Bai Zhe woke up at 4 a.m. this morning to read the entertainment news on his smartphone. He found news of Alice, the singer he had met yesterday. It stated that she had suddenly gotten sick with severe diarrhoea. The doctor could not find its cause, thinking that it might be some new variant of virus. This required Alice to be put in quarantine in an isolation room.
‘Who told her to interrupt my conversation? But her skin might be much healthier from now on. Consider it as a redemption gift from me,’ thought Bai Zhe as he saw a particular announcement.
“Eh? A call for competitive eaters to apply for the Eater King competition on TV? Hmm, interesting. It’s also a TV station under the LSA.” When he saw that, Bai Zhe immediately sent messages to Chen Feng, asking whether he could join the competition.
After sending the message, Bai Zhe waited for quite some time, but there was still no reply from Chen Feng. He guessed that the old man might be busy, caught up with some work, or had already fallen asleep. Thus, the boy went to sleep.
Bai Zhe’s school, the next day
Today, Mu Si Cheng immediately went straight to Bai Zhe. He threw his arm around Bai Zhe’s neck the moment that the boy entered the classroom. Of course, Bai Zhe could have dodged if he had wanted to. But he had to act like a normal student so he would not be building a wall to keep people away from him.
“Bai Zhe, my dear friend, let’s play football today,” said Mu Si Cheng.
“Who said that he wouldn’t invite me again?” Bai Zhe narrowed his eyes at Mu Si Cheng, thinking that this boy might be planning something.
“I just want you to exercise and break a sweat. That’s all,” said Mu Si Cheng. His face looked like he was hiding something, so Bai Zhe looked around the room. Then, he saw something. Yes, on Mu Si Cheng’s table, there were 2 packs of handkerchiefs.
‘Oh, now I understand. This boy is seeking to benefit from me. Hehehe, dream on,’ thought Bai Zhe.
“No, I have to conserve my energy for work. The match with you guys the other day made me fall asleep almost immediately after I got home,” said Bai Zhe. Mu Si Cheng still did not give up, while the girls around them pricked up their ears, trying to hear whether or not Bai Zhe would agree to play football this afternoon.
“Bai Zhe, please. I’m begging you. The girls will kill me otherwise. You don’t have to play football. I just want your sweat.” Mu Si Cheng was so anxious he had to tell Bai Zhe what he had been pressured to do.
“So, this is your real purpose, is it? The answer is no,” said Bai Zhe coldly. He then walked to his seat, with Mu Si Cheng’s arms still wrapped around his waist, letting Bai Zhe drag him along.
“Please help me, Bai Zhe. They’ve already paid me.” Mu Si Cheng continued his confession.
“The answer is the same. No. Anyway, you are already rich, Si Cheng. Why do you have to sell this stuff?” asked Bai Zhe.
“Well, the girls who wanted it came to pamper me. So, I agreed,” said Mu Si Cheng shyly.
“Forget it. What kind of business is your family doing, by the way?” asked Bai Zhe, because he had been able to think of a new way to make money.
“Cosmetics and dietary supplements. Why are you asking me this? W…wait... Hmm, this is interesting.” In no time at all, Mu Si Cheng understood what Bai Zhe was trying to say.
Mu Si Cheng thought that Bai Zhe’s idea was possible. He had heard that the ancient Greeks used to apply animal fat to the body of combat athletes who were heavily sweating, with the hope of collecting pheromones that indicated physical strength. They distilled the fat into an ancient pheromone fragrance which was used by the upper class. If this technique was used with Bai Zhe’s sweat, it would make a remarkable fragrance that would amaze his father.
“Bai Zhe, you are my golden goose.” Mu Si Cheng leapt forward to hug Bai Zhe, making many of the girls bring out their handkerchiefs to wipe their nosebleeds.
“Hey, let go of me. Si Cheng, this is gross. Things could get out of hand. You weirdo.” Bai Zhe tried to push Mu Si Cheng, who had suddenly leapt forward to hug him, off. His adopted brother in Da Xian did not even hug him this closely. The feeling of being close to a man like this reminded him of the Crone of the Hereafter Cave, which was an old mental wound of his.
“Well, I will share the profits with you. I will give you 80, and my part will be 20,” said Mu Si Cheng.
“That’s a good idea. But you should set a high price. If it is cheap, I might be drained dry,” said Bai Zhe. He could not sit and sweat all day like a moving sweat factory.
“Deal, my friend.” Mu Si Cheng beamed.
After school, Bai Zhe gave Mu Si Cheng two bottles of his sweat that he had gone to the trouble of forcing out. The first one was used with the handkerchiefs that Si Cheng wanted to sell to the girls. The other, he had Mu Si Cheng send to the lab to extract the smell in order to try to use it in a fragrance made by the Mu family’s company.
Of course, Bai Zhe asked Mu Si Cheng to keep this a secret, which the boy agreed to do. Mu Si Cheng then left to take care of the handkerchiefs that the girls ordered. Bai Zhe felt his smartphone vibrating so he hurriedly found an out-of-the-way spot to pick up the incoming call.
“Hello, this is Bai Zhe,” he said after answering the phone.
“Oh, Master Bai. No, let me call you Bai Zhe. First of all, I saw your message. You want to join the Eater King competition?” Chen Feng, who was on the other end, asked.
“Yes, so I wanted to consult with you whether I could join the competition. The reward is 1 million yuan. I want it to help lighten the burden on my parents,” said Bai Zhe.
“Haha, you think I don’t know about the cheques from Xi Lua and Meng Dong? Another thing, do you think it’s easy? Just re-watch the previous seasons. The eaters eat about 4 to 6 kilograms each. Do not even mention the champion, Dan Dan. He ate 8.4 kilograms of steaks. You cannot compete with that. Don’t waste your time,” Chen Feng warned. He did not want Bai Zhe to waste his time doing something a 15-year-old boy who did not have experience in eating competitions could not possibly do.
“Everything has a first time. Can I try just once? If I succeeded, it would certainly benefit the drama that you are about to film,” Bai Zhe said, trying to use every angle to persuade Chen Feng.
When Chen Feng saw that the boy was insisting on joining, he allowed it. This was so Bai Zhe could face the truth and see his own limits. Also, the boy could learn from his mistakes. Chen Feng would contact the program and let them know that he would send a new actor from his company to join the competition.
“Though I am the person who sent you, you have to join the qualifying round like other people, in accordance with the program’s rules. If you cannot pass it, you will not have any right to ask me for any other things, except filming the drama with me,” said Chen Feng in a serious voice.
“Though I am the person who sent you, you have to join the qualifying round like other people, in accordance with the program’s rules. If you cannot pass it, you will not have any right to ask me for any other things, except filming the drama with me,” said Chen Feng in a serious voice.
“Thank you so much.” Bai Zhe thanked him before he hung up the phone. The qualifying round would be held next Saturday. Bai Zhe had to take a leave from his acting class as well.
Chen Feng took care of the boy's application for the competition swiftly, as well as the leave for his next week’s acting class. Bai Zhe’s plan for getting famous was proceeding, he thought this while entering the LSA training centre to join Mr. Dong’s class, the intermediate acting class.
Mu Tian Company
Mu Si Cheng entered the company happily. The employees bowed and greeted him with “Hello, Mr. Mu” all along the way.
The boy walked to the office of the CEO, who was his father, and sat down, waiting for his father to finish inspecting documents.
“How are things, Si Cheng? You do not usually come down to the company. What brings you here?” Mu Tian, Mu Si Cheng’s father, asked after he was done with taking care of the pile of documents.
“Dad, smell this.” Mu Si Cheng handed him a handkerchief.
Mu Tian took the handkerchief from his son and smelled it. Then, his eyes widened. He found that the smell on the handkerchief was strangely cool and refreshing.
“Where did you get this?” Mu Tian asked with a suddenly serious face. He would never let this slip into his competitors’ hands.
“It is what is in this water bottle. The person who made this will sell it to us to be used as a fragrance oil. He wants 80% of the profits and our company will get 20%. What do you think, father?” asked Mu Si Cheng.
“That’s a large share of the profits. We barely get anything from it. It doesn’t sound like a good investment, and it is very risky, too,” answered Mu Tian.
“Well, try calling in about ten of your female staff under 30 in order to test this out. I guarantee after you see its effects, you will change your mind,” said the boy.
After that, Mu Tian asked 10 female employees who were under thirty into the office. Mu Si Cheng handed each of them a handkerchief and told them to smell it. Mu Tian could not believe the effect he saw with his own eyes; all 10 women were enchanted. They kept inhaling the handkerchiefs as if they were on drugs.
“Th... this is fantastic. This will definitely sell.” Mu Tian was excited about the thing that his son called fragrance oil.
“Do you want to send it for analysis? I only have this one bottle. If we could filter out all the unnecessary elements, we would have a concentrated fragrance oil. Then, we can dilute it, making it into a new perfume which will be our company’s new product. We will only produce about a few thousand bottles per month, and we will have a premium edition that has a little more fragrance oil in it. We will make only 5 bottles of the premium edition and only sell it through auction,” Mu Si Cheng explained the plan Bai Zhe had told him to give to his dad. Apart from helping his friend make money, maybe he would receive more attention from his dad.
“Hmm, let me have an analysis run on the liquid in that bottle first.” Mu Tian called the research and development department to send someone to bring this fragrance oil to the lab for analysis and strictly ordered them to send only male staff.
The analysis of its components began after the fragrance oil arrived at the laboratory. The results shocked the staff. From the analysis, they found a pheromone that was 1,000 times more concentrated than normal. It was mixed with a very small amount of water, but it was not viscous. Moreover, they had not found any other substances mixed into it.
They agreed that this concentrated pheromone was distilled from some animal’s secretion.
Apart from that, the CEO told them to test one drop of the fragrance oil with female members of the research team. The results shocked them as well because they witnessed reactions exactly like what the CEO had told them about.
The researchers later looked at the ordinary water bottle which contained the fragrance oil with the thought that the fragrance oil was quite scary. Just by inhaling it, women fell under the control of the fragrance oil. It sparked their curiosity. They then continued to analyse it without rest.
The Li Clan’s House
Matron Li went out to welcome the important guest who would visit the Li family.
Not long after that, a woman who was as beautiful as an angel in heaven arrived. She had smooth white skin. Snowflakes were flitting around her. She had the aura of a person who had reached the emperor qi.
“Matron Li, you don’t have to trouble yourself by coming out and waiting for me. Have you recovered from your sickness? The reason why I’m here is to check up on you. I also brought the strong yang herbs from my clan for you as well,” said the woman.
“Thank you so much for your consideration. Truthfully, I met a doctor who could cure my condition days ago. Now I’m recovering,” said Matron Li.
“Really? Who is he? Do I know him?” asked the woman.
“You don’t know him, Miss Baii. I will introduce him to you if there is an opportunity in the future,” answered Matron Li.
“Thank you, Matron Li. Speaking of, is Mei Ying home?” asked the woman.
“She is likely in the medicine compounding room as usual. This great-granddaughter of mine—the older she gets, the more stubborn she is. It is such a strain on me,” sighed Matron Li.
“Teenagers are like that. Well, since you are better, that means you can attend this year’s junior fighting event, which is about to be held, can’t you?” said the woman.
“Of course. I’ve missed this event for so many years. Anyway, are you staying the night, Miss Baii?” asked Matron Li.
“Do you mind letting me stay here for 2 to 3 days? I came down from the mountain, so I think I will have Mei Ying take me to a shopping mall. I haven’t withdrawn the stock dividends for use for a long time. It is to the point that my brother said, [You should take care of yourself, sister. Do you still dare to dress in such outdated clothes?] Another thing, I had a premonition that something good would happen to me if I came here,” answered the woman.
“Miss Baii Gui Ying, you believe in premonitions, too?” Matron Li asked out of curiosity.
“I don’t know. I just had a feeling that I would find something good when I came to visit you. At the very least, it’s the good news that you are finally recovered from your condition,” said Baii Gui Ying.
In the darkness of the night
Bai Zhe thought that he would go visit the Li Clan this Saturday. And that made Bai Zhe meet the Baii Clan’s member of this world. In Da Xian, the Baii Clan had been his clan, but it had been wiped out because of the greatest fighter in the martial arts community before he was even born. So, the boy had never felt the bonds of a big family before. Or was this compensation from God?
You may also Like
Paragraph comment
Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.
Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.
GOT IT