A Good-for-Nothing

90. An Ancestor Treated as Cannon Fodder (2)

Translator: Dragon Rider

Zu Zhichong was crying bitterness without ceasing in his head. This leader of the second action group had a big shortcoming – conceit. He hated it the most when people talked about him behind his back, which was why Zu Zhichong had touched a raw nerve a few moments ago. In ordinary times, though Zhang Jingqiu would also say something provocative from time to time, there had always been a semblance of harmony between them. This time, it seemed that he had really been angered.

The three of them were the only ones left at the elevator door.

“Did you help him enter his name?”

“Yeah.” Zu Zhichong immediately collected his thoughts and gave an obsequious smile. “Chief, I always acquit myself brilliantly of the tasks you assign me with utmost efficiency, whatever the cost, and no bother will ever come to you!”

Li Zong beckoned He Zheng over with a wave. Seeing the impatience on He Zheng’s face, he raised his hand and flattened He Zheng’s creased collar in a natural way.

Then he snapped his fingers and with that a hologram-like picture appeared before Zu Zhichong. The word “Complaint” at the top of it was exceptionally obtrusive.

The contents below were about Zu Zhichong’s deliberately violating the rules by openly jumping the line.

“That was indeed ‘brilliant’. And the Ministry of Personnel sent me this letter of complaint ‘with utmost efficiency’.”

It had never crossed Zu Zhichong’s mind that anybody would be so bold as to make a complaint against him. ‘Son of a bitch!’ Due to fury, he failed to catch his next breath and was almost reduced to vomiting blood.

“Ch–Ch–Ch–Ch–Chief, please let me explain.”

“The letter of complaint will be on the homepage for a full week. From this day onward, you are to deal with the suicide of that student of the First Municipal High School. If you fail to find anything useful within a week… you know what to do.”

Though nominally SMB was a special operation department, actually staff members were responsible for tackling all kinds of weird, paranormal events. Yōkai, ghosts, demons – as long as it was not about human, they had to handle it. These undercover exorcists, who had been keeping evil supernatural beings from throwing this country into disorder, was the very reason why this society was functioning normally.

However, Yōkai, ghosts, gods, demons – all of them seemed to be from other worlds, but there’s always some kind of connection between them and humans. The more involved they were with human world, the trickier it would be to deal with them, which was the very thing that all staff members of SMB hated the most.

Zu Zhichong’s face instantly darkened. A case that happened in a school was definitely among the top three “most troublesome cases” in the eyes of staff members of SMB.

Dealing with the suicide of a student was no bother; all they had to do was cast a lightning spell on the evil spirit that manipulated the victim into committing suicide, but as the saying goes, ‘Sometimes human could be even more horrifying than a ghost.’

This kind of case was so socially sensitive that the process of handling it would unavoidably entail dealing with people of all descriptions: staff members of the school, parents of the victim, officials of some other government departments, to name but a few, which was no doubt a daunting task!

Zu Zhichong couldn’t help but implore aloud, “Chief, I’m sorry, I really am. May I have a helper? If somebody like Sister Zhen Ni or Brother Han Zhuo gives me a hand, I’ll undoubtedly be able to complete all the assignments you give me quickly, efficiently and perfectly!”

However, this was doomed to be nothing but his fond hope. Li Zong was assigning him this case as a punishment, so naturally he wouldn’t let him get the job done without breaking a sweat. As expected, Li Zong refused unhesitatingly. “That’s not going to happen. Zhen Ni and Han Zhuo have their own tasks to perform. Forget about them. Even Tun Shanhai won’t have the time to come to your help.”

Zu Zhichong was nearly reduced to tears. “Chief, I might not deserve reward, but I think I do deserve credit for hard work. I was trying to help Cutie enter his name sooner and save him waiting. Please take into account my unswerving allegiance and assign me a helper.”

‘He did do that for my sake.’ Thinking of this, He Zheng gave a cough, twisted his head aside to face Li Zong and said, “He did that to help me enter my name, and that so-and-so deliberately tried to provoke us, too!”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what happened!” Zu Zhichong, who was quite a knowing card, pushed the boat with the current.

With a half-smile, Li Zong sized up Zu Zhichong for quite some time. Zu Zhichong was only too anxious to cut his chest open to show his loyal heart to his chief, eyes brimming with tears. “Chief, Chief, you are the best chief ever in the world, Chief!”

“All right.” Li Zong affected an awkwardness he did not feel, a slight frown on his face. “If that’s the case, I will assign you a helper. Before we returned, Director Tan told me to take care of Jin Qianlai and give him some opportunities to toughen up, so I’ll let you and Jin Qianlai handle this case together.”

Zu Zhichong felt a coldness in the forehead and the distress on his face instantly dissipated. He nimbly rose to his feet from Li Zong’s thigh and, with a calm look on his face, promised in a firm tone, “Rest assured, Chief, I promise I’ll finish the job with flying colors and no bother whatsoever will come to you.

Jin Qianlai is still standing in line waiting to enter his name. I used to work in the SMB of the Sui City as well, so I’d like to show him some care. He’s tired after the long journey. I think he could use a couple of days’ rest.

Rest assured, Chief, I’m 100-percent sure that I can handle this alone. You have absolutely nothing to worry about! I take my leave!” After saying this, he hurriedly ran away like greased lightning.

Seeing the dramatic change of Zu Zhichong’s countenance, He Zheng was reduced to a face full of embarrassment. He gave Li Zong a backward glance and said, “Why do I feel that everybody in your department is somewhat soft in the head? Isn’t Jin Qianlai pretty competent? Why didn’t he want him?”

“You bad boy still have the nerve to ask.” With a faint smile on the corners of his mouth, Li Zong softly hit He Zheng on the head with his knuckles. “After you told Jin Qianlai that Zu Zhichong is a super-rich CEO, he’s been badgering Zu Zhichong all along. Zu Zhichong is now scared of him.”

He Zheng was sent speechless. ‘Super-rich CEO?’

Li Zong held his hand and said, “Zu Zhichong can manage. Let’s go grab a bite.”

This was unduly intimate, but it didn’t make He Zheng feel uncomfortable. He softly snorted and held Li Zong’s hand tighter, which made him look like a schoolboy being taken to the dining hall by his parent, but he didn’t feel ashamed at all.