"Sorry to keep you waiting."

Cui Zhongcheng spent more than an hour reading the last dozen or so pages. As the sunlight shifted, only residual patches of light fell on the two of them.

The man closed the book and said apologetically, "I thought your review... wouldn't be finished until tonight at the earliest."

Dream interpretation was the most time-consuming test.

He hadn't expected Gu Shen to complete it so quickly.

"You're too kind," Gu Shen said, shaking his head quickly. "I've always wanted to come here to read, so I didn't feel it took too long."

Cui Zhongcheng glanced at Gu Shen's side.

He read slowly, but Gu Shen was the complete opposite. He'd already finished two books since sitting down across from him.

"Electromagnetic Topology?" Cui Zhongcheng smiled. This was an old subject that had long been conquered, and the conqueror was famous: "Why did you choose this one? Randomly? Or are you interested in Alan Turing?"

"Actually, I'm interested in the deep sea..."

This sounded a bit arrogant, and Gu Shen quickly corrected himself, "To be precise, I'm curious about the research and development process of the deep sea, so I read some related books when I have time, all sorts of things."

"Then you shouldn't have chosen this one. This one is too old. Topology doesn't have much to do with the deep sea," Cui Zhongcheng said with a smile. "Perhaps you should read books on cloud computing and deep-sea language."

"Logic and algorithms should just be the framework..." Gu Shen thought for a moment and scratched his head. "Mr. Turing said that the real flesh and blood of technology is knowledge and truth that has not been recorded in the library. I know I'm not very smart, so I usually choose this kind of book... Once a subject is conquered, all the difficult points are marked, and after reading it, there are basically no confusions."

Cui Zhongcheng was silent for a while, looking at the teenager meaningfully. "Gu Shen... you're different from what I imagined. Don't underestimate yourself. Perhaps you're much smarter than you think."

Gu Shen was embarrassed to gloss over the praise and said frankly, "You're also different from what I imagined. I thought you would..."

He paused.

He made a typing gesture and smiled, "Be very busy."

Who would have thought that a busy parliamentary assistant would spend an entire day leisurely sitting in the library reading paper books?

"Today is an exception, because I'm meeting you." Cui Zhongcheng stood up, tidied up the books on the table, put his monocle in his coat pocket, and then held the entire coat on his arm, smiling. "Let's walk and talk. I'll show you around my alma mater."

The two left the library, stopping and starting along the way.

"I studied at Da Teng Public School for six years, and my ideal was to become a teacher. If there are no accidents, my ideal should be achievable." Cui Zhongcheng recalled his past, his eyes flowing with complex emotions, and said with a guilty smile, "I'm really ashamed. I've been too busy with parliament matters. More than a decade has passed in a flash, and this is the first time I've returned to my alma mater."

"Accidents?" Gu Shen asked carefully.

"At that time, my mother, who raised me alone, became seriously ill and needed a lot of money. Hua Zhi Group was recruiting talents with high salaries, and Mr. Zhao took a fancy to me, gave me a good position, and gave me a large sum of money." Cui Zhongcheng said softly, "With this money, my parents were able to spend their later years in peace. Sometimes people need to bow their heads to reality. Ideals can't be eaten or used as medicine. I've seen your file. The reason you joined the Tribunal is because of money, right?"

Gu Shen was silent for a moment and nodded.

"There's nothing to be embarrassed about." Cui Zhongcheng said lightly, "People die for wealth, and birds die for food. No one in this world is a saint with few desires. The tasks of the Tribunal are very dangerous. Feel free to make any requests you have. It's a good thing to be able to satisfy you with money now. Perhaps you won't care about these worldly things in the future..."

"I hope my grandmother and the little ones at the orphanage can live better." Gu Shen knew that since Mr. Cui had proposed to meet him alone after the review, it wouldn't just be a casual chat.

Only those who passed the review had the opportunity to meet.

So now was the time to set his conditions.

"That's not a problem." Cui Zhongcheng said calmly, "Xu Ya, the grandmother at Chen Guang Orphanage, worked very hard to raise you. If she is willing to move to a big city, I will send someone to arrange it at any time. If she wants to continue to stay in Wu Lao Mountain, I will directly allocate funds from within the group. The group can solve these children's educational resources, social security, and future employment."

"..."

Gu Shen thought for a while and said seriously, "Can the funds be directly deposited into my card? I hope Mr. Cui doesn't notify my grandmother and the others about this... For those children, guaranteeing educational resources is enough. They can solve other problems themselves."

"Okay." Cui Zhongcheng still agreed cleanly. "It will be done as you say."

It's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but difficult to go from luxury to frugality. Those children who grew up in poor mountain villages often have perseverance and resilience that surpasses their peers, but if this energy is corroded by comfort and enjoyment, it may never return.

"Any other requests?"

Gu Shen thought for a long time this time.

He stopped in front of a lake, the sparkling waves reflecting countless images of himself.

"I told my grandmother that I work in a research institute. I need you to help me cover this up and make her believe it." Gu Shen said slowly, "This shouldn't be difficult, right?"

"Don't worry," Cui Zhongcheng said lightly. "I'll make your research institute resume more real than a real researcher."

Hearing this promise, Gu Shen breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mr. Cui, I would like to ask about the next task." He said seriously, "I have experienced the A-009 incident, and I know what extraordinary tasks mean..."

He would be dealing with many dangerous people in the future, including the uncontrolled, sealed items, and many supernatural phenomena that science cannot explain.

"You will be leaving Qinghe District for a while."

Cui Zhongcheng stood beside Gu Shen, looking at the thousands of silhouettes in the lake, and said softly, "There is a task that will be assigned to you... not as dangerous as you think. It involves dealing with 'normal people'. Of course, it will definitely not be easy."

"Sometimes normal people are more terrifying than the uncontrolled."

Gu Shen smiled self-deprecatingly.

Everyone thought that A-009 was a monster, but only he knew that this tall madam was at least gentle to him.

On the other hand, the unknown transcendent who burned down the building in the fire case was brutal and hateful.

"Finally, I have one more request... I don't want the fire case to be closed or forgotten."

The ripples in the lake dissipated, returning to a smooth mirror surface, reflecting the calm face of the teenager. "This storm was caused by the amnesty order, and those who assassinated me were clearly organized and premeditated. I cannot forgive the actions of the mastermind behind the scenes. He strangled innocent lives and escaped legal sanctions."