As expected, it wasn’t easy to invite Shi Sheng. At first they had tried to send her formal invitations, but she completely ignored them.
They then attempted to invite her informally, only to be rejected once again, and with ridiculous reasons, to boot.
For example, “I got my period today. Not happy. Not going.”
Or, “Fu Qin wants to eat crab-apple flower cakes. I(bbb) have to go get them for him ASAP. Not available.”
Or even better, “People made trouble for me today. Not happy, not going.”
It really made these people think on the inside, ‘Be reasonable! So other people made trouble for you; what does that have to do with us?!’
After Shi Sheng’s seventh rejection, Fu Rao finally had enough of it. He ordered people over to the academy to snatch up Shi Sheng the moment she left the gates.
……
Shi Sheng ended up face to face with Fu Rao. ‘This fellow is Fu Qin’s dad? They look nothing alike! He’s such a macho man, how the hell did he have such a pretty boy son?! A gene mutation?!’
Fu Rao was rather surprised as well. Even the proud and noble struggled to lay their eyes on him, yet this young lady examined him without a single trace of fear.
‘As I thought; she’s quite interesting.’
“So what’d you grab me for?” Shi Sheng casually asked, leaning back.
“Don’t say it like that; I invited you so many times, yet you didn’t give me any face at all. What else could I do but come to see you personally?” Fu Rao looked like a burly man, yet he used such a gentle tone. It had a strange gap… moe?
‘Don’t joke. It’s awkward as fuck. Like seeing a modern person in an ancient setting.’
“Can you speak normally? Don’t tell me this is how you normally speak? If that’s the case, it’s a miracle no one’s overthrown you yet.”
Fu Rao, “…” ‘It was because I was afraid of scaring you off! I thought young ladies nowadays liked this kind of gentle uncle image?!’
It was quite clear that Shi Sheng wasn’t a normal young lady.
“*ahem*…” Fu Rao resumed his usual style of speech. “Your name is Bei Zhi?”
“You already know the answer. Even if you don’t have all my information, I’m pretty sure you must have at least 70 to 80% of it. Stop wasting my time and get to the point. If you’re going to silence me, hurry up. I’m busy.” Shi Sheng got impatient.
‘I hate these people who ask questions they already know the answers to. You already clearly know all 18 generations of my ancestors, so what the fuck are you still asking me for?!
Are you expecting me to be like the little white flower female leads who’ll put on a surprised expression and go, “How did you know?”?!
Are you an idiot? You think you’re filming a TV show?’
Honestly speaking, the last time people had dared to speak to Fu Rao like this had only been before he had taken the position of head of the Fu Family. After he had become the head of the Fu Family, who would dare to use this tone of speech with him?
‘This girl is really unbridled to the point of no return…’
“You’re not afraid?”
“Can fear be eaten? Or can it get you to stop blathering?” Shi Sheng calmly replied with questions.
Fu Rao, “…”
There was simply no way to communicate with her. For one, she always spoke barbed words. For another, she gave off the constant impression that she was looking down on the other person. It really was enough to provoke someone until they wanted to slap her to death.
‘Just how did she survive this long?’
“Your son needs to take his medicine again in half an hour. Are you sure you won’t get to the point?” Shi Sheng looked at her phone.
Fu Rao’s lips twitched. “I wish to request Ms Bei’s assistance.”
“Assistance? You want ‘em dead or alive? Payment starts from 9 digits. Don’t talk to me if the pay is any less or if it’s too troublesome.”
Fu Rao, “…” ‘Don’t understand this girl’s reasoning… the hell does she mean dead or alive? Can assistance even be classified into those two types?!
And she wants at least a 9 digit remuneration… 100 million, huh…
Although my son is worth that much, you don’t have to open with such a high price!’
Fu Rao thought for a bit before speaking deliberately, “I wish to request that you accompany Xiaoqin abroad to seek treatment. Money is not an issue.”
“He can still be saved? I thought it was terminal?”
‘What the fuck?! What’s with that surprised yet regretful expression for?! Of course my son can still be saved!
…It’s just that he refuses to be.’
“I don’t have the time.”
‘There’s still a group of little bitches here waiting for me(bbb) to deal with; how can I give up this group of little bitches for that one little bitch Fu Qin?
Not worth it. I don’t do business at a loss.’
“Money is no problem.” Fu Rao thought Shi Sheng was aiming for more money.
“It’s not a question of money,” Shi Sheng replied ‘solemnly’.
“Then what is it?” When it came to his son, nothing else was more important.
“It’s a question of moral integrity.”
Fu Rao, “…” ‘Guards, toss this girl into the sea! I’m not chatting with her anymore!
You’re the one who mentioned money first! So how come it suddenly evolved into the lofty question of moral integrity?!’
[Chain Quest 42: Accompany Fu Qin abroad.]
Shi Sheng, “…” ‘System, you’re really arbitrary in issuing these, you know?’
“Actually, it’s not entirely impossible.” Shi Sheng cleared her throat. “We just have to start negotiating from the 10 digits.”
Fu Rao, “…” ‘What happened to moral integrity?’
A billion wasn’t that much to the Fu Family, especially not if it was for the sake of their only heir. Thus, Fu Rao agreed—on the condition Shi Sheng convince Fu Qin to undergo the operation.
This operation required the patient to be completely willing to undergo it. If the patient’s mood worsened after the procedure, then the patient’s death might hasten rather than abate—a fate which might happen if the patient had been unwilling to go through with the operation in the first place.
This was the reason why they didn’t force Fu Qin to undergo this operation. After all, if Fu Qin was going to get depressed and die right after, then they might as well have maintained status quo.
……
It wasn’t that simple to go abroad. Shi Sheng hadn’t made arrangements for when she’d be gone, and Fu Qin wasn’t that easy to convince. But Shi Sheng was still busy. Though she couldn’t shake the foundations of either the Bei Family or Gao Family, she still had to do something. She had to arrange for a lot of stuff.
“Bei Zhi, I need to talk to you.” These days, if you wanted to see Shi Sheng, you’d have to wait outside her classroom before the class ended. Ji Xiaoyu didn’t know this, so she had always missed her chance. This time though, she finally managed to catch Shi Sheng.
“I’m busy.” Shi Sheng walked around Ji Xiaoyu without even lifting her eyes.
“Bei Zhi, it’s about Bei Ze.” Ji Xiaoyu pulled Shi Sheng.
“I’ve already said I’m busy, okay? Bei Ze has nothing to do with me. Let go, else don’t blame me for being rude.” Shi Sheng’s gaze was a bit cold, causing Ji Xiaoyu’s heart to thump and subconsciously release her.
Only when Shi Sheng was about to leave did Ji Xiaoyu react, hurriedly chasing after her. “Bei Ze’s been locked up because of you! He hasn’t eaten for 2 days already! Just go back and see him.”
“Mr and Mrs Bei won’t let him die, so whether I go or not doesn’t matter. Ji Xiaoyu, want to bet if I’ll push you down if you keep blocking me?”
They were currently standing on the stair landing, with Ji Xiaoyu blocking Shi Sheng from moving forward.
The students started snickering after they heard Shi Sheng’s words. “Ji Xiaoyu, Bei Zhi is busy! What are you stopping her for? Hurry up and make way! Don’t waste Bei Zhi’s time!”
“She thinks everyone else is as free as she is? Then again, how would this upstart know what we true upper class kids need to learn?”
“Oh wow, look, she’s mad! I guess her temper went up along with her wealth!”
“Bei Zhi, you go ahead. We’ll help get her out of your way.” People blocked Ji Xiaoyu off from Shi Sheng.
“Thanks.” Shi Sheng smiled at them before taking a few steps back to walk around them.