“Well…” Andrew Brooks dragged out his tone, looking Helen Chambers up and down. In the dead of winter, this woman was wearing so little? “Tsk tsk, if Mr. Thompson says so, then I guess I can’t really say anything, can I?”

“The village chief just wants to take advantage,” Helen Chambers gritted her teeth and mustered up the courage to say it. “You have to stand up for me and my daughter. Just look at my Little Joan, what a good girl she is!”

As she spoke, Helen Chambers pulled her daughter, who had been hiding behind her, over. “Call him Brooks Sr..”

Take advantage? Andrew Brooks understood the term, but what he didn’t get was the relationship between Helen Chambers and David Thompson, so he just assumed David Thompson had his eye on Little Joan.

“Doing that would be a bit inappropriate,” he couldn’t help but think of the time he’d teased Grace. “Maybe he was just saying it casually?”

To be fair, he thought David Thompson really wasn’t a match for Little Joan. Never mind the age and seniority, even their looks were worlds apart.

“If Deputy Brooks is willing, then tonight my Little Joan can warm your feet for you,” now that the hardest part—saying those words—was over, Helen Chambers wasn’t afraid to be even more blunt. “Or, I could warm your feet myself?”

Warm my feet? I have immortal powers; I could run around naked in the dead of winter and be fine. Andrew Brooks was stunned for a moment before he realized—uh, is she offering me a woman to sleep with?

What a joke! How could he possibly be interested in these two? If he’s not going to sleep with a woman, fine, but if he does, it has to be dual cultivation. Want to take advantage of me? Hoping to get some immortal energy? No way!

Seeing the young girl’s face turn so red it looked like it might bleed, Andrew Brooks let out a long sigh. “Listen, Helen, you don’t have to do this. How about this—if I get the chance, I’ll put in a good word for you.”

If I get the chance—never mind that he wasn’t the most emotionally intelligent, and Helen Chambers was just a farm woman, but both of them knew in their hearts that this “chance” would probably never come.

Would it be better if both mother and daughter served him together? Helen Chambers hesitated a little inside, but she really couldn’t bring herself to say it.

Chapter 10: Honey Trap

Helen Chambers’s face changed color for a long time, but she just wouldn’t leave. In the end, the chatty Deputy Brooks had to politely ask the two of them to leave. “It’s getting late, I need to sleep. Let’s talk another day, okay~”

As soon as he kicked them out, he froze in place. “Tsk, damn, that wasn’t the right way to handle it. I should have learned to negotiate terms. What a pig-headed fool I am.”

Besides, in his previous life he’d never really dealt with women. Emotional intelligence, emotional intelligence—just because you have feelings doesn’t mean you’re emotionally intelligent, but if you’ve never had a relationship, how could your EQ possibly be high?

At this point, he couldn’t even be bothered to think about who was taking advantage of whom. He was just regretting missing out on a chance to further develop his emotional intelligence.

Or maybe, he should find a woman to try it out with? Andrew Brooks tossed and turned in bed. No doubt, if Helen Chambers were to barge in right now, she’d probably get what she wanted.

A few days later, work on the road began, and Helen Chambers was too embarrassed to ask for help again.

By now, Andrew Brooks wasn’t even thinking about widows anymore—he was anxious to get home and buy a TV.

Cadres sent down for training usually had a lot of freedom. He just mentioned it to David Thompson, and Mr. Thompson immediately gave his full support for him to go home. “Stay a few more days. Donglinshui is a small place, it’s tough here. Don’t rush back. Don’t worry, if anything comes up, I’ll handle it for you. If it’s really urgent, I’ll call you back.”

Of course, the village chief wasn’t really thinking of the deputy’s best interests. In fact, as mentioned earlier, David Thompson didn’t like Andrew Brooks at all. Sure, the student was just a deputy, not important, but for him, even an unimportant person was less convenient than having no one at all.

Plus, after the last drinking session, Mr. Bolton had privately warned him, “That student cadre, Little David, you’d better keep an eye on him. He looks careless, but he’s not a simple guy.”

Not simple, but David Thompson still didn’t want to offend him. The key reason was that road construction was starting—a lucrative job. If Andrew Brooks stayed, even if he kept quiet, David Thompson would have to give him a share. Now, he could save that share entirely.

So, he wished Andrew Brooks would stay in Phoenix City forever and never come back. Why would he stop him from leaving?

Andrew Brooks hadn’t reached the level of having his own car yet, so he took a minibus home. As soon as he got off, he saw a bunch of young women at the long-distance bus station holding up signs: “Lodging,” “Rest Stop,” and so on.

Lodging? Andrew Brooks ignored them and strode out of the station.

A woman stopped him. She looked to be at least thirty-seven or thirty-eight. “Sir, need a room?”

What heavy makeup! Andrew Brooks shook his head expressionlessly. Immortal cultivation values naturalness—he didn’t like women with heavy makeup.

The woman with heavy makeup wanted to say more, but Andrew Brooks had already walked away. Still, he was stopped by another woman—a girl with no makeup.

She was young, with a pointed chin, long legs, sexy lips, and jet-black, clear eyes—an incredibly pure girl. “Sir, need a place to stay? Just twenty a night, very cheap.”