Ye Mei was somewhat astonished and confused.
She simply couldn't figure out where Li Jinshui got the nerve to shamelessly spout such flattery to her with a straight face.
She had absolute confidence in her looks. She was beautiful, and she had a great figure, but she certainly didn't look young enough to be mistaken for a girl of sixteen or seventeen, let alone have anyone call her youthful-looking.
Still, which woman could get mad at a handsome younger man praising her to her face with such sincerity?
"Quiet!"
It took Ye Mei a good while before she forced herself to put on a stern expression and snap at him.
"..." Li Jinshui fell silent. I stopped talking ages ago, for crying out loud.
"I called you here today to discuss something important. Cut out all that nonsense."
Ye Mei quickly regained the composure of a formidable career woman. She took a document from her desk drawer and tossed it in front of Li Jinshui. "This is the report the investigator just sent over. The trouble you stirred up outside is serious. The Security Company found out you joined the Youth Training Camp and put you on the entry blacklist for all their properties in Rong City."
"Look, I, Li Jinshui, take responsibility for my own actions. I enjoyed killing that security guard. If you think I was in the wrong, Manager Ye, you can fire me anytime."
Li Jinshui didn't care in the least. He pulled the chair beside him over, sprawled into it, and said, "Besides, when I was working as a security guard, delivery drivers tried to sneak through the gates all the time. What Single King has never snuck past a gate? I'll do it too."
"It's different. The security guard you killed worked for Weihu Security. It happened in an area without surveillance, and the Inspection Bureau doesn't want to handle the case, but Weihu Security has been entrenched in Rong City for years. They have plenty of Drifter Gangs under their thumb. When you're out making deliveries, they'll definitely target and surround you in some of the residential compounds." Ye Mei shook her head, her expression impassive.
"I'm not afraid. I started delivering food knowing full well I could be targeted at any time." Li Jinshui's expression turned serious, his eyes sharp. "Manager Ye, which residential compound on the delivery routes is the most dangerous and hardest to deliver to?"
"Hengda."
"Then I'll deliver all over Hengda. Three months from now, I'll make sure all of Rong City knows my name: the Tiger of the Delivery Station—Li Jinshui!"
"..."
Ye Mei was speechless again. She sighed inwardly. He was seriously ill. She just hoped he wouldn't get himself killed too soon.
"Fine. The company has done what it can to help you smooth things over. The rest is up to you to fight through. As for the second matter..." Ye Mei tapped the document on the table. "Tell me, how much money did you swindle that young girl out of?"
"What do you mean, swindle?" Li Jinshui's face flushed red in an instant, veins bulging across his forehead. "Things between classmates don't count as swindling!"
Then came a string of hard-to-understand words about "the reasonable redistribution of resources," "she's sick, I'm not," and "she was after my looks," among other things.
"..."
Ye Mei felt her temples throb. She drew a deep breath and forced down the urge to smash the folder into Li Jinshui's face.
"The Yao family has senior executives at Daqing Insurance's Rong City branch. The small amount you took doesn't matter to them, and Yao Xiaona's family isn't part of the main line, either. So I've already had the public relations department work things out for you. But you have to promise you won't bother her again. Understand?" she stressed coldly.
"Manager Ye, this really wasn't my fault. Yao Xiaona was the one who came after me first." Li Jinshui genuinely felt innocent this time.
"Then keep your distance. Don't give her the chance to come after you." Ye Mei gritted her teeth. If it weren't for Li Jinshui's illness and his excellent martial arts talent, she would have blown up at him long ago.
She had been a manager at the Youth Training Camp for years. Which employee had ever dared speak to her like this?
"All right, I get it. Don't be angry, either. I promise I'll keep myself in check from now on and stay away from those wild women out there." Li Jinshui suddenly understood and made his promise sincerely.
"???"
Ye Mei's brow furrowed at once. Why did that sound so wrong?
"Forget it. Go back to class. After class, collect your resources for the first week from the logistics department."
Ye Mei rubbed her temples, feeling utterly drained, then reminded him, "Also, stop getting into conflicts with the other trainees. Don't waste your precious time. Memorize Lightning Pulse Step as soon as you can. You need to know it backward and forward within at least five days, or you won't deserve your A-grade ranking."
With that, she waved him off like an annoying fly, telling him to hurry up and leave.
"Sure thing, babe." Li Jinshui readily obliged and left at once.
"..."
Ye Mei's face went dark. The pen in her hand snapped into pieces with a sharp crack.
Only after Li Jinshui had left the office and gone some distance did she quietly get up and close the door.
On her way back, she paused in front of the full-length mirror in the office. Looking at the icy expression on her face, she raised a hand to touch the faint crow's-feet at the corners of her eyes. Her ears began to turn slightly red again.
When Li Jinshui returned to Training Hall One, Huang Lichen was already inside, explaining the key points of Lightning Pulse Step.
Seeing Li Jinshui return, Huang Lichen nodded for him to join the group and casually asked, "Done talking with Manager Ye? Nothing serious, right?"
"Yeah, it's fine. Just a little thing. You know how women are—just sweet-talk them for a bit and everything's fine." Li Jinshui replied offhandedly, unconcerned. He walked to the very front of the group and stood ahead of the first row.
"?"
What did he mean, sweet-talk her for a bit?
Huang Lichen stared at him in bewilderment, but nodded and said nothing. He had a theatrical personality, after all. A little eccentricity was normal.
"Gasp!"
But the dozen or so trainees below reacted as if thunder had just cracked overhead, all drawing in another sharp breath.
They exchanged glances, their eyes practically popping out of their heads.
Holy crap, what did that mean?
Manager Ye and Li Jinshui... Could they really have that kind of relationship?
No wonder! No wonder Manager Ye had called him out in that tone earlier. And it looked like Commander Huang knew about the two of them, too!
But... was this something they were even supposed to hear?
"Good. Now that everyone's here, I'll announce something before we continue the lesson."
Huang Lichen's deep voice drew everyone's attention back to him.
He looked around the room, his tone serious. "I've been serving as deputy camp commander for years, but this is my first time as head instructor at the Youth Training Camp. You're my first class. I don't expect you to outperform every class that came before you, but I won't tolerate any deadweight dragging the class down while I'm in charge.
"So I've decided to offer you a personal incentive. Anyone who memorizes the entire Lightning Pulse Step manual within five days will get a basic martial technique, paid for out of my own pocket."
As he said this, Huang Lichen turned to Li Jinshui. "You're an A-grade trainee. You have to memorize it within three days."
"..." The corner of Li Jinshui's mouth twitched faintly.
Three days?
Manager Ye had just said five days. Now you're making it three?
At least Manager Ye knows how to show some concern for me.
The trainees stirred at the announcement.
That was a pretty substantial reward.
A basic martial technique manual cost twenty thousand yuan on the open market without a student discount.
If it was a more obscure type of basic martial technique, it would cost even more.
Now all they had to do was memorize the manual within five days to earn twenty thousand for free. That was incredible.
But Li Jinshui was in trouble. Three days?
Ha! The manual had plenty of text and diagrams. If he could memorize all that in three days, they'd eat their hats.
The trainees couldn't help glancing at Li Jinshui again, their schadenfreude tinged with a hint of personal grudge.
Li Jinshui ignored the others and looked only at Huang Lichen, raising an eyebrow. "Commander Huang, what if I can memorize it today?"
"Today?"
Huang Lichen laughed at that. Was this kid unhappy about being treated differently?
"If you can memorize it today, I'll give you two basic martial techniques. Pick whichever types you want."
Two basic martial techniques?
They were worth at least forty thousand yuan. If he picked obscure ones, they'd be worth sixty or seventy thousand at least. He could make a fortune by reselling them.
"Great, it's a deal!" Li Jinshui agreed on the spot and declared, "Let's get started."
"Wait, A-Shui, are you serious? And you want to start right now?" Huang Lichen was stunned. The trainees below him stared at Li Jinshui with wide eyes, their faces full of shock.
"Of course I'm serious. I already flipped through it once and memorized the whole thing." Li Jinshui shrugged, sounding relaxed. "I mean, even the dumbest person should be able to remember everything at a glance, right?"
"Ha, remember everything at a glance, huh?" Huang Lichen laughed in disbelief. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. "Well, I'll be damned if I believe that. Go on, then. Recite it. Right now."
Everyone's eyes instantly focused on Li Jinshui.
Li Jinshui's lips curled up. He clasped his hands behind his back and gazed deeply into the air.
Soon, his clear voice rang through the training hall:
"The way of heaven is to diminish the excessive and replenish the deficient. Thus, the finite electric source replenishes the deficiency of Qi-Blood. Positive and negative intersect, dividing yin and yang; guide the surging pulses through all the apertures, wrap the thunder's sound in qi, and use the lithium electrode of the New National Standard to set a slight voltage of twelve volts..."