Chapter 196

Bei Qiao, whose height had recently reached 1.75 meters, said: "...Oh."

"Alin."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Qiao Lin." Qiao Lin, having been warned by his twin brother, slapped Bei Qiao on the shoulder. "Are you planning to go upstairs? The weather is nice today."

Bei Qiao took a step back and said, "The weather is really nice."

Qiao Lin, who didn’t hit the other person’s shoulder: “… Yo.” He really doesn’t have a good temper, it’s funny.

The Qiao family members took turns greeting Bei Qiao, temporarily getting to know each other. Of the group, the only people Bei Qiao was familiar with were Qiao Qi, whom he had met once, and a certain proprietress who was rumored to have been killed by her in-laws.

"Do you know each other?" Meng Yue noticed that her sister Meng Xin looked at the other person with a subtle look.

"Oh, I told you once before." Meng Xin touched his nose: Thinking back on it now, it still feels a bit embarrassing.

"I was told before," Meng Yue recalled, "eliminating the bastards and scumbags, and then eliminating the missing children...that parent who didn't give me face."

"right."

By the time Bei Qiao finished greeting the Qiao family, the Meng sisters had quietly ended their conversation. Meng Xin didn't describe the other person's appearance in detail, but simply confided his embarrassment to his sister.

Now, seeing Bei Qiao again and knowing her name, Meng Xin didn't say much. "Her voice was a little different when we last met, but what does that have to do with me? Maybe it's because of us outsiders that she's deliberately concealing her defenses?"

Of the people present, only Qiao Qi was relatively familiar with Bei Qiao. The others, after greeting him, returned to their seats, showing little enthusiasm for Bei Qiao. While they maintained basic politeness, it was impossible to say they immediately connected. Bei Qiao might be known as Cousin Qiao, but Qiao Qiao was currently only Qin Huan's cousin, his status tied to the Qin family. As for the Qiao family, they were merely strangers, each able to call each other by name. A simple greeting and a few words were all that mattered.

Tacitly maintaining a familiar facade, Bei Qiao said goodbye and headed straight for the basement. The Qiao family, for Qin Huan's sake, would pretend they had a relationship with Bei Qiao. And after Bei Qiao responded, he would tactfully leave before the other party became impatient, lest he prematurely exhaust his favor.

Bei Qiao: Although I don’t know what this little bit of face is for, it feels good to use it as a pretext, as long as I don’t run into people who hate the rich.

The door curtain dropped, Bei Qiao opened the basement, and walked down while putting on his mask. The basement was a little too lively today. Standing on the stairs, Bei Qiao saw a group of players dancing silently.

Perhaps fearing that making too much noise would reveal their presence, the players had laid some sound-absorbing material on the ground, then danced wildly on it, holding up their signs. Because they were wearing masks, everyone let loose. Even the most languid ones stubbornly tried to tame their unfamiliar limbs, waving their heads and arms around like noodles in the crowd.

Bei Qiao: "Oh my, it's so lively..."

After walking around the extremely noisy crowd and finding a seat in a corner, Bei Qiao opened the Chamber of Commerce interface in the forum and finally figured out why these players were so excited. It turned out that the mission rewards from yesterday afternoon had arrived.

Yesterday's human trafficking system was really infuriating, but also really valuable, because it was one of the few that could support people crossing the space-time barrier. Although it could only support one person at a time and there was a time limit, it was already rare enough.

Yes, after being absorbed, other systems were usually reduced to a dead transport system. This system, however, proved resilient, preserving its original transport channel. The entrance, however, became significantly narrower, forcing even the strongest to crouch and squeeze through. Even so, this system's value was immense. Because of this, players who had previously completed the missions received substantial rewards, so much so that they could have easily skipped work for three to five years. This was also the reason why players were so happy they danced in public.

If Bei Qiao weren't so far from the Novice Village, she'd actually want to log off and just lie down for a few months. Even for freelancers, working hours depended entirely on their mood, and working every day was a real pain.

After the revelry, silence descended. After their fill of bouncing around, some players actually logged off immediately, muttering that they wouldn't be online again until at least the Lunar New Year. To avoid overdoing the public space, they squeezed into a corner, tucked their bags under their buttocks, and adjusted their sitting posture to avoid discovering that their incorrect posture would affect their blood circulation the next time they logged on.

There are capsule rooms in the basement for offline use, but they only accept otherworldly currency. Players with only cash on hand can't afford it, so they can only lament their continued hard work while logging off to pursue a life of freedom and happiness: First, buy everything in your favorites, empty your shopping cart once more, and then... you have to experience a lie-down tour! The experience of being carried to a tourist attraction while you lie down, with only your eyelids and payment required for the entire journey – I've always wanted it!

Bei Qiao remained offline. After replying to Li Qingqing's message, she quickly scanned through all the unaccepted quests, hoping to find something to do. The quests in Chuzhou City were clearly quite martial. Unlike the quests in other areas, these quests were more about finding someone to serve as a bodyguard for a day or to gather together to boost their reputation. Most of the quests were related to the Ren family.

The Ren family's Ren, the willful Ren... Bei Qiao flipped to the last page of unaccepted tasks: "This time I really experienced it. What a pity. If the Qiao family weren't also in Chuzhou City, I would have just logged off from the official Chamber of Commerce and gone out for a few days. I just ran into the Qiao family at the Chamber of Commerce. If I suddenly disappeared, it would easily attract other people's attention. It might also draw attention to the abnormality of the official Chamber of Commerce, which would trigger a series of unnecessary consequences."

After receiving the previous mission reward, Bei Qiao felt even more relaxed. He closed the forum, left the basement, and headed upstairs through the other door. Standing on the high vantage point, he gazed into the distance and soon ran into Meng Xin, who was going upstairs for some fresh air.

Seeing Meng Xin avoid his gaze, Bei Qiao didn't offer a greeting either. The two of them passed each other calmly, as if it were their first meeting. Meng Yue followed Meng Xin and glanced at Bei Qiao openly. When she saw Bei Qiao following her gaze, she naturally turned her head away, without a polite smile or trying to hide the look in her eyes.

Bei Qiao also withdrew her gaze and continued walking towards the stairs. As she walked down, she vaguely heard a noise coming from the door, but before she could hear it clearly, the sound quickly disappeared.

When Bei Qiao walked downstairs, the two doors leading to the basement were both open. He lifted the curtain and walked out, not surprisingly finding that the Qiao family members who had been seated earlier had left. The vacant seats were occupied by a group of even strangers, some of whom looked particularly tired.

Reaching the door, Bei Qiao subconsciously slowed down his pace and looked down at his feet. A mess of muddy footprints had appeared at the entrance of the Chamber of Commerce. A staff member was sweeping the floor with a bamboo broom. Although his face was expressionless, his eyes were filled with curses.

Although he didn't know what was going on, Bei Qiao felt it was best not to say anything about this situation. Staying close to the door to avoid the dust, Bei Qiao glanced at the martial arts hall next door, then chose a direction to go to the local academy. For no other reason than that he had never seen it before.

It seems that dressing like a rich person does have its side effects... After walking a few blocks, Bei Qiao suddenly turned into an alley. A few moments later, a few honest-looking men quickly caught up with him, glancing around as if searching for someone.

Very bold and stupid... Bei Qiao used his lightness skills to get behind these people and easily changed his route to leave: This is the first time I have seen a gangster who does not have a villain face, which is an eye-opener.

Boom! Before Bei Qiao could get far, a few muffled noises rang out from the alley. Bei Qiao pretended to be indifferent and raised the fan in his hand. In the reflection of the fan's edge, he saw a blurry figure peeking out from the alley, then retreating back.

The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. It's impossible that the thief is always protecting himself in secret, and then he was caught off guard and fell into someone else's hands... Bei Qiao put down the fan and continued to walk forward. After a few steps, he was stopped by a familiar voice: "Master Qiao, please stay."

"Oh... Qin Wu." Bei Qiao recognized Qin Wu walking out of the alley, and his expression was immediately a little surprised: "Where is your carriage?" When they met before, Qin Wu served as both an escort and a groom, but now the carriage was nowhere to be seen... He couldn't have just left the carriage to the guests, right?

"I've temporarily left them at the Qiao family. Thank you for your concern, Young Master Qiao." Qin Wu pulled out the men who had followed Bei Qiao from behind him and said, "Young Master Qiao, I'd like to ask, do you still want these men?"

"No." Bei Qiao subconsciously recalled: Did I say anything caring about others just now? Where is the presumptuousness of the words "Do you want people?"

"Thank you! I'll take these people away." Qin Wu bowed and said, "Are you used to this trip, Mr. Qiao? Do you need me to find someone to escort you?"

"No need." Bei Qiao continued to think: What is there to be thankful for?

Rejected, Qin Wu said nothing more. He bowed again and dragged the unconscious people away. Bei Qiao was heading in the same direction as him, so he followed him out of the alley and watched him throw the people directly to the side of the road, just like throwing away garbage.