CHAPTER 43: CHAPTER 41: OLD FART, AREN’T I AWESOME?

"Hmm... I understand."

Xu Xiaoyou couldn’t refuse the woman and eventually accepted the bracelet.

The jade beads on the bracelet were crystal clear, strung together with a delicate pattern and unique design.

The exquisite inlay craftsmanship instantly revealed its extraordinary quality; even if sold at a pawnshop, it could fetch quite a substantial amount of money.

Xu Xiaoyou estimated the bracelet’s value to be at least over a thousand credit points.

She couldn’t understand why the woman, whose life seemed so impoverished, wouldn’t sell the bracelet despite being gravely ill to improve her living condition, instead treasuring it like a precious keepsake to this day.

Perhaps this bracelet held a special significance for the woman.

Such a precious item, yet she gave it to her.

She gave it to a stranger she had only met once.

As she bid farewell, she stood at the doorway, watching the woman’s breathing gradually slow and her eyes slowly close.

The afternoon sunlight gently poured over the woman’s body, and the wind blowing into the room lifted her hair, shimmering in the light.

After a while, the woman seemed to have fallen asleep, her face peaceful.

In the afternoon, Xu Xiaoyou continued wandering in the slums, passing by a pawnshop several times, her gaze on the bracelet wavering slightly.

In the end, she recalled the woman’s eyes at the time, and silently clenched the bracelet, holding it to her heart.

Though not particularly noble, she couldn’t do such a despicable thing as selling something someone cherished after giving it to her.

"Wear it, for protection," she whispered.

It was dusk.

The setting sun cast its light on an office, rendering its signboard rather worn and old under the golden sunlight; the words "Raven Office" were obscured and hard to clear due to peeling paint.

A few locust trees planted at the gate had some ravens perched on the branches, their black feathers seeming to reflect light, appearing vibrant from certain angles.

They tucked their wings around their waists, gazing intently in one direction until a commotion below startled them into the sky.

"Sigh... another day of no revenue, at this rate, the office will have to close."

A young man, holding a broom, dusted away the inside courtyard’s dust and fallen yellow leaves, sighed as he looked at the increasingly dilapidated yard.

"Rent, utilities... and protection fees, oh god! We only hired three First Tier Cleaners last month, and they disappeared this month. I’m so unlucky..."

"Damn it, they couldn’t even finish the contract before dying! With the contract failed, my office’s rating dropped again, and we couldn’t get any business before, but now, the commission pages won’t even recommend resources to our office."

Complaining incessantly, the boy, after cleaning the courtyard, returned inside.

At that moment, there were still a few scattered figures in the room, all unremarkable Cleaners in Nest City, without any reputation.

It’s true, prominent Cleaners either banded together or had long signed contracts with high-tiered offices, any big jobs would be theirs. Those with business acumen even founded their office, saving the middleman’s cut.

As for these guys, some might not even be registry-listed with the association, operating under a self-titled Cleaner name.

Such Cleaners wouldn’t even be considered by a slightly formal office. Only the likes of his office in the slums could provide them with work.

Though he looked down on them internally, he had to maintain a courteous demeanor outwardly.

After settling their commission payments, he found an excuse to get everyone to leave.

Only one woman, clad in tight black attire, remained in place.

The woman, dressed in tight-fitting black clothes, had her face completely covered by a heavy metal mask, draped in a long trench coat, gave him the feeling of an imposing mountain, with a steady and powerful aura.

The emblem worn on the trench coat’s shoulder was eye-catching; the pattern resembled an open palm, with an eye in the palm, its veins life-like, as if a sinister eyeball was staring at him, sending a shiver down his spine.

"Li Xu, head of Raven Office, a First-Tier office, this month you’ve handled thirty-two commissions, you need to pay the association 1200 credit points."

The woman’s voice came from beneath the heavy metal mask, devoid of any emotion, cold as a mechanical bite.

Upon hearing his name, the boy hurriedly stepped forward and paid the credits while she was present, only closing the office’s door, somewhat crestfallen, after watching her leave.

Li Xu knew she was a member of the ’Palm’ unit within the Cleaners’ Association, specifically tasked with collecting protection fees from all registered offices in Nest City, euphemistically calling it tax.

Ordinary Cleaners most frequently dealt with these people, serving as one of the association’s crucial sources of funding, their stance on collecting these fees ruthlessly firm.

The Palm unit members’ authority nearly rivaled that of Wing Investigators, regardless of whether an office was registered or not, whatever it was named, as long as it was open for completing commissions, and completed one, they’d descend upon you like jackals on prey the next day to collect taxes.

Who knows how advanced their intelligence system is; nothing escapes their keen sense of smell.

Be smart, properly register your office on the official website, pay up, and this matter concludes.

Try resisting, and by the next day, a contract for your extermination would register on the contract list, and without the Palm unit members lifting a finger, those scattered Cleaners in Nest City would swarm like sharks smelling blood, tearing you apart, scattering your ashes.

Sitting alone in the vacant office, Li Xu stared blankly at his office’s barely First-Tier status on the association’s page.

It had been almost half a year since he took over his father’s office. Once fairly known in the slums, Raven Office had now utterly declined, falling from a Third-Tier office to a First-Tier, the family business completely ruined.

After handing over the protection fees, the office’s current cash flow couldn’t even reach ten thousand credit points, it would soon have to shut down.

Thinking of this, he couldn’t help but feel sorrowful, wandering aimlessly to the backyard to his father’s grave.

There stood a solitary cross, knocked awry by the wind, exuding melancholy.

"Dad..."

Li Xu lay on the ground, weeping bitterly.

"Just one step... just one more step to become a Fourth-Tier office, getting the association’s attention and resource inclination..."

"Just one more step, and you could rest in peace up there."

"I owe you, Dad, I let you down, failed to uphold your legacy."

"I am just so tormented, Dad, I genuinely don’t know what to do... I’m not worthy as your son!"

Saying this, Li Xu’s expression turned resolute and fierce, getting up, he kicked over that cross:

"From now on, we sever our ties, I’m no longer your son! Dying so early left me damn suffering this much."