CHAPTER 93: CHAPTER 92 ACTUALLY, THEY WERE SAVING ME

Before the people from White Night arrived, Leyi had already left.

However, to Leyi’s surprise, Yin Minghong did not reject ’Hidden Sound Stealth’, just like a few days ago when Yin Minghong did not reject the assassin Leyi.

Perhaps the situation is similar: at Red Moon Fortress, Yin Minghong’s assassination of Jing Zhengwei was a desperate gamble with slim chances; at Xuanzhu County, White Night’s confrontation with the Silver Blood Association was like an ant trying to shake a tree, facing certain death.

They all needed a miracle.

But Yin Minghong did not agree either. He stated that he needed to go back and discuss with others, and even contact the White Night headquarters. He hoped to have a second meeting in five days, with the location and time determined by Leyi, and the notification method would still be Leyi sending a message to his exclusive contact point.

Of course, Leyi was very likely to meet a fully armed ’Hidden Sound Stealth capture squad’ that’s capable of breaking through any obstacle.

Leyi did not make a statement on the spot, saying that they would talk again in five days.

Perhaps, in five days, he’ll have rotted into a fallen capitalist?

Leyi skillfully climbed over the wall and walked into another courtyard within a tranquil bamboo grove. After taking just a few steps, he encountered a young man walking with short steps: "Brother Le, did you take so long to pee? The promotion match of the Yin Celestial God just finished."

"Did he get promoted?" Leyi asked casually.

"He did, he is now ranked 40th in the entire county as a new ’Eternal Fame’!" The young man said with a radiant expression: "It was a shame you missed it. The Yin Celestial God just played ten consecutive matches with Ten Strings, both winning and losing alternately. They’re both using fast attack decks, and in the end, Ten Strings got tired, allowing the Yin Celestial God to seize the opportunity and win two consecutive matches. Otherwise, who knows how long it would’ve gone on... Anyway, I’ve been holding it in for almost half an hour, let’s play cards later!"

Leyi smiled: "Play with me again when you get promoted to Senator."

"I’ll win up soon!" The young man shouted from the toilet.

Leyi entered the venue, greeted by countless enthusiastic shouts like ’Now it’s my turn’, ’But that’s alright’, ’Well played, I’m sorry’, and a list placed in the center of the hall, displaying the top hundred names: the first ten ’Extraordinary to Saint’ card players, the eleventh to fortieth ’Eternal Fame’ card players, and the forty-first to hundredth ’One-time Legend’ card players.

Indeed, this is the Xuanzhu County Combat Technique Card Ladder Pavilion.

Most people who want to play cards come here to compete fiercely. As long as you pay, you can have your exclusive name and participate in the ladder ranking. Although only the top hundred duelists earn the honor of being announced on the list, others have corresponding tier mechanisms. You can only earn points and climb the ladder by defeating people of the same level.

Leyi, having some free time these days, often frequented this place, quickly advancing from the lowest ’Soldier’ tier to ’Senator’. The next step would be the ’One-time Legend’ that can be on the list. However, Leyi often loses more than he wins when playing cards with other Senator-level duelists, realizing that his level is akin to a gatekeeper Senator.

As he came to play cards, Leyi suddenly discovered a martial arts center next door, with deep courtyards walled high, designed as a ’wellness-style martial arts center’ specifically open for the wealthy. It was mostly empty in the early morning, so Leyi chose the wall of the martial arts center as the place to communicate with Yin Minghong.

Even if Yin Minghong investigates, he would only find out that the ’wellness trainers’ of the martial arts center are involved with several ladies—after all, in Xuanzhu County, the corruption and degeneration are not exclusive to men, but also involve women. Xiangxue Sea works in men’s business, and naturally, wellness centers operate women’s businesses. In the entire Xuanzhu County, a wealthy young man like Leyi, who is a virgin in soul and body, is as unique as a scorpion leaving droppings.

Hmm, this is actually valuable information. If White Night uses it well, it might have miraculous effects... Leyi suddenly recalled various plots from the new media articles his friends had read.

Leyi did not stay to play cards, instead leaving the Battle Card Pavilion directly. With the large crowd in the Battle Card Pavilion, White Night couldn’t trace him, perhaps only coming to ask if anyone here saw a handsome white-haired man passing by.

While navigating the streets and alleys, Leyi casually brushed his bangs up, taking off the black jacket he wore outside, revealing the luxurious clothes underneath, instantly transforming from a cheerful puppy into a cold and domineering CEO style.

After walking for about half an hour, Leyi arrived at a shop near the port named ’Wei Ling’. Upon seeing him, the clerk stood up immediately to greet him: "Young Master."

Others in the shop also greeted, and Leyi nodded lightly, walking straight through the courtyard in the middle. The courtyard was filled with large quantities of goods covered with dark cloth, looking like a warehouse.

"Is the warehouse already full?" Leyi asked. The nearby clerk quickly nodded: "Manager Bai instructed us to temporarily store the goods here. Don’t worry, Young Master, the warehouse will free up space soon."

Jing Zhengwei’s ventures are numerous, but the most important undoubtedly is the maritime trade company Leyi belonged to.

Ordinary people might think that businesses exploiting human nature, like Buguai Building and Xiangxue Sea, are the most profitable, but if you ask people from the trade association what business is the most profitable, merchants will unanimously answer: Maritime Trade!

No one is a fool; there are only so many people in the Dongyang District’s Xuanzhu County, and the total consumption volume is limited. Silver Blood Association’s industrial mass production goods are too much for Dongyang District to handle, with prices falling lower the more they are produced, leading merchants to bankruptcy.

The only solution is to export the goods through maritime trade!

This world naturally has more than just the Shining country. For example, the country closest to Dongyang District is called ’Scandinavia’, blessed with a good climate and thriving agriculture. One maritime trade can exchange for a significant amount of sugar, rice, and tobacco.

Silver Blood Association’s caravans have already explored multiple safe routes, but finding reliable merchant ships is challenging. Jing Zhengwei went to great lengths to capture this maritime trade company for its three armed merchant ships, knowing that vessels able to withstand rough seas are produced in low quantities. Even in games, shipbuilding requires waiting a few hours, let alone reality.

Of course, this is also the result of several maritime trade-focused trade associations from Silver Blood Association collaborating to control shipyards, reducing production. But this is the limit—they can’t achieve monopoly. Industry with technical barriers can be monopolized, but this type of straightforward business is impossible to monopolize, as other Silver Blood Association trade associations won’t agree.

Leyi entered his exclusive boss office, where someone was already working inside.

Qing Lan, seated on a soft chair, heard the sound, stood up, removed her glasses, and greeted: "Young Master—"

"Sit down." Leyi sat opposite her: "Why do you always remove your glasses when you see me?"

"It feels... impolite."

Leyi blinked: "Wearing glasses is impolite? Is there such a saying?"

He had heard that wearing sunglasses at night is impolite, but had never heard that regular glasses could be impolite.

"Um..." Qing Lan hesitantly glanced at Leye, "So does the young master think I look better with glasses or without?"

"It’s okay, both are fine, pretty much the same."

"If you had to choose one?"

Leye slightly raised an eyebrow and glanced at Qing Lan, "Impertinent."

"I’m sorry." Qing Lan obediently apologized, put on her glasses, and continued looking at the account book.

Well, it seems being a big capitalist slave owner isn’t without its benefits. For instance, in the face of such silly questions, you can just exude authority, and the little maid has no choice but to back down. Is this what it feels like to be full of dignity?

To be precise, the benefits of being a big capitalist slave owner are numerous, and the disadvantages are almost non-existent thanks to the system and atmosphere established by the Silver Blood Association. In Xuanzhu County, people of the same status as Jing Zhengwei can enjoy life to the fullest until their dying day without lifting a finger. They can command servants to serve them, workers to earn money for them, and even if they indulge in a life of debauchery, they’ll face no risks.

Although he spoke to Yin Minghong with a strong sense of historical mission just now, Leye wasn’t sure if he could uphold it. He’d heard the saying, ’Many people don’t hate privilege; they just hate that they aren’t the masters of it.’ And now, without a doubt, he was the master of countless privileges.

Throughout Xuanzhu County, there are few who can bully him, but many he can bully.

Leye felt like he was swimming against the current. If he even slightly slowed down, he’d be swept away by the golden and silver waves, carried to a hedonistic paradise and become intoxicated by it. His so-called worldview and morality would eventually change based on where he sits.

People of White Night might think that ’Yin Yin Yin’ intends to save them.

But to Leye, he was actually looking for White Night to save himself.

Just like someone who hasn’t seen a woman for too long might fall for a roommate, if Leye didn’t meet idealists like Yin Minghong, he felt he would eventually dissolve into a hedonist obsessed with pleasure.

As for why he used the identity of Yin Yin Yin... naturally, it was to see if there was a chance to complete Yin Yin Yin’s ordeal.

Or perhaps, the dark side of his heart hoped to use the mask of ’Yin Yin Yin’ to have White Night reject him, allowing him to enjoy his wealth and glory now without any worries.

At this moment, Qing Lan was getting more and more uncomfortable sitting there and stood up, "Young master, you should sit here, I’ll move to the desk across—"

"No, I don’t like sitting there."

"But being watched by you like this, I feel a bit uneasy."

"Even if we switch places, I’d still be watching you, right?"

Leye made a well-reasoned point, leaving Qing Lan speechless. There was something she wanted to say but dared not — Why make me look at the account books and handle business affairs? Aren’t you the boss here? Why leave such an important task to me?

You bought me from Xiangxue Sea just to have me do this?

Jing Zhengwei purchased Qing Lan naturally for ’training,’ but as for Leye... anyway, this business is Jing Zhengwei’s, not his. He’s too lazy to bother with it and hands it all over to Qing Lan. If it goes bankrupt, Leye will simply change his ways, go travel, and seek out the Divine Demon Well. If it doesn’t go bankrupt, it means Qing Lan is amazing.

But Leye also understood that having someone watching you while working makes it uncomfortable, just like the feeling of a teacher watching you while you do homework. "So is it that you want me to leave? Okay, I’ll go."

"No!" Qing Lan immediately said, "Please don’t leave, young master!"

"Then what do you want?"

Qing Lan fell silent for a moment. Leye thought for a bit, then moved his chair next to Qing Lan and sat down, taking a book called "Legend of the Fire God" from the drawer to read.

Seeing this scene, Qing Lan’s mood suddenly calmed down, she adjusted her glasses and earnestly immersed herself in the account book and other documents.

The morning sunlight streamed through the window and spread across the floor. A gentle breeze swayed and rang the wind chimes; the room was filled only with the sound of pages turning and pen strokes.

"Young master."

"Hmm?"

"There’s something I’m not sure if I should..."

"Don’t say it," Leye’s eyes never left the book.

The room suddenly fell silent.

After a while, Leye, who was engrossed in the book, said, "If you don’t speak, I’ll kick you out of bed tonight."

Qing Lan was slightly startled, then her lips curled into a smile, wanting to laugh but not daring to, "I think Manager Bai seems to be hiding something from you."

"What is it?"

"There’s no record in the account books, but... the fleet seems to be engaged in slave trade."

Leye finally looked up at Qing Lan.