As the saying went, a whole year’s work depended on good planning in spring and a whole day’s work depended on good planning in the early morning. However, to the young, rising late could ruin the whole morning and rising early could ruin the whole day. As a result, most people ended up leading an ordinary life and only a few people rose to fame swiftly. During this process, the result lay in one’s attitude concerning time.
Most young people just sat idly and killed time every day. However, many geniuses considered time too precious. Qin Sheng read a passage from a piece of document. This document was related to an interview about personnel that specialized in scientific research due to his meritorious service in the Navy. Every day, he slept for only three to four hours. During the rest of his time, excluding the time he spent eating and going to the restroom, he researched and conducted experiments. He practically lived every day of his life to the fullest, utilizing all 24 hours as if there was a total of 72 hours. Consequently, it took his team three years to successfully postulate everything, while other teams in other countries had spent 10 years doing the same. According to him, he lacked time the most and could not wait to borrow a period of five hundred more years from God.
As a result, Qin Sheng was extremely punctual. He slept early and got up early routinely, except for when he was occupied. In the morning, after getting up, he would go running, drink tea, and read books. He would usually keep several books in his car. Whenever he was free, he liked to study further. Only by enriching himself on a continuous basis would he be able to deal with any difficulties.
He had to keep both his body and brain in an optimum state. However, recently, the only thing that had been holding him up was that he did not have time to go to the gym, which was not a good thing at all.
However, before he could read the whole chapter, he received a call from Xue Qingyan. It was just eight o’clock in the morning. Qin Sheng planned to go outside to visit the company at nine o’clock.
“Sister, you were heavily drunk last night, weren’t you? Why did you get up so early today?” Qin Sheng asked half-jokingly.
Xue Qingyan shook her head as she said, “I am destined to work hard. There is a meeting at the company this morning. I have to arrive there early. Speaking of the thing you mentioned last night, I called Master Liu. He asked you to make time to visit him today. Whatever your requirements are, you can speak to him in person then. I will not get involved in this.”
“Sister, you probably were my biological sister in a previous lifetime. That is why you take care of me so well in this life,” Qin Sheng said, flattering Xue Qingyan.
Xue Qingyan replied with extreme reluctance, “Stop bewitching me by using flattery. You’ve made a clean breast of everything you have gone through. The way I see it, this situation is not as simple as you’ve said. To get such a simple thing done, you do not necessarily have to formally acknowledge Master Liu as your teacher.”
Qin Sheng replied hurriedly in a playful manner, “Sister, I’m being honest. There are no issues at all. I am just too shy to voice my intention. After all, I am not that familiar with Master Liu yet. Master Liu’s paintings are not readily available to everyone.”
Xue Qingyan did not overthink. She snorted as she said, “Alright. As long as you are fine, it’s okay. I can’t talk with you further because I need to go to the company and I’m in a hurry.”
After hanging up, Qin Sheng put away Records of the Three Kingdoms and reflected on the sentence related to Guo Jia’s appraisal, which was as follows: ‘As an outstanding adviser in the world, Guo Jia is intelligent, smart, and resourceful.’ Qin Sheng wondered when he would get a trusted subordinate like Guo Jia. Though Chang Baji was capable enough to deal with many things with his combat power, when it came to strategy, Qin Sheng had not come across any geniuses yet.
Qin Sheng called Gu Xiaobo and asked him to drive to the entrance. He was under Gu Xiaobo’s protection today.
“Brother Qin, Senior Uncle asked us to protect you. What happened exactly? Yuan Ke and Qian Buping picked on you again, right? Should I go deal with them?” Gu Xiaobo said pretty indignantly.
Qin Sheng shook his head as he said, “The situation is not that simple. You will figure it out in the future. Speaking of the opponent we are going to face this time, he is pretty powerful.”
Since Qin Sheng was not willing to speak further, of course, Gu Xiaobo did not question him.
By the time Qin Sheng went out, he had informed the person in charge of the villa visitors in Meijiawu, who was the eldest housekeeper of Master Liu. His name was Sun Yu. Since he took care of some of Master Liu’s outside properties, he could be considered Master Liu’s middleman, nothing more or less. At first, Qin Sheng had not been aware of this fact. It was not until Xue Qingyan had told him about Sun Yu’s identity last time that he had been finally enlightened.
Soon, he arrived at the villa in Meijiawu. Sun Yu awaited his arrival in person at the entrance, which had been an order from Master Liu. Since Qin Sheng was already a distinguished guest of this villa in Meijiawu, of course, Sun Yu should be the one to receive him.
Sun Yu, who was dressed in a gray robe, smiled as he said, “Little Qin, Master Liu is waiting for you in the backyard.” Master Liu thought pretty highly of Qin Sheng, which could not be solely attributed to the relationship between Qin Sheng’s grandfather and Xue Qingyan. Besides, Qin Sheng’s calligraphy was so good that it could be presented in Master Liu’s hall blatantly. Consequently, Master Liu and Qin Sheng appreciated each other.
Qin Sheng chuckled as he said, “Brother Sun. I am so sorry for bothering you all the time.”
By the time Sun Yu led Qin Sheng to the backyard, the visitors had started brewing tea. There were several plates of fruit and dessert on the table. Master Liu was practicing Tai Chi boxing. Tai Chi Boxing for health preservation was good for prolonging one’s life. However, most people considered this authentic Tai Chi Boxing. Even though the movements of Tai Chi Boxing and Tai Chi Boxing for health preservation were almost the same, they differed greatly when it came to force exertion, and so on.
Instead of interfering with Master Liu’s practice, a group of people, including Qin Sheng and Sun Yu, just stood by, appreciating Master Liu’s boxing movements. It was not until Master Liu completed the whole set of movements that he regained his posture, exhaled, stared at Qin Sheng and said, “Little Qin, what do you think of my Tai Chi Boxing? According to Qing Yan, you are an authentic master of boxing arts. You can offer me some advice.”
Qin Sheng dared not offer Master Liu any advice. The movements of this kind of health-preserving Tai Chi Boxing were almost the same, yet they were different from the trump cards used to get people killed during a fight. As a result, Qin Sheng chuckled and said, “Master Liu, I am not good at Tai Chi Boxing. When it comes to Eight-Pole Boxing or the Eight-Diagram Palm, I can make some comments.”
Master Liu smiled happily as he said, “Little Qin, you are still as polite as always. The way you talk is flawless.”
Qin Sheng smiled awkwardly. If Master Liu had asked him to compete with him, he would definitely have not flinched.
As Master Liu was walking down toward the pavilion, he said, “Qing Yan told me about your request. In the future, when it comes to such petty issues, you can just call me instead of bothering Qing Yan. You are just too polite. I often send paintings to others as gifts, so I will certainly consent to your request without any hesitation. However, you need to return my favor with a piece of calligraphy. That way, we will be more or less even. What do you think?”
Obviously, Master Liu was indicating that Qin Sheng should not consider his help this time a favor. Though Qin Sheng’s calligraphy was good, how could its value be comparable to that of Master Liu’s paintings?
Qin Sheng asked randomly, “Master Liu, do you have any requirements for the calligraphy’s style?”
Master Liu smiled gently as he said, “I have not made up my mind yet. When I do, I will inform you. However, speaking of the piece of calligraphy you are going to give to me, you definitely need to spend a lot of effort on it. I don’t want to be taken advantage of by you. You tell me about your requirements for the painting now. Who are you going to gift it to and what do you want me to draw?”
Instead of concealing any details, Qin Sheng said straightforwardly, “Third Master Wu’s birthday is this weekend.”
Master Liu, who found this unexpected, said, “Oh! It did not occur to me that you would actually be connected to Third Master Wu. Speaking of this old lad, he has been secluding himself on Mountain Putuo in the past few years. Are you going to ask me to draw a Buddha figure? I have to warn you in advance that I am not good at drawing the Buddha.”
Qin Sheng shook his head and said, “Ha ha ha… I certainly won’t do that. Since I know you are good at landscape paintings, I wanted to ask for a landscape painting…”
Then, Qin Sheng elaborated on his thoughts. The more details Master Liu heard, the more frequently he frowned. When Qin Sheng finished speaking, he shook his head and said, “I can draw a painting based on your request. However, I cannot promise that I can get it done before this weekend. Therefore, you can use the painting named High Mountains and Flowing Streams instead, which I finished some time ago. What do you think?”
Since Master Liu was willing to make this arrangement, of course, Qin Sheng did not speak any further. He would do whatever Master Liu ordered him to…
While Qin Sheng was requesting a painting from Master Liu, in the Qin Family’s siheyuan in Sijiu City, Qin Sheng, who had just finished his breakfast, was on his way to the headquarters of World Trade Company. Speaking of World Trade Company, few people knew it by name. However, the tycoons who did play the game of capital definitely knew this company. The complex equity lying behind World Trade was startling. Besides various trust and funding subsidiaries, there were dozens of listed and non-listed subsidiaries under its rule.
As Qin Changan was looking over the documents, Gong Sun, who was sitting on the passenger seat, said slowly, “Master, Zhuang Zhou called me last night. I need to tell you something.”
Qin Changan asked without ever lifting his head, “What is it?”
Gong Sun said slowly, “Zhuang Zhou told me that Young Master gave him a call and said that both the Lin Family and the Yan Family were informed that he was in Hangzhou.”
After hearing Zhuang Zhou out, Qin Changan was silent for a while. Then, he said, “Oh. Anything else?”
Gong Sun shook his head as he said, “No, nothing else. He supposedly called to ask for Zhuang Zhou’s help. After all, Young Master is not capable of facing two families. In your opinion, how should we set up this arrangement?”
“If they already know about his whereabouts, that’s it. Since he has been in Hangzhou for several months, the way I see it, he should be somewhat capable of fighting against them, shouldn’t he? If he could not even deal with such a petty hardship, he would be completely beaten up if he came back to Beijing later.” Qin Sheng’s call to Zhuang Zhou made Qin Changan feel extremely discontented with him.
Gong Sun was pretty astonished, as what Qin Changan had said contradicted his attitude toward Young Master these days. Logically speaking, Qin Changan should be able to hold both the Yan family and the Lin family down, shouldn’t he?
Gong Sun said with concern, “Master, I am afraid that the issue that occurred last time will happen again.”
After putting the things in his hands down, Qin Changan snorted and said, “As the saying goes, a fall in the pit, a gain of wit. If he makes the same mistake twice, he possibly will fall again the third time and fourth time. I can’t save him every time. What I want to see is a son who can face various dilemmas independently, not a scum who needs other people’s help every time.”
Gong Sun finally understood Qin Changan’s intention. Though he did love Qin Sheng, when it came to dealing with Qin Sheng’s enemy, he was as merciless as ever.
“Let him deal with it on his own. The more things he can deal with, the better. Worst-case scenario, I will get him out of trouble in the end. If he does not even have the courage to deal with difficulties relentlessly, I will be really disappointed,” Qin Changan said quite straightforwardly.
Gong Sun nodded but did not speak further. As a matter of fact, Qin Chang had enlightened him with this answer. He now knew that he hoped to see Qin Sheng deal with the blows coming from both the Lin Family and the Yan Family on his own. As he had told Qin Ran before, men had to take revenge themselves on their own initiative. What he had been asking for was Qin Sheng’s attitude. He was not afraid that Qin Sheng would possibly make a big scene.
Besides, Qin Ran was on Qin Sheng’s side. He cared more about her biological brother than Qin Changan did. If she was informed about what was happening on the other side, she would most likely offer Qin Sheng her hand without any hesitation.
As a result, Gong Sun did not say anything else.
No big issues took place in the following days. Things were so peaceful that they seemed somewhat horrifying. However, Yan Chaozong was thinking of how to give Qin Sheng a severe blow. Meanwhile, the Lin family was prepared to strike out.
Qin Sheng made time to visit Boss Hu and consented to Boss Hu’s two requests, as Chang Baji finally stopped being obstinate.
However, Qin Sheng changed the detailed cooperation requirements slightly. According to the requirements, Qin Sheng would not guarantee that he would certainly send a player to take part in the game every time. He would only try his best. Of course, Boss Hu adjusted the reward given to Qin Sheng accordingly. He was not a financial boy. He just cooperated with Qin Sheng out of interest.
However, his cooperation with Qin Sheng was another connection to Qin Sheng, which was also the reason Chang Baji had agreed to Boss Hu’s request. He intended to win over increasingly powerful connections on Qin Sheng’s behalf. That way, others would not dare lay their hands on Qin Sheng.
