"I've sent the messages as you instructed." The Translator respectfully handed the temporary phone back to Ke Muning.
Ke Muning nodded, briefly scanning the text messages. Though he couldn't understand much of it. The Hua Country characters had been typed out by the Translator on the phone.
"Would you like me to tidy up a bit?" The Translator couldn't help but ask.
He looked up to see the "gifts" that had been delivered, cluttering up the living room in disarray. But no one would complain about the mess. Because most of the items were quite valuable.
"No, leave them as they are," Ke Muning said casually.
The Translator's gaze flickered, his respect for his boss growing even more.
Ke Muning went upstairs to make a few phone calls, then handled some international business matters via video conference.
Just as the video call was about to end, the person on the other end suddenly asked, "When are you coming back?"
"In a few days."
"In a few days?" The person on the other end paused, likely the first time they'd heard such a vague answer from Ke Muning.
So they pressed further: "How many days is 'a few days'?"
Ke Muning had to adjust his posture before replying, "I'm raising a child in Hua Country."
"Oh, did you visit a local orphanage?"
"No, it's the new generation heir of the Gui Family. The only new generation heir."
The person on the other end nearly jumped in shock: "Good heavens! You went to Hua Country and came back with such a big catch! You've taken their heir hostage! How should I arrange your return route? Wait, are you trapped there now, which is why you can't confirm your exact return date?"
"Stop, listen to me," Ke Muning corrected him. "It's not taking a hostage, it's raising, raising her, do you understand?"
"Is there a difference?"
"Of course there's a difference. The difference is that when she leaves in the morning, she has to say goodbye to me, and when she goes to bed at night, she has to say goodnight to me."
"?"
It took the person on the other end a while to digest this shocking information before asking, "Are you trying to raise her to drive a wedge in the Gui Family?"
"Hmm, that's not a bad idea."
"?" "You mean you never thought of that before?"
"No, of course I've thought about it. I'm still waiting to see her cry her eyes out."
The person on the other end fell silent again, thinking perhaps their boss had reached the age where he wanted to get married and have a child. But their line of work was far too dangerous – one never knew when the entire family might be wiped out. Raising an enemy's child was a novel approach. It satisfied the urge while mitigating the risk, and if something were to happen, they might even celebrate with some fireworks.
"So about the attacks planned against the Gui Family... should we continue with those? I mean, considering you're now raising their child."
"Of course, unless this child suddenly becomes the executive CEO of that company. And tells me that if we must be so cruel, she probably won't say goodnight to me next time," Ke Muning joked.
The person on the other end immediately understood: "I see, business is business."
Ke Muning closed his laptop, muttering, "First, she mustn't disappoint me today either."
*
Today, the third-grade students in Class 1 all seemed a bit dejected. As soon as the teacher entered the classroom, she noticed that some of them had clearly been crying.
Usually, in such situations, a teacher's first thought would be to suspect bullying. But... what kind of superhuman could bully an entire class?
Oh, wait, it wasn't the entire class.
The teacher's gaze fell on Li Xiaoya, who appeared calm and collected, as well as An Ying and Zhou Xiaoshu beside her, who also seemed relaxed... Did those three do this?
They shouldn't have such formidable abilities!
The teacher, harboring this suspicion, paid extra attention to the class dynamics, afraid of missing something that might lead to complaints from parents.
Soon it was time for dismissal.
The teacher stood outside the window, secretly observing –
Suddenly, Li Xiaoya stood up and said, "Come to my house tonight."
The teacher vaguely remembered the day Li Xiaoya first arrived in class. When she introduced herself, everyone in the audience had been whispering contemptuous remarks about her.
She hadn't been close to any classmates since then...
Suddenly inviting them like this, probably no one would pay attention...
The last word got stuck in the teacher's throat.
Because the previously dejected students suddenly lifted their heads: "Sure, sure!"
"Let's go to Li Xiaoya's house!"
"Her house is fun."
"Yeah, and tomorrow morning, dad will come pick us up again."
The teacher stood dumbfounded outside the window.
When did this happen?
How did Li Xiaoya suddenly capture the hearts of the entire class?
"Let's go," Li Xiaoya put on her little backpack and led the way, with the others hurriedly following close behind.
The teacher quickly caught up: "Have you told your families?"
"It's fine, we went to Li Xiaoya's house to play the day before yesterday."
The teacher was actually quite curious about what Li Xiaoya's house was like. He had caught up on the variety show, and what the netizens cared about was what he cared about too.
Unfortunately, he could only watch as the group of children left.
Outside the school gate, a foreign man with gray eyes, wearing a stern expression, came to meet them.
Today it wasn't Ke Muning picking them up from school, but one of his subordinates doing it on his behalf.
"Please," the man awkwardly squeezed out the Hua Country word, then opened the car door for Li Xiaoya. Imitating Ke Muning's style, he picked up Li Xiaoya and put her inside.
The schoolchildren behind them shrank their necks a bit before squeezing into the car behind.
When they arrived at the destination, they finally spoke up, following behind Li Xiaoya:
"Li Xiaoya, Li Xiaoya, can you ask your family's servants not to be so fierce?"
"Fierce?"
"Yeah, they all have such stern faces, and there's one person who's blind in one eye, he looks so scary. Why does your family employ such frightening servants?"
"Is it because you don't have money, so you can only hire people like that?"
Ke Muning was standing at the doorway, watching as Li Xiaoya brought them again. He smiled with great satisfaction.
Then he turned to ask the Translator: "What are they saying?"
The Translator wiped his sweat and relayed the children's audacious suggestions.
Ke Muning snorted: "Demon never complains, unlike these troublemakers."
Meanwhile, Li Xiaoya was getting a bit annoyed by their constant chatter. She frowned slightly and said, "It's not because we don't have money, it's because we have a lot of money, so we hire people who are more expensive than your families can afford, people you've never seen before."
"Is... is that so?" The schoolchildren were stunned by this explanation.
The little one sure knows how to talk, Ke Muning thought with a smile. He walked closer and picked up Li Xiaoya with practiced ease, carrying her inside.
The others hurriedly followed, running in. As soon as they entered, their jaws dropped.
"My racing car..."
"My family's vase..."
"My family's painting..."
"Why are they all here?"
Ke Muning turned his head: "You're quite right, I also felt the house was a bit too empty, so your fathers sent some things to fill the gaps. Take a look, is there anywhere else that seems empty?"
He tilted his head, putting on an act of being very open to suggestions.
The children were dumbfounded.
"Hey!" Ke Muning suddenly grabbed a little boy's collar, pulling him away from the racing car. He said, "Now it belongs to our family. If you want to touch it, you have to ask her." He pointed at Li Xiaoya.
The little boy couldn't accept this sad reality. His lips quivered, and he started to cry.
Ke Muning was delighted. He carried Li Xiaoya upstairs.
He asked, "Doesn't it feel good to be the bad guy?"
"Mm."
"I'm very happy that you've chosen to be a bad guy with me, inside and out."
Li Xiaoya was stunned for a moment.
Was this another one of his tests?