My Home's Ancient Well Connects to the Martial Arts World

Chapter 19: Chapter 19: Back to the Company

At dawn, the sun began to rise, spilling its golden light across the land. It gilded every branch and leaf on Yunli Mountain with a radiant luster, while lakes and streams sparkled with a crystalline gleam. The world was suddenly awash with light.

Roosters crowed and dogs barked as wisps of smoke from cooking fires drifted into the air.

The people of Bilin Village were early risers. A few mischievous kids were already squatting at the village entrance, playing in the mud. The adults had been up even earlier, either heading to work on construction sites or carrying hoes to the fields.

Today, Ye Xing didn’t go to the Martial Arts Continent to do business. He needed to go to Luoxian County to process his resignation, after which he would officially begin to focus on his own ventures.

A green bus, packed with passengers, rumbled down a wide concrete road.

Bilin Village wasn’t far from Luoxian County. Even with all its stops, the bus ride to the county seat took only half an hour. A private car could make the trip in just twenty minutes.

Luoxian County was a prosperous coastal town that had recently expanded with many new districts. Skyscrapers shot up into the air, traffic lights blinked red and green over the streets, and a ceaseless flow of vehicles filled the air with the blare of horns.

Ye Xing worked at a company called Red Phoenix Publishing Co., Ltd., located at Suite 21-3 in an office building in the Ice Sea New District. It was a medium-sized company, and Ye Xing was an editor in the publishing department, responsible for tasks like typesetting novels.

The workday started at 8:30, but it was already nearly nine. The employees had all clocked in long ago and were already at their desks, busy at their computers.

”Oh, Ye Xing, you’re here!” a vibrant young woman with big eyes called out to him. Her name was Xu Qing, an editor on the same team as Ye Xing. They had both started at the company around the same time.

”Yeah.” Ye Xing glanced over and asked, ”Xu Qing, is Sister Chen in today?”

Sister Chen’s full name was Chen Feng. She was thirty-one or thirty-two and a beautiful divorcée. She had once been the editor-in-chief of a well-known publishing house in Yanjing before striking out on her own to found the successful Red Phoenix Publishing Co., Ltd. She was a genuinely good person and treated her employees with kindness, which was why Ye Xing called her Sister Chen instead of the more formal President Chen.

”Sister Chen’s in her office. The company is planning to acquire a printing press on Luochuan Road, but we’re a little short on capital, so she’s in there talking about a loan with Governor Zhou from the bank,” Xu Qing said, then asked curiously, ”Why are you looking for her? By the way, you’re usually here before me. How come you’re late today? Hehe, so much for your perfect attendance bonus this month!”

”Haha, I guess I’m not technically late, since I’m not working today. I’ll be leaving in a bit. I’m just looking for Sister Chen to—”

Handing off work in the publishing department was a simple process that only took a few hours. As Ye Xing was explaining...

Suddenly—

”Ye Xing, what’s the deal? You’re over half an hour late. Do you even want this job or not?” a grating voice cut in. A tall, skinny man wearing thick, black-framed glasses strode over and spoke sharply to Ye Xing.

”If I’m late, it’s my salary that gets docked. Whether I want this job is none of your business,” Ye Xing said, giving the man with the thick glasses an indifferent glance.

The tall, skinny man in the thick glasses was Liu Zixuan, a veteran employee. He had aggressively pursued Xu Qing before, and after she rejected him, he started using his seniority to deliberately give her a hard time as a way to assert his authority. Xu Qing was new at the time and unfamiliar with the work, and he truly made her life miserable. Ye Xing had started about ten days before Xu Qing and sat at the desk right next to her. Naturally, whenever Xu Qing had a question, she would ask Ye Xing, who was always willing to help. Because of this, Liu Zixuan grew resentful and came to hate Ye Xing as well.

At first, Liu Zixuan had given him a hard time, too. But as Ye Xing grew more familiar with the job, he’d long since stopped paying any attention to this Birdman. Now that he was quitting anyway, Ye Xing didn’t mind teaching this Birdman a lesson before he left.

”Ye Xing, what’s with that attitude? Don’t think you’re some kind of veteran just because you’ve worked here for two months. Let me tell you...” Liu Zixuan launched into a tirade.

Ye Xing couldn’t be bothered to waste words on him. ’Maybe I should just beat this Birdman up before I go and get it out of my system,’ he thought.

Just then, Xu Qing tugged on Ye Xing’s sleeve and whispered, ”Ye Xing, I heard Liu Zixuan is about to be promoted to team leader. You’ll only lose out if you clash with him directly. Just endure it. As long as we do our jobs, there’s not much he can do to us.”

Liu Zixuan was a veteran employee, but his work efficiency was actually lower than that of Ye Xing and Xu Qing. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be the only senior staffer who hadn’t been promoted to team leader. ’Sister Chen is probably just promoting him because he’s been with the company for several years and there happens to be an opening,’ Ye Xing figured. ’It’s a promotion of convenience.’

”What do I care if he gets promoted? Ugh, forget it. I can’t be bothered with people like him. I’m just going to quit and walk away clean.” With that thought, Ye Xing looked around for the receptionist to get a resignation form. ”Hey, Xu Qing, where’s the receptionist?”

”I don’t know. She was here a minute ago. Maybe she went to the restroom,” Xu Qing replied. ”Why are you looking for her? Are you taking the day off?”

Just then—

CREAK! The door to the office opened, and a beautiful woman of about thirty emerged.

”Where’s our receptionist?” The woman glanced at the empty front desk. Her eyes landed on Ye Xing standing nearby. ”Ye Xing, do you have a moment? Something’s wrong with the tea set in my office. Could you make two cups of tea and bring them in for me?”

”Ah, yes, of course, Sister Chen,” Ye Xing replied with a nod.

He promptly went to boil water and prepare the tea.

「Inside the president’s office」

Chen Feng was in discussion with a man in his thirties, who was dressed in a suit.

”President Chen, the amount you’re requesting is simply too high,” Governor Zhou said. ”Based on your company’s profile, the most our bank can offer is a loan of three million.”

”But... only three million? My company’s project can’t even get off the ground with that amount. Please, Governor Zhou, could you see if you can be a little more flexible? Help me out. I just need another two million,” Chen Feng pleaded, her expression unreadable as she slid a thick red envelope across the coffee table toward him.

”There’s truly nothing I can do. The bank has its regulations, please understand,” Governor Zhou said firmly. ”If there’s nothing else, President Chen, I’ll be taking my leave.” He immediately stood up, ready to exit the room.

”Sister Chen, the tea is ready,” Ye Xing announced, knocking on the office door.

”Oh, it’s ready? Please, serve a cup to Governor Zhou,” Chen Feng said hastily. ”Governor Zhou, why not have a cup of tea before you leave?”

”I can’t, I have business back at the bank.” Governor Zhou was already walking to the door when he suddenly stopped. He saw Ye Xing entering with two cups of tea and froze, his voice filled with astonishment. ”Mr. Ye? What are you doing here?”