A Little Bit

After the awards ceremony, Ji Jue handed off the remaining matters to the staff and hitched a ride straight back to Yacheng on the Tong family's airship. Little Niuma was packed with gifts he had asked the relay station staff to buy for him along the journey—bags and bundles galore. First, he made a trip to the Dalu Auto Repair Shop to unload his cargo: rice, pearls, decorative handicrafts, root carvings... piled into a small mountain tall enough to bury Lao Yao whole. Considering Mother Lu's habits, he had bought local specialties that were not overly expensive, merely difficult to find elsewhere. "Going out is troublesome enough, why bring back so many things? There isn't even room to put them all, and it's a waste of money." Mother Lu did not even look at the items. Taking Ji Jue's hands, she looked him up and down. Seeing that he had neither lost nor gained weight, her eyes crinkled in a smile. "After going out for a while, you look much more spirited. Just a bit tanned." "Tanned?" Lu Feng, who was lazily picking at his feet nearby, burst into laughter. "That's the first time I've ever heard of someone from Yacheng going out of town and getting tanned..." This immediately earned him Mother Lu's discriminatory treatment as she snapped, "What are you laughing at! You're burnt black as a toad yourself, and you have the nerve to laugh at others! All you know is lying around every day, not lifting a finger. Are you expecting Xiao Ling to haul all of this by herself?" With that, she stepped forward and gave him a kick, sending Lu Feng jumping like a kicked dog. Not daring to talk back, Lu Feng clutched his rear and scuttled off dejectedly to move the goods. The root carving from Longyuan brought for Mother Lu was quickly wiped sparkling clean and displayed on the counter. There were several packs of specialty tobacco from Huangzhou for Lu Feng; a gemstone necklace from Kunwu for Lu Ling, its tiny jewels sparkling in the sunlight; toys for Third Sister; and extracurricular exercise workbooks found along the route for Lao Yao... In an instant, broad smiles bloomed across everyone's faces. Once the bustle was over, Ji Jue wiped his sweat and simply said he would return for dinner before driving off to the North Mountain Security Bureau. He stacked two crates of various hard liquors bought from regions along his route onto Wen Wen's desk, shoved an upgraded Rupert's Drop into Xiao An's hands to play with for the time being, gave Tong Hua a handmade wool blanket from Longyuan, and gave Lao Zhang a tea set from Kunwu... With all the local specialties handed out, Little Niuma's cargo bed was finally empty. By around three in the afternoon, Ji Jue arrived at the Security Bureau headquarters in Yacheng. "The Warden has already instructed that you don't need to wait; you may head straight in once you arrive." The assistant led him directly to the door of Lyu Yingyue's office. Amidst the bustling atmosphere, many people were moving things around. Boxes large and small were stacked inside and outside the office, creating a somewhat chaotic scene. "Back so early? After being busy for so long, I thought you'd spend a few more days enjoying yourself in Chaocheng." Lyu Yingyue was tidying up documents on her desk and waved toward Ji Jue at the doorway. "Pardon the mess, I've been packing up the office lately. Make yourself at home, don't mind the clutter." "Are you..." Ji Jue looked around curiously, "moving?" "Just switching office locations, nothing really changes in practice. For the time being, Yacheng can't find anyone to take over, so I'll probably have to hold both posts for quite a while." Lyu Yingyue sighed with a headache. "A regional command is hard to come by, and those who do it well are even rarer. Originally Ah Shan could have helped out, but once he's transferred out, the vacancy will be even larger." "Brother Shan is getting transferred?" "A young man staying home all the time won't do; going out to see the world is a good thing." At this point, the faint smile at the corner of Lyu Yingyue's lips turned subtle. "However, if you're willing to lend him a hand... would you like to join the Security Bureau? Positions in the First, Second, or Third Departments are yours to pick. Whichever you choose, with your ability, a few years there will be plenty enough for you to succeed him." "Uh..." Ji Jue was stunned, shaking his head in bemusement. "Wouldn't that be rather unfair to the Governor-General?" Lyu Yingyue burst into laughter. Reading his implication, she dropped the topic. "I only have tea to entertain guests, don't take offense." She handed over a cup of tea and sat down on the sofa opposite Ji Jue without standing on ceremony, tossing the cumbersome, messy files on the table aside. However, when she picked up a thick photo album, she paused for a brief moment. Surprise, or perhaps nostalgia. As if she had found something long forgotten... "So it was here. I thought I had lost it," she murmured with a soft sigh, opening the album-like binder. To Ji Jue's surprise, it was entirely filled with newspaper clippings. Fragments cut from various newspapers and magazines were tucked inside. In the faint photos on the newsprint, one could see Lyu Yingyue in her youth; most of the reports were related to her as well. She flipped to the middle and held it out for Ji Jue to see. It was an old photograph from over twenty years ago, faintly faded. It seemed to be in a foreign land far away, in front of a stall at an unfamiliar bazaar. The lens focus had been slightly off, leaving the main subjects a bit soft and blurred. Back then, a youthful Lyu Yingyue wore a headscarf characteristic of Mid-Continent, flashing a V-sign at the camera. Her other arm was draped around a young woman whose expression was cold and aloof, practically radiating 'get the hell away from me.' That was... Ye Xian? Ji Jue could not help leaning closer, his eyes wide. A photo of his teacher when she was young? She actually bore some resemblance to Ye Chun. Subconsciously, he reached to lift his phone. Snap! The album shut. "Looking is enough. Ye Xian's temper has gotten worse and worse these past couple of years. If she knew you kept something like this, getting into trouble yourself would be one thing, but I might suffer along with you." Lyu Yingyue wore a mischievous smile. She patted the scrapbook in her hands, set it aside, and sighed with feeling. "When you're young, you're always vain. Whenever you accomplish something, you want to hoard it and slowly flip through it when you have time, thinking maybe you'll compile an epic one day... But as you keep saving, the things you can actually keep grow fewer, while the things you can't keep grow more and more, until you almost forget them yourself. "That's how it is when you get older—you love to nag and grumble, get used to life day in and day out, yet forget more and more things. You're still young without such worries. You should take advantage of your youth to go out and make your mark. If you're always cooped up at home, you'll definitely regret it when you're old." "...Compared to that, I actually prefer an unchanging life—quiet, peaceful, and steady. Let's pass on adventures, shall we?" Ji Jue gave a wry smile. "It's too easy to get overwhelmed with anxiety." Lyu Yingyue asked, "Shengnian told me you don't plan on taking the shares in Haichao?" Ji Jue shook his head. "The figure is too large. Even if I made some contribution, how could it be worth that much?" After the merger and reorganization between Haian and Chaocheng, combined with the military industrial assets transferred from Qingtian Industry and the spoils extracted from Echo, Xinyuan, and the other two companies, even before officially operating or going public, it was already destined to be a rising behemoth—quite possibly the premier military industrial enterprise in the Federation's southeastern region in the future. What Ji Jue had done, at best, was revitalize an auto works and participate in a rally. As a crossed-river pawn to draw aggro, attract attention, stir up trouble, make waves, and most importantly, clear the path ahead for the king. If it came down to a settlement of the mission, even if he had contributed some damage output, he wouldn't even touch the fringes of MVP. It was merely surface-level work beating the drum from the sidelines. How could that be worth such an astronomical price? "Only at times like this do you not look like an artisan at all," Lyu Yingyue remarked with a sigh, shaking her head. "Having too much propriety isn't necessarily a good thing either." Any other artisan facing such vast wealth would not hesitate for a single second. Alchemy was an art that burned money. As long as one was ruthless and desperate enough, any amount of money could be burned away. Likewise, no amount of money was ever enough. For an artisan on the rise like Ji Jue, encountering such an opportunity, even if he could not hold it, steady it, or swallow it, he would still shove it into his pocket, unconcerned about stuffing himself to death until it actually happened. Ye Xian might remain unmoved because she did not care about these benefits in the slightest, much less want to be bound to Lyu Yingyue because of them. Yet why Ji Jue refused, she could not understand. Was it purely out of a sense of propriety? "I'm afraid I cannot agree to that," she said after a moment of contemplation. "If you don't want the trouble, Chen Xingzhou and the Tong family will hold the shares on your behalf; you won't take part in operational matters. "Allocating this portion to you was the result of deliberation and compromise among all parties in the first place. Giving it to anyone else, nobody would agree. "At the current stage, Haichao must maintain stability. This is not only your reward, but actually a duty you must fulfill. Besides, at this juncture, everyone is carving up the meat. If you try to act high-minded and noble, it will only create extra trouble... After a few years, it won't matter if you sell it to any of them, and even if you don't want the money, you can donate it to the Church of Chongguang. "As for the annual dividends, we can convert them into materials for you through the channels of the Security Bureau and the Wild Gathering. How about that? "As far as I know, the research and development of the Xiangjian Type-9 requires an immense shortfall of materials. Ye Xian suffered plenty because of this back in the day. Relying solely on your own channels, even with the Ring of Taiyi and the Balance Chamber of Commerce, many materials would likely be very difficult to acquire." Ji Jue fell silent. After thinking for a moment, he no longer pushed back or insisted. "Then let's do that." After all, who wouldn't want money falling from the sky? Furthermore, bearing no responsibility, not managing operations, and just sitting back every year waiting for dividends and materials—hardly any artisan could refuse such an arrangement. This was a disguised and steady sponsorship channel. An investment requiring no return. Since things had been laid out so clearly, continuing to demur would not only be hypocritical, but refusing face when offered it. "Aside from that?" Lyu Yingyue smiled and continued, "You came looking for me in such a hurry today, surely it's not just about the shares." Ji Jue sighed, chuckling self-deprecatingly. No wonder his teacher called her an old fox; handling a competitor of Ji Jue's tier was far too easy for her. Before he could even open his mouth, his hurried intention had probably been seen through to the very bottom. He simply stopped concealing it and asked point-blank, "I heard that Phase One of Haichao's industrial park in Chaocheng is almost complete?" This time, it was Lyu Yingyue's turn to fall silent. "Could it be that you're interested?" She was slightly astonished. "That couldn't be better. I can speak to your teacher for you. If you have any ideas or need any position, don't be polite." For an apprentice of Ye Xian's true lineage like Ji Jue, who was virtually guaranteed to become a master in the future, no enterprise would be stingy with positions or authority. If Ji Jue really wanted to throw his lot in with Haichao, that would be wonderful. Only, if that were the case, why refuse the shares earlier? Surely he wouldn't engage in such shallow posturing? "No, you might have misunderstood." Ji Jue shook his head. "Now that things have reached this point, the overall situation is settled, and Haichao's rise is unstoppable. In other words... whether Haian Auto Works exists or not isn't really important anymore, is it?" "..." After a moment's stun, Lyu Yingyue understood his meaning. "Indeed." She lifted her teacup and spoke slowly, "However, even so, Haian remains one of Haichao Group's most important components right now. Even if the group won't focus on the automotive industry in the future, it certainly won't squander the current foundation." Lyu Yingyue reminded him, "Everyone poured quite a lot of money into it, after all." "I know." Ji Jue nodded firmly. Seeming not to catch her implication, he smiled and suddenly asked, "But is it only automobiles? Aside from that?" Aside from that? What else could there be aside from that? In the silence, for the first time Lyu Yingyue felt so many doubts about this young man—until the moment she finally realized his objective. A sudden flash of understanding. "...Indeed." A light laugh escaped her. "Aside from that, none of it matters." Aside from automobiles, what else remained of the current Haian Auto Works? Tricycles! Tricycles! And fucking tricycles! Now in the automotive industry, although Haian had won awards, it could still only be considered a promising rookie. But in the tricycle industry, Haian was a fucking colossus that monopolized all of Haizhou and even radiated outward in all directions! The moment Huasheng and Doujiao appeared, who could compete under such a dimensional strike?! Now in all of Haizhou, virtually no other small factory had room to survive. Every small trike rolling off the line was stamped unmistakably with Ji Jue's surname, "Ji". From the suburbs to the wilderness, like an insignificant yet endless swarm of ants, they were everywhere, reaching into every corner! If one wished to accomplish something, could there be any foundation more suitable than this? Well before this, tricycle production had essentially been spun off from Haian, and all production was concentrated in the newly built auxiliary plant in Quancheng. In that wasteland where only ruins remained, adjoining abundant resources, armed with equipment moved directly from Haian, there also existed countless scavengers and an almost bottomless market demand. No regulations, no constraints, no restrictions—one could conduct research and production entirely at will. A chicken rib that the corporate behemoths found tasteless to eat was, for Ji Jue, an absolute blue ocean! Even if it started with nothing, it still held infinite possibilities. There was no place better suited to Ji Jue than this. "If you want it, take it, Ji Jue. No one will have any objection," Lyu Yingyue smiled and promised. "You're asking for too little. This can't even count as compensation." "For me, it's already enough." Having achieved his objective, Ji Jue rose contentedly to take his leave. Yet, just before he walked out, he heard Lyu Yingyue's voice. On the sofa, the slightly aged woman turned back, looking at him with genuine curiosity. "Ji Jue, if you truly want to make a difference, there are so many things far more fitting than tricycles. Why choose this?" "If I don't do it, Haian won't do it either, right?" Ji Jue asked in return. If he pulled out, these things would eventually be packaged and spun off, or sold off into someone else's hands. In the end, once the association's ban came down, Huasheng and Tudou without design generational upgrades would become extinct relics. Not just tricycles, but also the prosthetics Ji Jue had touched—in projects with no profit potential, rather than counting on others to heavily invest resources into upgrades and promotion, it was better to give them another push himself, even if only to create a few new models and designs. Not only that, there were still many things he wanted to do. Since he had started this, made promises, and painted a tiny, flickering dream for those people whom nobody cared about, he ought to see it through from start to finish. Besides, it wouldn't take much effort or investment, so why not? Moreover... "Just consider it... me wanting to make this world a little better." Having said that, Ji Jue chuckled at his own pretentious words and shrugged. "Even if it can't get that much better, being just a tiny bit better isn't bad." After traveling so far, doing so many things, turning and twisting through so many bends, he had suddenly found what he wanted to do. Even if he might not do it well, even if this world was not a good place. Even if it could not get that much better, even if it could only be a tiny bit better... Then what harm was there in making it just a little bit more?