"This is your reward for going to North Africa." 

Old Lin carefully took out two crumpled 100-yuan bills from a well-worn piece of cloth and handed them to Lin Yi, who was eagerly watching him. 

Lin Yi couldn't understand. His missions were perilous, his enemies formidable, and the benefits his clients reaped were immense—yet his own rewards were pitifully meager. 

Where did this old man find such ridiculous missions for him? Every time, it was a life-or-death ordeal, and the reward was only fifty or a hundred yuan. If he was lucky! Sometimes it was just a couple of yuan... 

Every time he thought about it, Lin Yi wanted to cry. 

Holding the 200 yuan he had risked his life for, Lin Yi's first instinct was to curse: "Damn it!" 

Though he had no mother to curse, being an orphan who grew up without parents. 

After learning martial arts and academics from Old Lin for fifteen years, he considered himself a talented man in both fields. In ancient times, he would have been a top scholar in both civil and martial examinations. Yet here he was, being treated like a manual laborer. 

When would this miserable life end? He'd heard that construction workers in the city earned tens of thousands a year, yet he was risking his life daily for a mere thousand or two a year. 

"Old man, are you messing with me? Two hundred yuan? I seriously suspect you're skimming my rewards!" 

Lin Yi had doubted this more than once. But the old man lived like him, dressed in rags and ate simply—he didn't look like someone hoarding wealth. 

"You should be grateful to get paid. Do you think money is so easy to earn nowadays?" 

Old Lin glared at him, his bulging eyes full of irritation. "What? Don't want it? If you don't, give it back. I've been craving a meal at Widow Wang's snack bar for ages." 

"..." 

Lin Yi had an urge to thrash the scrawny old man in front of him, but he knew that would only end with him getting beaten instead. 

As for how skilled Old Lin truly was, Lin Yi had no idea. He only knew that during their training sessions, the old man never seemed to exert himself fully. 

Whenever Lin Yi's skills improved, he'd find that Old Lin's level had also inexplicably risen, and he remained a mere punching bag. 

"Alright, you've been through enough training over the years. It's time for the big task." 

Old Lin didn't even lift his eyelids as he sat cross-legged on the kang bed, chewing on some fennel beans. "Complete this mission, and you'll never have to worry about food and drink again!" 

"Really?" 

Lin Yi had known since he was three years old—when Old Lin picked him up while scavenging—that he was being raised and trained for a major task. He had learned martial arts, medicine, and worldly knowledge for this one purpose. 

But Lin Yi doubted the reward would be as generous as Old Lin claimed—enough for a lifetime. 

"Have I ever lied to you?" 

Old Lin tossed another fennel bean into his mouth. "Are you going or not? If not, I'll find someone else." 

"Of course I'm going!" Lin Yi thought. This was too good an opportunity to pass up. A single mission that could secure his future? Only a fool would refuse. 

Even if it meant braving a dragon's den or a tiger's lair, it would be worth it! 

"Good. Then head to Songshan City and find a man named Chu Pengzhan at the Pengzhan Group. He'll tell you what to do next." 

A sly smile briefly flashed across Old Lin's face. "But think carefully. Once you accept this mission, you must see it through to the end. No quitting halfway." 

"Why? If it's dangerous, why can't I back out?" 

Lin Yi wasn't the type to recklessly charge into certain death. 

"Lin Yi, I've raised you for fifteen years—fed you, clothed you, bought you a laptop, even paid for a 3G internet card..." 

The old man's eyes bulged as he began a tirade. "Now I'm asking you to do one thing, and you've got so many questions. Don't push me!" 

"Damn it!" Lin Yi's temper flared. "For the first three years, you supported me. But since I was six, I've been cooking, chopping wood, and making straw sandals to support us both. Don't push me either!" 

"And don't think I don't know what you do late at night with that laptop!" 

Old Lin's glare intensified. "You forced me to bring it up! Watching... that stuff!" 

"Alright, alright... I'll go. I won't back out, okay?" 

Lin Yi's face turned red with embarrassment. He hadn't realized the old man knew about his late-night habits. What a humiliating revelation. 

Before Old Lin could bring up anything else inappropriate, Lin Yi packed his bag and boarded the northbound train to Songshan City, a modern international metropolis. 

On the train, Lin Yi was filled with anticipation. A mission that could fund his retirement? He'd dreamed of such a thing. 

Although Old Lin's hints suggested this wouldn't be easy, Lin Yi thought: *The harder, the better! I'm ready for the challenge.* 

"Pop." 

A man with a pockmarked face sitting across from Lin Yi opened a can of soda and casually tossed the pull-tab onto the table. 

A man with a buzz cut sitting beside him picked up the pull-tab nonchalantly, fiddled with it for a moment, then suddenly exclaimed: 

"Wow! First prize!" 

His voice wasn't particularly loud in the noisy train car, but nearby passengers heard it and turned to look. 

The pockmarked man's face changed when he saw the pull-tab. It was the one he'd just discarded. "Give it back—that's mine!" 

"Yours? Where's your name on it?" The buzz-cut man glared, clutching the pull-tab tightly. "Are you named First Prize?" 

"No, but... I was the one who opened that can..." 

The pockmarked man hesitated, intimidated by the buzz-cut man's fierce appearance, but unwilling to lose his rightful prize. 

"You threw it away. Whoever picks it up owns it now," the buzz-cut man said smugly. 

"Hey, how can you be like this?" 

The pockmarked man turned to the bespectacled man sitting next to Lin Yi. "Sir, you look like a scholar. Please judge fairly. Isn't this outrageous?" 

"Who's being outrageous?" 

The buzz-cut man also turned to the bespectacled man. "Sir, you decide. Who does this pull-tab belong to?" 

"Well..." 

Adjusting his glasses, the bespectacled man hesitated before saying, "Technically, this pull-tab was removed by the first gentleman, so it should belong to him..." 

Hearing this, the pockmarked man's face lit up with hope, while the buzz-cut man frowned. 

"But," the bespectacled man continued, "since it was discarded and then picked up by this gentleman, it now belongs to the one who found it." 

"Come on!" 

The pockmarked man looked crushed, while the buzz-cut man smirked triumphantly. 

"How about this," the bespectacled man suggested. "You two split the prize money equally. That way, neither of you loses out." 

"Split it..." 

The buzz-cut man hesitated before agreeing reluctantly. "Fine. We'll split." 

The pockmarked man, realizing he might get nothing otherwise, also nodded in agreement. 

"Alright. The prize is 100,000 yuan. After deducting 20% personal income tax, 80,000 yuan remains. Whoever claims the prize will give the other 30,000 yuan and keep the rest. Is that fair?" 

"Deal!" 

The pockmarked man immediately agreed. "You go claim it and give me 30,000 yuan!"