Qin Siyang and Wen Shu walked side by side out of the campus.
At an intersection, they needed to head in different directions.
Qin Siyang kept an eye on their rear, ensuring that Li Jingwen and her group weren't following them. He then said, "Don't worry, they're not following. I'm really sorry for dragging you into today's mess."
Wen Shu glanced at Qin Siyang, her expression somewhat complicated. Finally, she softly said, "Thank you."
Qin Siyang noticed that the admiration in her eyes when she looked at him seemed to have faded significantly, replaced by dissatisfaction.
This made Qin Siyang even more puzzled. How could a chance encounter lead to such complex emotions?
Qin Siyang waved his hand, "No need to thank me. You got beaten up because of my issues. Honestly, it's my fault. Seeing you in such a state makes me feel bad too."
"No, I was beaten because of Li Jingwen and her group, it has little to do with you. You rescued me and solved the trouble afterward, I should thank you."
Qin Siyang looked at Wen Shu's defiant eyes and shrugged, "But what your eyes express is different from what you're saying."
"Your feeling is correct. Rationally, I know you did nothing wrong. But emotionally, I can't help but feel a bit distant from you. I hope you understand."
Qin Siyang nodded, "You're very polite."
Wen Shu nodded lightly, "Of course, after all, you're not a bad person."
With that, Wen Shu turned and left.
Qin Siyang felt a bit troubled.
Li Jingwen's stupidity and malice exceeded his imagination.
Even in his past life when he was deceived, he only thought Li Jingwen was a gold digger playing two-timing.
Now it seemed Li Jingwen had issues from the root, beyond remedy.
However, involving Wen Shu in this made Qin Siyang feel a bit guilty.
It was truly an unwarranted disaster. If it were him, he might have already resorted to violence.
Qin Siyang sighed, carrying a lunchbox filled with food back home.
Today's meal was Thousand-Leg Mushroom, one of Qin Siyang's favorite dishes from the cafeteria.
Auntie Zhang, who served the food, seemed to know his preference and gave him two extra scoops. He expressed his gratitude to her.
He moved a chair to the window, eating while watching the various gods wandering outside.
He savored his meal like a cat enjoying its cat food while admiring the delicious fish in an aquarium.
After finishing his meal, washing the lunchbox, and taking a cold shower, Qin Siyang went to bed.
Qin Siyang had come to terms with everything.
What was the point of staying up late at home?
Since there was nothing to do after returning home, it was better to sleep early and rise early, maintaining good health.
After a good night's sleep, Qin Siyang felt much less troubled.
Before leaving the house, he glanced at today's calendar.
[Blue Star Calendar, January 5, 2010]
[Gregorian Calendar, Tuesday.]
[Xia Calendar, Year of the Ox, November 22, Suitable for Sacrifices]
The next day, when he woke up, Qin Siyang carried a bag and a lunchbox as usual.
But considering the troublesome teacher from yesterday, he stuffed two books inside.
However, he had already lost this semester's books, so he took last year's textbooks.
It didn't matter since it was just a formality.
Leaving home, he once again detoured to the internet cafe entrance.
This time, he found a middle-aged man with a bushy beard sitting at the counter instead of Liu Dazhi.
Qin Siyang smiled slightly.
Opportunity had arrived.
He put on his hoodie, avoided the internet cafe's entrance camera, and gestured for the bearded man at the counter to come out.
The middle-aged man curiously pointed at himself, "Looking for me?"
Qin Siyang nodded, "That's right."
The middle-aged man was a bit puzzled but still came out.
After all, Qin Siyang looked young, like a student, and shouldn't be up to anything bad.
Once the man was out, Qin Siyang led him to the alley behind the internet cafe.
The garbage in the alley was still there, and the stench of waste was even stronger.
Even Qin Siyang, who disliked the cafeteria, had to admit that compared to this place, the cafeteria was heaven. This chapter was taken from g.com without permission.
The internet cafe owner also covered his nose as he walked over, looking around with disgust, seemingly unaware that the garbage was dumped behind the internet cafe.
He muttered, "That lazy Liu Dazhi, I told him to take the trash to the dump, and he left it here! I'll definitely deal with him!"
Qin Siyang listened but didn't respond.
When they reached the spot where he had talked with Liu Dazhi that night, Qin Siyang asked, "Are you the owner of the internet cafe?"
"I am."
"The two people the police took from your internet cafe the other day, one of them is my friend."
The internet cafe owner frowned upon hearing this, "Your friend was taken away, what do you want from me?"
"You know what those two people the police took were up to, right?"
The owner wasn't a fool. Hearing Qin Siyang's words and looking at his youthful face, he immediately became cautious, "What are you trying to say? Trying to get information out of me?"
"Get information out of you?" Qin Siyang chuckled lightly, "No need for that. Before my friend was taken by the police, he sent me a message saying he left something here. I want to check the surveillance footage from that day."
The internet cafe owner snorted, "Kid, are you playing with me? You think you can just check the surveillance footage?"
"He left something for me worth twenty silver coins. If I find it, I'll give you one."
"Give me a silver coin? Look at what you're wearing, your whole outfit isn't worth a few copper coins, and you're here bragging..."
Before the internet cafe owner could finish, Qin Siyang pulled out a silver coin.
The silver coin, emitting a faint white glow under the starlight, immediately caught the owner's attention.
"You..."
Qin Siyang flicked the silver coin in his hand, producing a crisp metallic sound unique to silver coins, then caught it again.
"My proposal, do you accept?"
This silver coin, scavenged from the three thugs, had always been with Qin Siyang.
Copper coins were too many, and carrying them would make noise, attracting attention.
But he only had one silver coin, and keeping it in his pocket, no one would notice. Moreover, a silver coin was valuable, capable of accomplishing many things.
However, due to his status, he couldn't spend the silver coin.
He couldn't register at the Sequence Ability User Administration Bureau now, nor could he access deeper transactions, let alone know anything about the black market.
This silver coin had become utterly useless.
But Qin Siyang was keenly aware that as he grew stronger and became a registered Sequence Ability User, the value of this silver coin would diminish—because he wouldn't lack money anymore.
With the talent of a [God Eater], wealth would come and go.
Therefore, to maximize the benefit of this silver coin, Qin Siyang chose to use it early.
For instance, to buy a coffin for Liu Dazhi.
The owner swallowed, "You... what exactly are you guys doing?!"
Qin Siyang smiled, "You don't know? That's for the best. If you don't know, you'll have fewer troubles."
"Now, back to the question. Can you swallow this silver coin?"
The internet cafe owner's eyes flickered twice, and he gritted his teeth, "Follow me."
With that, he led Qin Siyang to a dark little warehouse next to the internet cafe.
Qin Siyang frowned, unaware that this small, always-closed room next to the internet cafe also belonged to the owner.
The warehouse was full of clutter, with many scrapped machines covered in dust.
Only the table in the middle and its surroundings were very clean.
On the table were three monitors, each displaying four surveillance feeds.
"All the surveillance is here, go ahead and look. But let me make it clear, whether you find anything or not, you owe me a silver coin."
The internet cafe owner seemed worried that Qin Siyang might go back on his word, so he said this as soon as they entered.
"Hold on." Qin Siyang interrupted.
"What now?"
"Do you need to check the surveillance footage here? Can't you view it on the computer at the counter? I think it's brighter there, easier to see."
The owner replied, "The computer at the counter is just for managing customer logins and monitoring computers, it can't view surveillance footage."
Qin Siyang hesitated for a moment, then nodded and went over to check the surveillance.
When he found the footage from January 3rd, he realized it only had recordings from the evening, not the morning or afternoon, and frowned.
"Why is there no footage from the morning of January 3rd?!"
The owner shrugged, "Electricity is expensive, the cameras can't be on all the time. I usually turn them on every few days. If I know someone from the United Government is coming to inspect, I'll turn them on 24 hours in advance."
Qin Siyang clenched his fist, coldly staring at the owner, "Are you messing with me? Without the footage from the morning when the police came, how am I supposed to check?"
The owner chuckled, picking up a hammer from the side, "We agreed beforehand, even if you can't find it, you owe me a silver coin. Otherwise..."
He kicked the metal disc away, smashing three or four more monitors, "Otherwise, what?"
The owner panicked immediately, "You... you're a Sequence Ability User!"
Qin Siyang glanced at him disdainfully, "Do you think someone who can do a twenty silver coin deal in this rundown internet cafe at the edge of the Safe Zone wouldn't have a certain identity?"
"Or do you think I couldn't possibly be involved in a twenty silver coin deal?"
The owner was completely dumbfounded, his body trembling with fear, and the hammer in his hand fell to the ground.
Qin Siyang's words were always vague, never clear, leaving the owner with endless imagination.
In an instant, the owner imagined a Sequence Ability User organization specializing in black market operations.
And Qin Siyang was one of the managers collecting debts!
"Spare me! Spare me, I don't know anything! I didn't mean to interfere with your business!"
Hearing this, Qin Siyang realized the owner thought he was an outlaw doing underground business, so he went along with it, playing the role the owner imagined for him.
"I know you don't know anything. If you did and hid it from me, you'd already be a corpse."
"Yes, yes! As long as you understand!"
The owner quickly agreed, following Qin Siyang's lead to absolve himself.
"However, you're lucky today. I'm a reasonable person."
With that, Qin Siyang tossed the silver coin to the owner.
The owner looked at the silver coin in his hand, feeling it burn, and quickly refused, "No, no, I can't take this. You didn't find anything, I can't take it for nothing."
"In the future, I might come here to find things again, I don't want to make a big deal out of it. This silver coin is your hush money."
"This... is this appropriate..."
"If I give it to you, take it."
Qin Siyang walked up to the owner, gently patting his shoulder twice, "I'm only worried about one thing. You won't tell the police about this, right? If you sell me out, next time our people come, it won't be a silver coin they bring, understand?"
"No, no, absolutely not! You can trust me! You should know, to run an internet cafe in this rundown place, I have some connections. As long as there's no evidence, the Police Bureau won't do anything to me."
Then the owner chuckled, showing a flattering expression, "Besides, if I sell you out, I'd have to hand over this silver coin, wouldn't I? Why would I bring trouble on myself? You can come anytime, if I find something, I'll wait for you to pick it up."
"Alright. But I might come here to use the computer in the future, I hope you can keep it a secret."
The owner said, "You can use the computer in the warehouse! This computer for checking surveillance is the latest model! And the network login port is encrypted, even the Police Bureau can't locate it!"
With that, he took a key from his waist keyring and handed it to Qin Siyang.
Qin Siyang took the key, nodded in satisfaction, and then suddenly thought of something, "This computer doesn't have surveillance software, right?"
"No! Only I can enter this warehouse, and I use the computer myself, why would I monitor myself!"
"Good, I understand, thank you."
"You're welcome, just let me know if you need anything! My name is Wang Defa, you can call me Afa!"
"Alright, Afa, I'll remember that. I'll report your matter up. Rest assured, as long as I'm fine, you won't have any trouble."
This was both a reassurance and a stern warning, ensuring Wang Defa wouldn't dare to make any moves behind his back.
"Rest assured! I'll keep my mouth shut."
"By the way, I remember last time I came to your internet cafe, the person at the counter wasn't you?"
"Oh, you're talking about Liu Dazhi? He takes Tuesdays and Wednesdays off."
Qin Siyang nodded, "Then I'll come find you on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. I have other matters to attend to, I'll be off."
"Alright, alright, take care!"
After seeing Qin Siyang off, Wang Defa looked at the silver coin in his hand, then at the crushed monitor, and let out a long sigh of relief.
He glanced at the hammer beside him and kicked it away in disgust.
A regular person daring to make a move in front of a Sequence Ability User, truly tired of living!
Fortunately, this Sequence Ability User had a decent temper, otherwise, he might have already met his ancestors!
After surviving the ordeal, the empty warehouse was left with only him.
Wang Defa thought carefully, realizing Qin Siyang's visit and departure hadn't affected him much, and even earned him a silver coin.
Wang Defa looked at the silver coin in his hand, biting it with his teeth.
"Definitely a silver coin."
"But is this silver coin a blessing or a curse..."
After pondering for a while, Wang Defa gradually came to terms, his gaze becoming firm, "A man won't get rich without a windfall! If I were afraid of this and that, I wouldn't have grown this big!"
"This immense wealth is destined to fall into my hands!"
Meanwhile, after leaving the internet cafe, Qin Siyang smiled slightly and set off for Liu Dazhi's home.
He was in an excellent mood.
"No wonder today's calendar says, [Suitable for Sacrifices]."