Chapter 49: Knowing Transformation

  Lan Jingqiu and Huo Juzhai hid behind a large stone, when suddenly the ground shook violently, even the large stone in front of them split in half. The power was so great that it shocked the ghosts present. Then, a golden light flashed, illuminating the dark Naihe Bridge as if it were daytime. The water in the river turned redder, and the withered grass on both banks of the river seemed to be covered with a layer of golden yellow. A golden pillar shot straight up into the sky, piercing through the black fog that shrouded the underworld, reaching all the way to the Milky Way.

  Time for a cup of tea, the golden light disappeared, everything returned to its original state, the dim Naihe Bridge was still blurry, the dark and humid was still dark and humid, as if nothing had happened.

  Those ten black shadows got up and ran to the riverbank, one of them picked up the Town Demon Seal again and put it back in his arms, then they disappeared like ten clusters of black air shooting out of the underworld. In the distance, several strange and resentful voices came.

  Not long after the black shadow left, Lan Jingqiu and Chen Zhenhua cautiously walked out from behind the big rock and returned to the Naihe Bridge. At this time, the Naihe Bridge was flowing with gurgling water, and a mass of black air was spread out on the river like a blanket, swirling and dancing elegantly on the surface of the water.

  "That's the legendary Town Demon Seal, its power is really not simple," Chen Zhenhua sighed with emotion at the great earthquake that had just appeared, and the light emitted by the Town Demon Seal floated in his mind. Thinking of everything he had seen earlier, he couldn't help but shiver, "It turns out that Yan Wang said we should go to the Yangjian to learn management experience, actually wanted us to find the Town Demon Seal, this is simply deceitful! I don't want to lose my soul, let's go back and tell Yan Wang that we won't return to the Yangjian again, what do you think?"

  "I think it's not right," Lan said after a moment of contemplation. "Yan Wang let us return to the mortal world to help him find the Demon-Suppressing Seal, but he didn't say it out loud, which means this matter must be extremely confidential. If we go back now and tell him we don't want to return to the mortal world, he'll definitely try to silence us to avoid any leaks. I think it's better for us to return to the mortal world after all. Who wouldn't want to live a long life in the mortal world? We only need to learn about management experience in the mortal world; as for the Demon-Suppressing Seal, if we can find it, that's great, but if not, he won't say anything. What do you think?"

  "Uncle Lan is right!" Several people echoed in agreement, and everyone unanimously agreed to return to the human world.

  They continued on their way, walking for about a mile, when suddenly they floated up and drifted into the air, drifting with the wind in the azure sky. The moonlight was bright and clear, and its cold glow shone down on them, as if they were wearing a cloak of frosty light.

  Qian Xiaohong reached out and grabbed a handful of cloud that looked like cotton, played with it in her hand for a while, then put it to her mouth and blew it away, the cloud drifted elsewhere. Lu Xiao Ying stretched out her hand and plucked a star, the star, which was like a gemstone, had a layer of dust on its surface, Lu Xiao Ying wiped it clean with her sleeve, then put the star back in its original position.

  Their souls had been drifting for a long time, and finally arrived above the Sea Whistle City. It was also midnight at this moment. The Sea Whistle City was quiet, although the lights were bright, but there were already very few people strolling on the streets. Those young men and women who liked nightlife had gone to rest.

  They took advantage of no one seeing them and floated down to the Sea Market, each returning to their own skin bag, waiting until dawn before continuing what they should do.

  The sky is bright, and the streets are once again filled with the annoying sound of car horns. Cars are shuttling back and forth on the crowded and noisy streets. The doors of shops have opened, and people who go to work have gone out. A day's busy work is proceeding with a loud noise.

  Lan Jingqiu returned to the company very early and had just sat down in the office when Lan Yutong opened the door and came in, saying non-stop: "I've been waiting for two days! Where did you all go? I'm worried to death! Uncle Lan - of course, can I call you that?"

  He looked at Lan Jingqiu with his eyes, unsure whether he was waiting for Lan Jingqiu to account for the past two days or waiting for Lan Jingqiu's consent to call himself that.

  "I had something to attend to and went out of town for the past two days, so I didn't come back," Lan Jingqiu said with her mouth, but her hands picked up a pack of cigarettes on the table, lit one, and stood up.

  Looking at Lan Yutong's anxious expression, Lan Jingqiu felt both heartache and anger in her heart, thinking: You're worried now?

  "It's really strange," said Lan Yutong, "none of you can find her, and Qian Xiaohong and Lu Xiaoying don't know where she is either. I'm getting anxious." Her words seemed to carry a tone of blame.

  Lan Jingqiu glanced at him indifferently and didn't say anything. Although she didn't want to see the company become like this, if the current situation of the company could change her son's lifestyle and make him find his life ideals again, understand the difficulties of life, then even if the company was really irretrievable, it would still be worth being happy about. Compared to money and her son's character, Lan Jingqiu would still choose the latter.

  Lan Jingqiu was so quiet that Lan Yutong also seemed to have nothing to say. She let out a deep sigh and sat down on the sofa.

  "Uncle Lan," he said after a moment of contemplation, "do you think I'm useless? I know many people look down on me, including some women who fawn all over me. If it weren't for my father leaving this company to me, I'd be nothing. In the past, I was arrogant and boastful with the wealth my father had built up through hard work, but now even that's gone. Thinking back, I wasn't human. When my father was ill, I didn't care about him; all I thought about was how to get a bigger share of the inheritance. After he passed away, I just casually buried him. If he were alive today and saw me like this, he'd be heartbroken.

  These past two days, coming back and seeing the company like this, I finally understand why I'm living and what I should live for. A person should have their own career, even if they don't have a single penny; they should make their life valuable. Money can't buy everything, not even true feelings. But this company is my father's legacy, his lifetime achievement. Saving the company is equivalent to being filial to my father, even if it seems like I'm doing it too late."

  "So, I must work hard, change my life, and live for myself and the company. Saving the company is not to make me richer, but to save my father's legacy, to make up for my late filial piety to my father. Uncle Lan, can you help me? To be honest, these past few days I've been worried and helpless because I couldn't see you all. I was afraid that you would quietly leave me and the company. Now, I trust only you, I know you will help me, otherwise, Qian Xiaohong wouldn't have gone to the villa to find me. Uncle Lan, please save me for the sake of sharing the same surname 'Lan' and having the same name as my father."

  Lan Yu Tong spoke with deep emotion, his head bowed low. Tears streamed down his face, falling onto his hands and into Lan Jing Qiu's heart.

  Lan Jingqiu was also choked with sobs, seeing his son so heartbroken. He really wanted to tell his son "I am your father" right away, but facing such an absurd identity, he finally restrained himself. What made him happy was hearing his son say so many words and do so many things, today he finally found out that his son had really grown up.

  "I'm so touched," Lan Jingqiu said, wiping away tears. "I believe your father's spirit in heaven will be comforted. I didn't think of leaving, and neither did they. From now on, the company will rely on everyone working together with one heart. You must also remember what you said today. And if... I mean, if everyone works together to save the company, will you still remember what you said today?"

  "I will!" Lan Yutong was almost overjoyed, "I definitely will!"

  "What's going on?" Lan Yutong had just finished speaking when Qian Xiaohong and Lu Xiaoying burst in, suddenly seeing Lan Yutong and Lan Jingqiu with red eyes. They immediately understood what was happening and felt a bit awkward. The two girls exchanged a glance, and Qian Xiaohong stuck out her tongue and said, "Sorry, forgot to knock on the door. But we were too excited! Uncle Lan, I've already found out that several clients like to go to 'Zhongyi Nightclub' for entertainment. Tonight, we'll go to the nightclub and bring those clients back."

  "Great," said Lan Yutong happily, "I'll leave this to you, but going to the nightclub will cost money. I have a gold necklace and a diamond ring on me, I'll go sell them and exchange for cash for you to spend."

  Qian Xiaohong looked at Lan Yutong and saw that he was not joking, so she said: "This necklace and ring are for sale, but the money doesn't need to be given to us, just put it in the company, and later we'll still have to split it up bit by bit."

  "Silver?" Dugu Jin stepped forward and said, "I don't have any, but since I joined the company, the master has been giving me a monthly salary. So, I do have some modern silver notes, after all, I'm an ancient person, I don't know how to use them, so I've kept them."

  "Are you an ancient person?" Lan Yutong asked in confusion.

  "He's an old-fashioned person, he said he's a conservative person, usually doesn't like to spend money," said Lu Xiao Ying.

  "Oh," Lan Yutong nodded.

  Qian Xiaohong then asked Dugu Zhong to quickly take out the money, and Dugu Zhong turned around and left. Not long after, he opened the door and came in again, with a cloth package in his hand.

  "Here," he handed the package to Qian Xiaohong, "the silver ticket is inside."

  Lu Xiaoying leaned over, and the two of them opened the cloth package. They saw that there were more than 10,000 yuan in cash neatly stacked inside. This shows that Dugu Jinzhong basically didn't spend any money, because his monthly salary was 4,300 yuan, and he had been working for four months. Now, there was still over 13,000 yuan left in the package. So, it can be said with certainty that Dugu Jinzhong was so lonely every day after work.

  Lan Yutong saw that all the company employees were so supportive of the company and were unconditionally helping him, he let out a long sigh, and in his heart, he secretly made up his mind to work hard and strive for excellence.

  The money for the nightclub was also available, and now everyone had nothing to do, so they sat down and chatted for a while. Before they knew it, it was already noon, and several people felt hungry. Lan Yutong suggested that everyone go out to eat, but Qian Xiaohong and Lu Xiaoying said that eating out was too expensive, and it would be better to buy some boxed lunches instead. The others agreed, and Lan Yutong got up and said he would go buy them.

  He soon came back with several boxes of rice, one for each person in the house. After they were distributed, it was discovered that Lan Yutong's portion was missing.

  "One box is missing," said Lu Xiaoying.

  "I've already eaten," said Lan Yutong, "you eat."

  Has he eaten or is he unwilling to eat boxed meals? Lan Jingqiu was somewhat displeased, thinking that Lan Yutong couldn't change his lifestyle. When things had reached a critical juncture, he was still thinking about mountain delicacies and seafood. He wasn't even willing to eat a bowl of boxed meal.

  Others are also unhappy, thinking that the company is about to go bankrupt, and yet they still want to eat well. Even coarse tea and plain rice can't be eaten, so it's all just empty talk to reform and start anew.

  Everyone stopped talking, let out a quiet sigh, and then silently picked up their rice bowls to eat. The office was filled with the soft sounds of eating, and an air of helpless silence.

  Lan Yutong saw that they were all eating and called out to them before leaving, but everyone was too busy eating to pay attention to him or even think about talking to him.

  After he left, Lan Jingqiu suddenly put the meal on the table and stuffed a mouthful of rice in her mouth, not wanting to swallow it. Earlier, her son had said something so moving that she thought he had really grown up, but unexpectedly, he was unwilling to even eat takeout, how could he struggle hard in the future?

  "It's really like trying to prop up a wall of rotten mud!" He sighed and said.

  "Alright, Uncle Lan, don't be too sad, take your time, I think he will change eventually." said Lu Xiao Ying.

  Qian Xiaohong seemed to have finished eating, she nodded and stood up to find a place to throw away the lunch box. After looking around for half a day, she saw that there was no trash can in the house, so she opened the door and went out.

  When she just walked out, she saw Lan Yutong sneaking into another office. Out of curiosity, Qian Xiaohong followed her quietly and peeked through the door gap. What she saw shocked her so much that tears burst out, and then she ran back to Lan Jingqiu's office crying.