Qin Siyang returned to the guesthouse and knocked on the door of room 1006.
Chu Baxing opened it.
After entering the room, he saw Huo Dangkou eating candy, his body covered in drool, and Zheng Mubian sitting bolt upright on the sofa.
The moment Qin Siyang saw Zheng Mubian, he felt that Zheng Mubian and Zheng Cong, father and son, were practically carved from the same mold.
The same sitting posture, the same temperament, the same appearance.
Even without knowing their identities, anyone would recognize their father and son relationship.
As the junior, Qin Siyang took the initiative to greet him, "Hello, Chief of Staff Zheng."
Zheng Mubian also stood up warmly, "You must be student Qin Siyang, right? I've long heard your name. Seeing you today, you really are handsome and impressive. The reputation is well deserved."
After the polite exchange of compliments, Qin Siyang sat down opposite Zheng Mubian.
"Little Qin, I came today…"
Before Zheng Mubian could finish speaking, Qin Siyang stopped him.
"Chief of Staff Zheng, there are idle people here. It's not suitable to talk."
Chu Baxing frowned, "Qin Siyang, you're discussing matters of the Chu Legion with Chief of Staff Zheng. That has more or less something to do with me. How can you say I'm an idle person?"
"I wasn't talking about you. Why are you putting the label on yourself?"
Qin Siyang's gaze landed on Huo Dangkou, who was off to the side, sucking on his fingers with relish.
"Him?", Zheng Mubian smiled, "Student Qin, Captain Huo's condition has been repeatedly verified by us. You don't need to worry that he's pretending."
Qin Siyang shook his head, "I'm not worried that he's pretending to be stupid. I'm worried that someone else could get information out of his mouth."
"What do you mean?"
"He's sitting here listening to all our confidential conversations. Even if he can't understand everything, he'll remember a few sentences here and there, right?"
"If one day someone decides to start with Huo Dangkou and ask this fool what he's heard, what if he pours it all out like beans spilling from a bamboo tube?"
"So I'm not guarding against him. I'm guarding against other people."
After hearing this, Chu Baxing cast a questioning look at Zheng Mubian.
Zheng Mubian slowly withdrew the smile from his face and, for the first time, looked at Qin Siyang seriously, "Student Qin, your reputation truly matches the reality."
"You already used those words to praise me when we first met."
"The two praises aren't the same."
Even Zheng Mubian, steady and experienced, couldn't help but marvel at how meticulous Qin Siyang's thinking was.
Chu Baxing stood up and pulled Huo Dangkou to his feet, "Go play with your toys on the bed."
"Oh, okay."
Huo Dangkou obediently sat on his own bed, piling toy figurines around himself and playing the role of a king ruling over his domain.
Qin Siyang glanced over and only then noticed that there were two beds in the room.
The one by the window was where Huo Dangkou slept, messy beyond description.
The other was neat and tidy, with a quilt folded like a tofu block, 'It should be Chu Baxing's bed.'
After helping Huo Dangkou onto the bed, Chu Baxing sat back down with an exasperated look and activated the conversation shield, "The bedsheets get changed three times a day, and he still manages to turn it into a pigsty. There's really nothing I can do about him."
Qin Siyang asked, "Chu Baxing, you're actually pretty used to living with Captain Huo now?"
"Used to it or not, does it make a difference?"
Perhaps hearing the resentment in Chu Baxing's tone, Zheng Mubian comforted him.
"Baxing, I heard you took the initiative to take on the responsibility of looking after Huo Dangkou. A lot of people in the corps think you've matured. And the soldiers and officers from the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Sequence Divisions who used to follow Vice Commander Huo have also eased their attitude toward Commander Chu lately. This is all thanks to you."
Hearing Zheng Mubian's words, Chu Baxing's expression softened a little, "Being able to help my father and Uncle Zheng has always been my goal."
"If the Commander heard that, he'd be so happy he wouldn't be able to close his mouth."
With a few sentences, Zheng Mubian soothed Chu Baxing, then turned his gaze back to Qin Siyang.
"About how I once fell seriously ill and needed Titan Foxtail Grass for treatment, student Qin already knows about that."
"Yes."
Zheng Mubian laughed heartily, "If it weren't for the inner-leaf fragment of Titan Foxtail Grass you provided, I'd still be lying in bed right now. Student Qin, you saved my life. I came to see you today to express my gratitude."
"Chief of Staff Zheng is being too serious. I just made a not-so-ideal deal with Commander Chu. The one who truly saved your life was Commander Chu."
Zheng Mubian had heard from Chu Xiao'ang that they had used pressure to forcibly take the inner-leaf fragment of Titan Foxtail Grass from Qin Siyang, so he naturally understood where Qin Siyang's resentment came from.
"Hey, you can't say it like that. If student Qin hadn't bravely fought enemies outside the safe zone and obtained such a rare material, even the Commander would be a clever housewife with no rice to cook."
"In any case, I must express my thanks to student Qin. Otherwise, if word got out, how could I, Zheng Mubian, still hold my head up?"
Zheng Mubian spoke boldly, but Qin Siyang knew clearly that the fact Zheng Mubian had been saved by him was a secret shared only among a few people and would never spread further.
Zheng Mubian smiled slightly, "Student Qin, I came today with full sincerity. Want to guess what my gift of thanks is?"
Qin Siyang replied without hesitation, "It should be related to the Sequence Corps, right?"
"Correct! Student Qin's mind really is quick. You hit the nail on the head. Then why not keep guessing. Which aspect of the Sequence Corps do you think it is?"
Qin Siyang smiled, "Chief of Staff Zheng's way of setting questions like this reminds me of being randomly called on by teachers in elementary school to recite texts."
"Teachers and I aren't the same," Zheng Mubian still sat bolt upright, but an invisible aura rose from him, "When teachers ask questions, they can only help you solidify old knowledge. When I ask questions, I might help you open up a whole new future."
Zheng Mubian was making it clear that he wanted to see whether Qin Siyang was up to standard to continue cooperating with the Chu Legion.
Since that was the case, Qin Siyang also began to think seriously, pondering while muttering to himself.
"To form a Sequence Corps, what I need boils down to two things, money and people. As for money, I have the Zhao family backing me. I don't need help from Commander Chu or Chief of Staff Zheng. So what you want to help me with should be the issue of people."
Zheng Mubian nodded, "That's right. What you said…"
"The people issue also splits into two kinds. Teaching me how to recruit soldiers, or directly giving me soldiers," Qin Siyang didn't pause and continued analyzing, "If you directly give me soldiers, I probably wouldn't trust them. So you should be teaching me how to recruit."
A trace of surprise flashed in Zheng Mubian's eyes.
"Recruiting also depends on the target. Sequence ability users are all well-off. Even if you recruit them into a corps, they're all like lords. They're fine as officers, but not easy to manage as rank-and-file soldiers. To recruit soldiers, you still have to look for poor ordinary people. But if I recruit ordinary people, it wastes the establishment of my Sequence Corps. I've always been troubled by this."
At this point, Qin Siyang looked at Zheng Mubian, whose pupils suddenly contracted.
"So if Chief of Staff Zheng can tell me a way to turn an ordinary corps into a Sequence corps, that would be best of all."
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
[email protected]/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining P@treon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through P@treon.