This was somewhat of a subversion of his beliefs.
But upon careful thought, these higher-ups were human too.
The old man looked sideways at the youth, "In the last few days of this old man's life, aren't they precious? To not waste these days, no matter how grand the scene, it's not too much. My time now is so valuable that counting it by the second wouldn't be unreasonable."
"All right, there is some truth to that," Qing Chen remarked.
The old man raised his hand and cast the fishing hook out, watching the float as he talked, "When I was young, I always thought I had plenty of time, always telling myself that things I liked to do could wait. But, alas, my life was wasted amidst these worldly pursuits of fame and fortune, seeking to balance this, balance that. Looking back, I should have pretended to be critically ill earlier; I might have been able to let go and enjoy myself much sooner."
Qing Chen thought, if you pretend to be critically ill, it would be for decades; nobody would believe that anymore.
He asked, "Still, I thought you would mention successors or something at the meeting, but you didn't say a word."
The old man chuckled, "What do you know? Trivial matters call for big meetings, significant issues call for small ones. The most important decisions can't be made with hundreds of people at a conference; they're all arranged in advance."
"Those ten words are indeed incisive," said Qing Chen. "I assumed you were worried about traitors in the meeting, so you deliberately didn't mention the most important things."
"Whether there are traitors or not, we can't conclude right now," the old man said at a leisurely pace. "But the results will be out soon."
"Is there really one?" Qing Chen asked curiously. "As a big shot in Li's Financial Group, why would anyone betray their own clan?"
The old man replied, "Not everyone holds power, take Li Yunyi, someone who's just lost it, for example. Do you think he would harbor resentment? I'm not saying Li Yunyi is the traitor, but throughout the hundreds of years of the Li Family, there have been too many who have held grudges. The interests under heaven have never been distributed fairly."
"I see," Qing Chen nodded.
All of a sudden the old man said, "In the next few days, I might not come to Dragon Lake. You'll come to get the fish yourself then; after all, you fish faster than I do."
Qing Chen suddenly asked, "Why are you so good to me? I mean, you don't really need to do this."
The old man smiled, "Why, there's no need for so many reasons. In a person's life, you can only act on a whim when you are a child or an old person. When children act out, you can say they are still young. When the elderly are wilful, you can say they are senile. But during the intervening years, you must face responsibility with a clear mind. In the past, I didn't dare to indulge any grandchild. Those little figures were so adorable, but if I casually hugged one, rumors would fly around the estate that I favored one branch over another, signaling something."
"Now, I'm about to be six feet under; what do I care what they think?" the old man chuckled happily. "They all say you're my illegitimate child, and I find it amusing to watch them guess. Didn't you notice? Today, when I told them to respect their teachers and honor their morals, their expressions were priceless."
Qing Chen thought, so you said all that just to tease everyone?
The old man continued, "Your master is an interesting man too, taking on a disciple but not tutoring him and running off to make trouble in the north. He entrusted you to me before his departure, saying you weren't naturally cold-hearted, just that no one had ever taught you another kind of affection in this world. So, I decided to let you experience it."
Qing Chen fell silent. Before this journey, he had just faced the trivial affections of the Outer World, only to encounter another extreme here.
Sometimes, even though he knew he was from the Outer World, he didn't know why, but he felt closer to the Inner World somehow.
Nowadays, the antagonism between the Inner and Outer Worlds was becoming more severe. If some people knew of his thoughts, they would probably curse him.
"Why does the Li Family disdain Jindai and Deer Island so much?" Qing Chen changed the subject. "The Outer World has ethnic hatred, but what about the Inner World?"
The old man pondered then said, "Those not of our kind must have different hearts."
"Just because of that?" Qing Chen asked.
The old man glanced at him, "If they're not your kin, they wouldn't even treat your kin as humans at all. That's a natural barrier between races. If they one day take over the Federation, then all people from the Central Plains are inferior, and only those speaking bird language would be superior."
With that, the old man handed over the Dragon Fish that had bitten the hook to Qing Chen, "I never expected the boy, Li Ke, to be so loyal to you. Remember to treat him well... and also, remember our agreement."
A 6,200-word chapter, another one at 11 pm tonight