"Name?"

"Huai Shi."

"Age?"

"17."

"Gender?"

"..."

In the solemn silence of the office, Huai Shi slouched in his chair and couldn't help but sigh, "I mean, Old Fu, what's the use of all these fancy processes every time?"

SMACK!

The man behind the desk slammed his hand down in anger. "Who are you calling Old Fu!"

Huai Shi let out a sly chuckle, proudly sticking out his leg. "We're of equal rank now. If I don't call you Old Fu, would you prefer Uncle Fu? Even trying to take advantage of the Astronomical Society, aren't you going too far!"

"You still remember you're an Inspector for the Astronomical Society!"

Director Fu grew even angrier. He pulled out a thick stack of papers from the cabinet and slammed them in front of Huai Shi. "This month's monthly report, the weekly reports, and the upcoming quarterly report—we've already collated everything here. Nag, nag, nag! I've nagged you a hundred thousand times, and I haven't seen a single word you've written! Get to work, already!"

"I've got Caven, alright?!"

Huai Shi argued righteously, "Besides, the deadline isn't even here yet, is it? Even if it's the end of the month, as long as it's not past midnight, it's not considered late!"

The utterly shameless person finished speaking, then adopted a pose as if to say, 'We at the Astronomical Society conduct our work and owe no explanations to anyone,' nearly driving Director Fu to grind his teeth to dust.

Ever since this little bastard became an Inspector, it's been a complete disaster. He doesn't do a single bit of proper work, just blatantly slacks off and steals a salary. Fine, let him slack off; after all, the money comes from the Astronomical Society. But there's still a ton of action files and maintenance work for the Current Circumstances that require an Inspector's participation! This bastard's slacking has spread from the Astronomical Society all the way to the Social Security Bureau! It makes me, Director Fu, who never tolerates a speck of dust in his eyes, grind my teeth in irritation! Watching a once bright and lively kid turn into a listless salted fish, a stubborn bronze pea, and I'm still powerless against him! I'm actually starting to deeply miss the days when Ai Qing was still around. She wasn't easy to deal with, sure, but there were never any problems with the daily work! Now, it's just great. Weekly reports aren't handed in until the very last minute, monthly reports aren't written until the 31st, and quarterly reports... Heh, what quarterly reports? When this guy first started, he'd at least go through the motions, typing up a few somewhat standard-looking documents on his computer. Later on, he just started tossing thirty blank pages stamped with the Astronomical Society's seal into the Special Affairs Department at the end of the month. Forget the documents, he even scrounges ink cartridges from the Special Affairs Department's printer! If that were all, it might be tolerable. After all, many Inspectors who are just coasting use their Astronomical Society permits to rake in dirty money, trying to squeeze some profit from the locals. From the Special Affairs Department's perspective, having someone as Zen-like and hands-off as Huai Shi is something they'd normally cheer for. But I really can't stand it anymore! Fine, don't come to work! But parading that pretty-boy Cowherd face around school every day, hanging around my own daughter... It makes my heart pound with unease! Can't you just fucking work properly?!

"Who says I don't work?!"

The expression on Huai Shi's face suddenly became serious. He slapped the table and shouted, "Do you know what day it is today?"

Director Fu was taken aback, then became utterly confused.

What day?

He picked up the desk calendar, flipping back and forth for quite a while. He found no to-do items or any special holiday marks, and grew even more perplexed.

"Today is the day of the college entrance examination pep rally, okay?!"

Huai Shi picked up his teacup and sipped leisurely, giving him a sidelong glance with a look of exasperated disappointment. "I skipped such an important day, missed the pep rally at school, to come here and meet with you, and this is what you say to me? Director Fu, do you even care about the blossoms of our nation's future?!"

Director Fu was stunned for a long moment, his face twitching. The veins on his forehead throbbed as if two children were playing jump rope there; with every pulse, it felt like four tiny feet were stomping on his brain, causing his intracranial pressure to surge.

Blossoms? If the nation's future has 'blossoms' like you, it's truly been cursed for eight generations! It took every last ounce of his self-control to convince himself not to personally execute this little bastard right here in his office.

He could only pant raggedly, forcing himself to look away.

Then, he saw Huai Shi's phone vibrating violently.

After three sharp alarm tones, a crimson message popped up from the Astronomical Society's internal app, startling Director Fu into a freeze.

An orange alert from the Astronomical Society? That's a major disaster warning, second only to alerts for things like floods or hurricane-level attacks! Something big has happened!

Huai Shi glanced down, then nonchalantly dismissed the alert with a wave of his hand. He went back to sipping his tea and said soothingly to Director Fu, "Don't worry, it's a small matter. It's been like this several times these past few days; these people are always making a mountain out of a molehill..."

"Would you just fucking look at what it says!"

Director Fu's eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets.

Normally, if it were something related to Xinhai, the notification from the Social Security Bureau would have arrived already. Since I haven't received anything, it most likely has no connection with Xinhai, or even the whole of Dongxia. But this was the first time I'd ever seen such a bastard dismiss a headquarters' warning alert with a 'none of my damn business' face. And judging by his tone, this wasn't even the first time! Saddled with an Inspector like this, can I really survive until retirement?

Once again, Director Fu sincerely doubted this from the bottom of his heart.

"Oh, right. What else did I come here for?" Huai Shi scratched his head for a moment, then finally slapped the table as it came to him. "The access permit!"

"..."

Expressionlessly, Director Fu pulled a box from his drawer, placed it in front of Huai Shi, and then pointed towards the office door.

Just get out.

"Alright, alright, I'm leaving... Old Fu, you're getting more and more inhospitable. Can't even spare a guy a couple more sips of tea."

Huai Shi put down his teacup, picked up the box, and turned to leave. Just as he was about to go, he suddenly remembered something and looked back. "By the way, I haven't seen Fu Yi in ages. Where'd she go?"

"..."

In the silence, Director Fu slowly picked up his cellphone, showing Huai Shi the contact for the operations team. "Believe it or not, one call to this number, and you're a dead man."

I believe you, I believe you, alright?!

Huai Shi pursed his lips and quickened his pace, beating a hasty retreat.

Every time I come to this damn place, I get interrogated. As if I'd want to come back!

"Oh, by the way, I've put the official seal on the A4 paper. Send someone over to my place to get it in a few days."

After walking a short distance, he turned back, poked his head through the door to add, but before he could finish, he saw Director Fu snatch the thermos from his desk and charge at him. Huai Shi hastily slammed the door shut and bolted.

Seriously, the guy's middle-aged and already carrying a thermos, yet his temper is still so explosive? Isn't he afraid of having a stroke or something?!

Huai Shi shook his head while walking out of the Special Affairs Department's gate. After tossing the box into his backpack, he took out his keys and realized he had forgotten where he parked his bike.

Immediately after, he heard the gatekeeper cursing loudly, "Who the hell did this?! This is the third time this month! Can't you park your crappy bicycle inside? You have to chain it to the gate! And if chaining it wasn't enough, you fucking hung it up! How paranoid about thieves can you be? Last time, you even scratched the Director's car! You trying to lose this month's salary?!"

"Sorry, sorry, I'm moving it right now..."

Huai Shi sheepishly took down his bike, which was chained to the iron gate, and hastily skedaddled away under the gatekeeper's furious gaze.

Hmm, an old-style, triangular steel-frame Forever bicycle... I just bought it off Pinduoduo during a sale. Say what you will, it's actually quite nice to ride, pretty fast too. The life of the rich is truly good. Ride a bike if you feel like it, take the bus if you feel like it...

Enjoying the envious stares from people on the street, Huai Shi whistled contentedly and pedaled his bike towards the Stone Marrow Pavilion.

If it weren't so conspicuous, I would've even considered calling out Brother Ma to give me a pull, saving myself the effort of pedaling. Considering that if I actually said that, not only would this bicycle not remain in one piece, but I might also end up with a few extra hoof prints on my face, I didn't dare discuss the matter in detail with White Horse. That horse... everything about him is great, except for his bad temper and huge appetite...

Now with Uncle Fang's care, serving three meals of fodder a day plus a variety of fruits every now and then, the horse had gotten plump like a blown-up balloon after returning. Uncle Fang's feeding regimen is just too good; he pampers everything he raises as if they were prize pigs. Three square meals a day, plus afternoon tea and a late-night snack—and there's a never-ending supply of desserts and treats in between. Nowadays, when it's mealtime, the horse doesn't even need Huai Shi to call it; it just trots over to the Stone Marrow Pavilion to scrounge food. Occasionally, if it's in a good mood, it'll even snatch a couple of pancakes from Huai Shi.

Now with both White Horse and Raven at home, the place is starting to look like a zoo.

Wait, Raven?

He suddenly had an ominous premonition.

Immediately after, he felt his cellphone vibrating violently in his pocket, like a contained disco party, shaking nonstop.

Another alert. Honestly, those people at the Astronomical Society are always overreacting. An alert for border instability, another if the waves in the Endless Sea get a bit too high, and yet another if someone or other enters the Current Circumstances. It's like all they do is send out alerts all day instead of actual work. Apparently, they're not worried about disturbing the public.

Huai Shi nonchalantly took out his phone, about to see what sort of nonsense those idiots had sent, when suddenly he nearly flew off his bike.

*Your bank card ending in 4444 was charged 170,000 yuan today...*

*Your bank card ending in 4444 was charged 670,000 yuan today...*

*Your bank card ending in 4444 was charged today...*

What the hell?!

A barrage of spending notifications appeared on his phone like a flood, and as Huai Shi watched, they were still popping up, nearly making him crash into a ditch.

"My money!!!"

Pedaling frantically as if his pants were on fire, the chain and gears of his bicycle practically shooting sparks from the friction, he accelerated to an insane speed. The old bicycle shrieked, CREAKING AND SQUEALING, as it instantly blew past an SUV, then a sports car, vanishing from the stunned drivers' sight so quickly it didn't even leave exhaust fumes behind, like a phantom.

By the time Huai Shi charged up the mountain, drenched in sweat, it was already too late.

The deed was done.

Huge trucks, each emblazoned with the "Yesterday Express" logo, were parked one after another outside the Stone Marrow Pavilion. The bounty money Huai Shi had earned just days ago by taking down so many wanted criminals had, courtesy of Raven, sprouted small wings and, with a FLUTTER, FLUTTER, FLUTTER, flown far away.

"Hello, this is the Three-Phase Reaction Kettle from Hermes Workshop. Please sign here."

"Hello, this is a heavy-duty anhydrous compound extraction platform..."

"...A Water-refined Precise Source Substance Balance Instrument..."

"This is the main unit of the Super Precision Optical Engraving Machine and seventeen boxes of accessories..."

"I am a Current Circumstances Engineer from the Frontier Power Grid Group. Thank you for purchasing our ten-year power supply service. Shortly, our construction team will connect you to the special border power equipment..."

One delivery person after another surrounded him, uttering words that spelled the departure of his Money Notes. Then, smiling, they presented signature pads to Huai Shi, awaiting his confirmation. They exuded an unmistakable aura: the payment was processed, and there would be absolutely no refunds.

After Huai Shi, looking like he wanted to cry but couldn't shed a tear, had signed all the delivery receipts, he turned a deathly grayish-white, almost unable to breathe. Only Raven, who had perched on his shoulder at some unknown point, lifted a wing, patted his head, and comforted him in a whisper no one else could hear.

"Don't be sad... You have to look on the bright side occasionally."

She said softly, "From a different perspective, your money hasn't left you, but has transformed into a form I prefer to remain by your side... Thinking of it this way, doesn't it make you feel happier?"

Huai Shi felt despair wash over him.

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