The Great Worm Lich

It was apparent that it was not the first time the waitress at the Golden Brick Hotel had encountered such dissatisfaction from the guests. With an apologetic smile on her face, she quietly listened to Zhang Lisheng’s complaints and finally said, “I’m sorry, sir. Although it’s unreasonable, this is our hotel’s policy. I can’t do anything about it as well, please forgive me. ”

“Oh, okay, okay. I understand that it’s not your fault, either. In this damn age of magic and science fiction hodgepodge, perhaps bartering might be the normal trading method in the future,” When Zhang Lisheng saw the waitress apologizing to him, he quietly calmed down instead. “Then what food can I buy with Soro now?”

“Barbecued monkey meat and Amazon wild fruit platter full of rainforest flavor,” The waitress replied with a smile.

“Sounds very appetizing! I’ve spent a full seven years in the Amazon, and now have I finally fallen to the point where I eat monkeys for a living? How great!” The young man took a deep breath and gnashed his teeth. He took out a wad of Soros and passed it to the waitress without counting it before saying with a grudge, “Give me the barbecued meat and the wild fruit platter then. Take the rest of the money as tips since it’s gonna become a pile of waste paper anyway.”

“Thank you, sir.” The waitress nodded and thanked him before immediately turning to leave. Looking at her receding back, Zhang Lisheng suddenly stood up as if unable to hold back his anger and shouted, “Ah goddamn it!”

He made a punching gesture and immediately caught the attention of the others in the restaurant.

Amidst the startled gaze focusing on him, the young man seemed to finally calm down, and he explained incoherently in embarrassment, “I’m sorry, guys. I’m not an uneducated savage but a doctor of natural resources from the University of Pennsylvania. It’s just that it was too much of them to not accept the official currency issued by the Tatetutu government but asked me to pay in gold instead. This is just making things difficult for me. I’m afraid I’d have to sleep on the street tomorrow, y’ know? It’s usually hard for people to control their emotions when they encounter such a thing. I’m sorry, oh, I think I seemed to have said too much. Anyway, sorry, guys.”

The young man’s apologetic words turned the gaze on him into sympathy, but for a moment, nobody said anything kind to help. Eventually, a slightly hoarse female voice resonated, ‘Sir, I heard you said that you’re a doctor of natural resources from the University of Pennsylvania and that you’ve spent seven years in the Amazon. Are you doing natural science research here?”

“Oh yes, ma’am. After graduating from my Ph.D., I was asked by the Boudri Institute to come to do post-doctoral research in Amazon’s comprehensive laboratory. I become a formal researcher after two years here.” Zhang Lisheng was stunned for a while before putting on a longing look. “I actually had the chance to teach at the university and live a comfortable life in the Noah World, but I’ve gotten this sickness called ‘Amazon obsession.’ This mysterious and gorgeous primitive jungle attracted me like a drug, and I love it very much! I study it and have devoted almost everything to it. Even when all of the laboratory scientists have left, and I’m now all alone here. I just don’t care as well, but now, all I get in return is to sleep on the street,” The young man sat back down on his seat dejectedly like a deflated ball.

“That’s not necessary,” Looking at Zhang Lisheng’s gloomy expression, Guo Caiying secretly found it to be funny, but she put on a pondering look before saying, “Perhaps you’ll soon find a new job that can give you a good reward for the intensive study you’ve done on the Amazon jungle.”

“Oh my god! Does this mean that you intend to hire me?” Zhang Lisheng put on a desperate expression as he asked loudly with his eyes wide.

“It depends on how valuable you are, by the way, what’s your name?” Guo Caiying asked with a smile.

“John Liu Fu, my name is Fu Luren,” The young man eagerly walked up to the girl and sat down next to her bluntly like a conceited American with a slight nerdy look who had fallen into a crisis. “As for value, well, if it relates to the field of Amazon’s natural sciences, I can say that I’ll undoubtedly satisfy you. ”

“I hope your knowledge is as significant as what you said,” Guo Caiying smiled noncommittally and asked in Chinese, “Your name is Fu Luren? Are you Chinese?”

“My parents are Chinese. They brought me to the United States when I was ten,” Zhang Lisheng’s eyes lit up and replied in Chinese excitedly as well, “Are you Chinese too?”

“Of course, we are a diplomatic corps to Tatetutu on behalf of the Chinese government.” The girl answered with a smile.

“Diplomatic corps,” the young man purposely put on a startled expression. “The Chinese government would still send diplomatic missions to the Amazon in this f*cked up era? This is really absurd, not to mention that Tatetutu is now a country that doesn’t even use its own national currency now! It’s a question whether their government still exists or not…”

Many people at the same table showed startled and mindful expressions when they heard Guo Caiying suddenly had the plan of hiring’ foreign aid’. However, because of her extraordinary family background and status, no one dared to stop her.

At this time, listening to Zhang Lisheng’s words, a bookish young man wearing a pair of golden glasses sitting three seats away to the left of Guo Caiying seized this opportunity and said, “The more critical the time is, the more we Earthlings need to work together to deal with the possible crisis, don’t we, Dr. Fu? If you don’t have this awareness or that you have even the slightest doubt in us, I’m afraid it’d be tough for you to work with us…”

The young man could hear that the direction implied in this sentence, so he quickly said, “Oh, no, sir. I’m very well aware. Working together to deal with a possible crisis, right? Okay, as long as I can get a new job, I can have any sort of awareness. Diplomatic corps, you guys are diplomatic corps. Ah, I’ve watched the movie ‘Great Diplomat’ before, and I know that as a temporary employee, I must never ask any questions or have any curiosity. Don’t worry, I’ll only focus on working. Even though I don’t know how a natural resources scientist would be useful for a diplomatic corps, I can at least stay quiet and ask nothing.”

“In that case, it’s a deal,” Guo Caiying said immediately and arbitrarily. “As long as you can show your value, then you’ve just found yourself a new job, Dr. Fu. As for your pay, it’ll be one ounce of gold per day.”

“An ounce of gold is also a piece of steak money. oh, lady, if this was before, this payment would have been quite good, but it doesn’t look so generous now.” Zhang Lisheng quipped.

“Doctor, if you’re not spending your money in the best five-star Golden Brick Hotel in Tuikano, you’ll find out that an ounce of gold is actually enough for a person to live a simple life for a long time. Also, your accommodation and food during your employment will all be free,” Guo Caiying said with a smile.

“When a person has explored the primitive jungle for more than ten days alone, having the best material enjoyment can make him relieve his fatigue, don’t you know that?” The young man murmured under his breath with a curl of his lips, “This is my habit… But, alright, I don’t have the qualification to negotiate a salary with you anymore, so I’ll listen to you, ma’am. An ounce it is then. Just give me work, and you’ll soon understand what a wise choice you made to hire me…”

The instant Zhang Lisheng’s words left his mouth, he suddenly saw the waitress carrying a plate of scorched roasted meat, and a basin full of clean and dry vegetables and fruits dripping with water droplets towards the table where he was seated just now. immediately, he waved and shouted loudly, “Hi, Miss Waitress, I’m here sitting with my new boss.”

Upon seeing Zhang Lisheng’s noisy demeanor, the bookish man who spoke just now frowned, trying to open his mouth to talk but stopping himself once again. He looked at Guo Caiying who had a calm look on and finally swallowed what he wanted to say. The others also tacitly approved Guo Caiying’s hiring of ‘foreign aid’ noncommittally, and just like this, the tacit conspiracy of the young man and the girl was successfully blended together…

Pretending to slowly enjoy his monkey meat dinner with a bitter expression, Zhang Lisheng seized the opportunity to hint to the girl after the Chinese diplomats had finished their meals, “Boss, can you buy me some dessert and coffee? It’s not a perfect meal without them, y’ know?”

“Of course, I can. Looks like you maintain a very leisure eating habit, doctor.” Guo Caiying smiled, understanding what he was trying to imply, and motioned to the waitress not far away. She ordered two sets of deserts and coffee and said, “Then, I’ll also have dessert and coffee and talk to you about your job scope.”

It was natural that the rest of the Chinese diplomats would not stop Guo Caiying from staying back to have her dessert. Of course, nobody would follow to order another dessert and coffee to accompany her as well.

A man dressed in a grey suit with a square face and big mouth who did little talking but was all smiles throughout the dinner sitting opposite the girl stood up first and said, “Director Guo, you’re still young, so everything you eat can be well digested. The stomach of an old man like me can’t digest sweet food, so I’ll take my leave first to go back to the room. I’ll ask two comrades from the Bureau of Religious Affairs to stay behind, and if there is any new situation, let us stay in contact on the phone at any time.”

“Director Song, your age is the time to shoulder great responsibilities among the middle-level cadres of various ministries and commissars, so you can’t be defeated by your old age at all!” Guo Caiying also joked, “Alright then, please notify me through phone tonight if there’s any new instruction. If not, then I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

Upon hearing the girl’s polite words, the old man smiled even more brightly and nodded before turning to walk towards the restaurant door. Everyone except Guo Caiying and Zhang Lisheng naturally followed him and left the restaurant.

“I put on a good performance right, Senior Sister?” Watching the disappearance of the Chinese diplomats, Zhang Lisheng smiled proudly at Guo Caiying and asked, “What about the Taoists I saw at noon, though. They didn’t eat with all of you?”

“They were supposed to eat with us, but then the atmosphere between the Taoist priests, monks, mullahs, and your comrades of the same Gate were just too heavy, and everyone was feeling uncomfortable. It’s because of this that all of us ate separately. Did you see that VIP room over there? Oh, look, the Taoist disciples are all coming out right now. Looks like they’ve just finished their dinner too,” Guo Caiying replied as she pointed to the room at the corner of the restaurant. Zhang Lisheng inadvertently looked in the direction of her fingers, but he suddenly froze.