It was past nine in the morning before Meng Tao brought Xiao Wangcai downstairs.

It’s all Shen Yu’s fault. He talked on the phone for too long last night. The call from Meng Tao was automatically disconnected after a certain period of time. I don’t know how Shen Yu managed to call again a few minutes later and kept nagging.

Meng Tao felt that he might have been stimulated by being forced to be a father, which stimulated his potential to become a chatterbox.

Meng Zhehan was sitting on a sofa in the lobby reading a newspaper. When he saw Meng Tao coming down, he waved to her.

Meng Tao walked over and asked: "Brother, do you live here too?"

"Um."

Meng Zhehan patted Xiao Wangcai's head and said with a smile, "I live on the third floor. I came back from the dock at four o'clock last night and got up at eight o'clock. I wanted to go out for morning tea with you, but you kept me waiting until now."

Meng Tao was embarrassed: "I was a little tired yesterday, so I slept in - then I'll treat you, I know there is an old teahouse on the street ahead, it's very good."

"Okay, let's go, I'm hungry."

The two of them took Xiao Wangcai to a teahouse, asked for a private room, ordered a table full of delicious food, and talked while they ate. Xiao Wangcai was a big eater, and he ordered a lot of snacks and side dishes. They had morning tea until after eleven o'clock, and didn't even need to have lunch.

When they returned to the guesthouse, Sun Hong was waiting for them.

Meng Zhehan was going to go for a trip with Sun Hong, so he told Meng Tao to have a good rest in the room and not to go out at noon as the sun was too hot. He would come back in the afternoon and take her to see the night view of the market after dinner.

Meng Tao nodded and agreed. She might have to go back tomorrow and she also needed to make a few calls.

Meng Zhehan went upstairs to get something. Meng Tao took out a car key from her pocket and handed it to Sun Hong: "I will be back in the next two days. I won't need the car anymore. I'm giving it back to you. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Sun Hong took the car keys and asked, "Sister-in-law, I saw Hu Haibo sneaking around the door just now. I didn't let him in. Do you want to see him?"

"Hu Haibo? I don't know him."

"That's right, the boy who always follows you."

Meng Tao was speechless. It turned out to be Hu Laosi, and he had such a name. "Oh, yes, I asked him to help me find out something. Where is he?"

"Outside. I'll go call him."

After a while, Hu Laosi followed Sun Hong in. He changed into a blue khaki work suit that he got from somewhere, and even had his hair cut. He looked quite energetic. If you didn't know him, you would really think he was a man with a decent job.

Hu Laosi saw Meng Tao sitting alone on the sofa in the lobby, and he was about to move forward with his eyes shining. Suddenly, little Wangcai jumped out, and with a roar, he opened his mouth and bit her. Hu Laosi was so scared that he kept shouting, "Brother Wangcai, don't bite! It's me, Hu Laosi, help me, lady!"

When Sun Hong heard Hu Laosi calling her "female hero", a crack appeared on his serious expression and he turned his head away and smiled secretly.

Meng Tao called Xiao Wangcai and pointed to the sofa opposite, asking Hu Laosi to sit down.

At this time, Meng Zhehan came down from upstairs, said a few more words to Meng Tao, and then left with Sun Hong.

Before leaving, Sun Hong turned back and pointed at Hu Laosi, warning him to behave himself.

Hu Laosi shuddered. What had he done to offend anyone? As soon as he arrived at the door of the guesthouse, Captain Sun kicked him several times, staining his clothes. He finally cleaned them up.

Meng Tao: "Why did you lie to Captain Sun that you were my apprentice? I didn't even know I had the ability to take in an apprentice."

Hu Laosi said hurriedly: "I'm not lying. I've never seen a female warrior as majestic as you. I want to worship you as my master."

"You seem quite confident. Have you ever asked me if I'd like to take you in?"

"Lady, please accept me as your disciple. I can hold a banquet and become your disciple. I swear to listen to you and be loyal to you forever!"

"Don't give me that crap. This is a new society and a new era. If you want to engage in feudal activities, do it yourself, but don't drag me down."

"Lady, please."

"Shut up."

"Tell me, how did that go last night?"

"It's done properly. If you don't believe me, you can ask Captain Sun and Comrade Meng: Are those three people from last night all disabled?"

"How did you do that?"

"Remember the female medical worker on the ship? I heard Captain Sun call her 'Xiao Pan'. I went to the dock and said to a male medical worker, 'Xiao Pan asked me to get something'. The medical worker was busy and pointed at the medical box impatiently and told me to find it myself. I got a white gown, a mask and a white hat, found a place to put them on, and pretended to be a medical worker to approach the three people... and that was it."

"Those three aren't dead, so they won't scream?"

"I know how to give acupuncture. It's passed down from my ancestors. I only learned two of them, the hemp tendon and the mute point. I can control it for ten minutes. My knife is fast, so I can finish it in a few minutes."

"So powerful? The security at the dock was very tight, but you were able to succeed."

"Of course, I will do what the heroine asked me to do, no matter how hard it is!" Hu Laosi was very proud of the praise.

"You go to cleanse yourself of your sins."

"Right, right! So there is no conflict between me and the Heroine now. Are we friends?"

"Not really a friend, just an acquaintance."

"Ah, is that it?"

Hu Laosi was slightly disappointed, but soon became happy again: "As long as we get to know each other, we can become friends in the future."

No one else is so blindly optimistic.

Meng Tao told Hu Laosi that there might be government rewards, material things, and if he was lucky, he might even be given a temporary job. This guy actually looked like he didn't care:

"Just give me some of the money and stuff, and give the job to Axing. He has six or seven brothers and sisters, and they are fighting for a job."

"It would be great to have a stable job, why don't you want it?"

"For twenty or thirty dollars, I am controlled all the time, I have no freedom, I am tired, I will die early."

"Then you are hated for doing that kind of business, aren't you afraid of being beaten to death?"

Hu Laosi paused and said, "Actually, I never steal from poor people. Sometimes when I see someone in trouble, I will give him money."

Meng Tao laughed angrily after hearing this: "So you think you are a chivalrous thief who robs the rich and helps the poor?"

"That's about right."

Meng Tao: “…”

I don’t want to talk about these, so the topic turned to Hu Laosi’s “puncturing the numb tendons and mute points”.

Seeing that Meng Tao was interested, Hu Laosi generously took out the silver needle and taught her. He also said that his family used to have an ancient book on this subject, but unfortunately the book was lost after his great-grandfather passed away.

At around three o'clock in the afternoon, Meng Tao and Hu Laosi were still sitting in the lobby, with Xiao Wangcai squatting quietly beside them.

Hu Laosi failed to become Meng Tao's apprentice, but he did let Meng Tao learn his "secret skills passed down from his ancestors".

Meng Tao went back to her room to use the bathroom, and when she came out she called Boss He Jifa.

She had promised Hu Laosi that if he stopped being a thief, she would find him a way to make a living. She wanted to take advantage of the "reward" that Sun Hong mentioned to get him a job, but Hu Laosi was a stubborn person and it seemed that he could not get a stable job, so it was useless to give him the chance.

He had no choice but to find another way and get some connections from Boss He. With Hu Laosi's cleverness, if he was careful he could become a wholesaler of black market goods.

(End of this chapter)