Knock! Knock! Knock!

Knocks came from the door.

"Come on in."

A response came from the room.

The voice was weak—it didn't contain much vitality.

Xu Ning gently opened the door and walked in.

He saw a middle-aged man with graying hair leaning on a seat that was covered with white felt.

He held his head high with his eyes closed, while the sunlight shone on his face through the window.

On the table in front of him, an incense burner was lit, giving off a faint twist of smoke while also carrying a soft fragrance.

Next to the bookcase, there was a birdcage with a small green bird inside. Just like this man, it was in its nest, dozing off with its eyes closed.

Next to the bird cage, along the window, there were a few pots of flowers and plants, which looked similar to those in the courtyard.

Even though it was almost winter, the flowers and plants were still fresh and green—impervious to the cold.

"Lieutenant Chen."

Xu Ning closed the door and stood still. "I'm Xu Ning, I'm here to report for duty."

"Xu Ning?"

After hearing Xu Ning's words, Chen Ren began to open his eyes.

"This is my ID."

Xu Ning handed over his ID and cyan plate with both hands.

Chen Ren took a look, but didn't grab it.

"I know."

Chen Ren slowly stood up and his eyes opened completely.

He couldn't hide the tiredness in his eyes at all.

"You are lucky to come to the Maple Lane Guard Station." Chen Ren said, "The Maple Lane is stable, so there is little work most of the time. Except for the occasional collective orders from the higher ups, we mostly stay in the guard station. As for the chores, just leave it to the city guards, there is nothing to worry about."

"I heard that you newcomers seem to be under pressure from the assessments. If you want to practice martial arts by yourself, you don't have to come to the guard station. Don't worry, you will still receive your salary."

Chen Ren's remarks made Xu Ning feel a little weird.

It seemed that he didn't need to do anything at the Maple Lane Guard Station, he just had to wait for his salary payment.

Xu Ning felt that he had a biased perception of the Black Armored Guards.

Perhaps, there were not only elites in this group, but also lazy workers that only collected paychecks.

"Okay, dismissed."

Chen Ren waved his hand, as if he was out of strength after saying these words to Xu Ning.

Xu Ning didn't ask any more questions, so he just left.

After leaving the door, Xu Ning felt a little bit awkward. In contrast to the vitality in the yard, he felt that the Maple Lane Guard Station was not energetic at all.

"Master Xu."

The city guard who had led Xu Ning inside came over.

"Do you have any questions?"

The city guard was waiting next to Xu Ning.

"Where is my study?"

Xu Ning asked.

A study was equivalent to the guard station's personal office.

"In the yard next door."

The city guard pointed.

Xu Ning glanced in that direction and saw that there was a small door leading to another courtyard behind the green trees.

"Should I take you there?"

The city guard asked cautiously.

"No need for now, I just want to go outside and look around."

Xu Ning felt that there was no vitality here, so he wanted to take a look at the environment nearby instead.

"Okay."

The city guard nodded in response.

Xu Ning walked ahead, and the city guard followed behind him.

"Lieutenant Chen seems to like flowers and birds. Did he personally arrange the flowers and plants in the courtyard?"

Xu Ning could smell the floral fragrances.

This kind of colorful flower that bloomed in the cold winter was certainly not cheap.

"Lieutenant Chen likes flowers and plants, but these flowers and plants were all purchased by Dayuan Trading Company."

The city guard answered truthfully.

Xu Ning stopped. "Dayuan Trading Company?"

"Yes." The city guard nodded. "Dayuan Trading Company is a very powerful chamber of commerce in Kangyun County. Their core branch in Kangyun County is in Maple Lane."

"So you're saying, this Dayuan Trading Company is a foreign company?"

Xu Ning extracted the information revealed in the city guard's words.

The city guard nodded. "Yes, the headquarters of Dayuan Trading Company is in Yunying City."

"Yunying City…"

The corner of Xu Ning's eyes moved.

Yunying City, the capital of State Feiyun, the foundation of the Source Faction.

There seemed to be a connection between Dayuan Trading Company and the Source Faction.

'Dayuan Trading Company gave these toys to Chen Ren. It seems that they have a good relationship…'

Xu Ning noticed the relationship between his immediate boss and the foreign chamber of commerce.

"What's your name?"

Xu Ning pondered for a moment and looked at the city guard.

When the city guard was asked by Xu Ning, he paused for a second, but the corner of his eyes could be seen bursting with joy.

"Master Xu, my name is Feng Sigua."

As a noname city guard, it would be of great benefit to his own future if Xu Ning remembered his name.

So when asked about his name, Feng Sigua quickly responded.

"Feng Sigua…"

Xu Ning thought this name was interesting.

Even in this era when names were more casual, Feng Sigua was still quite a unique name.

Xu Ning remembered the name and continued to walk outside the guard station .

Feng Sigua was half a step behind Xu Ning.

After leaving the guard station, Xu Ning suddenly realized something. He turned around and asked, "Why did I only see Lieutenant Chen in the guard station? Where are my other colleagues?"

"Master Xu, the others in the Maple Lane station rarely come on duty," Feng Sigua said. Because this involved other Black Armored Guards, he answered very cautiously, "The Maple Lane is usually very safe. Nothing big happens here. Usually the city guards are responsible for patrolling and dealing with disputes. Thus, the Black Armored Guards rarely have things to do, so they just don't come."

"Then why is Lieutenant Chen still working here?"

Xu Ning asked again.

Feng Sigua hesitated for a moment before he suddenly lowered his voice. "Lieutenant Chen comes here not to do work, but to grow flowers."

After Xu Ning heard this, everything became clear.

Xu Ning had an average impression of the Maple Lane Guard Station.

When he was in the Tao Village, everyone around him was struggling to live, but at the Maple Lane Guard Station, life seemed to be easy and idle.

Xu Ning stopped talking, and Feng Sigua led him to wander around Maple Lane.

After walking around, the two arrived at a street.

There were many shops on both sides of the street.

Silk shops, medicinal material shops, jewelry shops, calligraphy and painting shops…

There were all kinds of shops that were selling everything.

Although they did not have fixed business districts for various types of goods like in his previous life, this street looked prosperous at first glance.

"So lively…"

Xu Ning said to himself.

Feng Sigua said, "Apparently 30 years ago, when the Black Armored Guards first took over Kangyun County, the population of the county was less than 20,000. And now that 30 years have passed, the population is approaching 100,000. If it weren't for the Black Armored Guards, the people here would have to endure the suffering of war, and they would not have enough to eat or clothes to wear."

Xu Ning nodded. The Black Armored Guards should take credit for this.

However, his experience at the guard station just now made it difficult for Xu Ning to experience the painstaking efforts the Black Armored Guards had to put in back then.

"You talked about Dayuan Trading Company. Where is their store? Take me to see it."

Xu Ning wanted to take a look.

"Strictly speaking, 70% of the stores on this street belong to Dayuan Trading Company."

Feng Sigua's words surprised Xu Ning.

"Apart from this street, does Dayuan Trading Company have other stores?"

Xu Ning asked.

Feng Sigua thought about it. "Yes, there are three commercial streets in Maple Lane, and six out of the ten stores in those streets are owned by Dayuan Trading Company. Moreover, not only in Maple Lane, but they are also located in other large commercial streets around the county. But those stores are not as large as the ones in Maple Lane."

'So Dayuan Trading Company is a big player in Kangyun County…'

Xu Ning began to feel like Dayuan Trading Company was the big boss of the Maple Lane area.

This place was full of vitality, but in the guard station, the situation was completely opposite.

"Leave the goods, take the money and get out of here!"

Suddenly, they heard people shouting coming from up the street.

"Come, let's go over and take a look."

Xu Ning touched the knife attached to his waist and quickly walked over.