Hu Tao Is Monetizing My Existence. [105]

Mingyun Village wasn’t far from Dragonspine. From within the village itself, one could already see the silhouette of the snowy mountain looming in the distance.

Jiang Bai followed the weed-choked path toward Dragonspine, crossing rivers by building makeshift bridges, scrambling over hills when he had to. He managed to reach the base of the mountain just before nightfall.

This area saw little foot traffic, so naturally, there were no campsites in sight.

Tilting his head back, Jiang Bai stared up at the towering mountain before him, awe clear in his eyes.

It wasn’t just a single peak—it was a range of massive mountains clustered together, forming an expansive, snow-covered landscape.

Standing at its base, he felt like a tiny ant about to climb a colossus—small, and laughably out of his depth.

He hadn’t even begun the ascent, yet the biting cold had already seeped into his bones. The terrain around him formed a kind of gradient—the closer to the mountain, the paler the vegetation became, blending gradually into the white of the snow.

Jiang Bai pulled out his soul compass. The needle tilted upward at a fifteen-degree angle, pointing toward the summit.

The sky was darkening, but he wasn’t in a rush.

When venturing into unfamiliar and hazardous terrain—especially a place like this with a brutal environment—clear visibility was essential.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be here to collect someone else’s remains—he’d be joining them.

He found a spot sheltered from the wind, gathered some dead branches and shrubs, and built a campfire to boil himself a pot of hot water.

He’d specially packed an oversized insulated flask just for this trip, well aware of how frigid it would be. He’d also brought along a few bottles of strong liquor to help warm himself from the inside out.

The crackling of the burning wood echoed in the silence. Apart from the fire, there wasn’t a single sound to be heard. The world was too quiet—it was almost eerie.

Jiang Bai stirred the flames with a stick, his thoughts beginning to drift.

When he’d first awakened, he had no fear. He didn’t care if he had companions or if he had to sleep alone in the wild.

But after spending so long at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, running around with Hu Tao every day, being out here on his own… it just felt off. Like something was missing by his side, and he didn’t quite know what to do with himself.

“The Director, really… she actually let me come out here all by myself…”

“Must be because I’m too outstanding. Who else could be trusted with such a monumental task?”

He muttered to himself, and before long, those mutterings veered straight into self-praise.

Sigh… being too excellent really is a curse…

—

Back at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor, it was dinner time.

Uncle Ge was pacing around the dining hall, visibly worried. When he saw Hu Tao happily eating away, without a care for Jiang Bai—who was probably freezing his butt off on Dragonspine—he couldn’t hold it in any longer.

He strode over and snatched the shrimp dumplings from right in front of her, even throwing in a pointed “hmph” for emphasis.

Hu Tao watched, heartbroken, as her favorite shrimp dumplings were taken away before her eyes.

“My dumplings!”

“Looks to me like you’ve had enough, Director. I’ll just take these as my midnight snack,” Uncle Ge declared smugly.

Hu Tao pouted, cheeks puffed with indignation.

Had enough? She’d only eaten two!

“You’re here stuffing your face like nothing’s wrong. Meanwhile, Jiang Bai’s out in the cold, probably chewing on frozen meat pies!” Uncle Ge huffed, indignant on Jiang Bai’s behalf.

Hearing that, Hu Tao finally understood what he was getting at.

She stood up and gave the old man a cheery shoulder massage.

“How could I not care? That kid’s clever as they come—he’d never let himself suffer. He’s probably already caught a rabbit and is out there roasting it right now!”

“Hmph! It’s Dragonspine we’re talking about here. And you sent him up there alone? You could’ve at least found him a few people to go with!”

Everyone knew how dangerous Dragonspine was.

Sending a rookie up there alone, especially someone who’d never even been there before—wasn’t that the same as sending him to his death?

“That’s where you’ve got it wrong, Uncle Ge. It’s not that I didn’t want to send someone with him. It’s that no one could go with him,” Hu Tao said with a helpless shrug.

She knew how stubborn Uncle Ge could be, so she sat him down and started explaining properly.

“There are only three people at Wangsheng who have Visions—me, Mr. Zhongli, and Jiang Bai. Zhongli’s a guest consultant, not someone we can ask to do errands. And I’m the Director—I can’t personally handle every job. The rest? Even if they went with him, they’d just hold him back.”

“He’s got real ability. Keeping him here doing routine work would be a total waste. This service—Returning to the Roots—was designed with him in mind. It puts his skills to good use and keeps him from sitting idle.”

She laid it all out in one breath. Uncle Ge knew she was right—it really was the truth.

But emotionally, it still didn’t sit right. It was just too dangerous.

“But that child doesn’t remember anything. He’s forgotten his whole past. And now you’ve sent him alone into a place like that…”

“Uncle Ge, you’re seriously underestimating him. Don’t let his sweet, innocent face fool you—he’s sharp, trust me. If he thought it was too dangerous, he wouldn’t have gone.”

Though Hu Tao hadn’t known Jiang Bai for that long, she’d been with him enough to understand the kind of person he was.

Sure, he could be a bit opportunistic sometimes, but he had a solid moral compass. And he never took on anything he wasn’t confident he could handle.

The fact that he went meant he believed he could get the job done. That was enough to keep her worry-free.

Seeing Uncle Ge’s furrowed brow relax a little, Hu Tao pressed her advantage.

“Our line of work means always being on the move. Today it’s Dragonspine. Tomorrow, who knows—maybe the desert. I haven’t been to half these places myself. I can’t offer any useful advice—and I might just slow him down.”

“And maybe… maybe in one of those far-off places, he’ll see something familiar. Maybe it’ll help him recover his memories.”

“Besides, he’s got a Vision, and he’s no slouch in a fight. Even if he runs into dangerous monsters, he doesn’t have to beat them—he just has to get away. I even prepared a space-saving storage artifact for him, and that directional artifact I gave him is incredibly reliable. I made sure he had everything to make the job easier!”

“Tell me—what other Director does this much for their people?”

“…But still, it’s just such hard work…” Uncle Ge muttered, still feeling uneasy.

“What job isn’t hard work?” Hu Tao countered. “You cook for all of us, every single day. Isn’t that tiring?”

“I took over Wangsheng Parlor at a young age. I have to make sure everyone’s fed and happy while also keeping the balance between life and death. You think that’s easy? Look at the porters at the harbor—they’re out there rain or shine, just trying to earn enough Mora to feed their families. You think they’re not working hard?”

She pushed Uncle Ge back into his seat and placed the plate of dumplings in front of him.

“So relax a little, okay? Jiang Bai’s not nearly as fragile as you all think.”

“He’ll be back in a few days. And just watch—he’ll be bragging left and right about how many monsters he beat, how many ancient ruins he found, and how perfectly he completed his mission!”

—

T/N: Speech 100

This is a fan translation of 胡桃拿我冲业绩 by 余溯. All rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!