The story between Lin Cheng and Lu Xiaoxiao began around eleven. Lin Cheng effortlessly shifted the conversation from the heavy topic of the trolley problem to contemporary music, then to folk songs, poetry, and from Gu Cheng to Hai Zi, and then to Sartre and Camus. As the evening wore on, Lu Xiaoxiao, already quite drunk, began serving Lin Cheng drinks herself. They then moved on to the nightclub next door. It was Lu Xiaoxiao's first time there, and from her initial hesitation, she gradually relaxed as Lin Cheng held her close and caressed her waist.

At two-thirty in the morning, Lin Cheng rode his motorcycle, leading Lu Xiaoxiao back home. After lying down on the bed, with Lu Xiaoxiao already in a drunken state and having removed her clothes, she brought her face close to his, just a centimeter away, and pressed her soft, petal-like lips against his... and then Lin Cheng pushed her away.

Then, Lin Cheng woke up.

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“Soft and fragrant,” Lin Cheng said as he lifted his cheek from Litchi’s chest, then poked her forehead with his finger. “The rest of the memories are not suitable for children. No peeking!”

Litchi shot him a resentful look. “Do you have any more explanations?”

“She came onto me first. I... was rather passive,” Lin Cheng said with an innocent look. “I’m not guilty.”

“Didn’t you tell her that it’s dangerous for a girl to walk alone at night? And you knew she’s a capable person, so it would be risky?”

“Yeah, she knew that too. But she was the one who wanted to come home with me,” Lin Cheng said, blinking his innocent eyes. “She was already drunk. Handling her would have been a hassle for our bar’s security. As the boss, I should be considerate of my subordinates. This saved our security team quite a bit of trouble.”

“How dare you say that!” Litchi lifted her leg, and this time she wasn’t aiming to step on Lin Cheng’s toes; it looked like she was going to kick him in the face. Lin Cheng hurriedly grabbed her leg. “Stop, oh, come on. Last night... people lose their rationality when drunk. Everything done while drunk should be unrelated to their actions when sober.”

Litchi’s leg was still in his grasp, and her cheeks reddened slightly. “Let go, you lowbrow.”

“Next time, don’t lift your leg so high when wearing a skirt. Wait, I haven’t seen you in a skirt for a long time. Aren’t you usually a sportswear girl? Why the sudden change to a skirt?”

“None of your business.” Litchi turned her face away but stole a glance at him.

Her cheeks had a faint pink hue, and Lin Cheng looked utterly puzzled. “Could it be that at nineteen, you’ve finally realized you’re actually a young beauty?”

“Go to hell.”

Lin Cheng released his hold on her calf, his fingertips still lingering with warmth from earlier when he touched the white silk.

Litchi sat down opposite him again and tossed a financial report at him. “Here.”

“What’s this?”

“It’s the financial report for all our businesses over the past two years. The income and expenses are detailed on this document. Take a look.”

“It’s fine, you all manage it.”

“Look.” Litchi’s tone was a bit firmer. Lin Cheng immediately took the financial report and started reviewing it. As he read and pondered, he quickly understood Litchi’s point. A few minutes later, he put down the report. “As expected of you, Litchi. You’ve made two hundred million in just two years.”

“Two hundred million!!!” Litchi hit Lin Cheng on the head with the report.

“Wow, two hundred million. My dear Litchi, you’re amazing.” Lin Cheng started clapping. Litchi crossed her arms and glared at him with annoyance, pouting slightly.

His praise seemed so insincere, which disappointed her.

“Forget it. Your salary as a Judge back then was probably more than this, so it’s normal that you don’t care.” Litchi’s tone carried a hint of grievance. Lin Cheng spread his hands. “I didn’t take a salary back then.”

“Wasn’t that just your own idealistic nonsense?”

“I regret it so much.” Lin Cheng said with a bitter face. “If I had known, I wouldn’t have played the noble superhero. I should have taken money for every case solved. Otherwise, how could I let my Litchi baby work so hard every day?”

Litchi’s pout softened a bit. “You know it too.”

“Come here, let me give your shoulders a rub.”

“No, you just want to take advantage of me.” Litchi shrank back slightly, giving a soft hum. “So why did you really want to retire at that time? The natural disasters had already been resolved.”

“Yeah, the natural disasters were over. Why would I stay if I didn’t retire?”

“World peace and general joy should mean it’s time for rewards and promotions, yet you vanished.”

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“Well, honorary titles are of little use. Even the medals I received at the time didn’t turn into much money. I even offered them to a scrap collector, but he didn’t want them.”

“That was the Starfall Cold Crystal. Do you expect a scrap collector to recognize that? Wait, you didn’t actually sell it, did you?” Litchi’s eyes widened as she stared at him.

“No, but I don’t know where I misplaced it.” Lin Cheng scratched his head and added, “It seems my decision to retire at light speed was right. Fighting monsters was fine for me, but with everyone shouting about justice, morals, and rules, it’s not the same as when I was the passionate, top-of-the-world hero. The current alliance is weird. Look at Lu Xiaoxiao; isn’t she a product of the current alliance system’s pressure?”

“So you took advantage of her vulnerability?”

“I was comforting her emotions, okay? She was willing.” Lin Cheng answered with a sense of grievance, but Litchi’s gaze remained cold. She stood up and walked to the window.

Beneath the transparent window was a bustling street. Rose Street, once known as Fallen Street, was the site of a nefarious organization formed by a group of ordinary ability users with the code name K. They established numerous gray-market industries to amass wealth here. Two years ago, Litchi and Grape took over, transforming Fallen Street into Rose Street. Most of the gray industries were cleaned up, leaving only some marginally related businesses. The casino was one of them, but their casino received alliance certification, paying a certain percentage of its income to remain operational. The remaining businesses included bars, dance halls, and bathhouses—profitable industries that had made a lot of money over the past two years.

The alliance is the only official organization, indirectly managing all private ability user groups and cleansing all rule-breaking ability users with ruthless and iron-fisted methods. As natural disasters became less frequent, previously united humanity began to divide the spoils, with the alliance being the blade holder in charge of distribution.

“Grape cried last night,” Litchi suddenly turned around and looked at the man sitting in the chair, who was secretly drinking her coffee.

“Huh?”

“You know why she cried. Don’t play dumb.” Litchi said flatly.

“If she cried... then she cried.” Lin Cheng bit the straw again, ice cubes in his coffee melting slowly.

“What’s wrong with Grape?”

“Everything’s fine.”

“Then why don’t you like her?”

“I only like those who don’t like me.” Lin Cheng answered innocently and frankly. Litchi gave him a cold glance. “If you have psychological issues, you should see a doctor.”

“Feelings can’t be forced.” Lin Cheng smiled helplessly, standing up and moving to Litchi’s side to look at the bustling street below. “Has there been any trouble lately?”

“With Grape and Lemon around, who would dare cause trouble?”

“That’s good. Where’s Lemon?”

“Knowing you would be here today, she didn’t come to the office.”

“Still sulking?”

“Serves you right.”

“Ah, you don’t understand.” Lin Cheng reached out to gently pat Litchi’s head. Litchi stepped back, looking resentful. “Don’t take advantage of me; you’re only a year older than me.”

“A year is still a lot.”

Litchi’s cheeks puffed out slightly. “I have things to do. There’s a bookstore on the fifteenth floor. Go sit there for a while. The woman named Xu Wanyue comes every night at eight. I’ll let you know when she arrives.”

“Alright, alright.” Lin Cheng obediently turned around, left the meeting room, and took the elevator to the bookstore on the fifteenth floor. He randomly picked up a poetry collection and sat in a corner, flipping through it.

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Litchi wasn’t lying to Lin Cheng; she indeed had things to do. For the past two years, she had been managing everything on Rose Street, so she hadn’t worn such... youthful outfits in a long time.

She had a meeting in the afternoon regarding an investment in a pharmaceutical company. She changed into a white shirt and a black pencil skirt in the dressing room. Given it was summer, she chose 15D black stockings, paired with black high heels, and wore gold-rimmed glasses. Her jet-black hair was pinned up with a shark clip, completely transforming her demeanor. She had worn something similar in front of Lin Cheng before, and his evaluation was... “A baby face shouldn’t wear such mature clothes.”

She didn’t listen to him.

The meeting went smoothly, as the other party’s company wasn’t insignificant and had a background of ability-user families. However, halfway through the negotiations, the representative suddenly asked Litchi if she was available for dinner that evening.

“Is it really just dinner?” Litchi tilted her head, her voice innocent and naive, with a strangely endearing contrast given her current outfit.

The representative, having been exposed, wasn’t embarrassed and explained that they wanted to understand who was operating behind Litchi or to determine if she was eligible to share in the benefits of the deal.

“Qualification?” Litchi murmured softly, “My boss is a lousy person, just someone who knows how to live off others and do nothing.”

The representative’s expression shifted to one of surprise, waiting for Litchi’s next words. Litchi thoughtfully pulled a silver ornament from her pocket and placed it gently on the table. The moment it was set down, the atmosphere in the meeting room turned icy. The partner, who had previously shown a hint of disdain toward Litchi, now broke out in a cold sweat. His body stiffened, beads of sweat rolling down his face, and his voice began to tremble. “This is…”

“It’s something from Sister Grape. She gave it to me as a gift. The Silver Wings have been disbanded for a long time, so no need to be so scared,” Litchi said softly, pushing a tissue towards the trembling partner and smiling at him. “So, do you think we qualify now?”

“Y-Yes, definitely.”

Litchi stood up, her demeanor graceful. “Don’t be afraid. We’re just businessmen looking to make some money. We don’t need your small business. However, we can only provide some research funding and no technical support. Do you think we need to revise the contract?”

“Revise, definitely revise… How about fifty percent profit after the drugs are released?”

Originally, the contract had specified a profit sharing of 0.7 percent, but just that 0.7 percent, according to Litchi’s calculations, already yielded nearly ten times the return.

Litchi’s lips curled up slightly, but she remained silent, only looking at him with a gentle gaze. “If you think it’s appropriate… then it’s appropriate.”

“Sixty percent, sixty percent is our utmost sincerity…”

“Is that so?” Litchi murmured softly, her fingers twirling a strand of hair by her ear, appearing somewhat troubled.

After about five or six seconds of silence, the partner beside her seemed to be on the verge of collapse, as if about to kneel. “Seventy percent… Absolutely, absolutely can’t be more.”

“Then let’s settle on that,” Litchi’s lips curled into a smile as she stood up, her steps light.

She picked up the silver ornament from the table, smiling softly. “I thought most people had forgotten about the Silver Wings.”

The partner beside her wiped his sweat, but couldn’t bring himself to meet Litchi’s eyes.

“Who… would dare forget?” he replied, trembling.

Litchi shook her head. “The Silver Wings have been disbanded. There will be no more Silver Wings from now on. Sister Grape is now quite gentle, so there’s no need to be so scared.”

The partner could not immediately respond to Litchi’s words. Everyone knew that the mercurial, cold-blooded woman who used to kill without a second thought seemed unlikely to have changed.