Hard Times

Si Lin began his arduous journey as Clan Leader.

After finally finishing all the courses, it's my first day in office.

He sat at the Gemstone desk, identical to Si Ting's, looking at the three large carts of documents awaiting approval pushed in by the clan affairs officer. His expression could be described in four words.

--Questioning the meaning of life.

"No, so many?"

Si Lin stared at the three carts in front of him, then looked at the clan official and asked.

The clan official shook his head, and seeing the other party's eyes suddenly light up, filled with "I knew there was still hope," he smiled and delivered the final blow:

"Clan Leader, there are still ten carts ahead."

Si Lin stared at the clan affairs officer's kind smiling face for three seconds.

Then he slumped onto the Gemstone table.

His profile was pressed against the cold tabletop, his eyes vacant.

--Not alive anymore.

Files, files, and more files.

--He had seen more documents in his entire life than in a single day.

Si Lin slumped on the table, his face turned to the side, his gaze aimlessly falling on the tassels of the Gemstone lamp in the corner.

Suddenly, he thought of his father, Si Ting.

So this is how they've been spending their years all this time?

Si Lin rubbed his face against the table again.

He let out a muffled groan.

Let him remain paralyzed for a while longer; he might never have the chance to be paralyzed again.

Carl, standing beside him, watched as the clan official pushed cartloads of documents in, his lips twitching.

For others, this would probably be considered a sweet dilemma.

The Jade Qilin Clan is incredibly wealthy, comparable to a nation.

Behind each of these documents lies real wealth and power, something others could only dream of.

But Carl knew that his Major General... no, he should now be called the Clan Leader.

They weren't this obedient when they were in the Federation.

At that time, Si Lin was faced with a report he didn't want to write.

Either play dead or cheat.

Either secretly slip the file into his folder and then pretend to have amnesia.

Even when questioned by the marshal the next day, he could still calmly make up a bunch of excuses.

Carl suddenly frowned.

He discovered something he had never thought about before.

Si Lin has caused so much trouble in the Federation, disobeyed military orders countless times, and openly confronted his superiors on numerous occasions, yet each time the punishment has been neither too lenient nor too severe:

Writing self-criticisms, being locked up in solitary confinement, having their allowances deducted. The most serious offense was a one-month suspension.

The Federation's Marshal Bai was an extremely cold man, and notoriously strict in disciplining his troops.

Why be so lenient towards Si Lin?

Carl thought for a long time and finally thought of Si Ting.

Upon their first meeting, he sensed that Si Lin's father was a man of deep cunning.

Could he be behind this too?

That makes sense. Si Lin was just a child back then; how could he possibly have run away without being discovered by anyone?

If that's the case, then it's been a fruitless escape.

Carl stated that he did not understand the thinking of the wealthy and powerful, and he decided to suppress his speculation.

As Carl was thinking this, he saw Si Lin suddenly sit up straight, supporting himself on the table with both hands.

The dejection that had been in those dark eyes vanished completely.

"Alright, bring them all in."

Carl looked at him in surprise.

He thought Si Lin would cause trouble.

For example, they might bang on the table, complain, or try to bargain with the clan affairs officer to see if the documents could be reviewed in batches.

I didn't expect them to be so self-disciplined this time; they didn't even protest.

They've really grown up.

Carl thought with satisfaction.

After the clan official pushed the cart in completely, he left quietly.

Only Si Lin and Carl remained in the office, along with a row of carts arranged in a semi-circle.

Logically speaking, in this day and age, we should have been Lightbrain to handle all affairs long ago, but any organization with a certain foundation would choose to retain paper documents.

The reason is simple: there are too many top-tier hackers on the Star Network.

They can easily breach firewalls and come and go as they please, as if they were in an empty field.

Once the core information is digitized and stored on a networked terminal.

It's tantamount to handing over the organization's entire secret to the public.

To prevent his former Major General from being overworked to death in piles of documents, Carl also began his arduous journey as his deputy.

Although he was an outsider, he could help the other party with some unimportant and non-confidential matters.

Besides, it's always easier for two people to do it than for one.

He comforted himself inwardly.

That day, Carl, buried in piles of documents, suddenly looked up, pen still in his hand.

He remembered something.

They were walking too fast at the time, and Carl had originally intended to tell Si Lin what he was going to say, but then he encountered Space Pirates and the Goddess of Beauty, and he unconsciously forgot about it.

"Clan Leader, I think I just remembered something. Before we left, the Federation seemed to be planning to promote you..."

"Carl, that's not important." Si Lin didn't even look up, and continued, "I've already resigned, don't worry about them. By the way, is everything alright on Landon Star?"

He turned to the next document.

In just a few days, he changed completely.

Back in the Federation, no matter how busy he was, he could always delegate tasks he didn't want to do to others.

--After all, he was only Major General; there were Lieutenant Generals and Generals above him.

General is the marshal.

No matter how many times it's assigned, it's not his turn to shoulder the entire burden.

But things are different now.

He is the Clan Leader, the highest-ranking person in the entire Jade Qilin Clan.

No one but him could sign, no one could make the decision, and no one could finish approving the remaining half-truckload of documents for him late at night.

He has to do it.

This is also essential.

"Alright, it's not important anymore." Carl wisely changed the subject, burying himself back into his files, and casually asked, "By the way, Clan Leader, did you submit your resignation?"

"Of course."

Si Lin answered without hesitation, and his pen flew across the paper several times.

He rejected a proposal regarding the deployment of defenses on the mining planet, citing reasons that took three full lines.

"I always leave a note before I run away."

Carl's ears twitched suddenly, and his pen stopped on the paper.

Note?

He slowly raised his head, looked at Si Lin who was engrossed in writing, and his lips twitched.

The so-called "note" is probably just another one where he slapped a sticky note on the table, just like he did back then, with a few big characters written on it in a flamboyant style.

That's it.

Isn't this just failing to submit a formal resignation document?

Carl knew the military's resignation process all too well.

A written application must be submitted thirty standard days in advance.

It requires the signature of the immediate supervisor.

It needs to be reviewed by the human resources department.

Asset liquidation is required.

All standard equipment must be returned.

As it turned out, their own Clan Leader didn't leave; he ran back instead.

Carl paused for a moment, swallowing back the retort that was about to come out.

Oh well, anyway, the Federation isn't paying his salary anymore.

Who cares about the chaos over there?

By the time they finished approving all the documents, it was already the dead of night.

Carl rubbed his aching neck and looked up from the pile of documents.

But they saw Si Lin frowning, holding a pen in his hand, writing something on a blank sheet of paper.

Carl looked at him with a puzzled expression.

Weren't all the documents in the cart approved?

Another batch is due tomorrow, why am I still writing instead of going to sleep now?

Si Lin put down his pen, picked up the paper covered in writing, and handed it to Carl.

"Carl, there's something I want to do."

Carl took the paper, looked down at it, and then froze.

The paper was filled with detailed planning schemes.

Regarding how to provide systematic assistance and industrial transformation to those Federation border industrial planets in the name of the Jade Qilin Clan.

From environmental governance to economic support, from education and healthcare to transportation infrastructure.

Each section has specific goals and implementation steps.

Clearly, this wasn't a spur-of-the-moment decision, but rather something that had been carefully considered for a long time.

After a long pause, Carl raised his head, looked at the man he had followed for years, and suddenly smiled.

"Go ahead and do it. You know I'll always support you."

Tears were streaming down his face.

He's definitely grown up.

"Regarding that That Matter, I met someone. What he said made me think for a long time. So, I want to do everything I can to help them."

Si Lin leaned back in his chair, his dark eyes reflecting the faint starlight outside the window. He thought of Mu Li, and the distrustful and expectant tone in Mu Li's voice when she spoke of the "Federation".

"However, if the old folks in the clan find out about this, they probably won't approve."

Carl reminded him, stroking the edge of the proposal paper.

"I've thought about that too."

"We offer aid, but on one condition. The Starfolk of the planets receiving aid must have faith, sing praises, and glorify our My God."

"I want my My God's name to be known throughout the entire Universe. With such conditions, would those old fogies dare to disagree?"

Si Lin rested his hands on his chin, his smile deepening. He knew all too well that those people would refuse anything but the glorification of the Goddess of Beauty.

Isn't it great to achieve multiple goals at once?