Bab 4: 003 Grandpa heads to Learn liberal arts_1

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Bai Qiming finished speaking and hung up the phone.

Since ancient times, Jiangjing has always been the capital, the economic center of Asia.

Most of the country's inherited major families are located in Jiangjing.

Centering on Jiangjing, four cities in the southeast, northwest form a clear-cut circle of power and nobility, which to this day remains a chasm that one cannot cross.

Almost everyone strives from birth to attend Jiangjing University, that emblem of status and identity.

And Xiangcheng—

A border town, inhabited by all sorts of people, swarming with international fugitives, where countless people go missing each year, and most people earn a fixed salary, their lives set in stone once they enter the city.

Naturally, Bai Qiming didn't think Bai Lian would go there.

Businessmen prioritize profit, and his love for Ji Mulan had been wearing thin day by day.

Accordingly, Bai Lian's status fell day by day.

Even ordinary families can't treat everyone equally, let alone a grand household like the Bai Family.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been unaware that Bai Lian had left the Bai Family long ago.

The servants downstairs were also restless upon receiving the call, not understanding Bai Qiming's intention, only exchanging worried glances.

Where could they find another young miss to bring back?

Shortly after, the servant who answered the phone nervously went upstairs to knock on the study door.

"Where is she?" Bai Qiming glanced at him.

The servant was on the verge of tears, "The young miss, she... she..."

Butler Bai was by the side, his voice hoarse and his expression complex as he explained, "Sir, the young miss... she set off for Xiangcheng that night."

As for the ancestral hall, she didn't even give it a glance.

The study instantly fell into a cold silence.

"Good, very good indeed!" Bai Qiming's face was as grim as water, and he said indifferently, "Since she's so determined, let her transfer her household registration out too. From now on, whether she lives or dies, whether she is honored or disgraced, it has nothing to do with the Bai Family."

Bai Lian had caused trouble before, and there were times when Bai Qiming and Ji Mulan indulged her, but now, she might be overestimating herself, truly believing that the Bai Family would go to Xiangcheng to beg her to return?

Bai Qiming's rage naturally couldn't be concealed from others.

Soon, the Grand Elder of the clan came to know of the matter.

"Forget it, don't bother, let her seek her own fortune," the Grand Elder waved his hand, not concerned as long as Bai Shaoke's name remained in the family register, "It's just a shame about that mentorship pledge, a cow chewing on a peony."

When the Bai Family first learned of Bai Shaoke's existence, the Grand Elder personally made three respectful visits to invite him back to the Bai Family, but Bai Lian's departure was of little consequence to the Bai Family.

In the hearts of Grand Elder and the others, Bai Lian was even less significant than that mentorship pledge.

By the time Bai Lian received the message from the Bai Family's servant, she had already arrived at her uncle's neighborhood.

She dismissed the message without a care.

Bai Lian's uncle lived in the old district of Xiangcheng, unlike the high-rise buildings in the center of Beicheng City, this neighborhood was quite rundown.

Her uncle's family lived on the fifth floor with no elevator, and the stairwell was dark and unlit.

When she knocked on the door and entered, her aunt in a skirt stood up to greet her, her eyes clearly seeking favor as she reached out to take Bai Lian's suitcase, "Alian is here, why didn't you call so I could help you with your luggage?"

Bai Lian didn't hand it over, and her aunt chuckled awkwardly, stepping back.

Bai Lian looked up, "Hello."

A face that was languid, yet strikingly distinctive.

Ji Auntie instantly felt that the shabby 100-square-meter home and the dim stairwell were utterly mismatched with her niece.

"Let's eat first, Alian. This is your grandfather; you probably haven't met him before. Your uncle is still teaching students to paint; he won't be back until the evening. Do you remember your eldest uncle..." Ji Auntie was very enthusiastic, and she introduced Bai Lian to her grandfather sitting on the couch.

Bai Lian's gaze settled on her grandfather.

Her grandfather, Ji Heng.

According to the original owner's memory, Ji Mulan had a poor relationship with the Ji Family and had only returned once in many years, standing at the door for a long time.

Ji Heng had not opened the door at that time, nor had he seen them.

This was their first meeting.

Ji Heng sat on the fabric sofa, his eyes fixed on the TV playing news, with reading glasses on his nose. His jacket, though washed and slightly faded, was embroidered with extremely delicate patterns. He sat with a straight back, holding an old smoking pipe in his hand.

After the aunt went to the kitchen and quite a while passed, Ji Heng finally spoke in a muffled voice, "Has your mother been in touch with you these past two years?"

Bai Lian looked at the exquisite embroidery on his body. She sat down on the couch with her eyes lowered and legs crossed, appearing docile and harmless, though her fingers idly twirled a red ribbon, "No."

The original owner's mother had been out of touch for two years already.

Ji Heng nodded, lowered his head to silently draw a puff from his dry pipe, and said no more.

Bai Lian obediently sat for a while, but when she saw no one paying attention to her, she casually leaned against the couch and lazily took out her phone to browse the news.

The lunch was bountiful, all to Bai Lian's liking.

"Have you transferred your school registration yet?" In the midst of silence, Ji Heng inquired.

"It's being processed; it should be transferred in a couple of days."

"Mm. When your uncle comes back, have him help you contact the teachers at Xiangcheng Middle School."

The aunt felt something was amiss.

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"School records? What school records?"

"I've transferred to Xiangcheng to attend school," Bai Lian had only eaten a few bites of white rice before she put down her chopsticks, "I've left the Bai Family."

Aunt's mind buzzed, "Left, what do you mean by left?"

Bai Lian pulled out a tissue and wiped the corner of her mouth, her tone nonchalant, "It means I was kicked out, and I need to transfer my household registration too. I can't go back anymore."

"What?!" Aunt's voice was a bit shrill, "What about your dad?"

Bai Lian looked at her with an "you tell me" expression.

She didn't see any joke on Bai Lin's face.

Aunt didn't eat much, she was distracted and didn't know what she was thinking about and couldn't resist taking out her phone to search.

She didn't know what she saw in the news, but her expression turned sour, and she didn't even wash the bowls.

Uncle Bai Lian came back quite early, and before he had a chance to greet Ji Heng, he was pulled into the room by aunt.

The soundproofing wasn't very good, and from the room came the muffled voice of aunt, "Ji Shaojun, did you already know she would be staying here and had me prepare a room for her?"

"Keep your voice down," Uncle Ji's voice was low, "Dad and Alian are outside—"

"But did you see the size of our house..."

Before long, the two came out.

"Alright," Ji Heng picked up the pipe that was set aside, knocked it on the table, making a loud noise. His wrinkled face showed no expression. He bowed his head to light it, and the smoke blurred his features, "Alian, come to my place."

Ji Shaojun looked toward his father, opened his mouth, but knew once Ji Heng decided something, no one could change his mind.

Aunt paused for a moment.

Then, smiling, she touched her hair, "Dad, why don't you stay for dinner?"

"No," Ji Heng exhaled a ring of smoke, looking over at Bai Lian, "Come back with me."

Ji Shaojun was a step behind Ji Heng, waiting for him to leave first, then he turned to his wife, "Shen Qing, listen to yourself, what did you just say? Alian just got back today, is it appropriate to say those things?"

After many years of marriage, his wife wasn't without emotional intelligence. He didn't understand why she intentionally made Ji Heng and Bai Lian hear those things.

"I made it a point to let your dad hear it. Everyone in your family acts the same. If I don't talk straight, your dad won't understand a word," Shen Qing picked up a rag, her voice tinged with sarcasm.

She was boiling with irritation.

She knew all too well the kind of person her niece was—getting into fights, drag racing, bar hopping, she didn't miss a beat.

Ji Mulan had a falling out with Ji Heng when she was eighteen, and nobody in the Ji Family knew she had married into a wealthy family. Shen Qing had secretly seen it on Ji Shaojun's phone before.

The Bai Family had never acknowledged the Ji Family as their poor relations; they hadn't visited Xiangcheng once.

She had hoped that with Bai Lian's return to Xiangcheng, there might be a chance for her to socialize with the Bai Family.

Who could have known that Bai Lian was just like Ji Mulan, falling out with her wealthy father as well.

"I'm asking you, isn't she a senior like Wanxuan? Are we going to continue supporting her if she doesn't get into university next year? One Ji Mulan, one Ji Shaorong, you won't let them lend a hand, yet you're cleaning up after her?" The more she thought about it, the more she felt wronged, she continued, "Your family always tries to act above it all, but can you eat pride? No wonder the Bai Family favors that illegitimate child."

"This isn't about pride, it's about principles," Ji Shaojun said as he opened the front door, glancing at Shen Qing before going downstairs, "And don't compare that illegitimate child with Alian."

Shen Qing stood there, her face cold, tossing the rag into the sink.

Had she said anything wrong?

Even Bai Lian's own mother abandoned her like an old shoe. She was just lucky to be born into a family with some protection. How could she compare to the highly intelligent illegitimate child of the Bai Family?

She didn't understand, what were Ji Heng and Ji Shaojun holding onto?

Outside.

Ji Shaojun quickly caught up to the two others, silently going to pick up Bai Lian's suitcase.

Bai Lian paused, she looked at Ji Shaojun for about ten seconds before letting go.

Ji Shaojun hoisted the suitcase.

Bai Lian watched his retreating figure for a long while before buckling her hat.

She followed behind, leisurely searching on her phone for something that interested her. A new message popped up from one of the original owner's rowdy friends, and she replied.

The original owner didn't have many friends, mostly rich kids with nothing better to do. This was the only one who had contacted her in the past couple of days.

Rowdy friend: "What's with your fiancé?"

As she spoke, she sent a screenshot.

Bai Lian clicked on the image, revealing a WeChat Moments screenshot.

[Bai Shaoqi: This is the price you pay for underestimating others (playful) [Image]]

The photo showed her distinguished fiancé sideways, holding a rag and wiping a window.

It was apparent that Bai Shaoqi was well-liked, with lots of responses, likes, and comments beneath the photo.

In Beicheng City, who wouldn't recognize Song Min, the third young master of the Song Family?

—Delightful to see, our Young Master Song has descended to the mortal realm

—Only you could do this, goddess!

—Haha, insider here: Song Min always defies fate, but doesn't he forget that Shaoqi is Bai Qiming's little sister, huh~

—Right? He must think Shaoqi is that young lady who couldn't last a day in our international class, did too poorly in sciences, and then was booted out to study liberal arts by our homeroom teacher in frustration!

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KIRIM HADIAH

Bab 5: 004 Purest Street Tyrant: How It's Made_1

——What? She used to be in the international class?? (confused face)

——How did she get in there?

——Listen to me, Class 2 is the real victim here, being dragged down by an aircraft carrier.

——Class 2 class representative: It's so annoying. Our humanities class grades were dragged down by her, and this time it's even better, she scored zero, she cheated alone and our whole class has to face the ridicule.

——Bai Shaoqi replied to Class 2 class representative: Sister has already gone to Xiangcheng.

This is the entire content of the screenshot.

The original owner didn't add Bai Shaoqi on WeChat, nor did they add Song Min.

The friend then messaged Bai Lian: [I'm so pissed, she just deliberately replied to that message from the Class 2 representative, and everyone is spreading it like crazy. What's really going on? Are you actually in Xiangcheng?]

Bai Lian: [As you can see, I'm in Xiangcheng.]

The friend: [Are you a fucking idiot for going to that back-of-beyond place?]

The friend: [???]

Bai Lian: [[Smile]]

The friend: [You send me a smile?]

Miss Bai isn't too familiar with modern people's smiles.

She typed a question mark and went back to the search engine, looking up topics of interest.

Ji Heng doesn't live in a complex; he lives on Purest Street.

In an undeveloped slum of Xiangcheng, there is a large area of bungalows, dark and damp, with a street outside, a no-man's-land, full of bars and black markets at the end of the street, very chaotic.

The river that faces Purest Street from afar marks the boundary between two countries.

This area is particularly chaotic; most of the time, even the police don't dare to interfere.

Today, however, a few patrolling officers can be seen, with small bulges at their waists indicating they are armed.

Ji Shaojun glanced over and was surprised, "Is someone patrolling today?"

"It has been like this for some time now," Ji Heng replied, holding his tobacco pipe as he walked toward an alley.

Ji Shaojun nodded; having patrolling officers around was better, at least it ensured some safety in the area.

After all, Bai Lian's face was quite dangerous in this part of town.

The alleyways here are narrow and dimly lit, with cobblestone paths, and heaps of uncollected trash lying around bends. Stepping on the stones sometimes squeezed out black water, a stark contrast to the brightly-lit Beicheng.

Bai Lian remained quiet throughout, not commenting on the conditions here.

After winding through several alleys, they finally arrived at Ji Heng's residence, with low houses all around. Ji Heng took out his keys to open the gate to a small courtyard.

The courtyard wasn't big; in the middle was a Chinese parasol tree, with a stone table beneath it and a well.

Ji Heng, with his pipe in hand, pointed to the room on the right, "That's where your mother used to live. You'll sleep there. The conditions are what they are; if you're not comfortable, you can head back to the Bai Family."

Having said that, Ji Heng turned and entered his own room.

Ji Shaojun gave Bai Lian a comforting smile, relieved to see she hadn't objected, and then brought her suitcase inside.

The room was old but everything inside had been well-preserved and was clean.

Bai Lian opened her suitcase and took out a pile of books, placing them on the desk near the window.

"Alian, you..." Ji Shaojun thought her suitcase would contain her clothes or women's cosmetics, but it was filled with books. He paused for a while before saying softly, "Don't worry about school. We'll figure something out."

He went out to look for Ji Heng.

Bai Lian sat with her legs crossed at the table, flipping through books, and pulled out a math book that interested her the most.

From math to geography and politics, then to English, which was the language she least wanted to look at. She briefly skimmed it before turning to the last subject—

History.

The original owner studied liberal arts and took history.

After about five minutes, she pulled out one of the history books. A test paper that was tucked inside fell to the floor. Bending down, she picked it up, but her eyes caught on a question from the paper—

[20. Briefly describe Liang Zewen's corvée system and its impact on the long-term stability of the Great Yong Dynasty. Why did his death push the coup of Emperor Jiang Wu to its peak?]

"Snap—"

Bai Lian suddenly tucked the test paper back into the history book.

Her breathing became rapid, her fingertips deforming the book with their grip, the rounded edges of her nails turning white as her long eyelashes lowered, covering her trembling eyes.

"Do you want me to accompany you?" Ji Shaojun, seeing Bai Lian about to leave from a distance, came out from inside and then explained, "It's quite confusing around here."

Shen Qing and the others can't remember the way.

Bai Lian stretched her hand to pull on the hood of her sweatshirt and shook her head.

"Alright," Ji Shaojun noticed she seemed somewhat silent and guessed she might be upset because of the Bai Family. He softened his voice, "Don't go far, call me if you can't find the way, and be careful."

"Okay."

Bai Lian walked back the way she came, her memory was excellent; despite the complex routes, she wouldn't forget once she'd walked them.

In the past, she had drawn many of the maps used by the military.

"Two yuan." The middle-aged man at the small street-side shop handed her a bottle of mineral water and wiped the sweat from his forehead with the towel around his neck. "Young lady, you're not from around here, are you?"

Her appearance was striking, and she had a distinctive aura. Her outstanding figure clearly set her apart from ordinary people, and the shop owner could tell she wasn't a local.

Purest Street was part of the old city district, a three-meter-wide bluestone path. At the end of the street were gambling dens, black markets, and bars, a jumbled mess of the good and bad.

A kilometer further on, it got even more complicated—the border between two countries.

A lawless zone where it wasn't rare for someone to disappear.

Bai Lian nodded, she used her Huawei smartphone to scan and pay, her gaze falling on the massive branches of the banyan tree next to the shop.

The banyan tree was in the temple ahead, and its stout branches enveloped the neighboring low-rise houses beneath its canopy.

A three-meter-long street was lazily crossed by one of the tree's branches.

Several strips of red silk hung from it.

"The Tree God is over thirteen hundred years old," the shopkeeper continued moving the mountain of boxes piled up outside his shop and explained when he saw Bai Lian looking at the banyan tree, "It's our guardian deity. If you want to take a look, just walk two steps forward, and you'll see the main entrance to our Tree God Temple."

Bai Lian's long hair fell gracefully to one side as she leaned against the wall to look at the tree trunk, a hint of laziness in her eyes: "Over a thousand years, huh."

She felt several gazes upon her.

The shopkeeper put down a box and turned around, involuntarily tightening his grip on the towel around his neck.

A few people appeared on the street. It wasn't too hot, but the leader wore a white tank top.

The man in the white tank top approached, initially not concerned.

But after glancing at Bai Lian's exquisite face that many would find tempting to conquer, he casually took a box of cigarettes from the shopkeeper's store and asked as he pulled one out and bit it, "Who is she?"

The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment, then nervously said, "She's my niece."

"You don't have a damn niece!" the man in the white tank top scoffed, kicking him aside and getting closer to Bai Lian.

The shopkeeper was kicked away, "There are patrols these days, you, you…"

Several underlings gathered around him; they were obviously quite adept at dealing with such situations, not taking Bai Lian seriously and standing aside, relaxed, enjoying the drama unfold.

Bai Lian glanced at the man in the white tank top. "You're looking for me?"

The man felt a jolt in his chest as he took a big step forward.

He sized up Bai Lian from head to toe, his gaze as slimy as a venomous snake, lighting his cigarette, "Do you know that you have to pay a protection fee to walk on Purest Street?"

"Protection fee?" Bai Lian nonchalantly flicked a leaf off her shoulder.

She turned her head and smiled sweetly, her eyes twinkling like stars.

Sweet and adorable, yet stirring a strong desire to conquer.

"Yeah." The man in the white tank top, unable to hold back, reached out to touch Bai Lian's face.

At that moment, Bai Lian twisted the empty bottle and threw it into the trash can.

As she turned, she grabbed the man's arm reaching toward her, exerting great force to fold it, then grabbed his hair from behind. The man in the white tank top let out an agonized scream just as he tried to resist, but his head was suddenly slammed against the wall behind him!

With a "thud", his head was smashed hard against the wall!

Blood immediately seeped from his forehead.

The man in the white tank top contorted his face in pain, and to his horror, found himself unable to move. He could only widen his eyes in shock as he looked at her, "You…"

Bai Lian held his hair in her hand, lazily smiling as she used massive force to slam his head against the wall again!

"Bang—"

Another sound, more blood flowed out, and the man's vision began to blur as he lost the ability to resist.

He was like a rabbit, helpless in her grasp.

Nobody doubted his fighting skills; he was the toughest in the area which was why he was the boss. The three underlings shrunk back to the side.

Bai Lian withdrew her gaze.

Her attention returned to the man in the white tank top.

She was actually a bit curious about the taste of tobacco that so many in this world seemed to enjoy.

In the frightened gaze of the man in the white tank top, Bai Lian took his cigarette pack, methodically pulling one out.

With her rosy lips gently biting the tip, her eyelashes casually drooped as a nearby underling immediately stepped forward to light it for her.

Her hair slightly disheveled, she exhaled a thin stream of smoke from her mouth, casually holding the cigarette between her clean, slender, and pearly white fingers. With her other hand, she lazily held the man's hair as his blood dripped down his face, drop by drop, to the ground. She lazily flicked the ash, "So—"

"Now, do you still want that protection fee?"

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KIRIM HADIAH