As I listened to the titles rolling off the supervisor's tongue, I was completely baffled.
"King of Iron Stomachs," "Thousand-Ring, Ten-Thousand-Nail Ghost," "Insect-Raising Granny," "Old Tree"... These nicknames were so unimaginative, and so bizarrely out of place.
Still, not everyone had such strange names. The three dressed as monks and Taoist priests had perfectly normal Buddhist and Taoist names. Some of the others wore Republican-era or older clothing, and they had normal names too. Ye Qing and Wu Ling's names were even more ordinary.
"...Miss Wu Ling of the Qingzhou Wu family, and this is Mr. Ye Qing, who was assigned by the higher-ups to handle this matter," the supervisor finished.
The man named Ning Guowei let his gaze linger on Ye Qing for a moment. When he shook Ye Qing's hand, there was a little more sincerity in it.
"We're truly grateful for the leadership's concern for our work. We'll make sure this matter is handled properly. Please rest assured, Mr. Ye."
What he meant was that Ye Qing should stay out of it.
I found it a little strange and glanced at Ye Qing in confusion.
When Ye Qing and I had first met, he'd looked at me a little longer than most. After that, he hadn't reacted at all.
Then again, the mosaic over his face might have hidden where he was looking. Even if he'd glanced at me, I might not have noticed.
The others said nothing about Ning Guowei's decision, but their expressions varied. Those with normal names looked calm, while those with unusual nicknames either frowned or sneered.
Ning Guowei invited everyone to sit. He said nothing about the two people occupying the sofa and continued speaking on his feet.
"Everyone has probably heard about what happened at our resort. Starting this spring, visitors