Watching the Show, Intervening

Watching Jiang Rou stop her bicycle in front of a secluded little courtyard, Bai Yao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After trailing her all this way, he had finally learned just how lousy his stamina was.

He knew how strong Jiang Rou was, but he had never expected her stamina to be just as fearsome. She had only sped up the whole way, never slowing down. If he hadn't used his Mental Power and System Space together to teleport ten meters at a time, he really wouldn't have been able to keep up with her bicycle.

Honestly, given how fast Jiang Rou rode, Bai Yao felt that calling it cycling was far too unfair to everyone else. Flying close to the ground was more like it.

At that speed, thank goodness there weren't many pedestrians on the road at this hour. Otherwise, she could have sent a dozen people to the hospital in minutes.

While following her, Bai Yao had considered giving up, but he had already come part of the way and couldn't bear to quit.

Fortunately, it was finally over.

It was just that Jiang Rou's behavior puzzled him somewhat.

A young woman had come to such a secluded courtyard and had even taken the trouble to put on makeup. Even if she was very strong, she shouldn't have done that.

"Could she be an enemy agent?" Bai Yao ventured.

After making his guess, he began investigating.

At that moment, Bai Yao was grateful that absorbing the original owner's soul after transmigrating had strengthened his Mental Power, making many things much easier for him.

He spread out his Mental Power and probed into the little courtyard. Then his expression turned rather odd.

The courtyard looked run-down, but there was a greater variety of things inside than at the supply and marketing cooperative.

That was right. How could he fail to recognize this familiar scene as a black market hideout?

But how had Jiang Rou gotten so deeply involved with the black market?

The next second, Bai Yao saw several men in the courtyard call Jiang Rou "boss."

Bai Yao: (⊙o⊙)

Good grief, he had still underestimated Jiang Rou.

Only the day before yesterday, she had sought out the person in charge of the black market to cooperate on selling grain. Yet after just two days, she had become the boss of the black market!

Seeing them begin to talk, Bai Yao put aside his thoughts and kept watching.

"Boss, over the past two days, our black market has made a name for itself thanks to the grain you supplied. But that's also drawn Brother Dong's attention. He sent someone with a message last night, asking you to set a time to discuss how to divide up the market."

"Boss, if you ask me, we should ignore them. They're a pack of jackals. They must want to swallow up our goods and our supply channels."

"But we can't just refuse to go. They haven't made a move these past two days because they're giving us face. If we don't go, they'll be able to make trouble for us. Never mind anything else—if they come and cause trouble every time our black market opens, won't that be even worse?"

Jiang Rou listened to her subordinates without speaking. Only after everyone had finished did she speak.

"Since he invited us, we'll go. Give him a time—one week from now will do. Keep a close eye on things in the meantime, and don't let anyone set you up," Jiang Rou said.

She didn't care about this black market. If this one was gone, there could always be another.

Besides, she disguised herself every time she came, so she wasn't afraid of being recognized at all.

Bai Yao didn't know what Jiang Rou was thinking. Otherwise, he would certainly have told her, "Your disguise is just a mask, sunglasses, and a hat. Nothing else has changed. How could anyone not recognize you?"

Still, it was probably the power of the protagonist's halo. To other people, Jiang Rou's disguise was convincing, and they couldn't recognize her.

When the conversation turned to arrangements for the black market over the next few days, Bai Yao lost interest in watching and prepared to leave.

Just then, Bai Yao noticed someone in the courtyard preparing to take a message to Brother Dong. He was puzzled, but he followed anyway.

If he wasn't mistaken, Brother Dong should be the man he and Kong Wu had tricked at the black market last time.

What? Was he going to offer a belated apology?

Bai Yao would have to have a hole in his head to do that. He was going to see the excitement.

Other people came to town because they really needed to buy things, while he had only come to keep up appearances.

He was bored and didn't know what to do anyway, so of course he had to go and watch when there was excitement to be had.

Following the messenger through one turn after another, Bai Yao was nearly dizzy by the time the man finally stopped.

One glance was enough for Bai Yao to spot the issue.

Brother Dong was indeed the man he and Kong Wu had tricked last time, and his hideout hadn't changed either. It was still the same house.

What did that mean?

It meant he had someone backing him! Otherwise, how could he still be staying here?

Surely he wasn't relying on the darkness beneath the lamp, treating the most dangerous place as the safest?

Bai Yao didn't believe that for a second.

With that thought, Bai Yao quietly approached and spread his Mental Power over the courtyard.

But he was a step too late. The messenger had already finished speaking and was preparing to leave.

Bai Yao noticed that as the messenger left, Brother Dong gave one of his underlings a meaningful look.

Bai Yao: Here it comes, here it comes! I knew there'd be something worth watching!

Immediately afterward, Bai Yao heard the conversation inside.

"Brother Dong, the little bee we tied a string to has led us to their hideout. When do we make our move?"

"No rush. Broad daylight isn't the time for our kind of activity. Wait until tonight. One group will find someone to report their black market, and another will come with me to wipe out their hideout."

"Yes, Brother Dong. With such good grain in our hands, we can gain a firm foothold in the city too."

"Once this is settled, raise the price of grain at the black market by ten percent. We'll earn back the losses we've taken lately."

"Wise as always, Brother Dong!"

Hearing the group already celebrating left Bai Yao speechless at the way they were popping the champagne early.

He particularly disliked those last words. He hated people like that most of all.

He had originally intended to stay out of it. After all, the group was no match for Jiang Rou.

But now, well, those bastards could all go die.

With that thought, Bai Yao decided he would intervene after all.

Once again, he used knockout incense, and once again, it worked just as well.

Once everyone had passed out, Bai Yao set about ransacking the place with practiced ease.

Since he had intervened, it was only reasonable to collect a little payment, wasn't it?

With that thought, Bai Yao picked out and took some of the things in the courtyard.

Grain, cloth, meat and eggs, money and ration coupons, as well as his favorites: large gold bars and jade artifacts.

In the end, he took all the goods intended for resale on the black market. As for the rest, he left it for Jiang Rou.

He thought a house she could move straight into with just her bags was a valuable gift too.

After taking the things, Bai Yao left. At the same time, he spent one cent to have the system write a letter telling Jiang Rou about Brother Dong's plan.

Would Jiang Rou believe it?

Bai Yao didn't care.

But the next second, when he saw the man Brother Dong had sent out to follow the messenger, he thought Jiang Rou would believe it.

At the same time, perhaps he could use this opportunity to sound Jiang Rou out.

He flashed over, touched the man, and took him into the space. Then he spent one cent to have the system tie the man up tight with straw rope.

He quickly arrived at the courtyard where Jiang Rou was, tossed both the letter and the man inside, then flashed into the System Space to watch what happened next.

"Let's see what you'll do to these people who want your life, Jiang Rou, Educated Youth Jiang."