There were no rare ingredients, no world-class chefs—just an utterly ordinary home-cooked meal.
At the dinner table, Lin Yuhsia's mother was so warm and enthusiastic that she kept piling food into Bai Xiao's bowl. Bai Xiao didn't stand on ceremony either. However much she served him, he ate. He could handle this much food, at least.
Watching how comfortable he was, Aunt Lin's expression only grew more and more satisfied.
"Bai Xiao, when did you come to Lungmen?"
"It's been about half a month," Bai Xiao replied seriously after swallowing his food.
"Oh, then it really hasn't been long. I heard you came from Iberia. How many people are there in your family?"
As everyone knew, for a transmigrator who had appeared out of nowhere, the most reasonable background setting was that the whole family was dead. It sounded a little like a curse, but it really was convenient, and it was much harder for anyone to expose the lie.
So Bai Xiao appropriately put on a slightly bitter expression.
"My family... there's no one left now. It's just me."
Any normal person who got an answer like that would stop asking questions right there.
What else were they supposed to ask? How did your family die?
You'd have to be deliberately looking for trouble to come up with something like that.
Sure enough, Aunt Lin immediately looked stricken with pity and added even more food to Bai Xiao's bowl as she spoke.
"You poor child. From now on, this is your home too. Whenever you come, Aunt Lin will cook good food for you."
Bai Xiao nodded hard, but the strange feeling in his heart only grew stronger.
This really didn't feel like an act...
Weren't both the Rat King and Aunt Lin being a little too kind to someone they were meeting for the first time?
While Bai Xiao was thinking that over, Lin Yuhsia, sitting beside him, clearly wasn't thinking so much. She was just quietly eating when Aunt Lin smacked her lightly with her chopsticks.
"You useless girl. All you do is eat. Don't you know to serve Bai Xiao some food too?"
Scolded for no reason at all, Lin Yuhsia widened her eyes but didn't dare talk back. She could only pout and start putting food into Bai Xiao's bowl as well.
Honestly, Bai Xiao was a little afraid she might take her resentment out on him.
"Here. Eat!"
"...Thank you, Miss Lin."
Off to the side, the Rat King acted as if nothing at all were happening. At his age, he didn't eat much anyway, and simply watched Bai Xiao dig into the meal. Bai Xiao didn't stand on ceremony either. If they wanted him to eat, then he ate. At the very least, he now knew this wasn't a Hongmen Banquet.
Still, it had gotten a little dangerous. Aunt Lin was simply too enthusiastic, and Bai Xiao felt too awkward to refuse. If the Rat King hadn't stepped in to stop her in the end, Bai Xiao thought he might actually have been stuffed into becoming a glutton.
After they had eaten and drunk their fill, Aunt Lin pulled Lin Yuhsia away to clear the dishes, while the Rat King led Bai Xiao into his study.
"Sit."
"...Mr. Lin, I think I'll stand. I ate a little too much just now."
The Rat King froze for a second, then coughed lightly. "Ahem. If you can't eat any more, don't force it. What if you make yourself sick?"
Bai Xiao only smiled. "Aunt Lin was too enthusiastic. She cooked so much—if I didn't eat, she'd feel bad."
The Rat King had imagined many possible responses, but that was the one answer he had not expected.
"You're thoughtful." He brewed himself another pot of tea, and as the boiling water streamed into the cup, a delicate fragrance slowly spread through the room.
But the words that followed were nothing like the lightness of that tea.
"You're investigating the smuggling case, aren't you?"
Bai Xiao's spirits sharpened at once, and his gaze turned serious as well. Even if this was only game content, Bai Xiao, as a true master of gal games, still intended to pursue the highest-rated clear possible regardless of the rewards.
And to achieve an S-rank clear, there was only one method:
help Ch'en solve the Originium smuggling case.
Now that the Rat King had brought it up, it was obvious they were finally getting to the real point.
Bai Xiao did not deny it. Instead, he answered directly.
"Yes. Right now, I'm helping Officer Ch'en investigate this case."
The Rat King seemed very satisfied with Bai Xiao's honesty, and continued, "And have you started suspecting me too?"
That, Bai Xiao denied immediately.
"No. We do not suspect you." He spoke clearly and logically. "The physical evidence we obtained entered through Lungmen's city checkpoint. If this were something you wanted to do, Mr. Lin, the docks alone would have been enough. There would be no need to take the risk of bringing it in through the checkpoint."
"So you're not fools after all." The Rat King took a sip of tea and let out a long breath. "Let me tell you this much. The Originium smuggling case has nothing to do with me—but it does have something to do with the slums."
Bai Xiao narrowed his eyes. He didn't particularly care about the slums themselves, but he cared very much about where this information was coming from.
"So you do know something about the case, Mr. Lin?"
"A little, perhaps. I only realized recently that something was wrong myself. But don't think you can coax more out of me. Young people like you ought to start taking hold of this city yourselves. Once we grow old and die, who will you have left to rely on?"
The Rat King was actually treating this entire case as a test.
Could it be...
"Don't misunderstand. While it's true we intended to test you, that only came after we discovered the smuggling case. We're not mad enough to stir up trouble with Originium ourselves. Is that something you can just casually play around with?"
Then, perhaps worried Bai Xiao might not believe him, he added seriously, "You'd do well to stay on guard. Take that as advice from someone who's been around longer than you."
"Let me tell you something—someone capable of getting their hands on high-purity Originium is no ordinary person. Someone like that either has ties to an Originium mining region, or controls an actual mine."
Though he kept calling it a test, the Rat King went on warning him again and again. That, more than anything, made Bai Xiao feel that he truly was a kind and concerned elder.
"Then... Mr. Lin, may I ask one question?"
"...You may. But it must have nothing to do with the smuggling case."
"I want to know who the other person is in the 'we' you mentioned earlier."
The Rat King paused, then clapped his hands and laughed.
"To think you'd catch that—you're very good. And yes, that truly has nothing to do with the smuggling case.... The other person is Lungmen's Governor, Wei Yenwu. He is Hui-chieh's elder uncle."
Bai Xiao understood at once. The Governor and the underworld emperor were both beginning to cultivate successors.
It looked like the skies over Lungmen really were about to change.
The Rat King seemed about to say more, but at that moment Bai Xiao's phone rang.
It was Ch'en.
Apparently, she must have gone home and found no one there, and so had called to look for him.
"It's getting late. I'll have Yuhsia drive you back."
"No need, Mr. Lin." Bai Xiao quickly refused. "There's no need to trouble Miss Lin over something so small. I can just take a taxi back."
But the Rat King pressed a paw down over Bai Xiao's hand.
"From here on, Yuhsia will be helping with the smuggling investigation as well. You're someone Hui-chieh chose, and I hope you can help ease the relationship between them. At the very least, Lungmen's future Governor cannot be hostile toward the Lin family. Otherwise, something will eventually go very wrong in this city."
The Governor in the light.
The Lin family in the shadows.
Lungmen needed both.
Only now did Bai Xiao finally understand.
That sentence—that was the true reason the Rat King had invited him here tonight.
"When Wei Yenwu and I were young, we were comrades who'd trust each other with our lives. That's why we were able to join hands and build Lungmen into what it is today. But the younger generation is different. They never had a chance like that, and they're at the age when their tempers still run hot. Forget cooperation—it's entirely possible they simply can't stand the sight of each other."
The Rat King's judgment was spot on. Those two didn't just dislike each other—they were outright locked in opposition.
"I'm entrusting this matter to you."
Bai Xiao agreed.
In truth, Lin Yuhsia joining them was a good thing. Besides, she was also one of the heroines for this stage, and completing her side route would bring additional rewards as well.
"There's... one more thing."
The Rat King suddenly looked a little awkward.
"Your Aunt Lin has never involved herself in affairs outside the home, and I don't want to pull her into any of this. So when I asked you to come tonight, I used an excuse. I told her that you and Yuhsia are dating. That's why she may have been a little overenthusiastic. Don't take it to heart."
Bai Xiao suddenly understood everything.
No wonder Aunt Lin had kept asking about his family situation at the dinner table—she had treated him as a future son-in-law.
But that excuse was way too outrageous!
"That part isn't important. What is important is that since you're already with Hui-chieh, the two of you should stay together properly. I think you suit each other very well.... This was only an excuse, so don't take it seriously."
As he said that, the Rat King's face unexpectedly took on the melancholy of a worried father.
"Just don't make a move on my daughter, alright?"
....
My Patreon : patreon/RuneA
If you want to read the novel in advance, you can subscribe for early access. I also have many more novels in my collection that you might be interested in
I upload ten novels a day, with 3 to 4 chapters per title depending on the length. If you're following a particular series, please wait your turn a little
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it