Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
These few days were tiring, so Gao Peng decided to take a proper rest. He curled up in bed and wrapped his blanket around him, becoming like a huge furry ball.
In the early morning, the sounds of hawkers peddling their wares could be heard from the window.
Quite a number of them had already started their day’s work, adding a bit of liveliness to the world.
Ding ding dong dong… The jarring sound of an alarm came from beside the pillow. Along with the sound, vibrations were also felt from the pillow.
A hand reached out from under the blankets and accurately grabbed the phone. With a click, the alarm sound went off.
Only after a few minutes of silence did Gao Peng get out of the blanket. He sat up and yawned. His hair was messy like a bird’s nest.
“Ah this won’t do. If I don’t work I won’t be able to afford feeding those two heavy eaters.” Gao Peng rubbed away the crusty stuff from his eyes.
Then he got out of bed, got dressed, washed up and prepared breakfast.
Clang, clang, clang-
Rhythmic knocking sounds came from the living room.
Gao Peng turned around to look while frying his egg. The corners of his mouth twitched.
In the living room, Da Zi had its food basin in its mouth and was staring expectantly at him. Its two maxillae were like a pair of chopsticks, hitting against the edge of the basin, making loud clanging sounds.
The food basin was empty, with nothing inside.
“Wait a while,” Gao Peng motioned Da Zi to keep still.
With a flip of the pan, the egg flipped over and sizzled. A fragrant aroma filled the air.
Quickly, Gao Peng removed the lid from the pot on another stove. His radish and spare rib soup was boiling inside. He turned off the fire and sprinkled some chopped green onions on top.
The green onion fragrance and meat aroma mixed wonderfully together. Gao Peng motioned Da Zi over with his hand, “Come here.”
Da Zi tottered over with its food basin and stared with wide eyes as its master put all the radishes and spare ribs into the basin.
Gao Peng looked at the leftover soup in the pot. He would make a bowl of delicious pork rib soup noodles with this.
…
“Boss.” Xun Quanquan was already at the reception when Gao Peng arrived.
Gao Peng nodded his head in reply and went into his office.
Slightly past 10am, Gao Peng suddenly received a call from an unknown number.
“Hello?” Gao Peng was a little suspicious. There were few people who knew his number.
“Little boss, it’s me, Ma Jian.”
Gao Peng finally realized what was going on. It was the rich Mr. Ma.
The bold and forthright manner in which Ma Jian parted with his money during his last visit left a deep impression on Gao Peng. Ma Jian did not even think twice about paying ten times the normal consultation fees.
“Little boss, I said before that I have another Familiar that I hoped you could help me with right? Do you have time for me today?”
“Yes, I do have free time. Please come over,” Gao Peng said, nodding his head.
“Alright!” Ma Jian happily put down the phone.
After putting down the phone, Gao Peng saved Ma Jian’s number. The contact read: Big Money Ma.
Gao Peng’s office was relatively large. His office desk was placed along the side of a floor-to-ceiling window, allowing the sunlight to shine onto the desk, outlining Gao Peng’s shadow.
Knock-knock-knock. The sound of door knocking came from outside his office.
That’s quick, Gao Peng thought with surprise. He had only put down the phone less than ten minutes ago. Did that guy live within the city center?
“Come in,” said Gao Peng.
“Hello,” said a middle-aged man in a simple grey suit and gold-rimmed glasses as he stepped into the office.
The middle-aged man was surprised to see that Gao Peng was such a young man at first. But almost immediately after, his good upbringing prevented him from showing any inappropriate expressions on his face.
“You are Mr. Gao, I presume? I am the general manager of BlueShield Protection Company. My name is Liu Senlin.”
“A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Liu,” replied Gao Peng with a nod.
“We have heard of your renown, Mr. Gao. You are Chang’an City’s youngest Monster Breeder, and even more impressively, our youngest intermediate level Monster Breeder as well. As such, we would like to invite you to be our company’s Monster Breeder consultant.” Liu Senlin gave Gao Peng a polite and formal smile.
“Monster Breeder consultant? What is that?” Gao Peng did not simply agree straightaway.
“Right, I forgot to explain,” Liu Senlin said apologetically.
“Our company mainly provides security personnel for our clients, hence, fast and lethal Familiars would be the best choice. For our Familiars, our company has chosen the Devil Mantises bred by the Southern Sky Group.”
Gao Peng was momentarily stunned when he heard the words “Southern Sky Group.” His maternal grandfather was once the helmsman of the Southern Sky Group, but he had suddenly vanished during the cataclysm. The upper echelons were in turmoil because of his grandfather’s disappearance. Things only regained stability within the last two years.
“Right now, our company’s first batch of Devil Mantises are slowly reaching the brink of evolution; hence we are hoping to hire a Monster Breeder consultant. This Monster Breeder consultant will be our company’s distinguished Monster Breeder, and will be tasked with evolving our Devil Mantises.”
“This position will not affect your current work. We will only trouble you when our company’s Familiars need to be evolved,” Liu Senlin finally added.
Gao Peng’s brows furrowed, “Why look for me? Chang’an City should have other intermediate Monster Breeders. Also, if I recall correctly, we have a few advanced Monster Breeders too. Their standards should be much higher than mine.”
Liu Senlin shook his head. “Mr. Gao, having achieved an intermediate level at such a young age, we believe you must definitely possess some impressive skills. Also, you might not be aware, but although it is true that there are two advanced Monster Breeders in Chang’an, we are simply not in the position to hire their services,” smiled Liu Senlin bitterly. “One of them is Director Chen of the Monster Breeder Association. His hands are full just from running the association alone. Where would he find the time to be the consultant of such a small company like ours?”
“The other is Mr. Gu Xianlin,” said Liu Senlin with a hint of admiration in his voice. “Mr. Gu Xianlin holds the title of Chang’an’s number one Monster Breeder and holds a position in the government as a full-time Monster Breeder consultant. I certainly do not have the power to request his services.”
“As for other intermediate Monster Breeders, honestly speaking, how big a difference can there be between yourself, Mr. Gao, and other intermediate Monster Breeders? Rather than those other Monster Breeders, I would rather put my trust in the young and promising Mr. Gao.”
Whether or not Liu Senlin’s words were meant to flatter him, Gao Peng could not help but feel rather happy to hear them…
He was, after all still in his teens, and lacking in experience and maturity.
But being happy from hearing praise was one thing and following his principles was another thing altogether. “We can discuss the matter of the fees later, but I would first like to bring up a few conditions.
“Firstly, I have to attend school from Monday to Friday, except in the case of an emergency. Please do not disturb me during these times. Secondly, I am alright with being a Monster Breeder consultant, but not a full-time Monster Breeder consultant for you company. I can only promise not to work under your competitors. If you agree with these conditions, we can continue discussions. If not, I hope this will not affect our working relationship.” With that, Gao Peng sat back and sipped on his cup of tea. He was prepared to be rejected. In all honesty, he was only working here to earn some money for his living expenses. He had no actual plans to pursue this as a career.
“Monster Breeder Consultant” might sound mighty and important, but it was just a job in the end. Gao Peng was a little too lazy to take up this proposition.
Liu Senlin could not help but frown. His lips twitched as though he wanted to say something, but those words never came out in the end.
He stared straight at Gao Peng and said, “Alright, I agree.”
“EH?” Gao Peng was dumbfounded. You would even agree to such conditions?
After expressing his agreement, Liu Senlin took out a contract from his briefcase. He passed a copy of the contract to Gao Peng.
Gao Peng took the contract in his hands and speedily read through it. Its contents were simple, but just to be safe, he called for one of his employees who was in charge of contracts to check it for him.
“There’s no problem.” This contract was not complicated and many of its clauses were clear and simple. The employee nodded his head with certainty only after a quick look at the contract, reaffirming that it was alright.
But Gao Peng was still a little suspicious. This was not consistent with the way such companies worked. Such a simple and clear contract… seemed as though it was meant to bring him benefits.
There were no mandatory requirements, and an annual salary of 500 Alliance Credits plus commission.
The commission was 50 Alliance Credits for every one of the company’s Devil Mantises that Gao Peng manages to evolve.
This Blue Shield Company… did the boss himself open the company?
Gao Peng was not entirely familiar with the market rates, but the offer definitely felt too low, at only 500 Alliance Credits a year and a 50 Credit commission. Just a few days ago, he had earned 400 Credits from promoting the grade of just one Familiar. Although Ma Jian’s wealth had to play a part, Gao Peng’s “normal” rate alone was already at 120 Credits.
There were other Monster Breeder consultant jobs that offered a higher pay in the market, but those were usually buyout contracts that required the consultants to work full-time. This meant that after signing the contract, these Monster Breeders would no longer be allowed to work for other companies as consultants and could at most only take on private jobs.
After the contract was signed, Liu Senlin stood up and forced a formal, polite smile again. “Thank you for your trouble.”
As he was going down the elevator, Liu Senlin took out his phone. He hesitated for a moment before deciding to make a call.
“Uncle… The contract has been signed, yes, Mr. Gao chose the non-full-time contract. Uncle, there are so many intermediate Monster Breeders in Chang’an, why must we…” Something was said over the other side of the phone then. Liu Senlin wore a complex and confused expression on his face. In the end, he simply sighed in resignation.
As the lift doors opened on the first floor, Ma Jian was there carrying a flowerpot, waiting for the lift to come.
He frowned a little as he saw the middle-aged man exit the lift. This person looked familiar somehow.
He thought for a moment then suddenly slapped his forehead. He remembered. That was the general manager of the Blue Shield Protection Company. He also acted as the person-in-charge for the Blue Shield Protection Company.
He seemed to have come from the third floor, which meant that he could have came to look for Mr. Gao too.
What would he be looking for Mr. Gao for? Ma Jian thought for a while until his head hurt. He decided to think about it no more. Ma Jian merrily entered the lift, carrying his flowerpot. He did not care if that man had looked for Mr. Gao. Whatever matter that was, he was determined this time to claim the title of Chang’an Flower King.
