The grand plan to borrow money had ultimately failed.
Li Jinshui felt a little disappointed, but at least he wouldn't go hungry tonight.
Zhang Yaya said her husband managed all the money in their household, so she couldn't lend him any. But she could feed Li Jinshui.
Li Jinshui didn't like the sound of that.
Did he really need someone to feed him just to eat? Was she looking down on him?
He was so annoyed that he turned and walked away.
"Hmph, you didn't like it, so why did you pat my butt? You're so clueless about romance. What a waste of that handsome face." Zhang Yaya rubbed her sore backside and watched Li Jinshui leave with a resentful look.
Carrying his ID card, Li Jinshui took the elevator straight up to the 53rd floor.
As a Class A trainee, he could eat for free in the cafeteria, but only ordinary food.
He ate a simple dinner by himself, then went straight back to his room.
Over the next few days, life suddenly settled into an unexpected calm.
The death of the apartment building's security guard seemed to have caused no stir at all.
There was no mention of it in the Rong City news, Liu Daqiang had gone quiet, and the Security Company showed no sign of coming after him for revenge.
Things were even quieter on Yao Xiaona's end. She didn't reply to his messages or lend him any money. He had no idea whether her family had been making trouble behind the scenes.
During those quiet days, Li Jinshui mostly stuck to a simple routine.
He spent the day lying in his room watching TV, then went to the cafeteria at mealtimes. Nobody came looking for him, and he couldn't be bothered to strike up conversations with anyone either.
In truth, he was a little worried.
After all, three whole days had passed, and Ye Mei still hadn't made a move.
"They said the formal interview would happen within two days, but now it's already the fourth day and there's still no word. Could they have found out about what happened outside and decided they don't want the trouble? Are they planning to kick me out?"
Li Jinshui lay on the bed, growing more uneasy by the minute. Suddenly, he sat bolt upright. "Damn, what if they hand me over?"
Better safe than sorry. If it came down to it, he'd make a clean break and leave tonight!
He scrambled off the bed and began hurriedly packing his things.
He'd arrived with nothing, but after staying here for a few days, he'd grown attached to the valuables in the room. He had to take them with him.
"Knock, knock, knock!"
He hadn't even finished packing when someone knocked on his door.
"Mr. Li, the people upstairs have asked you to come for an interview. Please go as soon as you can," a strange woman's voice called from outside.
Li Jinshui was taken aback. Then he cleared his throat and replied, "All right." He heard her footsteps slowly recede.
"Was I just overthinking it?"
He pondered for a moment, then set his luggage aside, straightened his clothes, and walked out.
A short while later, Li Jinshui arrived on the 51st floor.
This time, Ye Mei wasn't waiting by the elevator. The office area nearby was filled with staff, and muffled bangs, like hammer strikes, could be heard coming from some of the rooms. It sounded as though someone was practicing powerful martial techniques.
"Mr. Li, right? The supervisor asked you to go straight to the interview room. It's the first room on the left. Remember to knock before you enter." A young man in a suit came out of the office area and pointed him in the right direction.
"All right, thank you."
Li Jinshui nodded and went to the room the man had indicated. A sign on the door read "Interview Room."
He raised his hand and knocked twice. With a soft hiss, the door slid open automatically.
The interview room wasn't very large, about eight or nine square meters, and was simply furnished. There was only a table in the middle.
An empty chair stood on the near side of the table. Opposite it sat a man and a woman.
The man was middle-aged, average in build and plain-looking, but he had a refined, scholarly air about him.
The woman was the epitome of sexy yet innocent. She wore a business skirt and black stockings, and had an excellent figure and presence. It was none other than the HR supervisor, Ye Mei.
When Li Jinshui arrived, their gazes took on a strange note, mixed with a hint of inscrutable scrutiny.
"Li Jinshui, come in," Ye Mei said first. She then gestured toward the middle-aged man beside her. "This is Huang Lichen, deputy commander of the Rong City Branch Camp. He's also the head instructor for both the Class A and Class B trainees in your cohort. You can call him Instructor Huang."
"Hello, Commander Huang!" Li Jinshui brought his legs together and saluted.
Ye Mei: "..."
The corner of Huang Lichen's mouth curled with amusement. He gave Li Jinshui a look that was almost a smile, then nodded. "Hello. Come in and sit down first."
"Yes, Commander!"
Li Jinshui marched over to the chair with stiff, precise steps. He sat solemnly on only half of it, rested his hands on his knees, and kept his back ramrod straight.
"Li Jinshui, there's no need for all that here. Your Class A placement is already settled. We just called you in for a brief chat," Ye Mei said, furrowing her brows.
"I see!"
Li Jinshui's tense body relaxed at once. He leaned comfortably against the back of the chair and casually pulled a pack of Hua Zi cigarettes from his pocket, tapping it against his palm.
"You don't need to relax quite that much. Smoking isn't allowed here." Ye Mei nearly lost her composure, and the corner of her eye twitched.
"I'm just holding them to fidget with. I'm a martial artist. I never smoke." Li Jinshui smoothly slipped the cigarettes back into his pocket.
Ye Mei fell silent for several seconds. In the end, she took a deep breath and turned to Huang Lichen.
"You ask him. I'll just listen," Huang Lichen said with a faint smile.
Ye Mei nodded slightly, opened the file on the table, and began. "Li Jinshui, according to your records, you're currently on leave from high school. Can you tell us why?"
"You're asking about that?"
Li Jinshui immediately slapped his thigh, his face full of righteous indignation. "Supervisor Ye, Commander Huang, I've suffered so much. Two years ago, some bastard ambushed me and poisoned me, leaving me in the hospital for two whole years. It drove me straight into bankruptcy. Damn, just thinking about it makes me mad. Let me tell you—"
"Stop. There's no need to go into so much detail. We just want a general idea." Ye Mei immediately cut him off, then continued coldly, "Why didn't you repeat the year after leaving the hospital?"
"I had no money to repeat the year, so I went to work."
"What was your previous job?"
"Ah!"
Li Jinshui sighed, his gaze deep and his voice tinged with the weight of years. "I was a night watchman!"
"What?" Ye Mei and Huang Lichen both froze. What kind of underground organization was this?
"A night-shift security guard."
"..."
Riiip!
A faint tearing sound rang out in the quiet room.
The thick file Ye Mei was clutching in her hand had a corner torn clean off!
She took another deep breath and continued coldly, "And why did you leave that job?"
"Tall trees catch the wind! My classmates envied me, my coworkers persecuted me, and my boss blamed me for his mistakes." Li Jinshui put it in a nutshell.
"..." Ye Mei fell completely silent, feeling that her breasts were being put through a grueling ordeal.
Huang Lichen finally couldn't hold back his laughter. He turned to Ye Mei. "See? I told you we should just be direct with him. You're only wasting time by beating around the bush."
Only then did he turn to Li Jinshui with a smile. "Li Jinshui, I like to keep things simple and direct. We've already looked into your background very thoroughly. The details all line up. The main reason we didn't contact you over the past few days was to find out whether you were a spy planted by the Security Company.
"It turns out you're just a plain old fraudster and murderer. So I'm actually pretty optimistic about you. I was the one who made the final call to keep you at the Youth Training Camp."
"Commander Huang, you can't just say that. How can I be considered a fraudster and a murderer?" Li Jinshui immediately tried to prove his innocence.
"It doesn't matter!"
Huang Lichen cut him off. His smile slowly faded. "There's just one thing I want to know. According to your investigation report, the investigators checked the footage inside the ride-hailing car you rode in. They ended up strongly suspecting that you have a serious histrionic personality disorder."
As he spoke, Huang Lichen leaned forward slightly, his eyes full of curiosity. "People with this condition are often emotionally volatile and self-centered. They crave attention and behave theatrically.
"You're always unconsciously putting on an elegant, aristocratic air in daily life. That's a classic sign of poor people imitating nobles and the upper class. The investigators concluded that this kind of affectation most likely came from soap operas about the rich and famous. So I'd like to ask how you see it."
"Bang!"
Li Jinshui flew into a rage. He shot to his feet and slammed a hand down hard on the metal table. "Commander Huang, I must strongly disagree. This is clearly a serious slander against my character, a malicious attack born of jealousy toward the talented! You must give me the investigator's identity. I'll report him to the Inspection Bureau tomorrow and send him a lawyer's letter!"
"..."
Huang Lichen and Ye Mei exchanged a glance.
He really was seriously ill.
But someone like him was perfect for delivering takeout. The Delivery Youth Training Camp liked trainees who'd take any order, no matter the danger.
Orders others wouldn't dare accept? He'd take them.
People others wouldn't dare kill? He'd kill them.
He liked pretending to be upper-class, so he'd be ambitious and eager to compete for the Single King title.
After winning the street-level Single King title, there were also the community, district, and city-level titles.
If he could make it all the way to the provincial level, the Rong City Branch Camp would be in for a huge windfall!