Xie Yunnian could recite Qiu Nan’s personal file from memory, yet he still politely asked for his home address.
He constantly reminded himself not to back Qiu Nan into a corner.
Even a cornered rabbit would bite, let alone this sharp-toothed little puppy whose bite actually stung quite a bit.
With a relaxed composure, Xie Yunnian drove onto the main road and brought up business.
“Captain Qiu, as the newly appointed director, I’m not entirely familiar with the situation here in the Nandong district. Your field team works on the front lines; it’s hard, dangerous work. I’m planning to distribute regular monthly benefits to everyone. What do you think would be good to give them?”
“Benefits?” Qiu Nan scratched his head. He hadn’t expected the “benefits” the director mentioned earlier to be just that—plain, literal perks.
He pondered for a good while before shaking his head.
The Bureau of Monster Control was a cash-strapped public office. During the dog days of summer, if Old Lan bought everyone a popsicle after a mission, it was already considered a massive perk.
“What do you think about suppressants and scent-blockers?” Seeing that Qiu Nan was short on ideas, Xie Yunnian brought up the suggestion he had settled on long ago. “I chatted with Captain Wu from Squad Three yesterday, and he thought it sounded reasonable.”
Qiu Nan froze.
Scent-blockers? Suppressants? Holy hell!
Could this be.
Qiu Nan couldn’t help but gasp inwardly, forcing himself to wrench such unrealistic, self-centered thoughts out of his mind.
Professionally speaking, when the director asked a question, he should judge it objectively on its merits.
But personally speaking—let’s be honest—he wanted them! Badly!
After an agonizing internal struggle, he ultimately couldn’t bring himself to utter any hypocritical flattery.
“It might not be very practical, right? The field teams are entirely made up of Alphas, and they aren’t affected by monsters anyway.” Except for himself, of course.
“They can give them to their families,” Xie Yunnian said, his eyes crinkling into a smile, looking entirely unfazed by the objection.
As expected of the Omega he had his eye on—so perfectly capable of separating public duty from private matters!
“But a lot of our colleagues are single and don’t have families.”
“Then they can swap them out for something else. Dealer’s choice.”
Qiu Nan countered, “Then why not just distribute those other things directly from the start?”
Xie Yunnian let out a soft “tsk” and knit his brows, falling into deep thought.
The car maneuvered through the dense traffic. Its soundproofing was excellent, rendering the interior incredibly quiet.
Qiu Nan’s heart gradually leaped into his throat, thumping erratically. He held his breath slightly and stared blankly at the license plate of the car ahead.
After a long pause, Xie Yunnian spoke up. “I have a friend whose conglomerate is having trouble moving their stock of scent-blockers and suppressants. He said he could supply them to us at a steep discount.”
Thump. Qiu Nan felt his heart drop back into his stomach.
So that was it. And here he was thinking.
Qiu Nan flushed slightly with embarrassment.
Xie Yunnian spun the steering wheel to turn down a side street, asking with a smile, “Captain Qiu, based on your experience, how many of each injection per month would be ideal?”
“In my case, I use them pretty frequently. I need about ten to fifteen suppressants a month, and one scent-blocker a day. The others shouldn’t need nearly as much; they probably wouldn’t even use half of that.”
“Alright, let’s go by your standard then: fifteen suppressants and thirty scent-blockers.” Xie Yunnian cast a glance at him, completely ignoring the second half of his sentence. “I’m a generous man by nature.”
Qiu Nan was practically stunned by his boss’s wealthy-tycoon extravagance. He offered a tactful reminder, “Um, Director, the scent-blockers are fine, but suppressants are a bit pricey.”
In particular, universal suppressants meant for both Alphas and Omegas cost nearly double the Omega-specific ones he usually bought. Since the director only said “suppressants,” he undoubtedly meant the universal type.
The sheer volume of benefits Xie Yunnian was proposing was worth nearly half a month’s salary for someone of Qiu Nan’s captain rank, let alone the ordinary team members.
These were true, unadulterated benefits.
But who on earth handed out perks that rivaled an actual paycheck?
“It doesn’t matter,” Xie Yunnian said in a breezy tone. “Essential expenses. I can get the funding approved.”
Well, of course he could!
Word on the street was that when the Headquarters made an exception to hire Xie Yunnian, one of the stipulations was that the Xie Group would inject millions in research grants into the monster containment sector every year.
So, what if Director Xie wanted to requisition a few perks for his new subordinates as a welcoming gift?
Because of how intensely he had been put through the wringer the night before, Qiu Nan was utterly exhausted. The moment he arrived home, he washed up briefly, and his head had barely touched the pillow before he drifted off to sleep.
When he woke up, it was already evening.
Feeling that the air inside was a bit stuffy, Qiu Nan opened the window and caught sight of a vast expanse of crimson clouds painted across the horizon.
On the distant edge of the city, the setting sun was slowly sinking between the high-rises. The sky was dyed a brilliant orange-red before gradually fading, until the entire world dissolved into a soft, dusky grey. Only then did the streetlights flicker on, one by one.
Qiu Nan loved watching the sunset from here. Although the apartment building was old, this window offered an unobstructed view, always capturing the best scenery.
During the time it took for the sun to set, he thought over a great many things.
Conclusion one: Director Xie was a pretty good leader who genuinely cared for his subordinates, despite the slight misunderstanding between them.
Conclusion two: He didn’t need to apply for a transfer for the time being. Doing so would only make him look incredibly petty and small-minded.
Conclusion three: Immediately, right now, as fast as possible, he needed to get this temporary mark washed off. Otherwise, it would always feel incredibly awkward whenever he interacted with Director Xie.
He unlocked his phone to check his bank account balance. It still looked fairly substantial, but then.
He suddenly remembered the massive debt he had incurred today.
When Xie Yunnian paid Pig-Face, he had done so without Qiu Nan’s consent; it was a personal action. However, Qiu Nan felt that the money had been spent to smooth things over on his behalf. It made no sense to let the director foot the bill.
With that factored in, his savings didn’t look so substantial anymore.
Qiu Nan sat on the sofa, brooding over it for a long time before letting out a heavy sigh.
Next weekend was the end of the month, which meant it was time to visit the orphanage.
Aside from the fee to wash off the mark, he also needed to restock his suppressants and scent-blockers. Even though the director said they would be getting benefits, the process of applying for funds, procurement, and eventual distribution took time. Who knew how long that would take?
Besides, he still needed to feed himself! He couldn’t keep freeloading meals off Mi Zhu forever. Mi Zhu wouldn’t mind, but he certainly would!
The more Qiu Nan calculated, the more his head throbbed. Leaning back against the sofa cushions, he stared listlessly up at the occasional star piercing through the dark canopy of the night sky, suddenly feeling a wave of despondency.
Should he tell the director tomorrow that he’d have to owe him the money for a while?
Director Xie didn’t lack cash, but Qiu Nan found the prospect deeply embarrassing to bring up.
Checking the time, it was already past eight o’clock. The Bureau had closed long ago, and it wouldn’t be right to disturb Director Xie now. Qiu Nan decided to sleep on it and make a decision tomorrow.
Because he had slept too much during the day and had a mountain of worries weighing on his mind, Qiu Nan didn’t sleep well at all that night.
The next day when he arrived at work, the Bureau staff witnessed Captain Qiu—who had played hooky the entire previous day—sporting two dark circles under his eyes as he dragged his listless feet toward the director’s office on basement sector B1.
Just before he reached the door, Chen Minhan from the monitoring hall stood up and made a slashing motion across his throat: You’re dead meat. Old Lan filed a massive complaint against you yesterday!
Annoyed, Qiu Nan flipped him off in return. Screw off!
Xie Yunnian, who happened to open the door to step out at that exact moment, caught this scene clear as day. His eyelids twitched violently. To make matters worse, Qiu Nan, with his back turned to the director, raised his other middle finger at the still-taunting Chen Minhan: DOUBLE KILL!
The moment Chen Minhan spotted the director, he showed zero loyalty, instantly diving back into his cubicle and vanishing from sight.
Heh, scared now, aren’t you?
Qiu Nan let out a smug, disdainful smirk. But when he turned around and found Xie Yunnian standing right behind him, his soul nearly leaped right out of his scalp.
Xie Yunnian’s mouth twitched. He forcefully swallowed the reprimand that had risen to his throat and stepped aside to let him in.
Flushed with mortification, Qiu Nan walked past Xie Yunnian, feeling as though his entire world were collapsing.
Was this the legendary Mercury retrograde?
Why did he lose his composure every single time he ran into the director?
Qiu Nan, where is your image as a sharp, capable captain?
His miserable expression left Xie Yunnian both amused and helpless. Any desire to scold him vanished completely. He simply feigned ignorance, pointing toward the sofa to indicate that he should sit.
“Did you get enough rest?”
“Yes, Director. Thank you for yesterday.”
Xie Yunnian waved off the thanks. “Is there something you need to see me about?”
“Yes.” Qiu Nan instinctively gripped the hem of his shirt.
Xie Yunnian didn’t miss this subtle gesture. He leaned forward slightly, resting his clasped hands on the desk, and carefully scrutinized the captain’s expression.
It looked as though he had something incredibly difficult to voice.
“Just speak your mind,” Xie Yunnian said, offering an approachable smile as he teased with a blend of half-truths. “I like to think that the relationship between us doesn’t require this much formality.”
Qiu Nan gripped his hem even tighter.
What does he mean, ‘the relationship between us’?
Nope. It looks like getting this permanent mark washed off is an absolute priority!
He and the director only needed one kind of relationship, and that was a pure, strictly professional one between a superior and a subordinate. Of course, the director’s kindness in helping him keep his Omega identity a secret was a separate matter!
In a sudden rush of blood to his head, the thoughts weighing on his mind slipped right out of his mouth. “Director, I’m planning to go to the hospital this weekend to get the mark washed off, but I’m a bit strapped for cash at the moment.
Would it be alright if I paid you back the one hundred thousand yuan you advanced for me yesterday after a little while?”
Xie Yunnian stared at him for a few seconds, the corners of his mouth slowly curling upward.
Qiu Nan couldn’t help but smile along.
Director Xie really is a wonderful person! As expected, he isn’t going to refuse a small request like this!
Xie Yunnian smiled warmly and amiably. “No, you can’t.”
Qiu Nan froze. “???”
Xie Yunnian pulled out his phone, pulled up his QR payment code, and thrust it right in front of Qiu Nan’s face. Smiling pleasantly, he looked at him and said, “Pay it back right now. Scan this.”