Chapter 956: Perplexed and Smitten (16)
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
s.h.i.+ Bao’er threatened, “If you don’t chase her away, I’ll never come back again. I’m going to go live with Mommy.”
“Sure, go ahead and live with your mommy.”
s.h.i.+ Bao’er was at a complete loss for words, feeling as if her doting father who used to pamper her was now gone. She felt like her father had stopped loving her all because of the woman who popped up out of nowhere.
s.h.i.+ Shaochuan tried to coax and placate her feelings for a while before walking to the backyard to call Jin Qingyue.
Once the call got through, he barked, “Jin Qingyue, you did it on purpose, didn’t you? You intentionally sent Bao’er here just so she would see me together with my girlfriend. How scheming of you.”
Jin Qingyue scoffed and retorted, “Have you got any shame at all, s.h.i.+ Shaochuan? You’re utterly despicable and thick-skinned. Bao’er’s instructor was the one who called me to pick her up from the academy, and she was the one who told me to send her to your place. How was I doing it on purpose? Go to h.e.l.l. I’m not interested in your affairs at all. Don’t use your pathetic brains to frame me!”
“Drop the act. I bet you just don’t want me to live happily.”
“It’s true that I don’t wish for you to have a happy life. You’re a disgusting, cheating jerk who puts me off. I can’t help but feel like I’ve wasted the years of my youth whenever you come to mind.”
Just as s.h.i.+ Shaochuan was about to retort, he realized that she had ended the call.
His initial frustration grew into an uncontrollable rage.
During dinner, Bu Xianxian put on a demure and virtuous front and began helping s.h.i.+ Bao’er to the food while trying to strike a conversation with her. However, s.h.i.+ Bao’er remained quiet and returned the morsels of food she had placed onto her plate.
She was showing her disdain and discrimination against her through her actions.
Despite feeling frustrated, Bu Xianxian did not let her feelings show.
Meanwhile, s.h.i.+ Shaochuan repeatedly tried to placate her by telling her not to stoop to s.h.i.+ Bao’er’s level and that the latter was just an insensible child.
s.h.i.+ Bao’er felt more repulsed by Bu Xianxian after hearing her father’s words.
She decided to exude her authority and force Bu Xianxian to leave s.h.i.+ Shaochuan out of her own accord.
Anger was brewing within s.h.i.+ Bao’er as she hung her head low and continued to eat.
—
After breakfast, Mr. Jin coincidentally arrived just as Jin Qingyan was about to leave for the office.
“How much do you need?” asked Jin Qingyan, who already knew what his father was here for.
“Three million.”
“Ever since you got into trouble in M Nation, you’ve lost the privilege of getting three million dollars. One million.”
“What can I do with one million dollars? It’s barely enough,” Mr. Jin said in displeasure.
“One million dollars is enough to feed an average family for several years. However, it’s indeed peanuts for a gambler like you. Take it or leave it.”
Mr. Jin could not bargain any further.
He took the one million dollars from Jin Qingyan and asked, “Are you going to give me only 50 thousand dollars when I ask you for money again?”
“That’ll depend on your performance, Father. If you continue to stir trouble, you won’t be getting more than 20 thousand dollars.”
“I’m your father, not a beggar!” Mr. Jin snapped angrily.
“You were powerful and authoritative during your prime and you ran the company extremely well. Why have you gone astray now that you’re older? You’ve completely ruined my perfect impression of you, especially after what you’ve done in these recent years. Father, stop gambling and start doing something meaningful with your life. When I was younger, you used to tell me that one should never touch drugs or gamble. Once you’re addicted to those vices, it’d be hard to kick them. But you didn’t practice what you preached.”
“I’m just a little addicted, aren’t I? I’ll kick it once I recoup my losses,” Mr. Jin said in displeasure.
“Recoup your losses?” Jin Qingyan snorted with laughter and sneered, “Just fall into the black hole of gambling and never return.”
Not long after they left, He Yi arrived.
“Is there something you need, Mr. He?”
He Yi nodded and said, “I heard that you’re genuinely psychic. Is that true?”
An Xiaoning smiled and said, “It’s true, so…”
“After much consideration, I decided to tell you something that I didn’t mention previously. I discovered an underground ancient graveyard when I was in V Nation. However, the strange thing is that the words in the graveyard were all written in our nation’s language. That graveyard has never been opened before and it dates back to several centuries ago.”
“You mean you went inside the graveyard?”
“Yes, but I didn’t find any coffins. Perhaps the coffins are hidden beneath some contraption. The writings are all in our national language. I’ve checked up on it, they’re all ancient writings.”
Not mincing her words at all, she said, “You’re a professional tomb raider. You didn’t plan to tell me that in the first place. Why are you talking to me again now? Is it just to verify that I’m psychic?”
“Turns out you already know what I do for a living, Ms. An. I decided to tell you because that graveyard is rather spooky. I’ve only been there once and never dared to go in again. I reckon there must be some supernatural beings in there. Would you care to take a look?”
“V Nation is an unusual place. I don’t plan to provoke those things.”
“Perhaps there may be some rare treasures in the graveyard.”
“Mr. He, my life and safety means more to me than treasures and money. You can never earn enough money, but you only have one life to live. It’ll be gone if you lose it. Once you’re dead, no amount of money will matter. You’d better refrain from going to V Nation if you can. This is my honest warning. Some people are terrifyingly formidable and invincible. Don’t make things hard for yourself. You’re not short on money anyway. It’s better to know your limits.”
Noticing that she was completely uninterested, He Yi smiled and said, “Seems like you’re really not interested in this at all. Forget it then. I too was contemplating whether or not I should go there again. I’ll be really curious if I don’t go. But if I do… I’ll indeed be worried.”
“The decision lies with you.”
“However, I’m guessing that it really contains the legendary treasure map.”
An Xiaoning smiled and said, “The more greedy you get, the more likely you are to lose the privilege of living in peace. I suggest you drop the idea of getting your hands on the treasure map.”
He chuckled and said, “Let’s both consider it again. I’m not in a hurry anyway.”
An Xiaoning could tell that he was still planning to make another trip to V Nation. She did not say another word and instead told the servants to serve tea. The conversation ended after they chatted about some other irrelevant things.
After He Yi left, she sat on the couch, hugging her knees and pondering over what they just talked about.
She headed upstairs and grabbed the mobile phone that she had received in V Nation.
She had always been bringing it around with her in her bag.
She switched it on and sent a text message to the sender, though she was unsure if it would get through. It read: “I’d like to meet you. May I?”
After waiting for more than ten minutes, she finally received a reply. “You’re too far away from me. I can’t meet you. What’s the matter?”
“I just wanted to ask you if your corpse is still buried in V Nation. You’re possessing a human now, aren’t you?”