The familiar voice on the phone, at that moment, was like a small lamp in the darkness, dispelling the boundless darkness in my heart.

"Teacher Xu." He was his junior high school homeroom teacher, the one who guided him towards the light during his darkest time, and the teacher who warmed the first half of his life.

Xu Ran never expected that a single phone call would lead to the child returning to Beiyu.

"You're in trouble." Xu Ran said with certainty the moment he saw Jiang Zheng.

Even though Jiang Zheng tried his best to look energetic, he couldn't fool Xu Ran's eyes.

"Let's go home with the teacher. Your teacher's wife was so happy to know you were coming that she went out to buy groceries early this morning."

Xu Ran smiled, suppressing the sob that was about to burst from her throat. With red eyes, she nodded, just like when she was a child, carrying her schoolbag and following her teacher home for dinner.

Over the years, he has been studying, going abroad, and doing research, without contacting his teacher. However, he still retains the method his teacher taught him to get rid of negative emotions. Whenever he encounters something unpleasant, he writes it down in his diary, like letters that will never be mailed, expressing the negative emotions he cannot vent.

This method allowed him to emerge from the darkness time and time again and greet the future with a smile.

But this time, he could no longer smile and look forward to the future, because he had reached the end of his life.

Following his teacher home, he saw his teacher's wife again, whom he remembered. His teacher pulled him to the dining table, where his favorite braised pork was placed in front of him. The familiar gentleness, the warm smile, and the fragrant braised pork made Jiang Zheng unable to hold back his tears any longer, and they flowed down his face.

When Yang Ailan saw Jiang Zheng's tears, she was taken aback at first, then looked at her husband. Xu Ran smiled slightly and patted Jiang Zheng's shoulder reassuringly, "Sit down and have a good meal with your teacher and his wife."

Jiang Zheng enjoyed the meal immensely, as if he had returned to his junior high school days, with his teacher and his wife constantly piling food onto his plate, worried that he wouldn't have enough to eat or that he wouldn't dare to take any more food.

After a warm dinner, Jiang Zheng was led to the study by Xu Ran, while Yang Ailan went to prepare a guest room for him. As for the hotel reservation Jiang Zheng had made, Yang Ailan personally called to cancel it.

"...So, you just endured it all?" After hearing about Jiang Zheng's experiences along the way, Xu Ran stood up. Because she was angry, she paced back and forth in the study, her breathing was heavy, and she spoke through clenched teeth.

His students were so suppressed and exploited! Those scoundrels who profited from human suffering even stood atop the mountain, stepping on the shoulders of his proud students! Outrageous! Outrageous!

Seeing his teacher so angry, Jiang Zheng felt that the resentment and pain buried deep in his heart dissipated in an instant. He realized that there were still people in the world who cared about him.

The deep-seated repression in his eyes dissipated, and he smiled, saying, "Teacher, none of that matters anymore. I came back this time because I was too tired and wanted to rest. That company you mentioned, I'd like to check out their scale, is that convenient?" He knew his condition very well; he could treat it himself and control it for two years. In the last two years of his life, he had to find something to do. He couldn't just go back to that empty home and wait to die.

Yuan Zhuan was surprised by Xu Ran's efficiency. In just a few days, she had recruited a talented person, a PhD graduate from M. When Yuan Zhuan saw the resume Xu Ran sent, her eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

With such a brilliant talent, how could her small organization possibly retain him?

Cao Ming was also stunned by the bright reward. "My god, why would such a big shot like him be willing to come here?"

Yuan Zhuan remained silent, completely still.

Cao Ming belatedly looked at Yuan Zhuan's long face and coughed awkwardly, "Well, well, that's not what I meant. I just felt that killing a chicken shouldn't be done... cough cough... It's okay, it's okay. With the size of our company, it's lucky for him to get in, lucky haha... Haha... Um, I have something to do. I'll go make some arrangements."

Yuan Zhuan rolled his eyes at the sight of someone fleeing in a disheveled state.

I called Xu Ran and arranged a time to meet.

When Jiang Zheng stood at the entrance of the park with his travel bag on his back, looking at the old iron gate, he felt a mix of emotions.

Is this a security company?

Are you sure it's not a factory?

Although the park covers a large area, it is surrounded by a three-meter-high wall with two layers of dense electric fences, which almost completely blocks the view from the outside. At first glance, it looks like a prison, making people feel depressed.

Look at the red doorbell on the wall to your right.

Jiang Zheng hesitated for a few seconds before pressing the button.

A buzzing sound rang out from the guardhouse inside. Hearing it, someone opened the small door and saw the unfamiliar young man standing outside. "Who are you? Who are you looking for?"

When Jiang Zheng saw the person who came out and opened the door, he was so dashing that anyone who didn't know better would mistake him for a soldier.

A strange thought flashed through his mind, and Jiang Zheng said, "Hello, my name is Jiang Zheng. I have an interview scheduled with your leader, Yuan Zhou, today."

"Oh, I know you. Please come in." The security guard remembered the name of the person he was meeting today.

As Jiang Zheng stepped over the high threshold of the subway station, the scene inside the park came into view, and he was completely stunned.

On the spacious rubber field, a group of young people were training. Some were running, some were boxing, some were doing obstacle courses, some were sparring intensely, and some were supervising in kung fu shirts.

That one glance only deepened my confusion.

Do all security companies require training? Don't they ever go on missions?

Such high-intensity training could easily lead to injury, right?

Following the security guards who were leading the way, we walked across the playground to the office area, which took nearly ten minutes because it was too far.

Along the way, all he saw were various kinds of training equipment and many young people training like they were on steroids. When they saw him, a stranger, none of them would look at him for more than a second, as if he were just an object, which they would glance at and then move on.

Upon reaching the second-floor office, Jiang Zheng met Yuan Zhou, a man of short stature but exuding an air of mystery.

Yuan Zhuan saw the tall and thin Jiang Zheng, whose high-bridged nose and the glasses framed on it were very much in line with his status.

"Hello, I am Yuan Zhou."

"Hello, I am Jiang Zheng."

Yuan Zhuan's gaze swept quickly across Jiang Zheng's face, and he was somewhat surprised when he saw the gloomy fate palace.

Another person with a terminal illness.

Duan Wu is one, and this is yet another.

"You're sick."

Those three words stunned Jiang Zhengzhen. He stared blankly at Yuan Zhuan, wondering what it meant. Was it an insult?

Even if he didn't like him at first meeting, wasn't it too much to insult him? Jiang Zheng's expression changed visibly, and only then did Yuan Zhuan belatedly realize that his words were ambiguous.

What I mean is, your physical condition is very poor.

Jiang Zheng's thick eyebrows furrowed. "Did Teacher Xu tell you this?" He seemed to recall not having mentioned these things to Teacher Xu.

Or did he say it and then forget about it?

Seeing Jiang Zheng fall into self-doubt, she said, "I can see it. Your life palace is gloomy, which clearly means you don't have much time left. Alright, let's get back to the point. You should have seen my situation outside. We're a security company, and our team members undergo high-intensity training year-round. Injuries are unavoidable during missions, so I'm planning to set up a medical team, mainly to take care of our team members' health."

The Palace of Destiny? This boss can read faces?

"You actually noticed I'm sick, and you still want me?" The hospital has already asked him to resign, but he's still talking about salary.

"Here, have some water, then we can talk." Yuan Zhuan served Jiang Zheng a cup of barbecue-infused muscle-regenerating water. Compared to the ones outside, this water had more than twice the concentration of muscle-regenerating pills.

Jiang Zheng, who never drank water given to him by others, reached out and took it, then drank it all in one gulp as if he had seen a ghost.

As soon as the warm water went down his throat, Jiang Zheng decided to leave immediately. He had felt something was very wrong from the moment he came in.

He even drank the water poured by a stranger! That's even more unusual.

Is there some kind of drug hidden in the air here that makes people obedient?

In the space that Jiang Zheng imagined, Yuan Zhuan wanted to sit down and talk to him.

His heavy body felt refreshed, unnoticed by Jiang Zheng in his mind. He put down his backpack, sat down, and took out his resume.

Yuan Zhuan politely accepted the resume.

Upon seeing Jiang Zheng's resume, she fundamentally changed her approach to recruiting him.

It's such a waste to have someone so talented doing nothing but surgical suturing and patching.

"A monthly salary of 10,000, a quarterly bonus of 30,000 and an annual bonus of 30,000 each. If you can understand the distribution ratio of what I give you and mass-produce it, I will give you 3% of the shares."

The next steps involved signing a contract, confirming the job position, and agreeing on the start date. After that, Duan Wu came over and showed Jiang Zheng around the work environment.

Jiang Zheng returned to Xu Ran's house in a daze, holding the signed contract, because Yang Ailan wouldn't allow him to stay in a hotel.

Even sitting on the bed, Jiang Zheng still couldn't figure out how he had been accepted.

They talked for less than ten minutes, and then spent five minutes signing a labor contract.

His salary at the research institute was only four thousand a month, this ten thousand...

Are you sure it's not a scam?

But the people he saw in the park just now didn't seem like scammers at all... Besides, this was a job his teacher had introduced him to.

but……

Jiang Zheng looked at the contract over and over again, but couldn't find any traps. He also reviewed what he had done in the office earlier, but didn't find any unusual signing behavior. He rubbed his temples and thought, "Forget it, if I can't figure it out, I won't think about it anymore."

He has no money or power, and now he doesn't even have a healthy body. Even if someone cheats him, he won't get anything.

The clock struck 12. Hmm, time to take my medicine.

As the pill entered his mouth, Jiang Zheng suddenly remembered something: his liver didn't have that familiar, dull ache today, even though he had been woken up by the pain early this morning.

Finally noticing something was wrong with his body, Jiang Zheng frowned, picked up his teacup, and swallowed a handful of medicine. Suddenly, he felt a pain in his lower abdomen.

When Jiang Zheng came out of the toilet, he was almost completely exhausted. If it weren't for the toilet in the guest room, he probably would have died at his teacher's house.

I rolled over on the bed, and sleepiness came unexpectedly. Even knocking on the door from outside didn't wake me from my deep sleep.

Yang Ailan knew that Jiang Zheng had returned, so she hurried out to buy groceries and asked Chen Ma to cook. When it was almost ready, she came over and knocked on the door. However, there was no sound from inside for a long time, which frightened her. She thought something had happened, so she pushed the door open and found that the boy was sleeping soundly.

Yang Ailan chuckled and draped a blanket over Jiang Zheng's waist before leaving.

"Aunt Chen, leave some food for A-Zheng. Call him to eat when he wakes up."

He slept soundly, and when Jiang Zheng woke up refreshed, the stars and moon were already in the sky.

Standing blankly by the window, gazing at the stars and moon, Jiang Zheng felt that he had experienced a very magical day.

Since he fell ill, he couldn't remember the last time he had slept so comfortably.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but his hardened abdomen seemed to have softened a bit.

Yuan Zhuan assigned the left wing of the office building to Jiang Zheng, letting him arrange how to convert it into a laboratory. The rest would be office space and storage space for medical supplies.

Jiang Zheng moved into the park the day after his interview, and his mental state underwent a qualitative change.

"You are not allowed to take those medicines. Drink this water as your daily water. Trust me, follow me, and you can live."

On his first day there, Jiang Zheng felt like he had entered a pyramid scheme, where the leader was trying to get him to accept her health-promoting water.

He wanted to refuse, but he couldn't.

As if possessed, he did just that.

In the medical department, Yuan Zhuan's staff quota was ten, and the recruitment of personnel was decided by Jiang Zheng himself.

The administrative recruiters only need to tell the medical workers who come to apply for jobs to come to the park for an interview every day.

Xu Ran's efficiency was undeniable; following Jiang Zheng, several more outstanding talents arrived, all of whom were Xu Ran's former students. Standing blankly by the window, gazing at the stars and moon, Jiang Zheng felt he had experienced a truly magical day.

Since he fell ill, he couldn't remember the last time he had slept so comfortably.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but his hardened abdomen seemed to have softened a bit.

Yuan Zhuan assigned the left wing of the office building to Jiang Zheng, letting him arrange how to convert it into a laboratory. The rest would be office space and storage space for medical supplies.

Jiang Zheng moved into the park the day after his interview, and his mental state underwent a qualitative change.

"You are not allowed to take those medicines. Drink this water as your daily water. Trust me, follow me, and you can live."

On his first day there, Jiang Zheng felt like he had entered a pyramid scheme, where the leader was trying to get him to accept her health-promoting water.

He wanted to refuse, but he couldn't.

As if possessed, he did just that.

In the medical department, Yuan Zhuan's staff quota was ten, and the recruitment of personnel was decided by Jiang Zheng himself.

The administrative recruiters only need to tell the medical workers who come to apply for jobs to come to the park for an interview every day.

Xu Ran's efficiency was unparalleled. Following Jiang Zheng, several more outstanding talents arrived, all of whom were Xu Ran's former students.