Chapter 456: Morning Routines and Unspoken Battles

The next day, when Lu Xin woke up, he felt as if he hadn’t slept enough, weighed down by fatigue.

Perhaps when one finally relaxes, an unfamiliar weariness suddenly hits. He longed to lie in bed a bit longer, but his eyes instinctively darted to the chubby-faced robot cat’s little alarm clock—and he was instantly startled, sitting up in a hurry.

He’d always gotten up promptly at seven sharp!

Today, it was already seven-fifteen!

How embarrassing! Has he really fallen so far?

As Lu Xin got up, got dressed, and washed up, he scolded himself while trying to find excuses.

Maybe he’d simply been too tired lately, so he slept in a bit longer.

Or perhaps he had come home rather late last night and didn’t rest on time.

The best part was the feeling after breakfast—his family gathered on the sofa, squabbling over the remote control while watching TV. It really was quite nice.

…

…

“My dear sister, you finally remembered to call me?”

“Don’t say that; no matter what, you’re still my sister. How could I hold it against you?”

“Oh dear, don’t even mention it—it’s not fun at all…”

Mom was already leaning by the window, laughing happily on the phone. “And that club owner is really fierce…”

“Of course I wouldn’t tell him anything. We all try to be reasonable, right?”

“But you know our kid has a bad temper, so he just tore that dump apart…”

“…”

While brushing his teeth, Lu Xin listened intently, feeling a twinge of oddity.

Since when did Mom suddenly have another sister?

Hearing her mention the kid’s temper again, he immediately understood, “Ah, she must be talking about Sister.”

Sister was utterly unbothered by criticism; all that could be heard were repeated screams echoing from the ceiling loft.

She was at it again, tormenting that Screaming Chicken…

“Bang, bang, bang, bang…”

From the kitchen came the sound of a big knife chopping bones—Father was experimenting with his cooking again.

Even though the dining table only held some congee and youtiao, he chopped and stewed things every day. What was the use?

But it was clear that the family’s living conditions had improved.

Besides premium breakfast items like congee and youtiao, there was even a plate of shredded pickles to go with the meal.

One’s pursuit of desire really has no end…

A satisfied smile spread across Lu Xin’s face.

Lu Xin had always been a homebody, and now everything felt perfect.

Mom, Sister, Father, plus that odd Skinned Dog under the dining table—which lately kept sneaking curious glances at him—and that weird something lurking in the corner of the room, made the family even more complete.

He loved this kind of life.

…

After his family finished breakfast amidst their noisy, harmonious chatter, Lu Xin took the initiative to clear away the dishes and even washed a bowl. But then a wave of uncertainty hit him. Last night he rushed home just to see if his family was waiting for him; now that he was content, it was time to think about work. Only then did he remember that the boss hadn’t assigned him any tasks yesterday.

So he leaned over on the balcony, quietly smoked a cigarette, and then called Chen Jing.

If the boss isn’t giving work, you have to ask for it yourself!

“What’s happened?”

The phone rang twice before Chen Jing answered, her voice tinged with alarm and grogginess.

After a brief pause—as she saw Lu Xin’s caller ID—she exhaled in relief and said, “What’s happened?”

“The boss hasn’t even gotten up yet, has he?”

Lu Xin grumbled internally as he glanced at the wall clock in the living room, “It’s almost eight…”

Of course, he couldn’t say that outright. Smiling, he replied, “Nothing’s wrong. I just hurried back last night and called to check in.”

“Whew…”

Chen Jing breathed a sigh of relief, then in a languid tone said, “I’m still in Happy Town. There’s too much work to handle here. I’ll head back with the main team as soon as I finish up. But don’t worry—you can be sure the danger is over and we’re prepared. Even if the Technology Church makes a move, we’ve got countermeasures in place.”

“Oh, okay…”

Lu Xin agreed, then asked with concern, “So, do you need me to come over and help?”

“Help?”

Chen Jing sighed and laughed, “No need to come. Just rest and get your state in order—trust me, that’s the most important task right now. By the way, after this cleanup mission, have you felt any discomfort? I heard you rushed back to the Second Satellite City last night and didn’t get a thorough check-up. Should I have someone from Headquarters come over for an inspection?”

Lu Xin took a moment, then chuckled, “No, really, I’m fine. I feel great and I’m in high spirits.”

“That’s good.”

Chen Jing exhaled, seemingly about to hang up, but then remembered something and added, “By the way, the evaluation and payment for this mission might be delayed a bit. We can’t deny that Qinggang is incredibly busy right now—especially the Special Cleaning Department and the City Defense Department. Nearly everyone is swamped…”

“Uh…”

A slight blush colored Lu Xin’s face as he hastily responded, “No need to rush, I’m not a money-grubber…”

Chen Jing chuckled lightly, “Of course I know you’re not that sort. No need for explanations. But don’t worry: as soon as I get a chance, I’ll urge them to settle it quickly. As for you—just rest well for a while. If you want to check on the progress, you can go to Headquarters for the materials. If not, just take a few days off and write up your work report properly.”

“By the way…”

Speaking of work reports, another matter came to mind. “When you write your report, there’s one key point.”

Her voice deepened slightly as she said, “During this mission, did you do anything to Doll?”

“Huh?”

Lu Xin immediately tensed up.

Had his slip-up of accidentally sending Doll flying three or four meters been exposed?

What was that even about?

Office brawls among colleagues?

No—in light of the fact that Doll didn’t fight back, it should technically be classified as battery!

But then again, after Doll was flung away, she had jabbed herself with the tip of an umbrella.

So, it should still count as a scuffle.

What if Headquarters finds out? Could there be a fine?

…

Just as he began to panic, Chen Jing’s tone turned grave. “Last night, I heard that after this mission, Doll underwent a significant change. It seems her negative influence might have diminished—perhaps even disappeared.”

“Really?”

Lu Xin was taken aback. He hadn’t expected this.

Chen Jing continued, “We’re still running further tests, but initial observations show that even without contact lenses, Doll can now stare at someone for over three minutes without causing any obvious adverse effects. That uncontrollable negative aura around her has also diminished significantly. Of course, we’ll need definitive test results.”

“Could it be because she learned to reject the influence of Mental Power?”

A fleeting thought crossed Lu Xin’s mind, though he wasn’t entirely sure and didn’t dare to say it out loud.

He simply replied, “That sounds like good news.”

“Of course it is,”

Chen Jing said with a smile, her voice even sounding a little excited. “If Doll has really eliminated her negative influence, it means her stability has improved dramatically. After all, aside from that, she’d always been remarkably even-keeled emotionally. For Doll, this is an enormous step forward—even for our Qinggang…”

At that moment, she paused, suddenly realizing she was about to divulge a secret.

She quickly changed the subject, “That’s why the Special Cleaning Department is particularly interested in Doll’s case.”

“Since Doll can’t write her own work report, your report is especially important.”

“…”

“Okay, I understand—I’ll be sure to document every detail.”

Lu Xin quickly promised, inwardly thinking that he absolutely must not mention the scuffle with Doll…

After all, he knew better than to mention it.

If anyone, Doll herself wouldn’t ever tell.

To be fair, this girl might seem a bit dumb, but she’s not one to badmouth others behind their backs.

…

After hanging up, a slight sense of ease and comfort washed over him once more.

There would undoubtedly be more to handle later, but for now, at least, he could forget about work.

But then again, if he didn’t have to go to work, what exactly should he do now?

Unexpectedly getting a day off left him feeling somewhat at a loss.

Sunlight streamed in as Lu Xin raised his hand to shield his eyes, then nonchalantly flicked away some cigarette ash downstairs.

“Should I go see Teacher Xiao Lu?”

After a moment’s thought, he decided against it.

Right now, he was short on cash and hadn’t received the payments from Central City or this mission yet.

Back when he flipped messages on the Club’s communicator, he managed to legally transfer two million.

The catch was that the money was still in the communicator account, and that account was linked to Chen Jing’s card.

He still had no idea how to explain it to her.

Even if Chen Jing agreed that the money was his personal income, he couldn’t just leave the city to dash over to Happy Town to get her card, could he?

It turned out that all he’d earned recently was just half the payment from his cooperation with Gao Ting’s convoy.

What a pity—it looks like he never got paid.

“Maybe I should go see Han Bing and ask how the house hunting is coming along?”

The moment that thought crossed his mind, Lu Xin shook his head again.

Han Bing, from the Information Analysis Department, was surely busy working overtime for Happy Town. This kind of petty matter wasn’t worth disturbing her.

So Lu Xin seriously pondered what he could do, when suddenly he patted his thigh.

“I even have a job on unpaid leave—I can’t believe I just remembered it now…”

“I’m done for, I’m really falling apart…”

…

With that thought, his spirits suddenly lifted.

He grabbed his bag, pulled out his gun, and checked the bullets.

Only then did he feel relieved.

Light on his feet, he dashed downstairs, hopped onto the Female Officer’s pink electric bike, and zoomed out the door.