"This is your payment for going to North Africa."

Old Man Lin carefully took out two wrinkled hundred-dollar bills from a well-wrapped piece of old cloth and handed them to Lin Yi, who was watching him.

Lin Yi didn't understand. The mission he was assigned was so dangerous, his enemies were so powerful, the client received such a hefty benefit, but in the end, his own reward was so meager.

Where did this old geezer get all these top-tier missions from?

Every time it was a close call, risking my life, but the reward I got was only fifty or one hundred. It wasn't even that bad, sometimes it was just three or two coins... Every time I think about these things, Lin Yi wants to cry.

After receiving the two hundred yuan he had paid for with his life, Lin Yi most wanted to curse, "Damn it!"

Although he was an orphan, he never had a mother.

Having learned martial arts from Old Man Lin for fifteen years and studied for fifteen years, he could be considered a well-rounded scholar-warrior, right?

Even in ancient times, he was a top scholar who excelled in both literature and martial arts, a double champion! Yet, he was treated like a laborer, being ordered around... When will this kind of life end?!

I heard that in the city, people who build houses can earn tens of thousands of dollars a year. I work hard every day, but I only make a few thousand yuan a year...

"Hey old man, you're not trying to pull a fast one on me, are you? Two hundred bucks? I highly suspect you're shortchanging me!"

Lin Yi has doubted this matter more than once, but the old man and he wore the same clothes, ate the same food, and didn't look like a wealthy person.

"If you have money, it's a good thing. Don't you think money is hard to come by these days?"

Lin Laotou rolled his cloudy eyes and said with displeasure, "What? Don't want it? If you don't want it, just give it back to me. I haven't had a treat at Widow Wang's snack stall in the village for ages."

"... "

Lin Yi really wanted to beat the skinny old man in front of him, but he knew that if he did, he would be the one getting beaten.

Even Lin Lao Tou's own skills, he wasn't quite sure how powerful they truly were.

He only uses half his strength when he practices with me.

Just as he had raised his own skills to a new level, he suddenly realized that the old man had also advanced to a new level, and he was still his subordinate.

"Well, you've had your share of training these years. It seems the time for that major event is almost here."

Lao Lin didn't even lift his eyelids, sitting cross-legged on the kang and munching on a dish of fennel beans in front of him: "If you complete this task, you'll never worry about food and drink for the rest of your life!"

"Really?"

Lin Yi knew that since he was three years old when the old man picked him up while scavenging, he had been learning martial arts, medicine, and worldly knowledge from the old man, all in preparation for doing a great thing!

But Lin Yi was very suspicious that the reward for this big event wasn't as much as the old man said, a mission could last a lifetime.

"When have I ever lied to you?"

Old Man Lin tossed another fennel seed into his mouth: "Are you going or not? If not, I'll find someone else."

"Go, of course I'll go!"

Lin Yixin thought to himself, Such a good thing, only an idiot would not go!

One task can last a lifetime, and you won't have to live such a hard life afterwards. Even if it's like facing dragons and tigers, it'll be worth it!

"Well, then you go. Go to Songshan City, Pengzhan Group, and find someone named Chu Pengzhan. He'll tell you what to do next."

Lao Lin's eyes flashed an almost imperceptible smile: “But you have to think it through, once you take on this task, you must see it through to the end, there can be no backing out halfway.”

“Why? There’s danger and they won’t let us run?”

Lin Yi is not the kind of person who would stubbornly do something he knows will lead to death.

"Xiao Yi, I raised you for fifteen years, fed you, clothed you, bought you a laptop, and even got you a 3G modem..."

The old man's eyes rolled, and he started to rant incessantly: “You have so many questions when I just ask you to do something! Don't give me attitude!”

"Damn it!"

Lin Yi heard the old man's words and became angry: "For the first three years, you raised me. When I was six years old, I started cooking, chopping firewood, and weaving straw shoes to earn money to support you. You shouldn't talk to me like that!"

"You're on the computer at night ***, don't think I don't know!"

The old man glared and said, "This is what we agreed on! You're still talking to the computer…"

"Alright... I'll go... I won't run away, okay?"

Lin Yi's old face flushed red. He didn't expect that he had done such things and was noticed by this old guy. It was really embarrassing.

Let him continue, you never know what indelicate scenes he might paint.

Thus, under the pressure of Old Man Lin's authority, Lin Yi packed his bags and boarded a train heading north. After a long journey spanning thousands of miles, he arrived in Songshan City, a modern international metropolis.

Sitting on the train, Lin Yi was thinking to himself that in the future he needed to add a yellow film and hide it in his computer system folder. When doing "that" thing, he also had to keep an eye out everywhere and listen carefully.

However, Lin Yi was still very much looking forward to this mission. A mission that could lead to retirement, he had dreamed of it!

Although one could tell from Lao Lin's words that this mission wouldn't be easy.

Of course, challenges are only interesting if they're not easy!

"Slap."

A man with a pockmarked face sitting across from Lin Yi pulled open a can of soda and tossed the tab onto the table.

A man with a buzz cut next to him pretended not to care, picked up the pull ring and started fiddling with it. After playing with it for a few moments, he suddenly blurted out:

"Wow! Wow! Wow! First prize!"

Although the bald man's voice was not loud in the noisy train carriage, everyone sitting nearby heard him and turned to look at him.

Mazizi's face naturally wasn't spared either. Seeing the ring in Pingtou's hand was the exact one he had just dropped, his face immediately became a little unnatural: "Give it back to me, this is mine..."

What's yours? Where is your name written?

Xiao Pingtou pulled his right hand back, clutching the pull ring in his hand, and glared: "You're a first prize winner?"

"It's not...I'm not the first prize...that pull tab for the first prize was mine..."

When Mazzi saw Xiao Pingtou's fierce appearance, he felt a little scared. But he didn't want to lose what he deserved, so he nervously watched the lever.

"As you said, you lost it. Since you lost it, whoever found it now owns it."

Xiao Pingtou let out a snort and said dismissively.

"Oh, how could you do that?"

Mazifian's face turned pale. He addressed the passenger across from him, a bespectacled man sitting to Lin Yi's left, "Sir, you look like a scholar. Could you please judge this for us? How could he be so unreasonable? Isn't he just being a scoundrel?"

"Who's being a coward?"

Xiao Ping also wasn't happy, and he turned to the man with glasses, saying, "Master, you tell me, who should this handle belong to?"

"Hmm..."

The man in glasses pushed his glasses up his nose and hesitated for a moment before saying, "I'm a university professor. Since you both trust me, I might as well give you my opinion."

"You said it! You said it!"

Mazizi's face and Xiaopingtou both nodded, looking anxiously at the man with glasses who claimed to be a university teacher.

"Logically speaking, this pull-tab was pulled from a beverage can by this brother, so the item should belong to him..."

The man with glasses was halfway through his sentence when Mazie's smug face popped up. Little Pingtou suddenly became flustered, about to say something, but the man with glasses waved him off, stopping him, and continued:

But since this big brother already lost the pull tab and was picked up by this other brother, it should belong to this later brother...

But you also said that the hairpin was mine…

Ma Zi Lian, upon hearing what the man with glasses said, immediately burst into tears.

"In my opinion, why don't you two split the prize evenly? That way, no one loses out!"

The man in glasses suggested.

"Sigh..."

Xiaoping hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth, and said, "Alright, let's split it."

About Xiaoping also felt that his own reason was not standing, so he agreed to the suggestion of the man with glasses.

And over there, that kid with the pockmarked face also saw the pull-ring and clutched it in Xiaopingtou's hand. If he didn't agree, he might not get any at all. It was better to split it in half, so he nodded in agreement as well.

"Alright, since you all agree, let's split up."

The man in glasses took the can from Mazilian's hand and looked at it. "It says here that the first prize is 100,000 yuan. After deducting 20% personal income tax, there are 80,000 yuan left. However, considering that claiming the prize is quite troublesome, which of you two would like to go claim the prize? Just give the other person 30,000 yuan, and then go claim it yourselves. What do you think about this idea?"

"Great!"

Since a little face could earn some money, he readily agreed: "Give me 30,000 yuan, and then you go collect the prize!"