Chapter 20: Cooperation

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

It was around 9 pm at night.

In a barbecue restaurant on the sixth floor of a shopping center in the city center, Chen Shaojie, Zhong Chaofeng, and Lin Yongxin sat around a table and chatted.

On the table, skewers of meat and wine had been laid out. In the oven, charcoal was burning red. Clearly, the three of them had been waiting for some time.

Chen Yiming lifted the curtain to enter the shop, and saw his cousin with two of his colleagues.

His cousin, Chen Shaojie, had invited two colleagues from his city patrol team out for a small gathering. He had specially invited Chen Yiming over to protect him from being bullied at work.

Chen Yiming didn’t want to come, but since they were from the same family, he didn’t want his parents to be the target of gossip among their relatives. Therefore, he had forced himself to accept the invitation.

“Cousin, over here!”

When Chen Shaojie heard a sound behind him, he turned around and saw Chen Yiming as he entered the restaurant. He hurriedly stood up and waved him over.

He was still wearing the city patrol’s uniform and looked very young. However, he no longer had the air of a student and looked much more authoritative.

This was the effect of wearing a uniform.

Chen Yiming walked to Chen Shaojie’s side and sat down.

There were four seats, and the table was full once Chen Yiming joined.

“These are my colleagues from the city patrol team, Zhong Chaofeng and Lin Yongxin,” Chen Shaojie said as he introduced them to Chen Yiming. He took a bottle opener and poured everyone a glass of beer.

Chen Yiming sized up Zhong Chaofeng and Lin Yongxin.

Although they had already gotten off work, the two of them were still wearing the city patrol uniform just like Chen Shaojie. It was as if they were afraid no one knew of their status.

But after thinking about it carefully, he realized that it was a form of protection for them.

At night, the outside world was not as safe as during the day. Dressed in the uniform from a government department, there was a better chance of ensuring one’s personal safety. Typically, criminals would not quite dare to attack civil servants if they were aware of their status.

After all, the weakening of the city patrol was only limited to East Lake City. The strength of the entire department was not something that ordinary people could scoff at.

“Hello, we’ve heard about you from Shaojie. It’s good to finally meet you in person.”

“Brother Chen, I’m Lin Yongxin, Shaojie’s colleague. Nice to meet you.”

Zhong Chaofeng and Lin Yongxin stood up and took the initiative to shake hands with Chen Yiming.

They had already heard from Chen Shaojie that he had a relative in the Mantis Snake Sword School.

Upon seeing Chen Yiming dressed in the Mantis Snake Sword School’s training robe, they knew that Chen Shaojie was not bragging. They started to treat Chen Shaojie with more respect, and knew that he was not a newcomer that they could just bully.

The Mantis Snake Sword School was a top faction with a warrior presiding over it. As for the city patrol team, although it was a government department, the person in charge had only undergone nine transformations. The gap between the disciple and warrior realms was insurmountable. The difference was like that between heaven and earth.

As a martial arts trainee, Chen Yiming had a status on par with the captain of a small team in the city patrol. His true power could even be higher than the captain of the team the three of them were in.

They were very happy to be able to get to know a capable martial arts trainee like Chen Yiming through Chen Shaojie.

After getting to know each other, the four of them sat down and chatted while barbecuing the meat.

From their conversation, Chen Yiming learned that Chen Shaojie had another motive for inviting him to dinner.

It turned out that his cousin was planning to let him work with their team and take on the job of checking the household registers. They could then help the various villages in East Lake City to get rid of unsavory types dwelling within.

“Cousin, can you give me a hand? The timing of this job is very flexible. Our team can fully cooperate with your availability. The payment will be split 50-50 with you,” Chen Shaojie asked quietly, a sliver of hope shining in his eyes.

If this worked out, his position in the team would be elevated to a level similar to that of the team’s captain. After all, his cousin would only be helping the team because of him, and it would have been impossible if he had not been there to pull the strings.

He was faced with such a good opportunity when he had just started working. With a martial arts trainee as his cousin to support him, he could not help but be tempted by the opportunity.

“If you are just checking the identities of the villagers, your team’s captain should have no problem handling the job. Why did you have to invite me as well?” Chen Yiming asked after some deliberation.

He did not understand what was going on. The team clearly had the ability to complete the job, yet they were trying to split the profits with him.

Although he urgently needed money, he didn’t want to get involved before he understood all the details of the job. It would be troublesome if something went wrong.

“The situation is like this. The city patrol team transferred a lot of elites to the front line because of the war, resulting in a shortage of manpower and strength. That’s why they allowed us to reach out to external parties for help.”

“Also, our captain was injured during a job some time ago and is now hospitalized. He won’t be able to fight for a while.”

“The team currently does not have anyone who has undergone even the first transformation. There are some strong bandits hiding in the village, so our team doesn’t have the ability to accept the job,”

Chen Shaojie told him all the details and didn’t dare to hide anything.

“Will your captain agree? Will the other team members agree?”

Chen Yiming raised his doubts. He looked at Chen Shaojie, then stared at Zhong Chaofeng and Lin Yongxin.

Logically speaking, no one would be willing to let an outsider interfere with their team. Chen Shaojie’s team’s captain and Chen Yiming were not acquainted, so there was no reason to let him benefit from this arrangement.

“Uh… Actually, the main reason I was specially recruited was because you joined the Mantis Snake Sword School back then, Cousin.”

Chen Shaojie looked troubled and he spoke hesitantly.

After mobilizing the elites, the city patrol no longer had the ability to control all the streets of East Lake City. As a result, there were many creatures hiding in remote villages far away from the city center.

Every department under the jurisdiction of East Lake City was overwhelmed, and they didn’t have the ability to mobilize additional manpower for deployment to the city patrol. The higher-ups in the city patrol were forced to turn to external parties to complete their original work.

That was why Chen Shaojie, who seemed unlikely to get hired, was unexpectedly recruited.

“Don’t worry, leave this matter to me. Once I go back, I’ll immediately suggest this to the captain and give you an answer as soon as possible.” Chen Shaojie patted his chest as he gave his promise. His tone was full of confidence.

He was doing all these based on the instructions he had been given by his father, Chen Zhipeng. As a student who had not even graduated from high school, he could not have known how to play his cards.

This included using Chen Yiming’s status to stabilize Chen Shaojie’s position in the city patrol team.

Finally, they would divide the profits properly to keep everyone satisfied, successfully completing the job and gaining influence within the team.

“Alright then. Go ask your captain for his opinion first,” Chen Yiming agreed.

Initially, he did not want to be involved in such matters and only wanted to focus on his cultivation. However, the world seemed to be thrown deeper into chaos, forcing him to think of ways to earn money so that he could protect his family.

“Cousin, just wait for my good news.”

“Brother Chen, please take care of me in the future.”

…

Chen Shaojie raised his wine cup. Zhong Chaofeng and Lin Yongxin also raised their wine cups, and they downed the wine in one go.

There were already many precedents within the city patrol, so the matter could probably be settled just like that.

After that, the city patrol team would have to rely on Chen Yiming to take care of them. Zhong Chaofeng and Lin Yongxin unconsciously became more respectful and treated Chen Yiming as though he were on the same level as their captain.