The two of them were completely stunned. They stared with wide eyes and open mouths, unable to react for a long time.
"A lawyer?"
The word and the profession were both foreign to them, the kind of person that only existed on TV.
"The man is a big boss from Zhonghai. He’s extremely rich, and he’ll hire a lawyer to handle this. For a case like this, the minimum sentence is five years. You two should mentally prepare yourselves."
The two men froze, their minds going completely blank.
Liu Qianglong wasn’t a man of complex schemes. To put it bluntly, he saw that Shen Qingqiu was beautiful, got overcome with lust, and wanted to buy her to be his wife.
In the process, he never once thought that this would be against the law, let alone that it would result in such a long sentence.
After all, he was used to getting short-term "meal tickets" for seven or fifteen days. Now he was facing a five-year one, and he was on the verge of a breakdown.
"No, it can’t be that serious, can it?" Liu Qianglong’s face went pale.
"If they were from town, it might not have been this serious. But they’re from the big city, not like the people here. Plus, they have the money to hire lawyers and will definitely see this through to the end. You both need to be prepared."
THUMP...
Liu Qianglong’s body went limp, and he slumped to the floor.
The massive cognitive dissonance and chasm in understanding made Liu Qianglong realize just how insignificant he was.
He finally understood just how vast the gap between people could be.
「Meanwhile」
After leaving the police station, the four of them went home.
Aside from Shen Qingqiu’s aunt, everyone else was in pretty good spirits. She was the only one constantly cursing Shen Ziquan, to the point where she seemed to have the urge to go dig up his family’s ancestral graves.
For Lin Jiang, this two-million reward was like picking up free money.
That evening, Shen Qingqiu’s aunt stewed some mutton, giving them a taste of a local specialty.
Lin Jiang ate with great relish, not holding back at all.
At night, Shen Qingqiu made the bed for Lin Jiang and went to wash up.
He had a lot of unread messages on his phone.
Aside from messages from a few women, the rest were work-related.
He Jing reported that the restructuring of Huipin City had begun, and they were imitating Donglai Supermarket’s model.
For years, countless entrepreneurs had gone to Donglai Supermarket to study its methods, but not a single one had succeeded in replicating it.
A capitalist’s nature would make them praise such a model to the high heavens, but they wouldn’t dare give ninety percent of the profits to their employees.
In Lin Jiang’s view, they were likely to fail spectacularly in their attempt at imitation, ending up with something that was neither here nor there.
Just then, he heard footsteps outside the door. It couldn’t be anyone other than Shen Qingqiu.
"Do you want to come experience the heated kang bed? The relocation permit will be ready tomorrow, and then we’ll be leaving. You won’t get another chance."
"You keep talking like that, you’ll make me think you want me to sleep in your bed."
Shen Qingqiu twitched her delicate nose.
"Don’t mess around."
"Didn’t the old Daoist say so? If we ’make arrangements’ tonight, we might end up with a house full of children and grandchildren."
"He was just a fraud."
"How will we know he’s a fraud if we don’t test it out?"
"Even if it were true, you can’t have a house full of children from one night."
"I have faith in my abilities. Maybe we could have twins, or even triplets or quadruplets."
Shen Qingqiu covered her mouth and laughed. "My stomach would probably explode then."
"You have a point. Triplets and quadruplets are rare, but twins aren’t a big problem."
Shen Qingqiu tucked her hair back. "That’s true. Several of my colleagues have had twins."
"Come on, let’s go give it a try."
Shen Qingqiu subconsciously stood up. But after taking just one step, she felt something was off.
’It seems like Lin Jiang tricked me.’
"You’re so bad. You’re full of tricks."
Seeing Shen Qingqiu’s blushing cheeks, Lin Jiang laughed. She was certainly interesting.
Lin Jiang got off the bed and followed Shen Qingqiu to the next room.
But just then, Shen Qingqiu suddenly quickened her pace, reaching the master bedroom ahead of him.
At first, Lin Jiang didn’t understand. As he neared the door, he saw Shen Qingqiu hurriedly grab something off the radiator, ball it up, and then open her suitcase to shove it messily inside.
Even though Shen Qingqiu was quick, Lin Jiang still caught a clue.
’It couldn’t be anything other than her panties.’
Unlike other parts of the house, the radiator in the master bedroom wasn’t built into the wall, which had its pros and cons.
The downside was that it wasn’t aesthetically pleasing. The upside was that you could dry washed socks or clothes on it. They would dry quickly in the winter, and it would also act as a slight humidifier.
Shen Qingqiu grew up here, so this was naturally her way of life.
’She must have been drying her washed socks and panties on it. If I hadn’t come over, she wouldn’t have taken the panties down.’
But right now, it wasn’t just her pantyhose on it, but his own socks too.
"You washed my socks too?"
"I just washed them while I was at it."
’As expected, most women unlock the hidden ’virtuous wife’ attribute once they reach a certain age.’
"Hurry, come over and feel it."
Shen Qingqiu pulled Lin Jiang onto the heated kang bed. Half of it was covered with a quilt, while the other half was bare.
"Why is half of it left bare?"
"That side is too hot, I can’t really handle it. You can go feel it for yourself."
Lin Jiang sat down on that side. Shen Qingqiu stood on the floor watching him, her eyes filled with gentle expectation.
"How does it feel?"
"This temperature... it’s hot enough to scald my ass."
"My aunt was afraid I’d get cold in the middle of the night, so she added more fuel. If you have a bad back, sleeping on it for a night can help a lot by the next day."
"I don’t need it. Mine’s in great shape."
Shen Qingqiu burst out laughing. ’Lin Jiang is actually kind of cute.’
Shen Qingqiu sat on the heated kang bed, clamping her nightgown between her legs—a standard sitting posture for many girls wearing skirts.
"They say you should guard against villains, not gentlemen. Your posture is very disappointing. It’s not like I was going to look."
"You peeked yesterday, I saw you."
"Yesterday was unavoidable. It was right in front of my eyes. It would have been disrespectful for me not to look."
"You’re just teasing me."
Shen Qingqiu tucked her hair back, releasing a pleasant scent of jasmine.
"I was just talking to my students," Shen Qingqiu said. "They mentioned that the Huipin City in Xingcheng Bay Phase II is about to open. Everything is a direct copy of Donglai Supermarket."
"I hear it’s the result of their ’in-depth study’."
"It’s useless even if they study it."
They were very close. Shen Qingqiu sat with her legs curled up, facing Lin Jiang.
Lin Jiang reached out and toyed with a strand of Shen Qingqiu’s long hair, speaking slowly.
"On the 31st, the city leaders are going for an inspection. Such a drastic reform is absolutely not something that can be completed in a short amount of time."
"I think so too."
"You really know how to make the boss happy."
"No, no, no, it’s not about making you happy," Shen Qingqiu said.
"Whether it’s you or Huipin City, you’re both following Donglai Supermarket’s path. But Donglai Supermarket’s development was built on a foundation of romanticism and humanism. So, if the boss doesn’t have that kind of vision and sentiment, the path is impossible to follow. That’s why I’m more optimistic about you."
"Such a sweet talker. I’ll add a 200 yuan bonus for you at the end of the month."
"That’s not what I meant," Shen Qingqiu said with a smile.
"Actually, whether it’s Berkeley or Donglai Supermarket, neither of them actually conforms to the logic of capitalist development. As long as Huipin Group sticks to a capitalist development model, they will never succeed, because their goals and the will of the common people are fundamentally opposed. And from what I understand, the reality on the ground confirms this."
"The reality on the ground?"
"Wenqi told me about the situation at Huipin City. On the surface, they’re doing a great job, not much different from Berkeley. But they lack sufficient internal drive. In other words, they are still following the capitalist path. If they had an incident like the one with the noodles at Berkeley, they would absolutely not dare to pay out over eight million in compensation."
Habitually, Shen Qingqiu tucked her hair back again and said:
"I spoke with a professor from my school’s communications department. She said the Berkeley noodle incident is a classic marketing case study, well worth researching. I guess you’ve felt it too. Even though it was a negative event, you reaped positive reviews. If you wanted to achieve that same effect through advertising, even eighty million might not be enough."
"Honestly, it was a happy accident. We just paid compensation according to our standard procedures. We never expected to get so much traffic from it."
"That’s the heart of the matter. Customers aren’t fools; they can tell who is more sincere."
"So, sincerity is the ultimate weapon."
"Mhm, it is."
After talking about work, they chatted about other things.
Shen Qingqiu wanted to let Lin Jiang sleep on the heated kang bed, but he refused.
Sleeping in the master bedroom at a host’s home would be a bit rude.
Lin Jiang returned to the guest room, and Shen Qingqiu followed him.
Just like yesterday, she grabbed a sofa cushion, placed it against the wall to block the cold air, and then left the room.
「After breakfast the next morning」
Lin Jiang drove Shen Qingqiu to the police station to handle the relocation permit.
While waiting outside, a game prompt appeared in Lin Jiang’s mind.
[Mission Complete (Relocation): Reward song "Once is Enough", 20 points]
Just then, Lin Jiang’s phone pinged a few times. It was an email from Tongzi.
The email contained the lyrics and music for "Once is Enough".
Just like when he was rewarded with the script for *Xia Luote’s Troubles*, Lin Jiang searched for the song online but couldn’t find a single trace of it.
*Xia Luote’s Troubles* was scheduled to be released on New Year’s Day, so it was impossible to add a new soundtrack now.
The best solution was to release the song midway through the movie’s theatrical run. Releasing it at that point could generate another wave of traffic.
As for who should sing it, that required some careful consideration.
Tang Wan, however, was a great option. Her looks and figure were both excellent, and she was very talented. With a little coaching, she could interpret the song beautifully.
In the car, Lin Jiang stretched a bit and looked out the window. It seemed Shen Qingqiu wouldn’t be out for a while.
Lin Jiang opened his attribute panel.
[Name: Lin Jiang]
[Skills: Culinary Skill (Basic), Fighting Technique (Basic), Baji Fist (Beginner), Driving (Master Level), Swimming (Beginner), Basketball (Basic), Diving (Master Level)]
[Attributes: Physique 29, Comprehension 36, Charm 26]
[Martial Force: 30]
[Teammate: Xu Lin]
[Items: None]
[Treasure Chest: 100/100]
’I have 100 points. I can open a Treasure Chest.’
’Select Treasure.’
Three Treasure Chests appeared.
[Treasure Chest 1: Reward - Permanent ownership of Hongguang Inn]
[Treasure Chest 2: Reward - Permanent ownership of Dingsheng Hotel]
[Treasure Chest 3: Reward - Permanent ownership of Gulf Hotel]
Seeing the rewards in the three Treasure Chests, Lin Jiang’s expression remained unchanged.
The rewards this time were real estate. The first two were negligible; after all, an inn and a hotel of that size were nothing special. Compared to his current net worth, they were a drop in the bucket.
Lin Jiang had, however, heard of the Gulf Hotel. It was famous in Zhonghai, one of the top five establishments.
But given Tongzi’s character, there was no way it would give him the Gulf Hotel.
’I’ll just pick one randomly. It’s better than nothing.’
’Select Treasure.’
[Selection Successful: Reward - Gulf Hotel]
[The deed of ownership will be mailed via courier to Ignore Risk Investment Co., Ltd. Please be on the lookout for it.]
Lin Jiang: ???
"Wait, Tongzi, did you grow a conscience? I didn’t even exploit a bug this time."
[Select treasure ten times, one guaranteed hit.]
"So your system really is just like the lottery in a Tencent game?"

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