CH 45

Chapter 45 Part 1 Confession

Xiào Mu couldn’t help but wonder if Hawke made a mistake, “Are you sure your dad is coming to work in Delish? Our company is lacking an employee to receive the guides. The employee is responsible for guide-related matters, such as receiving the guide or organizing information about the sale of medicines by the guide.”

“Your cousin did recommend someone to me, but didn’t say who it was.”

“It’s my dad,” Hawke said. “I’m with my dad right now and he just got a call from my cousin.”

“Er…”, Xiào Mu asked in a low voice, “Does Uncle want to help?” Apart from this, he couldn’t think of why Hawke’s dad wanted to come to Delish to work.

Hawke: “Yes, my dad felt bored staying at home every day. He has always wanted to help since he heard that our plan is progressing. Hence, he had an agreement with my cousin that he needs to tell him if manpower is needed.”

Hawke raised his voice, “If there’s any place you can use my help, don’t be polite and ask me for help!”

Xiào Mu responded with a smile, “Okay.”

After hanging up the call, Xiào Mu entered the online shopping mall, ordered the signboard for Delish Meds Company. Then he walked around on the third floor and bought two sets of sofas. After placing the order, Xiào Mu began to visit the robot market. There are many types of robots, including simple household robots, but also complex housekeepers or assistant robots. The IQ varies greatly, and the price difference is even larger than the IQ. Xiào Mu chose for a long time and finally bought a relatively simple humanoid robot for 2 million coins that can be set with a program and let the robot work according to the program.

After completed the purchases, Xiào Mu sat in the lobby and browsed the forum while waiting for the delivery to arrive. As he is reading through the forum, Xiào Mu received a private message from Xing Chen. Xing Chen told him that he had received the high-grade healing pills. Today, they set off for Bran Forest. At the same time, Xing Chen asked if he had other needs. The team is happy to fulfill the request with medicine as the commission fee. Xiào Mu replied to the message, and sincerely wishing them all the best. At the same time, he expressed that he doesn’t have other needs.

Sitting in the lobby for less than half an hour, all the things Xiào Mu bought before arrived. The guards helped him hang up the signboard and put the sofa in the inner lobby and the office on the inner right. Xiào Mu followed the instructions from the manual to learn how to use the robot. He pressed the switch button on the back shoulder of the robot. Then the LED screen of the robot’s eyes immediately flashed with a faint blue fluorescence, followed by a mechanical sound, “Hello Master, please connect your terminal to me.”

Xiào Mu docked his terminal according to the prompt, and the mechanical sound came again, “Please give me a name, and at the same time enter how you want me to call you.”

The terminal virtual screen displayed the naming interface. Xiào Mu hesitated for a moment and fill in Jinjiang (nickname Xiaojin) and Xiào Mu (as to how to address him) respectively. The reason why Xiào Mu filled in the name Jinjiang is because the moment he saw the robot, he thought of a novel about robots that he had read on the Jinjiang website in his previous life. As for the address, he is really not used to being called Master. It’s enough to hear that from his system.

“Xiào Mu, Jinjiang will serve you wholeheartedly. Please set up the relevant procedures according to what you want me to do.”

Xiào Mu pondered for a long time and referred to the instructions and videos several times before finally setting up the program in Jinjiang working mode: It will automatically say hello when its eyes scanned a facial feature. Then, Jinjiang will introduce the spiritual power measuring device while raising its hand to show the way. The whole process is very simple.

Xiào Mu copied a section of the introduction of the measuring device and imported it into Xiaojin. Next, he put Xiaojin at the reception desk. To test whether Xiaojin is set up properly, he then opened the door from the outside and walked into the company. After confirming that everything is correct, Xiào Mu locked the door and returned to the marshal’s mansion.

The next day, Xiào Mu met with Hawke’s father. Zhao Meng. Zhao Meng is also a guide with paramecium as a spiritual animal but he hid it well. If he hadn’t said it, Xiào Mu would not have realized it. Compared with Hawke’s liveliness, Zhao Meng seldom speaks and looked attentive when listening to people. Hearing how Hawke described him before, Xiào Mu can tell that his father is a serious person. The meeting between the two parties is very enjoyable. Although Zhao Meng spoke few words, he is an easygoing person to get along with, and he spoke quite straightforwardly. Zhao Meng didn’t feel like someone who has a son as old as Hawke; he was particularly innocent. Xiào Mu asked Zhao Meng to arrange his office as he like, and bid farewell after eating lunch together.

2 days later, Xiào Mu received a call from Zhao Sheng. Zhao Sheng told him that the measuring device is ready so he made an appointment with Zhao Sheng and went to the company at 2.00 pm. Zhao Sheng arranged for someone to deliver the measuring device to the physical store. Xiào Mu asked the staff to place the measuring device in the outer hall and moved Xiao Jin’s position a bit to make sure that when it raised its arm to lead the way, its arm will be pointing at the measuring device.

After he is done, Xiào Mu contacted Zhao Meng and told him to start working the next morning. Next, he returned to the Marshal’s Mansion to make medicine. He made 200 hundred pills for each of the 3 grades of primary level medicine. After he finished it, he packed them into porcelain bottles. When Xiào Mu thought of the delivery part, he searched for shipping business-related matters on the Internet and found that there is a drop-off/receive point near Pingle Square. After finishing the preparations, Xiào Mu breathed a sigh of relief and felt a little excited. However, when he switched to the forum and saw that all the red Hot posts are related to him, he began to consider if he should hire a few more security guards. After thinking for a moment, Xiào Mu gave up this idea. The business building has a security team already, plus he also has guards with him. It should be enough. The more people there are, the more complicated it will be.

The next day, Xiào Mu had breakfast after a morning exercise and went straight to the Delish company. He sat in the office room on the right-hand side and turned on the monitor in the living room. He also checked the situation in the lobby through the screen on the wall. Not long after, Zhao Meng also came. His office room is opposite him, the office on the left-hand side. Zhao Meng is mainly responsible for talking with the guide who contacted Delish, and if they offered to sell their pills, he will liaise with them. This also means that Zhao Meng in the early stage doesn’t have much work as there are very few guides who would contact Delish.

Xiào Mu entered Delish’s online store with the authority as the boss and deleted the previous announcements. Then he released the latest announcement:

[Delish has reopened. Welcome to buy medicines. In order to ensure the safety of those who take the medicines, they need to go to Delish logistics points which are available in various places. After getting checked by the spiritual power measuring device and obtaining the result, the customer can then purchase the corresponding medicine.]

Xiào Mu uploaded a map of Delish’s logistics points, which is actually vacated space in various offices that belonged to Zhao’s company. After uploading that, Xiào Mu saw the recording he took of Gu Miao making pills in his terminal and proceed to upload it in the shop’s announcement board. Xiào Mu saw that the number of messages in the message area increased sharply. So, after the video is uploaded, he immediately clicked on the message board.

“God! It’s finally opened!”

“Ahhhhh, why is there no logistics point near me? Then I definitely can’t fight for the pills!”

“Upstairs, I am very close to a logistics point. So I quickly got the test result which prompted me to buy a high-grade healing pill… But! I already got my test result at such a fast speed, right? Currently, I doubting my eyes right now, because I think the stock quantity is always at 0.”

“It’s 0 alright, +1. Did the boss forget to update the number of goods on the shelves?”

“Don’t anyone question why you need to measure your spiritual power first?”

“I have an idea. Didn’t Major General Yan’s younger brother break through his spiritual power last time? I heard that the process is very dangerous. Delish is probably worried that someone will break through after taking the medicine and then can’t bear the effect, right?”

Seeing this, Xiào Mu couldn’t help but reply, “Upstairs, you are witty. That’s right, the breakthrough of spiritual power is accompanied by severe pain, which is very dangerous. Please take the medicine according to the grade of your test result.”

“…”

“…”

After a row of ellipsis representing speechlessness appeared, Xiào Mu is stunned as well. What does this mean? He glanced at the ID, it is indeed the boss of Delish, and there is also the official Delish logo under his avatar. Everything is correct! Then Xiào Mu re-read what he wrote just now, it’s completely written in an official tone too.

“Who is this?”

“As far as I know, this is Boss Zhao’s own account, but Boss Zhao is attending the Morning Financial News Channel as a guest right now. Then, who is the person responding at this moment?”

Reading the replies, Xiào Mu realized what happened and is about to reply to say that he is an assistant when he saw another reply.

“No matter who it is, what I care about is whether today’s medicine is on the shelves? If it is on the shelves, then how many were set? I am considering whether to go to the ophthalmology department.”

“Going to the ophthalmology +1.”

Xiào Mu is slightly embarrassed by the mistake, he really forgot about that. He silently filled in the quantity of the 3 primary medicines at 200 pills each. Then he added a new product, the intermediate low-grade healing pill, which is sold for 50,000 coins per pc. The quantity is 200 too. After pressing OK, Xiào Mu went to the message area and posted, “Dear customer, the goods are now on the shelves, welcome to buy.”

Xiào Mu temporarily closed the message area and switched to the homepage interface. He wrote a note beside the video uploaded before:

[Welcoming guides to discuss with our company about medicine-making methods. Our shop will buy finished products produced by the guides and the price is paid according to the efficacy of the medicine. Our shop only charges a small admin fee. If you are interested, please contact us privately.]

After making sure that there is nothing to add to the note, Xiào Mu switched to the message board.

“Wow! There are new products! Inferring from the price, the efficiency must be super good.”

“Maybe I’m too noob. I have spiritual power Level D. In the later stage of mental confusion, I have a vague tendency of zoning. I always pay attention to Delish’s products. The moment I got the news of the reopening, I went to the logistics office immediately. As a result, I only got recommended to take the high-grade healing pill. Didn’t get recommended to use the new product. Based on this speculation, the revelation is extremely shocking.”

“Mine is Level C, my recommended pill is also not a new product!”

“Is Delish looking down at my account balance? I can afford the pills! I want to buy the best medicine.”

“I am more curious about the new medicine when I see the announcement. Anyone who bought the new medicine, can come out and talk about it?”

“56 of the new product is gone from the available stock. It means someone can buy it.”

“Level B here, after taking the pill, my spiritual power recovered about half of it. I feel great now! Support Delish! With Delish’s medicine, I don’t have to worry about mental confusion anymore.”

“So powerful?”

“Probably fake?! Or self-bought?”

“It’s definitely self-bought. In less than half a minute, the new medicine is also sold out!”

Xiào Mu shifted to the stock backend view and saw that the remaining quantity for all pills has become 0. He opened the purchase record and generated an electronic delivery note with one click. Soon, 800 delivery notes are printed out. Xiào Mu took a look at the printed delivery notes, and found that it has been printed neatly for each grade of medicine; 200 pcs stacked together in each stack. Soon, the robot worker of the express company came to Delish company to pick up the goods. Xiào Mu handed the medicine to the robot, and the robot quickly separated the medicine into boxes, stuck the shipping slip, and then left with the packages.

The high efficiency caused Xiào Mu to be dumbfounded. He originally thought that it would take a long time to sort out 800 copies of deliveries, but he didn’t expect the robot to finish everything in less than 10 minutes. And so, with the free time, Xiào Mu went to Delish online store again and added a sentence to the announcement:

[Sentinels with the remaining value of spiritual power that is less than 10% can make an appointment for the spiritual treatment service at Delish headquarter. For those who are interested, please send a message to the assistant robot Xiaojin. There will be only 20 slots per day. The fee is 30,000 star coins.]

Chapter 45 Part 2 Confession

After posting the announcement, Xiào Mu contacted the building management and proposed restrictions on entering the 3rd floor. Those who did not meet the requirements are not allowed to stay on the 3rd floor. Since the entire 3rd floor belonged to Xiào Mu for the time being, his request is quickly approved. Then, he immediately contacted Zhao Sheng and asked him to send a technician over to set the restriction on the scanning terminal at the 3rd floor’s entrance which everyone would have to scan to enter.

The required documentation needed to enter the 3rd floor includes Delish’s staff card (for the staff) or, the appointment instruction sheet for that specific day (for the sentinels). Next, Xiào Mu went to adjust the settings for Xiaojin to accept the appointment requests. Xiaojin has to first confirm the value of the sentinel’s spiritual power and his conditions before approving the appointment request. When it is approved, Xiaojin will send an appointment instruction sheet to the other party. The day of the appointment is marked on the instruction sheet. Each day will only accept 20 appointments so if the appointments exceed the limit for that day, the extra ones will be pushed to the next day and so forth. Therefore, everyone whose request is approved will receive an appointment instruction sheet, but their time will be different. After everything is set up, Xiào Mu went to check the appointment requests received by Xiaojin on the terminal and got stunned by the number. Within a few minutes after he posted the announcement, the number of appointments set for him tomorrow is already full.

Xiào Mu checked the comment area of the store and saw these:

“Ah ah ah, can you not post stuff in chunks like stuttering? Earlier when I saw that the pills are sold out, I exited the store’s webpage and didn’t see your latest announcement in time. When I got to it, my appointment date is already 5 days later.”

“Is the boss doing this deliberately? You want me to live inside the shop’s webpage, is it? Say it! Do you still have anything left that you forgot to say?”

“I don’t dare to leave anymore. I felt like if I leave, I will regret it next moment.”

Xiào Mu laughed and replied, “I have said everything I have to say, there is nothing left to see in the shop.” He thought for a while, and sent another reply, “Oh yeah, to add to my reply just now, the stocks will be updated at 10.00 am every day from now on, welcome to buy~”

“Cheater, I almost left the webpage.”

“Doesn’t dare to believe what the boss says anymore, how could Boss Zhao give his account to someone who stutters!”

“Same, I also don’t dare to believe it. I’ll just live here.”

Xiào Mu watched as the last comment being copied and pasted indefinitely and felt helpless. He posted a reply, “I’m sorry, I promise I didn’t forget any more things to say. If I forget anything again, I will add more stocks as an apology and also give a discount.”

Since Xiào Mu offered to add stocks as an apology, the customer finally believed his words and stopped trying to ‘live in the store’s webpage’. They said they would check the store’s page before 10.00 am tomorrow.

Xiào Mu exited the shop interface and looked at the time. It is less than 11.00 am, but the shop’s goods are all sold out. Since he has nothing to do in the office, Xiào Mu decided to leave work early. He talked to Zhao Meng and told him to leave early. If any matters arise, he(ZM) could deal with the matter at home. Zhao Meng agreed, and the two left the company together.

Xiào Mu returned to the Marshal’s Mansion and continued to make medicine, preparing the pills that he is going to sell tomorrow. Then he entered the homeland in the system and continued to reclaim the land. When it is time for dinner, Xiào Mu left to head to the dining hall. The moment he stepped out of his room, Xiào Mu met Leo, who is walking towards him. Leo’s expression is slightly dark and he stood in front of him. Xiào Mu felt a little strange. He has been very busy with his own thing these two days. It seems that he hasn’t offended Leo in any way, right?

“Is there something you want to ask me?”

“Did you take over Delish?” Seeing Xiào Mu nodded, Leo asked in an unhappy voice, “You will also provide spiritual treatment to sentinels?”

Xiào Mu nodded again, “Yes.”

Leo looked down at Xiào Mu and said solemnly, “I don’t agree!”

The reply caused Xiào Mu to feel inexplicably confused. This has nothing to do with Leo, right? Thinking of Leo’s identity, Xiào Mu said seriously, “The company’s operations are completely formal and legit. There is no illegal transaction going on, and spiritual treatment is also legal.”

“Even so, I don’t agree with it,” Leo said. “Doesn’t your medicine able to treat mental confusion? Why do you need to provide spiritual treatment as well?”

Xiào Mu internally replied that his skills would not improve with just selling medicine. But on the outside, he said, “The more I use my spiritual power, the more proficient I can be. Also, my spiritual power can gradually increase.”

“If you want to practice, practice with me.” Leo stared intently at Xiào Mu with his blue eyes.

Xiào Mu did not understand why Leo is being so persistent, “Your spiritual state is at its peak and does not need treatment at all. Why, why do you disagree?”

Leo said in a deep voice, “It’s dangerous for you to face sentinel by yourself. It’s inevitable that someone will harm you.”

It turned out that Leo is worried about his safety. Xiào Mu replied in amusement, “You can go to see the announcement on Delish’s page. I set restrictions on the appointment for spiritual treatment. You should know that my spiritual power is not only for healing but also for hurting people. They can’t hurt me.”

Leo’s jaw tightened, staring at Xiào Mu without speaking. So, Xiào Mu took a step aside and said, “I’m going to eat first.”

Leo followed Xiào Mu and blocked in front of him, “No spiritual treatment is allowed unless it involves life safety.”

Xiào Mu is feeling really helpless now, “Major General Leo, I can’t agree with that.” He just wanted to activate his skills earlier to make himself stronger and stronger. He smiled, “Thank you for your concern, but I will guarantee my own safety.”

“It’s not just for your safety.” Leo looked at Xiào Mu intently.

Xiào Mu looked puzzled, “Huh?”

Leo’s expression is serious as he said, “I will be… jealous.” Since Leo started the first part, he can now say out the rest of his words smoothly, “I will be jealous. During spiritual treatment, the spiritual filaments from both parties will be in contact, and I don’t want you to have intimate contact with other sentinels.”

Xiào Mu couldn’t help being surprised when he heard the first sentence from Leo. Then the corners of his mouth twitched when he heard the latter part. He is obviously just giving a treatment. Why does it sound so wrong when Leo said it? Xiào Mu didn’t know how to react for a while. After thinking about it, he took out an intermediate low-grade healing pill and said, “When you are having mental confusion, take it and try the effect. I can make better medicine in the future.”

Leo furrowed his eyebrows and looked at Xiào Mu puzzledly.

Xiào Mu thought about how to phrase his words and finally said, “After you try the pill, you will believe what I said before about not needing a guide as a partner. In the future, even if sentinel doesn’t have a guide partner, they don’t need to worry about their safety. The medicine made by guides can completely replace the need.” Xiào Mu paused and concluded, “So, sentinel does not need to regard the guide as the first choice of the partner for the sake of their safety, especially for people with status like you. If you are worried that you can’t buy the medicine, I will personally sell you 1 every month.”

As long as Leo doesn’t always focus on him.

Xiào Mu smiled confidently, “Believe me, there will be more of the medicine in the future, and it will be a sustainable source. The safety of sentinel is long-lasting.”

Leo’s expression turned uglier as Xiào Mu explained himself. He stepped forward and his chest almost hit Xiào Mu’s nose. Xiào Mu subconsciously wanted to back away, but Leo’s hands are wrapped around his waist so he is unable to escape.

“Do you still think that I like you because of your identity?” Leo’s low voice has a tone of strong displeasure, and his eyes were also slightly disappointed.

Xiào Mu blinked. Leo’s aura is too strong. Xiào Mu wisely said nothing to reply, but Leo could see his expression at a glance that said plainly, ‘Isn’t it obvious?’ Leo lifted Xiào Mu’s chin and looked down at him. His eyes were ruthless as if he wanted to see into Xiào Mu’s heart, “No, I said it before that only waste gets dominated by their compatibility rate and I have not forgotten nor changed this view/opinion.”

“I’m worried that my sudden behavior will be too radical and will make you feel disgusted, and I have been trying my best not to touch you. God knows how much I want to touch you.” As Leo said that, he rubbed his thumb against Xiào Mu’s lips.

Xiào Mu shrank his neck subconsciously, and Leo continued, “I don’t want to you misunderstand anymore, and I don’t want to follow any stupid suggestions like ‘to boil the frog in warm water’ so that you can slowly adapt to my contact.”

“I like you. Because I can’t see you during the military exercise1, I think about you every day. After I returned, I immediately went to stand at the door of your dormitory, just to confess to you.” Leo looked at Xiào Mu deeply, “So, do you understand it now?”

Xiào Mu blinked quickly, nodded lightly to express that he understood. Xiào Mu has a deep impression of what happened that day that he could remember every detail clearly. The fact that Leo realized his identity as a guide is after he returned to the dormitory. But Leo had already decided to confess at that time. That is to say, the fact that Leo confessed is not because he discovered his identity. The scene of their previous interaction appeared in Xiào Mu’s mind, and it seemed that Leo’s attitude towards him is getting better and better. Xiào Mu is a little confused. If someone asks him who he thinks is the least likely to like him, his answer must be Leo, but the facts completely subvert his thoughts.

“Tell me,” Leo saw that Xiào Mu is not saying anything, so he lowered his body, his eyes changed rapidly as he asked, “Tell me how can I make you believe my words? Do you want me to prove it to you?”

Xiào Mu got taken aback, and gripped Leo’s wrist, “Let me go first.”

Leo’s eyes narrowed slightly. His gaze stayed on Xiào Mu’s face for a moment, and he let go.

Xiào Mu immediately took a step back to put more distance between the two of them. After thinking for a moment, he said, “I believe you, but I’m sorry. You are a very good sentinel, but I do not have feelings for you that are more than friends.”

Truth to be told, as long as his identity problem (as a guide) is not resolved, Xiào Mu couldn’t even consider the issue of relationship at all. He has thought about finding a partner in this world before, but the premise is that he is not restricted by his identity. The first thing he thought of last time was not to be forced to enter the Golden Tower. But now, Xiào Mu added another goal, which is to make the guides normal so that even when they walk on the street like usual, they will not be stared at by other people.

Hearing that reply makes Leo feel a little disappointed. He gripped his fist in his hand and stared fixedly at Xiào Mu, “I understand. But starting from today, please face my feelings squarely as I want to pursue you.”

Xiào Mu was stunned and felt a little embarrassed inexplicably. This is too straightforward, he didn’t know how to react.

But Leo didn’t say anything. He just took a step forward and held Xiào Mu’s hand, “Go eat dinner.”

Xiào Mu struggled but couldn’t break free. He glared at Leo, “Let me go.”

“You should know that it is impossible for a sentinel to be indifferent when facing the person they like. I will only hold hands, and that is already very restrained of me.” Leo said seriously with a blank face.

Xiào Mu frowned and said, “But I don’t accept it. If you are going to do this again in the future, I will move out tonight.”

That caused Leo to stop walking. He stared at their holding hands for a long time before letting go. “You are not allowed to move away, as other locations are not as safe as the Marshal’s Mansion.”

Xiào Mu didn’t expect that Leo would compromise so quickly so he turned to look at him in surprise, “If I live well here, I won’t move out.”

After all, staying in another location is likely to cause more people to be sent over to protect him, and Xiào Mu doesn’t want to cause trouble.

Leo felt depressed. He found that even after he said everything clearly, their relationship is still not closer. Also, because he is worried that Xiào Mu would really move away, Leo didn’t even dare to make small moves anymore.

After dinner, Leo called Lyle’s number. When the call is connected, Lyle’s smiling voice came, “Well, is my suggestion great? How far is your relationship now?”

Leo said with a cold face, “The things you said like inadvertently making small movements, let Xiào Mu gradually become familiar with my touch… all of those are useless. I just confessed to him, and he… rejected me.”

Lyle went silent for a moment and then couldn’t help laughing, “Well, finally you got what you deserved. The number of people who you rejected is enough to circle around the empire once, you know? Man, how the tables have turned.”

“I didn’t call you for this,” Leo said coldly.

“Then why are you calling me?” Lyle asked, then added, “Do you want me to give more tips to you?”

“No, I just want to tell you to read lesser of these useless strategies in the future; it’s just a waste of time.” Leo finished speaking and hung up without hesitation.

Leo stood quietly for a long time and went online searching for a bunch of courting strategies. After reading it, he felt silly for even believing those advice and closed his terminal. In his mind, Leo thought – he had to rely on himself.