You're Strong But Now You're Mine-Chapter 50: The Ultimate Scumbag Task

"You might not realize what it means for one person to single-handedly wipe out a stronghold of the Rebel Dawn faction."

"Usually, we only use two words to describe someone like that, War God!"

"Back in the day, Director Blueflame wiped out all the Star Engraving Mayflower in one day, and Brother Qian destroyed six Rebel Dawn strongholds in his first three days on the job—the two were neck and neck."

Chen Fu bragged about Qian Yuliu’s ’brilliant achievements’ while eating, which clearly entertained Le Yu. He shot a quick glance at Qian Yuya’s calm-as-water expression, then deliberately asked, "By the way, Chen Fu, do you know what happened to the Lin family afterward?"

"The Lin family?" Chen Fu paused, his tone suddenly turning downcast, "Seems they’re selling off their assets. Lin Xue, who was still in school, dropped out as well. I think they’re planning to leave Star Engraving County."

"That’s tragic—a family destroyed, forced to flee far from home." Le Yu sighed, prompting Chen Fu’s eyes to widen.

This was something anybody could say, except Le Yu—because the person truly responsible for the Lin family’s ruin and exile was Le Yu himself. Though everyone knew Le Yu was just following orders and, at the root of it, the Lin family was suspected of participating in Rebel Dawn activities, the public’s simple values would pin the sins squarely on the Executor’s head.

Weapons kill, but weapons bear no responsibility; people kill, and must answer for it.

When Le Yu said these words, he spoke lightly, even cheerfully, making himself sound uninvolved, like he was gloating—pretty damn punchable, really, and Chen Fu’s fists nearly clenched of their own accord.

Still, Le Yu’s good mood wasn’t fake; hearing the Lin family was preparing to leave Star Engraving County, he figured this must be Yin Yinyin and the others looking out for them. People like Lin Xue and Gao Jin were too impulsive, too young, and way too weak. If they went back home, grew sweet potatoes for a few years, studied for a while, kept themselves useful—in the future, when White Night really ruled Chenfeng District, it’d be these folks, with clean backgrounds and shiny resumes, who’d finally have their chance to rise.

Le Yu turned his head to glance at Qian Yuya, finding her expression blank, her emotions unreadable—but he didn’t think much of it. After all, with outsiders present, Qian Yuya had to maintain her image. For all he knew, deep down, she wished she could take her deceased parents and her brother back to reunite the family.

After three rounds of food, Chen Fu had exhausted his stash of Qian Yuliu gossip and rose to say his goodbyes. After seeing Chen Fu out, Le Yu came back inside to find Qian Yuya already tidying up the dishes. He coughed and said, "Even though Chen Fu’s my coworker, that guy never knows when to shut up. Most of the stuff he spouted about me was just made up, trying to smear my name. I’m not that kind of person at all."

"If someone who did bad things was hated, then someone who did bad things but flat-out refused to admit it deserved nothing but contempt—the first was a true scumbag, the second was just pure trash."

"Because Le Yu remembered, there was a time when he thought outright villains who did bad things openly had a sort of charisma: ’Yeah, I killed those people,’ ’Why don’t you all go and die already?’ ’Only stealing e-bikes keeps me afloat’ ... In order to keep Qian Yuya from admiring his villainy, Le Yu put on the most pitiful, innocent face he could muster—like he was about to send Chen Fu a lawyer’s letter. He really was the kind of guy you wanted to hit just hearing or seeing."

"I get what you’re trying to say," Qian Yuya said calmly.

Le Yu felt a jolt—"Did she get mad? Did she get mad? Did she get mad?"

"Your situation now," Qian Yuya said as she washed the dishes, "is even worse than I thought it was. Even your coworkers look at you like that. I’m sure people out there are making up plenty more fake crimes to pin on you."

"Huh?" Le Yu blinked, "Actually, most of it’s not even made up..."

Qian Yuya said, "You’re just a member of the Statistical Department. The Statistical Department isn’t you, and there’s no way one person could do all that. You’re just the tall poppy—they see you’re famous, so every dirty job done by the Statistical Department gets dumped on you. That guy is obviously your assistant; when you’re out on assignments, he’s helping, too, but when it comes time to tell the story, he makes himself out to be totally uninvolved—washes his hands of all guilt, shifts all the blame onto you."

That’s because he was boasting about me! So he dumped all the glory on me! And wouldn’t most people hearing Chen Fu talk like that either think "Qian Yuliu is a terrible criminal that everyone hates" or "Qian Yuliu is a shameless braggart"—how did you get "my brother’s been pushed out as a scapegoat and it’s so pitiful" out of that?

"Don’t worry, I’m already prepared." Qian Yuya glanced at Le Yu and said seriously, "You want me to understand that even your most trusted assistant treats you like this, slanders you, and that you’ve got nobody to rely on in the Statistical Department. There’s no turning back, all you can do is keep making mistakes, right? I get why you’re in this mess. Even though I’m still ashamed to have such a notorious brother, I’ll support you in secret."

Le Yu opened his mouth to say something, but in the end, he just kept quiet.

"How does she come to the wrong conclusion, deduce the correct truth, and then blurt out an answer that’s way off?"

"Sigh."

Le Yu let out a long sigh, went back up to the second-floor bedroom, and looked through Qian Yuliu’s collection of rare art books.

He ended up bearing it all alone.

...

...

Two days later, Twilight Gate, in the rain.

The Twilight Gate faced northwest toward Star Engraving County, while the county’s east side bordered the Haizhu Bay port, making it clear that Twilight Gate was the main traffic artery from the perspective of geography. The other gates were still closed, causing a lot of inconvenience, but opening just Twilight Gate really did keep Star Engraving County safe while maintaining basic flows of goods in and out.

Twilight Gate had two layers of barbican, with a drawbridge outside the outer one. To get through, you had to pass three towers and three big gates. According to the City Guard Department’s setup, entrants queued at the outer barbican, people leaving the city lined up at the inner gate, and inspectors conducted identity and cargo checks inside the barbican.

Le Yu stood in the barbican, looked up at the arrow towers and turrets through the rain, and asked, "If someone tried to break through, would the towers help us subdue them?"

"No way. Whether it’s cannons or crossbows, they’re locked in place. At best, you can adjust them a tiny bit, but the targets are always going to be outside the walls," Chen Fu said, "If someone really tried to force their way in, we’d have to deal with it ourselves—the Director has already lifted our firearms ban, so if some idiot really tried, they’d just be free target practice for us."

"But what if the enemy has firearms too?"

"Um..." Chen Fu immediately fell silent, taking so long to "um" that he didn’t say anything at all. But this reaction actually pleased Le Yu quite a bit.

"Since the towers can’t attack inside the walls, that means I’m the most powerful one here inside this barbican. I can do whatever I want."

Yesterday, Le Yu made a trip to "Toothache, Hemorrhoids & Orthopedics" to report two bad pieces of news to Yin Yinyin: the first, Blueflame’s ’demand that we inspect every bit of cargo;’ the second, that he himself had been made the inspector.

"That’s right. Thinking carefully, Le Yu realized being the inspection specialist had no benefits at all. Blueflame’s orders were so clear that anyone could do this, and there was no room for tricks. Everyone on the team was loyal to the power of the Statistical Department. If anyone even suspected him, they’d report it straight to Blueflame. Not to mention Elily, Blueflame’s loyal fan."

"Plus, just like travelers hate security checks, Le Yu, as the inspector, was being extra thorough—guaranteed to earn the people’s resentment. This job was pure scapegoat work! No wonder Blueflame offered a favor before handing out the task—it was hush money for the trouble!"

Still, Yin Yinyin thought it over and found there was a way to turn it to their advantage.

Yin Yinyin’s plan was to send two convoys through Twilight Gate at the same time—one with firearms, the other made up of cannon fodder.

"As for what the cannon fodder convoy would actually do," he needed to discuss with the other White Night Walkers. But the basic operation was this: once the firearms convoy entered the barbican, the cannon fodder convoy would start causing trouble and stirring things up. Le Yu would turn the whole thing into a big scene, drawing everyone’s attention to the cannon fodder, while the firearms convoy slipped through unnoticed."

Even though the plan was risky and full of unpredictable variables—still, with the right micro-management from Le Yu, it was the only viable way to get the shipment through.

But Yin Yinyin had an extra requirement, "When the cannon fodder start causing trouble, you must treat them with the worst attitude—insult, beat, abuse, and torment them in any way you can."

"Why? Isn’t the cannon fodder convoy on our side?"

"But if they cause a commotion at the gate, they could get shot by the City Guards or even get locked up by the Imprisonment Department. Instead of risking that, it’s better if you beat them up. The harder you hit them, the worse you treat them, the safer they’ll be. As for a few minor injuries, don’t forget—I’m also a Medical Officer. The worst consequence is that your own reputation takes another hit."

"What do you mean ’the worst consequence’—if I start beating people right there at the city gate, word will spread to every street and alley the very next day!"

"Don’t worry, after all your hard work, you’ve already got a terrible reputation." Yin Yinyin actually paid Le Yu a rare compliment, "For you, that’s basically no consequence at all!"

"You really are the best man for this job!"

"So basically, all the other White Night Walkers are upstanding citizens, and you’re the only scumbag, so you get assigned all the dirty work, like saving fallen women?"

Le Yu felt Yin Yinyin was cursing him, but he had no proof.freēnovelkiss.com