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Chapter 234 One Cannot Always Rely on One’s Family

As for that good candidate for a leader, it’s Fatty.

In her previous life, Xia Xinyan didn’t interact much with Fatty, but she did know a bit about him.

After the Cataclysm, when she saw Fatty again, he had already formed his own team, leading them entirely, and it quickly grew into an intelligence network that belonged solely to him.

Moreover, it was Fatty who suggested that Xia Xinyan build her own force—because under the circumstances after the Cataclysm, no matter how strong your abilities are, lone wolves tend to have the hardest time thriving.

Xia Xinyan really did set up a team, but it was clear she wasn’t cut out to be a leader. Most of the time, she acted more like a figurehead, leaving all the organizational tasks to her capable deputy—a girl who single-handedly made that small organization thrive. While not a big deal in Xia Xinyan’s eyes, it was still an impressive achievement.

Unfortunately, she now had no idea where her deputy was.

Ahem, getting sidetracked here.

When it comes to leadership skills, Fatty undoubtedly excelled far above them; handing the Canglong organization over to him to manage and develop was an excellent idea. At most, they could hang their names on it, helping out as muscle when someone foolish enough came poking around, but other than that… they’d likely just be leeches.

Xia Xinyan had no psychological burden about it. If Fatty was currently considering this, then their move was akin to giving him a pillow when he’s feeling drowsy—the most crucial part is bridging the gap from zero to one, which is often the hardest step.

Of course, everything depended on Fatty’s thoughts.

So, time was of the essence; that very evening, she had Ling Mo call Fatty out.

Once again at that same café, still at their usual spot, but now with an added Monica.

“Why are you calling me out so late? After a long day, I just showered and was getting ready to sleep,” Fatty yawned. “I hope whatever you want to talk about is worth me ditching my bed.”

Xia Xinyan shot a sideways glance at Ling Mo.

Given their current relationship, it was best for Ling Mo to broach this topic.

Noticing her gaze, Ling Mo nodded: “I’ll cut to the chase—do you have your own force yet?”

Fatty paused: “…Why are you asking this?”

“Just answer the question.”

“No,” Fatty shook his head without a second thought. “If you’re asking where I got those intelligence, I can’t tell you; it’s called connections, you know?”

“Got it, got it,” Ling Mo stroked his chin, tentatively asking, “Since you’re finding out through connections, doesn’t that make it less reliable than investigating yourself? Aren’t you worried that one day those connections might go awry?”

“Of course I’m worried, but what can I do? In this sorry state, what am I going to do? Go rush to get beaten up?” Fatty shrugged.

He didn’t have any abilities right now.

Ling Mo chuckled: “What if we gave you a starting point?”

Fatty paused again: “Wait, what do you mean?”

He finally sensed something was off.

“You should still remember what we’re doing, right?” Ling Mo said sincerely. “I’ll just ask directly—do you want to be the boss of Canglong?”

Fatty: “？？？”

He was so thrown off by the question he barely processed it: “Huh… what do you mean?”

“Literally,” Ling Mo laid it out. “We took down Canglong and now we need a boss, do you want to take on that role?”

“You actually took it down?”

“Yep, their boss surrendered.”

“Surrendered… what the heck did you do to make them surrender so easily?”

Ling Mo shrugged: “Maybe we just exuded too much pressure.”

Fatty stared blankly for a few seconds, as if suddenly realizing something: “Wait, you guys don’t already have abilities, do you?”

“Guess?” Although he said that, the answer was already written all over Ling Mo’s face.

To make Fatty feel secure taking on this force, they needed to give him a peace of mind.

Fatty instantly understood and couldn’t help but grin: “Impressive.”

“So, do you want it or not?” Ling Mo asked again.

Fatty shot back, “Why don’t you guys become the boss?”

“Because we wouldn’t make a good one.”

“How do you know I can do well?”

“Because you were a class monitor in high school; the organization has tested your skills.”

“？？？”

Knowing full well that Ling Mo was just being ridiculous, Fatty couldn’t find any rebuttal.

And to be honest… he did want to seize this opportunity.

After pondering for a moment, he couldn’t help but ask, “You guys are really willing to give me this great opportunity?”

“Of course not,” Ling Mo shook his head. “We’ll all be co-bosses, but you’ll be the one in actual charge. If you encounter an issue you can’t handle later, just let us help; we won’t interfere with your management, but sometimes, we might need to borrow some strength, like for intel.”

Fatty glanced at Xia Xinyan, then turned back to Ling Mo: “Are you guys planning to break away from the Summer Family?”

“Not entirely,” Ling Mo smiled, “One can’t depend solely on family.”

Xia Xinyan: “…”

Fair enough, that was basically the point.

Fatty smacked his lips and asked, “So you just trust me like that? Not worried I’ll turn on you?”

“You won’t,” Ling Mo replied simply.

If three years of the purest high school days couldn’t reveal someone’s true nature, then his eyes ought to be donated to someone in need.

Fatty slapped the table: “Alright, I’ll help out with this gig just because you said that.”

It was about time for him to show his true colors.

Ling Mo chuckled: “Okay, I’ll take you over to check things out tomorrow morning, that’s settled; your bed probably misses you.”

“Let’s chat more tomorrow,” Fatty rubbed his hands and stood up to leave, “Ugh… it’s freezing out here!”

An Xiao, who had been watching from the side, was left dumbfounded: “You’re just handing Canglong over to him like that?”

“What? You want it?” Xia Xinyan shot her a glance, “You can join too, continuing your research wouldn’t be a problem either.”

An Xiao: “…”

Suddenly, she lost interest in her research.

Monica took a sip of coffee and curiously asked, “This is quite interesting, so what’s your next plan?”

“Don’t know,” Xia Xinyan shook her head, “We’ll just take it step by step; we’re not at the stage for recklessness just yet.”

Pausing, she stood up: “Alright, let’s head back.”

She was tired too.

An Xiao didn’t linger either and quickly said her goodbyes. Monica wanted to stroll through the night market of this world, so she didn’t go back with them, leaving just two of them in quietude on the way home, contrary to their exciting expectations.

Ling Mo gazed at the night sky, fell silent for a moment, and suddenly asked softly, “Xinyan… are you planning to break away from the Summer Family?”

The question Fatty had asked him earlier, he actually didn’t know the answer.

He had never asked Xia Xinyan about her thoughts before.

Xia Xinyan paused for a moment, then smiled: “Just like you said, one cannot always rely on family, right?”