Tranxending Vision - Chapter 35

Chapter 35

I've No Interest In Watching You Bath

With materials and equipment all readied, Xia Lei progressed quickly in his processing . By his calculations, he would be able to complete the order in under half a month .

Chi Jing-Qiu did not disturb him again . She was a dignified lady after all, and even if she did try to disturb him again she would not do it to the point of harassment . Xia Lei was not concerned about anything to do with her any longer . Outside of precision processing, he closed himself in the villa's study to read . He read everything; precision machining, precision welding welding technology, electrical engineering, mechanical design, foreign languages, business management, capital operation and so on . He was like a sponge, greedily absorbing knowledge like nutrients . Every minute he spent at East Wind Heavy Industries was enriching .

His greatest gain, however, was not progress in completing the order or knowledge obtained . His greatest gain was greater familiarity with the use of his eye after using it more frequently . He had reached the level of sending and receiving signals directly from his mind . His control of the power was also getting more steady and he could mostly minimise the consequence of overuse of the eye such as fatigue and hallucinations .

A simple example was when he was doing precision processing . He used the left eye's zooming-in power for that and was easily hit with the consequence of overuse . After gaining more control with practice, his left eye would switch off the ability when he did not need to stare at the precision processing and let him rest . He used to need to deliberately control it but it had become a sort of habit now which was tied in with a lot of practice . It had become as natural as breathing and there was no need for deliberate control .

Ten days passed in a flash .

"Not bad, Little Lei . You have completed two thirds of the order in these past ten days . What's more commendable is that you did not have to scrap any of them and saved us a large amount of materials . This is the first time I've seen someone of your workmanship level – genius! With talent like yours, our country's hopes of greater power could be realised! Haha!" Ning Yuan-Shan was overjoyed and his laughter rang throughout the workshop .

Xia Lei wiped his perspiration with a towel, smiled and said, "Uncle Ning, I am not such a talent . I only know how to do a little bit of metalworking . "

"Modest . Such modesty from an amazing guy! Oh, how rare, how rare . How about staying and not going back to your workshop? Come to my place . I'll give you a workshop to manage and your remuneration will be two million yuan a year . How about that?" Ning Yuan-Shan looked at Xia Lei with eyes full of expectation .

One month prior, Xia Lei's salary was just 3,000 yuan and it was not fixed at that amount either . Now someone was offering him an annual salary of two million; changes in life really were unpredictable . If it was a month ago, don't even speak of two million – if someone had offered him a 100,000 annual salary, Xia Lei would have agreed ten thousand times over . However, two million yuan only held a certain degree of attraction for him now and was not able to move him into making a decision .

"Thank you, Uncle Ning but as you can see, I am used to freelance work and I'm not suited for corporate life . It is better for me to work in my own workshop . I would earn less but I like my freedom there . " Xia Lei declined Ning Yuan-Shan's kindness politely .

Ning Yuan-Shan looked a little disappointed, "I know you would like to make a name for yourself so it wasn't right of me to ask a talent like yourself to come join my company . That's good too . Do what you like . But if Uncle here has any difficulties like the one you're helping me with now, you must come lend a hand . "

Xia Lei grinned, "Definitely . Don't worry about it, Uncle Ning . "

"Come to my home and have a meal, Little Lei . I'll call that little scamp Ning Jing over too . The two of you haven't met for ten days so she must miss you a lot," said Ning Yuan-Shan .

Xia Lei sensed a headache coming on and said, "I'd better not go . I'll get easily distracted if I see her . I will be done in a few days and it doesn't matter if I'm late a few days in seeing her . "

Ning Yuan-Shan laughed again, "Career-minded! You can resist even the temptation of love . Promising, promising . "

Xia Lei was getting uncomfortable from his praise . He was quietly glad that Ning Yuan-Shan was not Ning Jing's father or it would have been even more exaggerated .

However, if you looked at it from Ning Yuan-Shan's perspective, the young man was handsome, charming, skilled, career-minded, realistic, steadfast and had no parents – how could he not like him as a future spouse of a member of the Ning clan? It was not just Ning Yuan-Shan, Ning Jing's own father would like him too . Unfortunately, they did not know that Xia Lei and Ning Jing were not in an actual relationship .

One young and one old left the workshop, engaged in cheerful banter . Xia Lei accompanied Ning Yuan-Shan part of the way till he got to a path heading towards the accommodations and Ning Yuan-Shan moved towards the garage .

Back in the villa, Xia Lei took off his clothes and jumped into the indoor hot spring pool to wash off the grease and enjoy the massage of flowing water . He would always soak himself every day after work at this time and it was the most relaxing time of day for him .

Click-clack . The sound of high-heels clicking on floors suddenly came from behind him .

This sound made Xia Lei wrinkle his brows, "Chi Jing-Qiu, are you not done? Will you believe me if I say I will call Chairman Ning right now and let him have a talk with you?"

Click, clack . The sound of footsteps did not stop – instead, it was approaching .

"Really, you…" Xia Lei twisted his neck around to look and stared blankly .

The one walking towards him was not Chi Jing-Qiu but Long Bing .

Black skirt, black heels and a face of ice . Her appearance seemed to carry a natural chill and the temperature of the room dropped by several degrees .

Xia Lei quickly snapped out of it and turned around in a panic, dunking himself deeper into the pool . A worry then came to him that the water was transparent and he covered his important part . Long Bing's appearance made him flounder and he felt embarrassed, too .

Long Bing walked around the pool to stand opposite Xia Lei, then slowly seated herself on a chair and looked right at Xia Lei . "I am going back to Jing-Du . I've come to see you before leaving . "

Xia Lei was at a loss; he asked awkwardly, "Um, I'm taking a bath now . Couldn't you have picked another time?"

"I know . This doesn't bother me," said Long Bing .

Xia Lei had no idea of how to handle her . He was in trouble as soon as she appeared .

"I'd always thought you weren't so simple but you've surprised me again this time . The precision parts you are processing for East Wind Heavy Industries needed to be imported and could not be processed unless the newest technological equipment could be imported . You actually processed these manually . I am getting more and more curious about you . Can you tell me how you did it?"

"It's better if you don't ask about things you shouldn't know," said Xia Lei .

Long Bing paused . She suddenly recalled that this line was what she had said to Xia Lei in the Archaeological Bureau after knocking Ning Jing unconscious . Xia Lei had unexpectedly used the same line to answer her now . That's right – she told him nothing so why would he tell her anything?

"Did you come here to ask me this?" asked Xia Lei .

Long Bing opened her handbag and took out a cheque . She placed it on the tiles by the pool .

Xia Lei's left eye twitched and the cheque about three metres away looked to be right in front of him, details all clearly legible . It was a cheque for 50,000 . Though he'd seen it clearly, he pretended not to know, "What's that?"

"This is 50,000 yuan – your reward . I know the Archaeological Bureau did not pay you," said Long Bing .

"You took the compass away and angered them . They couldn't take it out on you so I naturally became the target . They definitely wouldn't pay me but I can't take your money either . Please take it away," said Xia Lei .

"This money isn't from me, it's from the government . I'll take it away if you don't want it," said Long Bing .

"I'll accept it then . Thanks," Xia Lei smiled . Government payment? Of course he'd take it . The money should have been his anyway .

"Based on my observations in this period of time, I think you're not too bad . You also have some ability . Are you interested in working for me?"

"What will I work as for you?"

"I cannot tell you now," said Long Bing, "If you agree, you will be sent to an undisclosed location for training . You will know what your work is once you pass the test . "

Xia Lei looked at Long Bing . "You're an agent, and a very specialised one at that, aren't you?"

Long Bing neither confirmed nor denied it . She just looked quietly as Xia Lei, watching him and waiting for his response .

Xia Lei thought for a bit, then shook his head . "I'm a normal guy and I still have my little sister to take care of . I cannot live my life under a hail of gunfire so I'd have to say no to your offer . I'm doing quite nicely now and I don't wish to make any changes . "

"Good men should work for their country . You have a very strong ability and with training you can become a powerful person . Why don't you want to serve your country?"

Xia Lei laughed . "I can't agree with you on that . There are many ways to serve the country like farmers who grow crops, produce grain and cotton – this serves the country too . Workers work in production and construction – this also serves the country . I am contributing to the building of this nation too . Aren't these all ways of serving the country?"

Long Bing wrinkled her brows . "I cannot convince you but I'll wait . I believe a day will come when you understand what I mean . "

Xia Lei did not say anything but he felt sure a day like that would never come .

Long Bing stood from her seat . "I've stayed long enough . I should be going now . I know your sister will go to Jing-Du to study so you can tell her to give me a call when she is there, I'll take care of her . "

"Thank you . I'll let her know . " Xia Lei was perhaps overwhelmed with gratitude but he forgot that he was naked in the bath . As Long Bing got up to leave, he hurriedly stood as well out of politeness to send her to the door . When he stood in a sploosh of water, he realised his mistake and quickly crouched again, making sure to cover his 'part' up .

In that short window of time, Long Bing's face suddenly took on a blush . This was a rare sight indeed – at least for Xia Lei since he had never seen her embarrassed before .

It passed quickly though and Long Bing was back to normal . She spoke offhandedly, "There's no need to cover it up . I've seen it already . It's ugly . "

Xia Lei was speechless .

"Goodbye . " Long Bing turned to leave and she did not look back .

Xia Lei loosened his hands and looked at a certain thing in the water, then mumbled to himself, "Did she really see you? Are you really ugly?" He stood again . He'd lost interest in bathing .

At that moment, Long Bing suddenly turned back .

"Ah!" Xia Lei shrieked, then covered his important part and crouched down . Flustered, he asked, "What the heck are you doing?"

"I've no interest in watching you bath . "

Being stared at like that and shot with such words made Xia Lei so depressed he could vomit blood .

"I forgot something . " Long Bing walked to the side of the pool, opened her handbag and placed a black leather wallet on the tiles, saying, "This is my gift to you – your driving license . "

Xia Lei was shocked . "Aren't driving licenses from the driving school?"

"I am the driving school," said Long Bing .

Xia Lei suddenly laughed . Long Bing could make Jiang Ru-Yi into Chief . Compared to that, getting him a driving license was no big deal and him asking her questions about it really was superfluous .

"Go buy a car . It'll be more convenient for us to meet in the future . "

Xia Lei laughed dryly . "I knew you wouldn't give me something for free . "

Long Bing did not waste further words and turned to leave .

This time, Xia Lei waited till she was out of sight before he climbed cautiously out of the pool, then used a towel to wrap his whole body up tightly .