What era is it, still traditional card making

Li Qingnian took out his cell phone and made a call.
The phone was quickly connected and a voice came through.

"Hello, Director Li?"

Ning Shanhai was also a little surprised when he answered the phone. Why would a big shot like Li Qingtian look for an ordinary student like him?
"Are you free now? I want to ask you something."

"Now? I'm free, Director Li, what can't you say on the phone? Why are you being so mysterious?"

"Some things really can't be said over the phone. Pick a place and I'll come find you now."

“How about the cat ear cafe? It’s near Peking University and Tsinghua University.”

"Okay, let's meet here in an hour, how about that?"

"no problem."

After agreeing on the time and place, Li Qingtian quickly walked to the garage and drove to Tianjing University.

An hour and a half later,
Li Qingtian successfully found the Cat Ears Cafe, pushed open the door and walked in. He immediately saw the fat man sitting upright.
From a distance, he greeted the other party:
"So soon, didn't we agree to wait an hour?"

Hearing this voice, Ning Shanhai's back immediately straightened with a businesslike smile on his face.

"This cafe is not far from Peking University and Tsinghua University. I can't let you sit here and wait for me, Director Li, right?"

Li Qingtian sat opposite Ning Shanhai, picked up the menu on the table, and asked:

"What would you like to drink? It's my treat."

"It's okay. I've already ordered it. If I remember correctly, Director Li, you should like black coffee, right? I've already told you not to add sugar."

Li Qingtian raised his eyebrows upon hearing this.

In his memory, he had only met the other person once.

How did this little fat guy know what I like? Did he investigate me secretly?
Ning Shanhai saw the other person's expression and immediately understood what he was thinking, and quickly explained:

"I have a cousin who works in the Investigation Bureau. Do you have any impression of the name Ning Wangyang? My cousin mentioned this incident by chance when I was chatting with him before."

Li Qingtian thought about it and he did have some impression of the name Ning Wangyang. This person was indeed a member of the Investigation Bureau, but he was just a marginal figure, so he did not have a particularly deep impression of Ning Wangyang.

Then he looked at Ning Shanhai and got to the point.

"I won't say any more nonsense. I came to you this time mainly because I wanted to learn something about Ye Qiong."

"Ye Qiong?"

Ning Shanhai asked back, and judging from his expression, he didn't seem particularly surprised by this.

Half an hour was enough time for him to think about many things.

With his background and experience, it is impossible for him to be associated with such a big shot as the Director of the Investigation Bureau.
Then the reason why the other party found me is already obvious. Apart from Ye Qiong, what else could it be?

Ning Shanhai had a confused expression on his face. Ever since Ye Qiong left, he had no idea where he had gone.

The phone call was not connected, and asking acquaintances did not give any clues.

It was as if Ye Qiong had suddenly disappeared from this world.
At this time, Li Qingtian suddenly found himself and wanted to ask some questions about Ye Qiong. It was hard not to suspect whether Ye Qiong had made a mistake.

Li Qingtian noticed the tangled expression on his face, but did not ask any more questions. He continued to speak:

"Can you tell me about your impression of Ye Qiong?"

When Ning Shanhai heard this question, he was obviously stunned. What kind of question was this?
Is this a problem with the Investigation Bureau’s review?

But hasn't Ye Qiong officially joined the Investigation Bureau? Does he still need to be examined again?

Considering his good brother's future, Ning Shanhai felt that he needed to tell him some lies against his will so that he could leave a good impression in front of his future leader.

With Li Qingtian's experience, he naturally knew what the young man was thinking, so he added:
"This question doesn't involve anything, just answer it truthfully."

Ning Shanhai silently retracted his half-extended thumb, with an awkward expression on his face.

"Director Li, you suddenly asked me to evaluate my good brother. I don't know what to say."

At this time, the waiter came over and placed two cups of coffee in front of them.

Li Qingtian raised the coffee in front of him, took a sip, then put it down, looked Ning Shanhai in the eyes, and answered:

"Don't worry, I'm quite free now, so I can wait for you to figure it out."

"This"

Ning Shanhai showed an expression of deep thought. He was constantly thinking about what kind of image Ye Qiong was from his perspective.

Although Li Qingtian said he was free, he couldn't keep the other party waiting for too long.
After thinking for about a minute, Ning Shanhai opened his mouth and responded:

"Good man, if you force me to describe Ye Qiong, then I can only use these two words to describe him."

"Good guy?"

A hint of doubt appeared on Li Qingtian's face, and he listened patiently to what Ning Shanhai continued to say.

"Ye Qiong and I have known each other for about ten years. We went to the same school for elementary, middle and high school. How should I describe him? He is a bit unsociable. Whenever there is an activity in the class, he basically won't take the initiative to participate. Unless he is pulled over by the teacher, he will play the role of a marginal person."

Ning Shanhai looked thoughtful and began to recall the past.

This memory is quite long and cannot be explained clearly in a few words.

He could vaguely remember that the two became friends because of an activity in the third grade of elementary school.
In elementary school, most students have not yet awakened to become card masters, except for a few gifted children from big families.

But this does not affect their enthusiasm for becoming card artists.
Schools are also happy to guide students. After all, being able to train card masters is a good thing for both students and schools.
If Ning Shanhai remembered correctly, the theme of that event seemed to be:
"Duel King."

Time went back to nine years ago.
The head teacher Wang Hao walked to the podium and said excitedly to the students below:
"Students, I have good news for you. We at Yucai Primary School are about to launch a competition so that everyone can experience the feeling of being a card master in advance.

As he spoke, he wrote three big words on the blackboard:
"Duel King."

After seeing these three words, the students in the audience could no longer hold back.

Ning Shanhai, the most lively one, raised his hand first and said, "Teacher, does this activity require us to duel like the card master?"

Wang Hao nodded and replied:

"That's right. This competition will first be held within the class. After each class selects five winners, there will be a school competition. The winning students will receive generous rewards from the school."

Hearing this, many students immediately became excited.
However, there is a very serious problem facing them right now, which is:
"Teacher, but we haven't awakened to become card masters yet. What should we do if we don't have a deck to duel?"

Wang Hao seemed to have expected this question. He just smiled mysteriously and tapped with two fingers on the more than 30 black boxes placed in front of him.

"You can all think of the problem, how could the teachers not be prepared? Don't worry, the school has already made arrangements."

Some curious students have stood up, trying to see the true appearance of the box.
But there’s not even a picture of this thing, so what can they see?

Wang Hao was very pleased with the students' reactions. He smiled with satisfaction and was about to continue speaking, but he suddenly saw a figure sitting in the corner of the classroom.

He was a handsome student, but his face was very pale, probably due to malnutrition. At this moment, he was leaning against the wall, looking through the window at the students who were having physical education class below.

As the class teacher, Wang Hao certainly knew who this unsociable child was.

Ye Qiong, after her parents passed away, now lives in Qihe Orphanage.
Perhaps because of his childhood experiences, he rarely smiles. Whenever there are activities in the class, he will hide in the corner first, trying to avoid these group activities.

Wang Hao usually spends more time on these children with special experiences.

This time was no exception. Wang Hao knew that the child didn't like to attract attention, so he didn't try to call him actively. Instead, he chose to call Ning Shanhai, who liked to interact with people.

"Shanhai, come here for a moment."

After the little fat boy was called, a strange expression appeared on his face.

Why did the head teacher ask me to do something out of the blue?
Although he was confused, Ning Shanhai still walked over obediently.

After seeing the fat boy next to him, Wang Hao said:

"Here, you distribute these boxes to the students in the class, one for each person, understand?"

Ning Shanhai nodded, indicating that he understood.
But, with so many boxes, how long will it take me to deliver them all by myself?

He always liked to be clever, and he immediately thought of a good idea. He raised his head, looked at the head teacher, and said:

"Teacher, can I ask a few students to come over and help?"

Wang Hao naturally would not refuse Ning Shanhai's request. He stood on the podium, looked around at the classmates, and then said:

"Is there anyone willing to come over and help?"

As soon as these words were spoken, many students responded and raised their hands.

Wang Hao glanced towards the corner.
As expected, Ye Qiong had no interest in this kind of thing at all and was still looking at the scenery outside the window.

Ning Shanhai noticed the head teacher's expression.
The clever little fat boy looked in the direction of the sight and immediately understood the real intention of the head teacher.

He had tried to make friends with Ye Qiong before, but unfortunately, he was rejected.
This cold-blooded boy had no intention of interacting with other people. Ning Shanhai ignored him many times.

He has friends all over the world, so how could he have encountered such a situation?

In the days that followed, he tried to contact Ye Qiong many times.
But unfortunately, the results were almost the same. He was ruthlessly subjected to cold violence by this indifferent boy.

This time, the head teacher probably wanted to use his influence in the class to help Ye Qiong integrate smoothly into the class.
Thinking of this, Ning Shanhai sighed unconsciously.

If this was really so easy to do, would I have been subjected to the cold violence of the other party for so long?

The hesitation only flashed by, and he quickly put away his emotions and returned to his original state. He stood on tiptoe and looked towards the corner, shouting to the boy sitting in the corner:
"Ye Qiong, can you come over and give me a hand?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole class suddenly became quiet, and then whispers were heard in the classroom.

"Ye Qiong? How long has it been since he last spoke? Is Ning Shanhai okay? Why did he suddenly provoke this guy?"

"If Ning Shanhai hadn't mentioned it, I would have almost forgotten about this person."

Some students lowered their heads silently, stole a glance at the corners of the classroom, and waited for the answer from this indifferent boy.

After hearing Ning Shanhai shouting at him, Ye Qiong turned to look at Ning Shanhai who was near the classroom door.

Judging from his expression at this moment, there is no sign of any emotional ups and downs.
No one knew whether he was angry or dissatisfied when he was suddenly called.

Wang Hao felt that it was necessary for him, as the head teacher, to stand up and say something at this time. With a kind smile on his face, he said to Ye Qiong:

"Ye Qiong, how about coming over and helping the students distribute the things?"

At this moment, after hearing these words, the only thought in Ye Qiong's mind was:

"So complicated."

In his previous life, he was just an office worker. He always liked a quiet life and didn't like being disturbed.

Ye Qiong could see that both the head teacher Wang Hao and Ning Shanhai

They have no ill will towards themselves. What they are doing now is nothing more than trying to integrate themselves into the class.

However, after thinking about the reasons why they did this,

A trace of unhappiness suddenly flashed through Ye Qiong's heart.
Perhaps they did not notice that they did this purely out of sympathy for his identity.

Wang Hao repeatedly came to talk to me because he thought that as an orphan, I would encounter many problems in life, so he felt sympathy and wanted to help him.

The same was true for Ning Shanhai. He didn't know how he knew his identity as an orphan, and he always put on a fake smile whenever he met him.

On the surface, Ye Qiong seems to be just a child, but in fact, he is a mature adult.

He didn't particularly like this kind of sympathy.
That's why he subconsciously rejected the kindness of his class teacher and Ning Shanhai time and again, even though he knew that these good people didn't have any ill will towards him.

This time, Wang Hao and Ning Shanhai came to help again, and it was Ye Qiong's turn to make a decision.
Should I stand up and accept their kindness, or choose to ignore it as usual.

This choice was not difficult for Ye Qiong to make. He had never been able to disguise himself, nor was he good at it. (End of this chapter)