Procedures were not a reason!
Regulations were not a reason!
There was only one real reason: the abilities Lin Xiaosu had displayed during this operation were too astonishing, stirring wariness among certain people within Hidden Dragon.
That was why they had rejected his admission in the most absolute manner, not even giving him a chance to appeal.
Wherever there were people, there was a martial world.
Even if this place was the most sacred of all.
Those who did shameful things were like moles clad in glossy coats. Did they fear cats most? No. Even if a cat stood right beside them, if it could not see through their disguise and believed them to be human, it could never catch them.
What they feared most was a pair of discerning eyes. The moment those eyes entered the door, they could not be sure they could hide from him. Once exposed, the cat's claws would await them!
The best way, naturally, was to keep those discerning eyes outside the door, never allowing them near.
If Lin Xiaosu had still been an innocent youth who had never left home, he would only have felt dejected by the road ahead being cut off.
But he was not!
He possessed the Humanity Orchid Heart, and the Humanity Orchid Heart set his thoughts spinning.
He had also seen too many espionage cases. Each and every one unfolded in his mind, telling him how treacherous the storms of this world could be...
Though he had not yet even gained a year at this age, his state of mind was no longer what it had once been.
He had told Chang Ye before: some things were done, not spoken of.
Chang Ye understood...
So they did not discuss it, each going their separate way...
Lin Xiaosu came down from Tashan, took a deep breath, hailed a taxi, and floored it all the way home.
When he got home, he spotted his mother working in the vegetable garden at a glance. From far away, Lin Xiaosu piled a smile onto his face and called affectionately, "Mom!"
She was working the field...
His mother's hand trembled. She slowly raised her head and stared at him blankly.
Lin Xiaosu walked up behind her. "Hey, the seaweed I planted last time has grown this big. This is the fruit of my own labor..."
"You... I called you so many times, and every time you were out of the service area! What happened?" His mother's chest rose and fell lightly.
"We went to an Underground City. There was no signal inside."
"An Underground City? There was a hellhole like that?"
"Yeah. There were all kinds of games inside, along with cinemas and bars. Lots of people played there for years. I was well-behaved—I only played for one week, just to release the tension from all that long-term studying," Lin Xiaosu said.
"You, you, releasing the tension from long-term studying... Then straighten yourself out for your mother again! This exam, you... you failed again!"
Lin Xiaosu's expression changed. "The results are out?"
"Before I left home, I had your cousin check. Your name isn't on the interview list!"
"Defeated in my second attempt... Does that mean I don't get to live anymore?" Lin Xiaosu slapped his forehead.
That agonized expression made his mother's heart ache. She grabbed his hand. "Son, don't be like this. You can do it, you definitely can! Isn't there still the National Civil Service Examination in half a year? We'll try again. If the second attempt doesn't work, then we'll go for a third, a fourth!"
She stopped picking vegetables and went home to make her son something tasty.
Watching his mother busy herself in the kitchen, Lin Xiaosu felt a little smug. The first hurdle was cleared!
If his mother knew her son had voluntarily given up the civil service exam, she would definitely grab the carrying pole and use it as the family discipline, beating him first and asking questions later. But seeing only that he had failed to make the final interview list, she handled it differently. Her son had failed the exam and was hurting inside—how could a mother beat him? She would make him good food to comfort him!
Still, his mother was far too obsessed with civil service jobs. The next step would remain difficult. He had to find a way to put an end to that obsession. Lin Xiaosu lightly tapped his fingers on the table, putting his mind to work...
When the food was served, Lin Xiaosu devoured it ravenously. His mother sat beside him, drinking tea and pacing in circles, before finally asking cautiously, "Ask that girlfriend of yours whether she made it or not."
"Is that necessary?"
"What do you mean, is it necessary? It's absolutely necessary!" his mother said. "If she made it, you need to watch out for her cutting off her sweetheart after getting ashore."
Good heavens...
"Mom, where did you learn all these trendy phrases?"
"From short videos. Everyone says that becoming a civil servant is a dividing line. If the man passes and the woman doesn't, the future looks bright. But if the man fails and the woman passes, there's an eighty or ninety percent chance she'll draw her sword and cut off her sweetheart... That's human nature!"
"Mom, look at it this way. If she's that kind of person, then it's better if she cuts me off. If she isn't, she won't draw her sword. Adversity reveals character, and time reveals the heart..."
"The logic is sound, but call her first!"
Lin Xiaosu had no choice but to pick up his phone, walk outside, and pretend to make a call. When he came back, his face was glowing. "She didn't make it either..."
His mother was dumbfounded. "She didn't make it, so why are you glowing with delight?"
Lin Xiaosu said, "She gave me a new idea, and I think it's pretty good. She said we might as well give up the exams and start a business together to make big money."
What?
His mother glared furiously...
He had touched her sore spot!
Lin Xiaosu added, "That was Xiao Ye's idea."
His mother's eyebrows trembled, then slowly relaxed...
Watching her expression, Lin Xiaosu began cautiously probing that sore spot...
His girlfriend Xiao Ye was now single-mindedly focused on starting a business and making money. They had discussed it many times in the Underground City. He did not know what had gotten into her, but she was dead set on believing business could make money. She even said that if he agreed to do business with her, they could stay together; if he did not, they would split up. Now I'll listen to you, Mom. If you want me to find a wife, I'll find one. If you want me to dump this good-for-nothing girl, I'll cut ties with her immediately and prepare for a third attempt.
His mother paced around the living room three times, drank two bowls of tea, set down her tea bowl, and went out without managing to say a word.
As the sun set, his mother returned.
She put down her hoe and, heavy with worry, went to wash clothes. She washed them while Lin Xiaosu helped hang them out. After smoothing out the last garment, his mother raised her head and declared as though she had made an immense decision, "Forget it. You two can decide your own affairs."
"Mom, you're not forcing me to take the civil service exam anymore?" Lin Xiaosu was somewhat surprised. He had thought such a major change would take at least several days of gradual persuasion. He had not expected his mother to come around in a single afternoon.
His mother shook her head lightly. "Why did I force you to take the exam? Because I wanted it to be easier for you to find a wife in the future. If you can really make things work with Xiao Ye, then as long as she doesn't mind, what do I have to say?"
"Don't worry, she won't mind. She even has some money. When I came back, she wanted to give me three hundred thousand."
"Stop trying to fool your mother. Is there really a girl like that? If there really is, your mother will smash the pots and sell the iron, sell these two floors of shabby rooms, just to marry her into this family..."
In that setting sun, Lin Xiaosu finally understood completely.
In his mother's mind, the important factors had an order of priority. Finding a wife came first, and taking the civil service exam only came second. Therefore, they could not ruin the prospect of a wife because of the exam. If the priorities were reversed, that would be more loss than gain.
Back in his study, Lin Xiaosu felt as though he had taken off a heavy winter coat. With one sweep of his hand, he tossed the study materials on the desk into a large cardboard box and shoved it beneath the bed.
He also tidied up the books on his shelf.
After finishing all that, he took out something.
A leaf.
It was a leaf from that Green Orchid on Laoshan, bearing a smiling face Xinyue had scratched into it with her fingernail.
That girl had always stood on the opposite side, as overbearing as a cow and as unfathomable as the mist of Laoshan.
But in the end, she had given him a leaf and drawn a smiling face to comfort him.
Was that the reward from this adventure?
He slipped the leaf into a book...
Someone knocked at the courtyard gate. "Is Xiaosu back?"
It was the voice of his second aunt next door.
Hu Ya's mother.
His mother opened the door, and Lin Xiaosu also went downstairs, meeting his second aunt in the living room.
They had not seen each other for half a month. His second aunt looked somewhat haggard, and the moment she saw Lin Xiaosu, she asked, "Xiaosu, have you seen Dian Dian?"
Yes, her daughter had been taken away by the Provincial Public Security Department. There had been no news for half a month, and her phone could not be reached. She had been worried sick. Earlier that day, she had even gone to Qingyuan Temple on Tashan to draw a fortune stick for her daughter. When she returned, she learned Lin Xiaosu was back, so she came over that very night.
"I saw her. Don't worry, Second Aunt! Dian Dian is doing well."
At those words, color visibly returned to his second aunt's face. "Then why hasn't she come home? Her phone can't be reached either."
"She hasn't come back? Oh, right, she did mention that the national team had taken a liking to her and wanted her to bring honor to the country. She should be in closed training!"
His mother smiled happily. "Sister-in-law, I told you. Dian Dian is talented, and she'll achieve great things someday. Now she's become a national team fighting athlete—that's bringing honor to the family."
His second aunt's face glowed. "I'm just afraid this girl will be like last time, always breaking rules at the drop of a hat..."
"She won't, she won't!" Lin Xiaosu reassured her. "Closed training will teach her all the fundamentals. When she comes out, she'll definitely be completely transformed, a whole different person."
"That's wonderful! Xiaosu, I've always said that besides me and your second uncle, you're the one who treats her best..."
After a lively, cheerful conversation, his second aunt's worries were completely dispelled. The facts proved that as long as the topic did not involve his second uncle staying out all night or Widow Feng taking baths, his second aunt was perfectly normal and quite pleasant to talk with.
Lin Xiaosu smiled throughout and remained relaxed throughout...
The national team—he had not exactly lied to his second aunt.
Wasn't Hidden Dragon a national team?
Fighting?
It truly was fighting, and the genuinely free kind at that.
He did not know Hu Ya's current situation, but no news was the best news. After her genetic mutation, her combat power had increased again. She would have a place in Hidden Dragon.
Members of Hidden Dragon fought for the country, which indeed counted as bringing honor to the country...
"Sister-in-law, if Dian Dian becomes one of the country's people in the future, will her Fighting Gym still be open?" His mother turned the conversation elsewhere.
His second aunt smiled. "That Fighting Gym was just something she messed around with before. She only invested ten or twenty thousand, and she got her money back long ago after half a year of wages. Running that had no future. What she's doing now is the proper path! Since she's gone, her friend from the Miao Family is temporarily covering for her at the gym. Tomorrow I'll tell her she doesn't need to keep covering it. Dian Dian might not come back anymore."
"The Miao Family?" Lin Xiaosu's heart stirred. "The Miao Family from Huashi Bridge?"
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