Above Destiny

Chapter 260: Peacemaker and Paranoid

Under the same night sky, in the sound of the tide, a craftsman in a long robe knocked on the door of another workshop.

"Ah, what a beautiful moonlight."

Jiang Tongguang grinned and looked at the bearded man with a gloomy face: "Director Gustav, sorry to bother you."

Gustav's face was as gloomy as water, and he even hesitated to smile. "Director Jiang, what brings you here so late at night? What brings you here?"

Jiang Tongguang raised his hand and shook the bottle in his hand: "Recently, the whiskey I brewed myself came out of the cellar. Although it has only been aged for five years, it tastes pretty good. Do you want to drink some together?"

"..."

The two of them stared at each other in silence for a long time. Finally, Gustav sighed silently and made way for them: "Please come in."

The living room of the workshop was still in a mess, with manuscripts and materials thrown away at random, and it was almost impossible to find a place to put them. As a fellow craftsman, everyone was used to it. Jiang Tongguang was too lazy to distinguish which manuscripts were important and which were unimportant, so he simply sat down on Gustav's desk.

Anyway, among all this information, that pile of official documents is the most insignificant.

He waved his hand casually, and the physical properties of the air changed, gathering and condensing to form two wide-mouthed cups, which fell into Jiang Tongguang's hands, colliding with each other and making tinkling sounds.

"Would you like some ice?"

Jiang Tongguang poured the clear wine into the glass and swirled it. The tempting sweet aroma rose from the amber liquor, intoxicating it.

"I can't drink much, so let's forget it."

Gustav picked up his mug, which contained pure water that had remained unchanged for thousands of years.

"Those two cups are mine."

Jiang Tongguang smiled, finished his glass first, and said jokingly, "It's not good to be too nervous, why don't you relax a little?"

"I remember that we discussed the topic of personality last month, but there was no result." Gustav said bluntly: "If there is anything, you can just speak frankly and avoid wasting our time."

"I understand, I understand, efficiency comes first."

Jiang Tongguang put down his wine glass, sat cross-legged on his desk, and said seriously: "Good news, according to the rule that the eight directors rotate every term, you will once again be the host, invigilator and evaluator of this craftsman exam."

"What's the bad news?" Gustave asked.

"The bad news is that everyone is worried that you have too many things to handle, so they pushed me to assist you." Jiang Tongguang shrugged: "Of course, for a lazy guy like me, don't expect me to be enthusiastic. I'm just a figurehead. If you have any earth-shattering plans, please let me know in advance so that I can stay away and not ruin your plans."

According to the rules of the association, the craftsman examination is held every three years and is usually presided over by the eight directors in turn. Similarly, this is only one of the powers of the director position.

Even if they take the opportunity to promote their close confidants and old friends, as long as they don't do it too excessively and can be explained openly, everyone will generally acquiesce and not care.

If any other director suddenly interfered in the examination work, the host would probably be furious.

But Jiang Tongguang is an exception.

In an association where struggles are fierce, Jiang Tongguang's existence is completely unique, even more outrageous than radicals like Gustav.

Until now, he has been the only one in his workshop, with no students or friends. He does not fight for power or profit, cultivate cliques, or get involved in struggles.

He is kind to everyone and never puts on airs. Even if some short-sighted people occasionally offend him, he will be magnanimous and just give them a light punishment.

In the board of directors, he is also a professional peacemaker, mediating conflicts and maintaining balance among all parties. The words he says most often are "it doesn't matter", "anything is fine", and "you guys do whatever you want".

At this moment, Gustav heard what he said and understood it instantly. He sneered, "I even sent you here to be the 'good policeman'. How worried is Delon about me?"

"Aren't you afraid that you will wield the butcher knife again?"

Jiang Tongguang shook his head and sighed, raised his head and drank another cup, and sighed: "The last time you came to preside over the examination, the Council suffered a lot... Several projects in the Federation and the Empire were almost stopped.

The last chairman was bald, and almost all his hair fell out. Delong is about to retire, and he doesn’t want to lose his reputation in his later years.”

"Don't worry, I won't be so 'unkind' anymore."

Gustav said in a sarcastic tone, "This time, as long as their younger generations and old friends don't make a fool of themselves, I will naturally not embarrass everyone."

"It has nothing to do with me. Don't hurt me, old friend."

Jiang Tongguang lowered his head and poured himself another cup: "As long as you don't drive the candidates to a deserted island on a bus, give each of them a gun, and tell them that only one can survive and become a craftsman... I don't care."

"If this is really possible, maybe we can sift out some good materials and beautiful jade."

Gustav snorted coldly: "Don't worry, Jiang, I'm not a socialist, nor am I a murderer who likes to make trouble for others. I just want to make the exam return to its original state.

The examination room is an examination room, not a place for the directors to play power games - look at these "excellent apprentices" who have signed up, the gushing talents are so great that my workshop can hardly accommodate them all!"

As he spoke, he waved his hand and threw out a stack of registration forms, which landed on the table.

The strangeness of this thing really opened Jiang Tongguang's eyes.

The "old man" who obviously exceeded the age limit and still said "I'm 18 years old this year" when filling out the form, the black-skinned transgender person on the Empire side whose nickname was so long that he couldn't even fill in the gender column, and the "young talent" on the Federation side who has published many books at a young age and has published dozens of papers every year since he was seven years old...

In addition, there are more apprentices recommended by many workshops. Each of them is related to a master or craftsman, and each of them comes with a thick letter of recommendation, which praises them to the sky, saying that they will have the potential to become the master in the future, and will be able to revolutionize modern alchemy and create the future. It seems that if they cannot pass the exam, it must be that I, as the director, am blind.

Actually?

How many real talents are there here, and how many are genuine counterfeits?
Jiang Tongguang sighed with emotion.

In the past, when it was his turn, he would find an excuse to pass it to the next director, but he had never encountered such an exaggerated scene.

Although, it was expected...

"What are you going to do?"

"What should I do?"

Gustav waved his hand indifferently and threw the application forms and letters of introduction into the pile of old papers. "There are too many people who memorize by rote. They can recite books very well and are invincible when they talk and give advice, but they are useless when it comes to practical application.

There are already too many critics, and the association does not need so many chatterboxes."

He said, "I want to restart the Tower of All Changes!"

"hiss--"

Jiang Tongguang took a deep breath, then poured himself another cup to calm himself down: "The number of people who signed up this year is almost a thousand, and this consumption...

I'm afraid that after Delong knew about this, he would rather you drive a bus to send them to a deserted island to play games!"

"It's never easy to be the chairman. He always has to choose between a headache and a stomachache. How can he take advantage of everything?"

Gustav sneered: "Real gold needs to be refined by fire. If you don't squeeze out the water, who can know how much sponge is under the colorful costumes?"

"One thing to say, one thing to say, indeed."

Jiang Tongguang drank tons of wine and his bottle was almost empty.

Logically speaking, as an assistant specially appointed by the Council, he should have advised Gustav not to be so radical, to release the innocent budget, and everything could be discussed.

But suddenly, he didn't want to waste his saliva anymore.

There's no point in persuading him anyway.

Besides, how can a budget be as important as fun?

Drink, drink.

He stood up and said goodbye with his glass in hand, then left Gustav's workshop, walking in the moonlight, humming a song.

Not far away, under the cliff, the ocean was surging and the sound of the tide was endless.

Under the stars, above the endless sea between the Empire and the Federation, this is the headquarters of the Association of Taiyi Ring, the most extraordinary existence among the Thousand Islands, and an earthly miracle built by craftsmen.

Jade in the sea, pearl in the furnace.

——Tianshu Island.

In the night with the sound of waves, everything is silent, and the area where the association is located in the distance is sleeping peacefully.

The years are still peaceful.

Jiang Tongguang whistled, full of anticipation.

foreseeable……

It’s going to be lively soon!
　I wanted to write more, but after rewriting the outline and changing the plot, I suddenly got stuck... I was stuck

　　I'm really sorry ORZ, I will definitely write more next month!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)