Naming Technique of the Night

"Just let Hu Xiaoniu handle it," Yi said.

Li Dongze recalled Hu Xiaoniu and Zhang Tianzhen, who had come to report to him a few days ago. "The young boss has a decent eye for people. I tested the two of them; one is straightforward, the other is odd, somewhat complementary, like Ye Wan and Lin Xiaoxiao by the boss's side. Unfortunately, the young boss doesn't have someone like me by his side yet. Having just Lin Xiaoxiao and Ye Wan is not enough, and there's no need to mention Su Xingzhi."

Yi was silent for a while. "It's understandable that Su Xingzhi is annoyed with you," he remarked.

"I heard that the young boss went to see Su Xingzhi earlier?" Li Dongze asked. "Just for this trivial matter, he actually used an encrypted channel to brag to me for two days."

"And then what," Yi wondered. "Why are you telling me this?"

"You help me ask the young boss when he has time to come by the Heng Society," Li Dongze said.

Yi: "…Is the human desire for comparison really that strong?"

Li Dongze did not answer. He took out his vintage pocket watch to check the time. "The snow is going to stop."

Yi: "Can you not progress a little each time you try to change the subject?"

...

...

Countdown to return 160:00:00.

Li Changqing had gone out early in the morning without telling Qing Chen where he was, leaving only a message that he was out handling affairs.

Qing Chen was left alone in the vast Feiyun Courtyard.

For some reason, even though Qing Chen had completed his Genetic Potion treatment, the servants hadn't come back to work.

Last night, Li Changqing had helped him ask the Mountain Chief Li Liheng for a week off.

Thinking it over, Qing Chen decided that there was nothing much to do. He freshened up a bit, grabbed a folding stool, and headed towards Dragon Lake.

All he had to do now was avoid being seen by too many people, without having to stay in Feiyun Courtyard all the time.

When he arrived at Dragon Lake, the old man was already sitting early on the broken bridge.

"How come you're here so early today," Qing Chen asked curiously. "Did you know I took a leave and guessed that I would come over early in the morning?"

"It sounds as if I am specifically waiting for you here," the old man said leisurely. "I like to fish."

"What's the meaning of fishing?" Qing Chen didn't understand. "If you want to eat fish, can't you just scoop them up?"

The old man looked across the broad lake and thought for a moment. "I used to like fishing because my wife always nagged. Back then, I would escape to this Dragon Lake to think by myself for a bit. You're young, you wouldn't understand. A man needs a little space of his own."

"Ah?" Qing Chen blinked.

The old man continued, "Years ago, my younger son was always thinking about the fish in this lake, but every time he came to steal fish, I caught him red-handed. People outside say that I treasure the Dragon Fish, but that's not true. There are only 18 Dragon Fish, and if he ate them all, they'd be gone. The fish outside are too fierce, and I don't want to raise those. So, my main concern was that if all the Dragon Fish in this lake were ruined, I'd have no excuse to go fishing." Find your next read on My Virtual Library Empire

Qing Chen thought to himself, what a mess this all was. Why were the thoughts of someone so important in the conglomerate so peculiar?

"Then why were you willing to let me eat them?" Qing Chen also felt very curious. Everyone in the Li Family seemed to know the Dragon Fish were treasures, yet the man had allowed him to eat three in a row, and today was the fourth.

The old man said slowly, "My wife passed away a few years ago. There's no one to nag at me anymore, so I don't need to find excuses to hide from her. Originally, I came to Dragon Lake to avoid her, but for some reason, every time I come here after her departure, I end up thinking of her. Odd, isn't it? My elder son has been persuading me to learn from a few other old folks and prolong my life, but I always say forget it, she's waiting for me down there, don't let her wait too long."

Qing Chen was stunned for a moment. The old man discussed these matters without any sentimentality, as casually as deciding what to eat for dinner.

As if death was just like dining, when it was time to eat, you just went and had a meal; nothing unusual about it.

"Aren't you afraid of death?" Qing Chen puzzled. "I think I'm quite courageous, but I still fear death."

Qing Chen was a very honest person, so he admitted that he had felt fear when standing 70 meters high on the Bungee Tower, facing away from Weiyang Lake.

However, as he had told Wang Jiale, his body was ready; the choice was his to make.

The old man glanced at him and said, "I don't fear death. I've seen too much in life. Instead, I fear other things more."

"What do you fear?" Qing Chen asked.

The old man looked out over the lake and thought for a while. "I fear seeing honest people forced to lie, I fear seeing upright people being forced to bend, I fear idealists seeing their ideals shattered, I fear hearing the final truth from someone who constantly tells lies, I fear the prudent ones suddenly standing up for justice, I fear those once betrayed by their ideals dying for them in the end. I fear the last act of courage of cowards, and the charge of traitors."

"I don't understand," Qing Chen shook his head.

"Kid," the old man smiled, "maybe you'll understand when you reach my age. These are the most heartbreaking things in the world. Compared to them, death is not such a big deal."

"Perhaps one day I will understand," Qing Chen said.

Qing Chen was smart, but understanding human relationships wasn't something that intelligence could solve, one had to truly experience them.

Many years later, one evening, Qing Chen recalled this particular morning and finally understood that that day, the old man had practically told him about all of life's joys and sorrows.