The owner of Shuimu Nianhua was named Yue Liancheng. He was in his forties, tall, and somewhat thin. With his gold-rimmed glasses, he looked exceedingly refined.
“Boss, this is Teacher Xie.”
After bringing her over, Manager Huang spoke once, bowed, and withdrew. Yue Liancheng, meanwhile, rose to his full height and extended his hand toward Xie Min with a smile. “Teacher Xie, welcome, welcome. I am Yue Liancheng, the owner of Shuimu Nianhua.”
Since the other party was so enthusiastic, Xie Min was naturally very courteous as well.
“Boss Yue, I’ve really caused you some trouble this time.”
After shaking Yue Liancheng’s hand, Xie Min spoke with a hint of apology. Those in business valued sincerity above all else. Because of a single phone call from Fan Xiwen, Yue Liancheng would inevitably offend Chen Gang and Li Yuan indirectly. Of the two, Li Yuan was merely a small fry, but Chen Gang’s family background still made him troublesome in a place like Shao City.
“How could you call it trouble? Master Mo personally called to inquire about you. That makes you the most honored guest at Shuimu Nianhua. I, Yue Liancheng, should be the one feeling honored.”
Yue Liancheng waved his hand, but Xie Min caught an unexpected name.
Master Mo?
Could it be Mo Younian, the richest man in Shao City?
Xie Min was rather surprised. She naturally had not expected that her student would actually have ties to the richest man in Shao City—and those ties were certainly not shallow.
When Fan Xiwen had called earlier, his tone had contained no hint of politeness. It had been a direct command, as though Mo Younian, the richest man, were his household servant.
“Teacher Xie, I have some private matters to attend to, so I’ll take my leave first. I hope you and your students enjoy yourselves.”
After exchanging a few polite words with Xie Min, Yue Liancheng left. He had come over this time merely to show his face and become familiar with her. Anyone whom Mo Younian of Shao City treated as an honored guest was certainly worth currying favor with. However, since this was their first meeting, one should not speak too deeply when the relationship was still shallow. Naturally, Yue Liancheng had no need to linger. It was enough for the other party to understand his attitude.
After Yue Liancheng left, quite a few people nearby turned their gazes toward Xie Min.
Yue Liancheng had personally come out to receive her, which naturally indicated that her identity was far from ordinary.
Xie Min paid no attention to those gazes. She merely looked at Fan Xiwen with a broad smile and said, “Not bad. It’s only been a few days, and you can already order Mo Younian around. You’re impressive.”
Fan Xiwen neither confirmed nor denied Xie Min’s words. He simply looked at Tang Qingrou with a smile and said, “Classmate Tang Qingrou, what would you like to eat?”
This nearly made Xie Min furious. Even if he wanted to date, he should at least pay some attention to the occasion. His teacher was right here!
Unfortunately, at this moment, Tang Qingrou was the only person in Fan Xiwen’s eyes. He had completely forgotten about Teacher Xie.
Thus, Xie Min could only swallow all her previous doubts on her own.
..
At half past nine, the portly Manager Huang walked onto the stage. After a burst of dazzling lights swayed over him, he smiled broadly and spoke into the microphone. “Well, everyone must have been waiting impatiently, right? I imagine quite a few of you aren’t particularly eager to look at me, so how about we hand the stage over to tonight’s protagonist?”
Another wave of lights swept across the room, and music began to play. The center of the stage suddenly opened, and a lift carried tonight’s leading lady onto the stage in a grand entrance.
“My life’s most beautiful...”
Her singing was very pleasing, and Zhou Xin appeared in a white gown, looking pure and flawless.
Of course, Fan Xiwen felt little about this. Not to mention the immortals and goddesses he had seen in his previous life—any one of them would possess more poise and otherworldly grace than Zhou Xin. Mortals compared beautiful women to fairies descending to earth, but Fan Xiwen had seen more immortals than he could count. Take Tang Qingrou, sitting beside him. In Fan Xiwen’s eyes, she was a hundred times more beautiful than Zhou Xin.
Thinking of this, Fan Xiwen glanced at Tang Qingrou again.
However, Tang Qingrou was completely focused on the stage at that moment, even humming along softly.
Fan Xiwen could not help shaking his head. Tang Qingrou was only seventeen, at the age when girls were like flowers. It was perfectly normal for her to enjoy herself and follow pop stars. Besides, although Tang Qingrou liked celebrities, she was not blindly obsessed with them. Zhou Xin’s songs really were quite pleasant. Relaxing occasionally after studying was also a good thing. As for maturity, that could be left to him, Fan Xiwen.
The only thing that left Fan Xiwen somewhat helpless was how absorbed Tang Qingrou was. He did not even have time to say a few words to her.
“Oh? This is rather interesting.”
Tang Qingrou was watching with great absorption. With nothing else to do, Fan Xiwen had originally intended to enjoy the performance as well, but the moment his gaze fell on Zhou Xin, a trace of delight appeared in his eyes.
Zhou Xin’s appearance was indeed outstanding by worldly standards. In addition, her temperament leaned toward fragility, giving people an urge to protect her.
Of course, ordinary people would notice no more than this about Zhou Xin.
Fan Xiwen, however, saw at a glance that Zhou Xin’s eyes were somewhat vacant, while her expression was even more dull.
Moreover, whenever she moved, the sound of a bell would come from her right wrist.
That small bell was a magical artifact.
Whenever the bell rang, it emitted a trace of spiritual energy fluctuations imperceptible to ordinary people. This spiritual power could confuse the mind. However, it was obvious that the bell’s owner could not control it perfectly, so the bell’s power was not very great. As it was now, it merely made ordinary people feel that Zhou Xin’s singing was especially beautiful and caused them to lose themselves in it.
This little trick naturally could not confuse Fan Xiwen, but he was very interested in the owner behind the small bell.
He wanted that magical artifact as well!
There was still some spiritual energy remaining on it. For Fan Xiwen, who needed to cultivate anew, every trace of spiritual energy had to be accumulated. Since he had encountered it, he could not let it pass.
This small bell could be considered an unexpected gain.
Xie Min seemed to sense something at that instant and suddenly came to her senses. As an Internal Force martial artist, even though she was still only at the initial stage of Internal Force, breaking free from the small bell’s control was still easy for her.
“Just now, was I...?”
Xie Min looked toward Fan Xiwen, who nodded.
“Hmph, outrageous.”
Xie Min snorted coldly and was about to act, but Fan Xiwen said with a smile, “Zhou Xin herself probably doesn’t know. Besides, the small bell itself is the thing controlling Zhou Xin.”
“What?”
Xie Min was immediately startled. “Why control an ordinary person? Who is causing trouble behind the scenes?”
Fan Xiwen did not continue answering Xie Min’s questions. He merely said softly, “If you’re interested, Teacher, you might as well observe carefully. Oh, and don’t alert the enemy.”
Xie Min nodded, then looked toward the stage again, still appearing completely entranced. However, she used the corner of her eye to survey the surroundings, searching for suspicious people.
In the martial arts world, Xie Min was considered a recognized Genius. Now that she had also entered the ranks of Internal Force martial artists, barring accidents, she would certainly have a place in the martial arts world in the future. However, a Genius like Xie Min was far too sheltered. She had always known only to cultivate in seclusion and lacked even the slightest Jianghu experience. If she did not begin tempering herself now, then no matter how high her cultivation became in the future, it would merely be as beautiful and fleeting as a shooting star.
Therefore, Fan Xiwen felt that it was necessary to begin letting Xie Min encounter a genuine Jianghu.
Xie Min was observing, Tang Qingrou was entranced, and Fan Xiwen was resting with his eyes closed. The bar was lively, but people’s hearts were exceedingly complicated.
..
Shao City’s Longjiang Residence was Mo Younian’s largest investment in recent years: a large villa complex built around Longjiang Mountain. Longjiang Mountain lay south of Shao City and was the tallest peak in the city’s southern region. From its summit, one could overlook the entire city, inspiring a surge of heroic pride.
After the first batch of villas at Longjiang Residence was completed, there was no shortage of buyers, and the properties sold out quickly.
However, up to now, Mo Younian had no plans to open a second batch of villas.
Longjiang Residence was lively tonight. Every notable figure in Shao City had received Mo Younian’s invitation and gathered at Villa Number Two. Apart from Villa Number One at the mountaintop, it was the highest villa in the area. Villa Number One had remained vacant to this day because Mo Younian wanted to wait for a better offer—or perhaps because he wanted to avoid suspicion. After all, Mo Younian was merely the richest man in Shao City, not the most powerful man in Shao City.
Everyone’s attention was focused on Villa Number Two. The wealthy and influential figures who had come to the gathering speculated inwardly about what important matter Mo Younian wished to discuss. After arriving at Villa Number Two, they debated among themselves, but ultimately could not figure anything out. Thus, they could only wait until Mo Younian came out before asking him.
Fortunately, Mo Younian did not keep everyone waiting long. Once everyone had arrived, he entered the hall wearing a bright red Chinese tunic suit, surrounded by several bodyguards.
“Everyone, I imagine you’re all curious about why I, Mo Younian, went to such lengths to invite you here tonight, aren’t you?”
After greeting everyone and having them sit down, Mo Younian finally asked with a beaming smile.
“Old Mo, stop keeping us in suspense. Just say it. Why did you call everyone here?”
The speaker was a man about the same age as Mo Younian named Song Jingwen, the family head of the Song Family’s current generation in Shao City. Although the Song Family was not as wealthy as the Mo Family, it had been entrenched in Shao City for many years and possessed an intricate web of connections. Even Mo Younian did not dare antagonize the Song Family too severely. That was why Song Jingwen dared to be the first to speak in such a setting.
Of course, aside from the confidence that came from his position, there was another reason: Song Jingwen was impatient by nature, and his temper was extremely fiery.
“Ha, Old Song, there’s no need to rush.”
Mo Younian smiled. “Take a careful look. Is there anything different about me today?”
Song Jingwen looked Mo Younian up and down before snorting coldly. “Dyeing your white hair counts as being different?”
Mo Younian speechlessly pointed at Song Jingwen. “Forget it. You really aren’t a suitable plant.”
He clapped his hands, and a bodyguard immediately came out carrying a porcelain bottle.
“I happened to meet a Master before returning and obtained some elixirs from him. Everyone, would you like to try one?”
“Mm, I personally tried one before returning. Everyone has witnessed my, Mo Younian’s, credibility. These elixirs are absolutely safe.”