Chapter 13 In the System?

Finding this map meant that Xiao Liang and I hadn't been wasting our time these past two days. Xiao Liang went to the library front desk to check out the book, and then we headed home.

I went home to notify Uncle Mei and Hu Wazi, while Xiao Liang was responsible for finding Jiang Yongguang. We split up to try and find the next ancient Shu tomb as quickly as possible.

When I got back to Uncle Mei's house, they weren't home. Hu Wazi must have gone to his clinic, but I didn't know where Uncle Mei had gone.

I went back to my room, brewed a pot of tea, and slowly sipped it, waiting for Uncle Mei to return.

It was almost a little after 3:00 PM when Uncle Mei came back from outside. As soon as he saw me sitting in the room, he quickly walked over, pulled a green passbook from his pocket, and shoved it into my hand without a word.

Although bank cards existed at that time, the older generation wasn't used to using them and still preferred using passbooks to deposit money in the bank.

I took the passbook and looked at it. Good heavens, it had a full 230,000 yuan in it!

In 2005, 230,000 yuan could buy a Mercedes-Benz.

"Uncle, where did you get so much money?" I asked in surprise.

Uncle Mei sat down, took a sip of tea, and said calmly, "Jiang Yongguang came by this morning and left me some money, saying it was a subsidy for the Duck River ancient tomb operation. Added to the 200,000 yuan we made from selling the bronzes last time, and the subsidy from the Tuo River tomb, it comes out to exactly 230,000 yuan. I took some time to go to the bank just now and deposited it."

I nodded after listening and quickly pushed the passbook back to Uncle Mei, saying, "Uncle, you should keep this money. I'm too young and impetuous. I'm afraid I won't be able to save it."

But Uncle Mei pushed the passbook back to me and shook his head, "Rongsheng, don't be so polite with your uncle. I'm old, but you're still young, and you need the money more than I do."

Of course, I couldn't pocket this 200,000 yuan all for myself. I wanted to refuse again, but Uncle Mei held my hand down and said, "Besides, you're going to marry An'an soon. You'll need money for the wedding banquet, buying a new house, and getting furniture, won't you? Keep this money. Consider it a little something from me for you two."

Since Uncle Mei had put it that way, it would be a bit pretentious for me to refuse again.

I had no choice but to accept the passbook and nod, "Alright, Uncle, then I'll keep this money for now. Once we rescue Little Mei, I'll give it to her to manage."

Uncle Mei nodded in satisfaction.

Then he said to me, "Oh, right, when Jiang Yongguang came over this morning, he seemed to want to discuss something with you, but you weren't home, so he left, saying he'd come again when he had time."

I was puzzled. What could Jiang Yongguang want to talk to me about?

Could it be that they had found a clue about the ancient Shu tomb?

But he could have told Uncle Mei about that while I wasn't home.

It must be something else.

"It's alright. Xiao Liang and I found some clues in the library. I asked Xiao Liang to find Jiang Yongguang, so he'll probably be back today," I said.

"Really? You found a clue?" Uncle Mei quickly asked, "What kind of clue did you find?"

I told Uncle Mei about Liu Bowen's severing of the dragon veins and the connection to the ancient Shu tombs. Uncle Mei was also surprised after hearing it, not expecting these two things to be related.

Just as the two of us were chatting over tea, the sound of a car came from outside, and Jiang Yongguang really did come again.

This time, he came with Xiao Liang. As soon as he entered, he gave me a thumbs up, praising, "Little Chen, well done. You were actually able to connect the ancient Shu tomb to Liu Bowen's severing of the dragon veins. You have a talent for being a criminal investigator!"

I smiled and said, "Don't praise me so much, it'll make me arrogant. Xiao Liang also deserves credit for this. She's been flipping through a lot of history books these past few days."

Xiao Liang quickly said modestly, "I really didn't help much. It was mainly the clues that Chen Rongsheng found."

Jiang Yongguang said with a chuckle, "You two don't have to be so polite. We're all old acquaintances. Well, time is of the essence. How about we go to the site on the map to take a look now?"

Uncle Mei and I readily agreed, "Alright."

Then I suddenly remembered something from this morning and quickly asked Jiang Yongguang, "Officer Jiang, I heard from Uncle Mei that you wanted to talk to me about something private this morning?"

Jiang Yongguang quickly nodded and said, "Oh, that's right, there's something I wanted to discuss with you."

I thought to myself, I'm just an unemployed bum, what could there be to "discuss" with me? Was the word "discuss" a bit too heavy?

I asked, "Go ahead, what is it?"

Jiang Yongguang narrowed his eyes and smiled at me, making the hairs on my body stand on end.

I couldn't help but urge him, "If you have something to say, say it. What are you smiling at? It's kind of scary."

Jiang Yongguang smiled again before asking, "Would you like to join the system?"

When I heard this, I was immediately stunned and didn't understand what he meant for a long time.

But Uncle Mei understood, patted me on the shoulder, and said, "Rongsheng, Da Yong is trying to recruit you and have you be a Xiaoling Guard with him!"

Jiang Yongguang nodded with a chuckle and said, "That's right, that's what I mean. You're a good swimmer and have guts. Based on what I've learned about you during this time, I've found that you're also a person of good character. Since you're currently unemployed, why not join the system with me? You'd have five types of insurance and one fund, holidays, and subsidies. It'd also allow you to put your skills to good use. What do you think?"

I was stunned. This was definitely a pie falling from the sky for me.

Although joining the system in 2005 wasn't as popular as it is now, with people even calling taking the civil service exam "going ashore," being able to enter the system was definitely a very attractive option.

Especially for someone like me who had no education or background.

Jiang Yongguang directly recruiting me into the system through internal recommendation was like ascending to the heavens in one step.

But after thinking about it, I shook my head and said, "Officer Jiang, I appreciate the offer, but I don't want to join the system right now."

When Jiang Yongguang heard this, he was dumbfounded and asked with wide eyes, "Why?"

Uncle Mei also wondered, "Rongsheng, don't be foolish!"

Even Xiao Liang couldn't help but say, "Chen Rongsheng, are you stupid? Do you know how difficult it is to join the system? I worked so hard to get into the Public Security University and went through layers of screening before finally getting this qualification. You can now be internally recommended directly, which means you'll have to struggle at least five years less than I did. You don't cherish this opportunity. What are you thinking?"

I smiled and said, "You're all doing it for my own good. I understand, and I'm very grateful to Officer Jiang for giving me this opportunity. But before I find Little Mei, I don't want to join the system for the time being. After all, once I enter the public sector, I'll have many more rules and regulations to follow, won't I?"

Jiang Yongguang nodded after hearing this and admitted, "That's true. Once you enter the system, you have to abide by the organization's discipline and obey the organization's arrangements."

I didn't want to be fake with him, so I said honestly, "I'm just afraid that these rules and regulations will affect my search for Little Mei. Officer Jiang, I appreciate your kindness, thank you."

Jiang Yongguang knew that these were all my true feelings, so he didn't force me anymore.

He said with a smile, "Alright, you can't force a melon to be sweet. Since you don't want to join the system for the time being, then we'll talk about it later."

After saying that, he glanced at the time and pointed outside the door, "While it's still not dark, let's go to the site of the severed dragon veins and check things out, shall we?"