Return to Daily Life

June 30, 1997.

Today is a day for the entire nation to celebrate together.

Hong Kong, a child separated from the motherland for a century, is about to return to the mother's embrace.

The eyes of the world are focused on Hong Kong, and people from all walks of life have gathered at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

At 23:56, the flag guards from both Hua Nation and the UK entered the venue, marking the start of the flag-lowering and flag-raising ceremony that symbolized the transfer of power in Hong Kong between the two governments. All Chinese and foreign guests attending the ceremony stood up. The eyes of everyone in the hall were fixed on the flagpoles standing on the east and west sides of the main rostrum.

At 23:59, the Union Jack and the Hong Kong flag were slowly lowered to the sound of the British national anthem. As the Union Jack descended, the century of British colonial rule in Hong Kong officially came to an end.

At exactly midnight on July 1, 1997, the exciting and sacred moment arrived: the People's Liberation Army Military Band played the majestic national anthem of Hua Nation, and the national flag of the motherland and the regional flag of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region were slowly raised together.

The entire hall stood in solemn silence, with thousands of eyes fixed on the bright Five-Starred Red Flag and the Bauhinia Flag. This was a moment the Chinese nation had long awaited, a moment that would be recorded in world history forever!

The entire venue erupted; many people had tears of excitement in their eyes, and thunderous applause lasted for a long time. The lenses of cameras and video recorders flashed incessantly, recording this solemn historical moment.

Although he was a nobody who amounted to nothing in real life, the country was still the same country, and here, Wang Yan's status and influence could affect many things.

Groups like Longteng were, to be honest, no different from terrorist organizations; none of them were good news.

Little Prince was not afraid of Hua Nation, after all, a great power cared about its reputation. But Little Prince was afraid of someone like Wang Yan, who might get hot-headed and decide to blow things up for fun. Even if he managed to kill Wang Yan in the end, he would be finished too. One only has one life; it wasn't worth getting into a feud with a reckless man.

Furthermore, the two countries had already reached an agreement during negotiations, so there was no need for him to pull any petty tricks to annoy people. If he didn't manage to annoy them but ended up getting himself killed instead, that would be a terrible loss.

Therefore, the process went quite smoothly. Of course, Little Prince still held a grudge against Wang Yan and would inevitably join the ranks of those trying to take down Longteng.

It was just that Wang Yan's status was becoming higher and higher, and his cultivation was also improving.

In the time that followed, Wang Yan's life returned to normal.

Longteng had developed for so many years and naturally had a sound system, so there was no need for Wang Yan to worry about it. He would just check the group's various reports every once in a while and occasionally promote some outstanding personnel to higher positions; other than that, there was nothing for him to worry about.

With nothing else to do, he naturally spent his time studying incessantly.

Currently, Wang Yan was mainly studying Sinology, and he had basically visited all the famous Sinology masters in the country. His current level was about the same as a graduate student in this field. His Chinese proficiency was now at the professional LV3 level; this wasn't anything else, but rather his ability to understand and express himself through language.

During this period, Wang Yan also came into contact with Taoism. Those masters had a certain understanding of this, and he learned a lot from them. However, these masters were Sinology masters, meaning their expertise was specialized rather than comprehensive. Moreover, these Sinology masters mostly studied things related to Confucianism and Western philosophical thought, so they were still quite a bit behind the level of a proper Taoist priest.

It was for this reason that Wang Yan began to visit these high-level Taoist practitioners across the country.

Intellectuals have their own circles, and the Sinology masters knew exactly who was truly capable. It was through their introductions that Wang Yan was able to precisely find Taoist priests with sufficient expertise.

It was the same old routine; although the Taoist priests had been practicing for many years and were quite open-minded, there was no reason for them to refuse Wang Yan's goodwill.

Therefore, every time Wang Yan arrived in a new place, he would donate money to pave the way without a second thought. He would first donate money to renovate and build the Taoist temple, and then he would enter to pay his respects and seek guidance.

Sinology was already a bit mystical, and Taoism was even more so.

Emptiness, Wu Wei, contradictions, unity, and so on and so forth.

It left Wang Yan completely bewildered and dizzy; he didn't even have the interest to find people to practice shooting anymore.

In this situation, having a strong spirit was useless; this field required intelligence and relied on accumulation.

The more he learned, the more profound he felt it was. Isn't there a saying that cognition is like a circle? The more you know, the more confused you become. Wang Yan was the same; his circle was growing larger, and there were more and more things he didn't understand. The path he had to walk was still very, very long.

The more Wang Yan learned, the more he felt his own ignorance. And this ignorance drove him to keep learning, making him deeply addicted and unable to extricate himself.

Time passed slowly as Wang Yan studied, and it was now 1999.

After this period, Wang Yan's level of Taoism was just barely at the introductory stage, not even forming a skill. Fortunately, after consulting various masters, he had laid a good foundation, and he would be able to slowly learn and comprehend it on his own in the future.

One day, Wang Yan was handling affairs at the Longteng headquarters when he suddenly received a system notification that the mission was complete.

To be honest, he hadn't even thought it could be completed, assuming he would have to die naturally in this world to return. He hadn't expected it to be completed quietly, which was a pleasant surprise.

He didn't rush to return, but instead had his subordinate investigate what had happened to Chen Yongren that allowed him to complete the mission.

The next day, Chen Yongren's file was placed in front of Wang Yan.

After Wang Yan arranged for Chen Yongren to become a Probationary Inspector, he was confirmed in his position in less than six months.

And not long after, perhaps because fate is hard to change, he met Amei just like in the original story.

The two hit it off immediately and quickly fell in love.

Chen Yongren was an inspector, and under Hong Kong's policy of high-salary anti-corruption, his salary and benefits were nothing to sneeze at.

This time, things were different from his original destiny. After discovering that Amei was pregnant, the two got married directly and had a daughter.

Last year, because of some contributions, although his seniority was a bit lacking, considering that everyone knew Chen Yongren was backed by Wang Yan—which could be seen as a gesture of goodwill—he was promoted to Senior Inspector.

In these few years, Chen Yongren could be said to have had a smooth career and a happy life.

It was also recently, while watching his lively daughter, that Chen Yongren recalled the events of the past and felt a sense of emotion.

Once he started thinking, he couldn't stop, and his thoughts drifted to what Wang Yan had said to him back then.

At the time, he hadn't paid any attention to it, but now, after many years, Chen Yongren had matured, and many things were no longer driven by the hot-bloodedness of his youth.

Thinking back to that time, if it weren't for Wang Yan, what would have happened to him?

The most likely outcome was that he would have been coaxed by Huang Zhicheng to continue working undercover until he died; the only difference would have been the process.

Chen Yongren thought of many possible outcomes, and no matter how he looked at it, the final result would not have been good. He might have died in some unknown corner without anyone to handle his funeral, or he might have lived a life of hardship for most of his years, only to die in loneliness and despair.

Thinking of it this way, he was truly grateful to Wang Yan, thanking him for saving him from what could have been a tragic life.

As for whether Wang Yan might have had ulterior motives, he had seen through that long ago after so many years.

What level was Longteng at now? It was competing on the world stage, with opponents that were world-renowned financial groups and organizations. What was he, a mere inspector, in comparison?

Because of this, he understood everything; in the eyes of the System, this might also be considered a form of redemption.

In Wang Yan's view, simply staying alive was the best redemption for Chen Yongren, let alone having a happy family and a successful career.

This was also why Wang Yan had begun to consider what Chen Yongren would need to experience, which was the reason for that incredibly aggressive four-year campaign to unify the underground forces of Hong Kong Island.

If there were any faults, it was simply that Wang Yan was too formidable.

After reviewing the data, Wang Yan had roughly guessed some of Chen Yongren's thoughts; it was nothing more than reflecting on past hardships to appreciate the present.

He no longer dwelled on those trivial matters; he had spent nine years here, long enough.

Pulling up the System Panel, Wang Yan chose to return.

A blue light flashed, and Wang Yan vanished from the spot.

Wang Yan woke up, enduring the violent collision and impact of memories within his brain.

He had stayed in the world of Infernal Affairs for too long, experienced too much, and learned too much. As a result, he had to withstand an even more intense shock than when he returned from the previous world; the last time had already left him feeling like he was dying, let alone this time.

This sensation once made Wang Yan feel like he was breaking down. The System provided reward attribute points. Forcing himself to stay conscious, Wang Yan pulled up the System Panel and frantically poured points into his Spirit attribute.

Soon, a cool spring flowed deep within his mind, cleansing his chaotic mental world and soothing the endless shocks.

Before long, Wang Yan felt much better. This was because the significant increase in his Spirit had raised his threshold for endurance. It could be said that he had completely neutralized this memory shock, leaving only the side effects of the memories themselves for him to digest.

To use an analogy for these side effects:

How should a person who has experienced the ways of the world, seen through the vanity of life, and yet remains immersed in that very world, continue to face it?

Should he retreat into the mountains and ignore worldly affairs?

Or should he continue to drift and sink in the material, desire-driven world?

Wang Yan intended to keep rolling through the world, so how was he to face it?

Having just experienced two worlds, and with a head full of traditional Chinese studies, philosophy, and Taoism, he had gained many reflections on society, human nature, and life itself. As he experienced more and understood more, what kind of person would he become?

How to view the world and himself was a lifelong problem Wang Yan had to solve.

Wang Yan was no fool; he was destined to improve. As he understood more and his realm grew higher, his views on these two things would not remain static, but would constantly change and evolve.

Taking a deep breath, Wang Yan opened the System Panel.

Wang Yan

Attributes: Strength 20

Agility 20

Constitution 20

Spirit 18

Unallocated points: 0

Storage space: 2m³

Skills: English LV3

Fighting LV3

Management LV3

Sales LV3

Traditional Chinese Studies: LV2

Philosophy: LV2

...A pile of skills omitted.

The most important thing was that the storage space had upgraded, increasing by one cubic meter, allowing him to carry more things in the future.

Strength, Agility, and Constitution had long reached 20. For years, he had only done daily exercises to maintain his state; after all, training more didn't have much use.

Completing the mission had rewarded him with four attribute points, which he had just added to Spirit, bringing it to 18. His memory and logical thinking abilities were greatly enhanced. Fighting had broken through to LV3 seven or eight years ago, and the remaining skills like Management and Sales had long since reached a professional level. Traditional Chinese Studies and Philosophy were two different beasts, both at LV2.

Wang Yan had studied the Tao for two years, and he felt he was almost at the threshold of entry. But that was just a feeling; this stuff relied mainly on enlightenment. When he achieved that, he would be at the entry level.

Beyond the above, he hadn't wasted these years; he had learned many other skills. Psychology, sports medicine, and a whole mess of other things.

Wang Yan learned everything and read everything. As the saying went, having many skills is never a burden. When walking the world, having a few extra tricks up one's sleeve never hurt.

Additionally, the System had granted a reward: "After the next world's wish-fulfillment mission is completed, you may stay for up to one additional year." In his view, this counted as vacation time; perhaps the System also wanted him to properly relax.

Taking a deep breath, he got up from the bed, poured a glass of water, and walked to the window to look at the night outside.

Having just added to his Spirit attribute, he was not sleepy at all; on the contrary, he was quite energetic.

After calming down for a while, Wang Yan picked up a book and began to read. The night was long and he had no desire to sleep, so he might as well pass the time with a book.