Cohabitation with Sword Spirit

Chapter 498 - 83: A Lonely Dinner Between Two Men

May 7, 2018

In the early morning, Zhao Jincheng left the bedroom with two dark circles under his eyes.

For a cultivator of his level, even if he were to stay awake for thirty or fifty nights in a row, he wouldn’t even need to blink. His powerful divine sense is enough to provide an endless supply of vigorous energy...

However, if one stays up a whole night with a highly tense mind and a brain working at full capacity, even a cultivator will end up exhausted.

Zhao Jincheng didn’t sleep all night, as countless fragments of thoughts flooded his mind.

In his imagination, there always appeared the figure of him and a petite woman. Although Zhao Jincheng knew very well that excessive fantasies could be harmful rather than beneficial, once he thought about how the other person agreed to his invitation last night and that he would soon meet her at the City Lord’s Mansion... he couldn’t stop fantasizing.

Initially, he fantasized about using the opportunity of their meeting to invite her to dinner, then showcasing his talent and demeanor at the dining table. Later, the fantasies became increasingly bizarre, so much so that by early morning, Zhao Jincheng was already thinking about issues like children’s household registration and schooling...

Awakened from his fantasies by the clock by the bedside, Zhao Jincheng patted his cheeks, exerting effort to circulate his divine sense to squeeze out a bit of mental clarity for himself. He then hastily got ready to welcome today’s most important guest.

Having arrived early at the reception room of the City Lord’s Mansion, Zhao Jincheng paced back and forth around the table. Moments later, his inner anxiety wouldn’t subside, so he straightforwardly started cleaning the room by himself until the maid outside fearfully rushed in. Only then did he stop his hands and patiently waited for the honored guest to arrive.

After an indefinite wait, when the afternoon sunlight gradually turned rosy, and another endless swirl of daydreams filled Zhao Jincheng’s mind, finally, his subordinates brought good news.

The representative from the Li Family had arrived!

Along with the sound of footsteps outside, the new City Lord Zhao Jincheng finally met the spokesperson for the Cyan Cloud Li Family, whom he had yearned for.

With a perfectly curated smile that had been brewing for some time, Zhao Jincheng rose to greet the esteemed guest. However, as soon as he stood up, his expression completely froze.

Seeing the smiling, plump middle-aged man before him, Zhao Jincheng’s mind went blank.

Then, he heard the man’s voice.

"Greetings to City Lord Zhao Jincheng. I am Li Kongcheng, the brother of Li Fengyun, the Patriarch of the Cyan Cloud Li Family. I have been entrusted by my sister-in-law to come and meet with the Lord City Lord."

"...Entrusted? She entrusted you to come?"

"Yes, she had business and couldn’t come. After rounding up some laborers, she grabbed me."

Zhao Jincheng suddenly felt as if he had swallowed a fly, wishing he could instantly throw out a stack of sick notes and lock himself in the basement of the City Lord’s Mansion, invisible to everyone.

Yet, limited by his duties, he had to force himself through the discomfort to put on a smile and demonstrate an enthusiastic welcome.

"If that’s the case... Elder Kongcheng, I’ve long heard of you."

But as soon as Zhao Jincheng mentioned it, Li Kongcheng couldn’t help but grin and say, "Haha, where is there anything for you to have heard of...?" Before he could finish, his face turned ashen.

"Wait, did Zhao Yan say something unreasonable to you folks? I seriously declare that all are groundless rumors. In the Li Family Mansion, my status is absolutely not that of some feminist icon or househusband. No, it’s precisely because I am the head of the family, with unlimited authority, that I can come here to meet with you as a proxy when Lu Xin is urgently returning to the city. If it were as the rumors say and my status were below Zhao Yan, then she should be the one here as a proxy, correct? Since I am the proxy, this indicates my higher status, right!?"

Zhao Jincheng was utterly dumbfounded. What on earth was this plump man talking about?

Li Kongcheng continued, "It would be fine if it were at home, just fine in front of the kids, but to talk about these things to outsiders is too much! Not leaving me any face, aren’t they afraid I’ll leave home! This, this here is Golden Jade City, the Zhao Family’s base, and Zhao beauties are numerous!"

Seeing Li Kongcheng getting more and more outrageous as he spoke, Zhao Jincheng had to cough to interrupt his endless chatter.

Li Kongcheng was startled by the cough: "I was just joking! I am absolutely faithful to my marriage!"

Zhao Jincheng covered his face with his hand: "I meant to say, can we start discussing business now? Regarding the establishment of a new cooperation channel between our two families, and setting up a joint research association between the Zhao and Li families. I’ve already drafted an initial framework here, please take a look, Elder Kongcheng."

Li Kongcheng didn’t hurry to look at the draft, feeling a headache just from listening to Zhao Jincheng talk about the topic.

He had traveled such a long distance from QingCyan Cloud yun City to fly to Golden Jade City by Immortal Platform, not to think about this kind of grand strategy, but merely because manpower was tight, so he had no choice but to take the field as a temporary worker.

According to reason, the person qualified to represent the Li Family in negotiations with the new City Lord Golden Jade should be Lu Xin. With Li Fengyun fully handing over power to focus on Sword Cultivation, Lu Xin has repeatedly represented the Li Family on important occasions and is undoubtedly the helm of the Li Family. At that time, Lu Xin was just in Golden Jade City, so the task of liaising with Zhao Jincheng naturally fell to her.

However, at this moment, a disaster struck the Li Family Mansion. After enduring multiple all-nighter editing hells, Li Jinglun finally collapsed, and his document team instantly fell apart.

At this time, there were less than three days left until the deadline for feedback on numerous documents sent by the Saint Sect, yet the document progress remained at 90%.

The situation was urgent. The elders of the Li Family Mansion convened overnight, summoning Patriarch Li Fengyun, who was in secluded cultivation, to handle the matter. After understanding the details, Li Fengyun resolutely took on the responsibility, and as the leader, he began to take over document processing from Li Jinglun, advancing the progress from 90% to 75% within one day. In the hospital room, Li Jinglun wept tears of blood upon seeing the articles edited by Li Fengyun himself.

Helplessly, Lu Xin had to rush back to Qingyun City overnight to clean up the mess, leaving the work in Golden Jade City to others.

According to the ranking order of the Li Family Mansion, ranked third was Zhao Yan. However, as the daughter of the Zhao Family’s branch family, she had some historical grievances with the main family and was unwilling to enter Golden Jade City. Thus, it was Li Kongcheng’s turn to step in.

As the fourth in line to take over, the enthusiasm of Li Kongcheng for the job was predictable. Moreover, in such a major matter, how could he dare to make decisions lightly? If he failed to consult Zhao Yan in time and made unauthorized decisions that led to problems, wouldn’t he go a month without food?

Thinking of this, Li Kongcheng was even more determined to slack off, so he joked, "Hahaha, as expected of Zhao Chenlu City Lord’s own brother, the boldness indeed is extraordinary, coming up with such a bold plan just upon taking office. It’s all good; whether it be new cooperative channels or the Immortal Dao Research Association, if we can do it well, they would all be great matters benefiting the century-long strategies of our two major families. We will definitely study it seriously."

Even though Zhao Jincheng was newly appointed, he had been the eldest son of Golden Jade City for decades, having experienced various trials at grassroots positions. How could he not hear the perfunctory nature of these words?

So, he couldn’t help but feel relieved.

These two proposals were also drafted very hastily and perfunctorily. Although the title concerned the century-long strategies of the families, the content was full of errors, hardly presentable.

This was deliberate, of course. He intended to present an immature proposal for Lu Xin to review, and then candidly request her assistance when those elegant and graceful eyebrows slightly furrowed.

Zhao Jincheng, with his sudden appointment and hasty takeover, lacked both personal ability and bureaucratic support. Presenting an immature proposal was unavoidable, just hoping for a leader with rich experience to kindly offer guidance.

At the same time, Zhao Jincheng’s appointment timing was delicate, receiving neither Zhao Chenlu’s full support nor the backing of the elder tier, leaving him isolated and helpless in Golden Jade City. Thus, he preferred to leverage external forces, such as the Cyan Cloud Li Family with which Golden Jade City had good relations...

Based on Zhao Jincheng’s understanding of Lu Xin, as long as he displayed enough pitiable posture, she wouldn’t refuse. At that time, he could more deeply explore the extraordinary traits of the remarkable woman who had entered the Li Family Mansion with an external surname.

Unfortunately...

The one who came for the talks wasn’t the remarkable woman with the contradictory traits of maturity and innocence, but a Li Kongcheng with stinking qualities combining greasiness and decadence in perfect harmony!

No matter how cultivated Zhao Jincheng was, under such a disparity blow, he was quite disheartened. Seeing Li Kongcheng had no mind for discussing serious matters either, he couldn’t be happier.

"Very well, indeed the century-long strategy needs thorough deliberation. Elder Kongcheng, no need to rush a reply; perhaps discuss it seriously after some time."

Li Kongcheng felt as if granted amnesty. After some time? After some time, this diplomatic negotiation would have nothing to do with him! Let Lu Xin personally handle negotiating with this brick head; he’s going home to eat, drink, and be merry!

The two of them tacitly skipped over this matter concerning century-long strategy, staring at each other across the conference table.

No one could find a topic to continue, and even if anything could be found, there was no desire to find it.

What could one discuss with an oily middle-aged man (brick head)? Going home for dinner was the real business.

Thinking of dinner, Zhao Jincheng couldn’t help but recall the exquisite dinner he had long prepared, intended for a romantic candlelight enjoyment but now could only be enjoyed alone in solitary, just the thought of it brought tears to his eyes.

However, looking on the bright side, being alone was surely better than dining with an oily fat man, wasn’t it...

At this moment, a maid suddenly ran in from outside and softly said, "Lord City Lord, your dinner with the envoy from Cyan Cloud is ready."

"Did I ask for your input?!" Zhao Jincheng was both shocked and angry, "Can’t you see we’re discussing official business!"

The maid was so frightened by the shout that she nearly fell to her knees on the spot, trembling all over.

Li Kongcheng couldn’t bear to see women suffering, so he hastily offered comfort, "Don’t be angry, I’m actually hungry too. Why don’t we have dinner first? Golden Jade City’s cuisine is famous worldwide, and I’ve always wanted to taste it."

"..."