Beast Taming Begins with the Inner Circle of Pets

Chapter 169 Good News and Bad News

On her first day as the contracted boss, Lin Manman experienced chaos and fear, her dreams filled with the terror of being dominated by a panda that kept calling her "little sister".

The next day, sporting the same panda eyes as his boss, Meng Wenbin sent him back to the research institute to work for Gao Zhixian.

However, Meng Wenbin himself did not stay at the research institute today because he had made an appointment with Ms. Mei Junwen of the Mage Tower to introduce Lin Ruochen to her today.

In fact, Lin Manman also wanted to go and watch, but Meng Wenbin forced her with the promise of her future precious spirit pet, so she had no choice but to work hard at the research institute.

Despite being tormented by both Gao Zhixian and the eldest brother, Lin Manman managed to survive another day in a lively and bustling manner.

When Meng Wenbin came to pick her up, she was asking Pipi to calm her down. Pipi really is a godsend for these people!

"One good news, one bad news, which do you want to hear?" Meng Wenbin said to Lin Manman on the way.

Lin Manman gave a Buddhist-like smile, "Anything is fine. I can accept any kind of news now."

Meng Wenbin: ...

He said working would drive everyone crazy, right? This kid seems to have gone mad on his second day...

Meng Wenbin, who had legitimately skipped a day of work, coughed guiltily.

"The good news is that Ms. Mei Junwen has taken your brother as her apprentice, and she will be taking him to his new school in the next couple of days."

"The bad news is that your brother may have to sign a confidentiality agreement to join the Mage Tower. After signing the confidentiality agreement, he will not be able to disclose the family relationship."

"In other words, he can no longer live with you, and he can no longer have close interactions with you in public."

After listening to Meng Wenbin's words, Lin Manman gradually came to her senses.

It's certainly a good thing that Lin Ruochen can join the Mage Tower. It's the birthplace of cutting-edge technology in China. From official weapons and skill books to civilian magic technology, most of them are products of the Mage Tower.

It's practically unheard of for someone of Lin Ruochen's age and level to enter the Mage Tower, which is most likely due to Lin Ruochen's early awakening of his second profession.

Given the important research content of the Mage Tower, she could understand the need to sign a confidentiality agreement and not disclose kinship relationships.

Lin Ruochen is only a level four mage. He doesn't have the absolute strength of Mei Junwen to protect his family after death. Not revealing his kinship is also a way to protect her and Lin's mother.

Just thinking about her brother, who had only recently woken up, and how they hadn't had much time to reunite before having to separate again, and how they might have to pretend to be strangers if they ran into each other in the future, made Lin Manman feel a little down.

"Actually, keeping it private is good for both of you. You know that your teacher is now seen as an extremely troublesome and dangerous figure by many people in the capital."

"Once I publicly accept you as my disciple, your troubles won't necessarily be less than his."

"That's one of the reasons why I'm unwilling to take you siblings in as well."

Meng Wenbin patted his little apprentice on the head, as if to comfort her, but what he said made Lin Manman feel uneasy.

Lin Manman looked at him with a complicated expression. The events in Jinling made her realize that becoming his disciple would definitely bring a lot of trouble in the future.

But in order to find a strong enough backer for herself, she still chose him. Now that he has said it so bluntly, she really doesn't know if her choice was right or wrong.

"Teacher, isn't Ms. Mei Junwen from the Mei family, one of the Ten Families? How could you persuade her to take my brother as her apprentice?" Aren't the Ten Families opposed to his proposal?

Meng Wenbin raised an eyebrow. "Although I have some differences in opinion with the Ten Clans, it doesn't mean that we are mortal enemies."

"The ten families also have different views on opposing the universal beast taming policy. For example, the Mei family believes that the current world situation is turbulent and unpredictable. They believe that limited resources should be concentrated on improving higher-level experts, rather than on improving the general public."

"As a family of beast tamers, the Feng family believes that even in the current environment, there are not enough beast tamers to go around. If a large proportion of ordinary people compete for limited resources, it will lower the overall level of beast tamers in China."

"The Wang family... let's not talk about them. Some of their ideas are still stuck in the era of ancient aristocratic families. If you encounter members of the Wang family in the future, just treat it as entertainment."

"Therefore, my differences with some members of the Ten Families are only in our views on the future development of China; we have not reached the point of being hostile to each other."

"Well... there are some who are hostile, though..."

Lin Manman had been pondering his earlier words, feeling that her previous thoughts on the issue might have been somewhat superficial, but Meng Wenbin's next sentence made her feel that he was trying to cover up his true intentions...

Seeing the strange look in his young apprentice's eyes, Meng Wenbin coughed and changed the subject, "In short, Ms. Mei Junwen and I have a fairly good relationship in private..."

"But I seem to recall Principal Lin saying that you and Ms. Mei Junwen lost the competition for a disciple..."

"Who said I never tried to take it? I just respected other people's choices. That little girl was more interested in some miscellaneous research, so I let her have it."

Perhaps this incident left a special impression on Meng Wenbin, but the usually open-minded and frank Meng Wenbin developed a strange competitive spirit.

Lin Manman felt that if the boss were here at this moment, he could probably break his defenses with just a few words.

But since he's still my teacher, I should at least give him some face.

While the two were talking, Feilong had already returned to Meng Wenbin's residence.

As soon as Lin Manman entered the room, she saw her mother sitting on the sofa in the living room with Lin Ruochen. Her eyes were red, but she was trying her best to smile.

When Lin Ruochen saw them come in, she politely greeted Meng Wenbin and waved to her.

"Mr. Meng should have already told you everything, right?"

When Lin's mother saw her coming, she pulled her to sit on her other side.

"Um……"

"My teacher has already found me a place to stay nearby. After we finish this dinner together, I should leave."

"Mr. Xia Ming has set up an anonymous chat room, which is very discreet and secure. Although we won't be able to meet in real life often in the future, it will still be very easy to make video calls."

Lin Manman had forgotten that Xia Ming had this ability.

Since arriving in the capital, Xia Ming has been like a missing person, except for the first day he brought her here.

With her boss having been in such a predicament these past few days, she had almost forgotten he existed.

"Don't worry about me. I asked around, and the distance from the Mage Tower isn't even as far as the distance from here when you went to university. As long as I know you're safe, I'm at ease."

Lin's mother knew that he said all this mainly to comfort her. She also knew that her two children were ready to spread their wings, and she would not let herself become a burden to them.

Lin Manman also held her mother's hand, "You just go to the Mage Tower and study hard. I'm the head of the household now, so you don't need to worry about anything."

Lin's mother chimed in, "Yes, Manman has been in charge of our household for a long time."

Lin Ruochen: ...

I wasn't comforted, thank you.

He glanced helplessly at his smug sister. "Alright, honey, I'll leave Mom in your care. I'll come back to check on her when I have time to visit relatives at the Mage Tower."

When Lin Manman heard that he still had a chance to come back and meet, she felt much more relaxed, and the smug expression on her face already showed three-tenths of what her boss had done.

She raised an eyebrow. "Next time we meet, I'll show you the power of the head of the family!"

The two siblings laughed and joked, which also lifted Lin's mother's spirits. The family had dinner with Meng Wenbin, and Meng Wenbin saw them off in the end.

Lin Manman watched as Lin Ruochen's mother's expression darkened after she saw Lin Ruochen off, and she thought to herself that she should find something for her to do.

Now that her brother is gone, they won't be able to see each other as they please anymore. She'll also have to shuttle between school and research institute, so she definitely won't have much time to spend with her mother.

Leaving her alone in this mountain villa with nothing to do will inevitably cause her some problems sooner or later.

It seems her plans to open the store need to be brought forward...

(End of this chapter)