The Card Apprentice

The transfer had been accomplished very quickly. Within half an hour, everyone in the entire building knew they had a different boss. All the employees stopped their work. It was undoubtedly a bolt out of the blue for certain employees. The Lewin family wouldn’t be considered a grand old family; however, for those who had been under their protection for many years, the Lewins were their sky.

Now, the sky had suddenly been changed. Even the ones who remained calm had no way to look nonchalant about it. They employees all looked concerned, and there was enmity in the gazes from some of them toward Chen Mu and Wei-ah. Some other employees had gathered in the corner to quietly discuss the matter among themselves, shooting glances at Chen Mu and Wei-ah every once in a while.

Cleo very cheerfully made the public announcement, and then he handed over all the materials regarding Heaven’s Wings to Chen Mu before walking off, arrogantly unconcerned.

Not paying any attention to the crestfallen employees, Chen Mu opened up the materials about Heaven’s Wings.

He got stuck on the first page.

* * *

Cleo and his bodyguard were sitting in a shuttle car, and the bodyguard brought up something that concerned him. “Young Master, it looked to me as though those employees had a few issues, and without our help, Cao Dong and Wei-ah might not be able to keep them down.” Before they left, he had found quite a few of the employees looking a little restless and nasty, which astonished him. Given the way the master and his first son operated, it was hard to imagine them putting up with such employees in the company.

“Ha, ha,” Cleo guffawed with a look of satisfaction. “The situation at Heaven’s Wings is rather unusual. The reason we first established it was to give those family members who didn’t have any prospects some way to make a living, as well as to make an old folks home. Some guys there might be a little straightforward in front of my father and Mose, but apart from them, everyone else is basically insubordinate. As long as they don’t cause too much trouble, how could Father expect them to earn their keep?”

“Isn’t that a problem?” The loyal bodyguard was surprised. “Do you mean that’s how First Master is forcing Cao Dong and Wei-ah out?”

Cleo nodded. “Possibly. How could they know anything about card advertising? Once the money is gone from the books, it wouldn’t matter anymore.”

“So, the master and his son have succeeded?” That bodyguard couldn’t help but be concerned about Chen Mu and Wei-ah. That fellow called Cao Dong had outstanding strength. Although he didn’t talk much, he had rescued himself and Young Master with that strength.

“He, he.” The look of satisfaction on Cleo’s face deepened. “It’s not that simple. Although Heaven’s Wings isn’t big and has a good foundation, it has a lot of problems. A sharp person could tell its value at a glance. I have pretty good confidence in Cao Dong’s discernment. They aren’t likely to leave so easily; they will probably give it a try no matter what. This is our chance. When they feel things getting thorny, we show up to help them get rid of the hotheads, and then we give them a little more business. That’s when they’ll realize our value.”

The bodyguard couldn’t help but admire him, which satisfied Cleo still further.

* * *

When Chen Mu saw the words “fantasy card advertisements,” he didn’t know what to say. He felt awash in feelings and was stunned for a while. Such a marvelous world! It was as though there were a hand in the cosmos pushing him forward little by little, and once he thought he had gone a long way, he’d be back at the beginning without realizing it.

“Is there a problem?”

Wei-ah’s words roused Chen Mu. He lifted his head and met Wei-ah’s gaze with a look of commiseration as his heart warmed. He laughed and said, “It’s nothing. It’s just that I hadn’t thought it would be fantasy card advertisement.”

Chen Mu’s gaze returned to the materials in his hand.

Heaven’s Wings was a small fantasy card advertising firm, and the prior year’s profits hadn’t exceeded about 5 million Oudi. There were probably 150 people in the company. That was an outrageous number to Chen Mu. While 5 million Oudi was a considerable sum, it was about what a high-class shuttle car would cost. For a 150-person firm to make only 5 million was really too low.

He continued to look further down when he started to understand. Just about every month, there would be some capital injected into Heaven’s Wings. The amount earned from each project completed by Heaven’s Wings was quite a considerable sum. In rough calculation, they would earn about 35 million in a year. That was enough to explain that Heaven’s Wings’ operational conditions made it a terrific company. Even though Chen Mu couldn’t run a business, he still knew from the values that it wasn’t something most businesses could achieve.

But, when he saw the salaries of the workers, it dawned on him. With 35 million a year in income added to the monthly infusion of 2 million, there would only be 4 or 5 million by the end of the year.

About 40 million or more constituted the salary of the workers. And, among the 150 in the whole company, there were only about 25 who did the work.

Chen Mu understood what had been happening.

Then, he smelled smoke.

He lifted his head to see a group of people not far away, some sitting on the tables, some sitting on stools, all of them with cigarettes in their mouths. Those guys were smoking away as though no one were there, and very soon the room was swirling in smoke.

Chen Mu had seen countless mobsters since he was small, so he was familiar with that kind of bunch.

He got up and walked over to them, saying mildly, “Put out the smokes.”

“Hey man, you’re a real character…”

Before the jerk’s voice had died out, his whole body flew. He crashed like a bag of sand, knocking over a few old tables, and finally fell to the floor. The guy was bent like a shrimp, doubled over in pain, when he fell unconscious.

The office went silent, and everyone’s jaw had dropped. They all looked dully at Chen Mu. No one had thought Chen Mu’s reaction would be so fierce.

Chen Mu’s expression remained calm as though nothing had happened. He didn’t feel the pressure from such small matters anymore.

“Damn, you dare move on us? Let’s go, guys!” A blond young fellow had quickly responded and suddenly stood up, spitting his cigarette to the floor and charging at Chen Mu murderously. Those guys normally ran amok in the place, and to see someone more amok than them made them furious.

Everyone then gathered around.

There were one or two dozen people gathered to the side who were more detached and had no desire to join in.

Chen Mu furrowed his brow, not liking confusion.

He raised his right hand and stuck up his index finger.

Xiu!

A beam of light left a stunning afterimage on everyone’s retinas.

Pu, pu, pu!

Everyone slowed their pace. Before they could react, howling like pigs being slaughtered sounded up ear-piercingly in the noisy office.

Everyone was stunned, and the looks on their faces immediately transformed. There was no more cacophony—only the sound of screaming echoing around the office. It was like the atmosphere had been twisted around by the screaming, which took everyone’s breath away.

There were three people desperately writhing on the floor, each of whom had a bloody hole in his thigh. The line of tailless shuttles had pierced the thighs of the three of them. Blood was gurgling out, leaving its heavy smell in the air. The three on the floor were struggling and rolling around, and the blood was leaving a frightening series of shapes on the floor. Several of the female employees couldn’t take it and immediately fainted, their eyes turned up.

Everyone else looked pretty badly off; except for Chen Mu and Wei-ah, no one could stay calm in such a scene.

Chen Mu’s face was perfectly calm, no longer being the rookie he once was. He had seen countless scenes more terrifying than that one. Wei-ah hadn’t even lifted his lids.

But, although those fancy-pants ran rampant every day, they had never seen such a nakedly bloody scene. The three writhing around on the floor were all well-known comrades, and it was shocking to see them in such misery. That greatly increased the impact.

With his calm expression, Chen Mu looked even scarier in the midst of those unnaturally contorting three people and a floor full of dark red bloodstains.

A thought flashed through everyone’s mind at the same time—maybe Cao Dong had killed people.

“Damn!” someone shouted out, and the crowd of people whose spirits had been near collapse grew noisy. They all scrambled to run away as though they would die if they slowed even a little.

Xiu!

That strange whistle sounded up again like a nightmare, and then a finger-sized hole appeared in the wooden door of the office with a pop, sending splinters flying.

“Stay put.” Chen Mu hadn’t raised his voice, but everyone stopped almost unconsciously as though he had some mysterious power. They were pegged to the floor with some even stuck in the posture of charging forward.

They nervously swallowed and very carefully held their positions, not moving from their spots. The faint muffled screams from behind them weren’t making them feel any safer. On the contrary, their hair stood on end. The youth who had remained calm from beginning to end was starting to look remarkably like a cold, unfeeling, murderous killer fiend in their eyes.

What did he want to do? The panic was spreading.