Chapter Thirteen: The Subtle Voice

  Fang Manrui hastily returned from the company and, upon seeing Liu Xiyu, said: "Miss Liu, I'm sorry, my husband is busy, whatever you want to say to him, you can say it to me."

  The company is indeed very busy and it's true that they don't want to serve the National Tax Bureau.

  Before Liu Xiyu could respond, she turned her head to Chen Yi and said: "Why didn't you go to class?"

  "I overslept." Chen Yi said with a smile, slowly backing away.

  The conversation between mother and son diluted the official atmosphere.

  Liu Xinyu didn't say anything, but instead calmed down and smiled clearly: "It's just some wrapping-up work. Now that the tax evasion issue has been proven non-existent, we should apologize to you."

  She stood up and bowed her head in apology.

  Fang Manwei hastily spoke some polite words.

  National civil servants are the public vessels of modern society, how can they be made to apologize.

  The distrust caused by internal traitors has been eliminated at least on the surface.

  Chen Yi knew things wouldn't be that simple. He had originally wanted to stay put and lend a helping hand by listening to the scrolls, but judging from his mom's expression, it seemed like the effect was already achieved.

  Then he went back to his room and sent a message to his mother: There is a strange program on the other party's computer, I asked her to shut it down.

  With Mother's intelligence and wisdom, she should have understood some of the situation by now.

  Sitting at his desk, Chen Yi yawned as he took out the Intelligence Scroll and hesitated. After using it for a period of time, he had come to realize that the scroll wasn't just beneficial - it also consumed mental energy, making one feel tired.

  The scroll requires a certain amount of physical endurance, so he can't buy 4th-level scrolls, so he needs to drink energy recovery potions.

  His mother's body is still good, but whether it can withstand the third-level scroll, Chen Yi doesn't know.

  He hesitated for a moment, then took out three bottles of Energy Recovery Potion and drank them all, before tearing open another "Listening Scroll" - this was already the fourth one he had used today.

  A deep red glow flashed across the tiger's mouth, and Chen Yi felt a drowsy feeling, mostly due to excessive consumption of energy. He lay on the bed, listening carefully to the voices below. The third-level Listening Scroll not only allowed him to hear people's inner voices but also faint sounds from afar.

  In this way, if there is a sudden event, he can also decide whether to use the scroll again.

  The extension of hearing is a very interesting experience, where you focus your attention, the sound will enter your ears, the more concentrated your attention is, the more levels of sound you can hear, it's like using your eyes to observe objects at close range.

  In the distant grass thicket, a snake is exercising its waist and legs, making a soft "hiss" sound, constantly searching for tender branches to harm...

  In the dark corner of the backyard, an old stray cat had caught a mouse, its claws making a soft "tap tap" sound, accompanied by the mouse's desperate "squeak squeak" sound, cruelly like an animal version of the abyss...

  Closer, the air conditioner mounted on the outer wall hums rhythmically, with a mixture of fluid and mechanical friction sounds, soft and fragmented, like the sound of a mechanical factory...

  A strange feeling, causing Chen Yi to lose his mind for a long time. Those who cultivate the Tao, what they pursue all their lives, is it also this kind of feeling? A kind of intoxicating, happy, belonging to oneself - voyeuristic psychology?

  "Miss Fang, submitting the branch's accounts will help clear up the suspicions..." Liu Xiyu's tone was soft yet firm, and the content immediately caught Chen Yi's attention.

  Madam Chen immediately declined, "The branch's accounts have not been settled yet." She hesitated for a moment, then firmly said, "If Miss Liu wants to, it's best to have a formal document, so I can convince the shareholders too."

  The company's accounts, always the most important information, especially the detailed account books. Chen Yi listened to their conversation and suddenly thought that Liu Xiyu had come home with ulterior motives, perhaps it was for this reason.

  He thought for a moment and shook his head, the company's accounts had nothing to do with things at home.

  The voices of the two people talking were sometimes distant and sometimes close, with no actual content, all were witty remarks, like accompaniment, Chen Yi listened to it and fell asleep.

  In his dream, he saw his grandfather, the steadfast and idealistic grandfather, sitting in an empty office, being criticized by political enemies.

  In his dream, he saw his father, who had been struggling and fighting hard to rely on himself, sitting in the company's hall, surrounded by sealed documents everywhere.

  In his dream, he saw his elder brother who was sent to a mountain radar station, saw his little sister with tears in her eyes, and saw himself...

  The moment he woke up, Chen Yi immediately turned out the lacquered wooden box and held it tightly in his arms, as if protecting himself and his family's future, as if mourning a certain moment in his life.

  After a long while, he slowly let out a sigh and sat up straight.

  It's already pitch black outside. After putting away the wooden box and pushing open the door, I heard soft voices coming from downstairs, which were my mom and little sister.

  Chen Yi suddenly had a strong sense of warmth, which was the feedback from his soft heart after intense tension was released. The magical world gave him power and made him stronger. However, he also bore inexplicable pressure, with too many problems to worry about, and too many possibilities that could turn his last hope into an illusion.

  Perhaps he just wasn't used to worrying yet.

  "Second Brother." At some point, Little Sister saw Chen Yi at the corner of the stairs and happily shouted out.

  A familiar voice brought him back to reality. Chen Yi moved his slightly stiff legs and smiled, saying, "You're back again."

  "Others want to stay at home for two days." Chen Rongxi immediately raised the coquettish method, which is always invincible at any time.

  Chen Yi smiled wryly and shook off the hands and feet that were wrapped around him, then sprawled out on the sofa, his tone muffled as he said: "Mom, what happened to that tax inspector this afternoon?"

  Miss Fang Manwei apparently misunderstood him, placed a plate of fruit on the table and asked with a sly smile: "What? You've taken a liking to someone?"

  Compared with traditional Chinese parents, mothers who have lived abroad are obviously more open-minded.

  "She's so much older than me..." Chen Yi said, only to react afterwards, coughing and saying: "I'm purely worried about you guys, afraid that you'll be cheated by others."

  "The little girl just graduated from school, she's only three years older than you." Fang Manyi blinked and smiled: "I saw your text message, it's nothing."

  "That's good." Chen Yi said, and couldn't help but let out another yawn.

  With so many scrolls used, if it weren't for the vitality-restoring potion, I'm afraid I would have fallen asleep long ago.

  Fang Man looked at him with a scowl and said, "Go to bed early tonight." Then she added, "Don't worry about things at home, just focus on your studies."

  Chen Yi smiled wryly and nodded, but he didn't think so in his heart. When something big happens at home, if you can't do anything about it yourself, that's one thing, but now is not the time to ignore it.

  However, he won't relax his studies either. With the college entrance exam just a few months away, from the worst-case scenario, without family protection, he has to be like other kids and truly engage in the competition for the only wooden bridge.

  The solitary wooden bridge of Jiangning University is probably the narrowest and steepest one on the tens of thousands of square kilometers of land nearby.

  ……