"With treatment like this, there's no way I can feel even a shred of 'gratitude'!
"But..."
Qin Yao narrowed his eyes slightly. "Once I put on the Thief Saint skin and pay a visit to our esteemed village chief's residence...
"I might just thank him for being so generous as to hand over his entire fortune to me: 'Why be so polite?'"
Before long, Village Chief Tang Leiyue left the house under the pretext of official business, off to wander about.
Qin Yao, meanwhile, carried a stack of case files and, led by Registrar Wang Qizhong, arrived at a side room to begin his duties.
Wang Qizhong eyed him sidelong. "Kid, remember that you still owe me silver?"
Qin Yao smiled calmly. "Of course I remember!
"When I receive my monthly salary, I'll immediately set aside half of it to repay my debt."
"Mm, not bad. You know what's good for you!"
Only then did Registrar Wang leave in satisfaction.
The man had his eye on Qin Yao's monthly salary.
What he did not know was that the seemingly frail young scholar, weak enough to be unable to truss a chicken, had already set his sights on every last bit of his family fortune!
"Mm, I'll spend a few days getting familiar with these 'colleagues' first, then find chances to 'visit' them one by one..."
With that thought, Qin Yao picked up the bronze badge he had just received and turned it over in his hand.
It was a bronze plaque about the size of an infant's palm.
The upper half of its front was engraved with the character "Literary."
The lower half bore the name "Qin Yao" in seal script, along with the time and place where he had received this identity badge.
Its reverse was engraved with county