Jiang Xiaoci was too direct; she didn't care at all about what Yi Bai did to her. In the end, Yi Bai, unsurprisingly, enjoyed a lovely bath.
As for the process, well, how should one put it? It was somewhat like playing in the water, but still, there was a difference. At least they didn't actually do anything.
But there was definitely some... physical interaction. And of course, Yi Bai wasn't the one initiating it.
After the bath, as night deepened, Yi Bai returned to his room, clean and refreshed, and cuddled up to the beautiful woman beside him, drifting into a peaceful, sweet sleep.
He slept soundly through the night, until the next morning when he was woken by the sounds of Chen Qiuren's complaints outside the door.
"No way! I have to find the boss!"
"Raise my salary! It's a must!"
"This is extra overtime. I worked all night, and now you want me to sit in the medical room?"
"Just because I'm capable doesn't mean you should overwork me! The boss would be heartbroken if he knew!"
"And no one is even sick here! Why should I be stuck there like a fool?"
"There are girls who tease me, you know! They're not sick, but they keep running to the medical room for no reason! This is serious! I'm a doctor, I can't be flirted with by patients!"
Chen Qiuren's voice was loud enough to wake Yi Bai, who turned to look at the door.
Jiang Xiaoci's calm voice floated in from outside, "Keep it down. If the boss wakes up, I won't let you off the hook."
Chen Qiuren didn't care at all. He raised his voice even more, "What? You're oppressing middle-aged people and now I'm not even allowed to complain? The boss is a good person, he'll never tolerate this!"
"I'm forty! Half my life is already behind me! How can you treat me like this?"
"I worked all night and now you won't even let me sleep. I want to see the boss. I'm going to report you!"
"Chen Qiuren!"
Yi Bai's voice rang out, slightly raised, "Come in."
"Ah, boss! I'm coming!"
Chen Qiuren replied, a little too cheerfully, almost smugly, "The boss is awake. You're in trouble now, I'm going to report you!"
Chen Qiuren pushed open the door and, seeing Yi Bai propped up against the bed, quickly bent over to bow. "Good morning, boss."
"Mm."
Yi Bai pointed to the teacup on the desk. Chen Qiuren quickly walked over, bowed respectfully, and poured the tea, handing it to Yi Bai.
"Did you poison it?"
Yi Bai took a sip and casually asked, catching Chen Qiuren off guard.
"Boss, how could I poison you...?" Chen Qiuren stammered.
"Can't be sure."
Yi Bai's face remained impassive as he took another sip, "I heard you yelling at Xiaoci outside just now. Remember the first time we met, you also tried to poison Lin Yue in front of me. What's the one thing you won't do?"
"Boss..." Chen Qiuren lowered his head, not daring to speak.
"Xiaoci manages everything in the shelter. Whatever she asks you to do, it's my intention."
Yi Bai set down his teacup and looked Chen Qiuren up and down. "I heard you earlier... So, what? You met the new boss last night and now you don't want to work for me anymore?"
"Boss, I didn't mean it like that!" Chen Qiuren quickly explained, "I just think... the work's too much... This woman, uh, I mean, Miss Jiang gave me too many tasks, and I can't handle it all by myself."
"Hm. I can give you a raise?"
Yi Bai nodded, then asked, "But there's no such thing as a salary in this shelter. What do we do about that? Fire you?"
"Please don't, boss!"
Chen Qiuren scratched his head, grinning awkwardly, "Where else can I go? I know I was wrong. I won't do it again."
Yi Bai said nothing and simply went about washing up. Chen Qiuren silently followed behind him.
When Yi Bai finished getting ready, he glanced at the mirror, then at Chen Qiuren, and calmly asked, "So, what brings you here? It can't just be to complain about Xiaoci."
"You're sharp, you know Xiaoci's position here."
"Boss..." Chen Qiuren scratched his head, glancing at Jiang Xiaoci standing in the doorway, then lowered his voice and spoke to Yi Bai, "I went out last night."
"I know. Go on."
Yi Bai sat down at the table where breakfast, prepared by Jiang Xiaoci, was waiting. Even though Yi Bai might not have woken up at this hour, Xiaoci always made sure there was a hearty breakfast for him to enjoy when he did.
"Then... I killed some people."
Chen Qiuren's head hung lower still. Yi Bai stopped eating for a moment and looked up at him. He glanced at Jiang Xiaoci outside the door, then back at Chen Qiuren.
"Chen Qiuren, if I remember correctly, Xiaoci sent you out to expand our influence, to lay the groundwork for taking over the trading market, right?"
"Yes, boss."
"You killed them to expand our influence, right?"
Yi Bai tilted his head, "Was it to intimidate them, or did you have to defend yourself?"
"To intimidate."
Chen Qiuren's head remained low, and Yi Bai felt something was off. This middle-aged man was acting guilty. "Tell me, how many people did you kill?"
"One hundred and twenty-seven."
Chen Qiuren stated the number precisely. Yi Bai nearly dropped the spoon in his hand.
"What the hell?!"
Yi Bai's voice shot up in pitch. He stared at Chen Qiuren in disbelief. "Say that again!"
"Boss, I killed 127, using poison—small-scale neurotoxic gas."
Chen Qiuren lowered his head, unwilling to meet Yi Bai's gaze, like a child caught doing something wrong.
"Damn it, another cold-blooded killer."
Yi Bai put his hand to his forehead. What kind of people was he summoning?
It was one thing if Lin Yue's soldiers killed people, but Jiang Xiaoci was an elite agent, so killing wasn't much of an issue. But Chen Qiuren? A doctor, a former world-class assassin, and now this?
"You went on a mission and killed that many people?"
"They were after what I had, and Miss Jiang said we needed to expand our influence and show our strength..."
Chen Qiuren explained quietly, but Yi Bai took a deep breath, trying to stay calm.
"Tell me, how many people were in the trade market you targeted?"
"Two hundred sixty-eight. According to the shelter's intelligence, it's a fairly large trading hub. Other nearby markets have only forty to fifty people at most."
"Two hundred sixty-eight people, and you killed one hundred twenty-seven of them?! You wiped out half of them!"
Yi Bai squeezed his fingers together, trying hard to stay calm as he stared at Chen Qiuren. "What are you calling intimidation? This isn't intimidation."
"You wiped them out completely!"
Yi Bai felt his mind go numb.
He wasn't upset about the people who died. He was frustrated because this plan was about to fall apart.
How is anyone supposed to take over a territory like this, when people like Chen Qiuren go around slaughtering everyone?
When everyone's dead, what land are you going to take?
When everyone's dead, who are you going to trade with?