It was called unpacking, but it was really just a simple tidying up of his things.
After all, Bai Xiaodu hadn't brought anything with him this time except for his personal belongings.
Turning around, he found Director-General Shen standing behind him like a ghost, holding the chain.
Though startled, Bai Xiaodu's face lit up with joy.
“Thank you, Director-General Shen! I've never lived in such a nice place before!”
“It's even more beautiful than a five-star hotel!”
Praise, praise, praise!
As long as someone gave him something or did him a favor without malice, regardless of whether it tasted good or was useful, Bai Xiaodu would never be stingy with his praise.
Even if it tasted terrible and they remembered to bring it for him again next time—which was a pretty bad outcome—didn't that just mean he had one more good friend who kept him in mind for everything!
Director-General Shen's expression remained placid.
“As long as you like it.”
“According to my prophecy, you will need to stay here for at least seven days. I will take care of all your arrangements.”
Bai Xiaodu nodded vigorously.
Everything was free. And all of this, completely free!
What's more, according to Director-General Shen, she was going to give him special training on his skills during these days.
How much money would he have to spend to get that kind of opportunity?
This was a literal windfall!
Normally, he was highly wary of such good fortune, but now that it was being spoon-fed to him, he might as well take a bite.
So what if he had to be her dog? He was perfectly happy to do it!
Who knew how many people would beg for the chance, yet Director-General Shen wouldn't even give them a second glance!
Bai Xiaodu didn't hide these thoughts at all, letting them expose themselves completely.
Director-General Shen continued.
“However, during the special training, you are not allowed to go out without my permission.”
“No objections here.”
Bai Xiaodu didn't care about this at all.
Years ago, he used to camp on shopping apps every day, staying up past midnight just to snag boxes of cheap instant noodles. He had eaten so much of them he wanted to throw up.
To the point where, after becoming a temporary romance sharing consultant, he absolutely needed meat with every meal to stay in a good mood.
And not just a little bit. After all, the money used to buy meat was still hard-earned money!
Besides, whenever he went out, it was always for work.
Director-General Shen's words essentially meant that he didn't have to work, and his food, drinks, and lodging were all fully covered.
What kind of bad woman was this?
She was so beautiful and even willing to keep him.
In his eyes, she was a peerless, heavenly woman!
Bai Xiaodu didn't hide these thoughts either.
His expression remained completely calm.
If he actually said these words out loud, it would indeed be too cringe-worthy.
He was afraid of annoying Director-General Shen.
But in his mind, it was a completely different story.
These are my true, inner thoughts!
These are told to you in the most genuine, unfabricated, unexaggerated, undistorted, unembellished, unfiltered, unedited, unvarnished, unfalsified, and unmanipulative way possible!
Hehehe.
Bai Xiaodu silently gave himself a thumbs-up.
Director-General Shen tilted her head as she watched him rejoice.
“Since you have to stay here for the next seven days, you can make a phone call now. Wrap up whatever you're currently doing so you don't suffer any losses.”
“Oh, absolutely no problem.”
Bai Xiaodu dialed right in front of her. At the very top of his contact list was Grandma's number, specially marked.
Just as he was about to press it, his finger hovered over the screen.
Uh...
When it came to deceiving people, he was highly experienced.
But lying to his grandma the way he lied to others always felt a bit wrong to Bai Xiaodu.
She was getting old. If she heard any unnaturalness in his voice, she would worry about him.
Still, there was no other way.
He couldn't exactly tell his grandma not to worry because he was currently acting as Director-General Shen's dog!
After weighing his options, Bai Xiaodu decided to make the call. Director-General Shen just watched him quietly from the side.
A familiar, elderly voice soon came from the other end.
“Xiaodu, is something the matter?”
Bai Xiaodu tried his best to make his tone sound natural.
“Ah, there is something, Grandma. It's like this. You know how I used to worry you by running around doing odd jobs?
“Well, I've been studying hard and constantly improving myself, and my transcendent skills are actually pretty decent now.
“Recently, an important person in the Transcendent Association took a liking to me because of that and offered to give me a hand.
“They recommended me for a very decent job in the city.”
Director-General Shen raised an eyebrow.
Bai Xiaodu quickly made a shushing gesture at her.
He had no choice but to use this kind of excuse.
After all, Grandma's lifelong wish was for him to work a normal nine-to-five job, live a peaceful life, and get married and have children.
But a normal job didn't pay much. Even with subsidies, the medication for her lung disease was still incredibly expensive!
A friend he used to work with at the nightclub had once advised him that since Grandma's illness was incurable anyway, he should just harden his heart, start a new life of his own, and find an honest family to marry into as a live-in son-in-law.
With a rare cold expression, Bai Xiaodu had flatly rejected him.
Back then, when he was in the hands of that heartless human trafficker whose whole family had died, if Grandma hadn't been willing to take him away, Bai Xiaodu feared he would have been buried in some unknown grave years ago.
Just as Grandma hadn't given up on him when he was severely malnourished back then, he would absolutely never give up on her!
The Federation was indeed a world of supreme capitalism, but he had grown up under the warm breeze of a different era!
His wine-red eyes darted around quickly as Bai Xiaodu continued.
“That leader also assigned a project to me. If I do well, they'll give me a permanent position.
“So for this coming week, I'll be extremely busy—so busy my feet won't touch the ground, and I won't even be able to reply to messages.
“If there's really something urgent and you must find me, you can leave a message at the Transcendent Association or ask President Liu of the Transcendent Association for help. That's about it.”
Grandma's voice on the other end sounded very happy.
“Good, good. Meeting a benefactor who wants to promote you is your good fortune. How could I make you worry about me during such an important time?
“But since it involves transcendent powers, is it dangerous?
“No matter what, you must stay safe.”
“I definitely will!”
After a few more minutes of warm, domestic chatter, Bai Xiaodu quickly hung up the phone.
He let out a sigh of relief, feeling as though he had just completed a monumental task.
Then, he made a second call.
It was to Xin Hai'an.
Although he had been delayed over the past few days hunting down Jedoli and dealing with the aftermath, Bai Xiaodu hadn't forgotten that Xin Hai'an's fitness training sessions weren't completely finished yet!
He loved money, but he only earned honest money!
The phone rang, and to Bai Xiaodu's surprise, someone as busy and bogged down with work as Xin Hai'an actually answered so quickly!
“Bai Xiaodu, what is it?”
He had wanted to prepare his words a bit more, but now Bai Xiaodu could only scramble to fill the silence.
“Sister Xin Hai'an, I'm so sorry.
“Because I'm up for a rank advancement, I took a seven-day mission from the Transcendent Association. So, can we temporarily pause our remaining training sessions?”
Xin Hai'an's tone was surprised.
“A mission? Rank advancement?
“Didn't you say you wanted to take the entrance exam for Tiannan Star Military University and that you'd ask me to help you tutor your academic subjects these few days?”
Bai Xiaodu smacked his forehead hard.
Crap! He had been so focused on the fitness training and earning money that he completely forgot about that!
To avoid raising her suspicions and to protect the Affection points he had worked so hard to build up, Bai Xiaodu had to quickly salvage the situation.
“It was very sudden. The reward for completing this mission is something I've desperately needed for a long time.
“Of course I still remember our studying. So, could I trouble you to send the materials to me?”
“I see... ” Xin Hai'an's tone softened slightly.
“I suppose I can agree to that.”
A hint of a smile crept into her voice.
“But once this week is over, you can't refuse when I ask you to help me handle company matters, okay?”
Seeing that he had managed to gloss it over, Bai Xiaodu was overjoyed.
Just as he was about to quickly add a few more words, Director-General Shen tightened the chain in her hand.
“Ugh...”
Caught completely off guard, he let out a soft groan and nearly stumbled.
At that moment, Director-General Shen took a step forward, supporting him with one hand.
Before Bai Xiaodu could whisper his thanks, she used the momentum of the movement.
Under Bai Xiaodu's utterly shocked and bewildered gaze, she gently leaned her lips close to the phone, neither too loudly nor too softly.
In a volume just clear enough for the person on the other end to hear, she said:
“Ahem.”
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