4 – I Am Also One of the Protective Measures
Yes.
She’d brought back one piece, which meant that when Li Ziyin did her Quick Transmigration Missions, she could bring things back with her.
Since she’d chosen energy stones as her pledge of loyalty, she shouldn’t have brought back just one.
Small matter.
Li Ziyin wasn’t flustered.
Li Ziyin stayed calm.
“There’s more.”
Li Ziyin smiled. “It’s just that the place guards the Energy Mines very tightly, and my strength alone is limited, so I couldn’t bring back much.”
Elder Xie’s eyes grew even brighter.
The Second Chief coughed. “Let’s discuss this back at base. Comrade Xiao Yin is sweating.”
Li Ziyin: ”…”
She was hot.
Really.
…
Li Ziyin was taken to the reception room.
The air conditioning was set to a comfortable temperature, and the fragrance of premium tea filled the air.
Li Ziyin took a sip of tea.
Then she took out a Space Button.
Everyone’s pupils contracted as they stared at the Space Button, silent for a long while.
Elder Xie, who knew Li Ziyin best, asked carefully, ”Xiao Yin, is this… a Space Button?”
Over the past few days, Elder Xie hadn’t just studied transmigration novels—he’d also read plenty of interstellar science fiction, so he already had some understanding of things from interstellar worlds.
But seeing something in a novel and seeing the real thing in person were entirely different concepts.
Li Ziyin’s matter was a top-level secret.
Even today’s visit to the military base to observe the tank experiment results was made under the pretext of an inspection.
Only a handful of people knew the truth.
So in the reception room, there were only five bigwigs including Elder Xie, plus Li Ziyin and Xie Rongyu.
Li Ziyin nodded.
Xie Rongyu stepped forward and opened the Space Button for the bigwigs, taking out what was inside.
Dozens of fist-sized energy stones, an unopened interstellar household robot, a stack of documents about the interstellar world.
And design blueprints and instruction manuals for all sorts of things.
The bigwigs looked composed on the surface, but their hands were trembling at the sight of these items.
For modern society, even thoroughly understanding a little of what the interstellar era had to offer meant a leap of decades of progress.
This young lady had taken things that struck right at the spine of the era.
It seemed she’d planned the whole “hand everything over to the state” thing long ago.
Even Xie Rongyu couldn’t help glancing at Li Ziyin.
Li Ziyin had been watching his hands the whole time, and when his gaze came over, hers naturally landed on his face.
A handsome, refined young nobleman—who wouldn’t love that?
Once the bigwigs had the items, they began asking Li Ziyin about the worlds she’d transmigrated through.
Li Ziyin had gone to those worlds with a purely task-oriented mindset.
Either assisting the male and female leads, or saving the villain, or repairing damaged worldlines.
She’d kept things clear-headed, never mixing in any feelings.
So talking about it was no burden at all.
But to avoid being sliced up for research, she deliberately left out the Cultivation world.
Mm.
She had cultivated immortality—that temptation was too great.
Even if they didn’t slice her up, what if the bigwigs all went off to cultivate and had no time to govern the country?
Later, she’d just copy out a few martial arts manuals from memory for them to strengthen their bodies and, incidentally, cultivate talent.
Still, she knew what the bigwigs wanted to hear, so as she described the other worlds, she skipped the little romances and made the cultures and landscapes vivid and fascinating.
The bigwigs listened, utterly entranced.
By the time she finished, Li Ziyin had drunk three pots of tea.
The First Chief personally poured her another cup.
“Comrade Xiao Yin, what made you think of handing everything over to the state?”
Flattered by the honor, Li Ziyin hurriedly rose to receive it.
But wait—if she was handing it over, why would there be conditions?
Li Ziyin tilted her head, looking thoughtful. “Probably because… socialism is great?”
The officials had asked questions now and then while she was “telling her story,” and had gotten somewhat familiar with her, so the atmosphere was no longer so solemn.
Now they all burst out laughing.
One of the officials said, “This kid—honest to a fault.”
“Have a seat,” the top official said. “In that case, the state won’t stand on ceremony.”
It seemed they now believed her completely.
Li Ziyin slowly let out a breath of relief.
The top official looked at Elder Xie. “The fewer people who know about this, the better. Since Elder Xie is still hale and hearty, you’ll take charge of it.”
Elder Xie rose and gave a crisp salute. “Task guaranteed.”
The second official nodded. “Comrade Xiao Yin, have you been staying at a hotel these past few days?”
Li Ziyin admitted it frankly.
Even civil servants undergo background checks—the state had naturally investigated her thoroughly long before inviting her here.
The little affairs of her family could not escape these bigwigs.
What Li Ziyin didn’t know was that all the medical data from her two years of hospitalization had long since been packed up and taken away.
All backup copies had been destroyed.
The doctors and nurses had all been silenced.
And the place she’d been staying these past few days had been searched clean, top to bottom.
The second official said gently, “Hotels are full of all sorts of people—it would be far too easy for someone to disturb you. Why not let us arrange a place for you to stay for now, and move to the dedicated base once it’s built?”
Now they were getting to benefits and perks.
But the second official’s suggestion was also genuinely considerate of Li Ziyin.
The matter of Li Ziyin cheating Li Zihan out of ten million—even Huo Yu knew about it. People coming to make trouble would show up soon enough.
Not to mention, she was still being paid to carry the can for the top-tier male celebrity’s scandal.
Li Ziyin nodded indifferently.
The fourth elder brought over a stack of documents and handed them to Li Ziyin.
It was the benefits catalog, along with a confidentiality agreement.
Li Ziyin glanced over it, saw nothing about slice research, and signed without so much as a blink.
The bigwigs nodded in satisfaction.
Xie Rongyu sat beside her, watching her movements. He wanted to say something, but Elder Xie shot him a glare.
He pressed his lips together and, in the end, said nothing.
Once Li Ziyin finished signing, Elder Xie handed over two property deeds and a set of keys. “This is a place for you to settle in for now. If you don’t like it, you can switch. All protective measures are in place.”
Li Ziyin didn’t think much of it. “Okay.”
The bigwigs were all smiling.
Li Ziyin kept feeling that something was off.
…
It was only when Li Ziyin was taken to a villa, and then watched Xie Rongyu walk in with her showing no intention of leaving, that she finally realized what was off.
Her lips twitched. “You live here too?”
Xie Rongyu had a pair of phoenix eyes, his pupils like translucent jade—beautiful beyond measure.
He lowered his head slightly and met her gaze, calm and gentle. “I’m also one of the protective measures.”
Li Ziyin: “…”
Li Ziyin: “…”
Li Ziyin had never imagined the bigwigs would turn seduction into an open scheme.
And deliver him straight to her room.
Xie Rongyu appeared to accept this fate with perfect calm and asked her, “What would you like to eat?”
At noon, Li Ziyin had had the honor of dining with the bigwigs, but facing them, she’d barely managed a few bites.
Xie Rongyu had noticed.
Li Ziyin stared at him steadily but didn’t answer. “When I was signing the contract—what did you want to say?”
She didn’t remember the contract mentioning anything about him, but she was well aware of the verbal sparring between Xie Rongyu and Elder Xie at the time.