Chapter 45: Team Building

Qin Qing took out her phone to call a taxi, only then noticing several missed calls. Her messages were completely flooded by Yang Sang.

Yang Sang’s exasperation seemed to spill out from the full screen of texts.

“Boss, did you go back or not?”

Qin Qing finally remembered what she had forgotten.

She grabbed Chen Deyu by the arm.

“Captain Chen, could you do me a favor?”

Taking Chen Deyu with her, Qin Qing returned to the police station lobby.

Yang Sang was holding his phone, looking around.

As soon as he saw Qin Qing, he rushed over: “Boss, where did you go? I asked the police officer who took the statement, and he said you left early. When I came, there was no one here, and they said you must have gone back first. I thought you definitely wouldn’t leave me alone, so I waited for you here.”

He looked wronged, like a puppy who had finally found its owner.

It was almost unbearable to watch.

“What a sight.” Qin Qing knew she was in the wrong, but she still had to maintain her boss’s demeanor.

She introduced Chen Deyu: “This is the captain of the criminal police department. You can just call her Captain Chen. I came over to discuss something with her, so I stepped away for a bit.”

Chen Deyu suppressed a laugh: “Yes, the department needed Ms. Qin’s help with something, and we lost track of time talking.”

“Hello, Captain Chen.” Yang Sang greeted, then added: “I knew you must have been delayed by something, Boss.”

Qin Qing hummed, then bid Chen Deyu a solemn farewell: “Captain Chen, that’s all for today. I need to take my employee back. If there’s anything else, we can contact each other by phone.”

Chen Deyu: “Okay, take care.”

Qin Qing motioned for Yang Sang to follow. Once outside the police station, she said: “You must be hungry after waiting so long. Your boss will treat you to a late-night snack.”

They entered a Sichuan restaurant, chosen by Yang Sang.

Spicy and flavorful dishes were served one by one, but Qin Qing only poured herself a glass of water.

Yang Sang: “Boss, are you really not eating? It’s really good, especially with rice.”

Qin Qing strategically drank water: “No, I’m on a diet recently.”

Yang Sang: “That’s a shame.”

In front of the Sichuan restaurant was a small night market, and from their window table, they could see a jianbing stall.

Yang Sang followed Qin Qing’s gaze: “Boss, do you want to eat jianbing? I’ll go buy some for you.”

He was about to put down his bowl and chopsticks and get up to leave.

Qin Qing raised her hand and stopped him.

“Eat your food, I’m just looking.”

“Oh…”

She had just heard Officer Meng’s story, and now every man selling jianbing made her wonder if he was Officer Meng. Ah, if he could make hotpot so delicious, she wondered how his jianbing would be. Probably delicious too.

Looking at the not-so-busy jianbing stall, Qin Qing fell into contemplation.

The hotpot at Jiangnan Branch Bureau was truly delicious.

But it was a special government unit, and internal photography was not allowed, otherwise she could have written another food sharing note.

Yang Sang ate his rice, not forgetting to talk.

“Boss, I knew you were amazing. I only just realized today how amazing you are. You weren’t intimidated at all in front of so many ‘masters,’ and you saw things they couldn’t. I don’t know how they could call themselves your seniors. Knowledge comes first, and you should be their senior.”

Qin Qing sipped her tea, not answering, but it didn’t stop Yang Sang from chattering.

“At first, when I heard it was a gathering of masters, I was scared. But who knew they couldn’t even compare to one of your fingers. Don’t worry, from now on, when I go out with you, I’ll hold my head high. If masters meet, and one side has to be arrogant, it definitely won’t be them. I’ll have to tell my colleagues back at the office that in similar situations, we must never let your reputation down.”

The tea at the restaurant wasn’t great. After drinking half a cup, Qin Qing put it down and twirled the cup by its rim on the table.

After listening to Yang Sang, she smiled and lightly scolded: “You talk too much, eat your food.”

Qin Qing was also thinking about the people she met today.

She seemed to not get along well with her “peers.”

When she first arrived at Baiyun Temple, she was bullied on her very first day.

That time, it could be said it was about competing for business, but today, this group of “peers” was clearly trying to intimidate her and establish their dominance.

This was very strange.

She had seen all their System Panels.

But after seeing them, she was even more confused.

These people were different from the “immortals” at Baiyun Temple.

The “immortals” at Baiyun Temple were very clear about their own abilities and knew they were “not effective,” but they dared to do business after reading a few books on numerology, truly relying on occasional blind luck and their skill in observing people’s expressions to swindle others.

But today’s peers were different.

They truly believed in the existence of gods, ghosts, and numerology in this world, and that there was a Mystic Sect world beyond the reach of ordinary people. And they were the so-called Practitioners of Xuanmen (Mystic Arts).

Practitioners of Xuanmen (Mystic Arts) are divided into two categories: one is like the folk sorcerers today.

The other is those with sectarian inheritance.

The people in that courtyard were all famous folk “sorcerers” from the vicinity. This “vicinity” not only referred to Shanyu City but also included several surrounding provinces.

This group of outstanding individuals from several provinces was led by Granny Shun, but even with Granny Shun, Qin Qing didn’t see anything special about her.

They believed in gods and ghosts, but none of them had ever truly seen gods or ghosts in their experiences.

They believed in magic, but their own magic was just some rituals. There was nothing magical about it. Sometimes it seemed to work, and they called this “successful sensing.” They also became famous based on these “successful sensing” achievements.

And more often, there would be no reaction.

Qin Qing suspected that those “successful sensings” might just be coincidences.

But they themselves were so convinced.

This also threw Qin Qing into confusion.

Was there really something profound and mysterious in this world, or did this group of peers first trick themselves into believing it to fool their clients, successfully self-hypnotizing?

A long sigh.

If only she could discuss it with a so-called Practitioner of Xuanmen (Mystic Arts), like, Gao Yang?

Doesn’t seem possible, she’s still pretending to be a charlatan herself.

If she really sought someone out to discuss it, wouldn’t she expose herself?

Melancholy.

With a belly full of questions, Qin Qing returned home.

Her late return made little Mumu very unhappy. It lay in its den, refusing to come out or acknowledge her, until she took out the leash.

“I’ll count to three. If you don’t come out, I’m going to take a bath, and today’s walk is canceled.”

“One…”

Mumu instantly appeared.

It sat properly in front of her.

She patted its head.

“Good Mumu.”

She thought she had appeased it, and she indulged its desire to play outside a little longer.

After their walk, Qin Qing cut two pieces of watermelon, one large and one small.

The small one was placed on the floor, and Mumu obediently took a bite.

The large one was placed on the coffee table. Right in front of her, Mumu used its front paws to reach the edge of the coffee table and licked her portion all over.

It didn’t hide it at all, leaving all her emotions stuck in her throat.

Finally, she had to give the large portion to the little one as well.

She seemed to see mockery on the little one’s face.

Qin Qing grabbed its neck, gritting her teeth: “Do you know what happened to the people who bullied me outside? They all went to the Police Station! You, you’re absolutely audacious!”

Mumu tilted its head, widening its innocent puppy eyes.

Qin Qing: “…”

–

The studio’s sales staff were all student part-timers working for the summer.

With school starting soon, Qin Qing told Zheng Yi to start recruiting full-time employees in advance, otherwise they might not be able to keep up after school resumed.

Anyway, Lu Yang and Liang Jian, those two young masters, had basically lost their novelty for this highly repetitive work over the summer and developed aesthetic fatigue.

Lu Yang suggested: “We’re all about to leave, and we’ve never had a team-building event. Sister Qin, how about we arrange one?”

“You’re here to work, not to play,” Qin Qing said.

However, she also felt that this suggestion seemed good. Since the studio opened, everyone had been busy non-stop, so it wouldn’t hurt to relax a bit.

She entrusted this matter to Zheng Yi and Qin Fanghao.

Less than two hours later, the two of them came up with a plan: in summer, they must go stream trekking.

This suited Qin Qing’s intentions perfectly. It was also a form of exercise, as they wouldn’t always be on flat ground when doing sales calls.

They quickly agreed, and the next day, after making arrangements, they set off for Yudai Gorge, a canyon scenic area about 80 minutes’ drive from Shanyu City.

They planned well: stream trekking in the morning, cooling off at a mountain guesthouse in the afternoon (it was cool in the mountains), and a bonfire party and barbecue in the evening.

Everyone in the studio got along well, and for their first team-building event, everyone was quite excited.

They drove there themselves. As their vehicles passed a section of stream valley, they noticed some people picnicking on the bank and even swimming in the pools.

Young Master Lu Yang had his eyes glued to the car window: “It can’t be here, can it? The water looks quite clear, but the environment is messy.”

Zheng Yi checked the navigation and replied: “Not here. Yudai Gorge is a natural fissure, shaped like a ‘Y’. When the scenic area was developed, they only chose the safer, slow-water sections. What we’re passing now should be the rapid-water section, still a wild stream. However, due to the scenic area’s development, the surrounding infrastructure has improved, and many citizens, to save on ticket money, don’t enter the scenic area but play directly in this gully. It’s repeatedly prohibited, and I’ve heard of drowning deaths more than once or twice, but people still can’t resist the temptation of free access.”

They entered the scenic area. Tourists who didn’t want to go stream trekking could also choose to hike along the path beside the stream.

Yudai Gorge had lush vegetation, and the deep canyon shaded the sun, making it very cool to walk inside.

Walking in front of them was a couple. The man was very disappointed when he saw the stream and kept muttering to his girlfriend.

“This 200-plus yuan was really not worth it. Look, the water flow isn’t even as big as outside. The scenery on both sides looks no different from that stream outside. These developers are just scamming people, tricking them in and then setting up so many so-called supply points along the way, which are actually just to rip people off. Look, mineral water costs 3 yuan a bottle.”

The studio staff walking behind them were all quiet. Qin Qing wondered why no one was talking, then saw that everyone was watching the show.

The girl in the couple initially tried to reason with her boyfriend: “The facilities here are complete, and there are security guards every so often. It’s very safe. That place outside is just a wild pool, and I’m definitely not going there.”

But the man kept grumbling and nitpicking, first saying the wooden planks on the path weren’t sturdy, then saying the water in the stream trekking section wasn’t disinfected.

His girlfriend got angry: “Are you crazy? Where do you disinfect natural stream water? If you want disinfected water, go to a swimming pool. What are you doing bringing me here?”

She probably also realized there were people behind them and felt embarrassed, so she ran off quickly.

Only then did the man get anxious and hurried to chase after her: “I was just talking, why are you angry?”

As the couple ran off, Lou Xinyue explained to the unmarried young women in the team: “In the future, when you look for boyfriends, you must not find one who is so nagging and stingy. It’s exhausting.”

Zheng Yi also chimed in: “Exactly. But excluding girls who are already good at budgeting, I think these two will break up sooner or later. Their values are completely different.”

The young women felt they had learned a valuable lesson.

As for the men in the team.

One looked at the moss on the rocks, another at the butterflies on the stream. If there was nothing else to see, they just walked silently, not participating in such conversations, for fear of being affected.

Stream trekking was still a lot of fun.

At least Qin Qing didn’t feel very tired during the activity. Her physical training during this period had some effect.

The entire 3km trek, after getting out of the water, the sudden loss of buoyancy made her feel utterly exhausted.

Lou Xinyue even directly abandoned the race halfway and walked on shore to take photos for them.

After leaving the scenic area, the next stop was the guesthouse.

The return journey again overlapped with a section of the wild stream.

At an intersection where one could access the wild stream, there was a thatched shed, selling watermelons and corn.

A cardboard sign in front of the stall read that the watermelons were home-grown, and the cornfield was right nearby; one could even pick it fresh if desired.

Han Jun parked and said, “I’ll pick two watermelons for tonight. Freshly picked ones taste different.”

Lou Xinyue was still energetic and also got out of the car: “I see they’re selling cucumbers and cherry tomatoes too. I’ll go take a look.”

The others had no desire to leave the air-conditioned car.

Qin Qing was the same; she felt her calves were trembling.

She blinked twice and activated her System Panel. She wanted to see if the stall owner’s goods were truly home-grown.

Before she could even look at the stall owner, a conspicuous System Panel with a black background appeared in Qin Qing’s line of sight.

It belonged to a seven or eight-year-old boy, brought by a couple who were also picking watermelons at the stall.

A black System Panel represented death.

Qin Qing saw that the child’s complexion was rosy, not appearing ill, so she quickly checked the logs.

The last gray prediction in the boy’s System Panel log had only a simple line of text.

[13:38: Died from underwater asphyxiation.]

Isn’t that drowning?

Qin Qing looked at the time in the car, which showed 12:27.

One more hour.

Qin Qing’s expression was solemn as she pushed open the car door and got out.

She walked over to the couple, unsure how to begin.

Lou Xinyue wiped a half-red, half-green cherry tomato with a wet wipe and handed it to Qin Qing: “Boss, try this. Don’t let its ugly appearance fool you, it’s super sweet.”

She laughed as she said: “I bought all the ones at this stall, about five or six catties. We can eat them tonight when we play cards.”

Qin Qing took the cherry tomato but didn’t eat it.

She looked at the boy’s mother, who also seemed quite young.

“Excuse me, are you planning to go play in the water?”

The mother glanced at Qin Qing and hummed in affirmation.

Qin Qing asked again: “Where are you planning to go play in the water later?”

The woman looked at Qin Qing impatiently, her eyes full of wariness: “What do you want?”

Her husband also looked over.

Qin Qing touched her nose, not expecting the conversation to start this way.

She looked at the woman, then at the boy’s System Panel, whose background was as dark as ink, completely unchanged.

Qin Qing decided to be direct: “Then I’ll be blunt. I am a fate master, simply put, I’m a fortune teller.”

The boy’s father stepped in front of his wife, interrupting Qin Qing. He waved his hand: “We don’t do fortune-telling, thank you.”

The “thank you” sounded very insincere.

The boy’s mother whispered to her husband: “Doesn’t look like a fortune teller, probably for a prank video.”

Han Jun and Lou Xinyue seemed to have guessed something and also walked over to Qin Qing. When the man stepped forward, Lou Xinyue even ran directly to the car to knock on the window and call for help, fearing Qin Qing would be at a disadvantage.

Lou Xinyue’s prediction was correct.

“I’m not a charlatan trying to drum up business.” Qin Qing looked into the man’s eyes and said calmly and seriously: “Meeting is fate, I just want to tell you. Your son’s complexion is dark, he cannot go near water today, otherwise his life will be in danger.”

The boy’s mother raised her voice: “No, how can you be like this? We don’t want our fortune told, so you curse my son?”

The boy’s father’s face was even darker: “I don’t hit women, but you need to leave now. If you keep talking nonsense…”

He raised his fist.