Just a Spring and Autumn Lock

Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly in the relatively quiet office.

Qin Taizhang looked over, his eyes lighting up. "Miss Ji, do you know what this is?"

Ji Chuxing nodded. "I've seen one."

Qin Taizhang looked at her as though she were his savior. "Then can you open it?"

Ji Chuxing said, "I'm all right at it. I can give it a try."

For a moment, Qin Taizhang was excited. "Miss Ji, sorry for the trouble."

As soon as he finished speaking, the young man standing behind him hurried forward to stop him. "Director Qin, this is important evidence."

If they handed it to Ji Chuxing and she couldn't open it, she might even damage whatever was inside. No one could bear the consequences.

Ji Chuxing didn't step forward immediately.

The young man was Qin Taizhang's trusted assistant. Although Director Qin held the young lady in high regard, he knew it was because of Bo Yanchen.

Naturally, Director Qin would look after someone under North City's Second Master Bo's protection. There was nothing wrong with that, but he couldn't go so far as to let her play with important evidence.

The young lady was so young that she probably didn't even know what Mohist School mechanisms were.

He chose his words as carefully as he could. "Miss Ji, I know you're eager to help, and you may have seen a Spring and Autumn Lock online, but it incorporates the most advanced Mohist School Mechanism Art from two thousand years ago. We can't casually let you try."

"Do you know about the Mohist School Mechanism Art?"

Ji Chuxing remained silent.

To the young man, her silence meant she didn't know and therefore didn't dare speak.

The young man shook his head. "That's technology from two thousand years ago. Even the world's greatest masters of mechanism arts might not be able to open it."

"Director Qin, I think we should post a bounty on the Resource Network immediately."

Qin Taizhang was more polite. "Miss Ji, thank you, but the Spring and Autumn Lock is simply too dangerous. We don't know whether there might be some other dangerous trigger mechanism inside."

If Miss Ji were injured, he wouldn't be able to answer to Second Master Bo.

"Oh," Ji Chuxing said. Looking puzzled, she asked, "The Resource Network? You're posting a bounty?"

The young man was surprised that Ji Chuxing knew about the Resource Network. Having wasted this much time, he held his temper as he opened the Resource Network and began posting the bounty. "Of course. For something this dangerous, no one will take the job for less than a million."

He even suspected that the International Special Security Bureau had brought it over untouched because its mechanism specialist was away and it didn't want to pay someone to open it.

So it simply left them to spend the money instead.

Ji Chuxing said nothing more. She stood obediently beside Bo Yanchen, her head lowered as she fiddled with her phone.

Bo Yanchen shook his head. He didn't approve of the young lady handling the Spring and Autumn Lock either, but seeing that Ji Chuxing was interested, he asked, "Do you like mechanism arts?"

Ji Chuxing had already registered a new account on the Resource Network. She replied absentmindedly, "They're all right."

Bo Yanchen chuckled. "All right. I'll find a few masters later and have you learn from them."

The word "learn" gave Ji Chuxing a headache. After a pause, she said, "I'm not learning! I'm not interested anymore."

Bo Yanchen smiled gently and reached out to pinch the palm of her other hand, which hung at her side. He seemed a little helpless. "I really don't know what to do with you."

Ji Chuxing was expressionless in the face of his gentle, indulgent words.

"Let's go. I'll take you back to school for class."

"Wait a little longer."

Bo Yanchen was puzzled. "Hmm?"

Over there, the young man's excited voice rang out. "Director Qin, someone's taken the job!"

The young man took a closer look and was instantly dumbfounded. "Wait, this Yogurt-Flavored Jelly has a beginner account that was just registered. She clicked on it by mistake!"

Hearing the account name, Bo Yanchen instinctively looked at the young lady beside him.

He saw Ji Chuxing walk over, her eyes shining, and hold out her hand. "I took the job. Give me the Spring and Autumn Lock."

A whole million—her little money!

Qin Taizhang was stunned. The young man realized what had happened and grew even angrier. "Miss Ji, this is not a game. How could you do something like this?"

Qin Taizhang's attention was elsewhere. "Miss Ji, you have a Resource Network account?"

Besides Director Qin, there were other staff members around them. They had heard the commotion long ago and were all looking over, their expressions complicated.

Just who was this young lady? She was a little immature. The Spring and Autumn Lock was such a significant thing that they had only heard of it in legends and history textbooks, so how could she casually take the job and make a fuss?

Ji Chuxing nodded. "Mm, I just registered."

Qin Taizhang's eyes lit up. Anyone who could register on the Resource Network was no ordinary person. He immediately said in a serious tone, "Give Miss Ji the Spring and Autumn Lock."

The young man didn't want to hand it over, but faced with Qin Taizhang's stern expression, he didn't dare disobey.

He had no choice but to give the Spring and Autumn Lock to Ji Chuxing, though he didn't forget to warn her, "This is important physical evidence. Don't force yourself, and don't break it..."

Before he could finish, there was a soft click.

The Spring and Autumn Lock shifted slightly.

It was an extremely complex lock made of pure copper. Its exterior looked perfectly smooth, and no one knew exactly where the point that activated the mechanism was. Inside, its structure changed in countless ways, every part interlocking with the next. Someone who had never studied mechanism arts couldn't possibly open it.

Qin Taizhang's eyes widened, his face full of excitement.

The young man's face was filled with disbelief too, and he forgot what he had been saying.

The people around them couldn't help gathering closer. Bo Yanchen had only just recovered from the fact that the young lady had a Resource Network account. Now he stood behind her, looking a little proud.

It was the sort of pride one felt when a child one had raised was praised.

A minute later, the once perfectly smooth Spring and Autumn Lock had been taken apart into a jumble of pieces, and a yellowed sheet of paper fell out.

Ji Chuxing put the pieces down and clapped her hands. "It's just a high-quality imitation. It doesn't even count as a beginner-level Mohist School mechanism."

That was what she had thought. The Spring and Autumn Lock had been passed down for two thousand years, so how could it be so easy to find one just anywhere?

She held out her hand. "Pay me."

The people around her were speechless.

The young man who had stopped Ji Chuxing earlier couldn't speak for a long while.

Qin Taizhang looked at Ji Chuxing, his face full of kindness and admiration. "Miss Ji, you're truly skilled. Have you studied mechanism arts?"

"No, I just know a little." Ji Chuxing paused. "You praised me, but you still have to pay me."

Qin Taizhang was speechless.

Bo Yanchen pressed a hand to his forehead.

The young lady was simply too cute when she was being a money grubber!

Qin Taizhang gave the young man a look, and he immediately brought Ji Chuxing a check for one million. Ji Chuxing was perfectly satisfied. "Let's go. I'm going back to class."

"Wait!" The young man called out to Ji Chuxing before she could leave.

Ji Chuxing turned, expressionless. "Do you want the check back?"

The young man's face flushed red. "No, that's not it. Miss Ji, I'm sorry. I offended you earlier."

His words had been rather impolite, and he had looked down on her from the bottom of his heart, thinking she was doing as she pleased by relying on Second Master Bo's influence.

Ji Chuxing clearly hadn't taken any of it to heart. She waved a hand. "How boring."

She went out with Bo Yanchen, while the young man still felt a little awkward.

Qin Taizhang patted him on the shoulder. "You can't judge a person by their appearance."

The young man took the lesson to heart. "Yes. I'll be sure to remember that from now on."