089 A Stunning Discovery

The fried duck on the chopsticks was something she would absolutely never eat.

Rolling her eyes, Lin Xia smiled as she placed the duck into Chen Qing's bowl. "I should be the one thanking Sister Meow for looking after me during this time. Please eat more."

Chen Qing nodded in satisfaction. "You little thing, you should flatter me more often."

"You need me to look after you?" Wu Tianhao asked, puzzled. "Didn't you work at the magazine? So you don't have to work anymore?"

Chen Qing pinched Lin Xia's still slightly chubby cheeks and said with a laugh, "My job lately has been to take care of this little girl and work myself to the bone for her."

"That's an exaggeration," Lin Xia said, rubbing the spot that had been pinched. Then she pouted. "By the way, where are Wanwan and the others? Aren't they eating with us?"

Chen Qing smiled. "The few of them made plans to come together, but I still don't know where they're shopping. There are five of us, and you're the only little one here. Of course I have to keep you tied to my waistband before I can feel at ease."

"You're making it sound far too dramatic." Lin Xia poked at the rice in her bowl and muttered.

"You say that, but do you know how surprised I was when I opened the door and saw Ah Jin? If today you'd run into someone other than Ah Jin, some strange man with nasty habits, even if I found you later, there are some things that, once they happen, can never be made right again." Chen Qing shot her a glance, still shaken. "You really have no sense of caution at all. How can you just let a stranger into the house so easily?"

It was precisely because the person was Jin Ye that she had let him in. She held no dislike for him, and the space had given no warning. Besides, she still had the space to rely on; that was her greatest trump card, so naturally she had no need to be afraid.

Of course, it was best not to use the space in front of others unless necessary. The more often she used it, the greater the chance of being discovered.

Even so, she knew Chen Qing was truly looking out for her, so she nodded obediently. "I know I was wrong. I definitely won't let strangers in again."

"There won't be a next time. I'll keep a close eye on you these next few days."

Seeing Lin Xia hang her head, Wu Tianhao stepped in with a smile. "Well now, when did you become so patient, taking care of little girls? Didn't I hear you mention before that your magazine was going to hold some kind of author training? How did that end up becoming taking care of Xiaxia?"

"Don't underestimate this girl. She's my current patron, and my most important task is to look after her well."

"Her?" Wu Tianhao was surprised. "She's one of your writers?"

"More than that. She's the backbone of our magazine. Among this batch of writers, the higher-ups value her very highly."

"Tsk, tsk," Wu Tianhao sighed. "What's become of children these days? How can they all be this capable? What are people like us, those parasites of the nation, supposed to do to survive?"

After speaking, he turned to Jin Ye. "Ah Jin, do you remember some time ago when the eldest son of the Xu family and the second son of the Sun family teamed up and, in just a few months, made nearly a hundred million from nothing? It was really astonishing. The two of us work ourselves to the bone all year long, and still don't earn as much as they do with a casual move."

Mentioning this, Wu Tianhao was still full of amazement.

Chen Qing asked in surprise, "You mean Xu Yichen, the eldest son of the Xu family, and Sun Mingfan, the second son of the Sun family? Weren't they both spoiled rich sons? Didn't Sun Mingfan even get married off and sent abroad? How could they have such ability?"

Xu Yichen? Lin Xia perked up. He was that formidable?

If he truly was that capable, then why in her past life had he withdrawn in defeat from the struggle with Chen Zimo over Liu Ziqing, ending in utter ruin, both sides badly wounded?

Hearing this, Jin Ye was also somewhat puzzled. He said flatly, "I had people look into those two. Sun Mingfan is one thing, but Xu Yichen..."

He stopped, because he truly did not know how to describe that youth, who was still only sixteen years old.

Wu Tianhao picked up a piece of crispy duck with scallions and sesame and tossed it into his mouth, then went on, "That Xu Yichen is really strange. For the first fifteen years, he was perfectly normal—just another spoiled rich brat. But after he had an argument with the younger son of the Li family, Li Shaoren, and got his head smashed open last year, it was as if he suddenly woke up. Odd things started happening one after another."

He took a gulp of wine and continued, "At first, he just stopped going to those red-light places so often. That was one thing, and we all thought his old man had locked him up at home. But after that, not only did he run off to military training, he also took the little pocket money in his hands and entered the stock market. And his eye for it is viciously sharp—he could practically be called the Buffett of China. In no time at all, he and that Sun family boy accumulated a huge fortune, and all of it was aboveboard."

"That money was truly a timely help to their family. Originally, the old man of the Li family was in his prime, and the Xu family would have had to bow their heads a little. But with that sum of money, they gained room to maneuver in the business world. Good heavens, they actually managed to bring the whole board back to life."

Wu Tianhao sighed. "The eldest son of the Xu family really did give birth to a fine son. Now their old man values that grandson above all others."

Since ancient times, politics and commerce had been intertwined; there was no political family beneath the government that did not have a few companies of its own.

To some extent, certain business activities represented political leanings.

Just as in the imperial harem of old, which concubine the emperor slept with had never merely been a matter of his own preference, but a signal of the political winds in the court.

And after hearing all this, Lin Xia could no longer describe her feelings as a mere stormy sea.

This Xu Yichen really sounded exactly like the male lead stories from those web novels online.

A certain man was cannon fodder and unlucky in his first life. When he was reborn, he used the power in his hands, or the hidden influence behind him, together with the knowledge and insight from his previous life, to build up his own strength and fortune. In the end, he gained both fame and wealth, with a harem spreading across the world.

Only, in his previous life Xu Yichen had loved Liu Ziqing so deeply. Would he fall into the very same pit again in this life?

Thinking of a beauty like Zhao Xin, Lin Xia grew uncertain.

Faced with such a stunning woman, even she would be tempted and sigh in admiration. Could these men possibly have no thoughts at all?

Chen Qing listened in dumbfounded silence. "At this point, this is no longer a story at all. It's practically a myth. It's far stronger than you and Jin Ye. No wonder you were so discouraged some time ago."

Wu Tianhao took another gulp of wine and sighed. "Ah, this world—comparing people really can drive you mad. Ah Jin and I worked our hearts out for nearly two years, and someone else just casually invested in the stock market, and that money multiplied more than tenfold as if it were paper notes. We can't refuse to admit defeat."

Jin Ye said thoughtfully, "Perhaps the Xu family was simply keeping a low profile to deceive everyone, deliberately letting their descendants hide their abilities."

"Like the saying, the great wisdom looks foolish and the great skill appears crude?" Chen Qing said.

Lin Xia nodded slightly. "I think it's more like what Dugu Qiubai said in one of Jin Yong's novels: the heavy sword has no edge, the great art is without form. True masters and great clans always keep their锋芒 hidden, storing up their strength for the right moment, seeking to kill unseen. Every family has its own code for survival, and its own ancestral teachings. It wouldn't be impossible for them to tell their descendants to hide their abilities, or at least keep a low profile."

As soon as she finished speaking, the three of them were all staring at her.

In Jin Ye's eyes, within those deep dark pupils, a trace of something unusual flashed by, then was quickly concealed again.

What a pleasantly surprising discovery.