"Forgive me for not informing you beforehand," the old spiritual guide said. "Our Northeast conditions can't compare to Jinling. I wonder if Captain Shen is satisfied. If there's anything that needs improvement, we'll rectify it immediately."
Shen Xingyue waved her hand, saying calmly, "No need. I know the conditions in the Northeast, and this is already very thoughtful. I'm very satisfied."
After the old spiritual guide placed two keys on the desk, he excused himself to see off the spiritual guide from the headquarters' organization department and went downstairs.
After the Shabia people left, Shen Xingyue whispered to the fox spirit, "Kunkun, lock the door."
After the fox spirit locked the office door, Shen Xingyue's shoulders suddenly slumped. Her entire demeanor became weary. She collapsed into the soft sofa, kicked off her high heels, and propped her slender, black-stockinged feet onto the desk. "Ah, I'm exhausted from pretending to be a spiritual guide!"
"You are a spiritual guide, and a very important one at that!" I chuckled. This was the Shen Xingyue I knew – capable of being sweet or feisty, but never resorting to empty pleasantries; that would be too unlikable.
"A very important spiritual guide, you say? Then, Little Wu, come here and give the spiritual guide a leg massage!"
Why would I refuse such a request? I immediately went up and began to knead her legs.
"Hey, hey, where are you rubbing? You don't need to rub my thighs!" Shen Xingyue giggled, tickled, and gently kicked me away with her foot.
I grinned and released her legs, sitting down on the reception sofa opposite her. The fox spirit, acting like a proper subordinate, stood by and began to boil water to make tea with an electric kettle.
"I heard you pulled off a big job behind our Shabia's back?" Shen Xingyue asked me, lighting a Fine Rain Flower Stone cigarette.
"It wasn't exactly behind your back; I had already informed Lin Xi and Lin Chi," I replied, accepting a cigarette she tossed to me.
"But you didn't tell me!"
"...You had just taken office!"
"You just don't trust me! I was with your aunt at the Xishan Hotel the whole time. You didn't come to see her, nor did you come to see me. Were you just hanging around with your Yao Yao all day?"
"We weren't hanging around. We were working. You can ask her if you don't believe me," I said, pointing to the fox spirit.
The fox spirit nodded. "Yes, Spiritual Guide. He wasn't 'hanging around' with our boss all day, but rather with a great whale. For the past couple of days, those two have been sleeping quite a bit."
This damned fox spirit, why does he spill all my secrets!
Seeing Shen Xingyue's astonished expression, I was about to explain about the demon core when the red office phone on her desk rang. Shen Xingyue immediately put her feet down, sat up straight, tidied her clothes, and gestured for me and the fox spirit to be quiet before answering. "Spiritual Guide, hello."
Well, a higher-ranking spiritual guide!
"Yes, the meeting has concluded. Mmm... Minister Zhao has been escorted back... Understood... All right, I will not fail the organization's trust... Yes, mmm, Bai Ze is right beside me. Do you need him to speak on the phone? All right, please wait a moment."
Shen Xingyue covered the mouthpiece and beckoned me to come closer.
"Who is it?" I asked softly as I approached.
"Headquarters, 201!"
201, that must be the highest-ranking one!
I immediately straightened up, filled with reverence, and took the receiver. "Hello, 201... Hand."
I felt that calling myself by this term was more accurate.
"Heh heh, hello, Comrade Chengfeng," the voice on the other end sounded like that of a mature middle-aged woman. "My name is Bai Qingcheng. You probably don't know me, do you?"
"Uh... not very well," I replied honestly. I had seen the official website, but 201 was supposed to be a man named Zhu Ziqiang. And among the other headquarters spiritual guides starting with '2', there was no Bai Qingcheng.
It was highly possible this was someone newly promoted. If Shen Xingyue, a captain in the Jinling Imperial Yellow Team, could be promoted to a captain at headquarters, then it was also reasonable for a provincial Shabia head to be directly promoted to a 201 at headquarters.
But I was only half right.
"I was formerly the head of Shabia's Southwest Region of Yanxia. I took up my new post at headquarters yesterday. Lin Xi informed me that you are the reincarnation of Bai Ze?"
"Uh... that's what they all say," I gave Bai Qingcheng an ambiguous answer.