That Wretched Ugly Stone

Once, on a dull evening of overtime.

Only the Ore Department's lights were still on in the General Affairs Office.

Jin Yi, who was keeping someone company through overtime, busily filled out the final reports.

Exhausted by a batch of S-grade ore, Xingyao slumped over the desk and suddenly said to him:

"Want to play a game?"

Jin Yi had originally intended to refuse and scold Xingyao: "Stop making trouble."

But for some reason, he glanced at the Omega, and naturally caught the anticipation and eagerness to please in those beautiful eyes.

"All right."

He agreed.

Xingyao curved his lips, picked up an unappraised piece of ore, and asked in a cute, boastful tone, "This one's A+, with a purity of 98.5% and a hardness of 4.5. Guess whether I'm right?"

At the time, Jin Yi smiled dismissively.

After working together for so many years, he knew Xingyao had an excellent eye, every bit as good as an experienced appraiser's.

Perhaps he could distinguish finer details than other people, but accurately naming the purity and hardness? How was that possible?

Yet the confident Alpha was soon proven wrong.

Xingyao put the ore into the instrument.

The light screen displayed exactly the figures he had just given.

For once, surprise appeared on Jin Yi's face.

The blond Omega asked sweetly, "Shouldn't you praise me?"

He must have praised him then.

Because from that day on, on every dull evening when the two of them worked overtime alone.

Xingyao would play this game with him.

For a word of praise.

Perhaps more than that.

Jin Yi knew Xingyao had never shown this ability to anyone else.

In the eyes of the Ore Department's staff.

He had always been a superior with a decent eye but utterly abysmal work skills.

He had little authority as a leader; when assigning work, he begged rather than ordered.

Jin Yi thought perhaps the atmosphere of working overtime together that day had made him feel safe-or given him the illusion of safety-and prompted the bird that kept its feathers tucked away to show him its most beautiful tail feathers.

Why?

Why did he never show anyone such an incredible ability?

Jin Yi never asked, and Xingyao never explained.

Only Ai Fan had ever asked him.

Why was Xingyao so bad at his job, yet nothing that passed through his hands ever went wrong? Was Jin Yi secretly giving him a helping hand?

After much hesitation, Jin Yi still kept the Omega's secret.

He said Xingyao had a habit of spot-checking every batch of ore and took his work very seriously.

He had not lied to Ai Fan about that, either.

Xingyao had indeed caught problems with the ore through spot checks more than once.

Ore appraisal instruments themselves had a margin of error of 0.01%.

That was why the Ore Department required three rounds of instrument testing, followed by spot checks from senior appraisers, before issuing a final report.

But previously, repeated measurements had always eliminated the error, and eventually Xingyao's assessment would agree with the instruments.

This time, however, they had run eight rounds of tests and tried every instrument in the Ore Department, yet still found nothing wrong.

Only Xingyao insisted something was amiss.

This was not normal.

Jin Yi looked through the quality inspection report that had just been submitted to his terminal.

Something must have gone wrong somewhere.

Meanwhile, inside Fallen Star Palace.

Shen Que was also reviewing the Ore Department's reports.

He had already read through the reports from the past three years many times and sent the details to the Empress.

All that remained now was to confirm that loophole.

There was indeed a problem with the Ore Department's reports, but it was a subtle one.

Someone was clearly trying to conceal it.

Had he not been so sensitive to data, he would never have discovered the gap.

Shen Que had a faint feeling that whatever lay behind this gap might be the key to taking control of the production line.

He had to uncover it as soon as possible and give the Empress an answer.

Closing the report, Shen Que recalled today's farce over the delayed ore shipment.

A timid minister terrified of taking responsibility.

A meticulous yet blatantly biased key staff member.

And a clumsy burden who insisted on challenging the instruments' results.

What a nuisance...

Shen Que sighed and opened the latest quality inspection report.

The Ore Department conducted a comprehensive instrument inspection every month, replacing instruments with excessive margins of error the following month.

"How long do ore appraisal instruments generally last?" Shen Que asked Demi.

"There's no fixed lifespan." Demi thought for a moment. "Their appraisal errors just gradually increase with prolonged use."

Shen Que nodded and opened an instrument's manual to read.

He had seen ore appraisal instruments at Messiah's Mecha Research Center before, but those were used to appraise sand gold and were controlled through mental power.

On White Sand Star, similar instruments were all under Jin Yi's supervision and could not be used to test other ores without special approval.

Ordinary ore was appraised using a different type of instrument, powered by an energy core. Generally, its margin of error remained within 0.01% for the first three years.

Shen Que scrolled through the quality inspection report, toying with his Pheromone Memory Stone as he quietly read.

Nearby, Anya leaned toward Demi and whispered, "Why does the madam like that ugly stone so much? He's been holding it all day."

Demi's expression grew complicated. "Mm... perhaps it reminds him of someone he misses..."

Anya sighed. "Omegas really are sentimental creatures."

Demi frowned. "It's such an eyesore. Honestly, what was the General thinking? Getting him something so ugly. He has no taste..."

Anya said, "Mm... could the General be worried the madam will attract too much attention and catch someone else's eye?"

Phil suddenly appeared with refreshments. "I think so!"

She set the light, fluffy doughnuts beside Shen Que's hand, then joined the other two maids' conversation.

"Remember that deputy minister from the Ore Department who came today? My goodness, he was gorgeous... I had to fight the urge to ask him how he braided his hair so beautifully. If that fierce Alpha beside him hadn't kept glaring at me, I would have!"

"Huh?" Anya suddenly understood. "So that's what you were whispering about..."

"What else would it be?"

Phil flicked her shoulder-length hair.

"Did you see that Alpha's expression? I could practically hear him saying in my ear, 'Take one more step and I'll kill you!'... Talk about terrifying possessiveness."

Anya nodded in agreement. "Alphas are all hopeless romantics."

Demi glanced at the stone in Shen Que's hand. "Hopeless romantics? More like hopeless idiots..."

"And that minister who looked like a porcupinefish!" Phil said. "Did you notice? I just remembered-he's Baron Ganier's nephew!"

"What?" Anya could not even keep up with the gossip. "Who's Baron Ganier?"

Demi sucked in a breath. "The director in charge of the External Trade Department. He's notorious in aristocratic circles for..."

"For what?" Anya pressed.

Demi gave her a complicated look. "Womanizing and drinking. He has over a dozen lovers alone and is a regular at the underground Golden Casino in the desert district."

Anya covered her mouth in shock.

Phil nodded. "Everyone says this Gabi is actually Ganier's illegitimate son. His mother was a prostitute who died while... doing that..."

"The baron was afraid of a scandal getting out, so he brought him back to Oasis and even gave him a position somewhere as important as the Ore Department, just to keep his mouth shut."

"My goodness..." Anya clamped her hands over her mouth. "That's explosive."

"I thought there was something off about the way he looked at that beautiful deputy minister. He's probably no good either!" Phil clicked her tongue.

Demi tapped Phil on the head. "All right, all right. Clear the gossip out of your brain. Before the General left, he told you to monitor the Star Network. How are things going?"

"Don't worry," Phil said proudly. "I'm already the leader of the shippers."

Her tone grew a little more serious. "At least some people are willing to believe the General has feelings for the madam now, even if they think it's because he's blinded by beauty... but that's not important! What matters is that paparazzi caught the General leaving his seat at the banquet. A whole bunch of people are stirring things up, and we can't suppress it."

Demi said despondently, "That makes it even more important not to let the madam wear that ugly stone outside right now. What if someone photographs it and says the General is mistreating him?"

Phil said, "I think you should worry about Grandpa Hall first-if he sees the Young Lord's spouse wearing something like that around his neck, he'll cough up blood!"