Special Forces Medic

"You’ve lost weight. Is there anything you’re hiding from me?" Xiao Lin toyed with Xia Xue’s fingers, the delicate and boneless feel making his imagination run wild.

"Not really. Luckily, we still have a few long-standing suppliers of ’Rhein’ supporting us. The lease situation for storefronts at the comprehensive shopping mall is also not optimistic. The prices are already below market, but the occupancy is less than sixty percent, so the recovery might be delayed more than expected."

"What about the manufacturers? I know you’re not one to rely on foreign sources. I haven’t seen the independent brand you created appear in Sin City. Why is that?"

Xia Xue’s complexion was somewhat grim. She tilted her head, thinking Xiao Lin couldn’t see, but her every subtle motion couldn’t escape his eyes. "I told you not to hide it from me. If you don’t tell me, how can I solve it? Which link is the problem in—manufacturers or raw material suppliers?"

"Actually, the problem isn’t just here. In Palermo, I can’t move freely. I found a great old-established manufacturer, but I heard recently that people from Sin City kidnapped someone from the Murong Family and refused me, saying they don’t want to antagonize the Murong Family. The raw materials suppliers responded similarly. I’m not too concerned, but I’m curious if the Murong Clan’s influence is really this extensive, to cover the skies in the business world. I contacted domestic manufacturers and suppliers yesterday, haven’t received any response yet. If these don’t work, we’ll pay more tariffs and go outside."

"The Murong Family?" That’s what I thought, just didn’t expect Murong Lengyue to act so swiftly, pinpointing the exact weakness. "This is just the beginning. Soon someone will come to acquire the Sin City operations. Their goal is Sin City. Cutting off our funding source equals choking us."

"What should we do then?" Xia Xue asked more anxiously.

"You mentioned we still have forty percent of the storefronts unrented, right?"

"Yes!" Xia Xue gazed curiously at Xiao Lin, who didn’t seem worried at all.

"Revamp the storefronts, turning them into business office spaces." Xiao Lin observed Xia Xue’s puzzled expression and laughed. "Rezone the comprehensive shopping center. Plan to concentrate the sixty percent of business tenants together, leaving the rest for me."

"What do you want to do with it?"

"Earn money, what else." He pinched Xia Xue’s nose while talking. "How soon can you get this planned out for me?"

"Currently, most shops are concentrated on the first, second, and third floors. If the fourth and fifth floors are consolidated, including remodeling and negotiation, it’ll take at least a week."

"A week is too long! Here’s what we’ll do: You handle the plan for merging the fourth and fifth floors; I only need space from the sixth floor up. The building’s height is ten stories, the eleventh is a restaurant and can stay unchanged, but the four floors above six should be enclosed structures. Also, give me a private passage, preferably avoiding the front. That shouldn’t be a problem, right?"

"Are you planning something bad?" Xia Xue teased, resting her head against Xiao Lin’s chest, playfully drawing circles with her finger, making his heart itch.

"I’m talking business, stop messing around." He grasped her hand, putting it back in its place. "Not anything bad, just creating a professional environment for professional people—which to you civilians might seem bad."

"Alright, got it. I’ll have the plan and blueprints ready by tomorrow noon. Two days later, you can start remodeling. The rear area will be open for your use, so there won’t be any conflict. Just about the manufacturers..."

"You’re a business genius; if you still need to push at this point, might as well offer your head to the opposition. Do nothing, just wait."

"Done with business, can we talk personal now?"

"You want to do it here?" Xiao Lin grinned mischievously, one hand slipping restlessly inside Xia Xue’s clothing.

"That’s not proper! I wasn’t talking about that!" Xia Xue swatted the intruding hand, her eyes wide with exasperation, nearly standing with hands on her hips. "It’s about Lian. I received an email from her yesterday. She’s currently in the United States, but she asked you to find time to check a flight."

"That’s all she said?"

"Yes, didn’t say who’s flight to check. It seems random, hadn’t she emailed you?" Xiao Lin shook his head but understood her avoidance.

"I always feel like I’m failing her."

"You just take and leave, worse than Hua Qingyi." Xia Xue was genuinely upset, yet all three wanted to avoid this topic. "If I hadn’t appeared, would you have been with Lian?"

"Perhaps." In matters of affection, he was slow. Being with Lian, he never imagined things would turn out this way. In many ways, he liked Lian, even having the thought of marrying her after taking her. However, thinking of this, Xiao Lin looked at Xia Xue, then chuckled and shook his head. "No ’ifs,’ such hypothetical possibilities don’t exist."

"Would you marry Murong Lengyue?" Xia Xue gazed seriously at Xiao Lin. "I know your family holds extremely discomforting views on lineage. If that’s what you must fulfill as an heir, then I can only accept Lian, no one else."

Observing Xia Xue’s earnest face, filled with a determined promise, Xiao Lin couldn’t help but laugh—truly adorable, her puffed cheeks resembling a little frog.

"Stop overthinking!" He said, patting Xia Xue’s head and lifting her in his arms. "Let’s go home; it’s too public here, difficult to do anything."

What’s this situation? Xiao Lin felt strange. Black Doctor was known for cruel tactics, but rarely such mass slaughter.

"Now’s your chance to return what you devoured!" Holding a blood-stained military knife, Black Doctor declared word by word. "In Black Street, you follow Black Street’s rules. There’s no second route here; either leave Black Street or stay loyal. Otherwise, those dozen people are your example."

Seems like a traitor emerged, cleaning the door! Xiao Lin leapt from the treetop, entering the three-story building on the side, encountering Lao Jiu rushing past. "Who sounded the alarm?"

"It was me!" Seeing Xiao Lin, Lao Jiu acted as if finding a lifesaver.

"You better have a reasonable explanation!"

"Yelu Shou is missing!" Xiao Lin paused.

"Outside is handling this?"

"Come look at the video." Lao Jiu opened the surveillance. "The footage doesn’t show a clear figure, but here..." He pointed to a faint shadow in the footage. "This shadow appeared three times in the frames, all from the rear where miscreants reside—leading Black Doctor to suspect it’s someone inside communicating with outsiders, since the rear is a dead end and directly connects to the core."

Xiao Lin rewound the footage a bit, watching the appearing white shadow repeatedly. The movement was fast, almost in a blink. "Yelu Shou stayed in the core?"

"Black Street’s insecure, so Black Doctor placed Yelu Shou at the center, and now he’s gone, likely due to internal issues, searching for the mole."

"Tomorrow, Xia Xue will bring over the Sin City Comprehensive Shopping Center’s plans. You’ve always wanted to emerge from underground. Levels six to ten are your domain for the underground city. It’s up to you how to develop it."

"Uh..." Lao Jiu didn’t know what to say, struck dumb. "Boss, now isn’t the time for this, Yelu Shou..."

"Black Doctor just wants to use this opportunity to clean house. Although there are many miscreants, it’s difficult to manage. And I know who took Yelu Shou."

"Handle the comprehensive shopping center. Establishing the new underground city will inevitably conflict with Lucifer’s camp. In terms of overall structure, be mindful of innocents below six floors, transforming as much of the underground city’s advantage as possible. If you can’t achieve even this, don’t mention reviving Bright Day. It’s an opportunity."

"Thank you!" Lao Jiu’s voice choked up; he never thought after betrayal, he could regain affirmation.

On the screen, the white shadow drifted closer, deliberately flickering in front of the camera, only the hem fluttering, impossible to discern the full figure. Xiao Lin sighed as he gazed at the white shadow. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) for recommendation tickets, monthly votes; your support is my greatest motivation.)