Go Back to Your Own Room!

Tong Zhao didn't think he was asking for too much. He gave an embellished account of the past month, describing how he had lived in constant fear, then held out his fair, slender fingers. "I've never spent that long washing dishes in my life! I had to squat for hours every day, my legs went numb every day, and my fingers went white from soaking! Do you know how miserable I was? Just tell me, will the General Institute take responsibility or not? Will it or not?"

[...Understood, Tasker 07661. Your application has been sent to the General Institute. Please wait patiently for a response.]

"If they don't agree, I won't let this go!"

[...]

After the system left, Tong Zhao pressed his palms together. "Please, please, let them approve it! This money could save a workplace newbie's life, save my life!"

Once the system was back, Tong Zhao felt especially relaxed and cheerful. He picked up the toiletries from the floor, washed them clean, and arranged them neatly. Then he hummed a song as he opened the door, only to jump in fright at the sight of Shu Sizhuo standing outside.

Shu Sizhuo frowned. "Tang Xu, who were you talking to in there?"

"Why were you eavesdropping?"

"I wasn't. You were acting weird, kicking me out and then muttering away in there, sometimes louder, sometimes quieter."

Tong Zhao thought back. Although he had been shouting the whole time, he had kept his voice very low. The main thing was to sound imposing, or the system would take him for a pushover.

Besides, Shu Sizhuo had said he was muttering, which meant the kid hadn't made anything out.

"I was on the phone." Fortunately, his phone was in the bathroom. Tong Zhao held it up and waved it.

"We've been together for so long, and I've never heard your phone ring. I thought you didn't have any friends, just like me." The thought that Tong Zhao had kicked him out to talk to someone else made Shu Sizhuo feel a little hurt.

Tong Zhao walked toward the bed, making things up as he went. "I tried to call this friend for help before, but I couldn't get through no matter what. He just called me back, so we won't have to keep traveling to my hometown tomorrow."

"We're not going tomorrow?" Shu Sizhuo climbed onto the bed too and leaned naturally against Tong Zhao's chest. He was a little disappointed that he wouldn't get to see Tong Zhao's hometown.

Tong Zhao was excited and didn't notice Shu Sizhuo's mood. He turned to face him and smiled. "If everything goes smoothly, I'll be able to get in touch with your uncle very soon."

"Really?"

"Really." Seeing that Shu Sizhuo wasn't as happy as he had expected, he asked in surprise, "Don't you want to go back to the Shu Family?"

Shu Sizhuo's expression gradually grew serious, and hatred gathered in his eyes. "Of course I do. I'm going to drive all those bad people out of my home, but..." Looking a little lost and uncertain, he added, "Uncle might not help me..."

"He will! Trust me." Tong Zhao hooked his little finger around Shu Sizhuo's and shook it, his eyes bright with a smile. "Pinky promise."

The next day, the system brought Tong Zhao good news. The General Institute was willing to compensate him with twenty thousand yuan for emotional distress, which he could use to pay for the mission target's uncle's contact information.

Tong Zhao also asked it for an advance on his wages. After all, since his wallet had been stolen and he had been left penniless, it had been hard to get anywhere in this world. Besides, he still had to buy Little Sizhuo a birthday present next month.

The system agreed to that request too.

Tong Zhao wondered just how guilty the system had to be to be so accommodating.

Perhaps good things were hard to come by, and all the difficulties were nearly behind them, because everything afterward went surprisingly smoothly.

Tong Zhao made an overseas call to Shu Sizhuo's uncle and told him what had happened to Shu Sizhuo, hoping that, as Shu Sizhuo's only family in the world, he would help him.

After listening, his uncle said just one word. "Okay."

Shu Sizhuo's uncle was called Hua Ruolin. After making arrangements for his company, he brought a group of elite lawyers and a team of bodyguards on an international flight straight to Grinding Cloud City.

When he arrived at the dilapidated inn, with its strange smells, he frowned. When he climbed the creaking stairs to the second floor, walked into the room, and saw his nephew in a cheap T-shirt, looking like a street child, his frown deepened.

Tong Zhao had received an advance on his wages. It wasn't that he couldn't afford to buy Shu Sizhuo a new outfit.

He simply thought that showing Shu Sizhuo at his most miserable would awaken his uncle's compassion for his own flesh and blood.

Sure enough, Tong Zhao saw Hua Ruolin crouch down and study Shu Sizhuo's features, a complicated expression on his young face. "Shu Sizhuo?"

Over the past two days, Tong Zhao had repeatedly instructed Shu Sizhuo to be polite and sensible when he met his uncle, and to act close to him.

So he stepped forward, gently wrapped his arms around Hua Ruolin's neck, and called him Uncle.

Hua Ruolin was won over on the spot. Although he wasn't usually accustomed to physical contact, he stiffly raised his arms, hugged Shu Sizhuo, and patted him. "It's all right now."

After uncle and nephew had spent a little time together, Hua Ruolin stood up and turned his gaze to Tong Zhao. "Mr. Tang?"

"Hello, President Hua." Tong Zhao smiled and held out his hand.

Hua Ruolin shook it perfunctorily. "Sorry for the trouble you've been put to during this time. You can make any requests you have afterward."

"I'm a friend of his mother's. I don't have any requests. I only hope Shu Sizhuo can return to his own home. If you ever need my help in the future, feel free to call me," Tong Zhao said with a smile.

Hua Ruolin looked the beautiful young man with distinctly East Asian features over. He said nothing, merely giving a mild hum of acknowledgment.

Hua Ruolin was handsome, with chiseled features and a composure and seriousness beyond his years. He seemed so mature that he looked ten years older than Tong Zhao rather than five or six.

Hua Ruolin took Tong Zhao and Shu Sizhuo back to City A. He first bought them several outfits, each item costing at least five figures. Once he had made them look presentable, he took them to a luxury hotel.

Hua Ruolin rarely returned to the country, so he had no place to stay there.

He left everything to the team of elite lawyers, then spent half a month at the luxury hotel with the two, who were both just little brats in his eyes.

On the first evening, he had a Western meal laid out and nodded approvingly as he watched Shu Sizhuo demonstrate impeccable table manners. Then he turned to Tong Zhao. It was one thing that he wasn't holding his knife properly, but he couldn't even sit straight. Hua Ruolin frowned again.

The next day, he took them to the hotel library. Seeing Shu Sizhuo sitting primly and reading a business book, Hua Ruolin nodded. He circled the table and saw Tong Zhao, sitting back-to-back with Shu Sizhuo, flipping through a lowbrow comic with a sleazy grin on his face. He frowned again.

Hua Ruolin had originally booked two rooms for them, but his disappointing nephew insisted on crawling into Tong Zhao's room to sleep every night, even getting under his covers and into his arms.

Once, Hua Ruolin went in to fetch him. Tong Zhao lay on the bed, hiding Shu Sizhuo under the covers, and smiled. "He's a kid. He's gotten used to sleeping with me lately, and he's scared to sleep alone."

Tong Zhao had just finished bathing, and his damp hair fell across his forehead. His eyes curved in a smile, giving him a gentle look. His pajamas were light gray and soft, and a patch of snowy-white shoulder was almost, but not quite, exposed.

Hua Ruolin stared at Tong Zhao, absorbed, for a few seconds. When he came to his senses, he was even more furious. He strode over, yanked back the covers, and hauled Shu Sizhuo out—

"You're almost eleven. What do you mean, a kid? How are you supposed to become the head of the Shu Family if you're this dependent on someone else? Go back to your own room!"