Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Qin Ran casually glanced at the manor and then looked away. She didn’t seem shocked like Butler Qin and the rest of them.

She looked up at Tang Jun and politely bade her farewell. “Excuse me, I’ll take my leave first. I have some programming to do for tomorrow.”

Leave now?

Tang Jun was a little stunned. “I’ll get Elder Li to send you back. Continent M is a little messy at night, it isn’t safe for you to go back on your own.”

Qin Ran shook her head and waved to them as she started walking out. “No need, someone is coming to fetch me.”

Tang Jun looked at Qin Hanqiu in concern. “Ran Ran…”

But Qin Hanqiu wasn’t worried about her. He simply said, “It’s fine, Ran Ran knows what she’s doing. Moreover, there’s Xiao Cheng around. It must be him coming to fetch her.”

Qin Hanqiu was calm.

Tang Jun looked at his expression and decided there was no need to say more. He led them back inside.

It was already ten at night. Only a few managers of the manor were still waiting in the main hall when they returned.

Tang Jun’s expression darkened. “Where are the Eldest Master and the rest?”

“Eldest Master and Miss have gone to rest.” The few managers of the Tang family replied politely, “We already got them to come back down.”

It was true that they went back to rest. But the primary reason was that they simply didn’t respect the descendants of Old Master’s sister enough. If it was Lu Zhixin instead, even Miss Tang Qing would be waiting here, not to mention the Eldest Master.

Nobody in the Tang family dared to think little of Lu Zhixin.

Even Old Master Tang would show him face. Having left the Tang family, Lu Zhixin was still doing well in Continent M and had a lot of connections and resources.

All of them knew this, but none of them said it.

Qin Hanqiu didn’t really mind. He was just here to have a look at his late mother’s bedroom, anyway. “Uncle, why don’t we have a look at the bedroom and that tree…”

Tang Jun suppressed his anger and took Qin Hanqiu and Butler Qin upstairs.

He spoke to Qin Hanqiu as they walked up. “You have an older cousin and a younger cousin. Your younger cousin is rather outstanding, and his character is a little like Ran Ran’s. But he’s been busy recently and hardly comes back. You can stay a night, I’ll check if he’s free to come home.”

Tang Jun’s expression softened much more as he mentioned his second son.

The only person in the Tang family who Tang Jun needed to get permission from was Lu Zhixin.

Butler Qin glanced at him. Tang Jun had always been in “commanding mode” when he was with the Tang family members. It was only with this Second Young Master…

Butler Qin could tell that his status was pretty high up in the Tang family.

On the first floor, Elder Li poured himself a glass of water. He didn’t follow Tang Jun and the rest.

When they went upstairs, the few managers quietly asked him about Miss Tang’s descendants.

Elder Li was a little stunned by their questions and shook his head.

Only Qin Ran and Qin Ling were a little more outstanding among the Qin family members. They were both young, and Elder Li hadn’t figured out the oddness about Qin Ran.

As for Qin Hanqiu…

He was too ordinary. Elder Li didn’t pay much attention to him.

Back when Old Master first found Qin Hanqiu, he wouldn’t have believed that he was Miss Tang’s son if not for the DNA test.

Although there were environmental factors at play, with his history of having been abducted as a child, Elder Li was still disappointed.

Seeing Elder Li’s expression, the few managers roughly got what he meant. Miss Tang’s descendants were just ordinary.

“Old Master mentioned letting Second Young Master return. I wonder if he really will…” They were rather expectant about this matter.

The Tang family didn’t know Tang Jun’s identity, but they knew that Lu Zhixin used to be a member of the Hacker Alliance and had left it voluntarily. He even joined the Yunguang Consortium after that.

He was the most respected member of the Tang family.

It was only natural that they had expectations.

**

The Tang family wasn’t sure about Qin Ran’s matters.

Neither did they know that Cheng Juan had sold one of her identities.

She’d always been busy with the ICNE program.

It was over three days. On the first day of the ICNE program, all members were present for the judges’ evaluation.

It was midnight of February 24th in Continent M.

The official ranking for the 100 teams was released.

That night, none of the teams slept a wink.

The accommodation areas of Continent M’s Research Institute were all lit up.

Beijing University and University A halted crossfire for once and refreshed the page repeatedly in Dean Jiang’s and Dr. Zhou’s rooms.

Dean Jiang’s living room was full of people—two full teams and their leaders were anxiously awaiting the ranking.

It was also the Lunar New Year, so they huddled together in the room after their reunion dinner. They were all in high spirits despite the anxiety.

Dean Ge was holding a cup of water and checking the time on his watch—

It was the 58th minute, just two more to go.

He took a sip and scanned the place. Three people were missing from the Beijing University group.

“Where are Qin Ran and Chu Heng from your school?” Over the past two days, Dean Ge also got to know this group of people from Beijing University.

Nan Huiyao responded without even looking up, “They’re still working on their research project.”

Dean Ge and the rest of the people from University A were speechless.

The competition was already over, and they were still working on it…

It was exactly 12.

Dean Ge hurried Dean Jiang, who was holding the mouse. “It’s time. Refresh it.”

Dean Jiang was also nervous.

He had logged into the page long ago and was just waiting to refresh it.

Dean Ge jumped the gun a little.

Although the official release was at midnight, there was usually some delay.

The first time Dean Jiang refreshed it, nothing came out. But the second time, a pale green table appeared.

The first column was the school name, the second was the number of people in the group. The third to sixth columns were the results. The seventh column gave the total score, and the eighth was the ranking.

After the table appeared, Dean Jiang’s hand stopped moving. Dean Ge went quiet too.

The students of University A couldn’t wait. “Dean Ge, why aren’t you scrolling…”

Then, they came forward to look.

Their words were suspended.

The first column was “Beijing University.”

The eighth column: 1.