Chapter 31: Emotional Intelligence

"If you really need a place, stay at mine. It's all prepared!" Ning Linglong interrupted Guan Fei.

She walked up to a door and pressed her hand against it. The door shimmered as it scanned her fingerprint, then slid open to reveal a room fully equipped with all the necessary amenities.

"Well, Chu... Uncle," it was evident that Ning Linglong still felt a bit awkward using that title. "You can sleep at my place for a night, or a few nights. I’ve already made the bed, though I haven't slept in it myself... I’ll just wash the linens after you leave. It’s no trouble at all."

"Alright, that saves Guan Fei the trouble," Chu Zhu nodded. As for being polite? There was no need for such formalities among old acquaintances.

Guan Fei’s face fell, but he didn't say anything further.

"Right," Li Kang exclaimed, slapping his forehead. He walked over to his own room, unlocked it with his fingerprint, and went inside, rummaging through things incessantly.

"Captain, what are you doing?" Bixuan, the quiet and inconspicuous newcomer, asked with a puzzled blink.

"An old habit acting up, I suppose! The Captain always loves doing things that make no sense. He should have retired ages ago," Ning Linglong curled her lip. "Besides, with all the contributions he's made, if he isn't going to retire, he should at least be promoted. I don't know why the higher-ups haven't approved his promotion report yet."

Chu Zhu rolled his eyes. From retirement to promotion, she had it all mapped out in one breath... The dear niece was ostensibly criticizing the superiors, but in reality, her rebellious ambition was plain to see. So, you just want to be the captain of the Third District Special Operations Team, don't you?

"By the way, Bixuan?" Chu Zhu stared at the quiet newcomer with interest, smiling. "You’ve been with the Special Operations Team for a while now. How are you adjusting?"

"?" Bixuan was momentarily stunned. You haven't even joined the Special Operations Team yet, so why do you sound like a leader questioning a subordinate? Wait! This tone is...

"You... know me?" Bixuan caught his breath, instinctively glancing at Guan Fei and Ning Linglong. He had suspected as much when he saw the two seniors—no, the captain—acting so familiar with this person. But after thinking it over, he couldn't recall ever meeting Chu Zhu, so he hadn't paid it much mind. But now!

"I've heard of you. I was in the same elementary school class as your younger sister, Bixu, from first to third grade. I was the class monitor, and she was the study commissioner," Chu Zhu said casually.

"Is that so? I see... wait, what?"

The room fell into a heavy silence.

Ning Linglong blinked, staring at Bixuan for a long moment before turning her gaze toward her Uncle Zhu with complex emotions.

Bixuan’s brain was racing; he felt like he was overloading. No, this wasn't right!

"How old are you... exactly?" Bixuan stammered, confused.

"Sixteen, or seventeen by the lunar calendar?" Chu Zhu said, sounding slightly unsure. Though if he added up all the time from his real life and those repeated cycles, the number would likely be astronomical.

Bixuan felt dizzy; he was losing his composure. Even though the person in front of him looked truly youthful, after all he had seen, he had assumed it was the result of some high-level cultivation technique to preserve one's appearance. Turns out, you’re really only seventeen?

"As for you... sigh," Chu Zhu shook his head. "Be cautious. The turnover rate in the Special Operations Team is faster than you can imagine."

When he first sought Li Kang's help at the police bureau at age eleven or twelve, the team had twelve members. Now? Only four remained. And apart from Li Kang, the other three were either newcomers or semi-newcomers.

Even the slightly more experienced Ning Linglong and Guan Fei were not among the dozen people he had seen five years ago. While some had been transferred, the majority had indeed sacrificed their lives.

"Nothing to say about it!" Guan Fei interjected. He was very calm, possessing a kind of numbness born of habit. "Just dead people... but then again, in this world, where aren't people dying?"

Chu Zhu fell silent. "True."

Before he was eleven or twelve, no one dared to venture out at night in the shanty district. Chu Zhu would go out in the morning to buy groceries or get breakfast and could easily see a dozen corpses lying on the road.

People frozen to death, starved to death, dead from illness while working, or even worked to death...

If it weren't for the fact that he couldn't stand it anymore—back when he still viewed all of this as a dream—why would he have flipped the table in a fit of rage?

But even now, after he had "flipped the table," people still died in the shanty district. It’s just that now, once the union is notified, they organize people to drag the bodies away for disposal—cremation, or even finding a graveyard; it’s all handled by the union, costing the families nothing.

Or rather, those who died, and their relatives—if they even still had any—couldn't afford to pay anyway.

That was why the streets of the shanty district looked a bit more "normal."

Such is this absurd era!

"...Actually, I really wanted to take the exam to be a normal civil servant!" Bixuan said with great difficulty, wanting to cry but having no tears. "But when I finished the exam to join the district office, the alarm went off! And then Captain Li dragged me in here. Said something about how 'Transcendents cannot hold administrative office.' I..."

Bixuan felt quite aggrieved. He had gone through so much trouble just to be a government-supported layabout. But he never expected that this world wouldn't even grant him that small wish!

"Young man, how can you lack such drive?" Guan Fei instantly shifted into the role of a senior, pontificating with passion. "Although our Special Operations Team is dangerous, we get a lot of work done! Not only do we do a lot of work, but we take the blame for everything! Most importantly, we get yelled at the most!"

Bixuan: "..."

Are you sure this is supposed to be comforting?

Ning Linglong almost laughed out loud, but then she found it hard to keep a straight face. Bixuan was still too young. Who says things like that in front of colleagues, or even in front of a supervisor who is working right next to them? If it weren't for the supervisor having a good temper, he would have been made miserable by now.

It’s impossible to tell... that this guy is actually several years older than Uncle Zhu!

"Alright!" Finally, Li Kang emerged from his room, clutching a thick stack of books, beaming. "Ah Zhu, here you go."

Li Kang’s face was full of the joy of seeing an acquaintance fall into a trap—oh no, the benevolent anticipation of seeing an acquaintance strive for progress.

"These are the practice books Minmin used when she took the civil service exam! I kept them at the base, hoping for some divine blessing to rub off on them for Minmin... now I’m handing them to you! The official exam starts the day after tomorrow. By the way, have you registered? If not, the next exam date should be..."