The Card Apprentice

Tan Yumin peeked at Chen Mu before she recalled her gaze. “It has been a tiring journey. The weather in Dongrui is not as chilly as the north. The scenery here is beautiful too. We shall stay here for some time. As for how long, we’re not sure yet,” she said as she smiled.

Jiang Yu clapped, unable to contain his excitement. “That’s great! If Miss Tan is staying here for a bit longer, I can be your tour guide free of charge. I don’t know much about the other places, but I am very familiar with Dongrui.”

“Attention seeker,” Luo De mumbled in a contemptuous manner.

Jiang Yu smiled awkwardly as he stared at him. Luo De only returned a smile and ignored him.

Tai-shu Zheng said, “It is better for Miss Tan to stay a little longer in Dongrui. At this moment, nowhere is exactly safe. Dongrui is relatively quiet compared to the other cities.”

As the others agreed, Chen Mu thought Tai-shu Zheng had a point. Dongrui was considered the nirvana compared to the other cities that were drowning in warfare.

Tan Yumin heaved a brief sigh. “Yes, everywhere is in mayhem. I intended to travel around the world while I am still young. Now, that dream seems to be hard to achieve.”

Tai-shu Zheng quickly comforted her. “You don’t have to be so pessimistic. Furthermore, you have Senior Mei Ji keeping you company. No one would risk going against the world to offend you.”

“Third young master is right. However, there are corpses everywhere, and cities have been burned to ashes. How can Yumin have the mood to travel around? When Yumin was passing by the Leaf District, there were civil wars day and night between a dozen forces, causing heavy casualties. The people are suffering, and the inflation is not being helpful to their current situation; they cannot even move out of the city. If it wasn’t for Uncle Mei Ji, I don’t think I could have reached Dongrui safely.” Tan Yumin looked even more devastated to the extent that everyone’s heart wrenched for her. The crowd remained silent.

Tan Yumin’s sorrowful voice slowly spread across the corridor pavilion. “I have seen too many tragedies during my journey. Some of the places had completely stagnant economies due to never-ending warfare. There is no way for the supplies to be shipped into the city. Yumin has also seen a family of four starve to death. No one cares about their lives. The powerful ones only want to kill and slaughter! They’re dying from hunger and getting hit by bullets, yet it seems like this is normal,” she said with teary eyes while biting her lips. The sadness in her eyes broke everyone’s heart.

While sadness still lingered in Tan Yumin’s gaze, her tone had become more determined and faithful. “Ever since then, I have made a vow to contribute my utmost to this chaotic world. Yumin is neither a useful nor powerful person. Yumin is but a singer. I’m smaller than a speck of dust in this big federation. However, seeing the miserable people, Yumin’s heart will never feel at ease. I can only do my best, starting little by little and saving one life after another!”

At that point, even the wind had quieted down. Tan Yumin’s voice echoed throughout the corridor pavilion. From a low and depressing to a serious and devout voice, in the end, her words turned out to be blazing and determined!

Rong Ming broke the silence by standing up and bowing to Tan Yumin. He replied in admiration, “Rong Ming admires Miss Tan’s initiative. Let me know if you need my help any time.”

“How can Yumin accept Lord Rong’s bow?” Tan Yumin hurriedly stood up to return the bow.

All of the guests couldn’t help but applaud. Excluding her other strengths, her determined and fearless attitude had already gained her a lot of respect. Chen Mu, too, saluted her. He could tell that what Tan Yumin had said was genuine and sincere. He’d started from the bottom of society and had struggled to climb up to his current position. No one could understand the pain and suffering better than he could. However, the federation had been peaceful and serene back then, unlike the current situation, where the federation was chaos, and the safety of society was jeopardized.

Those who were in abject poverty were living a tougher life at that moment. Back when the government of the federation had been working normally, the poor had barely survived with the alms from the government. However, in the current situation, who would bother to care about a group of people who would give them no advantage? Not even a thought about them would cross their minds. In the eyes of those materialistic people, they would rather spend the money to recruit more card artisans or to purchase more lands instead of distributing alms to those rodents.

From Chen Mu’s point of view, Tan Yumin’s kindness was rare. At least she cared about that group of people! Being kind was not part of Chen Mu’s life principle. Nonetheless, he genuinely respected the kind-hearted people!

Chen Mu didn’t say a word, but his applause showed his sincerity.

“Thank you! Thank you, all!” Tan Yumin bowed to the guests.

At that time, Tai-shu Zheng stood up and said with a loud voice, “To fulfill her dream, Miss Tan has specially founded a charitable organization called the Yu Foundation! I hereby announce that I’ll unconditionally donate 5 billion Oudi to the Yu Foundation!”

Jiang Yu also stood up and said without hesitating, “I donate 8 billion Oudi to the Yu Foundation on behalf of the Jiang family!”

Luo De, too, said, “I represent the Luo family to donate 8 billion Oudi to the Yu Foundation!”

The two families were wealthy. Naturally, it was not a tough job to convince them to donate. Moreover, Jiang Yu and Luo De knew what it was like to spend money to earn others’ favor. Hence, they were quite generous in situations like that.

Rong Ming nodded. “I represent the guards division to donate 50 billion Oudi to the Yu Foundation. Besides that, I’ll personally donate another 10 billion Oudi.”

Tai-shu Shen didn’t want to be left behind. “I’ll donate 5 billion Oudi!”

Tai-shu Cheng followed. “Tai-shu Cheng will unconditionally donate 5 billion Oudi to the Yu Foundation!”

Chen Mu was flustered. She was quite different than the others and had a different influence. She had collected 37 billion Oudi in a blink of an eye. He scanned through all of the guests in the corridor pavilion and was certain the final amount of the donation would not be a small value.

“How about the White Commander?” Tai-shu Zheng raised his brows. “You’re not showing your interest?”

Before Tai-shu Cheng could say anything, Chen Mu nodded and said, “I’ll donate 1 billion.”

“Seemingly, the White Commander is also rich!” Tai-shu Shen raised his eyebrows teasingly. “However, boasting can be done by anyone.” He didn’t believe Chen Mu would be able to fork over that amount of money. For the rest of them, 1 billion was nothing. However, it was not a small amount for a card artisan.

A displeased look flashed through Tan Yumin’s eyes. She raised her voice. “Donation is never about the amount. It’s the thought that counts.” She bowed to Chen Mu as she spoke. “White Commander, Yumin is grateful for your contribution!”

Chen Mu responded with another bow and replied politely, “What I did was nothing compared to what Miss Tan has done!”

Tan Yumin seemed to have sensed Chen Mu’s sincerity through his tone. She smiled. “Thank you!” Tai-shu Shen appeared a little awkward. He hadn’t expected Tan Yumin to not preserve his reputation in public! Tan Yumin, on the other hand, pretended to be oblivious.

Xu Jia tried to lighten the atmosphere. “I’m not as rich as the rest of you. I’ll donate the same amount as the White Commander.” When no one was watching, she leaned toward Chen Mu’s ear and lowered her voice. “Why did you donate such a huge amount for your pride? Now, I also have to spend so much!” She changed her tone and heaved a sigh. “To work on this alone as a woman, it’s not easy for her, either.”

Chen Mu was slightly cautious around Xu Jia. He had been fooled by her before and had almost made an ugly scene during the banquet. He was now careful around that unpredictable woman.

Seeing Chen Mu distance himself from her, Xu Jia stifled a laugh.

The final amount of 101.9 billion was revealed in a short time. Chen Mu was impressed. Even with the purple fluorescent extract, he couldn’t earn that much in that amount of time! Moreover, the truly powerful people in Dongrui were yet to be involved. Like the owners of the wealthy families, they were quite extravagant. Chen Mu couldn’t imagine how large the final amount would be.

However, he genuinely saluted Tan Yumin. Hardly anyone was as kind and down-to-earth as she was. That was a tough path. A normal person would lose their courage just by looking at it. Tan Yumin, being a woman, had the courage to go forward with that path. How could he not be mesmerized and impressed?

To be able to collect such a huge amount of funds, Tan Yumin was filled with joy. All of the guests enjoyed the banquet. Tan Yumin was grinning from ear to ear the whole night. She also performed a few more songs and brought the banquet to its climax.

Tai-shu Zheng stood up abruptly. He clapped before he raised his voice and said, “Ladies and gentlemen! Silence! Silence! Miss Tan is very touched by everyone’s enthusiastic participation tonight. To show her gratitude, she has decided to give away her favorite bracelet as the final prize of the night!”

The banquet exploded with excitement!

“Quiet down! Quiet down! Ha ha! However, there’s only one bracelet! We can’t split it. So, who will be the lucky one? This is the climax of the banquet!” Tai-shu Zheng announced in satisfaction. After today, his reputation in Dongrui would definitely be a step higher.

“All right! I hereby announce the challenge to commence! The rules are simple. Everyone only has one chance. Whoever loses can kiss goodbye their opportunity to compete. The winner will be rewarded with this bracelet, which Miss Tan has been wearing for three years! Listen closely! Miss Tan has had this with her for three years!”

Tan Yumin blushed, which made her appear even more stunning. All of the men’s gazes turned passionate! The banquet became crazy. Everyone went insane upon hearing the news, and the atmosphere became hyped up.

Jiang Yu’s eyes were blazing. He walked to the side, out of view, and turned on his communicator. He gave his order in a low voice. As he was finishing up, he saw Luo De, who had also just finished doing the exact same thing.

“Fatty, the bracelet is mine!” Jiang Yu said mercilessly.

Luo De swatted Jiang Yu’s hand away with a smile on his face but replied in a challenging tone, “May the best man win!”

Tai-shu Zheng was satisfied with the scene before him. Being the organizer of the banquet, he was pleased with the results. That night’s event would be shared across the whole city of Dongrui by dawn the next day! All of the guests were trying their best to gather their top card artisans.

“Bracelet…” Copper would be happy if I could get him the bracelet! Chen Mu was distracted by that thought.

“Why? You’re interested as well?” Xu Jia asked out of curiosity. She had reckoned Chen Mu wasn’t one to be interested in such an affair.

“Yes.” Chen Mu regained his composure and replied nonchalantly. Even though he said it in a light tone, his determination showed clearly in his words. Although he didn’t know when he would meet Copper again, Chen Mu reckoned it would be the best gift for Copper!

His eyes were fixated on the inconspicuous black and white bracelet strapped on Tan Yumin’s wrist.