The Bai family had severely underestimated Nine Heavens. After all, they had the police on their side. The evidence that was handed over to the police had been sent neatly in a package back to the Bai family. Such instances were not uncommon in the Imperial Capital; high-ranking government officials, the police and large corporations were all colluding in order to bar outsiders from trying to gain a foothold in the country.
The Chen family was caught off-guard by Nine Heavens’ unannounced offensive, in which solid evidence of them colluding with officials and powerful businessmen was revealed to the public. In such a circumstance, the Supreme People’s Court had no choice but to carry out strict punishment on the Chen family for their crimes. As China was now cracking down heavily on corruption, the Chen family had virtually no chance of buying their way out of the accusation. Fear of Nine Heavens has been sowed into the hearts of the people. Many startup businesses were extremely jealous of how fast the company was growing. Still, they had not the guts to make a move against Nine Heavens due to the fear of a heavy reprisal.
However, the masses were puzzled by why Nine Heavens was challenging the Bai family so suddenly.
Did they have evidence that, beyond the shadow of a doubt, could end the Bai family, or had they finally lost their minds?
According to the rate at which their company was growing, the higher-ups must have gone mad to go against the Bai family. Many were watching with keen eyes to see how this situation was going to develop.
On the 67th floor of the Bai Enterprise Tower, the current director, Bai Ting sat on his plush, executive chair. Whilst smoking a cigarette, he stared at the numbers on his computer screen with bloodshot eyes. The dark circles under his eyes were prominent, evidence of sleep deprivation for the past few days.
His entire office was filled with smoke so thick that his secretary almost couldn’t find him when he entered the room. “Director, the managers of the Li and Xu families as well as Dong Shi’s have arrived. Would you like to meet them?”
The Bai Enterprise has recently been investing in real estate. These were the families who, apart from having close ties with the Bai family, were also cooperating with them. As soon as they caught wind about the rumours of the Bai family’s crime, they sent their managers over to Bai Enterprise for an emergency meeting.
During such times, sitting here, awaiting his death was not an option for Bai Ting. After losing a batch of smuggled goods, a significant portion of Bai Enterprise’s liquid assets had become frozen. In times like this, they could only rely on their shareholders as well as their allies for financial support.
“Director Bai.” The men, who were already seated in the conference room all stood up and bowed to greet Bai Ting as soon as he entered the room. Gesturing for them to sit down, he started speaking. “I am aware of why everyone has gathered here today. As such, I would like to provide you with an explanation. I have already devised a plan to deal with such circumstances.”
Bai Ting then motioned for his secretary to start the slides. He then rose up from his seat and made his presentation personally. “I assume that everyone here already knows what sort of company Nine Heavens is. Here, take a look at this. This is their sales turnover that they have recently uploaded onto their official website. Their revenue has already exceeded over a hundred million. What about the rest that has yet to be announced? Mr. Li, let me ask you this. Has your annual sales turnover reached this level in the previous year?”
His remark was like a detonating bomb. Seated in the conference room were all businessmen. They knew very well that running a business was harder than it looks. They were all stupefied upon hearing Bai Ting’s words. “D-Director Bai, what are you hinting at?”
For a startup to reach such heights within such a short amount of time, it was completely unheard of.
“I’m betting that they are misreporting their figures. For the past few years, these firms have not done any false accounting. Remember how volatile the market was in Asia? Many of us suffered losses of varying scales and it was hard to remain in the market. Surprisingly, they managed to capture profits during this time. Now, don’t you find that a little odd?” One of them found it hard to believe. He was a financial analyst who, during this period of market volatility, guaranteed that normal companies would find it hard to not plunge into the red.
Seeing how the men had started discussing among themselves, Bai Ting then revealed a couple of other photos. “Nine Heavens’ official website has not only taken the entire country by storm but the entire globe as well. Take the virtual helmet for example. A single unit sold can generate a profit of over tens of thousands. Global demand for this product has outstripped its supply. Just yesterday, the Americans have already made a public announcement that it would take them at least ten years to reverse engineer this piece of technology. Ten years! Given their current growth rate, this period is more than enough for them to dominate the entire world’s market, do you understand…”
Everyone had become dead silent. Realization had just set in, that what Nine Heavens offered was cutting-edge technology that no one could match up to, but was extremely well-received by the masses. Their online sales volume has reached proportions unrivaled by any other company.
“Thus, what I would like to ask you people is, wouldn’t you all want in on this business, whose potential is near limitless?” A warm, hearty smile broke across Bai Ting’s face when he posed the question to his allies.
In the face of profits, justice, morality and ethics could go to hell.
The prospect of massive profits, accompanied with technology that even America failed to recreate lit up lightbulbs in the heads of these businessmen. Combining their forces, overwhelming the enemy was as easy as turning over one’s hand.
“Well then, Boss Bai, let’s talk about how we could acquire Nine Heavens…”
Bai Ting sneered in his heart upon seeing the looks on the faces of these men. He still had a couple of Soul Extinguishing Seals. Even without the master, he had already mastered the usage of these seals. When the time was ripe, he would only need to sit and reel in his hook.
***
Gu Xiqiao was in her home, staring at the clear board in front of her eyes that projected a live view of what was going on in Bai Ting’s conference room. She was munching on an apple when she asked the system spirit, “Hey, seems like Bai Ting’s planning to acquire Nine Heavens. You think Luo Wenlang’s scared out of his wits?”
The System: [Nine Heavens belongs to you. Does it even matter if Luo Wenlang is scared? Aren’t you supposed to be the one who’s scared witless?]
Gu Xiqiao called Luo Wenlang and as soon as the call got through, she spoke with a despondent tone, “I have just received bad news. Bai Ting and a couple of other families are planning to acquire Nine Heavens.”
Luo Wenlang almost jumped out of his skin when he heard Gu Xiqiao say that. He had just watched Bai Ting’s interview that afternoon and had already anticipated retaliation from him. Be that as it may, it never crossed his mind that they would choose to go down this route. In an instant, his mind went blank.
“The evidence that I leaked to the police has already been erased. They’re working with the Bai family. What should I do next?” Luo Wenlang had uploaded the information on Weibo and as expected, there was an uproar on the internet but truth be told, there was little these keyboard warriors could do in real life. This, and how corrupt the government bureaucracy actually was, made it hard for them to level the playing field.
“Wait,” said Gu Xiqiao as she rubbed her chin. Luo Wenlang was surprised by her tone, her voice as calm as it usually was and there were no signs of anxiousness in it at all.
The calmness successfully rubbed off on Luo Wenlang as he listened to her talk. Hanging up the call, he proceeded to read through the plan that Gu Xiqiao had left with him. For some reason, he felt that the situation was still entirely within her expectations, which included Bai Ting’s impromptu decision to acquire Nine Heavens.
But was that even possible? Luo Wenlang went into deep thought as he soaked in every bit of detail the plan offered. For her age, Gu Xiqiao was surprisingly levelheaded. She was able to contain her emotions throughout their entire exchange while he, in contrast, started melting down immediately upon receiving “bad news”. Thankfully, her calmness was contagious and he was able to cool himself down too.
While muttering the word “wait” repeatedly, he began retracing his steps to locate Gu Xiqiao’s train of thought.
“Little Luo! Boss Gu isn’t answering my calls. Can you ask her when she’s coming over to Nine Heavens? I’d like to show her our progress on the source code!” Yu Ning stormed into his office and sprawled over Luo Wenlang’s desk to get his attention. Of course, it would be much appreciated if Gu Xiqiao could give them a handful of new routes to crack the source code.
Luo Wenlang grabbed the plan from Yu Ning’s hands before shooting him an angry glare. “She’s injured her hand. For the time being, she won’t be coming here.”
Judging by how protective Jiang Shuxuan was, she would never be allowed outside of the house.
A dejected look surfaced almost immediately on Yu Ning’s face. Seems like his plan to get Gu Xiqiao to get him a new route had gone bust. “I wanted to show her our progress, about how we have gone past a new milestone. I just wanted to give her a massive surprise, you know?”
“Surprise?” Luo Wenglang glanced at him. “A surprise that took you guys an entire month to prepare?” What’s worse, was that Gu Xiqiao’s work was essential to the creation of this “surprise”.
Yu Ning almost sprayed blood from his mouth when he heard Luo Wenlang’s question. This was the source code for a virtual world they were talking about! The thing that even America was unable to recreate. In under a month, their tiny laboratory of men had already successfully broken 12% of the source code so how dare Luo Wenlang complain about their pace?
Outsider! Buffoon! Normie!
“I see, you’ve been looking at the plan Boss Gu left you. It’s been so many days now, and yet it doesn’t seem like you’re remotely close to figuring it out?” Yu Ning eyed the piece of paper in Luo Wenlang’s hands. No matter where he went, he would always bring it with him. Perhaps, this supposed “financial management prodigy” from A University was nothing but a useless pile of dung!
Luo Wenlang froze up. “It’s such a profound piece of philosophy, I don’t think you’ll understand.”
“Heh heh! Sounds like you could use this sentence a lot!”
The secretary, who had overheard their conversation, was left speechless.
‘Could they even afford to have infighting within their company now, of all times?”
***
The only reason why Gu Xiqiao had left the plan with Luo Wenlang was because she was confident that he would be able to figure something out. Then, she started contemplating deeply.
“What are you thinking about?” Jiang Shuxuan poured her a tall glass of orange juice. Seeing how cunning the look on her face was, he figured that she must be up to no good again. Seems like yet another person would be meeting his demise soon.
“I am thinking about-” Gu Xiqiao took a big gulp of orange juice. “-about acquisition and the opposite of that. The action and reaction when applying force. I want to topple them using their own momentum. What do you think? Brother Jiang?”
‘…I’m sorry, I don’t quite understand what you’re saying.’
‘Perhaps she was slowly losing her sanity from being stuck at home all the time? Or was she speaking some genius-dialect that I don’t understand?’
“Follow me to the supermarket tonight,” said Jiang Shuxuan. Perhaps staying at home too long has negative effects on one’s mental capacity. “You can pick anything you want to eat.”
Gu Xiqiao did not respond immediately to Jiang Shuxuan’s words. “System, what did Brother Jiang just say?”
[He invited you to go out to the supermarket with him.]
“I beg your pardon? Gu Xiqiao cupped her hands behind her ears.
The System then repeated, [Beauty Qiao, Master Jiang wants you to go to the supermarket with him.]
Gu Xiqiao was now sure that she had not misheard what he said. However, she was not mentally prepared to hear Brother Jiang say such a thing. Has the worldline changed? Or has he finally changed his mind?
Gu Xiqiao felt lightheaded when they arrived at the supermarket. Why did Jiang Shuxuan, who looked every part the gentleman, pick the supermarket out of all places he could go to?
Jiang Shuxuan proceeded to pick some vegetables from the fresh produce section. Looking up from the greens, he found Gu Xiqiao still in a dazed state. Reaching out his slender finger, he flicked it painfully against her forehead. “Watch where you’re going, you’re gonna bump into someone.”
Gu Xiqiao suspiciously eyed Jiang Shuxuan. ‘You think I’m not aware that you’re toying with me?!’
The two then strolled down the aisles, filling their shopping cart with lots of things, from vegetables, to snacks, to fruits as well as pet food for Xixi and Haha.
“I’m gonna head to the check-out counter. Wait for me at the entrance.” The supermarket was pretty crowded so Jiang Shuxuan was worried about her hand, and thought it better to let Gu Xiqiao leave the area first.
Gu Xiqiao stood at the entrance, playing on her phone whilst waiting for Jiang Shuxuan. In the blink of an eye, she threw her phone up into the air and reached around with her empty hand to grab her stalker!
“Ughh that hurts like hell!” Zhu Yuan felt pain paralyze his body. He just wanted to say hello to her but to his surprise, her reflexes were much faster than what he had expected. To think that she managed to grab him from behind, she must’ve had insane dexterity!
Realizing that the person was Zhu Yuan, Gu Xiqiao loosened her grip. Right at that moment, her phone fell right into the middle of her other palm.
“Are you retarded?”
Zhu Yuan: Hell no I’m not! It’s you who’s the weird one here!
Zhu Yuan stared at the frail-looking girl in front of him with a puzzled look. Her wrist was so skinny that it seemed like he could snap it in two effortlessly. So where did she get so much strength from? Also, how did she know that he was behind her? Although he wasn’t particularly talented in ancient martial arts, his physical strength was still higher than the average man. So why was she able to immobilize him?
In the end, Zhu Yuan arrived at the final conclusion. ‘This girl must be a weirdo! I wonder if her strength can compare to that little demon girl?’
“How are your wounds now?” Zhu Yuan looked around but failed to locate Jiang Shuxuan. Confirming that he wasn’t around, he finally started looking her in the eye when they spoke.
“It’s fine.” Her reply was concise. If it was a normal person talking to her, he would’ve inevitably backed-off from continuing the conversation.
“Look here, pretty little lady, what you’re doing here is downright wrong. If you’re gonna act so cold and distant, no boy is gonna fall for you. Listen to big brother’s advice, you see, girls have to act cute when the time calls for you to act cute….” Zhu Yuan started babbling away in front of her.
He had a lot of things to do today, for example, he had to prepare his script for the upcoming conference at A University. Speaking about this, he was fully prepared to fight a battle to the death with Professor Jiang.
Last night, when he met with Professor Jiang, he expressed his desire to see the other half of his report, as well as to meet the brainiac of a man behind the cell-fusion experiment. And yet, that old bastard tucked his report away. As if that wasn’t enough, he requested Zhu Yuan to hold a conference at the university, or he would not be given the chance to read the entire report, let alone meet the person behind this extraordinary experiment!
Zhu Yuan was infuriated. As a world-renowned doctor, he was just a few steps behind his master. There were even American universities, who offered him a payment of eight figures to give a talk to their students, and he still had to contemplate accepting their offer or not.
How dare Professor Jiang try to take advantage of him like this. “Hold a conference, and the report will be yours. You will also get to meet the author of the report. If you choose otherwise, well, I don’t think there’s anything we could talk about now.”
Zhu Yuan felt the urge to pour an entire bottle of sulfuric acid over Professor Jiang’s face. No one else, apart from his master, was allowed to talk to him in such a tone. But, in the end, he had to endure the lashes. Forcing a smile, he accepted Professor Jiang’s proposition.
“Professor Jiang, it seems like the day after tomorrow would be the perfect day…”
He had no choice. The other half of the report was something he could not afford to miss out on. Of course, it was imperative that he met the author too. Like a cat trapped in a cage, he paced around in circles when he was reminded that the conference was still a day away. He struggled to contain himself, even for a second.
His eyes lit up upon seeing Gu Xiqiao. After all, she was a pretty girl. However, unlike many other pretty girls, he could only look at this one from afar. Still, it took his mind off his agreement with the professor.
“Oh, right, before I forget, I’m holding a conference in A University tomorrow. The topics we will be discussing is the history of human advancements in medicine as well as traditional Chinese medicine. Would you like to attend this conference?” Professor Jiang had already announced at his faculty earlier this morning that Zhu Yuan would be hosting this conference. As expected, the faculty almost exploded with excitement as the youngsters there were all fans of Zhu Yuan.
In every single continent, Zhu Yuan has made a name for himself due to his contributions but only a handful of people were able to see him in person. Based on how Gu Xiqiao was looking at him, he figured that she must not have known about him. Anyone working in a medical-related field who recognized him would never look at him the way that she did.
Gu Xiqiao put her phone down and gave Zhu Yuan a skeptical look. “A conference?”
‘Can you stop giving me that look? Just you wait, you’ll be on your knees tomorrow when you find out who I am!’
In order to demonstrate how cool he was to Gu Xiqiao, Zhu Yuan grabbed her phone without asking and typed in his phone number. “Call me when you reach school tomorrow. I’ll get someone to let you in.”
‘I’ll show her how many fans I have!’
Gu Xiqiao rubbed her chin. She was about to say something when a towering figure appeared behind Zhu Yuan and swiftly, her phone was snatched away from his hands. “What are you doing?”
Zhu Yuan, stiff as a rock, felt a tickly cold breeze crawl down the back of his neck. “Ha ha ha, nothing at all! I’m just asking how Miss Gu’s wounds are recovering. Oh, Master Jiang, I didn’t expect to see you here at the… supermarket?”
Seeing how the trolley Jiang Shuxuan was pushing was filled to the brim, Zhu Yuan almost bit his tongue out of astonishment.
‘Holy f*ck, is something wrong with my eyes? Master Jiang grocery shopping at a supermarket?! When did he become so humble?’
“Mmhmmm.” Jiang Shuxuan seemed to be in a pretty good mood. Giving the phone back to its rightful owner, he bid Zhu Yuan farewell.
“Enjoy your shopping. We’ll be leaving now.”
“Oh.” Zhu Yuan awkwardly nodded his head. To be frank, he had yet to regain his senses.
By then, the two had already disappeared into the distance.
Zhu Yuan immediately whipped out his phone. He forgot to check his phone since yesterday where he spent all of his time arguing with Professor Jiang about the report. As soon as its screen lit up, there appeared several missed calls, most of which were from Tang Qingqiu. Another one was from Gu Xiqiao’s phone which he used to call his own number.
Saving Gu Xiqiao’s number onto his phone, Zhu Yuan went onto the The Forum, where he started up a couple of threads in rapid succession.
Title: [I met the moderator in person while grocery shopping! OP is shocked!]
Anon 1: “Spare me the shocked talk and send pics if you’re legit~”
Anon 2: “OP is lying. The mod grocery shopping? Hurry up and get back to bed kiddo~”
These were all people who weren’t familiar with who Zhu Yuan was. He did know quite a lot of users on this forum and they were all friends of his in real life.
Anon 12: “I don’t buy it. You? Meeting my idol while grocery shopping? So you’re saying that he was shopping for groceries on his own? Nah, there must be some b*tchy bimbo who’s by his side!”
Zhu Yuan thought to himself, ‘Well Master Jiang will get angry at you if you stare too long at his “b*tchy bimbo”!’
Anon 15: “Did you speak to my idol up close? The last time I saw him was at the Youth Ranking List Tournament. *Sniff* Oh how I miss seeing him. I’m still stuck at the Trial Tower!”
Anon 66: “Skip the bullcrap and post HD pictures!”
Zhu Yuan left the forum, thinking how futile their efforts were, trying to pry into Master Jiang’s private matters. Upon doing so, he gave Tang Qingqiu a call, which was answered by the second ring.
The two then proceeded to speak about Jiang Shuxuan and his friend, Gu Xiqiao for what seemed like an eternity over the phone.
Tang Qingqiu’s thirst for knowledge was not satiated even after their conversation ended. His heart simply could not rest after handing over Jin Sitian and Mr. Tian’s information to Jiang Shuxuan earlier this afternoon. What was he planning?
***
Jin Sitian was supposed to head over to Mr. Tian’s place after coming back home but he wasn’t answering any of her calls. She couldn’t find him even in the villa where the both of them lived in the past. This time, a tidal wave of fear overwhelmed her.
Restlessly, she remained in her home. One call after another she made but to no avail. Her manager, on the other hand, was sitting on the sofa, smoking a cigarette. His brows were knitted, as he basked in his own thoughts. Throughout his entire career, this was his first time going through such a desperate situation. No doubt, Mr. Tian would never dare to mess with the Tang family. His refusal to answer Jin Sitian’s calls was the perfect proof of this.
The glow on Jin Sitian’s pretty face had now faded away; her expression was as bleak as ever. She grabbed the manager’s wrist tightly. “Why isn’t he answering my calls?! What should I do?”
“What should you do? Didn’t I warn you? Your short temper will get you into trouble someday! The entertainment industry isn’t as simple as you might think it is. You’re in luck now! Having pissed the Tang family off, don’t even think about going back into acting! You insolent fool!”
The manager stared coldly at Jin Sitian. If he knew that such a day would come, he would never have signed the contract with her. Ning Qing might be stubborn but at least she wasn’t as senseless as this woman!
Jin Sitian looked back at the manager with disbelief in her eyes. “Don’t you forget that without me, you would never have risen to this place! Do you even think you have the right to call me a fool?!”
The manager shot her a glance and sneered. “If Tang Enterprise is indeed serious about this, not only would you be done for, I too, will probably risk losing my career! You can go back and live in your slums for all I care!”
The word “slums” frightened Jin Sitian. Her face was drained completely of color upon seeing the look on her manager’s face. She had already swore to herself, not to return to that place ever again in her life!
Mr. Tian. Right, he was the only one who could save her now.
Jin Sitian took out her phone with trembling fingers. Finally, after pressing around clumsily for a while, Mr. Tian’s phone call came in. She, who initially thought that he had abandoned her for good, instantly rejoiced upon seeing the caller ID.
Something Mr. Tian said over the phone had made Jin Sitian’s expression loosen up quite a bit. In an instant, her usual demeanor returned to her.
The manager, who was on the verge of a mental breakdown figured that a chance might have arisen after seeing the look on Jin Sitian’s face.
“So, what did he say?”
“He said that someone from Tang Enterprise has already contacted him. Apparently, they expressed that they didn’t want to pursue this matter any further.” Jin Sitian then went upstairs to take a shower and put on some makeup. She had a completely new understanding of authority after what she had gone through today.
In the Imperial Capital, whoever that had the authority was the boss!
Mr. Tian was a middle-aged man, with a slight chub on his waist. He had a pair of small eyes that gleamed underneath two narrow slits. There would always be a sense of perverseness in his gaze. “Tian Tian, I have solved the incident you got caught up in. You won’t be able to return to the cast of “Empire Under Siege” so would you like to try out for some other movie?”
He too, couldn’t believe his ears when he answered the call from Tang Enterprise this afternoon; they said that they would let this incident slide and expressed their hope to return to their once-friendly relationship. If it wasn’t for that, he would’ve completely severed his ties with Jin Sitian.
After all, it was Tang Enterprise that we were talking about. Now that the Tangs have given him face, Mr. Tian felt even more pleased about himself.
Unbeknownst to him, this was a trap set up deliberately by Tang Qingqiu who wanted to watch the spectacle unfold.
“Mr. Tian, I know I won’t be going back to the cast of “Empire Under Siege”. But, there’s someone I really, really hate. Would it be possible if…” Jin Sitian asked as she started giving Mr. Tian a shoulder rub.
Mr. Tian’s brows furrowed. “Are you talking about Xiao Yun? No, that won’t do! She’s working under Tang Enterprise!”
Jin Sitian backed off immediately. “Of course not! It’s someone else! But she seems to be a friend of Xiao Yun’s!” A friend of her enemy was naturally, her enemy. Thinking back to that “high-and-mighty” look she gave her, Jin Sitian felt anger rising up within her.
“Mr. Tian, she’s a very beautiful girl…” Jin Sitian’s eyes glimmered. “Even Tian Tian is afraid that she isn’t as pretty as her.”
“Oh? She’s prettier than you are?” Mr. Tian’s interest was piqued upon hearing this. The reason why he had Jin Sitian by his side for the past three years was because of her looks. In fact, she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. Despite her crappy attitude, he was able to put up with her because of that. She however, had gained his attention by talking about a girl that was prettier than herself.
“Yeah, she appeared on set that day. She’s Xiao Yun’s acquaintance but I can confirm that she has nothing to do with Tang Enterprise. You’ll know immediately after you check about her.” Jin Sitian smirked.
Mr. Tian, who was an avid fan of pretty girls, immediately whipped out his phone to get his men to check on the girl Jin Sitian had mentioned.
Jealousy surfaced in Jin Sitian’s heart upon seeing this but she was also intrigued by what was going to happen.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Someone had knocked on their front door.
“So fast?” Mr. Tian asked.
Jin Sitian skipped over to open the door. She was still smiling before she could make out clearly who it was standing outside the door. Looking down she noticed a knife in his hand but then, darkness enveloped her vision.
***
When she came to, she was in an abandoned building with a single dim light bulb hanging down from the ceiling. Tied behind her was Mr. Tian. There were two men, dressed in an entirely black outfit standing in the room with them. One of them seemed to be on the phone, talking about something she didn’t understand.
Then, another person entered the room. Upon seeing who it was, Jin Sitian was wide-eyed. He had an elegant silhouette and a pair of well-defined eyes. He almost seemed like he was covered in a layer of frost, like an immortal being that has descended from heaven. Her heart raced as the person walked over slowly.
Jiang Shuxuan stopped three steps away from the girl. His gaze was cold and indifferent.
“Which hand did you use to hurt her?” he asked.
Jin Sitian’s pupils contracted upon hearing the question.
On his fingertips danced a frost blade. Jiang Shuxuan looked at her right hand, where her fingertips were trembling. Without warning, the pure white frost blade stabbed straight through the center of her palm. “Is this the one?”
“Or is this the one?” Another frost blade stabbed through her other palm.
“Aaahhhh!” The pain was so immense that Jin Sitian started thrashing violently on the floor. Tears flowed down her face that was twisted in pain as she looked fearfully at her own two hands.
“Aren’t you afraid of heaven’s will? Torturing a regular civilian like this?” Suddenly, a warm, gentle voice came from behind.
Jiang Shuxuan turned around to find Tang Qingqiu leaned against the door frame. The corner of his lips was curled up, forming a smug smile and a hint of curiosity flashed through his eyes.
“Heaven’s will?” Jiang Shuxuan murmured to himself. Walking out of the door, he peered at the boundless night sky. Compared to her, heaven’s will did not scare him one bit.
“So, you’re just gonna leave like that?” Seeing how Jiang Shuxuan was about to leave, Tang Qingqiu couldn’t help but ask. “Why are you leaving in such a rush?”
“Gotta make dinner.” Jiang Shuxuan’s voice echoed through the air. At the same time, the space around them warped before he vanished into thin air.
“Make dinner?” Tang Qingqiu even doubted his own hearing. He then remembered the thread Zhu Yuan started on the forum. “Has he advanced into becoming a househusband?”
Tang Qingqiu stood there for a while, looking down at the girl who was wailing in pain. He then recalled the merciless look in Jiang Shuxuan’s eyes. “He really isn’t afraid of heaven’s will it seems…”
What Tang Qingqiu didn’t know was that in the near future, not only would Jiang Shuxuan go against heaven’s will, he would also be several degrees away from completely annihilating this entire realm. And the girl, whom he thought was weak and dainty, was in actuality, much more ruthless than Jiang Shuxuan…
***
By the time Jiang Shuxuan reached home, the soup he had been brewing was already ready for consumption. He tasted a spoonful of it and satisfied with its quality, he shut off the flame before whipping up two stir-fry dishes in a jiffy.
As he was just a beginner in cooking, his clumsiness had resulted in him accidentally knocking over a bottle of cooking oil.
Haha, who was observing Master Jiang cook outside the kitchen went: （⊙o⊙）
And yet, the sound of glass shattering against the kitchen floor never came. Slowly peeling its eyes open, Haha was astonished to find the bottle of oil floating in mid-air.
Master Jiang has invented a completely new way of cooking in the kitchen. Using only his will, the oil, his ladle, and salt… pretty much everything that was involved in the recipe floated up into the air. Whatever he needed, he could just reach out and grab.
Gu Xiqiao was speechless at the sight in front of her.
‘I know you’re really capable but use that somewhere else instead of in the kitchen.’
“Brother Jiang, you should just leave this to me.” Gu Xiqiao felt weird seeing Jiang Shuxuan, who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, work like this in the kitchen. She thought to herself, this must be Master Jiang’s first time touching such equipment.
Jiang Shuxuan reached out and scooped a spoonful of salt from its container. His eyes were fixated on the fiery wok below. “No, I’ll be done soon. Don’t come in here.”
Looking at her own hand, Gu Xiqiao manipulated the chi slightly. When her hand recovers, she’ll never allow Jiang Shuxuan back into the kitchen again!
Jiang Shuxuan, who had picked up a couple of skills from the head chef was impressed by himself. ‘…I’ve just learned to cook.’
“Haha, you eat first.” Gu Xiqiao grabbed the bag of dog food she bought from the supermarket yesterday and poured it into Haha’s beloved bowl.
Haha thought to itself, ‘No thanks. I’ve already emptied an entire bag of dog food from stress-eating just now!’
Gu Xiqiao rubbed Haha’s head with a worried expression. “Don’t you love this brand? Why aren’t you eating? Are you feeling sick?”
Jiang Shuxuan, who felt loved moments ago reminded himself, ‘I knew it! There’s nothing in this world that I hate more than dogs!’
Haha, who has been emotionally neglected as of late smirked. ‘Ahahahaha, look at this coquettish b*tch!’
Satisfied from being showered with concern, Haha began digging in on its favorite dog food. It gave Xixi a look that roughly translated as, “You jealous of me?”
“Chirp! Chirp chirp! Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!” (Slut! Tell me how you managed to seduce our Beauty Qiao!)
Haha slowly munched on its dinner. “Woof! Woof! Woof!” (Call me daddy then I’ll tell you how!)
Xixi answered immediately, “Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp!” (Love me harder daddy!)
Haha shot the dumb bird a glance. “Woof woof woof woof woof woof woof!” (First, you’ll have to become a dog.)
Xixi: “…”
Now that Haha was eating, Gu Xiqiao stood up and spared Xixi, who was looking at her like a predator, a glance. She reached up to give it a gentle head rub. “Don’t snatch Haha’s food away, you got that?”
Xixi: “Okay.”
‘I knew it. I am adopted aren’t I?’ thought the feather ball.
Gu Xiqiao was about to speak to Jiang Shuxuan when her phone rang suddenly. Retrieving it from her pocket, she glanced down to find that it was a call from Professor Jiang. She answered the call.
“Professor Jiang?”
“I think you’ve had enough fun staying at home, haven’t you?” Professor Jiang had never met a student as unmotivated as Gu Xiqiao throughout his entire teaching career. She had the brains but for some reason, she refused to push herself beyond her own limits. But, he was partly at fault for this too. He gave her this task, with the assumption that she would never complete it. Now that she did, he had no choice but to keep his word and fulfil his promise of allowing her time off from school. He felt nothing but regret for doing so ever since. “A member of our alumni is coming back to hold a conference at the faculty building. He’s one of the most successful students our university has ever produced. You must come, you understand? Call me tomorrow!”
Before Gu Xiqiao could turn him down, he had already hung up the phone.
“…”
She suddenly recalled her exchange with Zhu Yuan. Was he the alumni member Professor Jiang was talking about?
A transparent board materialized in front of her, displaying everything there was to know about Zhu Yuan.
Name: Zhu Yuan.
Gender: Male.
Level: Grandmaster level healer.
***
What followed was Zhu Yuan’s achievements, including all his contributions to the international community. Gu Xiqiao was amazed by what she read. She knew that her System had a rating category that started with Starter Level, Intermediate Level, Advanced Level, Elite Level, Master Level, Grandmaster Level, and finally, God Level.
According to the system, most humans on Earth were under the Advanced level and Elite Levelers were as rare as a phoenix. Master levelers were almost non-existent and to her surprise, Zhu Yuan was a grandmaster?!
How old was he?
***
Zhu Yuan’s conference began at 9 am and ended at 11. Upon reaching the entrance of her university, Gu Xiqiao noticed how unusually crowded the place was. The people she met were all well-known practitioners who must’ve attended this event out of admiration for Zhu Yuan.
Finally, Gu Xiqiao understood how popular Zhu Yuan actually was. There wasn’t even the need for her to ask where the conference was being held; she arrived at the great auditorium by merely following the crowd.
Arriving just outside the hall, she did not expect the place to be so cramped. There were teams of police stationed there to maintain law and order. There was a circle of staff surrounding the entrance.
Upon closer inspection, she realized that one needed a ticket in order to get into the hall.
Gu Xiqiao did not have a ticket. She was about to give Professor Jiang a call before a voice came calling out to her from behind. “Ah, Student Gu, you’ve come too?! Hurry on in, students here don’t need a ticket to enter. Just flash them your ID card and they’ll let you in!”
Gu Xiqiao thanked her kind coursemate before heading into the hall. To her surprise, the people in the auditorium were much more orderly than what she saw outside. The students were all sitting according to their classes and upon locating her class, she walked towards her peers.
“Xu Jing, aren’t you in journalism? Why are you here?” Gu Xiqiao almost burst out laughing when she saw Xu Jing waving towards her amidst the sea of med students.
Xu Jing patted her seat clean before pointing towards the camera that was slung over her neck. “Come on, how could I overlook such an event?! Oh right, you must not have heard about Zhu Yuan’s rumors. Would you like me to fill you in on the details?”
“Thanks but no thanks.” After all, there wasn’t anything that she didn’t know about Zhu Yuan now.
“Suit yourself.” Xu Jing couldn’t hold back her excitement. “I’m all giddy whenever I think about meeting Zhu Yuan in person!”
Gu Xiqiao shot her a nonchalant glance. “What is there to be giddy about? It’s not like your a med student.”
“Hey, what do you know? Zhu Yuan’s the most successful person this university has ever produced! His name spans the entire globe! Didn’t you see the row of foreign professors sitting in the front? Apparently they have all just landed here last night, just to participate in this conference.” Xu Jing sighed. “Can’t you just let the man have his conference? I’m telling you, this is gonna be a once in a lifetime experience.”
“Have you seen Sun Jiajia?” Xu Jing pointed in the direction of Sun Jiajia, who was seated two rows in front of them. “I heard she spoke with Zhu Yuan yesterday. That’s the reason why there are so many sitting beside her. They’re all hoping to get a chance to speak to Zhu Yuan. What do you think?”
Gu Xiqiao glanced at them. “Fools!”
“Ahhhhh! Look! Zhu Yuan looked over! He really looked over in her direction! I knew I should’ve sat with Sun Jiajia!” Xu Jing started yelling like a fangirl.
Gu Xiqiao, who was the one Zhu Yuan was smiling at, thought to herself, ‘As I thought, a stupid idol has stupid fans!’