Chapter 1 Afternoon Tea

The doorbell rang for a while, but Annie didn't come to open the door. Zhang Yuanqing walked out of the bedroom and opened the security door himself.

Standing outside the door was a seven or eight-year-old boy with large eyes and delicate features, a rather cute child.

This was the landlord's child.

In his right hand, he carried a food container, and in his left, he held an aluminum can with the words "Tieguanyin" written on it.

"Hello, Uncle!" the little boy called out politely.

"It's *gege* (older brother), not *shushu* (uncle). Say it again," Zhang Yuanqing corrected.

The little boy's sense of knowing what's what made Zhang Yuanqing quite appreciative. He nodded with satisfaction and asked, "What is it?"

The little boy looked down at the food container and said crisply, "Afternoon tea. My mom asked me to bring it over, along with tea leaves."

Zhang Yuanqing stepped aside. "Come in."

He led the little boy inside, took the food container, and placed it on the coffee table. Opening the lid, he saw a plate of pastries and a plate of reddish-brown glutinous rice balls in the double-layered container.

"Tangyuan (sweet glutinous rice balls)?"

"No, it's *tang bu shai* (glutinous rice balls in ginger syrup)."

What is *tang bu shai*? Zhang Yuanqing took out the pastries and *tang bu shai* while asking, "What's your name?"

"My name is Cao Chao, and my English name is Robin," the little boy said.

Zhang Yuanqing was stunned for a moment before squeezing out a sentence, "Good name, uh, I'm talking about the Chinese name. Who gave you the name?"

"My dad."

"Does your dad like to watch *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*?"

"How do you know?" Cao Chao's little face was full of surprise.

I also know that your dad must really like Cao Cao. Hopefully, he admires Cao Cao's grand strategy, not... Zhang Yuanqing used chopsticks to pick up a "tangyuan" and tasted it. He only felt it was smooth, soft, fragrant, and not too sweet. The light sweetness of brown sugar and the aroma of glutinous rice echoed in his taste buds.

Unexpectedly delicious.

He opened the aluminum can and smelled it. The tea fragrance was rich; the quality of the Tieguanyin was not bad.

This should be the landlord's wife's return gift. After all, the new tenant paid so readily, directly paying half a year's rent plus three months' deposit, a full 50,000 Federal dollars.

At this moment, Zhang Yuanqing saw the little boy named "Cao Chao" looking at the expensive snacks in the glass plate, quietly swallowing.

The snacks were bought by Annie at the supermarket.

"Take whatever you want," Zhang Yuanqing said.

"Mom doesn't let me eat snacks. I'll get beaten," Cao Chao shook his head, drooling.

"Oh, then don't eat them." Zhang Yuanqing wasn't one to force others.

"It's not that I'm really scared of Mom's beatings." The little boy followed his heart's desire and grabbed a handful of snacks.

He stood by the coffee table, sticking out his little belly, focused on eating. Zhang Yuanqing took the opportunity to ask the little brat about the landlord's family.

Cao Chao's father was named Cao Qing, from Baotang Province. He immigrated to the Free Federation with his parents when he was young and started a small restaurant business. After decades of operation by two generations, they now own six chain restaurants and two snack shops in Chinatown. At the same time, he is also a landlord with six apartments.

The landlord's wife is named Yang Xiujuan. When she married Cao Qing, the family only had two restaurants. In those days, the security in Chinatown wasn't very good. They often encountered black people who ate without paying, law enforcement officers who extorted bribes, and local Chinese gangs who made things difficult.

The complex and chaotic security environment nurtured Yang Xiujuan's extremely irritable temper. She couldn't survive without being fierce.

"Every time Dad and Mom argue, Dad will scold Mom for being a tigress, and then Mom will beat him. My sister sometimes calls Mom a tigress too, and Mom spoils her. Only I never call Mom a tigress because I'm afraid of getting beaten." For a few snacks, Cao Chao sold out his family's information.

"But you just said 'tigress' three times," Zhang Yuanqing pointed out sharply.

The little boy's face changed, and the snacks in his mouth instantly lost their flavor.

"I won't tell your mom. Tell me more about your sister," Zhang Yuanqing said.

The little boy immediately felt relieved, and the snacks in his mouth became delicious again. He gnawed on chocolate-covered nuts like a hamster and began talking about his sister, who loved to fight.

In Cao Chao's eyes, his sister was a veritable devil, moody, snatching his snacks and toys, and liked to beat him for no reason other than not liking him.

Strike the younger sibling early. Your sister is indeed insightful... Zhang Yuanqing finally understood why this child had such a strong desire to survive at such a young age. With a grumpy mother and a sister who loved to hit people, he would have died young if his desire to survive wasn't strong.

"My sister also has magic, so I don't dare to resist her," Cao Chao said with lingering fear.

"Magic?" Zhang Yuanqing's heart stirred. He deliberately said, "That's all to deceive children."

"No!" The little boy frowned slightly, disagreeing. He said loudly, "She showed it to me. She can release electricity, like Pikachu."

As he spoke, he clenched his fists, strained like he was pooping, and shouted, "Ten thousand volts!"

Zhang Yuanqing sensed Cao Chao's emotions. He wasn't lying; he was telling the truth.

In other words, that little girl named Cao Qianxi is a Thunder Mage? Uh, no wonder she's irritable and loves to fight. I remember the characteristics of a Thunder Mage are irritability, anger, and justice—well, relatively justice. That's why Thunder Mages in the Heavenly Punishment faction hold the position of Prosecutor... Zhang Yuanqing's thoughts raced. He asked again, "Does your mom release ten thousand volts when she fights with your dad?"

The little boy shook his head.

That's right. Generally speaking, the probability of an entire family being Lingjing Xingzhe (Spirit Realm Awakened) is extremely small. It's impossible to be so coincidental. But maybe... If this family is all Lingjing Xingzhe, then it's easy to understand how they built their fortune... Zhang Yuanqing thought for a moment and asked again, "Are your parents away from home for a few days every month?"

"How do you know?" the little boy asked in surprise.

This *gege* (older brother) is amazing. He not only knows that Dad likes to watch *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, but also knows that Mom and Dad are often not home.

He was a little scared, wondering if he knew about him wetting the bed last night.

Zhang Yuanqing grabbed a handful of snacks and stuffed them into the little boy's pocket. "I guessed randomly. Don't tell anyone what I said today. If you do, you can come to my house to eat snacks anytime. Go home now. I'll return the container and plates after I finish eating."

"Okay!" Cao Chao nodded happily and rushed out of the bedroom like a whirlwind.

Watching the little boy leave, Zhang Yuanqing ate two more *tang bu shai*. Annie came out of the bathroom, wrapped in a bath towel, with a towel wrapped around her head. A few strands of golden hair hung down, revealing a mature and lazy charm.

The bath towel wrapped her heavy chest, and the snowy cleavage was bottomless. The bath towel hemmed at her thighs, her two beautiful legs were long and straight, round and well-proportioned, as white as solidified milk.

"Ah, Cult Master, what are you eating? Does Annie get a share?" The golden-haired beauty happily came over, her posture suggesting she was attracted by the food and didn't have time to change.

Zhang Yuanqing handed her the chopsticks.

Annie used the chopsticks clumsily, picked up a "tangyuan" and stuffed it into her small mouth. The sweet and soft taste made her eyes light up.

"What is this?"

"Just think of it as tangyuan."

"What is tangyuan?"

"Never mind. Eat it..." Zhang Yuanqing picked up a piece of pastry and started eating. "I just found out that the landlord's family are all Lingjing Xingzhe (Spirit Realm Awakened). Isn't that a coincidence?"

Annie, chewing on the glutinous rice ball, widened her beautiful eyes in astonishment. Then, her face darkened. "They might be people from the official side, or informants for the official side. They might also be members of a loose cultivator organization. Should we change places?"

Zhang Yuanqing pondered for a moment and shook his head. "No, let's just pretend we don't know. Let's observe first, try to gain the landlord's family's goodwill. Maybe we'll need them in the future."

Annie said, "Oh." She picked up another tangshai, but accidentally didn't hold it steady. With a *pa ta* sound, the ball fell into the deep ravine of her chest.

Annie quickly looked at Zhang Yuanqing, looking aggrieved. "It fell, it fell in..."

Zhang Yuanqing glanced at the brown sugar stained on her white chest and said unhappily, "Why are you telling me? Do you want me to help you take it out?"

"...I'll go wash it off immediately." Annie hurriedly got up and walked towards the bathroom, pouting her lips when her back was to Zhang Yuanqing.

Hmph, she seems to have forgotten that I am an Illusionist. She deliberately dropped the ball into her chest to seduce me. How ridiculous. Am I that easy to seduce? Zhang Yuanqing looked at Annie's round buttocks and struggled to look away.

The Lust profession's "perfect figure" and "charm" were fatally alluring to an adult male, like a mouse seeing rice, a cigarette meeting a match.

Cao Chao returned to the next room empty-handed and shouted, "Mom, I'm going to my room! The *gege* (older brother) next door said he'll return the bowls when he's done."

He rushed to his room.

The landlord's wife strode after him and grabbed the back of her younger son's collar. "What's stuffed in your pockets?"

"Nothing!" Cao Chao hurriedly protected himself with his small hands.

"Stuffed so full, are you treating your mother as blind?" The landlord's wife didn't say anything else, bent down, grabbed her son's ankle, turned him upside down, and shook him.

The chocolates, milk candies, candied fruits, and cookies in his pockets fell with a clatter.

"The *gege* (older brother) forced them on me. I said I didn't want them," Cao Chao shifted the blame with a strong desire to survive.

"Quite rich, aren't you?" The landlord's wife glanced at them and gathered the snacks. "Confiscated."

Cao Chao forced a smile. "Okay, all for Mom to eat."

Then, he gave his father, who was enjoying afternoon tea at the dining table, a weak, helpless, and pitiful expression.

Cao Qing was an average-height middle-aged man, slightly overweight, with a small belly, and regular features. At first glance, he looked very calm and dignified, but occasionally revealed shrewdness and slickness between his eyebrows.

His hairline wasn't high, but his hair was a bit sparse. He wore a pompadour hairstyle popular in the 80s and 90s, and his clothes were also very ordinary, grey pants, a black t-shirt, and a pair of flip-flops. You couldn't tell he was the owner of a chain restaurant at all.

Cao Qing ignored his son's plea for help. While drinking tea, he said:

"My daughter said the new tenants are a couple, and the woman is a foreigner? What do you think? Are they trustworthy? Paying half a year's rent and three months' deposit upfront. No one is that stupid, right? Don't get tricked and have half a year turn into squatters."

"I'm better at judging people than you!" The landlord's wife retorted and said, "The young man graduated from Songhai University, and the foreign woman is a foreign language teacher. I think their education is quite good. How about letting them tutor our daughter's homework? Hiring a tutor is too expensive."

Cao Qing scoffed and shook his head. "Let's see."

The next morning.

Zhang Yuanqing got up to wash and sat at the dining table eating the love breakfast carefully prepared by Annie: toast, milk, fried eggs, bacon, and sausage.

All high-calorie foods.

Zhang Yuanqing actually wanted to eat soup dumplings, fried dough sticks, and soy milk, but considering Annie got up early and worked hard, putting in so much effort, he didn't want to rain on her parade.

After breakfast, Zhang Yuanqing took a taxi to the company where Chen Shu worked.

Chen Shu had worked for a large company in her early years. After gaining some experience, she resigned and went abroad, found a few partners, and started a foreign trade business, becoming her own boss.

That foreign trade company was in New York Harbor, very close to the Statue of Liberty.

New York Harbor is the largest port in the Free Federation. Half a century ago, its throughput reached hundreds of millions of tons. In recent years, cargo volume has continued to break records.

It was New York Harbor and Wall Street in Manhattan that made New York County a world-class metropolis.

The two took a ferry across the sea and set foot on the headquarters of the Sea God Church—New York Harbor.

Chen Shu's company was called "Lianhua Trading." Following the navigation, Zhang Yuanqing and Annie found the company in a dilapidated office building.

The receptionist was a meticulously made-up Chinese woman, but her appearance was, at best, pretty.

Zhang Yuanqing went straight up and said in Chinese, "Hello, I'm looking for Chen Shu. She's your general manager here."

The smile on the receptionist's face had just begun to spread when she heard this. She was stunned: "I'm sorry, sir, our general manager is not named Chen Shu."

Not named Chen Shu? Zhang Yuanqing frowned. "Then the position may have changed. I'm looking for Chen Shu, one of your company's shareholders. Can you help me check?"

The receptionist shook her head. "I'm very sorry. If you know our company's shareholder, you can call her to notify her..."

Before she could finish, Zhang Yuanqing said impatiently, "Check for me!"

His dark brown pupils became transparent, and his words seemed to contain a magic power that made people obey.

The receptionist showed fear and obedience, stammering, "You, you wait a moment..."

She bent down and tapped on the keyboard. After a moment, she looked up, her expression fearful and helpless:

"I'm sorry, our company doesn't have this person."

Doesn't have this person? My fists are getting hard... Zhang Yuanqing gritted his teeth, saying to himself that he was really blinded by lard, actually believing Chen Shu. That old woman didn't say a word of truth.

The two had to return the way they came. On the ferry, Zhang Yuanqing said in a low voice:

"Annie, when you were Mr. Beale's assistant, did you ever see my mom?"

Mr. Beale and Annie knew his real name and knew that Chen Shu was his mom.

Annie shook her head. "I served Mr. Beale at the end of last year. He's a good boss. He doesn't have a weakness for women. I just need to do my job well."

Zhang Yuanqing took a deep breath. "Call Mr. Beale and ask... Forget it, don't ask. Beale and my mom are partners. They're in the same gang."

He had to observe Chen Shu secretly.

This time coming to New York County, he must make that riddle mother take off her disguise and reveal her true form.

Taking the ferry back to Manhattan, Zhang Yuanqing went to the "Rainbow Flag Bank" ahead and deposited 500,000 Federal dollars into the bank card issued by the Hunter Guild.

Then, he opened Bounty Hunter, entered the backend, and selected a bounty mission:

#Summary of the Demon Lord's Lovers in the Free Federation#

Mission details: The buyer hopes to provide basic information about the Demon Lord's lovers, including but not limited to family background, position, organization, level, photos, and detailed accounts of their relationship with the Demon Lord.

Bounty Hunters need assessments, points, and levels to accept tasks, but bounty missions have no restrictions. These days, clients who send money are always the daddy, who would set thresholds for daddy?

Zhang Yuanqing's other purpose in coming to the Free Federation was to find the Demon Lord's beloved lover and collect map fragments.

Hopefully, the Demon Lord's lover isn't that Chief Executive Officer of Heavenly Punishment. Otherwise, I can only give up collecting fragments and kneel down to the Demon Lord, sincerely shouting: 6.

Zhang Yuanqing prayed in his heart.

The two took a taxi back to Chinatown. Annie was craving roadside snacks and pulled Zhang Yuanqing to buy a cage of soup dumplings.

When they got home, they happened to see the landlord's youngest son, Cao Chao, playing with a basketball by the side of the road.

At this moment, the roar of an engine came. Four motorcycles sped through the crowded street. One of the motorcycles deliberately approached Cao Chao, suddenly slowed down, and the rider on the motorcycle kicked the little boy to the ground.

The riders laughed and quickly drove away.

The basketball rolled and rolled to the center of the road.

Cao Chao was anxious and hurried to pick it up.

Zhang Yuanqing on the side of the road frowned. He sensed that the rider did it on purpose, and his emotions were mixed with revenge, joy, and naked malice.

"Du du~" A black sedan drove quickly, and the sudden appearance of the child caught the driver off guard, who honked the horn frantically.

Cao Chao trembled and was so frightened that he froze.

In the distance, in front of the snack stand, a long-haired girl screamed, "Cao Chao, come back..."

She dropped the food in her hand and rushed forward like crazy, but she was too far away and couldn't save him in time.

Just when she was desperate, she suddenly saw a figure dart over, actually picking up Cao Chao before the black sedan and quickly retreating.

The speeding car brushed past him.