You're Strong But Now You're Mine-Chapter 144 - 143: Five Spies

When the shift ended at 8 in the morning, Le Yu almost couldn’t wait to leave the patrol camp, like he was escaping.

Primarily because Qin Le Yin was just too annoying.

Le Yu thought the collaboration meant he was responsible for producing the newspaper, and the Four Glory Guards were to help with dissemination and promotion, only to discover Qin Le Yin wanted to meddle with the newspaper content!

Of course, Le Yu was not pleased: talking about newspapers and stirring the pot, I am an old justice warrior watching dramas on Weibo and laughing at the storms on NGA mudpit, who do you think you are? And you want to tell me how to run a newspaper?

The suggestions Qin Le Yin made, however, had Le Yu unable to help but look at them sideways:

① It’s fine to use lurid images on the cover, but not this fantasy-like lurid, use something down-to-earth, like a maid coming out of a lavish room, clothes slightly disheveled, eyes red, tears brimming, looking aggrieved and pained, with the room door behind her appearing like a pitch-black abyss.

...

With this, people will instantly imagine many infuriating and heartbreaking scenes and even feel empathy—as it truly happens to many secret crushes of young people from the bottom in Xuanzhu County.

Wouldn’t it elevate the theme this way?

Both lurid and conservative, making people fantasize yet feel heartache, more importantly, resonates with many people, wouldn’t this [dissatisfaction of the lower class] rise swiftly?

② In the knowledge discussion area, you can add a character of a lower-class worker. No need for him to openly resent the Silver Blood Association, just have him occasionally mention his tragic life in his answers: a father with a gambling problem, a mother dead from illness, a sister sold, betrayed by friends, one ear deaf...

Yet even so, he still studies, learns, and works diligently, faces every day with optimism, but his life still doesn’t improve, often hungry, bullied by gangs, spat on by bosses...

In short, it’s about making people feel it’s tragic and sad, making them think ’why does such a good person face such a life? What exactly went wrong?’

Simply put, it’s like "Camel Xiangzi/Xiang Lin’s Wife/Lu Xun" answering questions online.

Naturally, they would realize the Silver Blood Association is the root of all evil, wouldn’t the [lower-class dissatisfaction] drastically increase?

③ In the insult section, aka ’Reply to Readers’ Letters’ column, not every contributor needs to curse the poor, you can also fabricate a ’wealthy person’ who treats workers well, treats the poor equally, stands by the poor, but occasionally flaunts their life.

For example, the ’wealthy person’ woke up at noon, exercised with the newlywed seventeenth concubine, ate delicacies at the Celestial Court restaurant in the evening, then gambled at the Unreturned Building... while encouraging the poor, simultaneously flaunting their upper-class life.

Faced with enemies, people instinctively feel anger and raise defenses, but if someone supports you, praises you, appreciates you, people lower their guard and attempt to believe the other party.

When they find out this kind ’wealthy person’ is a wealthy lazy merchant living in luxury, they will start to resent—why do you enjoy leisure every day while we must rise early and return late? Why do you encourage us to strive but remain lazy yourself?

Dissatisfaction breeds resentment.

Compared to fast-rising and fast-fading anger, resentment is the fuse that people cannot easily forget. Resentment, like athlete’s foot, hemorrhoids, teenage acne, not only doesn’t disappear with time but becomes increasingly serious, until it’s unbearable.

[Lower-class dissatisfaction] will surely skyrocket!

Qin Le Yin had many suggestions, most of which were to the point, and after hearing them, Le Yu felt quite seasoned, almost thinking Qin Le Yin was a master of stirring the pot from another world.

But the most severe part was, Qin Le Yin was actually his book fan!

"Will Liu Yu fall in love with his deskmate?"

"Will Yin Yin relearn the Hidden Sword Technique?"

"Will Wei Zheng be caught by the police?"

"What exactly is a computer? Is it a special machine made through Luminous Stone? Can we make it now?"

Make a case huh make it! Do you hand-weld CPUs!?

I haven’t thought through all these questions yet, you ask me who do I ask!?

But overall, Qin Le Yin is a very complex person.

He is both a businessman and a walker for the Four Glory Guards; he supports the doctrine of two thousand years of glory, yet desires to dabble in supreme power; he finds the Silver Blood Association ineffective, yet wants to re-establish his own Silver Blood Association in Yanjing...

The qualities of cunning and loyalty, daring and caution, a tyrant and a capable minister are all exhibited in him, yet it doesn’t make anyone feel anything is amiss.

Le Yu tried asking if he could join the Four Glory Guards—not that Le Yu wanted to show loyalty to the Imperial Court, he just wanted to join and spy for information, and do a bit of stamp collecting on the side.

Thinking carefully, he had already touched on three mysterious organizations: White Night, Assassin Organization, Four Glory Guards. Among them, he had opened reputation in White Night, had some concept of the Assassin Organization but knew contact methods, and had just come into contact with the Four Glory Guards, knowing the least about them.

Although it was a bit odd, Le Yu was quite interested in trying to join all mysterious organizations—Statistical Department, Assassin Organization, White Night, Silver Blood Association, Four Glory Guards, suddenly realizing he was already a five-surnamed... oops, five-sided spy!

If this world were a game, joining mysteries would surely earn achievements. Le Yu, an idle player treating reality as a game due to lack of a computer, naturally didn’t want to miss this opportunity.

But Qin Le Yin refused him.

"In the Qin Family, only I joined the Four Glory Guards, not only because I don’t want to entangle them in my ambitions, but more because the Four Glory Guards has rules and regulations. From ancient times to now, the total number of Four Glory Guards barely changes unless someone dies, otherwise no new members can join."

"Why?"

"Because each of the Four Glory Guards controls ’power’, and ’power’ is limited."

Le Yu suspected Qin Le Yin was quietly warning him, but he had no evidence.

Returning to Jing Mansion, Le Yu yawned, quickly tidied up his body and mouth, and prepared to sleep—working the night shift was too uncomfortable, he intended to switch to the day shift after investigating the patrol details at night once or twice more.

Even though martial artists like them can maintain energy without sleep for three or four days or with just one sleep, just like you can be full eating food, or be full eating tripe, thousand-layer belly, yellow throat, crispy meat skewers, beef, spicy beef, stone fish, fish tofu, is there anyone who’d choose just food?

Upon returning to the room, Le Yu sighed: "You’re not off to work yet?"

Only to see Qing Lan rolling around the bed hugging the quilt, but it was already past eight—the newspaper starts at 8:30.

Don’t mention that Le Yu didn’t sleep at all last night, even if Le Yu was having a good time at Xiangxue Sea all night, he’d have the right not to go to the newspaper, but Qing Lan couldn’t, the newspaper can’t operate without an editor-in-chief!

Hearing the noise, Qing Lan was startled, seeing it was Le Yu, she covered her mouth, lazily letting out a cat-like yawn: "I didn’t sleep well last night, I want to..."

"No, you don’t." Le Yu came over and pulled off her quilt: "Go to work, the newspaper needs you."

Qing Lan grabbed the quilt: "Let me sleep a little longer, just a little!"

"You’re such an adult, still lying in?"

"Didn’t you do the same not long ago when I had to come to wake you up after breakfast!?"

Le Yu, embarrassed and angry: "Is this how you talk to your master!? Believe it or not, I’ll kick you out of bed?!"

"Mmmph!"

Seeing Qing Lan insisting on lying in, Le Yu felt helpless, sat and said: "Then sleep a little longer and head to the newspaper, don’t really skip work, many people at the newspaper are watching you."

"I don’t care about them."

"But you are the editor-in-chief I promoted..."

Le Yu lay down, faced Qing Lan, sleepily wrapping an arm around her waist, starting to doze off—the entire night spent interacting with Qin Le Yin drained too much energy for Le Yu, who was a socially averse, introverted child.

"...I don’t want others to look down on you..."

Qing Lan looked at Le Yu’s sleeping face, the sunlight pouring through the window illuminated his profile, the rhythm of his breathing and heartbeat became the only serenade in the bedroom. Although she had already woken up, she felt a drowsy sleepiness welling up now.

However, after a while, Qing Lan carefully pried open Le Yu’s hand, quietly changed clothes, took the car keys, and left the bedroom. Looking at the sun outside, she stretched and said spiritedly:

"Alright, time to go to work."