Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

In the Yan family, Madam Yan was waiting for Tan Yongsi to come, but before she did, Wen Qing came first.

Madam Yan placed down her teacup in surprise. “Madam Wen, Qing Qing, why have you come?”

“Aunty, didn’t you ask me to ask my dad who that person was when I got home the other day?” Wen Qing sat down on the stool, taking the offered teacup from the Yan family servant. She looked a little out of sorts, and was obviously not really focused.

Seeing her in this state, Madam Yan naturally recalled the young man that she had pointed out to Wen Qing that night. Her face changed. “Did you find out already?”

The water was just at the right temperature, and Wen Qing took a big gulp of the liquid. Hearing Madam Yan’s question, she didn’t respond. She clearly was still in a dazed state.

Madam Yan was even more surprised at her reaction, and turned to Madam Wen instead. “What on earth is going on?”

Madam Wen looked much calmer than Wen Qing, but she was obviously nervous as she scrupulously glanced at the servants around them.

Madam Yan waved her hand, dismissing everyone else in the room, and they retreated immediately.

“Now can you talk about it?” Madam Yan turned back to Madam Wen once she saw that the room had been emptied.

Madam Wen sat down next to Madam Yan, and said in a low voice, “Qing Qing informed her father of what happened yesterday night, and at first he wasn’t concerned at all. But after he attended a meeting that night, he heard from the bunch of people from the Feng family, apparently, it’s some prominent figure from the ancient martial arts world that has returned.”

“A prominent figure from the ancient martial arts world?” Madam Yan covered her mouth in shock, hurriedly asking, “How big are we talking about here?”

Madam Wen shook her head. “That I’m not sure. But even the Feng family was cautious about it, so it can’t be from any ordinary family in the ancient martial arts world.”

“That’s…” Madam Yan was stunned. “No wonder I felt like a few of the families were acting weirdly today.”

“I don’t know much about it, but they’re holding emergency meetings right now. We’ll only know for sure once they come back from the meetings.” Having said that, Madam Wen smiled and continued on a lighter note, “I’m telling you now that Qing Qing’s dad knows people from the Feng family. As long as we grasp the chance this time to get in touch with that person from the ancient martial arts world, we won’t have to worry about being top in the capital.”

Madam Yan was shocked once again, looking at Madam Wen without speaking for a long while. The Wen family had connections to the Feng family?

But when Madam Yan thought about it, it wasn’t that hard to believe. The Wen family was already involved in politics, and it wouldn’t be strange for them to be acquainted with the Feng family. Maybe the Wen family really could take this opportunity to soar to the heavens at this rate!

Thinking of that, Madam Yan couldn’t help but look at Wen Qing again, the plans in her heart becoming even firmer at the thoughts that ran through her mind.

When Madam Wen saw Madam Yan’s gaze, she instantly felt relieved before turning to look at her own daughter. She was the treasure of the Wen family, and their family might be going to rise ranks after this. Thinking about how it was possible for Wen Qing to marry even Wang Qiming was not a farfetched dream, but Wen Qing was stubborn, as her eyes were already on Yan Han from the beginning.

Although the Yan family’s status was not as good, Yan Han was not a bad person. He had gotten a cooperation deal with Nine Heavens with his own abilities, so Wen Qing wouldn’t be losing out a lot by marrying him.

When the time came, one of them would have a good relationship with the world’s strongest person in the ancient martial arts world, while the other has a great business relationship with the commercial world. Who else in the Imperial Capital would be able to measure up to the Wen and Yan family?

“Madam, Miss Tan has arrived.” Not long after the three started to chat about other things, a servant came to inform Madam Yan, standing at the door respectfully.

The corner of Madam Yan’s mouth curled up into a cold sneer. “Go and invite her in.”

“This Miss Tan is the girl that Yan Han likes?” Madam Wen placed down her cup, her smile fading from her face. She dabbed her mouth with a tissue. “Since you have guests, then Qing Qing and I will take our leave first.”

“Madam Wen, don’t worry.” Madam Yan stood up to send the two off. “I will take care of this matter, and I will have Yan Han personally go and make amends. As for the daughter-in-law of the Yan family, I will accept no one else but Qing Qing!”

“That’s good then.” Madam Wen smiled, feeling extremely satisfied when she heard the other’s words. When Yan Han had announced the cancellation of the engagement banquet, their Wen family had naturally lost face in that incident. Naturally, they needed to be compensated. “We’ll head home first, and wait for your good news.”

The three of them went out.

Tan Yongsi was standing outside the door, and obviously saw Wen Qing and her mother. Wen Qing shot her a cold look, and Tan Yongsi turned away, reaching up to caress Xixi’s head. However, Xixi avoided her touch, not allowing it.

“You’re still so aloof…” Tan Yongsi grinned, looking at the bird.

Xixi gave her a cold ‘chirp’ in reply.

At this time, Madam Yan finally looked at Tan Yongsi. “Miss Tan, please come in.”

“Butler, get Miss Tan some slippers.” Madam Yan looked at Tan Yongsi with a gentle smile on her face. “This carper was shipped back here by air. Don’t be deceived by the small size, it costs hundreds of thousands.”

Although the smile on her face was extremely gentle, her eyes held a mocking glint. She was using her actions to show how far the gap was between Tan Yongsi and the Yan family.

Tan Yongsi hadn’t said anything, but Xixi, who was on her shoulder, flapped its wings, landing on the ground and defecating on the carpet.

Madam Yan’s face changed immediately. “This sh*tty thing!”

As soon as she said that, Xixi gave Madam Yan a cold look. Its round eyes were alert and big, and it looked like a layer of frost over its eyes.

Tan Yongsi was standing behind Xixi, and she didn’t see Xixi’s eyes.

Madam Yan was the only one who could see its eyes, and she felt as though her soul had frozen when she looked into its eyes. A stab of pain shot through her head, and she lost consciousness at that moment!

Xixi raised its head, chirping a few times when it saw her in that state, “Chirp chirp chirp~”

When it had been with Gu Xiqiao, Xixi had never been bullied or looked down on like this. Gu Xiqiao usually paid back double what she was dished, not to mention that it later joined the Peace Squad, and it had fought in countless battles!

Forget about the Yan family, even those big families in the ancient martial arts world would show it the utmost respect when they saw it!

Thinking of this, Xixi turned away, flapping its wings and flying back to its spot on Tan Yongsi’s shoulder.

Madam Yan didn’t know why the bird on Tan Yongsi’s shoulder gave off an aura that made one’s heart pound rapidly, and she didn’t dare to look directly at it. She turned her gaze to Tan Yongsi instead. “Miss Tan, you are well aware of our Yan family’s position in the capital, and the Yan family only has one heir, Yan Han. He wants to marry the daughter of the Wen family. You should also know about the Wen family, right? They are the noblest family in the capital, and truth to be told, she is the daughter-in-law that the Wen family needs. As for you… with the status of the Wen family, it’s an easy thing for us to want to get rid of someone silently.”

She had said the last part of her sentence with a light tone, but there was a cruel glint in her eyes. No one would doubt the truth behind Madam Yan’s words.

Tan Yongsi just took out a cheque from her pocket, pushing it to Madam Yan. She wasn’t bothered about the older woman’s words at all. “This is the amount that Yan Han lent me at the beginning. I’m returning the entire sum today. Any relationship between us ends from today onwards.”

“He even lent you money?!” Madam Yan looked at the cheque, before looking at Tan Yongsi, the contempt clear in her eyes. “You can take the money, just treat it as compensation from the Yan family. From now on, I hope that you’ll leave the capital, and stop pestering Yan Han.”

Tan Yongsi again was not bothered by Madam Yan’s words. She knew that Yan Han would definitely not accept her cheque, and giving it to Madam Yan was a better choice. She placed both hands on the table, leaning slightly forwards as she spoke to Madam Yan, “Don’t worry, I definitely won’t want to meet with the people from the Yan family. As long as Yan Han doesn’t come and provoke me, out of respect for the fact that he once helped my family out, I won’t do anything to your family. As for silently getting rid of me, I don’t think your Yan family is qualified to do it.”

Just as she finished speaking, the main door was suddenly pushed open. Yan Han hurriedly walked in, his face changing when he saw the cheque in Madam Yan’s hands. He stood rooted to the spot, unable to react for a long while.

Tan Yongsi straightened up, standing up and turning to leave. She didn’t even spare a glance at Yan Han.

After she left, Madam Yan finally came back to her senses, and she brought her hand down onto the table fiercely. “Tch, how wild is her imagination? Daring to say that our Yan family is not qualified? What a joke! Yan Han, take a good look at what kind of person that you fell for!”

Yan Han didn’t respond, his eyes still on the cheque in his mother’s hands. “Mom, what she said was right. The Yan family really isn’t qualified enough.”

“What nonsense are you talking about? What kind of thing is she? Compared to our family, compared to Qing Qing!” Madam Yan frowned deeply.

“You know she’s from A University’s economic and management faculty, right?” Yan Han continued to mutter to himself. “The plan that I had with Nine Heavens, a large part of it was her contribution. If she withdraws from the deal, then Nine Heavens will also withdraw from it.”

The moment he said that, Madam Yan’s eyes widened in shock. She knew that her son had obtained the deal with Nine Heavens, and that was the reason their Yan family had risen in status in the Imperial Capital. But she never expected that this incident would be related to Tan Yongsi!

Yan Han looked at the cheque for 100,000, and smiled bitterly. “Why is that so hard to believe? All these years, I’ve kept her tied down with the kindness I showed her in the past. This time, I probably let her down completely.”

“It’s fine, cease this conduct of yours, she’s just another ordinary person.” Madam Yan frowned again. “You should be getting along with Qing Qing now. The Wen family is the important thing here. Their relationship with the ancient martial arts world isn’t that simple, and you should be well aware of how unreliable the powers in the secular world are. The most important thing is to be strong. Look at the Feng family, which family dares to oppose them? I don’t need to teach you all of this, right? You just need to focus on one thing now, which is to get the blessing of the ancient martial arts world through the Wen family. This is extremely important to our Yan family.”

While the two were talking, Yan Han’s father came back home. Without looking at Madam Yan, he hurried to Yan Han instead. His tone was urgent as he said, “What’s going on? Why is Tan Yongsi so familiar with the Peng family?! When Peng Zijie saw her just now, he immediately greeted her as ‘Great Master’. He ignored us and even the people from the ancient martial arts world, leading her to dinner personally! His tone was also extremely respectful!”

Madam Yan and Yan Han’s face was shocked when they heard what the man was saying.

Even the Peng family was treating her with such respect, Tan Yongsi, what on earth was she hiding from them?

Just a while ago, Madam Yan was excited about being able to build a connection with the ancient martial arts world, and now, she couldn’t help but feel uneasy. She recalled the words that Tan Yongsi had said to her, “You’re not qualified enough.”

What’s more, the flaming red bird on Tan Yongsi’s shoulder could chill someone’s heart with just a glance of its beady eyes.

***

At this time, the subject of the Yan family’s topic, Tan Yongsi, was already seated in a cafe.

After sipping on his coffee, Peng Zijie opened his mouth to speak. “Great Master Tan, we really appreciate the matter last time. Otherwise, we don’t’ know how many comrades would have been sacrificed.”

Tan Yongsi had met Peng Zijie before this, but his attitude was obviously not as friendly as it was now. She didn’t understand it, but she wasn’t that bothered about it either. “It’s my job to receive money and eliminate disasters.”

Peng Zijie opened his mouth, wanting to say something else. But seeing Tan Yongsi speaking so bluntly, he didn’t really know how to continue the conversation. For the moment, he turned his gaze towards Xixi.

“Great Master Tan, I wonder where this bird came from?” Peng Zijie looked at Xixi. He naturally remembered Gu Xiqiao’s beloved pet, but he had not seen Xixi for the past twenty years. Not only that, he had also heard that Xixi had perished that year, and he didn’t expect to see such a similar-looking bird today.

When Xixi heard Peng Zijie’s words, it raised its head to look at him. It quickly turned away, closing its eyes and continuing to ignore everyone.

Peng Zijie had been shocked by the familiar gaze of those beady eyes, and he felt his heart skip a beat. That… that was so obviously Xixi!

Seeing Peng Zijie’s expression, Tan Yongsi pondered about it. She knew from the bottom of her heart that the bird was definitely not ordinary. “It hatched from an egg.”

Peng Zijie finished his drink, slightly absent minded. “Great Master Tan, I still have some matters to attend to. I’ll invite you for coffee again another day.”

Tan Yongsi was also not in a mood to continue drinking. The rise in Xixi’s temperature this morning had made her uneasy, and she was planning to ask Jiang Yirui what was going on.

The two said their goodbyes at the entrance, and Peng Zijie watched Tan Yongsi’s retreating back, his eyes still on Xixi as he was lost in thought.

It seems that the rumors were accurate. Even Xixi has appeared once again, so obviously, that person really had returned…

If she had returned, even if it was for Xixi, Tan Yongsi was unlikely to be in trouble. Peng Zijie was well aware of how protective Gu Xiqiao could be, and he couldn’t help the curl of his lips when he thought about it. Right now, the people in the capital have begun to choose their sides, and most of them were standing in the Wen and Yan family’s corner.

If it were in the past, it would have been fine. But now, for even her to come back, this was definitely not something good.

Not far away from here, a few middle-aged women were holding their phones in their hands. They were looking at some news, and suddenly started jumping like children on the streets, excitedly shouting, “My goddess! My goddess has posted a Weibo! Is this A University? Is it, is it?!”

Peng Zijie stood in the same sport for a while longer, listening to the excited shouts. It seems like she really has returned, so he really needed to pick his sides soon.

It has been a long time since the Imperial Capital had been so lively.

***

In A University, there was a large medical laboratory.

This was the highest honor and symbol in the entire world, but it was extremely lively every day in the laboratory. People inside everywhere were putting their heads together, having heated discussions about the difficult medical problems that they had encountered.

Meng Yunzhao was in front of a microscope, her eyes on some cell activities. “Professor Li, there’s not enough PEG, and the cells are not fusing. I’ll try the electrolysis method again, the cell walls of plants are difficult to dissolve after all.”

“It’s difficult to penetrate through inactive viruses, and even if it did manage to penetrate, it would affect the activity of the cell itself. All of this information is in the database, why are you still experimenting?” Professor Li said, adjusting his glasses.

“The advisor said that these things could only be truly understood if you were to do it step by step yourself,” Meng Yunzhao said with a smile, her hands moving to put in the electrolyte as she did.

Professor Li nodded his head. “Your advisor is right. Miss Gu also said the same thing to us all those years back.”

This wasn’t the first time she was hearing this name, and Meng Yunzhao looked at Professor Li curiously. “Have you seen Miss Gu in person before? What kind of person is she?”

“When you’ve reached the required rank, you’ll be able to go into the central part of the labs. In there, there’s a lot of videos of Miss Gu.” Professor Li spoke with a slight faraway tone, clearly lost in thought. “I was also in the Faculty of Medicine in A University that year, and the first time I saw Miss Gu was in the lecture hall, which was also the press conference on cell fusion, the rewrite of the entire medical profession! She was multitasking the entire time, while she explained the topic, she was also experimenting and recording the report at the same time.”

After hearing so much about Miss Gu over time, Meng Yunzhao nodded at the new story. She naturally knew who Miss Gu was, and also held admiration towards this person. But the fact that she was multitasking three things at once, wasn’t it just a little exaggerated?

“Professor, please help me adjust the microscope.” Meng Yunzhao tilted her head to the side, before realizing that the laboratory which had been lively and filled with chatter had suddenly descended into a pin drop silence.