Qi Family [1].
Qi Shao'an and Qi Shaofu sat opposite each other in the courtyard, with Qi Shaoxuan sitting beside them.
"I didn't expect Qi Shaorong to be so powerful that even Qi Shaokang wasn't his opponent." Qi Shao'an shook his head. Qi Shao'an was the eldest among the Qi Family brothers and his talents were neither good nor bad. He had started working at the Qi family stores very early on, and helped the Qi Family manage their business.
Qi Shaofu shook his head, and said helplessly, "I had always thought that although I didn't have much talent, there's still someone in the Qi Family who's even worse than me [2]." Then the guy who was always at the bottom turned out to actually be so fierce.
Qi Shaoxuan shook her head and said, "Speaking of which, Fourth Brother's actions of tearing Zhuang Hao's clothes was really cool!"
Qi Shaofu: "…"
Qi Shao'an smiled bitterly and said, "Shaorong doesn't only have good strength, but his talent for business is also first-class."
"Unfortunately, the family has already kicked Fourth Brother out. Otherwise, I could have asked Fourth Brother to buy me the new set of makeup products from Allure Cosmetics." Qi Shaoxuan shook her head regretfully, and complained, "It's all because of Fifth Sister."
Qi Shao'an smiled bitterly and said, "Shaorong really is a bold person! I heard that Principal Hu Feng managed to retrieve around ten cases of gold coins from all of the major gambling houses." He worked hard to run the major shops of the Qi Family, but could only make a profit of around a few hundred thousand gold coins every year.
Qi Shaofu rubbed his nose and said, "Principal Hu Feng will be able to get rid of his grievances this time [3]."
Rumour has it that these days Principal Hu Feng has been walking around carefree and lightheartedly, and has very wealthily expanded a few of Tianlan College's facilities. Meanwhile, Principal Lu Ming's mood hasn't been very good lately, and these days, the atmosphere at Shenghuang University was incredibly imposing.
Qi Shao'an smiled and said, "If Tianlan College had not made it into the top ten during the Hundred Schools Competition this time, then the three major schools of the Imperial Capital would have to change. However, now…"
Qi Shaofu held his chin and couldn't help but think: Tianlan College is about to rise.
"Fourth Brother is very good to Hu Feng that old guys! I heard that he gave Hu Feng 10 million of the profits." Qi Shaoxuan said dully.
Qi Shaofu lowered his head and secretly thought: His Fourth Brother would rather choose that Principal Hu Feng, with whom he had no relation, to be his backing, instead of returning to the Qi Family! Qi Shaorong didn't seem to have any good feelings towards the Qi Family at all, but it's not like the Qi Family had ever treated his Fourth Brother well. No wonder Qi Shaorong also doesn't treat the Qi Family very well either.
Tianlan College.
"Yi Fan, your sister is here," said a student to Yi Fan.
Yi Fan frowned and said, "Yi Chuxue, why is she here?"
"I don't know! I saw her heading here aggressively, as if to make trouble. Classmate Yi Fan, where have you been these days? I haven't seen much of you lately," asked the student who had reported to Yi Fan.
Yi Fan: "…" He has always been at the college, but not with this identity.
Yi Fan walked along the tree-lined path on the college's campus and saw Yi Chuxue walk over menacingly.
Yi Fan stayed where he was and didn't move.
Yi Chuxue walked to Yi Fan and raised her hand, as if to give Yi Fan a slap. Yi Fan quickly grabbed Yi Chuxue's wrist, and Yi Chuxue's slap didn't hit.
"What did you come here for?" Yi Fan coldly said.
Yi Chuxue looked at Yi Fan gloomily and said, "What I came here for, you don't know?"
"I don't know."
"Yi Fan, my Second Brother has had an accident, did you cause it?" Yi Chuxue fiercely said.
Yi Fan narrowed his eyes. Yang Man had become his stepmother when he was three years old, and she has many clever means and tricks. Unfortunately, she raised Yi Chuxue to be pampered and spoiled, who has high standards but low abilities [4], just like a simpleton.
Regarding Yi Bing's matter, Yang Man and Yi Xun both placed their suspicions on Yi Huo. Only his cheap little sister Yi Chuxue has no brain. However, sometimes the situation really is like this, if you overthink it, then you'd easily lose sight of the truth. Instead, even Yi Chuxue, this kind of simple-minded person, can actually have moments similar to a blind cat encountering a dead mouse [5].
"Sister Chuxue, you really know how to randomly accuse people. Everyone knows that Yi Bing's injury was caused by your Elder Brother. A single mountain can't contain two tigers [6]!" Yi Fan said coldly.
Yi Chuxue's eyes widened, and she looked at Yi Fan with resentment, "Nonsense, the relationship between Elder Brother and Second Brother is very good. It is clearly you, you're a waste and are jealous of Second Brother, so you want to make Second Brother become a waste as well."
Yi Fan looked at Yi Chuxue and said, "Sister Chuxue, you're really not looking down on me, making me out to be so extraordinary."
"You don't need to pretend, I know it was you." Yi Chuxue pulled back her hand and waved a whip towards Yi Fan.
A wave of magic came crashing over. Yi Chuxue's whip was affected by the magic and was suddenly sent back towards Yi Chuxue's direction.
Under the influence of the magic, the whip was drawn back onto Yi Chuxue's face, leaving a bright red mark on her face.
Yi Chuxue screamed in surprise, and glared fiercely in Qi Shaorong's direction.
"Qi Shaorong, what are you doing?"
Qi Shaorong walked out step by step, smiling coldly, and said, "Miss Yi, this is Tianlan College. It's not your place, as a student of Mingya College, to act so arbitrarily."
Yi Chuxue glared at Qi Shaorong and said coldly, "Stop pulling out these trivial matters, Qi Shaorong, you're only trying to take revenge on me because of the matter of breaking off your marriage."
"Miss Yi, you're right, it's just because of the matter of breaking off my engagement that I don't find you pleasing to the eye. You cheap person, who do you think you are, running over to my turf and behaving so wildly!" Qi Shaorong said coldly.
Yi Chuxue snorted softly and said, "Qi Shaorong, you're really shameless, you actually did that kind of thing to Zhuang Hao during the competition."
"I just ripped apart Zhuang Hao's clothes, what's the big deal? How is it shameless, wasn't what I did beneficial for everyone anyway? Miss Yi, you dare criticise me for tearing apart Zhuang Hao's clothes, but didn't you also take a peek? In fact, Zhuang Hao's body is only like that, Miss Yi, don't you feel disappointed!" Qi Shaorong said, full of ridicule.
Yi Chuxue's eyes widened and she launched an attack at Qi Shaorong. With a wave of the staff in Qi Shaorong's hand, Yi Chuxue was sent flying away, and spit out a mouthful of blood.
The students nearby all had a strange look on their faces as they saw Qi Shaorong ruthlessly pushing Yi Chuxue around [7].
"Classmate Qi, isn't treating Miss Yi like this a little too much?" A senior student asked Qi Shaorong.
Qi Shaorong looked at this person and said, "What, do you have a problem? Are you interested in her?"
The senior student quickly waved his hands and said, "No, of course not."
Qi Shaorong stepped on Yi Chuxue and said, "Little miss, when this Young Master is around, you'd better stay far away, you hear? Otherwise, I won't be polite to you."
Yi Chuxue's face suddenly turned red, and she felt indignant in her heart.
"Qi Shaorong, the Yi Family won't let this go."
Qi Shaorong shrugged and said, "I didn't even give Zhuang Hao any face, as if I'd be afraid of a little girl like you."
After Qi Shaorong finished teaching her this lesson, Yi Chuxue left.
A student turned to Yi Fan and said, "Yi Fan, you're so lucky! Our Principal's disciple was willing to step out for you!"
Yi Fan clasped his hands behind his back. Other people might think that Qi Shaorong taught Yi Chuxue a lesson because of Yi Chuxue's involvement in breaking off his engagement. Only he knew that Qi Shaorong only got involved for his sake.
Qi Shaorong pursed his lips and turned his head back to glance in Yi Fan's direction. Yi Chuxue was so arrogant like this, Yi Fan's childhood must not have gone well. In fact, it was actually a good thing that the Qi Family had sent Qi Shaorong away at an early age.
Qi Shaorong left after the matter with Yi Chuxue was over. In the crowd, there were two people looking at Qi Shaorong's back with complex faces.
"Young Chen, didn't you want to apologize to my Fourth Brother? Hurry up and go!" Qi Shaofu urged Chen Yuan.
Chen Yuan scratched his head and said, "This, I think I'll go and apologize later, your Fourth Brother is so fierce!"
Qi Shaorong, that fierce guy, was even so cruel towards a girl. Even if Yi Chuxue was a little willful, but knocking such a beauty down to the ground and even stepping on her was still a little too much. However, Qi Shaorong had even stripped Zhuang Hao's clothes in front of so many people, it's like he didn't care about his conduct at all.
Qi Shaofu: "…"
"Didn't you want to talk to him about returning to the Qi family? You go!" Chen Yuan said.
Qi Shaofu: "…" Qi Shaofu frowned, he didn't understand why his family gave such a difficult task to himself. Asking Qi Shaorong to return to the Qi family, just hearing it was terrifying!
Qi Shaorong walked for a long time, then suddenly turned his head and looked at Chen Yuan and Qi Shaofu who were sneaking around behind him, saying, "You two have followed me for so long, what are you trying to do?"
Qi Shaofu raised his hand somewhat stiffly and said, "Four Brother, you… Hello!"
Qi Shaorong smiled coldly and said, "Is there something you need?"
Qi Shaofu said somewhat stiffly, "The elders of the family would like to invite you back home for a visit."
"Stop talking!"
Although he had already anticipated this, Qi Shaofu still felt a little disappointed, "Can we not discuss it some more?"
"There's nothing to discuss."
Qi Shaofu rubbed his forehead and felt some helplessness. He had already tried his best to carry out this task, the family shouldn't put the blame on him, right? At that time, he hadn't agreed to expel Qi Shaorong from the family, it was Qi Shaoru who had insisted on it. Now that a problem has come up, Qi Shaoru should also be the one to clean up this mess.
Thinking of Qi Shaoru, Qi Shaofu shook his head. Qi Shaoru had recently been put in confinement by the family elders, and her life hasn't been going well.
"Fourth Brother, Shaoru has been put in confinement."
Qi Shaorong narrowed his eyes and said, "Really? That girl's temperament is so unscrupulous, confining her can let her calm down a little."
Qi Shaorong's gaze turned to Chen Yuan and said, "Young Master Chen, is there anything you need?"
"I'm really sorry about breaking off your engagement. I shouldn't have meddled too much, I really regret it now." Chen Yuan said apologetically.
"Hehe."
Chen Yuan blushed a bright red upon seeing Qi Shaorong's reaction. Chen Yuan took a deep breath and said, "Fourth Young Master Qi, the matter of annulling the engagement had nothing to do with Zhuang Hao, you shouldn't bear a grudge against him."
"I don't have a grudge against him." Qi Shaorong said.
"Then when you were in the secret dimension…"
Qi Shaorong laughed and said, "I don't hate him, but I find him annoying. I detest people who have a better appearance than me and those who are stronger than me. I hate even more those who prevent me from making a fortune. Zhuang Hao that guy… Falls into all of those categories!"
Chen Yuan: "…"
Footnotes:
Qi: Originally it said "Zhuang", but that doesn't make sense considering it's the Qi Family members who are shown talking, so I changed it to "Qi". It's probably just a mistake by the author.
Worse than me: The original was "someone who cushioned the floor", meaning someone who's even worse and is at the very bottom.
Get rid of his grievances: "Raise your eyebrows and exhale" means to get rid of whatever is troubling you. Couldn't figure out a good way to word it.
High standards but low abilities: Literally translates as "high vision but low hands/abilities", means a person who has high standards, requests, or demands that are sometimes improbable, but they don't even have the ability to do anything themselves.
Blind cat encountering a dead mouse: Means a person who has no idea what they're doing but is unexpectedly successful.
A single mountain can't contain two tigers: Pretty self-explanatory. Metaphor for when two people who are incompatible with each other, they will have conflicts.
Ruthlessly pushing Yi Chuxue around: So the original is "ruthlessly destroying/ breaking the flower", the "flower" referring to Yi Chuxue.