The Card Apprentice

“Yes indeed, I do think Heaven’s Wings is the best.”

“For sure. My daughter bought a volume of Heaven’s Wings’ educational materials, which looked very legit to me.”

The subordinates were all talking at once, and without exception, they all pointed to Heaven’s Wings.

“Heaven’s Wings. Why have I not heard of that name?” Qian Mingyi asked a little doubtfully.

“Oh boy, what a lousy memory I have. I’ve got the educational materials right here in my bag. My daughter forgot to take it when she went out, and she wanted me to bring them to her!” The subordinate slapped his forehead.

Qian Mingyi raised his eyebrows. “So, go and get them.”

When the fantasy card educational materials were delivered into Qian Mingyi’s hands, he immediately stuck the card into the projection apparatus.

A boundless universe full of stars, so vast and deep!

The meeting room suddenly went silent. Everyone was wide-eyed and shocked.

After fully half a minute, the room erupted.

“I’d say that to sell such expensive educational materials and to get so many people to buy them, it would have to be pretty good stuff!”

“Heaven’s Wings is awesome! At that level, I’d think they would be considered premium goods even if they were shown in the Five Flourishing Districts!”

“Extraordinary. Truly extraordinary…”

Qian Mingyi looked just as stunned. He had never seen such striking illusions either. Disregarding the subordinates’ heated discussion, he made a quick decision. “Mmmm, so that’s Heaven’s Wings. Get a group together to find the boss of Heaven’s Wings and get him over here, or their general manager will do. I’ll give you two hours. Hurry.”

They all stopped their discussion and looked at one another. Two hours? Is the boss nuts? How could two hours be enough time to find a person in Pomelo, not to mention the boss of Heaven’s Wings?

Qian Mingyi wasn’t giving them any opportunity to bargain as he continued on, “A different group of you, go out to all of the communications platforms. We want all the prime-time advertising rights. If they’re sold out, buy them from that person’s hands regardless of the cost. Do you understand?”

The last phrase was said peremptorily, and everyone was immediately chilled. They all knew the boss was determined. It seemed all the various speculation about the firm from outside wasn’t such empty talk, after all!

After a brief division of labor, everyone in the meeting room, apart from Qian Mingyi, got to work.

* * *

Chen Mu and Wei-ah were still relaxing with Lu Xiaoru’s pine nut tea. Lu Xiaoru’s tasteful life was really not bad. The handicrafts satisfied Wei-ah. That also put Lu Xiaoru’s mind at ease. She could see that while Chen Mu was the leader among the two, that grim man wasn’t all that offensive.

Lu Xiaoru took a lot of trouble to please them, which improved Chen Mu’s and Wei-ah’s quality of life abruptly.

While the two of them were getting comfortable, they had no idea there was someone madly looking for them at the same time. Perhaps even if they had known, they wouldn’t have cared.

The one they found was Bu Qiangdong. Given the power of the Central Island Firm, it was pretty easy to find anyone in Pomelo who had a name and a surname.

When Bu Qiangdong was brought in front of Qian Mingyi, he was nearly scared to death. A name is like the shadow of a tree, and in the hearts and minds of the locals of Pomelo, this one was just a synonym for unreachable heights. Compared to that, his former employer—the Lewin family—was only a little brother in front of the Central Island Firm. Bu Qiangdong was the general manager of Heaven’s Wings, and when they hadn’t been able to find Chen Mu, they had asked him to come.

“How are you? Please take a seat. I am Qian Mingyi.” Qian Mingyi very mildly introduced himself.

Qian Mingyi? Who is that? Bu Qiangdong was rummaging through his brain and couldn’t think of it for a little while, though the name seemed quite familiar. As he was just about to sit with a look of puzzlement, his expression suddenly changed, and his legs nearly started to tremble. My god, Qian Mingyi. It’s actually Qian Mingyi! He finally realized who he was. Among the big names in Pomelo, those in the Central Island Firm were the absolute powerhouses.

For a long time, people had been calling him Uncle Qian out of respect. There were very few who called him by his name.

Bu Qiangdong was really spooked as he hurried to stand, his face heaped with flattery. “How could such a junior stay seated in front of Uncle Qian?”

Qian Mingyi grinned. “Sit. Don’t be polite. I just happen to have something I want you to help me with.”

Bu Qiangdong hurried to say, “Please don’t hesitate to instruct me about your business, Uncle Qian!” He was very pleased. How many people in Pomelo would have Uncle Qian say anything to them about helping out? He had never before considered he would sit in front of such a powerful person as Uncle Qian someday and that he would be the one getting asked for help.

But Bu Qiangdong was quite clear in his mind that although Uncle Qian had spoken very politely, it was nothing more than politeness. It would have been pretty stupid if he had gotten carried away because of that. He was pleased in his heart while his expression remained respectful.

“Heaven’s Wings has been in the limelight lately,” Uncle Qian said knowingly. He was well qualified to speak like that, so Bu Qiangdong wasn’t about to challenge him when he heard it.

Bu Qiangdong leaned slightly forward. “Yes.” He kept his expression of respect even while his thoughts had flown off somewhere else. He suddenly thought about the boss’s first day. Who would have thought such a skinny youth would so quickly fill everyone with awe, including him? Still more inconceivable was that after Heaven’s Wings changed hands, it had actually progressed and developed rapidly.

And he was qualified in the end to sit in front of such a huge name as Uncle Qian.

Without any exaggeration, that was completely due to their powerful boss. If it weren’t for him, Heaven’s Wings would probably be as moribund as it had been before. If it were Bu Qiangdong’s choice, even if he were to have double his current income, he still wouldn’t want to go back to where he was. The current Heaven’s Wings and their current selves had all undergone some essential transformation without them even knowing it.

They had discovered their own worth, which was also a credit to the boss, or at least that was how Bu Qiangdong felt. When he thought about it, the number of times the boss had talked to them could be counted on the fingers of one hand, and most of that was just executive orders. But it was just such a taciturn boss who could get them to take the initiative without even knowing it and to follow in his footsteps.

Uncle Qian said with feeling, “I’ve looked at the fantasy card educational materials you’ve made. They are first-class.” Once he said that, Bu Qiangdong filled with pride. The sales performance of that set of educational materials had stayed hot, and he could predict the situation would continue for quite a while. Such results had never been seen before in Pomelo. They had created some kind of minor miracle.

To get praise from such a person as Uncle Qian wasn’t any trivial matter.

“I have a very important bill of particulars in my hand just now. But time is rather short, and I’m hoping it can be completed within two days. I’m also hoping the boss of your honorable company can do the work himself. As for the compensation, you may set the rate.” After Uncle Qian finished stating his goals, he looked on calmly, having spoken in an understated manner. That managed to put a lot of pressure on Bu Qiangdong, however.

Bu Qiangdong was rather excited to be able to take an order from the Central Island Firm. That would be a big boost for Heaven’s Wings without a doubt. But the demands couldn’t be agreed to lightly. They wanted it to be completed within two days, and moreover, they wanted the boss to be personally involved. That wasn’t something he could decide.

Bu Qiangdong pondered a bit while maintaining his respectful expression. “Of course it won’t be a problem to do as you request. But, since it involves the boss, I can’t make decisions for him as his subordinate. Could I connect with our boss?”

Uncle Qian smiled and said casually, “Of course.” He made a sign for Bu Qiangdong to contact Chen Mu right away.

Bu Qiangdong was a little surprised, not having thought his counterpart would be quite so urgent. It looked to be something of an emergency. His brain immediately calmed. While it was true big firms like that were generous with their spending, if something wasn’t done right, the consequences could be severe.

Bu Qiangdong settled himself as he activated his communications card.

Lu Xiaoru’s house was quite comfortable inside. It was as mild as spring with a thick wool carpet on the floor, which was very soft to the step. The chairs and sofas were so plush that when you sat on them, you would almost sink into them. Chen Mu and Wei-ah didn’t know what to make of such plush sofas; the two of them just sat on the carpet, from where they could react quickly if something were to happen.

Chen Mu was in the process of studying Lu Xiaoru’s card, about which he had always been curious. How could he resist satisfying his curiosity now that he could relax?

While he was carefully studying the card’s composition, Chen Mu finally realized why he had never been able to see how Lu Xiaoru attacked.

It was a sonic wave card, which could generate an energy body that was a kind of structured sound. It could send out extremely lethal percussive attacks. Those percussive waves weren’t spread out; they were compressed within a small area to form a kind of high-pressure sonic cannon.

The sonic cannon had shocking power. Once it hit an energy cloak, it would cause high-frequency vibrations in it. The card artisan inside the energy cloak would have no way to be spared. The sounds could pass through the air, and the card artisan would fall into a strange semi-comatose state. That was why he had seen those card artisans suddenly lose any ability to resist that day.

It was an alternative kind of card, which Chen Mu had never seen before. That surge of insight really piqued his interest.

He found out from Lu Xiaoru that the card was called the Sound Beam. It was taken from the body of a dead card artisan in a battle once. But because she didn’t really know how to use it, she could only use a few simple attack styles.

Chen Mu was always interested in knowledge about new kinds of cards. His horizons were many times more expanded than before. Using the Token Theory as his core, he could always find some pattern in any seemingly chaotic compositions.

Suddenly, the apparatus on his wrist sounded. It was Bu Qiangdong. His face appeared on the screen that popped out when Chen Mu took the call.

Chen Mu was a little astonished about why Bu Qiangdong would look for him at that time. It was the weekend, and Bu Qiangdong would absolutely never bother him on the weekend unless it was something important.

“What is it?” he asked directly.

Bu Qiangdong took a glance out of the corner of his eye at Qian Mingyi relaxing not far away with a cup of tea. He had distanced himself so his counterpart wouldn’t overhear him.

“Boss, the Central Island Firm came looking for me today.”

“The Central Island Firm?” Chen Mu was taken aback. Hadn’t the instigator of that huge battle been the Central Island Firm? Weren’t they the ones who were so interested in the communications array and the thousand kilometer card in his hands? He’d already put them on his blacklist. If he hadn’t had such good luck, the one to have been outplayed that time would have been him. He couldn’t believe such a large gang of card artisans from the Central Island Firm would want to resolve the issue in such a peaceful fashion.

Could they have discovered something else?

Chen Mu’s gaze became abruptly sharper. Bu Qiangdong on the other end was quite taken aback, being awe-struck by Chen Mu himself. He had never seen such a frightening look in the boss’s eyes, which scared him.

“Do you have some kind of close connection with the Central Island Firm?” Bu Qiangdong cautiously asked.

Without answering, Chen Mu asked, “Why did they come looking for you?”

Chen Mu’s gaze was tangibly oppressive. Bu Qiangdong could feel his scalp tingle wondering if the Central Island Firm and the boss really did have relations. But then he hardened his resolve and said, “They want to make a fantasy card advertisement, but they want it rather urgently—within two days. And they hope you can work on it yourself.”

“Fantasy card advertisement?” Chen Mu felt relieved. He hadn’t expected that.

He immediately asked, “How much?” He didn’t have much spare cash with everything having been put into the card making lab. If the remuneration was good, he would actually consider it. He knew from Lu Xiaoru that the Central Island Firm didn’t yet know he was their target. As far as the signal balls were concerned, so long as the communications array and the thousand kilometer card weren’t activated, his adversary wouldn’t have any way to detect them.

Hearing that, Bu Qiangdong was relieved. He hurried to say, “The money shouldn’t be any problem. At least over 5 million. Our counterpart is rather urgent, and if we wanted to raise the price a little, they probably wouldn’t care. Time is tight, and it has to be completed within two days.” He hesitated a little and then continued on, “Their requirements might be a little high.”

Five million! That price immediately got Chen Mu excited. Penniless as he was just then, he urgently needed a plug of cash. Even though he was born so poor, he still understood that if he didn’t have any money, then he couldn’t go anywhere and couldn’t do anything. He had simply never held out any hope to get the kind of compensation Lu Xiaoru had spoken of.

“Ok, you go discuss the cost, and detail their requirements.” Once he’d decided, Chen Mu didn’t have the slightest hesitation.