I sized up the young man before me. He looked to be barely in his twenties, with an utterly ordinary face—the kind that would disappear into a crowd in an instant.
He wore a smile that made people feel as though they were basking in a spring breeze, warm and sweet.
He was studying me as well. "Mr. Jiang, I've heard so much about you!"
Yet he paid no attention whatsoever to what Sixth Brother had said.
I said to him, "You know me, but I don't know you."
"Hadn't Mr. Jiang already guessed who I was? I don't think there's any need for introductions, then."
He really was Bamboo Guest. But how had he known that I had already guessed his identity?
"Boss, can we leave now?"
Sixth Brother asked anxiously. Only then did Bamboo Guest turn to look at them, the smile on his face unchanged.
His voice was pleasant too, carrying a metallic texture and a penetrating quality.
He said, "Are you all really that eager to leave me? Haven't I treated you well enough? Do you know what you amounted to under Zeng Dajiang? Nothing!"
Sixth Brother lowered his head. "Boss, I really do want to go back." Sixth Brother had long said that he never felt secure following this new boss. Yet when he had worked under Zeng Dajiang, he had never been as on edge as he was now.
Bamboo Guest kept smiling and nodded. "If that's how you feel, then of course I'll grant your wish. Go on!"
Sixth Brother froze. He had not expected it to be so simple.
He hurriedly said to Bamboo Guest, "Then I'll take my leave."
After saying that, he left with the other two. They moved quickly, as though terrified that Bamboo Guest might change his mind.