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nYin Shaoyuan that had followed out the door naturally heard everything, and he glanced at Xia Zilan with a smile. “Ms. Xia, just bank in the five million into my account yeah?”

nThe matter of the National Base was the only chance for these families to get involved with the country directly, and before they even started competing the Gu family and Xia family were already out of the running. Now that they knew that the young master of the Yin family was well acquainted with Jiang Shuxuan, they started asking carefully for any information on him, unless they got on his bad side as Xia Zilan did.

nAs for what happened that night, no one dared to blabber about it to anyone else, and the outside world only knew that the Xia family was out of the running for reasons unknown.

nMeanwhile, Gu Xiqiao had already entered the virtual space to do her daily missions, before she heard the system spirit chirp up.

nDing! Your Chinese Painting skill has already leveled up to Intermediate Level! You have been rewarded fifty points, please keep on the hard work!

nDid she level up?

nGu Xiqiao looked down at the painting on the table depicting the simple scenery of the countryside, and the strokes of the brush were full but elegant and graceful.

nThe system only required her to use an hour every day to practice without any other restrictions, so she always let her mind wander while she painted while she focused and used most of her time in the virtual space to practice ancient martial arts. She didn’t expect that her painting skills would level up while there was no news on her ancient martial arts.

n“How many points do I have now?”

nYou have 168 points left, Beauty Qiao! The system spirit scooted closer to Gu Xiqiao with an expectant expression. Beauty Qiao, don’t you think it’s time to level me up?

nGu Xiqiao rubbed her chin thoughtfully. “Do you want to level up so badly?”

nYou’ll get many benefits from leveling up, and I’ll have more abilities too! The system spirit’s eyes were shining with anticipation.

nGu Xiqiao sighed softly. “I’ll level you up after the national finals are over okay?”

nThe system didn’t ask why and only nodded understandingly.

nThe next day, Gu Xiqiao practiced the Five Animal Play at the central park while the old man from next door followed her actions.

nThey met every morning when they exercised in the morning, and they became acquainted when he asked her about some martial arts questions upon seeing her practiced motions. They both had their understanding of the Five Animal Play, and Gu Xiqiao only spoke out of politeness before she realized she had a lot of common topics to speak about with the old man.

nFrom martial arts to history to traditional art, if it weren’t for the fact that Mrs. Zhang called her back to eat, she would have forgotten to go back entirely.

nAfter bidding the old man farewell, Gu Xiqiao turned around and walked back, seeing Jiang Shuxuan at the table as always when she got back.

nHe was holding a file of documents in his hands, his eyebrows slightly raised. “Yin Shaoyuan had someone send this to you just now, come sign it.”

nThis was the equity transfer contract that Yin Shaoyuan wagered in the billiards game the day before, and Gu Xiqiao held her hand to her head before shaking her other hand. “Send this back, I don’t want it.”

n“It seems that he wants to accept you as his younger sister, so you can accept this without any problems.” Jiang Shuxuan knocked on the table. “He already knew that you would win, so think of this as a roundabout way to give you a gift.”

n“Little sister?” Gu Xiqiao felt her head throb in pain as she asked again, “When did that happen?”

nJiang Shuxuan tapped the pen on the document again. “Sign it.”

nShe trusted that Jiang Shuxuan wouldn’t urge her to do anything that would cause her any harm, so she wrote down her name quickly.

nAfter she finished, he took the document again and checked if anything was wrong with it before his gaze stopped on the three words she wrote, smiling softly. “Quite well written.”

n“Of course, I’ve been practicing” Gu Xiqiao replied nonchalantly as she thought back to the contents of the contract. With her mental power, she had scanned the entire document within a split second and analyzed all its contents. The equities given to her according to the contract had been increased from two to six percent, and without any risks at that?

nShe had no idea what these two were up to at this point.

nMeanwhile, at the Gu family.

nMaster Gu was standing in front of the window with a frown and his eyebrows knit together deep in thought. In the mere few days that he returned to the Gu family he had already become thinner from stress.

nFirst was the issue with Gu Xiqiao that caused Gu Enterprise’s public image to deteriorate, then was Manager Xu that suddenly gotten a following and started challenging the highest authority in the company, and now even the Yin family banned them from getting the chance to bid for the National Base project…

nAt this point, even he didn’t know how to deal with everything anymore. He was a leader with foresight and skill back when he was young, but he became more indecisive as he aged, which was the reason why he handed the reins to Gu Zuhui, but he had never expected this son of his to be so incompetent!

n“Is this the end for the Gu family?” Master Gu sighed.

nThe person that stood behind him was Xia Deyou from the Xia family, which was quite close to the Gu family because the Xia family was indebted to them. “The Xia Enterprise has no more chance, but you still have a chance, Uncle Gu.”

n“What do you mean?”

n“Zilan saw your second granddaughter with the third son of the Yin family yesterday, and while the Yin family can’t be reasoned with, but as long as you meet Mr. Jiang and get him to agree, you still might have a chance.”

nA calculating glint flashed in Master Gu’s eyes. “Yes, it seems like it is worth a try.”

nAt this moment, Gu Zuhui walked into the room with a file and a sour expression. “Father, that b*tch ran away and even got into an indecent relationship with Yin Shaoyuan!”

n“Shut up! Where are your manners? Remember that the person you’re talking about is your daughter!” Master Gu’s expression immediately hardened as Gu Zuhui walked in. “It’s not time to talk about this, can you deal with even one problem that the Gu family is facing now? Don’t always get yourself involved with this sort of thing because of your wife!”

nEvery father wanted his son to be successful, but Master Gu had always been dissatisfied with Gu Zuhui. He wanted his son to be one that could hold up Gu Enterprise, but he never thought that Gu Zuhui would be such a disappointment.

nHe always wanted to find a suitable heir for the Gu family to no avail, to the point where he got so desperate that he accepted an illegitimate daughter from the countryside.

nAfter Gu Zuhui was kicked out of the room, Master Gu turned back over to Xia Deyou with a disappointed expression. “Deyou, you’re a good person, and you have a good son…Cough cough cough…”

nMaster Gu started coughing as he spoke, and Xia Deyou immediately went to his side and pat his back gently.

n“Cough cough, it’s fine…! Cough cough cough…I’m just old…” Master Gu looked at the street lights outside the window, the lights making the wrinkles on his weathered face stand out even more.

nHe knew that the future of the Gu Family was bleak at this point.

nNow, he could only pray that the rumored Mr. Jiang could agree for the Gu family to join the project and get involved directly with the country so that the family would at least be able to persevere instead of disappearing eventually.

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