Li Corporation

Night fell, and Qing Chen seemed to have made skipping class a habit.

Normally, after skipping class this many times, the school should have called his guardian already.

But the key was that his homeroom teacher, Du Yihong, had been on leave the entire time. Since the transmigration incident began, he had never shown his face once, and the other teachers could not be bothered with Qing Chen either.

So whenever he could skip class, he should hurry up and do it. No hesitation.

By the time work let out, the narrow Administration Road had already grown lively. Vendors selling roasted sweet potatoes, watermelon, and cold dishes had all set up their stalls along both sides of the street.

When he was little and his mother Zhang Wanfang went back to her parents' home, his father would lazily take him out for a bowl of rice noodles that cost one yuan and fifty cents.

Back then, Qing Chen had felt that his father was too dismissive of him. But looking back now, perhaps those had been the best days of his childhood.

His father had not started gambling yet, his parents had not divorced, and his maternal grandparents had not looked down on him.

The rice noodles that had once cost one yuan and fifty cents now cost fifteen yuan. It seemed that nothing could ever go back.

After entering Courtyard No. 4, he suddenly noticed two men squatting by the roadside, smoking.

The sky was gradually darkening, and Qing Chen could not make out their faces. Only the red sparks at the ends of their cigarettes flickered in and out.

At first, Qing Chen thought they belonged to some mysterious organization that had come to keep watch and look for him, since their expressions seemed off and they kept glancing around.

But later, he realized that they did not react at all when he walked past them.

The moment Qing Chen entered the stairwell, he smelled the fragrance drifting down from upstairs. Li Tongyun had been waiting outside his door for some time already. "Big brother, Mom is almost done cooking. She told me to wait for you here."

"What if I was in evening study class? You didn't need to wait for me." Qing Chen rubbed Li Tongyun's little head.

"But you haven't gone to evening study class these past few days." Li Tongyun tugged at his sleeve as she spoke and pulled him upstairs.

As soon as he opened the door, Qing Chen saw that all the furniture that had been smashed before was gone. The room had also lost its usual air of decay, and it looked as though many things had been replaced with new ones.

Jiang Xue was busy in the kitchen with an apron tied around her waist. Hearing the door open, she spoke without turning around. "Is Qing Chen here? Hurry and sit down. We're only waiting on one soup."

Qing Chen looked at the dining table. Sweet and sour pork ribs, stir-fried yellow beef, minced pork with pickled long beans, and hot and sour shredded potatoes—it all looked perfect with rice.

Compared with the bland food in Prison No. 18, this was a genuine improvement to their meals.

"Aunt Jiang Xue, what exactly are we celebrating?" Qing Chen asked curiously.

Jiang Xue came out carrying a soup pot, her face glowing with joy. "I told you before that I opened a mechanical prosthetics clinic in the Inner World."

"Mm, you mentioned it." Qing Chen stood and helped take the soup pot from her, setting it on the table.

Jiang Xue turned back to the kitchen to serve the rice and fetch chopsticks. "That clinic had me worried sick before. Since we don't inherit memories when we transmigrate over, whenever someone came in asking me to modify their mechanical prosthetics, I had no idea what to do."

Qing Chen listened quietly.

Then Jiang Xue continued, "Those people who came to have their mechanical prosthetics modified all looked vicious, one after another. And public security in City No. 18 is especially bad at night. It isn't safe to walk the streets after eight o'clock, so I was always quite worried."

That was why Jiang Xue had wanted to temporarily entrust Li Tongyun to Qing Chen before. She herself did not know whether she would be able to return after transmigrating.

"But things are fine now." Jiang Xue smiled. "I don't know what happened, but people from Li Corporation suddenly came to my little clinic and said they wanted to invest in it."

"Li..." Qing Chen muttered under his breath.

"I told you before, in the Inner World, corporations are heaven. As long as a corporation invests in a business, all those criminals will steer clear of it." Jiang Xue sat at the dining table in high spirits. "They not only gave me a sum of money, they also replaced my sign with a holographic neon sign bearing the Li Corporation logo. I'll be much safer in the Inner World now."

Qing Chen smiled. "With Li Corporation helping you, that really is worth celebrating."

"Now I won't have to trouble you anymore, and Xiaoyun's maternal grandparents won't have to leave their hometown either." Jiang Xue was very satisfied with the current situation. She even smiled brightly at Qing Chen. "Didn't you used to envy transmigrators? If you ever really transmigrate, come find me in City No. 18. Aunt Jiang Xue might not be able to do much else, but I can still protect you a little."

Qing Chen sighed inwardly. He really was in City No. 18, but ordinary people truly could not help with his situation.

The Shadow Struggle of the Qing Family and the Knight Organization's inheritance had long surpassed the scope of what ordinary transmigrators could comprehend.

"By the way, Aunt Jiang Xue," Qing Chen asked, "have those people in black come looking for you again?"

"They didn't come looking for me. I went looking for them," Jiang Xue said. "After I entrusted Xiaoyun to you, I thought about contacting them to see if I could get their help in the Inner World."

Jiang Xue continued, "But they said the organization had only just been established and could hardly do anything in the Inner World, so they were unable to help."

After dinner, Jiang Xue went to wash the dishes, leaving Qing Chen and Li Tongyun sitting at the table.

Just then, Qing Chen suddenly asked, "You're a transmigrator too, aren't you?"

Li Tongyun blinked her eyes. "Big brother Qing Chen, what are you talking about?"

"Last time, you specifically asked for your mother's clinic name. Then this time, Li Corporation invested in her clinic and protected it so thoughtfully," Qing Chen said. "You can refuse to admit it, but I can also tell your mother about these clues."

Li Tongyun immediately wilted. "Don't tell Mom!"

Qing Chen let out a sigh of relief. He had guessed correctly.

Before returning yesterday, he had reviewed all his recent memories and discovered something strange.

After Li Tongyun learned that her mother had opened a clinic, her first reaction had not been curiosity about the Inner World. Instead, she had first asked for the name of her mother's clinic. She had clearly asked it deliberately.

That was why he had used one of his trade opportunities yesterday to ask Li Shutong for a list of Li Corporation members.

Li Tongyun's name really was on it.

Traveling between the two worlds, one's name and body remained one's own. There was no mistaking that.

Qing Chen asked quietly, "Why not tell your mother?"

"In the Inner World, hardly anyone dares to discipline me. But if Mom finds out, she'll definitely discipline me in both worlds." Li Tongyun spoke timidly. "Don't tell Mom. I can give you money. I have lots of allowance money in the Inner World."

Qing Chen said without hesitation, "I'm not a transmigrator. What would I need money from over there for?"

Li Tongyun looked puzzled by how decisively he said it. "You aren't a transmigrator?"

"Of course not," Qing Chen denied. "Um... how much allowance money do you have in the Outer World?"

Li Tongyun froze for a moment. "You want to swindle a child out of her money too!?"

Qing Chen: "..."