Horror games? Whatever, I'll die.

Liang Zaibing could only make up an excuse, "Yeah, there's a comic convention during the summer vacation, and Chen An and I are cosplaying characters together."

Liang Yuan doesn't understand these trendy cultural practices and is too lazy to care. "I don't care what you do, just don't break the law."

Liang Yuan glanced at Eleven, who was standing behind with his head down, and asked, "Where's this kid? Where do you know him? Don't tell me he's here to boost my sales."

Liang Zaibing chuckled awkwardly, "He's my friend's younger brother. He asked me to look after him for a while because he has some business to attend to."

Eleven raised his head and respectfully greeted, "Hello, Dean."

"This child is well-behaved." Liang Yuan looked him over from left to right, extremely satisfied. "Unlike you when you were little, you were so clever and mischievous."

After saying that, Liang Yuan pulled Eleven toward the dean's office, showing no remorse for abducting a child.

Receiving Eleven's resentful gaze, Liang Zaibing quickly picked up her things and followed.

-----

After entering the office, Liang Yuan brewed a cup of Tieguanyin tea for each of them.

This is old tea from who-knows-when; it's all dregs.

Chen An and Shiyi sat quietly in their chairs, each holding a teacup, while Liang Zaibing, like someone with ADHD, craned his neck and looked around.

The dean's office remained unchanged, with its old-fashioned solid wood furniture and a faded, yellowed photo wall; even the glass partition of the desk was filled with photos.

Liang Zaibing suddenly noticed a photo he had never seen before in the glass interlayer.

Two children, around six or seven years old, squeezed together around a small table, heads touching, drawing a game of Go on a piece of paper.

The boy on the left hadn't cut his hair much, sporting a bob, and was thin and small. His face was also dirty and covered in ash, but Liang Zaibing recognized him at a glance as a child.

The guy on the right is three or four years older than him, with a youthful face, but he has a calmness and composure far beyond his years. At least judging from the photo, he's bound to win this game of Go.

"Who is this? I don't recognize him." Liang Zaibing nudged the old man with his hand, almost knocking his teacup away.

Liang Yuan slapped him on the back of the head before looking at the old photo.

"Oh, I found this when I was tidying up the cabinet, so I just put it up here."

"Don't you remember this child?" Liang Yuan smacked her lips as she recalled something from more than ten years ago. "Back then, his clothes were tattered and he had abrasions on his body. He ran to the gate of our orphanage and fainted."

“I took him in and raised him in the welfare home. Three or four months later, his parents came and took him away. This family seemed to be quite wealthy, and they even donated a lot of money to us.”

“You used to be such good friends with him, and you’ve completely forgotten about him? What a terrible person you are,” Liang Yuan said with a look of exasperation. “If you could have built a good relationship with him, you could have gotten me more sponsorships. Right now, the orphanage is almost starving.”

Liang Zaibing subconsciously took out her phone to check her balance, "How much is short?"

He was actually looking at the system panel. The first two dungeons didn't cost him many points, and he still had nearly 70,000 points left. Exchanging them for over 100,000 yuan in cash wouldn't be a problem.

Liang Yuan sensed something fishy from his nonchalant tone. "Tell me honestly, where do you get your money?"

"Don't think I don't know how hard it is to make money these days. The most profitable ways are all written in the criminal law. Are you trying to rob a bank?"

Liang Zaibing was speechless for a moment, "Do you think I have that much ability?"

Liang Yuan put on a stern face, "Don't interrupt me, tell the truth."

Liang Zaibing was now in a dilemma. He certainly couldn't say that he was risking his life to make money in a horror game; that would only cause the old man unnecessary worry.

Seeing his stammering, Liang Yuan's face darkened even more. She felt that her guess was probably right, and that the child had gone astray.

Just as they were about to interrogate him sternly, the child who had come with Liang Zaibing stood between them.

"It's living expenses given to me by my family." Looking into those innocent, dark eyes, no one would doubt the truthfulness of his words.

"Yes, yes, his family is very rich." Having already prepared a reason, Liang Zaibing immediately seized the opportunity, raising three fingers to swear, "I really didn't do anything illegal. Don't you know who I am?"

Seeing his grinning face, Liang Yuan snorted and didn't bother with him anymore. "Put your things down and get lost. I'm very busy. Don't come back anytime soon."

"What are you busy with? You're just having some tea and watching TV, aren't you?"

“Go away—” Liang Yuan gently kicked him. “A boss is coming this afternoon to discuss a donation. After the deal is finalized, the children’s meals will be better.”

"Which boss is it?" Liang Zaibing asked before leaving.

"The young master of Wangjiang Group, I think his name is..."

Before Liang Yuan could finish speaking, she suddenly felt a light touch on her shoulder. Turning her head, she was met with an extremely familiar face.

Jiang Qingjian, dressed in a perfectly pressed blue-gray suit, smiled impeccably politely. "What a coincidence?"

Liang Yuan then remembered, slapped his forehead, and said, "Right, I remember now, his name is Jiang Qingjian."

-----

Sitting in the taxi, Liang Zaibing felt as if she had seen a ghost.

Can anyone tell him how that cop could have such an outrageous identity?

Damn, with a family this rich, why become a policeman? You want to escape your low-level interests and maintain world peace, huh?

He also looked up information online and learned that he had only returned to China at the beginning of the year, and had been studying abroad before that, even earning a double master's degree.

Liang Zaibing fell into deep self-doubt. Did he really need to make up the numbers in the human world?

"What are you thinking about?" Eleven asked him.

Liang Zaibing, barely breathing, looked like a salted fish gazing at the sky, saying, "I want to fight the evil bourgeoisie to the death."

Chen An looked at all the passersby outside the car window. "Which one?"

Realizing he really intended to take action, Liang Zaibing waved his hand weakly, "I was just kidding."

-----

"Mr. Jiang is truly young and promising."

"You're welcome."

Liang Yuan took out the most expensive Silver Tip tea from the drawer, brewed a pot, and handed it to Jiang Qingjian solicitously, saying, "I don't have any good tea, so I apologize for the poor hospitality."

"It's alright." Jiang Qingjian smiled slightly, took the teacup, and placed it on the table, right next to the old photograph. The light emanating from the celadon gave the photograph a greenish glow.

"Have you read the contract? If there are no problems, we'll sign it."

“We can talk about anything…” Liang Yuan was stunned halfway through his sentence. They were so straightforward. In the past, sponsors would usually ask for newspaper articles or reporters to take photos of the party to promote their company. Why didn’t Wangjiang Group mention any conditions?

After signing the document, Liang Yuan was still in a daze and hadn't come to her senses. It's not often that such a big windfall happens to you.

Jiang Qingjian had already put the contract away, but Liang Yuan was still asking with concern, "Is there really nothing we need to do?"

“If I really have to say,” Jiang Qingjian said, a slight smile playing on his lips, as if casually pointing to the old photo of two children stuck together, “give me this photo.”

For the sake of the orphanage, Liang Yuan decisively sold out Liang Zaibing. Not only did she pull out photos from a hidden compartment and hand them to Jiang Qingjian, but she also generously gifted him a large album of Liang Zaibing's photos, the kind that was as damaging as a piece of her dark history.

Jiang Qingjian took the photo album, smiled, and shook hands with Dean Liang, saying, "It's been a pleasure working with you."

Liang Yuan grinned from ear to ear, repeating excitedly twice, "It's a pleasure to cooperate with you, a pleasure to cooperate with you."