Chapter 23
After receiving the bonus, Bai Hewei followed the plan he had discussed with his father. First, he treated the primary leadership of the subdistrict office to a meal. Following that, he ordered coffee, milk tea, fruit, and snacks for his colleagues at the unit, including the community cadres.
Only after spending a total of around ten thousand yuan did Bai Hewei finally halt his spendthrift behavior.
Over the weekend, he took his parents to a car dealership for a spin. In the end, they settled on the latest model of an electric car, which cost no more than seventy to eighty thousand yuan fully customized.
Of course, he had enough money now to buy a much better car, but considering his monthly salary was only 2,850 yuan, was it really worth driving such a luxury vehicle to work?
Buying an expensive car just for a meager salary—wouldn’t that be putting the cart before the horse?
Ultimately, Bai Hewei bought a ten-thousand-yuan watch for his father and a thick gold bracelet each for his mother and grandmother. The remaining money amounted to roughly three hundred and fifty to sixty thousand yuan.
From that sum, Bai Hewei transferred a few ten thousand yuan to himself for backup funds, and deposited the remaining three hundred thousand directly into a three-year fixed-term account, leaving it completely untouched.
A life with money was truly comfortable.
He could spend it however he pleased. Previously, he used to worry that if he kept failing to secure a permanent post, he would end up living paycheck to paycheck every single month. But now with this money, he instantly felt a lot more grounded.
If it weren’t for the fact that spies were notoriously difficult to catch, Bai Hewei would have wanted to go out and look for spies every day. This was a zero-cost business, and failing to pass the civil service exam suddenly didn’t seem so unacceptable anymore.
No, no, no, how could I let myself harbor such a corrupt thought?
Bai Hewei immediately purged the inappropriate notions from his mind.
“It turns out the saying that people go downhill once they get rich is completely true; even I can’t escape it,” Bai Hewei marveled with a sigh. “But that won’t do. I still need to get an official post, preferably an administrative establishment. That way, if I ever lose a fight to another Evolver in the future, having a permanent post ensures stability, and I won’t have to worry about my salary and bonuses.”
Truth be told, Bai Hewei wasn’t worried about anything else. He had learned from the mouths of the Evolvers he defeated that he was currently considered something like the strongest in the world.
And that was a recipe for trouble.
Having read martial arts novels in the past, Bai Hewei knew that titles like “strongest in the world” or “number one under heaven” would inevitably attract a swarm of challengers.
He was powerful right now, and he could still handle those rogue Evolvers.
But what about a few years down the line?
Walk along the river long enough and your shoes are bound to get wet. If he didn’t secure a permanent establishment, what would happen to his future as a mere contract worker if he ceased to be the world’s strongest or suffered injuries from a supernatural clash that couldn’t be classified as a work-related injury?
But having a permanent post changed everything.
The moment he got hurt, he could simply request all kinds of sick leave. Even if he took half a year off out of a twelve-month cycle, as long as he hit ten years of service, he could still collect eighty percent of his salary, and every single associated benefit would remain intact. At most, he would just lose his year-end bonus and the one-time performance evaluation award.
In the past, Bai Hewei’s desire to pass the exam might have been to fulfill his family’s wishes and secure a stable job.
Now, his desire to pass the exam was purely for the sake of his retirement years.
In television dramas and movies, those who held titles like ‘number one under heaven’ or ‘strongest in the world’ rarely enjoyed a comfortable life in their twilight years.
He absolutely had to secure this government bowl of rice!
Once he cleared his thoughts, Bai Hewei felt a bit depressed whenever he thought about the grandmaster candidate who had replaced him and scored 241 points.
The vacancy at the Special Operations Department was gone.
Sigh, he could only wait for the next cycle.
He really had to thank them this time.
In truth, Bai Hewei had intended to order coffee and milk tea for the personnel at the Special Operations Department as well, but he hadn’t succeeded. For one thing, their office was a highly classified unit, so deliveries could only be dropped off at the entrance. For another, Bai Hewei recalled Lu Chengshu mentioning that the coffee and milk tea inside their cafeteria building only cost one yuan.
Bai Hewei was fully aware that his five-hundred thousand yuan bonus wouldn’t have come down this quickly without the Special Operations Department’s intervention.
One had to return kindness with gratitude. Bai Hewei intentionally sent An Tingyu a WeChat message and waited for her at a spot not far from the Special Operations Department.
This time, the Special Operations Department didn’t treat his arrival like a major emergency.
They knew Bai Hewei was likely here to express his thanks.
As one of the personnel within the Special Operations Department who was most well-acquainted with Bai Hewei, An Tingyu naturally shouldered this very important responsibility.
“Remember, Director Yuan wants to meet him. You must mention this to him,” Huo Ling said, patting An Tingyu on the shoulder. “Don’t forget when the time comes.”
Why don’t you go yourself then?
An Tingyu ranted furiously in her mind. Huo Ling was acting more and more like an authoritative director every day.
Once she earned a massive merit and climbed the ranks in the future, she would definitely order Huo Ling around just like this to avenge her current grievances.
“Got it.” An Tingyu headed downstairs swiftly, waving her hand to greet Bai Hewei.
“Director An,” Bai Hewei stood up, directly handing over the bag of snacks and fruits he was carrying. “I know your department can’t accept gifts, but these are just some small treats that don’t cost much. Consider it a token of my gratitude.”
“Alright, then I’ll accept them as a friend,” An Tingyu smiled, glancing at the bag. “But you might have a slight misunderstanding. We only helped a tiny bit with your five hundred thousand yuan spy bounty—essentially just fast-tracking the approval process for you. The person who actually pushed through the application for this bonus was Chief Wen of the Research Institute.”
“Chief Wen?” Bai Hewei’s face blanked into utter bewilderment. “Who is that? Do I know him?”
She had almost forgotten. Although he had met Wen Zhiyi and even connected with him on WeChat, he had no idea that the two were the exact same person.
“The person who stood outside the Forbidden Zone alongside Director Huo last time. You’ve seen him before.”
“Ah, it’s him? I saw him in the hall earlier when the district director presented my award. Man, if I had known he was the one who applied for it, I would have treated him to a nice meal no matter what,” Bai Hewei deflated instantly. “I didn’t think too much of it back then; I was just wondering why he had come over.”
“It’s fine, Chief Wen has been incredibly busy lately. Back when you were taking your exam, some rogue Evolvers happened to come over to disrupt the venue. We seized a syringe of a potion at the time, and Chief Wen is currently buried in laboratory experiments, so he wouldn’t have had the time to share a meal with you anyway,” An Tingyu answered.
“Why would Chief Wen help apply for my bonus?” Bai Hewei pressed on. “I don’t think I’m very familiar with him.”
Familiar? He’s practically the only person who successfully added your private WeChat account! An Tingyu ranted internally.
“Chief Wen considers details with exceptional thoroughness, so his applications move a bit faster than ours. By the way, will your work at the unit be very heavy lately?” An Tingyu hastily shifted the subject. She had the courage to handle minor matters on Huo Ling’s behalf because Huo Ling was her direct supervisor, and taking responsibility for subordinates was part of his job. But Wen Zhiyi had little to do with her. As an insider, she certainly couldn’t blab about things Chief Wen hadn’t authorized.
She was also worried about getting targeted by Chief Wen.
Once the formula for the Evolver Potion was successfully deciphered, there would be plenty of occasions where they’d need to beg Chief Wen for favors.
“The inspections are wrapped up, so things should be relatively quiet for now. But at the grassroots level, there are always plenty of emergencies, so I can’t say for sure what will happen next,” Bai Hewei answered, leaving some wiggle room in his words, unsure of An Tingyu’s underlying intent.
“Actually, aside from this five hundred thousand yuan bonus, a national-level Outstanding Youth Award has also been approved for you,” An Tingyu revealed with a smile. “Barring any unexpected complications, you’ll likely need to travel to the capital at the end of this month or the beginning of next month to officially accept this award. Additionally, our Director wishes to meet with you.”
Before Bai Hewei could fully process the exhilarating shock of receiving a national award, he heard that the Director of the Special Operations Department wanted to meet him, which caused him to tense up layout out of sheer instinct.
“Ah, your Director? Isn’t that a member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee? For a leader of that stature, I…” Bai Hewei was genuinely getting nervous. Their Special Operations Department was a standing committee department; whenever a leader of this rank visited their city, even the Municipal Party Secretary would have to welcome them in person.
“Not our regional Director, the national Director-General,” An Tingyu corrected directly after a brief silence.
The… the national Director-General?
A state-level ministerial cadre?
Bai Hewei’s body swayed slightly, his legs turning a bit soft.
“Could… could it be Director Yuan… the one who appears on the Xinwen Lianbo evening news every few days?” Bai Hewei’s voice dropped remarkably low, sounding somewhat weak and drained.
“Yes, exactly,” An Tingyu looked at Bai Hewei, feeling thoroughly empathetic.
When she had traveled on business with Huo Ling back then and learned she was going to meet Director Yuan Heqing, her performance hadn’t been any better than Bai Hewei’s.
When preparing to meet a legendary heavyweight figure whom one usually only saw on the television news, a trace of trepidation was entirely natural.
“Don’t worry, Director Yuan is very reasonable and remarkably efficient. She is exceptionally kind to us grassroots cadres, and only shows a stern face toward those high-ranking leaders,” An Tingyu explained. “I met Director Yuan once in the past, and she even spoke to me. She noted that grassroots cadres handle an immense volume of tasks, shoulder heavy responsibilities, yet face mediocre salaries and career prospects. She is fully aware that you are the group making the largest sacrifices and contributions to the state.”
“I get it, I get it. Every time an inspection comes around, the higher the rank of the supervisory group, the better their attitude toward the grassroots level,” Bai Hewei agreed wholeheartedly.
In reality, whenever national-level guidance teams or leaders came down for research initiatives, although the local staff had to prepare a mountain of materials and log heavy overtime for days, the leaders themselves were genuinely caring toward grassroots cadres and didn’t make things difficult for them.
The provincial-level teams were decent as well; most of the time, they were quite pleasant to deal with.
The most troublesome ones were always the local municipal or district-level inspection teams. Those were pedantic and capricious to the extreme. A single spreadsheet could be revised and remade dozens of times, and every time they came down, if they didn’t pick out a few flaws to bring back, it was as if they hadn’t done any work at all.
As they touched upon this subject, An Tingyu and Bai Hewei instantly unlocked a shared topic of conversation, fiercely lambasting certain inspection teams and leaders who loved making things difficult for people.
After a thorough round of venting, Bai Hewei’s anxiety settled significantly.
“Then I’d like to ask, is it mandatory for me to collect this national award?” Relaxing a bit, Bai Hewei’s tone grew more casual. “Will it be broadcast on the news? Honestly, I’m fully satisfied with just the five hundred thousand yuan. For something like a national award, I won’t be able to find a plausible excuse, and my parents and colleagues are bound to get suspicious.”
Bai Hewei pocketing cash for reporting a spy was certainly unexpected, but since similar incidents frequently appeared on the news, people could accept it, chalking it up to Bai Hewei simply being lucky.
But receiving a national award was not something that could be written off as pure luck.
From the initial submission to the final approval, an untold number of administrative processes lay in between. Furthermore, under what justification could Bai Hewei possibly receive such a prize?
If one looked into the details, it was nothing but a massive cluster of questions.
If he truly accepted the award and the matter was made public, rumors would probably start flying around his unit tomorrow that he was the illegitimate son of some mysterious heavyweight.
Bai Hewei didn’t want to disrupt his current peaceful life in the slightest.
He was living an excellent life right now, short of nothing but a permanent establishment. He harbored zero desire to discard his current comfortable days.
“But with this award, no matter which department you sit an exam for in the future, you can get an additional three to five bonus points added to your score,” An Tingyu blurted out.
“That much? Then I definitely have to accept it,” Bai Hewei switched gears instantly.
Following his statement, both Bai Hewei and An Tingyu burst out laughing.
“Accepting it is a must, but if you prefer, you can choose not to make your information public. We do have policies regarding the protection of an Evolver’s personal data. We’ll relay your feedback in a moment, and I expect Director Yuan will likely agree to it,” An Tingyu said with a smile. “But even if it isn’t made public, you absolutely still need to meet with Director Yuan face-to-face.”
“If it can be kept private, that would be for the best,” Bai Hewei stated hastily. “As for merely meeting her, that’s not an issue.”
He could slowly reveal his situation to his family later; there was no need to rush everything into a single moment.
“Alright, I’ll relay your thoughts.” An Tingyu chatted with Bai Hewei a bit longer before parting ways.
When he returned home, Bai Hewei suddenly pitched an idea at the dinner table.
“Dad, how about I use my annual leave this year so our whole family can go on a trip for a few days? Gran has always wanted to visit the capital again, hasn’t she? The last time she went with a tour group, everything was so rushed. She barely got to see anything before being hurried off to the next location, spending the entire day cooped up on a bus.”
“You’ve already spent so much money lately, maybe we should…”
“We aren’t strapped for this little bit of cash,” Bai Hewei answered. “Actually, I failed that municipal public exam, and there aren’t any new exams available for registration in the short term. If I don’t use my annual leave early, July and August will be the peak tourist season. Right now it’s only May or June, so crowds are relatively sparse, prices are lower, and we can save a significant amount on transport and lodging.”
“Fine, tell your grandmother when she gets back.”
Lately, his grandmother had been attending her waist-drum dance troupe with exceptional frequency.
Now that gold prices were sky-high and her eldest grandson had bought her such a thick gold bracelet, she naturally had to go out and show it off properly.
Bai Hewei’s calculations were solid. He was bound to visit the capital anyway, so instead of waiting for the personnel at his unit to find out, it was better to head to the capital under the guise of an annual vacation. When the time came, he could quietly meet with Director Yuan, pocket his award, and return. On a regular basis, this award wouldn’t be brought up, and when an exam cycle rolled around and he was certain he could make the cut for the interviews, he could simply leverage this bonus-point policy.
By that time, he would also be roughly ready to tell his parents about his status as an Evolver.
When it came to handling his own affairs, Bai Hewei still suffered from a bit of procrastination.
He knew his parents would accept the reality of him being an Evolver, but doing so would inevitably cause them to start worrying about his safety.
His parents and grandmother were living perfectly comfortable retirement lives. Especially his parents, who had been retired for less than a year and had barely tasted a few days of leisure; he truly couldn’t bear the thought of making them live in constant anxiety because of him.
If he could manage to pass an exam and land a permanent post, his parents’ worries would be drastically reduced.
The plan Bai Hewei proposed to take annual leave for a family trip to the capital swiftly received unanimous approval from his household.
The exact time and details would have to wait for notification from the Special Operations Department, but Bai Hewei was in no hurry.
Life stepped back onto its proper track once more.
At the Research Institute.
Bang!
The lab rat used for the experiment exploded directly into shreds.
“Chief, this is already the eighteenth lab rat to perish this month, and the other experimental mice are showing highly unstable conditions. Why are the side effects of this modified Evolver Potion even more staggering than we imagined?”
Lately, Wen Zhiyi hadn’t found much time to impart civil service exam tips to Bai Hewei. Of course, Bai Hewei had been quite occupied during this period as well, which amounted to a state of mutual non-disturbance.
However, progress on researching this third-generation modified Evolver Potion had hit a persistent bottleneck.
Who knew how those people abroad had formulated it? They actually had the audacity to inject a potion like this into a human body.
The Evolver codenamed [Thorn Spear] had perished a few days after being captured by them.
Fortunately, the entire containment process was covered by surveillance logs. Otherwise, they would have had to continuously draft incident explanations, audit inmate safety protocols, and implement endless rectifications.
Following a thorough autopsy, it was confirmed that the Evolver had succumbed directly to the potion’s side effects.
Although this third-generation Evolver Potion could theoretically help these Evolvers elevate their strength by nearly a full grade, the side effects were simply too immense.
If taking a single shot required trading one’s life away, what kind of Evolver would be that foolish?
“It’s not that they are foolish; it’s that our data simply doesn’t add up,” Wen Zhiyi muttered, reviewing all the lab rat experimental metrics and potion analysis reports several times before arriving at a conclusion.
“The reason this Evolver Potion carries such devastating side effects is likely because what we obtained is incomplete,” Wen Zhiyi frowned slightly. “Even the elite deep-cover agents cultivated by our nation couldn’t secure the raw formula this quickly. Yet because of Bai Hewei, they dispatched an Evolver carrying the potion right to us? Aside from Gentleman, the other Evolvers were fundamentally intended as sacrificial pawns. Sacrificial pawns are not worth the expenditure of such a massive cost.”
“Ah? Could this Evolver Potion be a stripped-down version?” The adjacent researcher caught on instantly. “But all the other chemical data for this potion shows zero anomalies.”
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have initiated live testing this quickly.
“It’s highly probable that aside from this specific vial, they possess another formulation capable of neutralizing the vast majority of the side effects,” Wen Zhiyi mused after a moment of thought. “That would make perfect sense. They aren’t worried at all about the Evolver Potion falling into the hands of other factions because this potion is essentially a poison that makes an Evolver stronger. Taking it brings death, and if they wish to survive, their only option is to keep purchasing the antidote. Judging by their historical operational patterns, the antidote they provide will likely be a stripped-down version as well—it won’t let the Evolver die, but it will require them to make a purchase every single month.”
This was the absolute favorite strategy deployed by foreign pharmaceutical giants.
They wouldn’t let you die, but they would ensure your body could never break free from their medication for the rest of your life. That way, you would have to slave away for them for an entire lifetime.
“They desire to keep Evolvers under their control, but unlike our country, they refuse to expend massive human and material resources to soothe the friction between Evolvers and ordinary citizens. Therefore, if they wish to control these increasingly demanding Evolvers, they must possess a mechanism to neutralize them. I suspect this third-generation potion was birthed under this exact logic.”
Before the grim truth was exposed to the public, what Evolver would willingly pass up a formulation capable of upgrading their strength?
But once they actually took this third-generation Evolver Potion, the remainder of their lives would be completely manipulated by those pharmaceutical corporations and research labs.
If they wanted the potion, they had to remain obedient.
Otherwise, even if the Evolver slaughtered all those corporate executives, it would be entirely meaningless unless they could independently engineer the corresponding antidote formula.
In fact, targeting Bai Hewei this time carried an underlying motive. Aside from having Gentleman abduct him, they also intended to have the other Evolvers deploy the potion to serve as a live advertisement for the formulation.
“Hiss—pharmaceutical technology falling into the hands of a crowd like that is a literal plague!”
The researchers caught on to the malicious intent instantly.
They even realized immediately that if domestic Evolvers consumed this kind of potion, they would likely end up taking orders from those foreign organizations as well.
A segment of Evolvers already harbored dissatisfaction toward the state’s regulatory policies. If they were further shackled by this kind of medication, the future would likely dissolve into utter chaos.
The malice ran incredibly deep.
If they hadn’t secured the potion early on, they might have suffered a severe setback on this front.
No, perhaps the situation was even more dire.
“Chief, I suspect this kind of Evolver Potion has already begun circulating within the foreign markets and our domestic black market,” a researcher noted with worry.
Since the potion could be obtained by them, it proved the other party already possessed mass-production capabilities.
“The Evolver Potion requires Evolver energy, so achieving mass production within a short period is incredibly difficult for them. I estimate their current output is limited, and can only be selectively supplied to those Evolvers who possess high utility value,” Wen Zhiyi scoffed. “The absolute taboo for a researcher is choosing unstable, unorthodox raw materials. They’ve truly lost their minds. Short-sighted fools—have their eyes been thrown out, leaving them completely blind?”
Utterly idiotic!
“Chief, what should we do next?”
“First, broadcast the truth regarding this third-generation potion. Coordinate with the healthcare and customs systems to designate this Evolver Potion as a prohibited drug, barring all import initiatives, and clamp down harshly on any illicit smuggling attempts slipping through customs,” Wen Zhiyi instructed. “I’ll draft the official application report myself. You all go prepare the experimental findings immediately. Consolidate every shred of data, and make sure the side effects section is written with absolute detail—make it simple enough that even a layman can grasp it.”
As for everything else, it was actually easier to handle.
The domestic Evolvers capable of acquiring this kind of potion likely numbered only a handful, and they were essentially the primary targets monitored by the Special Operations Department, so the scope of impact remained limited.
“By the way, coordinate with the National Security Bureau as well. Figure out a way to smuggle back a vial of that stripped-down foreign antidote potion. We don’t need to break through their technological barriers; that wastes too much time. We’ll copy their formulation directly,” Wen Zhiyi chuckled softly. “Don’t those people intend to leverage this to control Evolvers? We might as well play into their hand and claim a slice of the pie for ourselves.”
“Among those foreign Evolvers, plenty possess unique abilities who could be integrated as human resources for our nation. Instead of letting them become disposable consumables under the hands of those idiots whose eyes grow out of the soles of their feet, they might as well come to our side.” Wen Zhiyi’s tone carried a trace of pure disdain. “We might not be able to independently pioneer their specific pharmaceutical technology, but simply copying it gives us a massive advantage over them.”
What their nation lacked least was mass-production capabilities and labor.
They would give those foreign Evolvers a helping hand by driving the price of the Evolver Potion antidote completely down to rock bottom!
Author’s Note:
?( ´?` )?, this is exactly why many doctors abroad love performing gender-reassignment surgeries—because it locks the patient into a lifetime of medication dependency.
Update Posting Schedule: Starting next chapter, posting schedule change from posting every day to 3 chapters every Sunday~
