Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Qin Ran was speechless.
She had only asked casually.
Walking ahead, Lu Zhaoying was still thinking about Wen Yin when he heard this. He first glanced at the time on his phone before turning around. “Qin Ran, it’s almost noon now. It’s time to eat, shall we eat together?”
His expression was at ease and no different than usual.
Cheng Juan followed behind Qin Ran with both hands in his pocket. He raised an eyebrow at Lu Zhaoying and gave him an approving glance for the first time.
Lu Zhaoying was almost moved to tears. This was the first time Master Juan looked at him like he wasn’t a fool.
Glancing at Lu Zhaoying, Qin Ran pulled down her hat and cleared her throat. “I’m a little sleepy.”
Cheng Juan smiled. “Then go back to sleep first.”
1
**
Beijing Financial Center.
“Miss.” A secretary wearing black frame glasses came in and handed a stack of documents to the woman sitting in the office chair. “This is your schedule for today.”
The woman wearing a black dress looked down, evidently astute and capable. A computer was placed in front of her, its screen showing a pair of complicated red and green candlestick charts.
Taking the file from the secretary, she looked up, revealing her delicate and slightly domineering facial features. “What’s the schedule in the afternoon?”
Her real age was unpredictable, but judging by her aura, she was about 30 years old.
She was the Cheng family’s Young Lady, Cheng Wenru, 35 years old, and unmarried.
“You have a contract appointment with President Li at one o’clock in the afternoon. Then, a small regular meeting at half-past two…” The secretary pushed his glasses and spoke quickly.
“What did my younger brother say?” Cheng Wenru glanced at the time on her watch. It was 11:40.
The secretary shook his head.
Cheng Wenru raised an eyebrow and smiled in understanding.
Picking up a pen from the pen holder, she signed the document on the table and then leaned back on the chair. Crossing her arms around her chest, she was silent for a long time before saying, “Help me take note of gifts that young girls like these days.”
2
To be favored by such a successful career woman, Secretary Li’s professional ability was the cream of the crop in the secretarial industry. He was a working hand that Old Master Cheng had specially arranged for Cheng Wenru.
After arranging the schedule, he continued, “I have arranged an auction for you in three days.”
Cheng Wenru massaged her eyebrows and felt slightly tired. “There’s a Daylily now?”
Old Master Cheng wasn’t in good health and had to wear a Daylily to bring relief. But the Daylily… nobody knew its origin.
4
Most of them had appeared serendipitously, so every auction was a bloodbath.
1
“Yes, but there’s only one bottle at the auction this time.”
“One bottle?” Cheng Wenru tapped her finger on the table. This wasn’t good.
Cheng Wenru went to the auction house once a month, and ten bottles of Daylily were sold each month. There were numerous people in Beijing, several major laboratories, and many researchers on the Daylily. In each auction, four of those ten bottles were reserved for a few people, and Cheng Wenru was one of them.
The remaining six bottles were left to the other forces to fight over.
But there was only one bottle left this month…
Everyone needed this bottle of Daylily and would definitely fight for it.
“Why is there only one bottle left?”
Secretary Li shook his head and made a guess. “Maybe something happened? The research institute said that this kind of grass is extremely difficult to cultivate.”
1
It seemed like the only possibility.
“Nobody knows the origin of the Daylily yet?” Cheng Wenru knew that finding the peddler would secure a stable source.
But the auction house didn’t have any information. To avoid disputes, the auction house didn’t even know the names of the buyers and sellers who deliberately hid themselves, so Cheng Wenru had no way of finding out.
Secretary Li nodded. “The Old Master already asked Miss Ouyang about this some time ago.”
As everyone knew, 129 had accepted an ordinary member of the major Beijing family for the first time. They rarely accepted fresh blood, and half of the recruits were only ordinary members. It was extremely difficult to become a senior member, but even as an ordinary member, they could learn numerous things in 129 and enjoy the right to share data with the internal members.
As everyone knew, the 129’s intelligence network had an iron grip over the whole world.
Every family and power in Beijing wanted to form an alliance with 129.
Although Ouyang Wei was only an ordinary member, as an insider, she still had much more privilege than ordinary members.
When she succeeded in breaking into 129, the Ouyang family’s position in Beijing had skyrocketed.
2
Cheng Wenru nodded. “Help me make an appointment with Ouyang Wei, I want to talk to her.”
“I’m already trying to, but it might be a little difficult.” Ouyang Wei was currently extremely sought after. She also knew how to hold people’s hearts and wouldn’t make an appointment with just anyone. “I heard that… the Young Master is also looking for Ouyang Wei.”
1
“Oh?” Cheng Wenru nodded and stayed silent.
She waved her hand to dismiss her secretary, then sent another message to Cheng Juan, asking him when he could eat with her.
**
At the same time.
Ting Lan Apartment.
Qin Ran didn’t practice the violin when she went upstairs and wanted to perfect her arrangement first.
Yan Xi hadn’t taken the initiative to contact her for two months due to her college entrance examination.
Although he hadn’t really believed that she was taking the examination.
Now that she was in the Violin Association, she had to attend sessions officially tomorrow and didn’t have a lot of time. Thus, she was prepared to finish both of Yan Xi’s arrangements today.
She had already worked on these arrangements after her college entrance examination, but her hand was inconvenienced at that time. The arrangement had only taken shape in her mind, and she had perfected it after her results.
She was almost done and could probably finish the remaining tomorrow.
Downstairs.
Cheng Mu first went to look at the two pots of plants by the window, then took the watering can to water them before putting it down.
1
He took out his phone and went to WeChat.
Lin Siran had posted—
[Mimi almost ate up all the grass. Dad punished it not to eat meat for three days.] Then, she posted a gloating gif.
3
Cheng Mu knew that Lin Siran was the only person Qin Ran followed on Weibo.
Lin Siran had also posted about Mimi getting punished to face the wall last time.
1
Cheng Mu really couldn’t help but feel bewildered. Why was the Lin family so harsh on the cat?
1
Wasn’t it just grass?
He sent Lin Siran a WeChat message—
[It’s just a cat, after all. You can’t ask too much of it.]
1
She replied with a string of “…”.
When Cheng Jin came up the stairs from the connected staircase and saw Cheng Mu muttering to himself, he raised an eyebrow and asked, “What are you muttering about? Where’s Master Juan?”
Cheng Mu repeated the harshness of the Lin family to Cheng Jin before answering his question, “Master Juan is upstairs.”
“You still have a black box downstairs, you can sort the things out by yourself.” Cheng Jin didn’t care about the cat or grass and simply went upstairs to find Cheng Juan.
Cheng Mu remembered the black box.
It was filled with miscellaneous things.
He went down to take the black box and sorted it out one by one. Most of them were graduation gifts that class 3.9 had asked him to bring to Qin Ran when they left.
There were quite a few things. He saw a glass bottle rolling in the corner of the box soon. It was a graduation gift from Lin Siran.
Thinking of Gu Xichi’s “stone”, he carefully observed the small bottle. This time, he confirmed that there was no serial number on it, and there wasn’t even a cap.
3
He couldn’t help but want to ask why this girl couldn’t get over the grass?
1
**
The next day, Qin Ran went to class at the Violin Association.
After getting up at six, she left at six-thirty and bumped into Cheng Juan, who had just returned from a morning run. He sent her to the Violin Association.
“Master Wei has set a date for the apprenticeship banquet.” Master Wei had discussed directly with Cheng Juan and had calculated the time in the Chinese calendar last night.
1
While chatting with Lin Siran, Qin Ran just gave a very casual “Oh”. She put her hand on the car window and supported her chin. “As long as it’s not too extravagant.”
They arrived at the Violin Association after forty minutes.
Getting out, Qin Ran put on her peaked cap and put one hand in her pocket. She waved behind her casually without looking back.
Behind, Cheng Juan leaned on the side of the car and stared for a while before opening the car door and getting in.
Because new students were coming today, the Violin Association had a road sign for new students, pointing to the practice building which was five-story tall.
At the gate, a teacher stood there waiting for all the students. Qin Ran was ten minutes earlier, while Tian Xiaoxiao hurried over after her. The teacher waited for everyone before saying, “I’m the teacher on the first floor. My surname is Xu. Everyone who can enter the Violin Association must have a certain amount of talent, but we do not lack talented students. You must have heard of the rules of the Violin Association. We have special repertoires and grading assessment standards. From the first to the fifth floor are the practice rooms of the third to ninth grades. Each floor has its instructor and training video. We’ll announce the corresponding grades of all students according to the assessment level of yesterday’s exhibition competition. Before that, please advance to Room 101.”
Qin Ran looked down at the manual in her hand.
The third grade was on the first floor.
The fourth and fifth grades were on the second floor.
The sixth and seventh grades were on the third floor.
The eighth grade was on the fourth floor.
The ninth grade was on the fifth floor.
