Am I really hallucinating?

Chapter 645 Working Through the Night
Lu Chongming's plan to stay in a luxury hotel under the reimbursement scheme ultimately failed, and he didn't even get to have his first high-end dinner in the Central District.

They led Li Busi back to the Triangular Pagoda Building via a detour. Since Lu Chongming was new to the area, he was completely unfamiliar with the layout. To be precise, it was Li Busi who led Lu Chongming back to the processing bureau.

Upon returning to their location, no special notification was even needed; news of Li Busi's "intrusion" was discovered immediately. Lu Chongming and Li Busi were quickly surrounded by the officers on duty at the processing bureau.

It wasn't until the regional chiefs intervened and communicated with Lu Chongming and Li Busi that the others were dismissed and Li Busi was brought in.

Seeing that these people had actually lowered their initial guard against him so easily because of Lu Chongming, Li Busi believed almost half of Zheng Fan's words.

Regardless of whether it's true or not, it's certainly possible that Lu Chongming will have the opportunity to become the Director-General in the future.

Lu Chongming and Li Busi recounted in detail how they met and how they came to know each other, omitting Zheng Fan's involvement. Li Busi also pledged his loyalty by sharing some intelligence he knew about the current situation of the Central Group and the Prism Force in Dadu.

Given that Lu Chongming had been involved in the Lumière Street incident, it wasn't surprising that he knew Li Busi.

Finally, after internal discussions among the chief executives and informing the two bureau chiefs, they decided to temporarily and partially accept Li Busi.

Inside the Triangular Tower building, Li Busi could only move within a specific area and was subject to minimal surveillance until the central assembly began.

This request is reasonable, and it's only minimal surveillance rather than direct surveillance. It can be considered that the Bureau has met the conditions, which is in line with Li Busi's prior expectations.

Judging from the current situation, he's clearly a guy from the enemy camp. Who knows if he's a spy using a self-inflicted injury as a ruse?

So he accepted this trivial request.

"The only person I can work with is Lu Chongming." However, he also made a request that could hardly be called a request.

Although he has chosen to ally with the Bureau of Processing, just as the Bureau of Processing cannot completely trust him, he also does not completely trust the Bureau of Processing.

It's uncertain whether there's a mole within the bureau—he believes there's a high probability.

Moreover, besides Lu Chongming, Zheng Fan, who is currently by Lu Chongming's side, is the biggest reason for his decision to obey.

Lu Chongming himself had no objection, so the request was approved.

After escorting Li Busi to his room, Lu Chongming left with Bai Shi and Zhou Yinzhu, who were also escorting Li Busi.

"It's so late and everyone's still here." Looking at the two meticulous and aloof chiefs in front of him, and considering that these two were the oldest and most representative figures among the current regional chiefs of the Bureau of Processing, he felt a bit oppressed by the silence around them. So he dared to speak up and break the silence.

“You’re just an agent. As the chief, we certainly do more work than you.” Although she had praised Lu Chongming in public before, this was Zhou Yinzhu’s usual demeanor. She did answer the question, but her words were barbed.

This made Lu Chongming feel somewhat ashamed.

“Originally, some work was also going to be assigned to you as Zhang Xue’s representative, but Chief Zhou arranged it for you as well. She said that she didn’t expect Zhang Xue and a new representative to do anything anyway.” Bai Shi smiled slightly, his tone slightly teasing.

Lu Chongming looked at Zhou Yinzhu in astonishment.

Zhou Yinzhu didn't seem to feel exposed at all. It was unclear whether she genuinely believed it or was just being stubborn: "Unreliable is unreliable. There's nothing more to say. It was just a job I did on the spur of the moment."

"This is also a good opportunity for me to learn, so please let me help you!" Lu Chongming stepped forward and said.

Whether it's true or not, he felt he should express his opinion. He still hoped to take things further. Although everyone was being very kind to him, which felt like a windfall, Lu Chongming had already been forced to accept their kindness, so he felt he should work towards it.

Although the idea of ​​becoming the director was a joke, if one day everyone wanted him to take the position, he would have to bite the bullet and actually do it.

Shiraishi nodded with satisfaction.

"Then you'll stay up all night with me tonight," Zhou Yinzhu said without any hesitation.

"Be careful with your money," Bai Shi reminded him with a smile, then added with concern for Lu Chongming, "You haven't had dinner yet, have you? You can't work all night on an empty stomach. Order some takeout first."

Chief Shiraishi, you sounded so practiced when you said you were ordering takeout.

"Okay!" Lu Chongming replied, inwardly grumbling about the occasional unintentional glimpse of Shiraishi's down-to-earth nature.

After dinner, Bai Shi had to leave temporarily, and Lu Chongming, led by Zhou Yinzhu, began his formal work. Although the paperwork and logistics were not the responsibility of the action team's chief, it was inevitable that he would be involved in such work given the current environment.

Not to mention, if one wants to advance to the position of bureau chief in the future, this kind of ability is also necessary to improve.

Fortunately, since Lu Chongming started working closely with Zhang Xue in Jiangwen Street, he's helped her with all sorts of things. Zhang Xue, on the other hand, brought this upon herself. The position of branch director, which was originally slated for election, was postponed again because of Wang Shizhong's interference. Now she has to play two roles, and shamelessly asks Lu Chongming, who already has a lot of work to do, for help by ordering milk tea and treating him to good food as payment.

At first, he was a little unaccustomed to the situation at the General Administration, and his initial clumsiness was quickly overcome under Zhou Yinzhu's strict but meticulous guidance.

As night deepened, Lu Chongming noticed that the night sky outside still seemed to be brightly lit by white light.

"It's evening, but it's still quite bright."

“The White Night Lighthouse works at night. It doesn’t have any practical significance. Just consider it a symbol of the Central District.” Zhou Yinzhu answered Lu Chongming’s words fluently while meticulously working on her tasks.

Lu Chongming was now unsure about the chief's eye condition. She was clearly blind, yet it didn't hinder her from handling any paperwork. She probably possessed some kind of sense, even more advanced than the five senses.

Lu Chongming was embarrassed: "I was just saying, Chief, you don't need to worry about me."

"The work is almost done. Your efficiency is even higher than I expected. You're truly excellent and there's not much to criticize. Don't be so reserved, take a break first." Zhou Yinzhu put down her pen, but although she said she was taking a break, she still didn't seem relaxed at all.

Lu Chongming did indeed relax.

Going out to catch supernatural criminals and investigate cases is easier for him than sitting in an office.

Zhou Yinzhu raised her head, her supposedly blind eyes silently fixed on Lu Chongming, as if trying to find something in him. Only after Lu Chongming noticed her gaze did she speak, "Lu Chongming, I have something I want to ask you. You don't have to answer; it's up to you."

"Please feel free to ask me anything," Lu Chongming said, though he didn't say anything definitive.

He doesn't want to lie to people who are good to him. If they ask about the details of how he got to where he is today, and it involves Mr. Illusion, then Lu Chongming will definitely be careful with his words to avoid exposing Mr. Illusion.

On Lu Chongming's side, besides his father and mother, Lin Yilin and Zheng Fan are his highest priority.

Zhou Yinzhu wasn't hard-pressed to detect Lu Chongming's ulterior motives, but she didn't mind and asked directly:
Do you know Jin Qunhou?

(End of this chapter)