Recognizing His Place in Society

Dawn Building, Cloud Top Cafe.

Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, Gu City's skyline basked in bright sunshine.

Li Fan sat there, a little flustered and annoyed, feeling utterly speechless.

Zhang Hongbing had gotten the wrong idea in a big way. He actually thought Li Fan had some kind of bizarre kink, and was arranging a blind date for him in the middle of the night.

Still, Zhang Hongbing had meant well. And as he'd put it, he'd called in a favor to set Li Fan up with a rich, beautiful heiress. Li Fan found it hard to refuse.

He could just act unimpressive enough that she wouldn't be interested, and let the date fizzle out.

That way, he wouldn't disappoint Engineer Zhang's kindness.

What he was really fretting over was having to meet the Cleaner from the Cleaning Association's Southwest Region, along with some devout Association members, with his family that evening.

He'd seen the name Green Tech Group in some news reports and advertisements before. He knew it was a local pharmaceutical company in Gu City, specializing in biopharmaceuticals.

Word was, the company was about to go public, with a potential market value of several billion. It really was a pretty good company.

He had no idea how Zhang Hongbing knew them. How many favors had he called in?

Just then, a young woman wearing sunglasses walked into the cafe.

She wore a short gray jacket with a cape-style collar, a black miniskirt, and a pair of rose-pink high heels. Her glossy black hair fell in natural waves over her shoulders, and she carried herself with an air of arrogance.

Her outfit was clearly all designer. Li Fan vaguely remembered seeing it in a fashion show article somewhere.

The elegant scent of perfume wafted over.

The smell of money.

The necklace around her neck seemed to be a custom piece from some international luxury brand, too.

She scanned the cafe, then headed straight for Li Fan and sat down in front of him. Without even taking off her sunglasses, she spoke in a rather condescending tone.

"You're Li Fan, right? You're the one the person who set us up told me about?"

Before Li Fan could answer, the designer-clad woman took off her sunglasses, revealing a flawlessly made-up face.

She wasn't quite as pretty as Ke Ke, but she was still a beauty. Li Fan could see signs that she'd had some work done.

The woman raised her chin slightly. "I looked into you. Your father is a pretty good distributor, and your family has some money, but you need to understand that Green Tech Group is worth several billion. Your family is nowhere near that level. Blind dates are about matching families, too."

Li Fan was taken aback, then secretly delighted.

He didn't have to make himself look bad after all. Great, the date was already over.

The woman continued, "If the person who introduced us weren't an auntie I respect, I wouldn't have come to meet you. We're not in the same class, so there's no point wasting our time."

Looking at the dazed Li Fan, Lv Yalian couldn't help finding him a little amusing.

His background might have been passable by ordinary standards. His family was in business, and he even had a civil servant in the family.

But in the eyes of someone at her level, he wasn't even what you'd call an affordable, practical husband.

Besides, she'd already heard from her family that her father, Lv Feng, would be taking her to meet a major figure that evening.

That person belonged to a world ordinary people couldn't access, even if they had money.

After tonight, the Lv family would become even more extraordinary, rising above the rest. It was a world ordinary people couldn't even imagine!

She gave a faint smile, took a cigarette from her bag, and said, "I can be a little blunt, but that's just the way the world is. It matters that families are well matched. I hope you can face reality, stop dreaming, and not lose heart."

She rummaged in her bag, then suddenly realized she seemed to have forgotten her lighter.

Li Fan hurried to say, "I'm not discouraged, not at all."

This speed-dating experience was fantastic. It saved him a lot of trouble, and he barely had to say a word.

As he spoke, he took the rusty windproof lighter from his pocket, flicked it open, and prepared to light her cigarette.

Click! A blood-red flame flared up. Everything around them instantly became dilapidated, but none of the mold that signaled anomalous mental radiation appeared.

Li Fan's gaze, however, was fixed on her face. He looked slightly startled.

Half of Lv Yalian's face was now covered in the black mold that signified anomalous mental radiation. At the same time, something seemed to be crawling around inside her eyes.

She had been infected by some kind of anomalous mental radiation.

"Thanks." Lv Yalian leaned over and lit her cigarette. Then she noticed that Li Fan was still staring at her, and a trace of displeasure flickered across her face. She gave a light laugh and said, "Maybe this cigarette will be the only connection we ever have... Goodbye. I hope you understand where you stand in society."

As she spoke, she stood up, put on her sunglasses, picked up her bag, and headed out.

"Hey..." Li Fan shut off the lighter and said, "If you start feeling unwell, you could try calling the police."

Lv Yalian didn't even slow down when she heard him.

To her, his comment was simply ridiculous. Was this his last-ditch attempt to hold on to her?

How laughable.

Li Fan shrugged.

Although she'd been infected by anomalous mental radiation, it didn't look like it was anywhere near reaching the outbreak stage.

Whatever he said, she wouldn't believe him. Her family owned a publicly listed group, after all. If anything was wrong, they could probably get in touch with the Anomaly Bureau right away. He didn't need to worry about it.

After the speed date ended, Li Fan realized he was getting hungry.

He called over a server, ordered a few things, and wolfed them down. Then he went straight to the supermarket, bought a simple folding cot, and lugged it to the Anomaly Bureau office.

This would be his bed for taking naps from now on.

At this point, he felt that only the office at the Bureau was safe. Staying at home all the time gave him the creeps.

He'd decided to start coming to the Bureau on time every morning to play on the computer.

Otherwise, if he spent too much time with his family, he'd end up giving himself away sooner or later.

Li Fan slept until two-thirty in the afternoon. After getting up and tidying himself up, he sat in front of the computer and stared blankly at the screen.

Around three, his colleagues from the department gradually arrived at work. There wasn't much to do today, though, and the sound of the department head, Wu Qian, playing Fight the Landlord came from his office.

The others were drinking tea, reading newspapers, playing on their phones, cracking sunflower seeds, snacking, or lying around. Everyone had their own way of passing the time.

Only then did Li Fan truly appreciate the Dissection Department's pleasant, harmonious work environment.

Ke Ke was the only exception. She'd arrived at the office and was still taking online jobs writing papers for people.

Zhang Hongbing smoked as he knitted a sweater, and took the opportunity to ask Li Fan how his blind date had gone.

When he learned it had fizzled out, Zhang Hongbing patted Li Fan on the shoulder and told him not to worry. He'd introduce him to someone else next time.

When Ke Ke heard that Li Fan had gone on a blind date at lunchtime, she turned her head slightly and glanced at him.

Li Fan spent most of the afternoon happily playing games.

Soon it was almost five, quitting time. His colleagues washed out their teacups and teapots with practiced ease, gathered their things, and headed out one after another.

Ke Ke approached Li Fan hesitantly and asked in a quiet voice, "Li Fan, are you free tonight? Could I treat you to dinner?"

Things had been so rushed that morning. He'd left the money and run, and she hadn't even had time to thank him.

So Ke Ke had decided to give him a proper thank-you that evening.

Li Fan was taken aback and scratched his head. "Sorry, Sister Ke Ke, but I've got something on tonight. I've already made plans with someone else."

A hint of disappointment passed through Ke Ke's eyes. "Oh... Maybe another day, then. Thank you so much... I don't even know how to thank you..."

Li Fan quickly waved his hands. "It was nothing. You don't have to be so formal. But, Sister Ke Ke, please keep it between us, okay? I don't want people at the Bureau gossiping if they find out."

"Mm!" Ke Ke nodded emphatically.

There were too many gossipy people in government offices. Things were a little better in their department, but who knew what people elsewhere might say if word got out?

Li Fan smiled and waved to Ke Ke, then walked out of the office building.

After greeting some of the colleagues who had just finished work, Li Fan headed to a quiet road outside the Anomaly Bureau.

A black luxury car was waiting there.

The driver, Old Chen, immediately opened the door for Li Fan. Once Li Fan was seated, he hurried back to the driver's seat, stole a glance at Li Fan's expressionless face in the rearview mirror, and started the engine.

The car moved through the streets like a fish through water, heading for the best hotel in Gu City: the Red Star International Hotel.

Tonight was the day Collector would officially take up the position of Shepherd and receive the Cleaners and the Devout Members.