Tang Xingyou was organizing book archives when she looked up and saw Jian Xi and He Qingchen. Although she didn't recognize He Qingchen, she did recognize Jian Xi!
"Miss Jian! You're here!" Tang Xingyou said happily. Chief Song had already told her that when Jian Xi arrives, hurry and take her to his office!
"Um, just call me Jian Xi or Little Seven, this is my brother, He Qingchen," Jian Xi said with a smile.
Tang Xingyou quickly nodded, "Okay, I'm definitely older than you, so I'll call you Little Seven from now on." She also greeted He Qingchen.
He Qingchen nodded, and Jian Xi said to her, "I'm here to report for duty to Chief Song."
"I know, Chief Song said, just give me a moment to close up the shop, then I'll take you upstairs," Tang Xingyou said.
Then, Tang Xingyou squeezed out from behind the front desk and ran to the shop door. She locked it from the inside and flipped the sign to closed.
"Let's go, I'll take you upstairs," Tang Xingyou said as she led the way.
There were no stairs in the bookstore, so ordinary people would assume there was only one floor. Tang Xingyou led them to a white marble wall with lamps.
She casually placed her palm on a piece of marble. Instantly, the warm yellow lamps turned bright white, even the cracks between the marble lit up, looking very high-tech!
The wall split open from the middle to each side, revealing the stair entrance.
Tang Xingyou led them upstairs. Upstairs was a large square hall. In the middle were seven circular scattered workstations.
"This is where we work. That's my station with stuff on it. The ones without stuff are vacant. The standalone one is our supervisor Nie Xiujin's spot. The others haven't arrived yet, they come after sunset," Tang Xingyou explained.
Jian Xi asked curiously, "Why at night? Don't they work during the day?"
Tang Xingyou explained, "Usually we work days, but this month there are more ghosts that don't add up in the Underworld. So they've been working nights lately and napping during the day."
Jian Xi frowned but didn't say anything more. She knew that the Underworld gets flooded with ghosts daily that the yin servants can barely keep up, not to mention the ghosts that can't find their way to the ghost gate. So those ghosts stranded in the human world are generally sent through the ghost gate by metaphysics masters in the human world.
Now the state also has agencies for this. The Underworld is even working directly with the human agencies!
Jian Xi thought that she would certainly have more contact with Older Brother Xie and Older Brother Fan than before! He Qingchen was thinking similarly, but more about having Xu Yan find more high quality tea and wine, or just buy a tea plantation and winery. That would make things more convenient!
The two were lost in thought as Tang Xingyou led them around the office area to Chief Song's door. Just as she was about to knock, the door opened from the inside.
The office wasn't very soundproof. Hearing footsteps, Chief Song hurried to open the door.
"Miss Jian, Mr. He, come in! I just finished steeping tea, was waiting for you!" Chief Song stepped aside. He didn't mention boiling kettle after kettle while waiting for them.
After showing them in, Tang Xingyou asked Jian Xi for her ID to process her employment.
Chief Song poured tea for Jian Xi and He Qingchen as they sat across from him on the sofa.
He couldn't hide his excitement, even more than when he poached Nie Xiujin. "Miss Jian, I really didn't expect you to agree to work here. I'm truly delighted you came!"
Honestly, Jian Xi had a good impression of Chief Song. He didn't put on airs and had good karma. She thought working at an agency like this would be fun, and other than that supervisor Nie Xiujin, she had met everyone else. They seemed decent.
"Just call me Jian Xi, Chief Song. It's also my honor to join your agency. I'll be your subordinate now, please give me lots of guidance," she said, blinking playfully, rarely acting cheeky in public.
Chief Song laughed. "No need for superiors and subordinates here. You're all like my children, I'll take good care of you!"
They chatted a bit more about the nature of the Special Security Bureau while Jian Xi listened attentively.
When he finished, Chief Song suddenly remembered he hadn't asked Jian Xi what level metaphysics master she was. So he asked.
The question baffled Jian Xi. She looked at He Qingchen confused, "There are levels for metaphysics masters?"
He Qingchen shook his head, just as unaware.
Chief Song didn't know Jian Xi's background. He had assumed she was a well-protected little princess of He Qingchen, likely having had no dealings with other metaphysical groups besides himself.
So he explained, "Levels for metaphysics masters is a recent categorization. It's normal you don't know. When you start taking cases, you'll find out your level. If you can trap a hundred-year-old fierce ghost with one move, you're surely above level four."
He thought to himself that destroying it in one move would make her on par with himself, which would be extraordinary! But he didn't say that part. After all, the ghost trapping talisman Lin Xi Wen had brought back was high level, yet this girl had so easily trapped a hundred-year-old fierce ghost, surely owing to the power of that talisman.
Jian Xi and He Qingchen exchanged a look, not voicing their thoughts, yet thinking similarly - trapping a hundred-year-old fierce ghost in one move is considered powerful? Isn't that just standard operating procedure?
Jian Xi thought, if not for their red tape, I wouldn't have just trapped it, but destroyed it outright with a wave of my hand! What's the point of wasting effort taking out a talisman to seal the ghost away!
Should she explain things? She was actually quite curious what level metaphysics master she would be categorized as!
But before Jian Xi could respond, there was a knock at the door. It was Tang Xingyou, "I finished Little Seven's employment registration. Here is her ID. Other documentation will come tomorrow, but I've uploaded everything on the intraweb, so Little Seven is officially a consultant for our bureau now!"
