The next day, at noon.
Old Earl, worried about Mike, made a phone call.
Mike said the matter was resolved and told Old Earl to take Chloe and enjoy two more days.
He stayed in bed until the afternoon, then slowly got up and washed.
He opened for business, but with no customers for most of the day, he simply hung up a temporary closed sign and sprawled at the counter, scrolling on his phone.
Dinner was, as usual, takeout from Old Zhou Chinese Restaurant.
While he was eating, two SUVs, one in front and one behind, escorted a stretched Lincoln, which slowly pulled up in front of the supermarket.
Four bodyguards in suits and leather, wearing sunglasses, got out of the SUVs. After cautiously looking around, they opened the Lincoln's door.
A middle-aged man in a finely tailored gunmetal gray suit with impeccably styled hair stepped out of the car.
The bodyguards opened the door, and the smell of smoke and fried noodles in the air made the middle-aged man frown slightly.
"Tsk~"
Mike smelled the Vampire's putrid odor, and the fried noodles in the box suddenly lost their appeal.
The middle-aged man was Gao Tiannu, the Speaker of the Blood Clan Council, a pure-blood Vampire. According to rumors, most pure-blood Vampires considered themselves noble, behaved elegantly, but were rigid in their thinking and old-fashioned in their ways.
They were low-key, valued honor, and kept their promises—this was an important reason why S.H.I.E.L.D. was willing to sign a peace agreement with them.
Gao Tiannu stepped forward and politely said, "Hello, are you Mr. Tang?"
"That's right, it's me." Mike frowned. "Is this about Deacon Frost?"
Gao Tiannu said in a deep voice, "That's right, Deacon Frost is an important member of the Blood Clan Council… "
"How important?"
"Uh…"
Gao Tiannu almost couldn't maintain his serious and proper demeanor; why wasn't he following the script!
Mike asked, "Do you want to seek revenge for Deacon Frost?"
If so, Gao Tiannu wasn't just old-fashioned in his thinking, but his brain must have been crushed by a door.
Gao Tiannu shook his head, "No, the Council wants to ask Mr. Tang for a favor."
Mike: "Oh, what favor?"
Gao Tiannu: "Outwardly, regarding the cause of Deacon Frost's Death, please remain silent."
"That's it?"
"Yes, for you, it's not difficult."
"It's not difficult, but what's in it for me?"
"The friendship of the Blood Clan Council," Gao Tiannu took a kraft paper bag from a bodyguard, pulled out a stack of documents, and pushed them in front of Mike, "and a small token of our appreciation."
Mike picked up the documents, briefly scanned a few pages, his expression strange, and asked, "You bought all the buildings around here?"
"No." Gao Tiannu shook his head and said lightly, "Most of them were originally Blood Clan assets; we just needed to buy the rest. Mr. Tang… sign your name, and they're yours."
Honestly, Mike was very tempted.
But he was prepared to refuse.
When the cheese was too big, too fragrant, and came too easily, Mike subconsciously felt there was a trap.
At this moment, a commission message was generated in his mind:
"Gao Tiannu's Commission: Silence is Golden"
"Commission: Real estate worth over 5.4 million U.S. dollars (after deducting expenses, 90% of the rental or sale income from the acquired properties belongs to the system)"
"Mission Description: Just remain silent about the cause of Deacon Frost's Death. He was not killed by you!"
Ah, this!
This could also generate a commission!
Mike was stunned.
Gao Tiannu didn't generate soul energy, and the income went to the system.
Sigh! Truly a wage earner.
"Alright, it truly is an offer that's hard to refuse."
Mike was not in high spirits.
Before leaving, Gao Tiannu suddenly asked, "Does Mr. Tang accept commissions from Vampires?"
Mike said, "There's no doubt about my aversion to Vampires; that's my stance as a human."
"Previously, there was a commission involving Vampires, and I conveniently chopped down a few; if Deacon hadn't come knocking, things would have ended there. In this regard, I am different from Blade."
"As for commissions… I have my own bottom line; I don't accept just any commission." Mike stroked his chin, "The Vampire Kingdom is the Council's adversary, right? Oh, I can go chop them down, as long as the money is in place."
Mike's eyes lit up, and he threw a business card to Gao Tiannu.
Gao Tiannu's mouth twitched.
The Council and the Vampire Kingdom were indeed hostile, but not to the point of mutual destruction, and how could the internal conflicts of the Blood Clan possibly hire a human.
Scope of business: tutoring elementary school students with homework, ghostwriting assignments… He looked at the content of the business card and thought of Mike's earlier remark, "I don't accept just any commission"…
It felt quite subtle.
As soon as Gao Tiannu left, Mike thought, "Managing so many properties is quite troublesome. Should I sell them, or play landlord?"
Mike called Fat Jerry and told him about Gao Tiannu.
Fat Jerry chuckled; it turned out he had also received a commission, which was to spread information about Deacon Frost's Death.
Some said Deacon cheated and was chopped by his girlfriend with a kitchen knife. Some said the Vampire Kingdom played dirty, some said it was Blade's doing, some said Deacon betrayed the Council and was executed by the Council…
Mike understood; wasn't this the celebrity whitewashing trick from his previous life!
Actively releasing all sorts of chaotic information, a mix of truth and falsehood, then gradually losing public attention amidst the arguments of passersby.
Finally, the truth was that the Council executed Deacon Frost, upholding the Council's authority.
Mike recalled the image of Vampires in many cinematic works, often portrayed as mysterious, noble, and charming gentlemen.
Behind the scenes, Vampires might be manipulating things.
Another day passed.
The Banks couple, supporting a weak Lisa, came to thank Mike again.
Mike felt a bit strange; thanking didn't need to be rushed, Lisa's recovery was more important, wasn't it? After a few words, he learned that Lisa had insisted on coming.
Regarding the Vampire Lisa spoke of, the Banks couple believed it was a hallucination Lisa experienced in extreme fear.
"So you think the one who kidnapped Lisa was a psychopath?" Mike asked.
"It's not what we think, but what Agent Cole said, damn it, the killer got away!" Keltman said indignantly.
Cole was one of Coulson's aliases; it seemed he had fabricated a story to fool Mrs. Banks.
However, Lisa clearly didn't believe it, which should be why she insisted on coming.
Finding an opportunity, Mike spoke to Lisa alone, "You are a smart girl; you should think about what's more important to you: the truth or your current life. Don't let past nightmares destroy your future."
Lisa was stunned for a long time before she stammered, "Tha-thank you…"
After seeing off the Banks family, the Vampire incident came to an end.
Mike decided to be a landlord. He first commissioned a private lawyer to register a real estate management company, then found time to post recruitment information on a specialized website.
Mike planned to first find an experienced manager, and then have the manager recruit employees as needed until the company was operating normally.
However, until Old Earl's paid leave ended, not only were there no applicants, but not even a single phone inquiry.
"Where did it go wrong? Is the work environment too bad, or is the workload too much, hmm?"
After thinking for a moment, Mike increased the original salary by twenty percent.
Hmm, it must be that the money wasn't enough.