Chapter 22: That was a vow based on eternal loyalty and life-and-death dependence.
“Please have a seat.” The man walked in, changed into slippers, and went into the kitchen. His voice came from the kitchen: “You’re already an adult; you should know how to be polite.”
“No need for trouble; I’m leaving now.” Tang Cuo noticed that Bi Fan had been in a tense state all along, so he asked with concern, “You’re…?”
“I’m her brother.” The man served a bowl of strawberries and also brought a box of yogurt. “I’m Bi Xingyi, a teacher at Second Middle School.”
He placed the strawberries and yogurt on the table and gestured for Bi Fan to eat quickly. Tang Cuo looked at him as he took out his wallet and identification from his pocket, casually placing them on the table without any suspicion. While Bi Xingyi went back to the room, Tang Cuo quickly glanced at his driver’s license to confirm that the person and name matched.
“What’s wrong with you?” Tang Cuo asked Bi Fan in a hushed voice.
Bi Fan kept her head down, saying nothing, just reaching out to pick up strawberries from the glass bowl and eating them one by one.
Bi Xingyi changed into more casual clothes and tried to persuade Tang Cuo to stay for dinner again. Tang Cuo politely declined, briefly informing Bi Xingyi about Bi Fan’s situation. Bi Xingyi smiled and said, “Her phone is broken, and I helped her take it for repairs today. I have a spare phone, an old-fashioned one with buttons, but she doesn’t like using it.”
Bi Fan remained silent with her head down, continuously eating strawberries from the glass bowl. Bi Xingyi patted her head when he returned to the room, causing her to drop a strawberry onto her lap.
“My sister hasn’t been in good spirits since she injured her leg. I’ll be more careful in the future and try not to let her go out. Mr. Tang, you’re really kind. I remember we still have a box of Daoxiangcun pastries at home…”
“No, no, no need!” Tang Cuo hurriedly walked towards the door. “It’s just a small favor; no need to thank me. I’ll take my leave. Bi Fan, I wish you a speedy recovery. Goodbye.”
He quickly opened the door, and when he closed it, he only saw the girl sitting in a wheelchair, finally raising her head and staring at him.
On his way home, Tang Cuo took out his phone and sent a message to Bai Xiaoyuan:
[I didn’t encounter any trouble. Is it your powers that aren’t working, or your Tarot cards?]
Bai Xiaoyuan, deeply engrossed in a battle between werewolves and vampires, didn’t pay attention to her phone. It was only the next day when Tang Cuo was at work that she grabbed him and asked, “What do you mean by ‘my powers aren’t working’? Or my tarot cards aren’t working? Let me tell you, even if my powers aren’t working, these Tarot cards must be working!”
Tang Cuo handed her half a pancake and hushed her.
“So, does that Qing Mezi’s Taobao Tarot crown shop have a problem?” Tang Cuo cautiously analyzed. “13,000 yuan for a Tarot deck; that’s daylight robbery.”
“It wasn’t 13,000.” Bai Xiaoyuan took a few bites of the pancake. “I bought it on Double Eleven, with a discount and a coupon, it only cost me 8,000.”
“Just ‘8,000’?” Tang Cuo grumbled, “More than I make in a month. It’s just a few cards with pretty pictures; is it worth that much? Did you stumble upon a scam?”
Bai Xiaoyuan, looking offended as if her favorite idol had been insulted, said, “This shop is endorsed by Qing Meizi himself on his Weibo and WeChat public accounts; how could it be fake? He even does live broadcasts himself; it’s really Qing Meizi.”
Tang Cuo rubbed his nose and didn’t dare to question further.
Among the various special individuals in China, the category of “Qing Meizi” was very distinct from others—it was not a group because there was only one “Qing Meizi.”
This type of special individual possessed a weak and uncertain precognition ability. Each one of them was exceptionally handsome and hadhas an extraordinary demeanor. They lack eyebrows, which were replaced by tattoo patterns etched on their foreheads from birth. As they grow older, these tattoo patterns spread continuously until they cover the entire forehead of the Qing Meizi by the age of 16.
Based on previous portraits and photos, the tattoo patterns on each of Qing Meizi’s foreheads were entirely unique. However, there was still no definitive explanation as to why they were different, and the samples were so rare that no one dared to tamper with them.
The birth of a Qing Meizi was uncertain, but it bore a striking resemblance to the reincarnation of a living Buddha in Tibetan Buddhism. Before they died, Qing Meizi would make specific predictions: at a certain time and place, a Qing Meizi would be born. This prediction was believed to be the only one in their entire life that was entirely accurate, with no margin of error.
Tang Cuo remembered that the Qing Meizi currently active on the internet was approximately in his thirties, completely bald, always wearing sunglasses perched on his nose, and dressed in loose-fitting modified Tibetan-style clothing and Converse sneakers. He roamed around ancient towns all over the country and was passionate about live-streaming his daily moods to his more than six million Weibo followers.
Last year, for a period of time, many members of the girl’s organization led by Bai Xiaoyuan, including Tang Cuo’s sister, changed their phone screen savers to pictures of the Qing Meizi. This trend spread quickly, and even Tang Cuo’s sister, who worked at the Special Management Committee, wasn’t spared. She even bought motivational books written by the Qing Meizi, such as “Traveling the World for Three Thousand Yuan,” “Although I’m Poor, I Have Dreams,” and “Poverty and Freedom.”
Unable to resist his curiosity, Tang Cuo searched for Qing Meizi’s crown shop on Taobao.
A Tarot deck with a price tag of 13,000 yuan had a monthly sales volume of 245 units.
Tang Cuo gasped: This Qing Meizi is making more money per month by selling Tarot cards than everyone in our organization.
He decided to persuade his sister to stop buying all of Qing Meizi’s products.
On this day, Qin Ge did not appear at the crisis management office. The “sea area” assessment for high school seniors was about to begin, and he had arrived early for the pre-assessment meeting at the Special Management Committee.
In addition to him, the meeting was attended by Qin Shuangshuang and Lu Qinglai from the New Hope Academy of Advanced Management.
Although there were many universities in China, only two higher education institutions specifically admit special individuals: the National Talent Planning Bureau, directly managed by the Special Management Committee, and the New Hope Academy of Advanced Management, which was under the Ministry of Education.
Both institutions admit special individuals, but New Hope only admits Sentinels and Guides, which is different from the National Talent Planning Bureau, where all special individuals can apply.
Special individuals have the same right to education as regular individuals. After completing nine years of compulsory education and three years of high school, special individuals who pass the college entrance examination or self-enrollment can choose freely whether to enter a regular university or one of these two higher education institutions specifically for special individuals.
The National Talent Planning Bureau offers highly specialized programs, primarily in strong applied fields like military, politics, and economics. In contrast, New Hope’s program offerings are more similar to those of regular comprehensive universities, covering a wide range of disciplines, including biology, history, agriculture, civil engineering, education, and public administration. As Sentinels and Guides make up a significant portion of special individuals, their employment prospects after graduation are broader in comparison to underground people and semi-zombified humans. As a result, most of them chose New Hope.
Qin Ge was from the National Talent Planning Bureau. Due to his unique ability to absorb negative emotions, he was pre-admitted through administrative means before the college entrance examination, leaving him with no other choice.
He has had several encounters with Lu Qinglai, and he was still very grateful for the evaluation and score that Lu Qinglai provided when he applied to become a psychological adjuster.
“Professor Lu, Qin Ge, see you tomorrow,” the meeting concluded, and Qin Shuangshuang immediately left. “There are some issues with the information of the students from Yunnan and Guizhou. I’ll check it and send it to you.”
Qin Ge nodded. Seeing Qin Shuangshuang leaving in a hurry, he turned to Lu Qinglai and asked, “Professor Lu, do you have some time later? I’d like to ask you about something.”
Lu Qinglai, who was around forty years old but well-preserved, still had dark hair with no signs of fatigue or weariness on his face. His eyes were very spirited, and he exuded a scholarly air. “I also have some questions I’d like to ask you.”
The two of them sat down at a coffee table outside the Special Management Committee’s cafeteria.
“I heard about this during a previous visit to the Special Management Committee,” Lu Qinglai said. He wore a ring on the ring finger of his left hand, and as he stirred his coffee with a small spoon, the silver ring sparkled in the light, drawing attention. “You are the head of the Psychological Adjustment Department now?”
Qin Ge felt somewhat embarrassed. “I’m still figuring things out.”
“You’re very talented; you’ll do fine,” Lu Qinglai reassured him. He placed the small spoon on the saucer, interlocking his fingers and leaning back in his chair.
Qin Ge looked at his ring and thought that he had never heard any news about Lu Qinglai’s marriage.
However, Qin Ge was generally indifferent to matters outside of his family. The marital status of a university professor, even if they were both psychological adjusters, was something he had no interest in knowing.
“Is Xie Zijing in the Adjustment Department?”
Qin Ge was startled, and his attention was immediately brought back by this question.
“That’s what I wanted to ask about.” Lu Qinglai smiled and said, “He graduated from New Hope, and I was his mentor.”
Qin Ge nodded, “He mentioned it.”
Lu Qinglai raised an eyebrow, looking somewhat playful. “…He mentioned me to you? I thought he was too scared to meet me.”
“He mentioned you once,” Qin Ge thought to himself, wondering how coincidental it was that what he wanted to ask Lu Qinglai about was related to Xie Zijing. “Do you really believe there’s nothing wrong with Xie Zijing’s sea area?”
At this moment, in the office of the Adjustment Department, Xie Zijing sneezed three times in a row.
“Qin Ge must be thinking of me again,” he confidently declared.
He was making one call after another to urge schools that hadn’t yet arranged their itineraries in various provinces and cities to buy tickets. In the intervals between calls, he occasionally complained, “I never did any phone call work when I worked at the Western Division. My job at the Western Division was always about taking my lion out to play, going into the mountains to mine, or exploring the deserts.”
Annoyed, Bai Xiaoyuan, almost buried under a stack of folders, poked her head out and said, “But the Western Division didn’t have Qin Ge.”
Xie Zijing suddenly fell silent.
After a while, he chuckled, unable to conceal his joy. “Right.”
Bai Xiaoyuan and Tang Cuo both felt their hair stand on end.
“You like Qin Ge so much; you should hurry up and pursue him,” Bai Xiaoyuan said as she worked, “Qin Ge is quite popular in the Crises Management Office.”
Xie Zijing replied, “With his introverted personality, he can’t be popular.”
Bai Xiaoyuan thought to herself, ‘It looks like you haven’t been blinded by love.’
But Tang Cuo on the side added, “But Qin Ge is handsome, and even though he doesn’t talk much, he’s a reliable and steady person. I joined the archives room at the Crises Management Office in the same year as him, and in less than half a year, at least ten people expressed interest in him. That’s just the ones we know about. If we include those we don’t know, there could be even more.”
Xie Zijing chewed on the cap of his pen and said, “If you want to compare, in terms of looks and abilities, people in the crisis management office are incomparable to me.”
“What about people in the Special Management Committee?” Bai Xiaoyuan smirked, “Along with looks and abilities, we also have to consider financial power.”
Xie Zijing raised his voice, “Who is in the Special Management Committee?”
“It’s the one we had that encounter with, the big lizard, Cai Yi,” Bai Xiaoyuan said. “He was quite direct, asking Qin Ge if he had a partner.”
The pen cap fell onto the table, and Xie Zijing’s face was filled with astonishment.
He hadn’t even considered this far ahead—partner?!
That was a vow based on eternal loyalty and life-and-death dependence.
Xie Zijing grabbed his phone and the stack of contact lists in front of him. He immediately got up, saying, “I’m going to the Special Management Committee to find Qin Ge. If I see Cai Yi, I’ll beat him up again.”
The author has something to say:
Cai Yi: …Although I’m not a good person, I feel wronged.
