“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“N-nothing…” Yamete gave me a smile as he worked. “I’m just very glad that I’m joining Bloody Mercenaries. I think I won’t regret this decision for as long as I live.”

I smiled back. “Of course. No one in Bloody Mercenaries will regret this!”

……

Yamete was sweating like a pig. It took a lot of time and effort to forge a Silver-grade item, but it was also the proof of its value.

I sent Beiming Xue a message. “Lil Beiming, are you free?”

“Yes!”

“Come to the smithy at the eastern gates then!”

“Oh, okay!”

A few minutes later, the beautiful dark archer appeared at the eastern square and walked straight toward me. She waved at me from a distance. “Boss, I’m here~”

I nodded at her.

Beiming Xue looked at Yamete and cocked her head curiously. She smiled. “Boss, what is this uncle doing?”

I shook my head.

Yamete looked up with tears streaking down his cheeks. “Pretty, I’m only 25 years old. How am I an uncle?”

Beiming Xue blinked. “But you really do look like one…”

I nodded in agreement. Yamete might only be 25 years old, but he had a thick beard, a round figure and a kindly expression that only a grandmother would have. Even a blind person would’ve agreed that his potential to become an uncle was massive.

A few minutes later, Du Thirteen and Gui Guzi also showed up after hearing that a new member had joined our workshop. Du Thirteen’s arrival marked the beginning of Yamete’s tragedy.

Du Thirteen grabbed Yamete’s shoulders and said affectionately, “Brother, welcome to Bloody Mercenaries! From this day onward, we live and die together!”

As he looked over Yamete once, he asked, “Ah, you’re a wet nurse. So… how would you like us to address you?”

Yamete said, “Just call me Brother Te!”

But Du Thirteen, Gui Guzi, me, and even Beiming Xue shook our heads in unison.

Du Thirteen then said, “Your nickname should be Mamate!”

Everyone clapped and cheered loudly when they heard this, imprinting the glorious nickname into Yamete’s soul once and for all.

Du Thirteen had come up with countless nicknames in the past, but this was the only one that I was truly satisfied with. It was because it was a perfect fit for Mamate!

Tears pouring down his cheeks harder than ever before, Mamate went back to work until the system finally let out a melodious beep.

Ding~!

System Notice: Player “Yamete” has created “Bloody Wolfking Chest Armor”!

……

The black leather chest armor in Mamate’s hands looked like it was tinged with blood. He waved his hand and its stat window appeared before our eyes.

Bloody Wolfking Chest Armor (Silver-grade)

Defense: 55

Agility: +21

Stamina: +15

Passive: Increases user’s fire resistance by 1%

Level Requirement: 50

……

Tsk tsk, what an amazing chest armor!

Overjoyed, Beiming Xue accepted the chest armor and smiled brightly. “Thank you, Mamate!”

Mamate’s tears continued to fall with no end in sight.

Gui Guzi smiled. “This is great. With Yamete’s addition, Bloody Mercenaries finally have three melee fighters, one long-range DPS and one healer. Our formation is finally starting to look a bit meta!”

I nodded. “Yamete is coming to Suzhou the day after tomorrow. Lil Beiming, if you don’t mind, why don’t you come the day after tomorrow as well?”

Beiming Xue was wearing her new chest armor and beaming with joy, so she nodded without hesitation. “Sure, no problem. I was already packing my stuff this morning anyway.”

Du Thirteen lowered his voice and asked, “What’s the sudden hurry?”

I replied to him in an equally low voice, “If they come together, we don’t need to treat them separately! It’ll save us money!”

“Damn…”

……

After that, we went to Ghost Valley together and grinded until evening. When it was dinnertime, we went our separate ways and logged out.

As usual, Gui Guzi, Du Thirteen and I sat at the usual food stall and talked about everything. We looked like young, ambitious scholars of eld.

And thus we spent our evening eating until it was past 8 pm and the sky was turning completely dark. Gui Guzi and Du Thirteen had already gone back upstairs, but not me. As the leader of the workshop, one of my many glorious duties was to buy mosquito-repellent tablets for the group.

“Beep beep…”

My phone suddenly rang while I was on my way to a shop. It was a call from Murong Mingyue!

“Hey there, sis. What’s wrong, is there something new you want to talk about?” I asked.

Murong Mingyue didn’t sound too good. “It’s not me, it’s Eve.”

“What’s wrong with her?”

“Sigh…” Murong Mingyue sounded depressed. “She got herself completely drunk after she was done meeting the last client of the day. We’re at a bar called the Rambler Bar at the Central Road, and she’s refusing my attempts to take her home. Can you come over and help, Lu Chen?”

“It will be fine. Eve is so drunk she’s one step away from knocking herself out. She won’t remember that you were here.”

“Mn. Give me some time. I’ll arrive in half an hour!”

“Okay!”

I stopped a taxi and told him roughly where Rambler Bar was. The car took off as fast as lightning.

When I arrived, I saw a lot of youngsters going in and out of Rambler Bar. Business was absolutely booming, and it looked like a lot of youngsters enjoyed coming here to relax and have a good time after work.

I walked into the bar as well and looked around for Murong Mingyue and He Yi.

“Over here… Lu Chen!”

Not far away, Murong Mingyue called out to me and waved at me from a sofa.

I strode toward her and found He Yi lying next to Murong Mingyue. Her hair ran down her chest like a waterfall. She was wearing a black outfit and a white blouse on the inside. The miniskirt beneath her waist did an amazing job outlining her beautiful curves.

Murong Mingyue gave me a weak smile. “She wasn’t feeling too good today because her negotiation with the client didn’t go too well. That’s why she dragged me over and drank herself silly. As you may have noticed, I can’t carry her home myself.”

I looked at He Yi. She was leaning against Murong Mingyue’s shoulders, and her long lashes were trembling slightly. She looked like she might fall asleep at any moment.

I walked up to her and held her steady. Then, I asked gently, “Boss?”

Instead of opening her eyes, He Yi smiled cutely and said, “Mingyue, bring me another one, please… I want the 83…”

Murong Mingyue didn’t know if she should get angry, laugh, or both. “83? Give it up, girl. We’re going home!”

“Lu Chen, please carry Eve out of here while I go grab our car at the parking lot. I promise I’ll return in 5 minutes tops. Just wait for me at the entrance, okay?”

“Okay.”

After Mingyue left, I tried to lift He Yi to her feet. However, she thwarted my efforts by leaning deeper into my lap. It almost felt like alcohol was oozing out of her pores.

Given no choice, I wrapped my arm around her waist and held her steady and walked her out of the bar.

The night wind of the streets jolted me awake and made He Yi open her eyes after a groan. As beautiful as ever, she looked at me with eyes that were as brilliant and as deep as the stars. She smiled at me and said, “Lu Chen, why… why are you here?”

I didn’t say anything. I knew that morning come, she wouldn’t remember all of it anyway.

In the next moment, He Yi pressed her face against my chest and cried loudly like a little girl. Tears streaming down her face, she sobbed, “What took you so long… I miss you so, so much… I…”

I nearly cried myself as I hugged her.

The people around us were shooting us astonished looks. I pressed my head against He Yi’s hair, smelled the thin fragrance of her hair and felt a million emotions swirling inside of me.

At this point, my shoulder was warm and wet. He Yi cried again and again as if she was venting all of her frustrations and longing.

A few minutes later, she finally quieted and fell asleep in my arms.

Murong Mingyue showed up with the A8 and opened the back door. Then, she said, “Come on up. I’ll drive you back home once Eve is taken care of.”

I nodded, put He Yi in the car and sat next to her.

I could feel He Yi’s face burning as she leaned against my shoulders. In her sleep, He Yi looked incredibly beautiful and at peace. The way the moonlight kissed her cheeks was especially attractive. I couldn’t help but wonder about the creator who gave birth to such a beautiful woman, and what right or luck I had to know a girl like that

Murong Mingyue said while driving, “Can you accompany Eve for a while tonight? You’ll be lonely if you stay at the lakeside villa all by yourself. Eve has barely ever smiled since the day of the incident, you know that?”

I nodded. “Sorry.”

Murong Mingyue chuckled at my reply. “Don’t be. You’re the one who saved Eve. Did you know? She regrets what happened to you immensely. In fact, it’s almost as if Eve lost sight of her life after losing you. Not only did she keep making mistakes at work, her own life had fallen into chaos.”

I murmured, “What should I do then?”

“I don’t know…”

Murong Mingyue sighed. “We all care for each other, and we all wish for the other person to lead a better life while working toward that goal ourselves. But no matter how hard we try, there will always be tears and sadness. Maybe this is just how life is.”

I smiled at her. “Things will get better.”

“Mn.”

Half an hour later, the car slowed to a stop next to a lake. We had arrived at He Yi’s house. It was a villa in the middle of a lake; the kind that cost tens of millions at the minimum!

I supported He Yi as we walked upstairs. Lighting was dim, but I didn’t turn the lights on. I simply put her on her bed and pulled the blanket over.

Murong Mingyue walked into the room beside He Yi’s and lay down on the bed. I guessed she wanted to give us some space to ourselves.

I slowly sat next to He Yi as I watched her face. I felt like my heart would fill up so long as I could listen to her quiet breathing, watch her and feel her beside me.

As the stars outside the window started to dim a little, He Yi suddenly started crying in her sleep. She curled up into a fetal position looking like a wounded kitten.

I got up to my feet and pressed the back of my hand to her cheeks. Then, I called out to her softly, “He Yi… Boss…”

It was only then He Yi quieted and sank into deep slumber once more.

I looked at the stars and noted that the sky was growing brighter from the east. The clock just passed 4 am.

I left the villa and called a taxi to fetch me back to the workshop. I didn’t belong here anyway.

……

Later in the morning, 9 am.

I received yet another call from Murong Mingyue. I could hear the sobs behind her voice. “Lu Chen, Eve woke up and cried to me saying she dreamed about you last night. Uu, she said she misses you…”

I felt something in my nose and turned to face the bright, blue sky outside the window.

“I miss her too…”