Huge Deposit

After leaving the scene, Xu Qing finally let out a sigh of relief.

By the faint moonlight, he found a nearby stream and washed the bloodstains off his body.

Only then did he sprint all the way toward the company.

As he ran,

the hot blood that had been pounding wildly in Xu Qing's veins gradually calmed.

And the feeling of killing someone, along with the discomfort it brought, slowly surfaced.

While running, Xu Qing suddenly stopped.

"Aahh!!"

He roared at the sky.

As if he wanted to pour out every last bit of negativity in his heart.

Across two lifetimes, he had rarely even killed a chicken.

Let alone a person.

That had been a living, breathing human being!

"I did nothing wrong."

Xu Qing looked at his hands in the darkness and muttered to himself.

"Martial arts aren't for fighting and showing off. They're for strengthening the body, punishing evil, and upholding justice."

"But those people deserved to die."

"I didn't want to make a move. They forced me!"

"Sister Liu is a good person. Good people shouldn't be treated like that."

"That's right. They brought it upon themselves."

People always needed to find reasons for themselves.

Whether those reasons were true or not.

They genuinely eased the psychological pressure in Xu Qing's heart.

Only then did he finally set his mind at ease and run back in a much better mood.

At least he had done a good deed today.

Hadn't he?

By the time he returned to the county outskirts where the company was located,

it was already eleven at night.

The moment he reached the company entrance,

he saw three police cars parked outside and a large crowd gathered there.

Xu Qing did not approach.

He waited until the police officers and Security Department members drove away along the road they had come from.

Only then did he enter the company.

After exchanging a few greetings with the security guard at the gate, Xu Qing went straight back to the dormitory.

The guard did not ask any questions.

It seemed the company had called the police.

And those police officers and Security Department personnel were probably going back to look for Liu Yun.

Xu Qing let out a long breath and washed up.

After getting himself in order, he borrowed a phone from someone in the neighboring dormitory and contacted Zhou Tong.

His phone was still in his backpack.

He did not know how Zhou Tong had covered for him, but no one in the company seemed to have noticed that he had disappeared.

That saved Xu Qing from having to explain where he had been.

It spared him a lot of trouble.

Twenty minutes later,

Zhou Tong came running to the dormitory building with a black backpack on her back.

Seeing Xu Qing standing there safe and sound, Zhou Tong visibly relaxed. Bracing herself against her knees, she panted heavily. "Oh my God, y-you're okay. That's great, that's so great!"

Xu Qing took the backpack from her. "Thanks for covering for me."

After catching her breath for a moment, Zhou Tong looked at Xu Qing excitedly and asked in a low voice, "Did you save her?"

Xu Qing did not answer. "All right, it's late. Hurry home so your dad doesn't worry. He doesn't know about this, does he?"

"No. The moment he got back, Sister Liu's situation had him so busy he was completely overwhelmed, contacting people everywhere."

Though Zhou Tong was immensely curious,

she did not press him any further.

Instinctively, she believed Xu Qing must have saved her.

Although she had no idea how he had done it.

And she also felt that there was no way Xu Qing could have done it.

After all, there had been six kidnappers, and they had guns.

But for some reason, whenever she saw this kid, a natural sense of trust rose in her heart.

Maybe it was because he had saved her today, Zhou Tong thought.

"Fine, we'll talk tomorrow." Xu Qing waved a hand and turned toward the dormitory building.

Zhou Tong stood there silently for a while, then smiled in relief and headed back.

As long as she was okay, that was already the best possible news.

Back in the dormitory, Xu Qing took a shower and fell into a deep sleep.

He did not even have time to study the Gene Potion.

Early the next morning,

when Xu Qing woke up, it was already seven in the morning.

It was the first time he had ever gotten up so late.

Thinking back on last night's harrowing events, Xu Qing felt as though none of it had been real.

He got out of bed.

Brushed his teeth.

Washed his face.

Xu Qing changed into a brand-new set of clothes and stuffed all his old clothes into the washing machine.

Only then did he turn to look at the backpack on the table.

After thinking for a moment, Xu Qing took the Metal Box from the bag.

He stuffed it at the very bottom of his wardrobe and covered it with clothes.

Then he glanced around the room and, after confirming that there was nothing amiss,

left for the factory.

The moment he arrived at his workstation, he heard many people discussing what had happened yesterday.

"Did you hear? Liu Yun from Production Line Three was kidnapped?"

"Huh? When did that happen?"

"Yesterday, when she went out to make purchases. These kidnappers are really getting out of hand."

"Oh my God, a woman being kidnapped..."

Xu Qing turned a deaf ear to them, acting as though he had heard nothing while doing his work.

Even Li Yuan, the team leader, was busy discussing Sister Liu's situation with his coworkers.

He had no time to come talk to Xu Qing.

After a busy day,

just as work ended, Xu Qing was about to go back and study the Gene Potion,

when a beautiful figure stopped him at the factory entrance.

"Xu Qing!"

Zhou Tong stood before the flowerbeds across from the factory, smiling brightly as she held a lunch box and waved at Xu Qing.

The scene

would have made anyone think that a young woman was warmly waiting for her boyfriend to get off work and bringing him a meal.

The workers getting off work nearby all cast envious and jealous looks at Xu Qing.

Quite a few young men and women even began to cheer them on.

Many people in the company knew Zhou Tong, and naturally knew who she was.

"Qing Zi! Impressive! When did you win over the boss's daughter?"

"Yo! Go, Qing Zi! Being a live-in son-in-law isn't bad either!"

"Ha ha ha! Our Qing Zi has grown up!"

Many of the older coworkers teased Xu Qing.

Xu Qing could only smile awkwardly and say that they had misunderstood.

But no one believed him.

When he saw Zhou Tong walking toward him, Xu Qing turned and left.

Without even looking back.

Damn it, this girl was definitely doing it on purpose.

"Hey, hey, hey!!"

Zhou Tong laughed as she caught up with Xu Qing.

From time to time, she nodded, smiled, and greeted familiar older employees who passed by.

"You're way too rude. I came all this way to see you, and you didn't even say hello before turning around and leaving."

Zhou Tong leaned close to Xu Qing with a mischievous grin.

Xu Qing said helplessly, "Miss, I don't know you that well, thanks. And I'm only fifteen this year, so be careful or I'll report you for molesting a minor."

"Holy shit!" Zhou Tong's expression immediately changed. "You wouldn't be that heartless, would you?"

"That's right." Xu Qing glared at her fiercely. "Want to see if I can get you thrown in prison?"

"Nope." Zhou Tong bared her teeth and rolled her eyes adorably before stuffing the lunch box into Xu Qing's hands.

"Here. My mom made you chicken legs to thank you. Because of your stinky socks, my mom cried and thanked you for two or three hours last night.

If my dad hadn't stopped her, she probably would've gone to see you herself.

The two of them agreed to invite you to dinner at my house this weekend."

"I don't have time—" Xu Qing was just about to refuse.

When Zhou Tong said, "My dad said if you dare not come, he'll dock a month of your pay."

Xu Qing was instantly speechless.

He believed Zhou Yu would never say something like that.

But he could not guarantee that if Zhou Tong whispered in her father's ear, he would not go along with it.

Xu Qing could only agree.

Forget it, it was just one meal. It would not delay his martial arts training.

"All right, I delivered the message and brought the gift, so I won't keep you busy man any longer. Bye-bye!"

With that, Zhou Tong strode off proudly in her high heels, her long legs carrying her away.

Wherever she went,

every passerby had to turn back for another look.

Xu Qing found that utterly disgraceful.

Lowering his head to look at the white-and-pink insulated lunch box in his hands, he shook his head and smiled.

This family was not bad.

Though he had not expected anything in return, they still knew how to be grateful.

It was only a few chicken legs, but they represented their gratitude.

Xu Qing was already quite satisfied.

Still, this insulated lunch box alone was worth a week of his wages.

Rich people really were different.

He wondered where he could sell this thing for money.

He was badly short on money right now.

"I wonder if Old Zhao's Scrap Recycling Station takes stuff like this."

Xu Qing muttered to himself.

Back in the Single Dormitory,

Xu Qing opened the wardrobe and took out the Metal Box.

Then he took a Cloth Bundle from the wardrobe as well.

He placed both items on the bed, dragged over a chair, and sat at the bedside, staring blankly at them.

The bundle contained the valuables he had searched from those kidnappers.

After spacing out for a moment,

Xu Qing opened the bundle.

Inside were five bank cards, a palm-sized Silver Card, and Three Keychains.

The bank cards belonged to Dragon Scale Galaxy Bank.

They were Bearer Cards, requiring no password for either deposits or withdrawals. He had read online that many desperate criminals liked using such cards.

Four were black, and one was bronze.

If Xu Qing remembered correctly, different card colors represented different credit limits.

Dragon Scale Bank was one of the three largest banks on Blue Star.

There was one in the county town.

The salary cards at Xu Qing's company were all issued by this bank.

Xu Qing quickly downloaded and opened the Dragon Scale Bank app, then placed one of the cards against his phone.

"Beep!"

"Identification successful."

Black text appeared on the screen—

Card balance: 32,215 Alliance Coins

"Ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten-thousands... nearly thirty-two thousand Alliance Coins!"

Xu Qing's eyes lit up, and he was so excited he nearly jumped.

There were actually thirty thousand in this black card!

After transferring the money from the card into his own account, Xu Qing placed the next card against his phone as if opening a treasure chest.

Card balance: 29,001

In the card.

After transferring all the money from the four black cards.

His account, which had nearly been emptied, now had over ninety thousand more.

"Heh, I've struck it rich!"

Filled with anticipation, Xu Qing placed the final Brass Bank Card against his phone.

Account balance: 264,588 Alliance Coins

"Fuck!" Xu Qing jumped straight up on the spot.

His account balance instantly became "356,588 Alliance Coins."

The feeling of getting rich overnight sent Xu Qing soaring with excitement.

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