Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

“Miss Chen?!” Luo Wenlin looked at Hua Youlin’s teacher in shock and disbelief.

Miss Chen turned around, giving him a stern look. “Luo Wenlin, you’re one of the top students, I hope that you won’t tell lies.” No matter whether Hua Youlin had stolen the things, it didn’t matter. Between Hua Youlin and Student Dai, it was obvious who held more priority in this matter.

Mrs. Dai looked at the principal with a smug expression on her face, a thinly veiled threat in her voice when she next spoke, “Principal, these sort of students will just bring harm to the society when they grow up. I think it’s best to nip it in the bud, don’t you think so too?”

The principal groaned internally, and giving a more gentle look to Hua Youlin, he prompted him again, “Student Hua, do you have anything else to add?”

“Principal, I don’t think there is anything further that needs to be explained.” Miss Chen was the teacher of the two children, and had the most say at the moment. “Hua Youlin’s misconduct and violence on campus, these two matters are just too big to ignore. If we let him go, the other students will definitely have things to say.”

She had received so many gifts from the Dai family, so it was obvious she needed to help Mrs. Dai in this matter. As for Hua Youlin, he was just a lowly orphan, and she didn’t care about him. How much waves can a small shrimp like him make?

“Then I’ll wait for your news.” Mrs. Dai nodded with satisfaction. She had recently been in a bad mood, her husband’s business hadn’t been doing as well as before, and he had even found a young woman to accompany him. She really has no face to show in front of the others in the Imperial Capital.

Today when she heard about her son getting bullied, and hearing what Miss Chen had said, that the other child was an orphan, it was just the right time for her to use him as a punching bag to release her frustrations.

Why were these few people talking as though the entire school knew about what was happening with Hua Youlin?! Luo Wenlin panicked, turning to see Hua Youlin who had his head lowered and not speaking a word. He pulled his own phone out of his pocket, dialing Gu Xiqiao’s number, which was picked up after one ring.

“Hello, Dalin.” Gu Xiqiao had just parked the car. Hua Youlin’s teacher didn’t give her the address, but the system spirit knew the way anyway, and directed her to them.

“Sister Gu, please hurry, they want to expel Youlin…” Luo Wenlin’s voice trembled slightly after hearing the familiar voice. He had been a weak child since he was young, and had never been to school. But when he came to school, the classmates that he got to know were all kind and warm, and he quickly became acquainted with everyone.

He had thought that Hua Youlin would be the same, getting to meet kind people in his class. He didn’t expect that before the last class in the afternoon, he would hear from his classmates that Hua Youlin had gotten into a fight with someone and had been brought to the principal’s office.

He was now faced with a crowd of aggressive, bullying people. Luo Wenlin had not been through such a situation before, and he was terrified inside his heart, but he had to endure it. He was older than Hua Youlin, he could show fear or be weak at this time! But after hearing Gu Xiqiao’s voice, he couldn’t help the trembling that started.

“Dalin, don’t worry, I’ll be there soon.” After finishing up the call, Gu Xiqiao walked towards the principal’s office. Her steps seemed to be slow, but she reached the administration building in a blink of an eye.

Hearing Luo Wenlin’s call, Mrs. Dai said in a sharp voice, “He has a sister?”

“Just the two of them siblings.” Miss Chen said, knowing what Mrs. Dai meant, she hurried to add on, “The younger brother is not sensible, so let his elder sister be the one to ask forgiveness from you.”

Mrs. Dai nodded in satisfaction at that.

“Sorry, I want to know what happened?” Before the person arrived in their line of sight, her voice was out first before she appeared at the doorway.

When Miss Chen saw her, she opened her mouth to speak, “Miss, not only did your brother steal from his classmate, but he also bullied his classmate. Look at how beat up Student Dai is by him!”

Gu Xiqiao raised her gaze to look at Miss Chen, her deep eyes piercing. “Stealing?”

“Wh-what’s with that look? The evidence is right here!” Miss Chen pointed to the things on the table. She needed to maintain a good image in front of her, and Mrs. Dai was very generous after all, a single piece of jewelry from her was worth more than a year of her own salary.

Seeing the things on the table were all that had been bought by her for Hua Youlin, Gu Xiqiao didn’t want to talk much, and glanced at the principal instead.

This was the first time the principal had seen Gu Xiqiao. He had thought that Hua Youlin was an orphan, and that his sister should be one too. He never expected his sister to be Gu Xiqiao, the genius that had recently made an appearance in various news and reports!

“Principal, may I ask a few questions?” Gu Xiqiao said.

“Of course, of course.” The principal nodded his head rapidly, bowing as he did. How could he refuse her?

Gu Xiqiao lowered her head and asked Hua Youlin a few questions softly. After hearing her voice, only did Hua Youlin finally raise his head to look at her. “Sister Gu, do you believe me?”

“If I don’t believe you, who else would I believe?” Gu Xiqiao took his hand as she said that. “Don’t worry, nothing will happen. Trust me.”

Mrs. Dai was stunned when she saw Gu Xiqiao walk in. The Dai family had fallen to what they were today because of this girl standing in front of her. That was also the reason why she didn’t make such a big fuss when Boss Dai went out and found a mistress. She was full of fear when she laid eyes on Gu Xiqiao, and she didn’t dare to utter any word as she hugged her son closer to her.

Compared to the domineering and despotic she was displaying previously, it was like a completely different person now.

“Principal, these are all things that I bought for Hua Youlin. I will have someone send over the receipts later. As for the fight between them, it was Student Dai who first initiated the fight, and it was also Student Dai that started to insult first. I have the video of the surveillance in my hand, and I will send it to you. I hope that you will settle this matter properly.” With Hua Youlin’s explanation as well as the system spirit’s hacking into the surveillance, Gu Xiqiao easily understood what had happened.

The principal looked at Mrs. Dai, who didn’t even dare to let out a single fart in front of the young girl here, and he knew immediately that Mrs. Dai also knew who Gu Xiqiao was. Hua Youlin’s sister was not some ordinary commoner. “Miss Gu, rest assured that I will deal with this matter fairly.”

Gu Xiqiao nodded her head, taking Hua Youlin and Luo Wenlin out, not giving Miss Chen another look.

“Principal?! You’re letting them leave just like that?!” Miss Chen frowned.

The principal looked at Mrs. Dai, before looking at Miss Chen. “Miss Chen, you should go back and reflect on yourself. Based on your remarks just now, you better pray that Hua Youlin’s sister doesn’t pursue this matter.”

The principal’s words held a lot of meaning behind them, it was basically telling her indirectly that Hua Youlin’s sister was not a simple commoner, but weren’t they just some orphans? Miss Chen shook in her shoes, and turned her gaze towards Mrs. Dai, who also had a look of fear on her face.

She knew everything was over that instance.

Miss Chen walked back to the office in a daze, not even replying to the people who had greeted her on the way.

She had only been sitting for a while, before she received notice from the school stating that she was dismissed due to slandering of students, handing out physical punishments, and accepting bribes worth more than hundred thousand yuan.

From this day on, there was no other school in the Imperial Capital who would be willing to employ her.

Mrs. Dai kept her head down all the way. She had thought that Gu Xiqiao hadn’t seen her, and nothing unusual happened when she reached home. She saw that Boss Dai was going about as usual, and she breathed a sigh of relief. It looked like Gu Xiqiao really had not seen her!

However, from the second day onwards, she found that Boss Dai came back later and later, and the frowning on his face got deeper over the days. She had secretly listened at the door of the study and found out that the Dai family stocks had plummeted and were facing bankruptcy.

She fell to the ground, dumbfounded.

Later, Boss Dai somehow found out that this incident was related to her once more, and divorced her immediately.

***

After coming out from the principal’s office, Luo Wenlin returned to class, while Gu Xiqiao took Hua Youlin home. She passed him the milk tea and asked, “Why didn’t you explain yourself just now?”

“It’s not like they will believe it anyway.” Hua Youlin drank a sip of milk tea with his head lowered, replying in a low voice.

“Brat.” Gu Xiqiao glanced at him, thinking about what to do with his temper. “Why is your face swollen?”

She didn’t notice it when they were back in the office just now, and when she saw it she stepped on the break, a frosty glint in her eyes. She pulled out a bottle of medicine and handed it to him, “Wipe yourself!”

“Oh!” Although he didn’t know where she pulled the medicine out from, and her tone was cold, Hua Youlin didn’t feel unhappy at the treatment at all.

On the contrary, he was elated.

He had thought that she would give up on him today, so he didn’t bother to explain anything. What’s the point of explaining himself, when no one had believed a single word he had said since a long time ago? He had also been driven out by his clansmen and was no longer a member there due to that.

He didn’t expect her to actually believe him, and she took all the words he said at face value.

Feeling his eyes burn slightly, Hua Youlin took a sip of his milk tea.

“I’ll change your class for you tomorrow. Dalin says that you’re almost done with your year one studies, how about putting you in his class?” When they got home, Gu Xiqiao opened the door as she asked Hua Youlin.

Hua Youlin picked up Haha, who was at his feet while nodding silently.

Gu Xiqiao picked up her phone to call Mu Zong, and he agreed to the extra work without much hassle. But then a strange feeling arises in his heart suddenly, when did he become a stay-at-home daddy that specialized in handling all these types of matters?

***

After a busy day, Cheng Zhou returned home to shower and eat. He was going to sleep then because he was tired after a full day of work.

As he got into bed, he suddenly remembered the things that Gu Xiqiao had given him, and he got up from bed immediately. Although he didn’t hold out much hope, he still wanted to look at the effects that had been added, since it was an entire movie in there after all.

He opened the bag and looked in it, finding that there were quite a few things in it. Apart from the original DVD, there was also a piece of paper with words written on it.

Usage instruction: This is a four-dimensional film, similar to a holographic projection. It is better to wear the glasses while watching, the effects will be more pronounced. Each glasses has a button that can allow the user to use the ‘bullet screen1‘ function, which can be kept open or closed depending on the user’s preference. In addition, the glasses are twenty-five dollars each (big sale). If you wish to purchase it, please call Manager Mu at Nine Heavens Corporation at 155***.

The format of the note looked like an advertisement, and the shape of the paper was also similar to those decorations that were hung on the doors. He was well aware of the company Nine Heavens, it was a company that was rising fast in the world. He heard that a manager had finally shown up to represent them, and everything was handled by him.

Cheng Zhou didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Nine Heavens gave him a weird impression, being so cold and arrogant in the eyes of the outside world, but here, why were they so… amusing?

Although he felt that the glasses were a bit funny, he still put them on before taking the movie upstairs. As a director, his house had a special screening room.

Closing the door, he turned on the projector, the image projecting on the white wall in front of it, and started to watch.

The movie started out pitch black, and nothing could be seen on the wall. After a second, the heart thumping music started, and even Cheng Zhou couldn’t help the excitement and adrenaline that surged up within him. Figures then gradually appeared on the wall.

Cheng Zhou was taken aback for a moment, the figures that appeared looked so real, just like the words on the paper had said, it was a holographic projection. What he saw was not a flat projection, but it feels as though the watcher was in the era of the movie itself, standing with the heroes and heroine, feeling all of the hatred and love that they felt.

And the special effects that Cheng Zhou was so worried about completely blew his mind. Although it wasn’t a fantasy drama, the sword fighting scenes were so extremely wonderful that he couldn’t take his eyes off the projection.

Nowadays, more money was spent on securing the actors and actresses, instead of the special effects of the movie itself, other than those blockbusters in America. In China this was even more so, as most of the studios either lacked the funds or the technology.

Cheng Zhou watched the movie three times that night. If it wasn’t for the alarm going off, he would have continued watching it.

He had to admit, this was a movie with the best effect, smoothest editing, best acting skills he had ever had the pleasure to watch. Just watching this movie made all those other movies from America look like crap!

As expected from Nine Heavens, after making their virtual helmet popular all over the globe, now they even came out with a holographic movie. It would most likely cause another wave through the world, and it was difficult to admit, but only Nine Heavens would be the only one who could make this happen, other companies would not be able to replicate their success.

Cheng Zhou reluctantly turned off the power, and then grabbed his phone to make a call. The voice on the other side was angry when they picked up, “What the hell Cheng Zhou?! It’s only five o’clock in the morning! Even if you don’t need to sleep, I do!”

Cheng Zhou ignored the scolding tone, excitedly saying, “When’s the most recent movie screening date? Arrange it for me!”

“Movie screening? Who are you helping to find this out for?” The other side was stunned before replying.

“It’s not for anyone else, it’s for myself. It’s the film that I’m using to participate in the International Awards—’Empire Under Siege’!” Cheng Zhou had a great big smile on his face, obviously in a good mood.

“… Are you sure you’re not sleep talking? Didn’t ‘Empire Under Siege’ just finished shooting not long ago?” Feeling like Cheng Zhou was just pulling his leg, that person got angry again, wanting to hang up the phone.

Cheng Zhou lowered his tone and said, “We’re old friends already, so I won’t hide it from you. My movie’s post-production was done by Nine Heavens, the company that has been on the financial news recently. There’s also another surprise I want to show you, I’ll bring the video over to you tonight, you’ll definitely be shocked!”

After he hung up the phone, Cheng Zhou’s hand was still shaking. It was a real… real big surprise. Even if this film didn’t win the award, it would still cause an uproar with how fabulous it was.

He couldn’t push down the excitement in him, as soon as he thought about, a new bout of anticipation would surge up again, and he couldn’t wait to see the expressions of those people who watched the movie.

A four-dimensional movie, and the first holographic projection ever, how could the storm to come be calm?

He also wanted to give a call to Gu Xiqiao, but then when he thought about it, she definitely knew about it, and so he dismissed the thought. But he quietly proceeded to write out a transfer for a large sum of money to her bank account.

He still needed to go for filming, and although he had been up all night, Cheng Zhou was filled with energy, and was in a good mood. You couldn’t see any tiredness lingering on his face at all.

***

In the morning, after dropping Hua Youlin off into Mu Zong’s care, she received a text message. Before she could read it, the system spirit floated into existence in front of her. “Beauty Qiao, this is sent by Director Cheng. After watching the movie that you did for him, he transferred a large sum of money to you. I’m guessing it’s compensation for the hard work, and although it’s a huge sum of money, it can’t compare to the technique that had gone into the editing. Yu Ning is really good.”

The four-dimensional technique that had gone into the editing was something that Yu Ning had managed to research from the source code, and the holographic projection and glasses used for ‘Empire Under Siege’ were all items that were beyond the current level of technology, and couldn’t be measured with money.

“Yu Ning is great indeed, but he’s just a little lazy. But I guess it’s fine to be lazy, since a lot of things in the world are invented by lazy people after all. Lil system, please transfer the money to Yu Ning, let him and his hacker team have it as a bonus for a job well done.” The phone rang again, and it was an unfamiliar number this time.

Logically speaking, anyone who knew her number should be someone that she knew, so she didn’t think too much as she answered it after putting on the Bluetooth headset. “Hello.”

“You’ve finally answered.” Zhu Yuan felt that he wasn’t in an easy position on his end, he had tried to call Gu Xiqiao using his phone, but it just couldn’t get through. Afterwards, he recalled again that she had consistently blacklisted his number, so he could only borrow another phone to make the call. “I found something interesting, can you come over?”

“Something interesting?” Gu Xiqiao raised an eyebrow. Jiang Shuxuan had been away for a while, and she had been feeling bored lately. She had initially thought to go to college, but when she heard Zhu Yuan’s words, it managed to pique her curiosity. “Sure, give me the address.”

Zhu Yuan rattled out the address, hanging up the phone immediately after and blacklisting Gu Xiqiao’s number on the phone he was holding. He was afraid that she would suddenly call back and said that she didn’t want to come after all!

“My grandfather…” The person beside him who took back the phone struggled to speak. “Weren’t you the one who managed a breakthrough in the latest cell fusion research, even with that, it won’t be able to save my grandfather?”

“Who was the one who told you that I was the one who researched the cell fusion?!” Zhu Yuan gritted his teeth. “What nonsense!”

“Forget it, Su Wen. I’ll bring you to meet somebody. It’s not that your grandfather is incurable, I have an idea but I’m not 100% certain of it, that’s why I need her help.” Zhu Yuan said, patting the man on his shoulder as he led them out.

“Her?” Su Wen didn’t know who this person Zhu Yuan was talking about, but he contained his curiosity and walked with the doctor to the entrance, waiting by the roadside for the person to appear.

Five minutes later, he saw a very familiar little pink car.