Tianlan College winning first place caused the whole school to rejoice. Qi Shaorong and Qian Mian immediately became the stars of the college [1].
While Tianlan College was in a state of jubilation, the Yi family was shrouded in melancholy.
"Mother, what did the Light Priest Zuo Luo say?" Yi Chuxue asked.
Yang Man shook her head, and said with a dejected look on her face, "Light Priest Zuo Luo said that unless the Light God is reborn, it would be difficult for there to be an improvement." [2]
Yi Chuxue lowered her head and said, "Just who was the assailant?"
Yan Man shook her head and said: "We don't know."
Yi Bing had marked all the colourful stones that he found. The person who had attacked him had also taken away his colourful stones, so Yi Xun had sent people to fully examine all the colourful stones that were handed in by the contestants in the competition. However, none of Yi Bing's colourful stones could be found. The assailant must have been very careful with it. Yi Bing had collected a lot of colourful stones, yet the person had not handed in a single one of them!
Yi Chuxue lowered her head and said, "If Second Brother can't get better, then…" Would Yi Bing become a waste? The Second Brother whom she had always been proud of couldn't possibly become even weaker than that waste, Yi Fan, right?
Yi Huo walked in, and Yang Man looked over with a complex expression at Yi Huo. Yi Huo frowned, and a little displeasure flashed through his heart.
With a somber face, Yi Xun walked in, looked at Yi Huo, and said, "You… Come with me."
Yi Huo followed Yi Xun without a word, "Father, is there something wrong?"
"Yi Bing's injury, did you cause it?" Yi Xun very directly asked [3].
Yi Huo's face was heavy and he said, "Father, is that really how you think of me?" He did have some dissatisfaction towards Yi Bing, but it hadn't reached the point where he wanted to turn Yi Bing into a waste yet.
"Your brother's also one of the Seven Imperial Talents, after all. Very few of the people who entered the secret dimension would've been his match." Yi Xun had thoroughly investigated all the participants in the competition. The number of fire mages was limited, and after sorting through the list and finding ones who had the ability to harm Yi Bing, there was only Yi Huo left.
Yi Huo clenched his fists and said, "Since my father has already identified it to be me, then saying anymore would be unnecessary."
Yi Huo narrowed his eyes. If he had really wanted to attack Yi Bing, then why would he have chosen such an obvious method? If even Yi Xun thought that he was the one who did it, then he's afraid that other people would think even more so.
Yi Huo squinted. Just who exactly was it that attacked Yi Bing? It seems that the other party had even deliberately tried to frame the matter on him. Did that person have animosity towards Yi Bing, or was it towards the entire Yi family!
"Brother, are you okay?" Yi Chuxue asked.
Yi Huo shook his head and said, "I'm okay. Chuxue, who do you think was the one who had caused trouble for Yi Bing?"
"Does it even need to be said, it's obviously Yi Fan. He himself is a waste, so he wants to make Second Brother also become a waste. That guy just loves seeing us meet misfortune." Yi Chuxue gritted her teeth.
Yi Huo looked at Yi Chuxue, and a brief feeling of helplessness flashed through his heart. Yi Fan may hate his brothers, but with his abilities, it's impossible for him to do something like this, "Yi Fan didn't even participate in the competition."
"However, he could have instructed someone else." Yi Chuxue firmly said.
The person who attacked Yi Bing had to have been at least a level five fire mage. Yi Huo didn't feel like Yi Fan, that waste who had been driven out from the Yi family, could've instructed such a person to do something so risky for him.
Qi Shaorong and Yi Fan, who was wearing Qian Mian's appearance, were walking on the college's campus.
All the students who had bumped into the two along the way couldn't help but stare at them, appearing as if they wanted to greet them, but at the same time didn't dare come forward.
Qi Shaorong saw a fat guy look at him, who then tucked in his head and ran away to hide in a panic.
"Who was that! He seemed to be very afraid of me, am I really that scary? I'm obviously very innocent and cute, gentle and harmless." Qi Shaorong muttered.
Yi Fan: "…" Innocent and cute, gentle and harmless, these words that were said from the mouth of Qi Shaorong who had just torn open Zhuang Hao's clothes, the credibility really wasn't high.
Yi Fan smiled and said, "Didn't you recognize him? That was Qi He! Before, he was the one who had wanted to take over your dormitory."
Qi Shaorong narrowed his eyes and said, "Ah, who was I at that time? So it turned out to be him! I couldn't even see his appearance through all that fat. Speaking of which, the reason I was expelled from the Qi family, wasn't it because of that guy? I really should thank him. Has he recovered already? He's coming to school again."
Yi Fan smiled and said, "That guy, I'm afraid that his current life probably isn't going too well."
The Qi family should already be regretting kicking Qi Shaorong out from the family. All the Qi family elders who had expelled Qi Shaorong probably weren't willing to lower their heads and admit their mistakes, so naturally Qi He became their punching bag.
"Really." Qi Shaorong said indifferently.
Qi He watched Qi Shaorong and Yi Fan walk past him from afar, and saw that they didn't seem to have any intentions to bother him, and let out a sigh of relief.
During this time, Qi He's life had been very difficult. The several elders of the Qi family all saw him as an annoyance, and Qi He felt very uncomfortable when he stayed at the Qi family household. Therefore, although he hated going to school, Qi He still chose to hide away in the college.
Qi He frowned and secretly thought: What happened to Qi Shaorong, he was obviously a waste, wasn't he? However, even Qi Shaokang, who was the genius of the Qi family, folded under his hands.
"Speaking of which, you are really generous to the principal. Thirty percent of the betting money won is a lot." Yi Fan said with some distress.
Qi Shaorong smiled and said, "If I want to ask the Principal for help, then I have to be willing to bleed a little! With that much money, just think of how many people have their eyes on it."
The gambling houses in the Imperial Capital all had powerful forces backing them up. If he had gone to collect the money himself, then those people would inevitably bully him because of his youth, and evade the matter. It's not the same with the help of the Principal. Hu Feng was a level nine master, and is notoriously known for being difficult to bully. All the gambling houses in the capital would of course be willing to give Hu Feng some face.
"That's true. Although you've already left the Qi family, but when all is said and done, you're still a person of the Qi family. With such a large sum of money, I think that in the near future, they'll probably want to add you back into the Qi family again." Yi Fan said [4].
Qi Shaorong smiled coldly and said, "I have already been kicked out, I'm definitely not going to walk myself down that dead-end road again."
"You already have this much money, so you won't even need the Qi family's support at all anymore." Yi Fan said.
Qi Shaorong looked at Yi Fan and said, "Yi Bing's meridians were destroyed by someone, in the future he'll only ever be a level two mage all his life. Did you know?"
Yi Fan looked at Qi Shaorong and said, "Of course I know, this matter has already been passed around so much that pretty much everyone knows already, there are only a few people who don't. Rumour has it that Yi Bing was hurt by a fire mage, and the fire mage's strength isn't bad. According to the rumours, this could've been a discord between brothers, and Yi Huo was the one who attacked."
"There was monitoring everywhere inside the secret dimension, are you sure you didn't reveal anything?" Qi Shaorong lowered his voice and said.
"Rest assured, I know my limits. There's no problem." Yi Fan said coolly.
If the Yi family conducts a thorough investigation, it may be possible for them to find some clues. However, due to Yi Xun's suspicions, he would most likely think that Yi Huo was the attacker. Yi Bing has already become a waste, and Yi Xun definitely wouldn't hurt his other son for the sake of one son that's already useless.
"Unfortunately, Zhuang Hao that bastard, tricked me in the end. Otherwise, I would be first, and then I would've won even more." Qi Shaorong said, turning around the conversation.
Yi Fan smiled and said, "Be content. Aside from the money that will be given to the Principal, you still have 20 million, which is enough to use for a long time."
Qi Shaorong narrowed his eyes and said, "Who would resent having even more money?"
Yi Fan gave Qi Shaorong a glance, and said, "To be honest, how did it feel touching Young Master Zhuang?"
Qi Shaorong smiled with an air of reminiscence, and said, "That guy's skin was actually pretty good…"
Yi Fan: "…"
Qi Shaorong and Yi Fan entered Tianlan College's library. Li Hong walked in and said, "The two students here, the Principal has stated that the entirety Tianlan College's library is open for the two of you. Please come with me to confirm your permission."
Qi Shaorong and Yi Fan followed Li Hong to the highest level area of Tianlan College's library.
Hu Feng's actions can be described as very fierce and quick. In less than three hours, Hu Feng had already travelled to all the gambling houses in the Imperial capital, and collected all the money from the bets.
When Hu Feng returned to the college, Qi Shaorong and Yi Fan were called to the meeting room.
Hu Feng handed over a stack of money cards to Qi Shaorong, and said, "The money that you've won along with the original amount comes to a total of 34.8 million gold coins. The thirty percent that will be given to the college is 10.44 million gold coins. They're all here, and according to your request, I have redeemed them all for money cards with a value of a million per card."
Qi Shaorong nodded and said, "Thank you, Master."
"Disciple, there's no need to be so polite with your Teacher!" Hu Feng said.
Qi Shaorong took the stack of money cards and counted for a little bit. Hu Feng said with some admiration, "Apprentice, this time, you've become one of the wealthiest people in the Imperial capital."
All of the youths from the various major families, who were of the same age as his own disciple, were all still reaching their hands out asking for food from their family elders. Meanwhile, his own disciple has already made a huge personal fortune, and was truly a real winner in life!
Qi Shaorong took the money cards and gave seven of them to Yi Fan, who took them calmly.
Hu Feng looked at the money cards in Yi Fan's hands, and unwittingly eyed them a little greedily.
"A winner in life? It's still too early, and I still have to pay back some money." Qi Shaorong said.
"Pay back?" Hu Feng said, a little confused.
Qi Shaorong nodded and said, "Yes! Master shouldn't have thought that all the betting money was mine, right? It was borrowed by me, and now I've earned a little, naturally, I should share it with people." Qi Shaorong lowered his head. This time, all of the capital from the Allure Cosmetics Store had been emptied. Fortunately, the bet was won, otherwise, the operation of the cosmetics stores would have some problems.
"So it's like that? Just what kind of people lent you the money!" Hu Feng casually asked.
"I have many connections. There are even many more people who come to me to borrow money." Qi Shaorong said lightly.
"Of course, of course, disciple, your connections, does that even need to be said?" Hu Feng was full of compliments.
"If I calculate it, the Ghost Doctor is the one who has borrowed the most from me." Qi Shaorong said.
Hu Feng, "…" The Ghost Doctor, it seems that recently he has heard this guy's name come up very often! It seems that the reason why his disciple was expelled from the Qi family was because his apprentice was being kept by the Ghost Doctor.
Hu Feng looked at Qi Shaorong and said, "Disciple, you must have a very good relationship with the Ghost Doctor!"
"Of course, we have a very close relationship [5]." Qi Shaorong said without hesitation.
Yi Fan, "…"
Hu Feng, "…"
Qi Shaorong looked at Hu Feng and asked, "Principal, did you encounter any roadblocks when you went out to collect the money?"
Hu Feng raised his head and said, "There were a few gambling houses that didn't want to settle the accounts, but with this Principal there, those people all very obediently handed over the money. Most of the gambling houses were very compliant. It's just that there were a few gambling houses, which seemed to have a connection to the Qi family, that insisted on you going there personally to pick up the money, so I taught them a lesson."
Qi Shaorong smiled coldly and said, "Really?"
"Overall, it can be said to have gone pretty smoothly," said Hu Feng.
Chen family.
Chen Manwu took a deep breath, shook her head, and said, "I should have known earlier, I should have known that with such a large amount of money being bet on Tianlan College winning, there must have been something wrong."
Chen Yuan sighed and said, "Sister, it's too late for you to say this now, they've already taken away the money."
"I'm afraid that Qi Shaorong has made a fortune." Chen Manwu couldn't help but say.
"Yes!" Chen Yuan rubbed his forehead. Compared to Qi Shaorong, he was just like a poor and homeless fugitive.
"There's just one thing that's really strange. Where did Qi Shaorong get such a large amount of betting money from?" Chen Manwu narrowed her eyes.
Chen Yuan rubbed his nose and said, "He has a good relationship with the Ghost Doctor, maybe it was borrowed from him."
"Qi Shaorong should've bet a total of two million gold coins at all the gambling houses. It would've taken a lot, and even if the Ghost Doctor gave him everything he owned it still wouldn't have been enough. Moreover, no matter how good his relationship with Qi Shaorong is, he wouldn't have given all of his money to Qi Shaorong, right?" Chen Manwu said.
Chen Yuan looked at Chen Manwu and said, "Sister, do you have any guesses!"
"Allure Cosmetics Store." Chen Manwu said.
Chen Yuan spit out a mouthful of water, and said, "Allure Cosmetics Store? That black spot has grown rapidly in the past few years."
Chen Manwu nodded and said, "Yes, there's a high chance Luohua Pavilion's Bi Liyun has a relationship with Allure Cosmetics, and I've heard that Qi Shaorong and Bi Liyun also have some sort of relationship. The boss behind the Allure Cosmetics Shop is very mysterious. According to rumours, Allure Cosmetics has a big boss behind it, and four smaller bosses, and Bi Liyun is very likely to be one of the four."
Chen Yuan's eyes widened and he said, "No way."
Qi Shaorong, with his skill, is already scary enough, alright? If that guy really has a connection to Allure Cosmetics, then that would be way too heaven-defying [6].
Chen Manwu gazed at Chen Yuan with a frosty look in her eyes, "I say, you're also muddle-headed. Zhuang Hao's marriage had nothing to do with you, but you just had to go and provoke Qi Shaorong for no reason."
Chen Yuan spread out his hands, and said, "How was I supposed to know that Qi Shaorong was such a fierce person!" He already has no idea how many times he's felt regret over the matter of breaking off the engagement. Qi Shaorong, that guy, actually tore Zhuang Hao's clothes, and also touched Zhuang Hao inappropriately.
Chen Manwu sighed and said, "Just you wait and see, this matter is probably not over yet."
Chen Yuan looked at Chen Manwu and was a little puzzled, "Sister Wu, how could this not be over?"
Chen Manwu smiled and said, "Do you think that because you annulled Zhuang Hao's engagement, the Zhuang family would be grateful towards you! Qi Shaorong's heavenly spiritual talent, his mentality, strength, and appearance, really isn't bad. Although he's not as good as Zhuang Hao, he can still be considered a rarity among people. That kind of person would be a good match with Zhuang Hao. In the future, who knows if Zhuang Hao might even end up liking Qi Shaorong."
Chen Yuan looked at Chen Manwu and frowned, "Impossible."
Chen Manwu smiled coldly and said, "Impossible? Why?"
Chen Yuan said with certainty, "Zhuang Hao likes the Ghost Doctor." Qi Shaorong may be excellent, but he's way too fierce, and with such a bad temper, Zhuang Hao definitely wouldn't be able to deal with it!
Chen Manwu shrugged and said, "It's good that Zhuang Hao doesn't like Qi Shaorong. If he actually ends up liking Qi Shaorong, then you really can't be considered as a person anymore."
Chen Yuan: "…"
Footnotes:
Stars: Not an exact translation, but the original means something like "the man of the moment", or "they were the darlings of the college" or something similar.
Reborn: So I'm not actually sure if it's "reborn" or if it's "existing in this world", the original is "再世" Neither of them make much sense to me, but the online translator gave me the first definition (reborn), I felt like it was better because it doesn't make sense for them to say something like "if the Light God exists" because don't they already believe that he's real because it's their faith? (I'm so sorry, my Chinese skills are pretty crappy tbh).
Very directly: Literally translates as "to open the door", meaning to say something very directly or go straight to the point.
Yi Fan: Alright, so in the Chinese raws, it was "Qian Mian" instead of "Yi Fan", but that was kind of weird because they've been using "Yi Fan" this entire time, and suddenly there's just this random "Qian Mian" inserted there, so I just changed it to "Yi Fan." They're both the same person anyway.
Very close relationship: The original is "bonds like glue and lacquer/paint", meaning two people who are very close, or they have very fierce feelings and the two are difficult to separate. So I guess it's usually used to describe couples (at least in the examples that I found online), which is probably why Hu Feng and Yi Fan had those reactions lol.