Tianlan College.
Yi Fan, who was disguised as Qian Mian, looked at Zhuang Hao and said jokingly, "Classmate Zhuang, why did you come here? Could it be that you want to transfer to Tianlan College? If you want to transfer to Tianlan College, the Principal will happily welcome you here."
Zhuang Hao's face was stiff, he glanced at Yi Fan and said, "I'm here to find someone."
Yi Fan smiled and said, "Young Master Zhuang, do you remember, I said before that one day you'll regret cancelling the marriage, that Fourth Young Master Qi is a peerless talent and a rare beauty, how about now, was I not correct? I remember, Master Zhuang, you seemed to have disagreed with me at that time."
Zhuang Hao's pupils shrunk a little, he raised his eyes and looked at Yi Fan, saying, "You were that person who saved my cousin Zhuang Ling."
Yi Fan shrugged and said, "I suppose so, but strictly speaking, Zhuang Ling was truly saved mostly because of her father's efforts, it had nothing to do with me. "
"You and Qi Shaorong have known each other for a long time? "Zhuang Hao couldn't help asking.
"Of course, we're very familiar with each other. You know, Young Master Zhuang, Shaorong is a very difficult person to woo. Let me tell you this now, it would be better for you to just give up already." Yi Fan said.
Zhuang Hao couldn't help but clench his fists. Everyone was right, only he was an idiot and was played by Qi Shaorong. "Then where's Qi Shaorong?"
"He's busy!" Yi Fan said.
"Busy with cosmetic surgery?" Zhuang Hao asked.
Yi Fan nodded and said, "Yep! Shaorong is a celebrity at our college."
Yi Fan personally felt like Qi Shaorong wasn't really doing honest work, but it's not like he could stop Qi Shaorong's fanatical pursuit of cosmetic surgery [1].
Zhuang Hao walked to Qi Shaorong's cosmetic surgery center. The light unicorn was lying lazily by the door, nibbling on a roasted suckling pig.
Seeing that Zhuang Hao and Yi Fan were looking over here, the light unicorn stood up abruptly and excitedly ran towards Zhuang Hao, wagging its tail.
Yi Fan looked at the unicorn's joyful appearance, and shook his head helplessly. No wonder Qi Shaorong always complained that the light unicorn was mooching off of him while being secretly loyal to someone else. Seeing how the unicorn was kissing up to Zhuang Hao like that, it was really…
"Shaorong has raised the unicorn up pretty well!" Zhuang Hao couldn't help saying.
Zhuang Hao frowned and thought to himself: Qi Shaorong was really good towards this unicorn, it was completely bedecked with jewels from top to bottom and its belly also looked full and round. Qi Shaorong never treated him that nicely, whenever they spoke, his speech towards him was always clipped and full of contempt.
"Classmate Qi, you're really too amazing."
Zhuang Hao peeked through the door slit and looked into the operating room. A female student inside the room got up from the operating table and looked at a mirror with excitement.
"Thank you so much, Classmate Qi, I didn't think that I could be so beautiful." The female student was thrilled and pounced on Qi Shaorong, wanting to give Qi Shaorong a hug, causing the sharp-eyed and deft-handed Zhuang Hao to grab the back of her collar and toss her outside the room.
Seeing that the girl who had wanted to give him a bear hug was thrown out by Zhuang Hao, Qi Shaorong quietly let out a gasp.
Qi Shaorong put away the tools in his hand and looked at the Zhuang Hao who was standing inside the operating room, and said, "Zhuang Hao, you really don't know what it means to have tender, protective feelings for the fairer sex, huh!"
Zhuang Hao looked at Qi Shaorong and gnashed his teeth, saying, "Of course, it's only natural I don't know as much as you do!"
Qi Shaorong: "… "
"What did you come here for?" Qi Shaorong asked.
"I came to talk to you." Zhuang Hao said.
"There's nothing for us to talk about though?"
Zhuang Hao's face was livid and he said disapprovingly, "How could there not be anything for us to talk about? Inside the secret dimension, didn't you still want to take off my pants? Now that I'm standing here, you have the opportunity to do that."
Qi Shaorong: "…" Zhuang Hao this boy, was there something wrong with his brain? He always felt that this kid was quite pure and innocent.
[T/n: Just letting y'all know that this particular phrase for "pure and innocent" in Chinese is usually used to refer to a girl experiencing innocent love haha.]
Zhuang Hao approached Qi Shaorong and said, "I remember you said that my skin is really nice, how about you touch it and see!" Zhuang Hao grabbed Qi Shaorong's hand.
Qi Shaorong: "…" Zhuang Hao, this kid, probably took the wrong medicine this morning.
Qi Heng pushed open the door and walked in, "Young Master, I have some bad news."
Qi Heng walked into the room before realizing that there was an extra person inside. Zhuang Hao had pressed Qi Shaorong against the operating table, and Qi Shaorong's hand that had been grabbed by him was currently reaching into Zhuang Hao's shirt.
"Young Master Zhuang is here too!" Qi Heng said.
When he saw Qi Heng walk in, Qi Shaorong secretly breathed a sigh of relief, "Quickly, scram."
Zhuang Hao snorted lightly and stood to the side without moving.
Qi Shaorong looked at Qi Heng and said, "What's the matter! You came here so hurriedly, did the people from the Qi Family come to make trouble again?"
"No, Tingxuan has disappeared." Qi Heng said.
Qi Shaorong's eyes suddenly narrowed, "What happened?"
Qi Heng shook his head and said, "It's not clear yet. The news I received said that a chaotic battle with a level-nine monster beast had occurred at Tianlang Mountain and Tingxuan may have been involved in it, and now I've lost contact with him."
"We've lost contact with him, it shouldn't be because something had happened, could it?" Qi Shaorong said uncomfortably.
Zhuang Hao looked at Qi Shaorong and said, "What's going on? Who's Tingxuan!"
Qi Shaorong glanced at Zhuang Hao and said coldly, "It has nothing to do with you."
Zhuang Hao looked at Qi Shaorong and objected, "You can't just say that, who knows, maybe I can help you find him?"
Qi Shaorong ignored Zhuang Hao, looked at Qi Heng, and said, "What about Qian Mian? Have you told him yet?"
"When he heard that Tingxuan had an accident, he left hurriedly." Qi Heng said.
Qi Shaorong narrowed his eyes and said, "He left?"
Qi Heng nodded and said, "Yes!"
Qi Shaorong pouted and said, "I've always known that his relationship with Tingxuan wasn't simple, there must be something going on between those two."
Qi Heng looked at Qi Shaorong and said helplessly, "Young Master, now isn't the time to say these things."
Zhuang Hao frowned, as he was listening to Qi Heng and Qi Shaorong's conversation, he unconsciously clenched his fists. Qi Shaorong and Qi Heng's relationship was definitely more than just that of one between master and servant, and he and Qian Mian have also known each other for a long time. Now there was even a "Tingxuan" thrown into the mix. Zhuang Hao had a feeling of being excluded.
"Just who exactly is that Tingxuan?" Zhuang Hao couldn't help asking.
Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Hao and said, "Why are you so annoying!"
"If you tell me, I'll stop being annoying!"
Qi Shaorong hesitated a little before saying, "Mu Tingxuan is a subordinate of mine, he's wood-based mage "
"What does he look like?" Zhuang Hao asked.
"He's disfigured and his face is full of scars!" Qi Shaorong said.
Zhuang Hao opened his eyes wide and looked at Qi Shaorong with puzzlement, "Can't you…"
"You're wondering, since I can give people cosmetic surgery, why can't I do it for him? You think I haven't thought of that either? I've tried to persuade him many times before, but Tingxuan, he doesn't want to." Qi Shaorong said.
"Why?" Zhuang Hao said.
"Tingxuan was born to a big clan, and the people in the family were very superstitious. Tingxuan was born at a bad time [2], and a fortune-teller determined that he'd bring misfortune upon the family, so he was taken to a place far away from the family and raised there until he was five years old. At the age of five, Tingxuan's family encountered an accident."
"Tingxuan's uncle believed that there was a problem with Tingxuan, so he carved up his face and threw him into a forest."
"Mu Tingxuan had a cousin, the son of his uncle, who was born two hours earlier than him. It's just because there was a difference of two hours, so the two's fates were completely different. Tingxuan was considered to be a disaster star, while his cousin was considered to be a lucky star."
Zhuang Hao's eyes widened and he said, "How could there be a family like that? His uncle is too cold-blooded! "
Qi Shaorong looked at Zhuang Hao and smiled brilliantly, saying, "I've said before, Young Master Zhuang, you've lived for too long in a privileged environment, and you don't know about the suffering created between people. There's also another reason why Tingxuan's uncle did what he did, it's because the birthdate characters for the lucky star and disaster star are ill-matched [3], so Mu Tingxuan's unlucky influence has the greatest effect against that cousin of his."
Zhuang Hao: "… "
Zhuang Family.
"Third Uncle, is there any news?"
Zhuang Renquan looked at Zhuang Hao and said, "You little rascal, I've never seen you be interested in the matters of our family before, but you're so proactive when it comes to Qi Shaorong."
Zhuang Hao looked at Zhuang Renquan and smiled embarrassedly, saying, "Third Uncle, so is there any news or not?"
"The Mu Tingxuan's origins are a little unusual! He's a wood-based mage, but his powers seem to have mutated and he now has the ability to promote the growth of plants. He also seems to have a relationship with Allure Cosmetics. He's probably the one responsible for sourcing the raw materials used to make their products." Zhuang Renquan said.
[T/n: In the raws Zhuang Hao was the one saying this, but that doesn't really make sense, so I'm guessing the author probably just made a mistake here.]
Zhuang Hao frowned and said, "But Qi Shaorong said that Mu Tingxuan is his subordinate."
"So that means that Allure Cosmetics should also be related to Qi Shaorong. Speaking of which, Bi Liuyun is also familiar with Qi Shaorong, and Bi Liuyun has a relationship with Allure Cosmetics too. It's very likely that Qi Shaorong is actually the owner of Allure Cosmetics. Considering his enigmatic means of doing things, it's not surprising that he'd start a cosmetics store." Zhuang Renquan said.
Zhuang Hao had a taut expression on his face and didn't speak.
Zhuang Renquan looked at Zhuang Hao, smiled, and said," A-Hao, are you feeling some pressure now?"
Zhuang Hao ground his teeth and said somewhat desolately, "A little bit. "
Zhuang Renquan patted Zhuang Hao on his shoulder and said, "Third Uncle was always worried that there'd be no one suitable for you in all of the Imperial Capital, but now I'm a little worried that you're the one who's actually not suitable for the other person. You need to step up your game! If Qi Shaorong really is the behind-the-scenes boss of the Allure Cosmetics stores, then it's no wonder he refused to return to the Qi Family. Once he returns to them, all those shops would probably be taken away by the Qi Family."
"Third Uncle, then do you know where that Mu Tingxuan is now?" Zhuang Hao asked.
Zhuang Renquan looked at Zhuang Hao, frowned, and said, "I just received some news about someone who's suspected to be Mu Tingxuan, but I don't know if it's the same person you're looking for."
"Third Uncle, stop keeping me in suspense, where is he?" Zhuang Hao asked eagerly.
"He seemed to have encountered some bad luck and was injured after getting caught in the aftermath of a battle involving level 9 monster beasts. After he was injured, he was captured and taken as a prisoner by the Mohe Mercenary Corps and was sent to the Tianyun Auction House. I'm guessing that after a few days, he'll be auctioned off." Zhuang Renquan said.
Zhuang Hao's eyes widened and said, "Third Uncle, maybe you're mistaken?"
Zhuang Renquan shook his head and said, "No, probably not."
"I'm going to go and bail him out now." Zhuang Hao said.
Zhuang Renquan shook his head and said, "I'm afraid you can't. He's already entered the Tianyun Auction House, so he can only be bought once the auction starts."
"Then I'm going to go find Shaorong." Zhuang Hao said.
Zhuang Renquan took out a card and handed it to Zhuang Hao, saying, "This is for you."
Zhuang Hao took the money card that Zhuang Hao gave to him and asked somewhat puzzedly, "Third Uncle, what are you giving me this for?"
"This wife of yours isn't easy to pursue, so Third Uncle is giving you this courtship fund, you'll still have to pay it back in the future." Zhuang Renquan said.
Zhuang Hao smiled and said, "Thank you Third Uncle."
Footnotes:
Honest work: Man I hate the Chinese language sometimes. Ok, so the idiom for "not doing honest work" can also mean "being unemployed/not attending to one's proper occupation", so Yi Fan is either saying that "Qi Shaorong wasn't doing honest work but he (YF) couldn't stop him from doing cosmetic surgery" or he's saying "Qi Shaorong felt like he wasn't properly doing his job so he couldn't help but do cosmetic surgery". It's incredibly vague, and either one could fit into the context here. The first one made more sense to me.
Bad time: In ancient China, one day (24 hours) was split into 12 two-hour periods (each with the name of one of the 12 Earthly Branches). The 12 Earthly Branches were used in combination with the ten Heavenly Stems to designate years, months, days and hours. The 1st Earthly Branch "zi" (子) is from 11pm-1am and corresponds to the 11th solar month (Dec. 7-Jan. 5) and the year of the Rat (from the 12 zodiacs), the 2nd "chou" (丑) is from 1am-3am and corresponds to the 12th solar month (Jan. 6-Feb. 3) and the year of the Ox, and so on. The rest are yin (寅), mao (卯), chen (辰), si (巳), wu (午), wei (未), shen (申), you (酉), xu (戌), and hai (亥). This system was built from observations of the orbit of Jupiter, and Chinese astronomers divided the celestial circle into 12 sections to follow the orbit. There are also ten Heavenly Stems which were basically used as a counting system and represented a ten-day week, and apparently it originated from the Shang dynasty (2nd millenium BC) because they believed that there were ten suns, each of which appeared in order in a ten-day cycle, and the Heavenly Stems were the names of the ten suns. They're used in the current "traditional Chinese calendar" and in Taoism, and are related to Chinese astrology and/or astronomy, so basically depending on the year, month, day, and hour in which you were born, it's a way of determining your "fortune".
Birthdate characters: Adding on to what I wrote above, the Eight Characters (birthdate characters) were formerly used in fortune-telling in ancient times. The Eight Characters consist of four pairs (indicating the year, month, day, and hour of a person's birth), and each pair consists of one Heavenly Stem and one Earthly Branch. I'm so sorry, this is really confusing lol, to be honest I don't understand Chinese astrology that much either, but I don't think it's super important to the plot?