Chapter 38: Everyone is Zhou Huai'an

  Yi Tianxing felt like a monster when he was in the county town. His encounter with Gu Lao Taiye slightly alleviated his self-abasement, but his unease remained. It wasn't until today, at the Huiyuan Temple in the provincial city, that he truly understood what it meant to be a cultivator of the Mystic Path. He realized he was neither non-human nor particularly special. With this knot untied, when he looked at ordinary people again, he no longer felt the need to avoid them as before. Instead, he had a sense of looking down on them from within.

  He walked to the end of the conference table without hesitation, sat down in the large leather chair, slightly furrowed his brow, and found that it was not much more comfortable than the rattan chair in his small black room. He swept a glance at the crowd following him, saw that everyone's faces were different, and couldn't help but laugh secretly in his heart, with a lazy smile floating on his face, he said softly: "Everyone, please sit down."

  Everyone looked at each other in dismay, seemingly unsure of how to react for a moment.

  Yuan Ye, who was just about to serve tea to Yi Tian Xing, suddenly sensed that the atmosphere in the conference room was off and coldly said: "The young master told you to sit down, why are you still standing? Are your two legs not tired?"

  Yuan Ye and Yi Tianxing had met several times, in front of Yi Tianxing, he was always the humble and courteous servant, but at this time, his cold words scared everyone to scramble for their seats.

  Yi Tianxing looked at this person with great interest, thinking that this was indeed Yuan Ye's proper job. This person had a loyal and honest face, but was also strict in governing his subordinates. He was truly a rare talent - the Gu family's business should be safe under his management. Thinking of this, he became even more puzzled as to why Old Master Gu had dragged him into this muddy water.

  He held the tea brought by Xiao Zhen, blew off the floating fragrance on the water, and took a light sip. In fact, in his county town, there was no extra money to drink tea, nor could he have such an elegant hobby, but at this moment, with a different identity, he unconsciously put on airs and performed similarly.

  While drinking tea, Yuan Ye had clearly explained his identity and instructed the people below him on what to do. In short, all of this was nonsense to Yi Tian Xing, so he didn't listen carefully, but only found that when the people in the room heard that the business in Sheng City would be handled by themselves from now on, they were all shocked and some even showed a displeased expression.

  Yi Tian Xing smiled slightly, knowing he couldn't please everyone - no matter, he never intended to please everyone anyway, this was just a game after all. He lightly tapped his fingers on the bright and smooth red wood desk surface, beginning his "inaugural speech".

  "Don't stare at me, and don't hum. My name is Yi Tianxing." He looked around the room slowly and said: "And don't hate me, this task wasn't something I wanted to do myself. Of course, this has nothing to do with you all, and your objective judgment won't be affected by my subjective wishes. I just want to know what your objective judgments are? Who...you, come on, tell me, what's your take on me coming to the provincial capital as the chief?" He pointed at the person who had glared at Xiao earlier at the door.

  The man was stunned for a moment, and after half a day, he trembled and stood up straight, bowing his head and saying, "No objection."

  "Today is my first meeting with all of you, so I want to have an open and honest talk. This conversation, of course, needs to be had. You say you don't have any opinions? Is it possible that in a company this big, you don't have any ideas at all? That's clearly just an excuse." Yi Tianxing smiled as he looked at him, causing his facial muscles to twitch. "No opinions? That means your opinions are too grand."

  Yuan Ye sat on the secretary's seat beside him, listening to Yi Tianxing's words, and frowned. He was loyal to the Gu family, but he felt that this third young master had too much edge, which would be very detrimental to his future in power. Just as he wanted to mediate, he was stopped by Yi Tianxing's gaze with deep meaning.

  Peng Fei Gong Mao was never just a simple company. Those who have a seat in this conference room are actually influential figures on the streets of the provincial capital, each with their own power base, but they were always suppressed by the old master and didn't dare to rebel. However, since the old master retired to the county town, not only did several opposing forces in the province begin to stir, but also some people within the company started to have different thoughts. Fortunately, Yuan Ye's surroundings were well-maintained, and his prestige was high, so nothing happened. Unexpectedly, today this new third young master seems to want to give himself a show of power, and many people's faces began to reveal their discontent.

  Yi Tianxing gently rested his chin on the palm of his hand, leaning against the red sandalwood table, and slowly swept a glance at the crowd in the room. His vision had long since opened up, and his state of mind could no longer return to its former state. The Kaiyuan Temple, the Heavenly Cloak, and the mysterious voice in the mountains behind the temple that was only heard but not seen - the enigmatic Upper Three Heavens - there were too many things that attracted him, and secretly made him fearful, making it impossible for him to put too much thought into the old master's entrustment. But Yi Tianxing was a man who valued his promises above all else, and since he had been deceived by the old fox in the county town, he would definitely see this matter through to the end.

  He said calmly, "I know that some people see my youth and think I'm inexperienced, so they think this and that. And then there are those who have followed Uncle Yuan for many years, thinking that the old master would take care of them in their old age, but Gu Daren wouldn't come, and Gu Er wasn't capable... they thought that being in charge of this province's affairs should be his." Just as Yuan Ye was listening intently to him, he jumped up in surprise, hastily trying to say something to defend himself, but Yi Tianxing waved his hand to stop him, continuing, "I don't care what you think. You are all people with status and reputation in this province, and it's probably not easy for you to accept being managed by a young kid like me. From now on, you can continue playing your roles, and I'll play mine."

  Yuan Ye immediately cried out in alarm and thought to himself: "What's going on here?" He hastily said: "Young Master, your words are too severe."

  "Don't panic, I haven't finished yet." Yi Tianxing smiled and changed the subject: "Everyone needs to remember that although everyone works hard, the legal representatives of these companies are still surnamed Gu for now. Now that I've been called by Old Master to sit in the office, I don't want to interfere too much, at most I'm just a vault keeper. As long as everyone plays fairly, I don't care, but if anyone makes the gold in the vault disappear by two or three bars..." He swept his gaze across the people in the room, "Don't blame me for not being able to take care of you all."

  Below, a group of "Mountain Kings" listened to him finish speaking and felt much more at ease, thinking that this young master seemed to be just a greedy and playful ancestor, and it wouldn't be difficult to deal with him. They chimed in, saying: "Young Master, what are you talking about? For your sake, we would of course go through fire and water, and dare not have any second thoughts!" Although they spoke nicely, after all, they weren't regular soldiers, so when the group of hoodlums relaxed their guard, their posture also loosened up. Some people started picking their ears, some started scratching their feet, and some began making plans for entertainment after dinner, causing Yuan Ye to constantly glare at one person, then another, just as things were about to get out of hand. At this moment, he heard Yi Tianxing whispering to him: "Bring over all the account books from the company."

  Before saying this sentence, Yi Tianxing had just taken a sip of tea and felt it was a bit bitter, so he frowned.

  Just as everyone was about to relax, they saw him frowning and heard his instructions, their hearts that had just calmed down were hanging again, swaying up and down between the stomach and throat.

  Yi Tianxing couldn't help but raise an eyebrow and said to the crowd, "Don't think I'm suspicious of you all doing something behind my back, it's just a formality. Isn't it said that when a new official takes office for the first time, the first thing they do is go to the treasury to take a look?" He then burst out laughing.

  The crowd was slightly tense, but after hearing him say that, they thought about it and realized that with dozens of thick account books, what could a young man possibly discern from flipping through them casually? They put their minds at ease and followed his lead in laughing. The group of thugs, who were originally preparing to dig into their ears, instead awkwardly patted the top of their heads and slapped their thighs to add to the laughter. Those in front, who were still talking about washing feet, suddenly changed their tune to "Young Master is really humorous".

  At this time, everyone was laughing extra loudly to show that they had no evil intentions in their hearts and to cater to the young man's interest. Their laughter was bold and unrestrained, with a heroic spirit that seemed to swallow mountains and rivers, and a vast and expansive atmosphere that seemed to stretch across the sky... This made Yi Tianxing feel as if he had suddenly arrived at the Longmen Inn outside the Great Wall, where he was embracing Jin Guangyu and drinking with dozens of identical Zhou Huan and Zhou Daxia.

  He let out a soft sigh and put down the teacup in his hand, thinking: "It turns out that the plot of the underworld doesn't have much technical content."