Chapter 165 Visiting Captain Zheng

The fish monster was dealt with before 10 o'clock.

The three searched the house again to make sure nothing was missed before sealing the door shut.

A circle of neighbors had already gathered in the courtyard, peeking in and whispering among themselves.

Upon seeing them come out, an older woman opened her mouth as if to ask something, but was stopped by Liu Ruyan's gaze.

Chen Mo stood at the door, his cold gaze sweeping over everyone. "It's very eerie inside. The logistics people from the Inspection Bureau will be here to handle things later. Nobody go in, or don't blame us if something happens."

After saying that, he ignored the reactions of those people and turned to leave with Liu Ruyan and the other person.

Along the way, Fang Yingxia suddenly became somewhat depressed and sullen, and her pace slowed down considerably compared to usual.

"What's wrong?" Liu Ruyan walked beside her and turned her head to look at her.

Fang Yingxia pursed her lips, hesitated for a long while, and then whispered, "Am I...useless?"

Liu Ruyan paused slightly.

Fang Yingxia lowered her head, her voice growing softer and softer: "When I see those things, I feel like throwing up, I'm scared, and my legs go weak."

"If it weren't for your protection, I wouldn't even be able to set up the formation properly... Can I really be an inspector like this?"

Before Liu Ruyan could speak, Chen Mo, who was walking behind her, spoke up calmly.

"It's alright. Even though you're useless, at least you can eat."

Fang Yingxia was stunned, her feet rooted to the spot.

These words don't sound like they're meant to comfort someone.

Liu Ruyan turned around and glared at him. "Shut up."

Chen Mo wasn't annoyed and walked past the two of them.

Liu Ruyan took her arm, her tone much gentler than usual: "Don't pay attention to him. That mouth of his never lets up. When I first saw the corpse, I was even worse than you. I threw up on the spot and couldn't eat for three days afterward."

Fang Yingxia looked up at her, somewhat disbelieving.

"Really." Liu Ruyan smiled. "Back then, I also felt useless, but after seeing more of it, I gradually got used to it."

"Everyone has to go through this stage."

"It's already very good that you were able to go in today, didn't hold us back, and didn't scream and cause any trouble."

Fang Yingxia's eyes were still red, but her expression was visibly more relaxed.

She stole a glance at Chen Mo's back and whispered, "That Chen Mo... he seems to have just joined the Investigation Bureau too?"

Liu Ruyan chuckled softly, "He comes from the Yin Sect, he's seen countless people like him, what are you comparing yourself to him for?"

On the way back, the three of them were preoccupied with their own thoughts and remained silent the entire way.

Fang Yingxia took the scales as proof to make the delivery, while Chen Mo and Liu Ruyan waited in the corridor.

A short while later, the person returned, followed by two men.

The young man walking in front was in his early twenties with dark skin. As soon as he saw Chen Mo and Liu, he put on a big smile and said, "Hello, Brother Chen, hello, Sister Liu. My name is Zhao Shouxin. I was just transferred here. Please take care of me in the future."

Another man strolled out from behind, hands in his pockets, his eyes sweeping over Chen Mo before he said casually, "We meet again."

Qian Mantang?

Is it him?

Chen Mo was also a little surprised. Hadn't this kid already assigned teams?

Why are they here with their third team again?

Fang Yingxia whispered, "Director Zhou said there are only three people in our team, and the newcomers will be assigned to us first."

"You weren't kicked out of your old team, were you?"

Chen Mo's lips curled slightly as he looked at Qian Mantang with a strange expression.

"Bullshit, I applied for this myself." Qian Mantang snorted coldly with a dark face, but his tone was a little unnatural.

"hey-hey....."

"Did Director Zhou mention something else?"

Fang Yingxia looked at Qian Mantang, then at Chen Mo, and said, "Team Leader Zheng is severely depleted of qi and blood, and can only do logistics work from now on. Director Zhou said that you will temporarily serve as the team leader of Team Three."

"Me?...Okay."

Chen Mo nodded reluctantly.

The captain of the third team has had two consecutive incidents, so this position is a bit unlucky.

When Qian Mantang heard this news, his expression was quite interesting.

How can I describe this feeling?

Just like when he divorced his ex-wife, he vowed that he would live a very good life on his own, but then he heard that his ex-wife had married someone else, and that person was his boss.

From now on, when we meet again, I'll not only have to call him Brother Chen, but I'll also have to listen to his work assignments...

Qian Mantang took a deep breath, his chest heaving quite a bit.

Zhao Shouxin, however, was carefree and chuckled twice. "Brother Qian, you know Brother Chen? That's good, you're practically acquaintances."

"Who knows him?" he sneered, his ears turning visibly red.

Chen Mo leaned against the wall, arms crossed, and looked at his awkward expression before speaking slowly, "If you're not happy, you can talk to Director Zhou now and it's not too late to transfer back to your original team."

Qian Mantang turned his head and glared at him: "Did I say I wasn't happy?"

"Then why are you blushing?"

"It's hot!"

"Screw the heat!"

Liu Ruyan couldn't help but burst out laughing, quickly turning her face away, her shoulders shaking.

Fang Yingxia also lowered her head and smiled, but fearing that Qian Mantang would see her, she quickly hid behind Liu Ruyan.

Zhao Shouxin looked left and right, looking bewildered, but seeing everyone laughing, he chuckled twice as well.

Qian Mantang's face darkened even more.

------

In the afternoon, Zhao Shouxin was left at the team's house to watch over things, while Qian Mantang went upstairs to practice his skills.

Chen Mo, Liu Ruyan, and Fang Yingxia carried fruit and arrived at Zheng Changkong's house.

His home is located on an old street in the west of the city, not in a prime location.

Rows of small buildings made of blue bricks stand tall, and the streets are paved with bluestone slabs.

Zheng Changkong lived in one of the two-story buildings, a detached house with a small balcony outside where a few children's clothes were hanging to dry.

Chen Mo looked up and said, "Isn't Captain Zheng's monthly salary quite high? This place looks..."

Before he could finish speaking, Fang Yingxia had already stepped forward and knocked on the door.

A commotion erupted inside: the cries of children, the sound of a stool falling over, and a woman's low shout.

"Be gentle, be gentle, your father-in-law is still sick."

The door opened.

The woman who opened the door was in her thirties, wearing a blue apron, and her hands were still covered in flour.

Seeing their uniforms, he paused for a moment, then smiled and stepped aside: "You must be Lao Zheng's colleagues from the Inspection Bureau, right? Come in quickly, he's been talking about you guys these past few days."

The living room was bustling with activity.

An old straw mat was laid on the ground, and four children were sitting on it. The oldest looked to be seven or eight years old, and the youngest was only three or four years old. They were playing enthusiastically around a pile of wooden blocks.

A little girl, about five or six years old, was lying on the daybed against the wall. Her cheeks were flushed, and she was covered with a thin blanket, fast asleep.

Two more small heads peeked out from the doorway of the inner room, a boy and a girl, who looked to be about ten years old, curiously observing the newcomers.

Liu Ruyan counted them, her mouth slightly open, and she lowered her voice: "These...seven?"

The woman brought over some tea and said with a smile, "Please don't laugh, there are many children in my family, they're quite noisy."

Fang Yingxia squatted down, took out a few oranges from the fruit bag, and gave them to the children, who happily accepted them.

Chen Mo stood in the living room, his gaze sweeping over the children and then over the furnishings of the room.

On the octagonal table were several small dishes, a bowl of cornmeal porridge, and a stack of rough porcelain bowls.

Seeing them standing, the woman quickly invited them to sit down, saying, "Please sit down, don't be shy. Old Zheng is lying in the inner room. I'll go in and tell him."

The door to the inner room was half open, and Zheng Changkong could be seen leaning against the headboard, his face sallow and his lips bloodless.

Hearing the noise, he tried to sit up, but the woman pressed him back down.

"Just lie down, you're not an outsider."

"What brings you all here?" Zheng Changkong's voice was still a little weak, but his voice was quite loud. "Is there nothing else to do in the team?"

"I came to see you."

Liu Ruyan took the fruit she was carrying inside and placed it on the bedside table.

The cabinet was an old object, its paint worn and mottled, with half a bowl of medicine on it, the bitter taste still lingering.

Fang Yingxia followed behind and obediently called out, "Team Leader Zheng."

Chen Mo was the last to enter, leaning against the door frame without saying a word.

The children's noises came from the living room. The little girl with pigtails peeked in again, holding a chipped porcelain bowl with a few slices of pear in it. "Daddy Zheng, have some pear."

Zheng Changkong took the bowl and patted her head: "Good girl, bring some for your uncles and aunts too."

The little girl responded and ran off again.

Seeing this, Fang Yingxia couldn't help but ask, "Captain Zheng, are these children... all yours?"

"No," Zheng Changkong smiled. "How could I possibly have that many children?"

Fang Yingxia was taken aback.

"They all belong to my comrades, seven of them, plus myself, making a total of eight."

Zheng Changkong held up one hand to indicate, "The eldest is seventeen, he just finished opening his acupoints and is cultivating upstairs now. As for the rest, the older ones are helping the younger ones, and they can barely open them."

Liu Ruyan had already guessed a bit about the children when she was counting them in the living room, but hearing him say it out loud now, she still sighed.

Fang Yingxia's eyes reddened slightly: "Team Leader Zheng, what about those comrades...?"

"Hmm." Zheng Changkong nodded, his tone quite calm. "They were all on missions and didn't come back. Since no one was home to take care of them, I brought them back."

Chen Mo leaned against the door frame, remaining silent, his gaze fixed on the bedside table.

There was a half-eaten mixed flour steamed bun on it, and next to it was a dish of pickled vegetable dumplings. I picked up a corner with my chopsticks, but I hadn't finished eating it yet.

The medicine was served in a rough porcelain bowl, with the dregs still at the bottom, clearly indicating that it had been boiled repeatedly and that the medicine was not meant to be thrown away.

Laughter erupted again from the living room; one of the children had knocked over a stack of blocks, causing a commotion among the crowd.

The little girl with pigtails was handing out pears one by one from the bowl. When she got to the smallest one, she grabbed it and stuffed it into her mouth, but the older girl next to her snatched it away, skillfully cut it into small pieces, and handed it back to her.

Seeing this, Chen Mo suddenly spoke up: "So that's why you asked me to borrow three hundred merit points before."

Zheng Changkong paused for a moment, a hint of unease flashing across his face. He turned his head away and coughed, "Ah, that... it's in the past, let's not talk about it."

"Is it for opening the boss's acupoints?"

Zheng Changkong was silent for a moment, then nodded: "That child has been waiting for two years. If we don't open now, the best time will be over. You've seen my savings. My monthly salary looks like a lot, but after eight children have to live on it, how much will be left?"

"The materials for opening acupoints are ridiculously expensive. I've scraped together what I could, but I'm still short three hundred..."

He didn't elaborate, but everyone understood what he meant.

I asked Chen Mo to lend me the missing three hundred, but he refused.

Fang Yingxia bit her lip, stole a glance at Chen Mo, and then quickly looked away.

The woman brought in several bowls of water and, upon hearing this, chimed in, "Old Zheng is shy and doesn't like asking for favors. Those few days he was so anxious that his mouth was covered in blisters, and he went everywhere trying to borrow money. In the end, he had to pawn his land back home to raise enough money."

"Alright, alright." Zheng Changkong waved his hand to interrupt her. "Why are you saying all that? Boss opened his acupoints last month and is now cultivating upstairs. He meditates for eight hours every day, much more diligently than I was back then."

Fang Yingxia's eyes reddened, and her voice was muffled: "Captain Zheng, why didn't you say so sooner?"

"What are you saying?" Zheng Changkong looked completely bewildered. "It's not a big deal, is it?"

Chen Mo looked at him and remained silent for a long while...

"Tianjin: The Path to Immortality from Unorthodox Methods" is currently being serialized on Cola Novels and is not to be missed!