Chapter 22
Five hundred thousand?
Five hundred thousand!
Bai Hewei’s instinctive first reaction was that the other party might be a scammer.
But this was undeniably the official number of the District Government Office. A scammer couldn’t possibly be resourceful enough to sneak into the government building just to place a prank call.
“A formal written notification will be issued tomorrow. You just need to check your Zhengdatong app to receive it,” the caller added.
Zhengdatong was a government-developed app used in their province. Even contract workers outside the official establishment like them had to log onto it to clock in every day. Presently, all meeting notifications and official document transmissions relied on it.
Of course, when it was time for you to head over to a higher department to pick up a physical document, you still had to go. The actual workload hadn’t decreased much.
Hearing this, Bai Hewei was finally certain that the other party wasn’t a scammer.
“Alright, this Friday, right? Got it. Thank you very much.”
“You’re welcome.”
The two parties hung up on an amicable note.
Bai Hewei pinched himself lightly. It stung a bit—it wasn’t a dream.
I… I really got a five hundred thousand yuan bonus?
Bai Hewei felt a bit lightheaded, as if he were walking on clouds.
With his meager monthly salary of 2,850 yuan, accumulating five hundred thousand would require him to save every single cent without eating or drinking for nearly two years!
“Woohoo!” Bai Hewei hopped on the spot. The failure of his municipal public institution exam was completely blasted into the stratosphere.
Was an exam really that important?
Compared to five hundred thousand yuan, that test was merely a tiny little challenge life had thrown his way.
By the time Bai Hewei arrived home, it was roughly eleven at night. His parents hadn’t gone to sleep yet and were lying in bed scrolling through their phones. They looked up, somewhat surprised to see him walk in. “Back from your shift so early today?”
When he left work in the afternoon, Bai Hewei had sent a message saying he had swapped shifts with a colleague. Combined with the current peak flood-prevention season, they had fully braced themselves for him not returning tonight.
“Yeah, the water conservancy department brought over an Evolver who controlled the water levels by the river, so flood-prevention duty won’t be as grueling this year,” Bai Hewei stated casually.
“Well, that’s pretty good,” his mother replied.
“I’ve noticed that the number of Evolvers in various units seems to be increasing lately,” Bai Hewei said, testing the waters. “I heard our subdistrict will also be getting some Evolvers assigned to help with chores soon. Mom, what do you think would happen if I awakened as an Evolver?”
“The Day of Awakening passed years ago. Don’t go acting as childishly as those teenagers next door,” his mother snapped discourteously.
“I’m just speaking theoretically. What if I genuinely became an Evolver?”
“Yes, yes, yes. It would be best if you became a top-tier powerhouse, showering our whole family in gold, silver, and luxury.” His mother rolled over, ignoring him completely.
“Dad, what do you think? If I have a five hundred thousand yuan bonus, should I buy a car first or put a down payment on a house first? Although living at home and driving your car is quite nice, I am an adult now. I want to experience what it feels like to live on my own,” Bai Hewei interjected suddenly.
“Honey, listen to our son talking in his sleep in the middle of the night. Sigh, even in your dreams, you can only muster up five hundred thousand? You could have at least said five million,” his father let out a yawn. “Alright, alright, go to bed early. You still have to work tomorrow. If you ever get five hundred thousand, buy me a watch first, then get your mom and grandmother gold bracelets before you even think about cars or houses. That way, you can squeeze out the marriage nest egg your grandmother and mom saved up for you.”
Shortly after speaking, his father stood up and closed the bedroom door, completely ignoring whatever else Bai Hewei had to say.
Bai Hewei was somewhat speechless, and a bit indignant.
Hmph. Just wait until I officially collect that five hundred thousand. One day, I’ll bring a whole squad of Evolvers over to pay my respects, and then you’ll finally see my true depth.
Our ancestors’ graves must be smoking with good fortune to have produced someone like me.
Cradling his magnificent dream of five hundred thousand yuan, Bai Hewei drifted sweetly into slumber.
Inside the Special Operations Department.
“The five hundred thousand yuan bonus has officially been approved. Bai Hewei will receive it this Friday.” Wen Zhiyi crossed his arms, his tone remarkably relaxed. “Additionally, Director Yuan is about to conclude her diplomatic visit and return to the capital. She called me to ask for my evaluation of Bai Hewei, and I gave her an honest report. Director Yuan will handle the pressure coming from the central government.”
“Fantastic! Once Director Yuan returns, we’ll finally have our anchor,” Huo Ling rejoiced instantly. “As expected, your channels are always the most well-informed. I assume nothing went wrong during this diplomatic visit?”
“You’ll have to wait for your Regional Director to return before learning the exact details,” Wen Zhiyi mused for a moment before continuing. “There were still some complications. The probability of an Evolver appearing is uniform worldwide; the larger the population base, the higher the absolute number of Evolvers born. For certain small nations that possessed immense wealth but limited populations, the Day of Awakening was a complete catastrophe. But for populous nations, it represents a massive opportunity. Naturally, they are going to push for more international concessions now.”
But by the same token, if those populous nations couldn’t perfectly manage the relationship between Evolvers and ordinary citizens, that opportunity would rapidly devolve into a disaster.
Presently, the relationship between ordinary citizens and Evolvers abroad was like fire and water, with countless individuals losing their lives to clashes between the two factions.
Neither the Evolvers nor the ordinary citizens gained any real advantage.
And since their country stood as the most successful model of governing the relationship between the two groups, they naturally faced plenty of unreasonable demands from the international community.
“No matter. Director Yuan can withstand all of that,” Huo Ling let out a sigh of relief. “By the way, is there any progress on Bai Hewei’s end?”
“Under the guise of distributing benefits to retired staff, we had Bai Hewei’s parents and grandmother undergo comprehensive physical examinations. Their biomedical data is completely normal; they are not Evolvers,” Wen Zhiyi shook his head. “Evolution is inherently a low-probability anomaly; it carries zero correlation to genetic inheritance. Even if two Evolvers marry, there is a very high probability that their child will be an ordinary human.”
Huo Ling fully agreed. If evolutionary aptitude could be inherited genetically, Evolvers would truly solidify into a brand-new social caste.
Precisely because evolution couldn’t be inherited, so many Evolvers dutifully sat for public exams and worked regular jobs. Otherwise, how would they support a family once they married and had children?
It was simply that certain individuals refused to abandon their ambitions, insisting on forcing a conclusion.
“Bai Hewei’s five hundred thousand yuan bonus will be presented this Friday. Do you intend to attend the ceremony?” Huo Ling scanned their surroundings. “Although a small-scale conference like that doesn’t usually require your presence, if you personally present the award, you will definitely earn Bai Hewei’s gratitude. He will also know that you were the one who secured this sum for him. It would make things much easier if you want to run checkups on him or anything in the future. Are you sure you won’t go?”
“Too much is as bad as too little,” Wen Zhiyi answered. “Bai Hewei isn’t an idiot. If a single individual keeps popping up frequently in front of him, it will trigger his suspicion. Don’t treat Bai Hewei like a simpleton to be coaxed; he is the strongest Evolver in this world, which logically means he is far more intelligent than you.”
…Weren’t you the one who coaxed him like a simpleton?
Huo Ling felt utterly powerless to retort.
“Alright, I need to head back to research the third generation of the Evolver Potion.” Wen Zhiyi had already lost a considerable amount of time and couldn’t afford to delay any longer.
“Go ahead, go ahead.” Huo Ling waved his hand. Within that syringe from the Evolver Potion, one or two drops of the original formula still lingered. It was currently the absolute darling of the Research Institute; lately, an untold number of researchers had been voluntarily pulling heavy overtime just to thoroughly dissect this latest foreign biological technology.
If they could decipher it to copy and modify the formula directly, it would save them an immense amount of effort.
The next morning, Bai Hewei felt exceptionally refreshed.
The old saying that good fortune brings a bright spirit truly held weight.
It was already Thursday today. Just one more day of waiting, and he could collect his five hundred thousand yuan bonus tomorrow.
Upon waking up, Bai Hewei immediately opened the Zhengdatong app on his phone to see if his meeting notification had been pushed to him. Until he saw the physical notice, he still felt a trace of underlying anxiety.
Right when he stepped into his unit, the notice finally dropped.
“Xiao Bai, not bad at all! You actually successfully reported a spy? That’s a whopping five hundred thousand!”
“When exactly did you spot a spy? What did they look like?”
“Xiao Bai, remember us when you strike it rich!”
There were no secrets within the civil service system.
The moment Bai Hewei stepped through the unit doors this morning, he faced a barrage of teasing and congratulations from his colleagues.
“Thank you, everyone! Once the bonus hits my account, I’m definitely treating everyone to a meal, so don’t back out,” Bai Hewei waved his hand with absolute poise, showing zero signs of guilt or awkwardness. “I can’t reveal too many details regarding the spy, but it was purely a stroke of luck.”
Confidentiality protocols, after all.
His colleagues could fully understand.
Still, plenty of people felt a quiet twinge of envy. That was five hundred thousand yuan; why hadn’t they been lucky enough to cross paths with a spy?
During his shift, the supervisor in charge, Zhang Peng, also called Bai Hewei into his office to offer a thorough round of encouragement. Shortly after, both the subdistrict director and subdistrict secretary showered Bai Hewei with heavy praise, telling him to prepare his suit, pin on his party badge, and get ready to deliver an excellent acceptance speech tomorrow, suggesting he could start drafting his remarks now, and so forth.
Among them, the subdistrict secretary, Liu Zhong, even took a moment to inquire about Bai Hewei’s family conditions with absolute warmth and attentiveness.
Smiling, Bai Hewei answered all their questions and proactively extended an invitation to several leaders for a weekend dinner, thanking them for their guidance and noting that his ability to secure this bonus was inseparable from the unit’s long-term propaganda initiatives, and so forth.
The leaders all accepted with bright smiles. There was absolutely nothing wrong with attending a celebratory dinner like this.
Besides, Bai Hewei was just a temporary contract worker with zero avenues for promotion, so they simply viewed it as gathering with a regular friend.
After a long loop of pleasantries, Bai Hewei finally managed to extricate himself.
By the time he returned to his workstation, his WeChat was flooded with an immense mountain of greetings. He didn’t manage to get a single shred of actual work done all day, fully occupied with replying to messages.
During his midday break, Bai Hewei used an AI to generate several versions of an acceptance speech, patching them together to edit and refine the text before printing it out to prepare for tomorrow’s presentation.
Over at the District Government Conference Hall, preparations for tomorrow’s award ceremony were already underway.
The individuals receiving awards alongside Bai Hewei included those recognized for courageous acts of public service or students who had successfully secured placements at Tsinghua or Peking University. The municipal television station would also dispatch reporters to compile a dedicated news segment.
When he returned home after work, his parents and grandmother no longer harbored any doubts regarding the truth of the matter, as the news had already spread far and wide.
“Is it really as much as five hundred thousand?” his father asked, still cradling a hint of disbelief.
“It really is,” Bai Hewei nodded firmly.
“Well, that’s truly wonderful. But you still need to exercise caution; what if those spies try to retaliate?” his grandmother noted with a trace of worry.
“Mom, they won’t. His daily routine is a strict two-point line between his unit and home. Those spies want nothing more than to keep themselves hidden; why would they ever target him?” his mother said to his grandmother before turning her head to look at Bai Hewei. “Your grandmother is just looking out for you. You must listen to her—if you encounter strange characters in the future, call the police immediately. Don’t try to play the hero on your own, understood?”
“Once that five hundred thousand hits your hands, don’t be stingy either. Treat the leaders of your unit to a nice meal, buy a couple of cartons of cigarettes to distribute—this cannot be skipped. Your colleagues at the unit and the community staff can’t be left out either,” his father began to offer guidance. “This is worldly wisdom. If you pocket such a massive sum of money without letting out a bit of blood, there’s no telling what kind of sour thoughts might breed in people’s minds.”
“Don’t worry, Dad. I’ve already booked a private dining room. I mentioned it to the leaders today, and they suggested we gather over the weekend so it won’t disrupt our work,” Bai Hewei responded. “Once the funds clear, I’ll buy some milk tea, coffee, snacks, and fruit to distribute among everyone. I definitely won’t be stingy.”
“Yes, exactly. That’s the way to do it.”
“You can use the remaining funds to buy a cheap car to drive around. There’s no rush regarding a house—if you get a girlfriend in the future, we can listen to her preferences and chip in a bit more for you, so you won’t have to carry such a staggering mortgage burden,” his mother smiled. “Anyway, housing prices around here are only four to five thousand yuan per square meter. A hundred-square-meter apartment is only four to five hundred thousand total. Combined with what we’ve saved for you, it’s more than enough.”
“Sounds good,” Bai Hewei mused, realizing the logic held up. Eating meals at home saved him a significant amount on food expenses; otherwise, he’d have to cook himself or rely on takeout.
This bonus had been incredibly hard-won; it couldn’t be squandered lightly.
Buying a small electric car worth around one hundred thousand yuan would be fully sufficient for his daily commute and leisure trips.
When Friday arrived, Bai Hewei showed up exceptionally early to wait outside the District Government Conference Room.
Quite a few people were dressed in sharp suits just like Bai Hewei, their faces brimming with pure joy as they prepared to receive their awards alongside him.
“Hey there, handsome. You’re here to collect an award today too, right?” A young man stepped forward, an Evolver Badge pinned to his chest—undeniably indicating he was a B-Class or above powerhouse. “Me too. I’m Shang Wenwu. Nice to meet you.”
Having received the comprehensive notification details, Bai Hewei naturally knew the names of the individuals sharing the stage with him today.
Shang Wenwu’s name was indeed on the list. He was receiving a thirty-thousand-yuan reward for a courageous act of public service.
“Hello, I am Bai Hewei.” Bai Hewei extended his hand to shake Shang Wenwu’s.
“You’re an Evolver too, aren’t you? But I can’t seem to sense your exact grade,” Shang Wenwu murmured under his breath. “Don’t worry, my ability is rather unique; whether actively or passively, I can perceive certain environmental data around me. My ability to perform that public service act was entirely thanks to my power. Are you a sensory-type too?”
Shang Wenwu found it rather odd. He could clearly perceive that the man before him was absolutely an Evolver, yet he couldn’t gauge his specific grade whatsoever.
The other party’s rank was either astronomically high, or his ability was exceptionally unique.
However, Bai Hewei wasn’t wearing an Evolver Badge, which led Shang Wenwu to suspect that Bai Hewei might be a sensory-type Evolver who concealed his power, just like himself.
“I’m not a sensory-type,” Bai Hewei smiled. “My family and colleagues don’t know about my status yet. Could I trouble you to keep it a secret?”
“I get it, I totally get it!” Shang Wenwu nodded understandingly. “Plenty of Evolvers do the exact same thing. As a sensory-type, I understand completely!”
Presently, the most renowned sensory-type Evolver was a young girl from a foreign minority clan, globally famous for her divination skills.
Word was, her supernatural ability was called [Omniscience], allowing her to comprehend anything regarding any matter within a specified radius. This included when individuals within that boundary would perish, what medical conditions plagued their bodies, whether they were Evolvers, and what their specific abilities and grades were. Heck, if she willed it, she could even ascertain your bank card PIN with absolute precision.
Originally, she had merely scraped by alongside her family as local diviners. When she awakened, she had carried an incredibly intense desire, ultimately unlocking this specific ability.
But once her ability was exposed, the young diviner suffered a terrible fate.
Countless high-ranking officials and ultra-wealthy individuals, including many top-tier Evolvers, sought to capture or eliminate her.
They desired to exploit her capability, yet they simultaneously terrified that others would leverage her power to plot against them.
To make matters worse, an ability like hers carried almost zero combat utility.
Lacking the backing of a powerful state entity, she could only continuously flee.
During her flight, her parents and relatives were completely wiped out, and she herself was repeatedly captured by various factions to extract intelligence. Ultimately, the young diviner leveraged her own ability to intentionally withhold information regarding hidden assassins, choosing to perish at their hands.
Once that news spread, Evolvers possessing sensory or information-based capabilities became like birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring. They barely dared step out of their homes, terrified of being abducted.
This group remained the faction most dedicated to concealing their identity as Evolvers.
“If you’re a sensory-type Evolver, why are your guards down like this?” Bai Hewei chuckled. “You don’t seem afraid at all.”
“Of course I’m not afraid,” Shang Wenwu crossed his arms proudly. “I’ve already passed the exam for the Special Operations Department! During this recent municipal public institution exam, my written score was a landslide first place. My total across both sections was 234 points, a whopping 8 points higher than second place. Unless I completely bomb the interview, my placement is guaranteed. Once I get into the Special Operations Department, let’s see who dares lay a finger on me!”
For any Evolver possessing a specialized ability but lacking sufficient self-defense capabilities, passing the exam into the Special Operations Department was equivalent to securing an absolute shield.
They no longer had to live a closeted existence, nor did they have to worry about being abducted.
The Special Operations Department’s towering global reputation hadn’t been achieved through mere empty words; it was forged through concrete combat achievements.
In the past, when international mercenaries abducted a specialized domestic Evolver, the Special Operations Department pursued them relentlessly, completely annihilating the entire mercenary group within two short hours and capturing a massive cache of spoils along the way.
Those disobedient Evolvers who tried to stir up trouble five years ago had all become stepping stones to elevate the Special Operations Department’s prestige. Without their foolish rebellions, the department’s fearsome reputation wouldn’t have spread so far.
“Congratulations,” Bai Hewei was somewhat startled, before inquiring with a trace of awkwardness, “Which position did you apply for? It wasn’t the accounting and civil engineering post, was it?”
“Oh, no. I applied for the comprehensive information desk. An ability like mine can only apply for that track,” Shang Wenwu shook his head. “But I heard the absolute freak who took first place across the entire municipal written exam scored a staggering 241 points—7 points higher than me! That was the candidate for the accounting and civil engineering post. I don’t respect anyone else, but I fully bow down to those accounting and civil engineering nerds. The probability of them producing top-tier exam aces over these past few years is just too high.”
“Why do you ask? Don’t tell me you applied for that post too?” Shang Wenwu inquired hesitantly after a moment.
“Yeah. Didn’t make the cut,” Bai Hewei replied. Hearing that the top scorer had hit 241 points, any remaining lingering thoughts he harbored vanished instantly.
He had barely broken past 200 points. How could he even compare? Wouldn’t he just be embarrassing himself?
“Tsk, running into a grandmaster like that is just bad luck. By the way, are you here for a courageous public service award too?”
“No,” Bai Hewei smiled. “I’m here for the spy-reporting award.”
“Holy crap, five hundred thousand yuan! Man, who cares if you failed that exam? You can’t expect to hog all the good fortune in the world! If it were me, I’d gladly take the five hundred thousand and simply prepare diligently for the next exam cycle,” Shang Wenwu gestured extravagantly.
“Haha, my thoughts exactly.”
The two chatted quite amicably and exchanged WeChat contacts. When the announcement chime signaled it was time to enter, the award recipients were guided inside one by one to take their seats in the very first row of the conference hall.
First, the deputy district director handling culture and propaganda delivered an opening address, followed by a leader from the public security bureau who provided a brief overview of the honored recipients’ deeds.
Afterward, following the glowing praise composed by the materials department of the government office, the recipients took the stage one by one to collect their awards, pose for journalists, and so forth.
Bai Hewei had intentionally styled his hair with gel today. Before leaving the house, his mother had even forced him to wash his face and hair, applying a touch of tone-up cream and trimming his eyebrows. His handsome looks were remarkably prominent.
Several principal leaders from the subdistrict office were seated in the second and third rows, watching Bai Hewei take the stage with warm smiles.
“Xiao Bai is so incredibly handsome today; I bet a whole line of girls at the district office will want to ask for his WeChat later.”
“Haha, yes. I didn’t expect our unit to produce an achievement like this.”
“I’ve only ever seen things like this on the news before.”
…
“Let us congratulate Mr. Bai Hewei, commending his dedication and efforts toward national security,” the host led the applause.
A thunderous wave of applause echoed through the hall.
Bai Hewei forcefully hoisted the massive prop board displaying “50,000 Yuan Bonus,” his eyes gleaming with sheer joy.
From childhood to adulthood, this was the grandest award he had ever received.
So this was what it felt like.
It felt pretty amazing.
Right as Bai Hewei was lost in his thoughts, out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a figure seated in the very back corner row of the conference hall.
Huh?
He recognized this person.
Wasn’t that the handsome researcher guy? He hadn’t expected him to show up here.
Wen Zhiyi merely offered a faint nod toward Bai Hewei as a greeting.
After all, he was the one who had pushed the approval process through for this award; it would feel wrong not to come take a look. Furthermore, the testing regarding the Evolver Potion on his end was largely wrapped up.
Following Bai Hewei’s turn, the other recipients took the stage sequentially.
Since the meeting hadn’t concluded, Bai Hewei couldn’t easily head over to chat with the handsome guy.
However, when the conference finally wrapped up and Bai Hewei went looking for him, he discovered that the man had already vanished.
He left so quickly?
Whatever.
Bai Hewei swiftly pushed the matter to the back of his mind.
Because his phone buzzed with the bank transaction notification, causing him to hop with pure excitement.
[UnionPay] Your account ending in 0921 received a treasury transfer deposit of 500,000.00 yuan on May 21 at 12:01 PM. Current balance: 500,089.00 yuan. Description: National Security Bureau Bonus.
His heart finally settled. He was a wealthy man now, hahaha!
Author’s Note:
Author: How do you feel about Wen Zhiyi proactively coming to see you?
Bai Hewei: I don’t know, but my five hundred thousand yuan is absolutely magnificent!
