He Li sat under a tree next to the bookstore and pondered for a long time before sighing and heading home.
Joining the Spiritual Management Association was a decision he had made after much deliberation. In fact, he had considered this issue before and knew it was a problem he had to face.
What would he do in the future!
He had spiritual power and special abilities, which destined him to be different from ordinary people in this world. Moreover, he was being monitored. So, what should he do from now on?
He primarily considered two aspects:
First, he had no method to cultivate spiritual power. Even if he were an "Enlightened One," having treasure without the key to unlock it was useless. What was the difference between that and guarding a tomb?
Second, in this world, he was essentially alone. Although it was the same in his previous world, everyone there was ordinary. There were no spiritual warriors, nor demons or ghosts. But this world was different. He was not like ordinary people, and in a way, he was destined not to live a peaceful life.
Rather than that, it was better to join an official organization directly. Although he didn't know what the future held, at least they would be under his watch, instead of him living under theirs.
If something happened, he would have some initiative.
In fact, to put it plainly, He Li didn't trust Susan and the others. But instead of continuing to be monitored, it was better to join them proactively. At least, everyone would be exposed, rather than him being in the light while they were in the dark, as before.
In short... from now on, he was a subordinate of "Xie Baoqing."
He felt a little apprehensive.
He bought some vegetables at the Dadong vegetable market and went home to cook. He Li rarely ate out because he never knew who might pop out to chat with him, and then, as the conversation progressed, scare the people around him.
After a few such incidents, He Li started cooking at home. He felt it was quite good, saving money and being healthy. At most, when he wanted a change of taste, he would order takeout.
After eating, He Li leaned on the sofa and read a novel on his phone. It was a modern urban "cool" novel, where the male protagonist was awesome and always put down his enemies, women all loved him, and men all admired him. It was exceptionally good.
Suddenly, he stopped his silly grin and looked at the other sofa. Xiao Yue was smiling and looking at him.
"I'm not disturbing your novel reading, am I?" Xiao Yue asked with a smile.
He Li shook his head and chuckled, "You're not disturbing me too obviously. If it were Jin Fang, he'd be watching with me and complaining that the author updates too slowly, saying he'd arrest the author and lock him in a dark room to write."
"Heh heh..."
Xiao Yue smiled, "He'd do something like that."
After he finished speaking,
Xiao Yue's smile faded, and he said seriously, "Joining them now is the optimal and most beneficial choice. In the next few days, they should arrange a mission for you and find someone to accompany you on the mission. They'll call this person a partner, but in reality, they'll be monitoring you. However, you don't need to worry. With us around, everything will be manageable. Kuaishuge.
You need to find a way to cultivate spiritual power and unlock the second stage of your gene lock as soon as possible.
Strengthening ourselves is our ultimate goal."
"I understand," He Li nodded, then asked, "Are Jin Fang and Chen Sui angry?"
"It's normal for them to be angry. They both understand the logic of you joining the Spiritual Management Association, but they just don't want you to take risks. Well... they're afraid you'll be bullied."
"Don't worry," He Li smiled, "I'll get along well with my colleagues and leaders."
"That's good. If anything happens, remember to call us. Any one of us will do. Even He Jun won't refuse you."
Xiao Yue disappeared after speaking.
He Li took a deep breath, sat on the sofa in silence, smoked a cigarette, then took a bath and went to sleep. He had to go to work tomorrow.
The next day, He Li woke up, ate breakfast, and did some chores. The agreed time with Susan was ten in the morning, and it was only eight now, so leaving at nine would be fine.
On a weekday morning, time always passed quickly, but during work hours, time passed very slowly. It was strange.
He Li left home at nine, took a bus, then transferred to the subway, and finally arrived at the Spiritual Management Association building at 9:35 AM.
He was 25 minutes early. On his first day of work, he wanted to make a good impression on his colleagues and leaders.
A positive and energetic self would make them relax their vigilance... or rather... genuinely accept him.
He Li shook his head helplessly. He shouldn't chat with Xiao Yue so much in the future. He was becoming a schemer, just like the protagonist in the novel he read last night, with 800 schemes in his mind. If someone had trypophobia, they'd be scared to death.
Upon entering the Spiritual Management Association building, he found that Susan had arrived even earlier. In the lobby's seating area, Susan raised her coffee cup towards He Li and smiled, nodding.
He Li took a deep breath and walked towards Susan.
"Captain, good morning. I thought I was early, but I didn't expect you to be earlier."
Susan put down her coffee and said, "Normal working hours start at nine. The time we agreed on was ten."
He Li felt a bit awkward hearing this. Indeed, he had no experience working in a large company. However, were all public servants this leisurely?
Susan looked at He Li's confused gaze and seemed to guess his thoughts, explaining with a smile, "Everyone wishes the Spiritual Management Association would disband so we could all be unemployed."
He Li understood. So that's how it was. The nature of the Spiritual Management Association's work was like that of firefighters. People truly wished they could just sit around and do nothing, because if they became busy, it meant big trouble.
"Let's go. Today, we'll mainly conduct tests for you and then sign the contract. After completing these, you will officially join the Spiritual Management Association."
Susan got up and headed straight for the elevator.
He Li still wanted to ask about his salary at the bookstore, but after some hesitation, he decided to ask after officially joining. He would secure one job first before asking about the other.
He Li wouldn't be someone who ate from the pot while looking at the bowl. He would finish what was in the pot first, and then stare at what was in the bowl.
Order was important, a very strict logic.
He Li followed Susan directly to the 34th floor, the top floor of the building.
It was a completely open hall. On the left was a reading area with several rows of bookshelves, and on the right was a leisure area filled with various wines. There were also seven small rooms with closed doors, likely meeting rooms or lounges. In the center was a very large seating area, and in front of the seating area was an unobstructed observation deck. Standing by the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, half of Binjiang City was visible.
As Susan walked, she clapped her hands and called out, "Come out, everyone! He Li has arrived. Come out and welcome our new colleague."
The doors of the four rooms opened one after another. Sister Jiang was an old acquaintance, still wearing the same old-fashioned clothes. Based on He Li's guess, she was likely a Ph.D. from a university's physics department, with the air of an old professor.
There were also two others He Li had seen before, after all, he had confronted them for the time it took to smoke a cigarette. Fortunately, they ran fast, otherwise, today's meeting would have turned into a memorial service.
The other young man, yawning, had dark circles under his eyes. According to He Li's knowledge, young people with heavy dark circles were either internet addicts or rich second-generation heirs. Judging by this young man's attire, he could definitively rule out the possibility of him being a rich second-generation heir.
He Li instantly lost interest in befriending him.