"Hello? Li Jinshui."
Once the call connected, Ye Mei's somewhat weary voice came through.
Li Jinshui leaned back on the shabby sofa and raised an eyebrow, teasing, "Well, Manager Ye, you're quite good at dumping your responsibilities. Only calling me now?"
"..."
Hearing the sarcasm in Li Jinshui's voice, Ye Mei fell silent for just a second before honestly admitting, "This was my fault. I underestimated their methods of infiltration and their influence. I was overconfident and oversimplified everything. I owe you a sincere apology for that."
After a pause, her tone grew more complicated. "You did very well last night. To be honest, I'd already guessed you were hiding your strength back at the Youth Training Camp. You held back every time they tested your Qi-Blood levels. I just didn't realize you'd hidden it so well. So although they bribed Chen Yu, they also received false intelligence and misjudged your strength. In the end, you completely derailed their plan."
"I'm just a pretty low-key person," Li Jinshui said modestly, then probed curiously, "So what exactly was this game you immortals were playing?"
He couldn't quite understand it. Before last night, he'd been a completely insignificant nobody. How had Wei Hu Security brought him into this so-called game from the very beginning?
"Simply put, it was an internal company struggle, but one with far-reaching implications. You can think of it as one faction that's close to the authorities and another that only cares about its own interests. Last night was just a minor clash," Ye Mei explained succinctly.
"Sounds like you're in the faction that's close to the authorities." From the way she described the two factions, Li Jinshui immediately figured out where she stood.
"My teacher is a government official." Ye Mei didn't dodge the sensitive question. She answered calmly.
Li Jinshui's eyes widened. He sat up straighter, his tone suddenly more measured as he cautiously asked, "If you don't mind me asking...how high-ranking an official is your teacher?"
"An imperial envoy!"
Ye Mei uttered the two words lightly, but they landed like a bomb. Li Jinshui leaped off the sofa, his expression changing in an instant.
"Oh, Mei-mei! So our teacher is an imperial envoy!"
His tone took a sharp turn, fawning and flirtatious at once. "Why didn't you tell me about such wonderful news sooner? Honestly, there's no need to be so formal between us. I'll have to pay our teacher a personal visit sometime and kowtow a couple of times to pay my respects!"
"..." The other end of the line fell silent. For a long time, there was no response.
"Hello? Mei-mei? Why aren't you saying anything? Say something, Mei-mei."
"Shut up!"
Ye Mei finally snapped, gritting her teeth in anger.
She took several deep breaths before calming herself and lowering her voice. "I told you before that we had to throw the situation into chaos to have a chance of turning things around. My teacher is the trump card. He came south to inspect Rong City on a mission. I can't say more, but you can guess it has something to do with Daming Technology. The situation here in Rong City is complicated, and the deadline is tight. My teacher hasn't found a suitable opening to intervene.
"It wasn't until last night, when you committed a heinous crime, that my teacher had a legitimate excuse to step in and hold people accountable."
"Wait, what?"
Li Jinshui's eyes flew open and alarm bells rang. His voice rose sharply. "Manager Ye, you can't just say things like that! What do you mean I committed a heinous crime last night? I, Li Jinshui, have always obeyed the law and stood against evil. Don't spread slanderous lies about me!"
"Relax. The authorities are only temporarily classifying it as a massacre so they can intervene. They're not actually going to convict you," Ye Mei said, exasperated.
"Whew! I knew it."
Li Jinshui immediately breathed a sigh of relief and put on another fawning smile. "We're all on the same side here. We know each other inside and out. I'm so pure and kind—how could I be falsely accused of being some kind of psychopathic murderer?"
"But the Inspection Bureau will want you to cooperate with their investigation. When they do, don't say anything unnecessary. Just say you don't know whenever they ask a question. I'll handle the rest," Ye Mei reminded him, her tone turning somewhat stern.
"What? I still have to cooperate with an investigation? Is that how you treat a hero?"
Li Jinshui immediately protested. "Manager Ye, do you even know what I went through last night? Nearly a thousand people surrounded me! It looked dangerous, but it was actually completely unsafe. If I'd been even a little weaker, I really would've died."
He said all that, but he hadn't really taken last night's ordeal to heart.
After all, from the start, both sides had openly negotiated their terms. It had been a straightforward deal: a partnership with a set price.
Ye Mei and the others would provide him with resources, while he went out and acted as the pawn that took the first hit. Fortune favored the bold, and he alone would bear the risk of death.
That was fair!
But now he'd survived and even exceeded the mission's expectations. He should've been getting an exciting MVP bonus payout.
Instead, there'd been no mention of a reward, and now he had to cooperate with the Inspection Bureau's investigation.
That was not a place he wanted to go. What if something changed up top and he was sacrificed and made to take the blame?
"They just want to ask you a few simple questions. It's a formality. You won't get into trouble."
Ye Mei's voice sounded weary again. Talking to Li Jinshui seemed to be exhausting her.
But she still let out a sigh and patiently continued, "Actually, no one won this trial of strength. Chen Yu will soon be fired and sued by the company. Wei Hu Security will most likely be ordered by the authorities to make rectifications and heavily fined. And I'm about to be transferred to the company headquarters."
"???"
Li Jinshui thought the first part sounded like a decent result. A draw was as good as a win. But when he heard the last part, his face turned into a giant question mark.
Seriously, did she hear herself?
She was being transferred to headquarters, and she still called it a no-win situation?
"Commander Zhang was also forced into early retirement by the higher-ups last night. Commander Huang made the biggest sacrifice this time. He took the blame, received a serious demerit, and is going to be demoted."
Ye Mei continued on her own. "But all of this is temporary. Once I've established myself at the headquarters in the capital, I'll find a way to help them..."
"No, hold on, sis! Those two old guys are already getting on in years. It doesn't matter whether they're promoted or not. They should've been enjoying their retirement long ago!"
Li Jinshui couldn't take it anymore. He slapped his thigh in anguish. "The point is, what about me? I, Li Jinshui, am the greatest hero here! I threw your whole plan into chaos with my unmatched strength. Surely I'm not going to get fired too?"
"Who are you calling 'sis'?"
Ye Mei suddenly snapped at him, then paused and spoke in the tone of someone formally reading out a work-related announcement. "The company announced early this morning that the new Shuanglong Street site has been shut down. Your position as acting site manager has also been deemed unauthorized and canceled."
"..."
Li Jinshui's mouth twitched.
They'd expected this, of course. Once things had blown up, the site was bound to be shut down.
But as for his position as manager, Old Huang had thumped his chest and guaranteed that he'd keep it if they won.
And now that was gone too?
That had been a cushy job paying fifty thousand a month!