It was indeed a coincidence. These past few days, someone had entrusted Zheng Mingshan with a task—simply put, something like finding a bodyguard.

They wanted someone with good skills, preferably female, of good character, reliable, to accompany them on a journey. If this journey went smoothly with both parties satisfied, there might be a possibility of a long-term contract afterward.

Zheng Mingshan had heard somewhat about the client and thought it was a good job. Though there would be risks, the pay was substantial. Then again, what profession doesn’t have risks? Construction workers could miss a step, and pilots could fall from the sky.

Life is short; the same time and energy should naturally be used for activities with the highest return on investment. Just like a famous painter could earn tens of thousands for a single painting, while they’d earn at most a few hundred for a day of carrying bricks.

Zheng Mingshan was pondering whether he had suitable candidates when Mu Dai called him.

This was good—better to keep the benefits within their circle. This profession was traditionally difficult to enter, and if Mu Dai could establish herself, she’d never have to worry about basic survival for the rest of her life.

Zheng Mingshan told Mu Dai to pack her luggage. If she passed the “interview,” they would need to depart immediately, saving her the trouble of returning to pack.

But what if she didn’t pass? Wouldn’t that be embarrassing?

Mu Dai grumbled to herself as she packed clothes into a black bag. Suddenly thinking of something, she reached in and threw out anything with cat heads, rabbit heads, or any accessories that looked girlish.

She was about to step onto the path of “professionalism” now.

Zhang Shu watched her pack, words reaching his lips several times but stopping there. He couldn’t describe the feeling in his heart.

People are always contradictory. He wanted Mu Dai to change, but when change came too quickly, he feared it.

As an elder, he wanted to ask Zheng Mingshan about the specific details of the job. Zheng Mingshan kept his mouth tightly shut, only saying: “It’s not illegal. She’s my junior sister; I wouldn’t harm her.”

Zhang Shu had no choice but to ramble on about Mu Dai being young, asking him to take good care of her.

Zheng Mingshan interrupted him: “First, I’m only making a connection, I can’t take care of her; second, if she needs constant care, why go out to gain experience? She might as well stay in this bar and let you take care of her.”

Zhang Shu had nothing to say, feeling that this Senior Brother was rigid in his words and actions, without any softness.

Cao Yanhua, meanwhile, had a drooping face throughout, his eyes full of abandoned resentment. Mu Dai felt guilty but pretended not to see.

The interview location was in Kunming.

Mu Dai followed Zheng Mingshan to board the bus at the station. Zheng Mingshan only carried a plastic bag containing two bottles of mineral water, a bag of cookies, and a phone charging cable.

As the bus started moving, Mu Dai hugged her luggage bag, tilting her head to look at Zheng Mingshan: “Senior Brother, don’t you have any luggage?”

Zheng Mingshan said: “I do.”

He pointed at the plastic bag, then at himself: “My phone, money, and cards are all on me.”

“What about toiletries?”

“Where can’t you buy toothpaste and toothbrushes?”

“Then what about a change of clothes?”

“Where can’t you buy underwear?”

Alright, Mu Dai fell silent. Her Senior Brother earned enough to buy property, but he simply had no interest in material possessions. If facial recognition could be used for payments and identification in the future, he probably wouldn’t even carry money or ID cards.

It was indeed minimalist, but it had advantages. Walking on the street with just a plastic bag made him look like a poor local just getting by, so even thieves wouldn’t bother giving him a second glance.

In early spring, the scenery outside the bus window was nice, but Mu Dai had no heart to appreciate it, still anxious about the upcoming “interview.”

“Senior Brother, what does the client do?”

Zheng Mingshan yawned: “It’s not illegal. As for the rest, let them tell you.”

After speaking, he reclined his seat a bit, in the typical posture of someone about to sleep during a journey.

“Then… what should I pay attention to during the interview? Should I be honest or should I pretend a bit?”

“Be yourself. They’re not offering you mountains of gold and silver; there’s no need to sacrifice your acting skills. If you don’t like them, two words: walk away. People should take themselves seriously.”

Mu Dai couldn’t help but smile. After a while, she wanted to ask more questions, but when she turned her head, Zheng Mingshan was already snoring, meeting with the Duke of Zhou in his dreams.

Following the address, they arrived near the famous Grand View Pavilion in Kunming. That area had a row of extremely high-end private clubs, each with extensive lawns. The names had ancient charm, making them places where ordinary people would hesitate to approach.

Zheng Mingshan carried his plastic bag, walking toward it with steady steps.

What an impressive facade, grand and magnificent. What style was that? Baroque or Gothic? Mu Dai didn’t know, only certain that it was a Western style.

She examined the towering architectural outline, nervous inside, her steps becoming smaller.

Zheng Mingshan looked back: “At any time, you must maintain your presence. You’re intimidated just because he lives in a mansion? What does it matter what kind of house it is? Aren’t they all made of bricks from the earth?”

Mu Dai smiled embarrassedly.

Zheng Mingshan rang the bell at the door, and a cleaning lady came to open it.

Inside was a long corridor. When they reached the end, Mu Dai was surprised by what she saw. Zheng Mingshan also laughed, looking back at the corridor: “Well, well, hidden so thoroughly!”

Before them was an entrance like a courtyard house, with drum-shaped stones, horse-tethering posts, half-open anchor nail gates, door rings with knockers, and decorative tassels on the handles.

Simply put, there was a house within a house—Western-style exterior walls and facade hiding a traditional-style residence that only those who entered could glimpse.

Zheng Mingshan beckoned Mu Dai to enter together.

The interior scenery was distinctive, but essentially a Chinese courtyard—a small path paved with pebbles, stacked rockery, a wishful-thinking window, and treasure vase door for borrowed scenery. On the right was a covered well, the cover too large for the well opening.

A bit further away was a vat filled to the brim with water. A lotus flower and a green leaf floated on the water’s surface. If it weren’t for the wrong season, Mu Dai would have thought they were naturally growing.

Directly opposite was a house with tightly closed doors and windows.

Zheng Mingshan’s phone rang. He answered with a couple of grunts, then tossed the phone to Mu Dai: “Answer it.”

They had already arrived, yet still a phone interview? Mu Dai was full of doubt, but still put the phone to her ear.

An elderly male voice came from the other end: “You’re Mu Dai, right? Walk to your right.”

Mu Dai walked to the right, taking five steps, with the well now ahead of her.

“Stop now.”

Mu Dai obediently stopped.

“Turn around.”

Mu Dai turned as instructed, instinctively glancing at the house. She had a feeling that the person was inside, watching her.

This was making things unnecessarily mysterious, not straightforward at all.

“Now tell me, what’s in front of you?”

Testing her eyesight? Mu Dai reminded herself to be serious—apparently, the interview had already begun.

She was a bit nervous, scanning her gaze repeatedly across what was in front of her, afraid of missing something: “A rockery, a clump of bamboo, a stone table, two stone stools…”

“Look carefully. What characters are written on the stone table? Read them out.”

Since he had asked her to walk to this spot, presumably she could only observe from where she stood. Mu Dai stood on her tiptoes, trying hard to see more clearly, reading with difficulty.

“Gold and silver receive the sun’s essence, must sink and be buried deep in the earth to form. Pearls, jade, and gems receive the moon’s radiance, not covered by an inch of soil…”

As she read to this point, suddenly there was a whooshing sound behind her, and something flew up into the air.

Mu Dai’s back chilled, her hair standing on end. As a martial artist, having someone behind you was the most dangerous situation.

Behind her was the well, and what flew up should be the well cover. Mu Dai twisted her body in a flip, catching a glimpse of a figure at the well opening, with what looked like a rake claw poised to grab. Without much thought, she raised her leg and delivered a straight kick, only realizing as she kicked that her attacker was a girl.

With a splash, coincidentally, the girl was kicked into the vat by her foot. Amidst the splashing water, the well cover that had flown into the air came crashing down. Mu Dai stepped on the vat’s edge for leverage, leaped up to catch it, and, using her remaining momentum, flew to place the well cover over the vat.

Oh, it fit perfectly. No wonder it seemed the wrong size—it was the vat’s cover.

Mu Dai pressed one corner of the vat cover, spun onto it, crossed her feet, and sat down in a lotus position, hands together, eyelashes lowered: “Amitabha.”

She didn’t believe in Buddhism. The lightness lotus position was just a move from her lightness kung fu. Whether on eaves or wall corners, after completing a move, unhurried and composed, she sat elegantly.

The person below wanted to get out, desperately pushing against the vat cover. Mu Dai’s body was light, bouncing up and down with the vat cover’s movements, but she didn’t budge.

Zheng Mingshan laughed heartily: “Beautiful.”

Though he couldn’t do it himself, Mu Dai’s execution was smooth and seamless, which pleased him greatly.

He beckoned to her: “Quickly, come down. Don’t let her choke.”

Mu Dai raised her chin, somewhat proudly jumping down.

Just as her feet touched the ground, there was a dull thud behind her as the vat cover fell, accompanied by the sound of water splashing and loud coughing. The water in the vat was not shallow, reaching up to the girl’s chest. She gave Mu Dai a hateful glare and climbed out, holding onto the vat’s edge.

This girl was about twenty-two or twenty-three, with a round face and a ponytail. She wasn’t the fashionable skinny beauty type, but rather slightly plump. Even with her current puffed-up appearance, she had a unique charm.

Except for what she had hanging at her waist…

On the left of her waist hung a hemp sack, which seemed to be weighed down with something inside. On the right was a bell, not the kind of delicate decorative little bell, but one about ten centimeters tall, about the size of a small cantaloupe.

Strangely, when she moved around, why didn’t the bell ring? Mu Dai tilted her head to look and discovered that fabric had been stuffed into the bell cover, blocking the clapper.

The girl gave Mu Dai another hateful glance, clutching her stomach and limping toward the house.

Yes, indeed. Mu Dai hadn’t held back with that kick. She stuck out her tongue, watching the girl enter the house and then slam the door hard.

It felt like the roof tiles were rattling and dropping dust.

Mu Dai looked at Zheng Mingshan, mouthing: “I have no hope?”

Zheng Mingshan replied: “If you truly have no hope, it’s because they don’t recognize talent.”

Mu Dai laughed heartily. Her Senior Brother’s words were always pleasing to hear. What a pity—if their ages and appearances were compatible, she would have married him immediately.

Zheng Mingshan walked to the stone table, looking at the characters with interest. Although the residence was built in an antique style, it was probably newly constructed. The characters engraved vertically on the table surface were in traditional form.

“Gold and silver receive the sun’s essence, must sink and be buried deep in the earth to form; pearls, jade, and gems receive the moon’s radiance, not covered by an inch of soil.”

The meaning of these words was that gold and silver are formed by receiving the sun’s essence and must be buried deep in the earth to form. Pearls, jade, and gems receive the moon’s radiance and need no soil to cover them.

Just like pearls are always hidden in deep water.

Mu Dai curiously peeked at the well.

It turned out to be a waterless well, about seven or eight meters deep. At the well opening was a hanging ring, from which descended a rather thick, long rope.

No wonder that girl had suddenly sprung up from the well earlier—she had the rope to climb on.

As Mu Dai was thinking, suddenly there was a bang as the door was flung open again.

The girl stood at the doorway, glaring at her.

“Hey, you!” She pointed at Mu Dai. “Yes, you!”

She paused for a moment, seeming very reluctant, but finally squeezed the words out through clenched teeth: “Come in. It’s you!”

Oh, is that so?

Zheng Mingshan nodded toward the house, indicating she should go in together: “Congratulations, congratulations. It seems you’ve passed the interview.”

Mu Dai imitated her master’s usual manner, dusting off her sleeves even though there was no dust on them: “That depends on how the negotiation goes. I’m not necessarily taking the job.”