"Old Wang! Long time no see!"
Zhou Shi looked at Wang Qian with obvious recognition—the two were clearly old friends.
"Old Zhou, those Strength Potions being sold on the black market—they're all from your company?" Wang Qian asked directly.
Zhou Shi nodded and explained, "Little Chen is indeed a summer intern at our company. His position is Potion Assistant, and he actually knows a bit about alchemy himself. I'll show you the relevant contracts tomorrow."
Zhou Shi wasn't too concerned, thinking Chen Shu had only sold a few bottles. If he knew the kid had made a million yuan profit in just ten days, he probably wouldn't sleep tonight.
Wang Qian nodded, "Alright! In that case, there's no problem."
Now that it was confirmed Chen Shu had no connection to the fake medicine peddler, and his potions were genuine with a legitimate source, there was naturally no need to detain him.
"You're all victims here. Any objections?"
Although Wang Qian knew several of them, he still had to handle things according to procedure—the lobby was under surveillance after all.
The leading young man was about to speak when his phone suddenly rang.
"Hello? What? My contracted spirit has diarrhea again? The toilet exploded?"
The young man jolted, hung up his phone, and said, "If he's not partners with the scammer, then forget it. Just please solve this quickly and catch the real fraud, Captain Wang."
The group of people left the Spirit Suppression Bureau in a hurry.
Zhang Dali took a deep breath and said, "Chen Pi, why do I feel like I've been given a new lease on life?"
"Actually, I have that feeling too..."
Outside the Spirit Suppression Bureau, the two were frantically breathing the air of freedom, even spreading their arms wide as if embracing a beautiful tomorrow.
"Are you two sick or something?"
Zhou Shi came out just in time to see these two acting like they'd lost their minds.
"Uncle Zhou, you don't understand!" Chen Shu said with deep emotion, "We're different from you. We're law-abiding citizens with clean records—we're not regular customers of the Spirit Suppression Bureau."
That comment... why does it sound like I'm some kind of career criminal?
Zhou Shi's forehead twitched with black lines. So helping you guys get out makes me the bad guy now?
"By the way, the Beast Tamer Guild is having a group dinner. You two interested?"
Chen Shu looked at Zhang Dali, asking for his opinion.
Zhang Dali spoke up, "I won't go. I need to go home and commemorate this important day!"
"Then let's postpone it, Uncle Zhou. I need to decompress too."
The two took a taxi, preparing to head home.
"Chen Pi, this isn't like you—turning down free food?"
"Are you stupid? He's obviously trying to trick me into paying the bill. Would I, Chen Shu, fall for such an obvious scam?"
"Makes sense! Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"
Zhang Dali suddenly asked, "By the way, Chen Pi, you were framed, right?"
"Obviously! I was just worried about having nothing to do this summer vacation. I absolutely have to catch that fake medicine peddler! Let him know what happens when you mess with Chen Shu!"
Now that Chen Shu's summer job was gone, he was already bored out of his mind.
As for summer homework? Give me a break!
Have you ever seen a student do homework right after vacation starts? You absolutely cannot do it ahead of time but until the very last moment!
That's the rule!
Zhang Dali nodded, "Chen Pi, I support you!"
Chen Shu patted Zhang Dali on the shoulder, "That's good to hear, truly my good brother. Lend me your dad for a bit!"
Zhang Dali, "???"
What do you mean lend you my dad?
Chen Shu explained, "I'm worried about the danger, you know? They're criminals after all, probably some kind of beast tamer. With Uncle Zhang protecting me, I'd have no worries, right?"
"My parents went traveling out of town. They don't have time to mess around with your schemes."
Zhang Dali shook his head, then suddenly remembered something.
"But I have a friend who might be able to help you!"
"What kind of friend?"
Zhang Dali put on a completely serious expression and started bragging, "He's known as the 'Newbie Savior' and 'Nanjiang Secret Agent 007.' No matter what the problem is, you can find him to solve it. His efficiency is absolutely explosive!"
Chen Shu's eyebrows shot up so high they nearly flew off his face, and he said with exaggerated intonation, "Besides me, you have such a high-end friend?"
"So what exactly does he do?"
Zhang Dali leaned in conspiratorially. "He's... a pig butcher. Down at the Xiafei Road intersection."
Chen Shu fell silent, just staring at him with an utterly bizarre expression.
"Look, Chen Pi, don't give me that look. What I'm saying is true."
Zhang Dali felt uncomfortable under that stare.
Chen Shu said nothing, but his expression said it all. It was as if two words were silently echoing in the air.
'Dumbass~~~'
The two returned to their residential complex. All the way back, Zhang Dali had covered Chen Shu's eyes with his hands—he couldn't bear to face that kind of stare anymore.
"Early tomorrow morning, I'll come find you. I'll broaden your horizons. It's time you met the upper echelons of Nanjiang City."
With that, Zhang Dali ran all the way home.
"Find a pig butcher? To investigate a fake medicine peddler? Am I crazy, or has the world gone insane?"
Chen Shu returned home, washed up, and prepared to crash into bed. Today's experiences had been far too eventful.
Beep beep!
Just then, his phone suddenly buzzed.
"Hm? Someone posted in the group?"
He opened the Nanjiang Second High QQ group chat¹. It was full of beast tamer students—no teachers.
Zheng Yi: Teacher Jiang, thank you for your guidance. My contracted spirit has truly mastered a new skill!
A few minutes later
Zheng Yi: Sorry, I sent that to the wrong place. I accidentally posted it in the group.
...
Could you be any more fake? Chen Shu immediately saw through Zheng Yi's showing off²!
Is it a combat skill? That's a huge improvement! Du Ziteng, a classmate, thought as he read Zheng’s text.
Wei Teng: The probability of a Black Iron-level contracted spirit learning skills is incredibly low. Congratulations, Class President Zheng.
Everyone in the group was congratulating him. The importance of skills went without saying—measured in Chinese yuan, it was worth at least several million.
Especially self-learned skills, which were generally perfectly suited to their fighting style and provided significant power boosts.
Just then, a line of text quietly appeared.
Chen Pi: Congratulations, Class President (four combat skills)
Zheng Yi, who had been excited just a moment ago, instantly froze, his mouth twitching.
What the hell—if you're congratulating me, just congratulate me! What's with the parentheses³?
Zheng Yi: Haha! Thanks!
Chen Pi: Everyone should learn from Class President in the future (about to enter senior year intensive training)
Zheng Yi: ...
Chen Pi: Got any study tips to share? (liberal arts score: 396)⁵
Wang Meng: Why is Class President Zheng's avatar gray? Did he go offline?
Chen Shu lay in bed with a smug smile. That's what you get for showing off in the group chat.
"Your gray avatar will never jump again..." Chen Shu hummed a tune and closed his phone.
At that moment, Zheng Yi was clenching his fists, constantly muttering under his breath, his entire body trembling uncontrollably.
"Fake! It has to be fake!"
The achievement he was so proud of turned out to be nothing in the other person's eyes.
This round... this round his defenses were truly completely shattered⁴!