in front of him and hurriedly walked out of the door to end the bet.
"I'm not the last to know, am I?" In the Disciplinary Committee's office, the director circled the room twice. He picked up his briefcase a few times and let go a few times. He recalled his master's teachings and prepared to see his master after the meeting.
"I don't have time to film now. You can talk to my lawyer about the penalty fee. Goodbye!" The international superstar slapped the contract on the producer's face and left in a grand manner.
"I'm a doctor. I can't put down the scalpel now. I'm a doctor…" The director, who was operating on the patient, kept reminding himself and suppressing his desire to leave.
Those who received the news almost immediately found all kinds of transportation to rush to Pingxu Village, but this seemed to be only a short celebration. Soon, a second message stopped them in their tracks.
The message read:
"Master likes peace and quiet. I'll take care of all of your filial piety alone—72th disciple, Qiu Lingruo!"