The more Bailu thought about it, the more she felt that this idea was not only extremely brilliant, but also highly feasible.
She could punish the villainous Vidyadhara Elders and get herself out of trouble at the same time—wasn't this the legendary "apologizing through beating, resolving two difficulties at once"?
Wasn't this exactly one of those classic cases written in some military treatise?
Just by hearing a few scattered remarks from others, she could come up with such a perfect plan—she was simply too smart.
Bailu felt very pleased with her own intelligence. Thinking back on her years as a medical practitioner, a sense of "the past is too painful to revisit" unexpectedly welled up in her heart.
She lamented to herself, "I clearly should have become a strategist. Being a medic in the Alchemy Commission was truly a massive waste."
Hearing this, Sylvester—standing nearby—not only showed no discomfort at her self-praise, but instead solemnly raised his thumb and backed her up. "Wise indeed, Dragon Lady!"
"Eh~~ it's nothing much."
Bailu waved her hands modestly, but the uncontrollable curve of her lips clearly said, "Don't stop, keep it coming."
At the same time, affirmation from others made her confidence grow ever firmer. She couldn't wait to see the scene of those Vidyadhara Elders who once pointed fingers at her kneeling before her, begging for forgiveness.
She settled the payment with Sylvester, then smiled politely and said, "Thank you for the trash can. When I become the Marshal of the Xianzhou Alliance someday, I'll definitely make you the Grand General of Trash Cans!"
Sylvester laughed when he heard that.
That was casting the net pretty far—but the sincerity was obvious.
He lifted one hand resting on the counter and said lazily, "Uh, I appreciate the goodwill, but I'll pass on that position. I don't like working."
"Oh, and you too—the blond gentleman. Thanks for helping me watch the trash can. Good luck to you!"
After bidding farewell to both of them, Bailu ran out of the little shop in high spirits, heading straight toward the Scalegorge Waterscape.
Say it and do it. Vidyadhara Elders—your Dragon Lady is about to descend!
Aventurine watched Bailu's figure fade into the distance until only a tiny purple dot remained. He turned back to Sylvester and said, "Shopkeeper Sylvester, your mentality really hasn't changed at all."
Still the same old fun-seeker.
Bailu thought she had merely been inspired by their conversation—but he had seen it clearly.
Sylvester had laid down the tracks, called out "start," and then Bailu's little train went straight down those tracks and smashed right into the Vidyadhara Elders' lair.
Based on what he knew of the Healer Dragon Lady's past experiences, it was impossible for Bailu not to seek revenge sooner or later—but Sylvester had undoubtedly accelerated the process.
One could even say he had forcibly added a deadline to it: before Lingsha, the Alchemy Commission's Director, found the Dragon Lady.
With just a few words, something that could have been done anytime had turned into an urgent, top-priority matter.
For the Vidyadhara Elders to run into him—what an utterly undeserved calamity.
"You flatter me. I've always been one to hurry things along for others."
Sylvester treated the implication in Aventurine's words entirely as praise and continued, "You flatter me. If the Vidyadhara Elders hadn't brought this upon themselves, no matter how much I talked, with Bailu's personality, she would never have harmed them."
"The Vidyadhara Elders have been out there stirring trouble—sooner or later, they'd have to pay it back. Bailu just happens to have run into a little problem, so letting the Vidyadhara Elders bleed a bit counts as repayment. That's what you call going with the flow."
After hearing this entire "brilliant theory," Aventurine didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
True enough, the Vidyadhara Elders had only themselves to blame—but what Sylvester had done was undeniably inciting internal conflict and disrupting the Vidyadhara's original order.
If the Vidyadhara were replaced with the Borisin, and Bailu were replaced with Hoolay from several hundred years ago when he was still a young wolf, this could very well have sparked a bloodbath.
This sort of method—using contradictions to make people tear each other apart—only felt so satisfying under the present circumstances. If it were anywhere else…
Aventurine couldn't help recalling their original plan to use certain methods to trick Sylvester into joining the Corporation.
Leaving aside whether it would even succeed, if Sylvester truly entered the Corporation, with all its intrigue and layered conflicts, it was hard to say what might happen.
He sighed softly and said sincerely, "Shopkeeper Sylvester, you're the one who should be a strategist."
"I'll pass. That kind of work is too tiring."
Sylvester waved his hand, relaxed back against the chair, and added, "Let's not talk about these trivial matters anymore. They have nothing to do with us anyway. So—are you ready to open the trash can?"
"Of course!"
Aventurine stood up proudly. This was exactly what he had come here for.
Although recalling the last time he opened a black trash can still made his heart tremble with lingering fear—
He believed that today would bring great gains. He could feel it: his heart was already starting to stir. This was the unique sensation that only came when luck was about to explode!
"Shopkeeper Sylvester, just clear out the remaining nine in one go."
Aventurine walked toward the shelves and casually flicked his phone forward. Nine million Credits seemed to be nothing more than a number—he spent it without even blinking.
"Very well, please go ahead." Sylvester moved swiftly. A few seconds later, the payment notification chime rang out, and he tossed the phone back to Aventurine. The motion was smooth and practiced, like flowing water.
"Ughh~~"
The electronic chime startled Qingque, who had been buried in a storm of inspiration. She yawned, casually tossed a stack of paper filled with writing onto the tea table in front of her, and leaned back against the sofa.
"Ah, I feel like I'm about to burn out." At this point, she had completely lost her earlier liveliness. Sprawled on the sofa in all directions, she looked barely better than a puddle of mud.
Her exhausted expression made Sylvester want to stick a cigarette between her fingers just to match her current state.
Qingque looked at Aventurine standing in front of the shelves and tilted her head blankly. "Eh? Why is there one person missing? Where's Miss Bailu?"
Seeing her "completely unaware of the outside world" demeanor, Sylvester joked, "Oh? So there really was another person here. If you hadn't spoken, I wouldn't have noticed. Bailu just finished opening a trash can and went off to create a big piece of news."
"Hey, hey, hey—at the very least, I can barely count as your secretary, right? Saying it like that really hurts, you know." Qingque protested lazily, then added, "Oh, big news? That's pretty nice, then."
Secretary? What kind?
Sylvester's eyebrow twitched as he shot her a look.
With you in that state, no kind of job would satisfy a boss—thankfully, the salary isn't coming out of my pocket.
===BREAK===
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